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DrugSense Weekly
February 25, 2000 #138


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (12/21/24)


* Feature Article


    Drug Education
    By The Lindesmith Center

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (1-3)
(1) The Elephant in the Room
(2) From Manhattan to Main Street
(3) U.S. Drug Czar Says Abuse is Everyone's Problem
COMMENT: (4-5)
(4) It's Time We All Said No to Absurd Drug-Testing
(5) Use of Dogs Raises Questions

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (6-8)
(6) All Locked Up
(7) Locked Away and Forgotten
(8) Naishtat Addresses Texas' Large Prison Population
COMMENT: (9-11)
(9) GA: Judge Imprisons Quadriplegic Man
(10) NY: Drug Crackdown is Overloading Court System With Arraignments
(11) We Planted the Seeds for Rampart
COMMENT: (12)
(12) Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (13-14)
(13) CA: Editorial Update [Peter McWilliams]
(14) Senate Panel Backs Hemp as Alternative Crop

International News-

COMMENT: (15)
(15) Colombia: Endless War
COMMENT: (16-19)
(16) UK Out of Step as EU Takes New Approach to Problem
(17) Australia Plans New Tactic in Drug War
(18) Police Probe in Fatal Raid Faulted
(19) Iranian Gateway for the Afghan Drug Connection

* Hot Off The 'Net


    DPF Conference Abstracts and Scholarship Deadlines Approaching
    New Tool for Mass Emailing Politicians
    www.Voter.com - A Good Site But it Needs More Drug Policy Focus
    MAP Site Enhancement

* Quote of the Week


    Jean de La Bruyere


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

Drug Education / By The Lindesmith Center

At Issue:

Since the 1960s, school-based drug prevention programs for adolescents have relied on scare tactics, zero tolerance, and "just say no." Last year the federal government spent $2.4 billion on prevention, and a new billion-dollar campaign has recently been launched.  Still, by the time they graduate from high school, half of American teenagers will have used illegal drugs.  Students often fail to take drug education programs seriously, doubting the validity of their information.

Many educators, health professionals, and parents are seeking alternatives that strongly promote abstinence while providing a fallback strategy of honest, science-based education for teenagers who say "maybe" or "sometimes" or "yes." This "Just Say Know" approach provides sound information as the basis for responsible
decision-making, a reduction in drug abuse, and ultimately the promotion of safety.

Drug education has existed in America for over a century.  It has utilized a variety of methods, from scare tactics to resistance techniques, in the effort to prevent young people from using drugs. Nonetheless, teenagers continue to experiment with a variety of substances.  Despite the recent expansion of drug prevention programs, it is very difficult to know which, if any, "work" better than others.

The assumptions that shape conventional programs render them problematic: that drug experimentation constitutes deviance; that drug use is the same as drug abuse; that marijuana constitutes the "gateway" to "harder" substances; that exaggeration of risks will deter experimentation.

The main reasons many students fail to take programs seriously, and continue to experiment with drugs, is that they have learned for themselves that America is hardly "drug-free"; there are vast differences between experimentation, abuse, and addiction; and the use of one drug does not inevitably lead to the use of others.

While youth abstinence is what we'd all prefer, this unrealistic goal means programs lack risk reduction education for those 50% who do not "just say no." We need a fallback strategy of safety first in order to prevent drug abuse and drug problems among teenagers.

Educational efforts should define "drugs" broadly, to include both illegal and legal substances.  Programs should acknowledge teens' ability to make reasoned decisions; differentiate between use and abuse; and stress the importance of moderation and context.  Curricula should be age-specific, stress student participation and provide science-based, objective educational materials.  In simple terms, it is our responsibility as parents and teachers to engage students and provide them with credible information so they can make responsible decisions, avoid drug abuse, and stay safe.

Safety First: Reality-Based Approach to Teens, Drugs, and Drug Education Booklet Published by The Lindesmith Center - West http://www.lindesmith.org/


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (1-3)    (Top)

Similar assessments from two well-known commentators were published Tuesday; both were at odds with an earlier McCaffrey sermon which claimed success while (typically) urging redoubled zeal; incidentally, it wasn't reported if McCzar were asked why so many blacks are in prison for drugs.

Massing accurately catalogued the failures of the last 15 years and lambasted both press and politicians for failure to even notice. Although still wary of legalization and favoring a "public health" solution, he calls for urgent change.

