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DrugSense Weekly
July 28, 2000, #159


Table of Contents

* 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]

Pubdate:   Mon24 Jul 2000
Source:   MSNBC.com (US Web)
Copyright:   2000 MSNBC.com
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.msnbc.com/news/
Author:   Eric Alterman, MSNBC Contributor
URL http://www.mapincorg/drugnews/v00/n1043/a03.html
Related:   http://www.mapincorg/shadow.htm


(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]

Pubdate:   Thu 20 Jul 2000
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2000 The New York Times Company
Page:   F1
Contact:  
Website:   http //www.nytimes.com/
Forum:   http //www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author:   Russ Baker
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1019/a10.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/authors/huffington
Related:   http://www.ariannaonline.com/


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
Source:   Associated Press
Copyright:   2000 Associated Press
Author:   David Pitt, Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1039/a09.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm


(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.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.boston.com/globe/
Author:   Associated Press
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1007/a04.html


(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
Source:   Reuters
Copyright:   2000 Reuters Limited.
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1016/a08.html


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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.dispatch.com/
Author:   Steve Stephens,


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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author:   Ellen Nakashima
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1042/a06.html


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.ocregister.com/
Related:   http://.www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1017/a01html
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1039/a10 html


(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)
Website:   http://msnbc.com/news/
Feedback:   http://bbs.Msnbc.com/bbs/msnbc-oped/
Contact:   letters@msnbc.  Com
Forum:   http: //www.Msnbc.com/bbs/
Copyright:   2000 MSNBC.com
Author:   Brooke A.  Masters
Washington Post Staff Writer
URL:   http //www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1034/a03.html


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
Source:   Denver Post (CO)
Copyright:   2000 The Denver Post
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum:   http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author:   Howard Pankratz
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1025/a05.html


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.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum:   http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author:   Mark Sauer, Staff Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1013/a08.html


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.ocregister.com/
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1019/a06.html


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.times-standard.com/front/frontpage.html
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1013/a05.html
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.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.hfxnews.southam.ca/
Author:   Stephen Kimber
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1022/a09.html


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www2.odt.co.nz
Author:   Jason Baker-Sherman
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1041/a08.html


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
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1040/a07.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/aussie.htm


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://thewest.com.au/redirect.shtml
Author:   Wendy Prior
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1034/a01.html


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.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum:   http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
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
Contact:  
Author:   Duncan Campbell
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1025/a02.html


(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
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Forum:   http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1040/a02.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/colombia.htm
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


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