July 28, 2000, #159 |
|
- * Breaking News (12/30/24)
-
- * Feature Article
-
The Mind set of a Prohibitionist
by Matt Elrod
- * Weekly News in Review
-
Drug Policy-
COMMENT: (1-2)
(1) Only Shadow (Convention) Knows
(2) At Home With Arianna Huffington
COMMENT: (3-5)
(3) Cheap, Potent Heroin Leads to Record Usage in the Northwest
(4) U.S. Wants Joint NE Effort Vs. Pure Heroin
(5) House Approves Heroin Treatment Bill
COMMENT: (6)
(6) Column: Probable Cause for Drug Testing Difficult to Find
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
COMMENT: (7-9)
(7) Record Numbers on Parole, Probation
(8) Editorial: When Police Cross the Line
(9) Ruling May Rewrite Sentencing
COMMENT: (10)
(10) Judge Blasts Drug Courts
Cannabis & Hemp-
COMMENT: (11-13)
(11) Medical Marijuana Talk Set
(12) Editorial: Medical Marijuana
(13) CA: Deputies Seize Medical Marijuana
COMMENT: (14-15)
(14) Column: Stop the Reefer Madness
(15) New Zealand: PUB LTE: Cannabis Could Revitalise Mataura Mill
International News-
COMMENT: (16-17)
(16) Australia: Heroin Causes 78 Overdoses, 4 Deaths
(17) Australia: Heroin Trial Bid Faces a Barrage of Opposition
COMMENT: (18-20)
(18) OPED: Drug-Fighting Agenda for 2 Presidents
(19) UK: OPED: Drugs Under Fire
(20) Editorial: Colombia
Narco-infested Country
- * Hot Off The 'Net
-
Fighting "Cheech And Chong" Medicine by Daniel Forbes
The Arianna Sideshow - Time Magazine
- * Quote of the Week
-
James E. Gierach quoted in Chicago Sun-Times
|
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) |
The Mind Set of a Prohibitionist / by Matt Elrod
|
In the broadest sense there are two types of prohibitionist; Those who
seek a utopian "drug free" country and those who see the WOD as a
perpetual war of suppression, much like law enforcement against theft
and violence. They realize that recreational drugs will always be with
us but feel that if we let up drug use and abuse will increase.
|
A subset of both types or prohibitionist have ill intent. They think
that drug users are subhuman scum who should be oppressed and
persecuted.
|
Other warriors actually have good intentions. They think the WOD
reduces net harm to users and society. Of course, these kinder gentler
warriors are quite mistaken about the consequences of the WOD, but
beyond that, they share the same noble goals as reformers. I mean,
don't we all want to reduce harm and live in a safer and more peaceful
society?
|
The "drug free" type have obviously never really thought about the
consequences of the WOD. Drug policy begins and ends with its intent.
Drug free warriors tend to be driven by how they feel, now what they
think, and consequently facts and figures do not phase them. There is
little point in trying to enlighten these people.
|
Hateful perpetual WOD warriors are not much better, but they have not
completely abandoned reason and logic. It is possible to convince them
that drug policy reform would not require their sacrificing their
distaste for recreational drug use and users.
|
Well-intentioned perpetual WOD warriors are the most likely to come
around because they are pragmatic about the inevitability of
recreational drug use and typically willing to consider the possible
outcomes of alternative policies.
|
But in order to get any warrior to defect, we need to give them an
honourable way out. We should therefore promote reform as a change in
strategy toward the same harm reduction goal, not an admission of
defeat. Rise above the "us and them" mindset and give warriors the
benefit of the doubt concerning their intentions.
|
I mean, nothing causes me to dig my heels in more than a warrior who
assumes that I have ill intent, that I object to the WOD because I have
a hard time scoring or that I am "pro-drug", wanting everyone to "turn
on, tune in and drop out."