Although Califano's goal is even more prohibition, he unwittingly- and powerfully- makes Massing's essential point: our policy is failing.

(1) THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM    (Top)

Presidential candidates are silent on the failure of the U.S.  war on drugs.

With little fuss or fanfare, the United States is preparing to sharply escalate the war on drugs.

Over the next two years, the Clinton administration is planning to spend a whopping $1.3 billion in Colombia to disrupt the production and export of drugs to the United States...  One would expect such a risky venture to spark some debate.

It hasn't.  Few members of Congress have raised questions about the new aid package.

The press has greeted it with a yawn.  And the presidential candidates have all but ignored it.

[snip]

The political timidity surrounding the drug issue is breathtaking.

On the campaign trail, the overwhelming concern regarding drugs has been who used what when.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 22 Feb 2000
Source:   Salon Magazine (US)
Copyright:   2000 Salon Internet Inc
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.salon1999.com/
Forum:   http://tabletalk.salonmagazine.com/webx
Author:   Michael Massing
URL:   http://www.salon.com/health/feature/2000/02/22/massing/


(2) FROM MANHATTAN TO MAIN STREET    (Top)

The rate of drug, alcohol and nicotine use among young teens in rural America is now higher than in the nation's large urban centers.  The rates of drug, alcohol and nicotine use among adults are about the same in rural towns and mid-size cities as in large urban centers.  At the start of the 21st century, there is no place to hide from the scourge of substance abuse and addiction in America.

[snip]

Parents with the money and freedom fled first to the suburbs and then to rural towns.  But drugs did not respect geographic boundaries, and today the sores of drug abuse and addiction that we allowed to fester in our urban ghettos infect every hamlet in America.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 22 Feb 2000
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2000 The Washington Post Company
Address:   1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author:   Joseph A.  Califano Jr. URL:
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n249/a01.html


(3) U.S. DRUG CZAR SAYS ABUSE IS EVERYONE'S PROBLEM    (Top)

(Norfolk) -- A true view of illegal drug use in Hampton Roads, and the nation, requires a mirror, as millions of Americans continue to deny that it's their problem, said retired Gen.  Barry R. McCaffrey, the nation's drug czar.

``The lowest rate of drug use in American society are African Americans, who use less alcohol, cigarettes, heroin, crack cocaine, et cetera than other racial groups,'' McCaffrey told the audience.

[snip]

The drug problem in much of the world is far worse than in America, which has experienced a significant drop in use, he said.  For example, there are 810,000 heroin addicts in America, he said.  In Pakistan, there are 3 million.  The cocaine use rates in Venezuela and Rio de Janeiro are worse than in Miami, he said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 18 Feb 2000
Source:   Virginian-Pilot (VA)
Copyright:   2000, The Virginian-Pilot
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.pilotonline.com
Forum:   http://www.pilotonline.com/webx/cgi-bin/WebX
Author:   John Hopkins
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n237/a13.html


COMMENT: (4-5)    (Top)

Any questioning of their policy invariably leads prohibitionists to demand more repression- in turn generating a reaction: the Lockney drug testing fiasco in Texas provoked Jim Ryan's astute critique of random testing.

In California, a variation on the same theme: random canine checks of lockers, backpacks and students should ultimately lead to a court challenge.

(4) IT'S TIME WE ALL SAID NO TO ABSURD DRUG-TESTING    (Top)

I am employed in the transportation of a hazardous material, propane, and in that capacity subject to random drug tests by federal law.  My last test came on the same day the Lockney school board's decision to test all students hit the papers, and a day before a column by Robyn Blumner ran in this paper.

While factually correct, Blumner never addressed some of the best objections to suspicionless drug testing.  First is abrogation of individual rights; second, unreliability; and third, cost benefit ratio, to which she did allude.

[snip]

Larry Tannahill of Lockney is a hero.  When the school started testing all students, he looked at his honor roll son and said, "NO!".  Mind you, any parents, anywhere, who trust a twenty dollar test more than their own child can easily obtain one.  I am only disappointed that Tannahill so far stands alone.  Lockney could better spend $12,000 adding the Bill of Rights to its curriculum.