|
IMHO,
Matt
|
"The golden rule of conduct... is mutual toleration, seeing that we
will never all think alike and we shall always see Truth in fragment
and from different points of vision." - Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi
|
Disclaimer: | These are half-baked ramblings snatched from Mattalk, my |
---|
Canadian discussion list, without my permission. ME
|
|
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) |
|
Domestic News- Policy
|
COMMENT: (1-2) (Top) |
A hopeful sign as the major party conventions approach; although both
candidates still discuss only peripheral issues, the media has taken
notice of the shadow conventions. Aside from Novak, that interest has
been friendly.
|
Though they attempt to focus attention on serious issues, a major part
of the early interest depends on the celebrity of some shadow
organizers, especially Arianna Huffington.
|
(1) ONLY SHADOW (CONVENTION) KNOWS (Top) |
Forget The Traditional Forums; For Real News, Substantive Talk Look To
Alternative Political Confabs Who knows what lurks in the hearts of
Democratic and Republican convention goers this summer? The Shadow
knows. The Shadow Convention 2000, that is.
|
[snip]
|
Why, demands supply-side enforcer and columnist Robert Novak, would
McCain "be the keynote speaker of an alternative political convention
with a distinct far-left aroma that intends to ridicule his Republican
Party and is partially financed by the archenemy of the war on drugs,
billionaire global financier George Soros?" Novak notes that GOP
heavyweight Jack Kemp, who planned to speak has already been scared off
and Rep. Christopher Shays, who like McCain, is a champion of campaign
finance reform, is giving signals of backing away. (Perhaps these
signals were prompted by Novak himself.)
|
[snip]
|
Source: | MSNBC.com (US Web) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 MSNBC.com |
---|
Author: | Eric Alterman, MSNBC Contributor |
---|
URL http://www.mapincorg/drugnews/v00/n1043/a03.html
|
|
(2) AT HOME WITH ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (Top) |
Honing The Politics Of Surprise
|
POLITICAL insiders may debate the motivations behind the latest
evolutionary twist in the remarkable life of Arianna Huffington, but
one thing is certain: Ms. Huffington understands the element of
surprise. She stood by her desk in her elegant, sun-dappled home
office on a perfect Southern California morning early this week,
talking about her latest and indisputably biggest adventure.
|
[snip]
|
The goal of Ms. Huffington and the Internet impresario Peter Hirshberg
is to "give voice to millions of Americans currently shut out of the
national debate." Perhaps coincidentally, Ms. Huffington has managed to
harness herself and her unusual ability to generate buzz on three
issues whose solutions have eluded Democrats and Republicans alike:
the tainted campaign finance system, the growing income gap and the
costly war on drugs.
|
[snip]
|
Source: | New York Times (NY) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The New York Times Company |
---|
Forum: | http //www10.nytimes.com/comment/ |
---|
|
|
COMMENT: (3-5) (Top) |
If McCzar weren't in such denial, he might have been embarrassed by a
report from the Pacific Northwest on Friday; it could hardly have been
a surprise; he'd just used similar local stats to scare New Englanders
earlier in the week.
|
The House bill authorizing less red tape for doctors in prescribing
Buprenorphine, (demonstrating that Congress too, has discovered
"treatment,") endorses a two tiered system: easier access for middle
class junkies who can afford $10/day for the medicine.
|
(3) CHEAP, POTENT HEROIN LEADS TO RECORD USAGE IN THE NORTHWEST (Top) |
ATLANTA, July 21 -- Heroin use has risen dramatically in the Pacific
Northwest, with overdoses in the Portland, Ore. area, accounting for
nearly as many deaths among young and middle-aged men as cancer or
heart disease, the government said today. The drug, at about $20 a
dose, is cheap on the West Coast, and black tar heroin from Mexico or
South America is readily available there, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention said.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Sat, 22 Jul 2000 |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Associated Press |
---|
Author: | David Pitt, Associated Press |
---|
|
|
(4) U.S. WANTS JOINT NE EFFORT VS. PURE HEROIN (Top) |
New England faces the threat of an influx of heroin so pure that users
can inhale, snort or eat it instead of injecting it with needles, White
House drug enforcement coordinator Barry McCaffrey warned yesterday.
McCaffrey will meet today with law enforcement leaders from the six New
England states to discuss how to combat the problem. McCaffrey said
the high-purity heroin comes to the area primarily from New York City,
but the Canadian border also remains vulnerable to drug smugglers.
|
[snip]
|
John Gartland, special agent in charge at the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration in New England, agreed with McCaffrey. "[High-purity
heroin] is everywhere," Gartland said. "We're seeing it in Bangor,
Maine; we're seeing it in Cape Cod."
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Wed, 19 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Boston Globe (MA) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Globe Newspaper Company. |
---|
|
|
(5) HOUSE APPROVES HEROIN TREATMENT BILL (Top) |
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - The House approved legislation on
Wednesday that would make it easier for office-based physicians to use
federally controlled substances to treat patients addicted to heroin
and other opiates. The vote was 412-1.
|
The ``Drug Addition Treatment Act'' would allow physicians who are
already registered with the Drug Enforcement Administration and
qualified to treat opiate-dependent patients to obtain three-year
waiver from separate requirements imposed by the DEA to dispense
schedule IV or V drugs for maintenance and detoxification treatment.
The bill would also waive state and local requirements.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Thu, 20 Jul 2000 |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Reuters Limited. |
---|
|
|
COMMENT: (6) (Top) |
Amid a continuing flood of either neutral or approving reports about
school districts proposing to drug test their students this
enlightened argument against testing in public schools was a breath of
fresh air.
|
(6) COLUMN: PROBABLE CAUSE FOR DRUG TESTING DIFFICULT TO FIND (Top) |
On Tuesday, every high-school athlete in the Dublin district might
become a suspect.
|
The Dublin Board of Education is expected to vote tonight on a proposal
to mandate drug testing among athletes.
|
[snip]
|
And, in that spirit of worry-free disclosure, I suggest that
school-board members who vote for the new policy provide their tax
forms, bank statements, employee files and medical records for public
perusal. They also should provide urine samples for testing before each
board meeting. Why should they object if they've nothing to hide?
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 24 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Columbus Dispatch (OH) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000, The Columbus Dispatch |
---|
|
|
Law Enforcement & Prisons
---------
|
COMMENT: (7-9) (Top) |
New criminal justice statistics reflected what happens when record
numbers are still being arrested, but fewer imprisoned- and for
shorter terms: record numbers of parolees and probationers.
|
An editorial in the OCR points out just one way that
parolee/probationer status for an ever-increasing segment of the
population is not necessarily a good thing. Sentencing and term
length issues were brought back up on both political and judicial
radar screens by an unexpected ruling from the 8th Circuit.
|
(7) RECORD NUMBERS ON PAROLE, PROBATION (Top) |
Drug Crimes Lift Justice Department Figures To 4.5 Million
|
The number of people on parole or probation reached a record 4.5
million in 1999, the Justice Department announced yesterday. The
biggest increase is in probationers, reflecting a rise in drug arrests
and a decline in the number of drug offenders sent to prison.
|
[snip]
|
Overall, the number of people under correctional supervision stands at
an all-time high of 6.3 million, with 1.86 million men and women behind
bars in June 1999...
|
"The scope of the criminal justice system has increased substantially
over 20 years," Beck said. "It went from a little over 1 percent of the
adult population back in 1980 to now up over 3 percent of all adults.
That's one out of every 32 adults."