Pubdate:   Sat, 19 Feb 2000
Source:   San Angelo Standard-Times (TX)
Copyright:   2000 San Angelo Standard-Times
Contact:  
Address:   P.O.  Box 5111 San Angelo, TX 76902
Fax:   (915) 658-7341
Website:   http://www.texaswest.com/index.shtml
Author:   Jim Ryan
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n242/a04.html


(5) USE OF DOGS RAISES QUESTIONS    (Top)

MONROVIA -- It seemed like the perfect solution to the ongoing problem of high school student drug use: Bring on the dogs...

So they did.

The district has hired San Marino-based Iterquest Detection Canines to supply drug-sniffing dogs to Monrovia High School.

[snip]

Erwin Chemerinsky, a USC law professor and an expert in constitutional law said random dog checks of students' bags just because they are there could violate a person's right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment.  "I think dog sniffing without any suspicion violates the Fourth Amendment," he said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 18 Feb 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/
Author:   Dan Frosch
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n239/a06.html


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

COMMENT: (6-8)    (Top)

Although not to the extent deserved, the two million-prisoner mark did focus attention on the US incarceration binge and the drug policy sustaining it; Cato's Tim Lynch authored an accurate appraisal.

The multi-city Vigil spearheaded by the November Coalition was largely ignored by US dailies at the time but received important comment from Ellis Cose in Newsweek.

A Texas state representative used the occasion to outline how the drug war has produced our unprecedented prison boom.

(6) ALL LOCKED UP    (Top)

America's criminal justice system is going to make history this month as the number of incarcerated people surpasses 2 million for the first time.  But this is a development for which neither political party will attempt to claim credit.  Indeed, people across the political spectrum seem to recognize that this is a sad occasion - an occasion that raises a nagging question: Why do so many Americans need to be kept behind iron bars?

[snip]

A close look at crime statistics reveals that the drug war is fueling the growth in our prison population.  In 1981, only 22 percent of federal inmates were drug prisoners.  Today, 60 percent are drug prisoners.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 20 Feb 2000
Source:   Washington Post (DC)
Copyright:   2000 The Washington Post Company
Address:   1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author:   Timothy Lynch
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n249/a03.html


(7) LOCKED AWAY AND FORGOTTEN    (Top)

We're Going To Have To Face Up To It-The Prison System Doesn't Work

With vigils, rallies and teach-ins across America, a ragtag coalition of activists last Tuesday marked the moment when the nation's prison population theoretically rose above 2 million for the first time ever. Spirited though they were, the efforts rated little more than a yawn on the nation's attention meter.  They certainly didn't create enough of a stir to overshadow the day's other ground breaking event: television's first-ever win-a-multimillionaire pageant.

[snip]

"All the signs point toward more public discussion about such issues," concluded Mary Frances Berry, head of the U.S.  Commission on Civil Rights.  That discussion-taking in those who care about everything from civil rights to law enforcement to drug policy-is likely to create some unusual bedfellows.  If they end up creating a mass movement, it will not be because they care so much about prisoners, but because they care about what putting so many Americans behind bars does to the country's soul.

Pubdate:   Mon, 28 Feb 2000
Source:   Newsweek (US)
Copyright:   2000 Newsweek, Inc.
Contact:  
Address:   251 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y.  10019
Website:   http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/
Author:   Ellis Cose
Cited:   The Sentencing Project: http://www.sentencingproject.org/
The November Coalition: http://www.november.org/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n253/a05.html


(8) NAISHTAT ADDRESSES TEXAS' LARGE PRISON POPULATION    (Top)

Texas could reduce its prison population by easing drug laws and sentences, said State Rep.  Elliot Naishtat, D-Austin, at a Capitol press conference Tuesday.

"The biggest contributing factor to the burgeoning prison population -- both nationwide and in Texas -- has been crimes of possession or low-level dealing," said Naishtat, adding that the number of drug offenders in prison doubled between 1990-2000 and has cost taxpayers more than $5 billion annually.

[snip]

The increase in prisoners since 1970 is unprecedented, with the number of people jailed jumping from 196,429 in 1970 to 2 million today, according to the institute.  In Texas, the number of prisoners held by the Texas Department of Corrections increased from approximately 39,000 in 1988 to 151,216 currently.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 Feb 2000
Source:   Daily Texan (TX)
Contact:  
Website:   http://stumedia.tsp.utexas.edu/webtexan/
Bookmark:   MAP's link to Texas articles is:
http://www.mapinc.org/states/tx
Author:   Joel Giorgio, Daily Texan Staff
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n217/a04.html


COMMENT: (9-11)    (Top)

Reports of both grotesque incarceration excesses (Georgia and New York) and shocking police misbehavior (Los Angeles) provided background for the incarceration of our two millionth prisoner.