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 24 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Washington Post (DC) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The Washington Post Company |
---|
|
|
(8) EDITORIAL: WHEN POLICE CROSS THE LINE (Top) |
Law enforcement officials are ridiculing a Superior Court jury's $1
million verdict against Garden Grove police and California Highway
Patrol and Department of Corrections officials for a raid of an auto
body shop that they conducted in 1997 The shop's owner Merrit Sharp who
was put in handcuffs and forced to the ground during the raid argued
that it left him with emotional and physical injuries "I've never heard
that we need to make people comfortable when they are detained " said
the attorney for the state parole officer involved in the incident .
|
[snip]
|
The key here is that the raid was undertaken without a warrant because
Mr. Sharp's son was a parolee - and parolees are subject to searches
without a warrant. But while parolees don't have the same rights as
other citizens, a parolee's father and innocent bystanders certainly
do, Mr. Sharp's attorney Jerry L. Steering of Newport Beach argued that
the law enforcement officials involved "all got together and schemed it
up " The jury he said agreed that the officers knew that they weren't
allowed to raid Mr Sharp's shop without a warrant but did so anyway;
They "conspired to violate my client's constitutional rights "
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Sun, 23 Jul. 2000 |
---|
Source Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright 2000 The Orange County Register
|
|
(9) RULING MAY REWRITE SENTENCING (Top) |
A largely overlooked U S Supreme Court decision has called into
question the sentences of tens of thousands of federal prisoners and
threatens to swamp prosecutors and the court system with thousands of
appeals. The seemingly isolated ruling struck down a New Jersey hate
crimes law that increased prison time for conduct never considered by a
jury. But last week a U S appeals court ruled that the same principle
applies in thousands of federal drug cases and analysts believe that
dozens of other state and federal statutes may be unconstitutional
based on the ruling In the long run some analysts and prosecutors say
the June 26 decision also could jeopardize federal sentencing
guidelines and similar state systems.
|
Pubdate: | Sun. 23 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | MSNBC.com (US Web) |
---|
Contact: | letters@msnbc. Com |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 MSNBC.com |
---|
Author: | Brooke A. Masters |
---|
Washington Post Staff Writer
|
|
COMMENT: (10) (Top) |
The idea that "treatment" should be favored over incarceration for
"drug crime" is increasingly popular- but not with everyone: witness
this Colorado judge. Beyond that, "treatment" comes in many flavors;
proponents of federal style drug courts are fierce opponents of the
ones sponsored by AZ and CA initiatives.
|
(10) JUDGE BLASTS DRUG COURTS (Top) |
July 21, 2000 - Denver's drug court and drug courts around the nation
came under fire Thursday when a veteran Denver judge wrote in a law
review article that the courts are ineffective gimmicks meant to
appease voters, law enforcement and medical experts.
|
[snip]
|
Hoffman said there is no reliable data that drug courts work. Without
such proof, "we should consider abandoning the experiment," Hoffman
said.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Fri, 21 Jul 2000 |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The Denver Post |
---|
|
|
Cannabis & Hemp-
|
COMMENT: (11-13) (Top) |
A indicator of the chaos surrounding medical use in California for the
past four years: the Union-Tribune's bland announcement of a meeting
nearly four years overdue.
|
As usual, the most intelligent summation of recent medical cannabis
developments in California was to be found in the OCR.
|
(11) MEDICAL MARIJUANA TALK SET (Top) |
Nearly four years after California voters passed Proposition 215,
making marijuana legal for medicinal purposes, the San Diego City
Council will discuss ways to implement the law.
|
Mayor Susan Golding announced yesterday that the controversial
questions of who is legally entitled to use marijuana and how they may
obtain it will be taken up by the council Aug. 14.
|
[snip]
|
Mayor Susan Golding announced yesterday that the controversial
questions of who is legally entitled to use marijuana and how they may
obtain it will be taken up by the council Aug. 14.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Thu, 20 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | San Diego Union Tribune (CA) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. |
---|
Author: | Mark Sauer, Staff Writer |
---|
|
|
(12) EDITORIAL: MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) |
The news that U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer has modified a
previous injunction against northern California cannabis clubs tops a
week-end of good news on the medical marijuana front. The federal
government's previously unyielding wall of marijuana prohibition is
beginning to crumble. It's about time.
|
[snip]
|
Judge Breyer's ruling almost certainly clears the way for the Oakland
Cannabis Buyers Cooperative to begin dispensing marijuana to certain
patients.
|
In addition.. UC San Francisco medical school researcher Donald Abrams
reported promising results at last week's international AIDS
Conference... showed no damage to the immune systems of patients in
his study, but noted improved appetites and ability to hold down food
and medicine.
|
In San Francisco, meanwhile, District Attorney Terence Hallinan kicked
off a new program of issuing city identification cards for medical
marijuana users that are intended to protect patients from arrest by
local law enforcement agencies.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Thu, 20 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Orange County Register (CA) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The Orange County Register |
---|
|
|
(13) CA: DEPUTIES SEIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) |
Phillipsville log truck driver Larry Ford was trying to do the right
thing when he invited sheriff's deputies to inspect the marijuana
garden he grows under California's medical marijuana law.
|
In response to his phone call, five Humboldt County Sheriff's
Department Drug Enforcement Unit deputies and Sgt. Wayne Hanson, unit
commander, arrived at Ford's property Tuesday.
|
The officers took 36 of the 40 plants Ford was growing for himself and
three other people with marijuana prescriptions.
|
The incident, and others like it, may lead to a class-action lawsuit
against the Sheriff's Department, asking for a restraining order to
protect medical marijuana gardens.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Sat, 15 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Times-Standard (CA) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The Times-Standard |
---|
Author: | Jacob Lehman. Lehman covers public safety and law enforcement. |
---|
He can be reached at (707) 441-0512 or
|
|
COMMENT: (14-15) (Top) |
Two overseas items: from Canada, a denunciation of increasing arrests
for simple possession- even as violent crimes decline; from New
Zealand, a plea for hemp agriculture in a lagging economy where wood
pulp is scarce and expensive. The most likely beneficiaries: those
Maoris now on the dole and most liable to arrest for possession.
|
Probably far too intelligent to be adopted.
|
(14) COLUMN: STOP THE REEFER MADNESS (Top) |
Cops, Lawyers, Judges And Columnists Have All Smoked Up
|
Canada's police chiefs say it's past time for Ottawa to decriminalize
the simple possession of marijuana. A federal Senate committee came to
the same logical conclusion not that many years ago. Now, The Globe and
Mail's editorial board has weighed in on the issue, this week declaring
itself "increasingly convinced that we are wasting significant
resources in steering occasional dabblers and harmless potheads through
the criminal justice system."
|
And yet, we continue to charge people - more and more of them each year
- with drug-related offences.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Fri, 21 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Halifax Daily News (CN NS) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 The Daily News. |
---|
|
|
(15) NEW ZEALAND: PUB LTE: CANNABIS COULD REVITALISE MATAURA MILL (Top) |
For many years Jim Anderton has claimed to represent the average New
Zealander and their interests.
|
Yet now that he is Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic
Development he seems to have forgotten this. It appears that he can't
wait to jump into bed with a multi-national company to appease their
consciences over the loss of 155 jobs and $7 million to a small, local
economy.
|
[snip]
|
The "boutique" mill would then have a cheap source of pulp and because
there is currently a high demand for the high-quality hemp paper there
should be no problem finding a market.
|
[snip]
|
Prohibition and globalisation seem to only benefit the US and big
business. The only solution to our real problems is to create the job
machine by legalising the use of the people's plant, cannabis.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 24 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Otago Daily Times (New Zealand) |
---|
Copyright: | Allied Press Limited, 2000 |
---|
Author: | Jason Baker-Sherman |
---|
|
|
International News
|
COMMENT: (16-17) (Top) |
There is a certain monotony to Australia's drug news: continued
rancorous debate over injecting rooms and other harm reduction
measures- even as overdoses soar. Those wishing a better understanding
should read Wendy Prior's overview of the current impasse.