In LA, the drug war origins of the oozing Rampart Division abscess were finally cited; not by a Times editorial writer- but by a civil rights attorney.

(9) GA: JUDGE IMPRISONS QUADRIPLEGIC MAN    (Top)

Louis E.  Covar has been in a wheelchair for 35 years, unable to do more than raise his shoulders.

On Thursday, he began a seven-year prison sentence.

His crime: smoking marijuana.

Cost to taxpayers to keep him behind bars: $258.33 a day and $660,000 during seven years.

[snip]

Richmond County sheriff's Investigator Dale Pittard and five other armed officers entered Mr.  Covar's Fernwood Circle home Jan. 25 with a search warrant.  They found 36 grams of marijuana, investigator said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 18 Feb 2000
Source:   Augusta Chronicle, The (GA)
Copyright:   2000 The Augusta Chronicle
Contact:   (LTEs from GA & SC only)
Address:   725 Broad Street, Augusta, GA 30901
Website:   http://www.augustachronicle.com/
Author:   Sandy Hodson
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n229/a10.html


(10) NY: DRUG CRACKDOWN IS OVERLOADING COURT SYSTEM WITH ARRAIGNMENTS    (Top)

A citywide antidrug crackdown that was spurred by higher crime figures has swamped the court system over the last two weekends, bringing a record number of arraignments to Manhattan courts one night and leading to complaints that scores of suspects were detained illegally for more than 24 hours.

The jump in arrests stems from Operation Condor, a $20 million antidrug crackdown announced by the Police Department last month to counter an increase in the city's homicide rate last year, police officials said. The initiative, which pays narcotics officers to work overtime to make arrests, mainly on weekends, has generated 10,000 additional arrests since it started on Jan.  17.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 Feb 2000
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2000 The New York Times Company
Contact:  
Address:   229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036
Fax:   (212) 556-3622
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum:   http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author:   David Rohde
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n220/a06.html


(11) WE PLANTED THE SEEDS FOR RAMPART    (Top)

In a fit of crime hysteria, we licensed cops to wage battle, then we ignored what they were doing.

Compared to the Rampart Division gangster cop scandal, the Rodney King beating is a misdemeanor.  But, given Los Angeles' past history of police corruption, Rampart should shock no one.  Just call it a year 2000 update of "L.A.  Confidential," the fictional account of L.A.'s all-too-real police corruption in the 1950s.  Nor should anyone be surprised at the limp response so far of civic and elected officials to the systemic corruption that Rampart signals.

[snip]

We launched the futile war on drugs not in the cocaine canyons of corporate and suburban America but in the ravaged alleys of the inner city.  In Los Angeles, we lobbed up the related and equally ill-conceived war on gangs that spawned the Rampart scandal and branded L.A.'s poorest teenagers predators.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 Feb 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/
Author:   Connie Rice
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n236/a06.html


COMMENT: (12)    (Top)

In the strangest journalistic development of the week, the injustice of forfeiture provoked (welcome) condemnation from an unusual source.

(12) GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT    (Top)

Asset Forfeiture Laws Were Meant To Combat Drug Crimes.

Instead They Have Become A Means To Trample Your Rights

FIVE DAYS before Christmas 1995, Cheryl Sanders of Long Beach, Calif., was driving on Interstate 10 in Sulphur, La., when she was stopped by three police officers.

[snip]

"It is obvious that something needs to be done about civil forfeiture run amok," Hyde says, and Rep.  John Conyers, Jr. (D., Mich.), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, agrees.  "The civil asset-forfeiture law," he says, "contradicts fundamental principles of traditional American jurisprudence." With both Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, lining up in support, the bill passed by an overwhelming 375 to 48.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 01 Mar 2000
Source:   Reader's Digest (US)
Copyright:   2000 Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
Contact:  
Address:   P.O.  Box 235, Pleasantville, NY 10570-0235
Feedback:   http://www.readersdigest.com/custserv/TalkEditor/letter_to.asp
Website:   http://www.readersdigest.com/
Forum:   http://www.readersdigest.com/scripts/webx.cgi
Author:   Randy Fitzgerald
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n233/a02.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (13-14)    (Top)

The Orange County Register demonstrated its commitment to the cause of medical cannabis with a reminder of the plights of Peter McWilliams and the Kubbys.