|
(16) AUSTRALIA: HEROIN CAUSES 78 OVERDOSES, 4 DEATHS (Top) |
A BATCH of high-grade heroin has caused 78 overdoses and four deaths in
Sydney, mainly around Kings Cross, in the past three days.New South
Wales Special Minister of State John Della Bosca said it appeared a
highly concentrated batch of the narcotic hit the streets early last
Thursday.
|
All four deaths and 31 overdoses occurred within 24 hours, he said.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 24 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Australian Associated Press (Australia) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Australian Associated Press |
---|
|
|
(17) AUSTRALIA: HEROIN TRIAL BID FACES A BARRAGE OF OPPOSITION (Top) |
HEROIN Claimed 80 WA Lives Last Year. This Year, 42 Young Lives Have
Been Lost to the Addiction
|
Safe injecting rooms are being tested in Sydney but other States have
opposed the move and there are no heroin prescription trials in
Australia despite attempts by the Australian Capital Territory
Government.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Mon, 17 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | West Australian (Australia) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 West Australian Newspapers Limited |
---|
|
|
COMMENT: (18-20) (Top) |
The core of American foreign policy has been slowly shifting from
opposition to Communism toward maintaining global support for our
domestic drug prohibition policy.
|
Despite its intellectual bankruptcy and historic record of failure,
the policy has had global support; but increased visibility in
Colombia and elsewhere is straining the credulity of important allies.
|
These articles illustrate one or another view of the problem: Robert
Caldwell's description of the dilemma shared with the new government
of Mexico is accurate; sadly he can offer no viable strategy because
he can't envision legal drug markets.
|
Duncan Campbell, writing from a European perspective, is freer to
consider a broader range of possibilities, but can't quite go where
his logic is leading.
|
The most depressing example is that offered by an anonymous Houston
Chronicle editorial which- amazingly- draws exactly the wrong
conclusions from the devastating John Otis series they just published.
|
Cognitive dissonance, indeed.
|
(18) OPED: DRUG-FIGHTING AGENDA FOR 2 PRESIDENTS (Top) |
In a matter of months, both Mexico and the United States will
inaugurate new presidents, bringing new governments to power in Mexico
City and Washington. That will be an ideal time to reassess and rethink
the efforts both countries are making against the metastasizing cancer
of the narcotics trade.
|
The two new presidents would do well to start with a sense of urgency.
|
[snip]
|
Without that rule of law and decent government to enforce it, Fox must
know that Mexico cannot achieve its dreams of becoming a fully modern,
prosperous and democratic nation. It is just that stark.
|
[snip]
|
Drug legalization, the imagined remedy suggested by some, would prove
no panacea. Would Americans really want the government facilitating
fixes for millions of addicts? Should government be making drug use
easier and cheaper? Would legalization lead to less or more drug use
and abuse? What message would legalization send to millions of
impressionable youngsters? The answers are suggested by legalization's
zero political prospects.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Sun, 23 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | San Diego Union Tribune (CA) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. |
---|
Author: | Robert J. Caldwell, |
---|
|
|
(19) UK: OPED: DRUGS UNDER FIRE (Top) |
One Side Is Paid For By The US Military, The Other By Addicts. Welcome
To Colombia's Civil War
|
The United States is currently holding 400,000 prisoners of war in
jails across the country. Most of them have never picked up a weapon or
threatened anyone and many of them know they will die in jail, far from
their families.
|
They are prisoners who have been taken by the US government in what is
known as the "war on drugs". Now the US government has decided to
devote a further $1.3bn of its citizens' money towards fighting this
war on a foreign field - or in many foreign fields - by supplying
military aid to the Colombian government and by seeking the backing and
approval of Europe in this task.
|
[snip]
|
Drugs in the US are a problem for the US, however convenient it may be
to blame Latin Americans. Recently the tiny US Libertarian party
launched its bid for the presidency by saying that its first act if -
rather big if - elected would be the pardoning of every non-violent
drug offender. If the US was really serious about its "war on drugs"
those are the steps they would be looking at to remove the grip of
organised international crime from the drugs trade.
|
[snip]
|
Pubdate: | Thu, 20 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Guardian, The (UK) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Guardian Newspapers Limited |
---|
|
|
(20) EDITORIAL: COLOMBIA (Top) |
More Questions Than Answers In Narco-infested Country
|
The three-part series "The Drug Quagmire" (July 16, 17 and 18), written
by Chronicle correspondent John Otis about U.S. involvement in
Colombia, painted a painful, sobering picture of the super problems a
superpower faces in today's high-tech world.
|
[snip]
|
We face equally vexing problems in Colombia. There are no trouble-free
solutions. We know that. The question is: Can we afford to stand by and
watch a hemispheric nation disintegrate? Obviously, we can't. We can
look back at Vietnam and learn a few things about over involvement, but
mostly the United States will have to take due caution every step of
the way in the Colombian mine field.
|
Pubdate: | Sun, 23 Jul 2000 |
---|
Source: | Houston Chronicle (TX) |
---|
Copyright: | 2000 Houston Chronicle |
---|
Note: | Links to the referenced "The Drug Quagmire" series are at the end |
---|
of this editorial.
|
|
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top)
|
Too late for the main body of this weeks issue but a very HOT item is
Dan Forbes expose' in http://www.salon.com/ wherein Barry McCaffrey and
39 other high profile drug warriors seem to have engaged in an illegal
meeting to influence legislation and state initiatives and attempt to
mitigate the burgeoning support for medical marijuana initiatives
nationwide. It appears that Mr. Forbes has caught the good general and
a number of others with their hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
|
FIGHTING "CHEECH AND CHONG" MEDICINE
|
Did The White House Drug Office Go Too Far in Trying To Stop the Spread
of Medical Marijuana Initiatives?
|
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1057/a07.html
|
See also: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm
|
Submitted by http://www.salon.com/
|
|
THE ARIANNA SIDESHOW -Time Magazine
|
Also too late for the DS Weekly regular cut off but a real bonus in
media coverage for the Shadow Conventions was the Time Magazine article
(circulation 4.6 million readers). While Andrew Ferguson's reporting
was less than wholly accurate, the article gave a big boost to public
awareness of the "Shadows."
|
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1052/a06.html
|
NOTE: | The current DrugSense Focus Alert features the Time article as |
---|
well as the more accurate Washington Post piece on the Shadow
Conventions. See the articles and by all means please write a letter to
one or both publications if possible. The current Focus Alert can
always be read on-line at http://www.mapinc.org/
|
Submitted by Richard Lake
|
|
ATTENTION WEBMASTERS
|
Please do everything you can to highlight the drug war days at the
Shadow Conventions on your websites.
|
Please provide basic information, and link to
http://www.drugpolicy.org/ where folks can register. A link to
http://www.shadowconventions.org/ would be useful, but most important
is the link to http://www.drugpolicy.org/, especially the page with the
Shadow Convention info.
|
There is a nice selection of banners and buttons at:
|
http://www.shadowconventions.com/banner.htm
|
Please contact Jeanette Irwin () with any comments or
questions regarding this.
|
Many thanks. Things are really coming together for the two days August
1 and August 15), but we need to keep getting out the word as much as
possible.
|
Submitted by Ethan Nadelmann
|
|
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top)
|
"Somebody has got to have the courage politically to say I care more
about stopping the killing than getting elected." -- James E. Gierach,
quoted in Chicago Sun-Times
|
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1049/a04.html
|
Submitted by Larry Stevens
|
|
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.
|
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
|
Please utilize the following URLs
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
|
News/COMMENTS-Editor: | Tom O'Connell () |
---|
Senior-Editor: | Mark Greer () |
---|
|
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter
writing activists.
|
|
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
educational purposes.
|
|
Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk
|
See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings.
|
|
DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE. 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/
|