A brief item in the Post-Dispatch disclosed support for Industrial hemp in the Illinois Legislature.  Other manifestations of interest also appeared in Idaho and Massachusetts.

(13) CA: EDITORIAL UPDATE [Peter McWilliams]    (Top)

Peter McWilliams,the Los Angeles author, publisher and cancer survivor living with AIDS,faces sentencing March 27 on federal marijuana charges and has asked people to write letters to the judge pleading that he be allowed to serve his sentence under home detention.

[snip]

He is asking that letters addressed to Hon.  George King be sent to him at 8165 Mannix Dr., L.A., CA 90046.

Also on the medical marijuana front, the trial of Steve and Michele Kubby on marijuana sales and cultivation charges is scheduled to begin Tuesday in Placer County.

- ---

Pubdate:   Mon, 21 Feb 2000
Source:   Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright:   2000 The Orange County Register
Contact:  
Address:   P.O.  Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711
Fax:   (714) 565-3657
Website:   http://www.ocregister.com/
Section:   Commentary,page 2
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n247/a04.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mcwilliams.htm
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm


(14) SENATE PANEL BACKS HEMP AS ALTERNATIVE CROP    (Top)

Foes Say Bill Would Enhance Illegal Marijuana

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.  - Industrial hemp came one step closer on Tuesday to becoming an alternative crop for Illinois farmers.

An Illinois Senate committee advanced a bill that would allow Illinois universities to study the crop's viability in production of clothing and other items.

Opponents argued it could make it easier to grow illegal marijuana.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 16 Feb 2000
Source:   St.  Louis Post-Dispatch (MO)
Copyright:   2000 St.  Louis Post-Dispatch
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/Home
Forum:   http://www.postnet.com/postnet/config.nsf/forums
Author:   Lisa Snedeker, Of The Post-Dispatch
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n218/a04.html
See also:
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n243/a02.html (Mass.)
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n234/a08.html (Idaho)


International News


COMMENT: (15)    (Top)

An ambitious Boston Globe series reported on the full spectrum of issues raised by the proposed escalation of US military aid to Colombia.  Although taking a carefully neutral tone, it provides little reason to expect long-term "success."

(15) COLOMBIA: ENDLESS WAR    (Top)

TARGET COCA

Officials Try To Break Drugs' Deadly Grip On Colombia

First Of Three Parts

LA GABARRA, Colombia -- The rusted gates to the cemetery were locked, so Sister Sofia entered by crouching carefully between two strands of barbed wire, making sure she didn't snag her white cotton habit.

[snip]

Like most everyone else in La Gabarra, Sister Sofia's life is dominated by Colombia's brutally entwined conflicts -- the booming trade in cocaine and heroin and the 40-year civil war that is largely financed by drug money.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 20 Feb 2000
Source:   Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright:   2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
Contact:  
Address:   P.O.  Box 2378, Boston, MA 02107-2378
Feedback:   http://extranet.globe.com/LettersEditor/default.asp
Website:   http://www.boston.com/globe/
Author:   Richard Chacon and John Donnelly
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n239/a02.html
Other series segments:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n239/a03.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n245/a03.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n249/a05.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n250/a01.html


COMMENT: (16-19)    (Top)

The Guardian commented on a growing drug policy disconnect between the UK- influenced by Blair's Clinton connection- and the rest of Europe.

A Chicago Sun-Times article allowed US readers to appreciate the alarming incursions heroin has made into Australia (also under a "tough on drugs" PM).

From Canada, there is evidence that- on occasion, at least- Canadian cops can conduct inept drug raids as their US colleagues; they also seem as likely to investigate themselves promptly and responsibly.

Finally, an Irish newspaper describes the impact of the world's biggest heroin connection on a "transit" nation; a situation largely unknown to self-absorbed Americans, even though that trade is as dependent on US policy as our better-known Colombian connection for heroin and cocaine.

(16) UK OUT OF STEP AS EU TAKES NEW APPROACH TO PROBLEM    (Top)

Europe:   Emphasis is shifting away from jailing users

Europe is shifting towards the decriminalisation of the possession of drugs for personal use, according to an official report on drug policies across the continent.

[snip]

The report revealed that the hardline UK policy of continuing to criminalise all those arrested for cannabis possession was beginning to look like an old-fashioned stance.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 17 Feb 2000
Source:   Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright:   Guardian Media Group 2000
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author:   Alan Travis
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n219/a06.html


(17) AUSTRALIA PLANS NEW TACTIC IN DRUG WAR    (Top)

INJECTION ROOMS PLANNED FOR USERS

MELBOURNE, Australia After 17 years in the restaurant business, Myrto Aretakis yearned to serve her steak and seafood dishes in new surroundings.  But when she gushed to colleagues about the building for sale on Smith Street, they were less than enthusiastic.

Aretakis fell for the Victorian facade and cozy interior.  She was able to buy the historic site for a steal because Smith Street has become, in the past five years, an open market for heroin in this city of 3 million people.  Soon, it also could be home to one of the world's few medically supervised heroin-injection rooms.

[snip]

Australia, like the United States, has long subscribed to a prohibition policy on illegal drugs.  But as the increasing availability and purity of heroin has coincided with an alarming surge in overdoses, shooting galleries have gone from an answer of last resort to a crucial part of Australia's new "harm minimization" drug strategy.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Mon, 21 Feb 2000
Source:   Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright:   2000 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  
Address:   435 N.  Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066
Website:   http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum:   http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
Author:   Sarah Downey - Special to the Tribune
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n246/a03.html


(18) POLICE PROBE IN FATAL RAID FAULTED    (Top)

RCMP Report Targets Suspicions Of On-duty Drinking

Winnipeg police failed to properly address suspicions that vice officers were drinking the night Abe Hiebert was shot, an RCMP report states.

[snip]

Anderson reviewed the Winnipeg police investigation into Hiebert's death.  Hiebert was shot and killed as he tried to repel officers with pepper spray and a baseball bat during a drug raid on his home Dec. 16, 1997.  The inquest has heard that five of the eight officers involved in the raid drank alcohol at a party earlier in their shift, as did seven of nine other vice officers on duty.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 18 Feb 2000
Source:   Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright:   2000 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact:  
Address:   1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg Manitoba R2X 3B6
Fax:   (204) 697-7288
Website:   http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Author:   John Lyons
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n238/a03.html


(19) IRANIAN GATEWAY FOR THE AFGHAN DRUG CONNECTION    (Top)

ON the wall outside of Iran's drug control agency are portraits of anti-narcotics police officers.  Thirty-five in all, each picture bears the red rose of a martyr.  All died in the line of duty, killed by drug traffickers.  That death toll would be high enough if it was incurred in the course of a year.  Those 35 lives were not lost over 12 months however, but in a single day.

The men all died during a shoot out with a major drug smuggling gang in south-west Iran last month and their fate was far from unusual.  Last year 193 Iranian police officers and soldiers were killed in clashes with traffickers.

Pubdate:   Sat, 19 Feb 2000
Source:   Examiner, The (Ireland)
Copyright:   Examiner Publications Ltd, 2000
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.examiner.ie/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n247/a13.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

DPF Conference Abstracts and Scholarship Deadlines Approaching

The 13th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform is taking place May 17-20 in Washington, DC.  The deadline for paper and panel abstracts is Monday, February 28 and the deadline for scholarship requests is Monday, April 3.  Submissions can either be e-mailed to
or faxed to (202) 537-3007.

If you would like more information on the conference or need the abstract submission form, please visit http://www.dpf.org/CONFERENCES.html


New Tool for Mass Emailing Politicians

Tom Murlowski informs us:

Just found this nifty little site: http://usa.letterstoleaders.com/ where you can bulk e-mail a variety of elected officials.  Thanks to Kay Lee for finding this little gem.

NOTE:   Spamming is frowned upon by most ISPs.  This type of service
should be used judiciously.


http://www.Voter.com/ - a Good Site but it Needs More Drug Policy Focus

Jeanette Irwin informs us:

With www.Voter.com, the individual voter sets the information agenda by enabling voters to create personal profiles that automatically give them instant access to the campaign developments and election events that matter most to them.

Unfortunately They have fallen seriously short in presenting a balanced look at the drug policy debate.  Email from us stressing the importance of this issue and the strength of the reform side could make this site a valuable reform ally.


MAP Site Enhancement

The MAP news clipping service will now send search results by Email. Topical and regional lists of links may be sent in plain text, suitable for forwarding, or HTML format, suitable for cutting and pasting into web pages.

http://www.mapinc.org/find/

Ataraxia,
Matt ()


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth." -- Jean de La Bruyere (1645-1696


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