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DrugSense Weekly
August 11, 2000 #161

NOTE:   Due to a number of DrugSense staff heading to the Shadow
Convention in LA, next week's issue will be an abbreviated version focusing largely on the Shadow and will not be distributed until Saturday.


Table of Contents

* Breaking News (12/30/24)


* Feature Article


    Philly Shadow Convention A Fantastic Success - L.A. Could Be Even
    Better! /  By Ethan Nadelmann

* Weekly News in Review


Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (1-3)
(1) Beyond the Shadow of the Drug War
(2) The Shadow Knows
(3) Internet Reporters Mostly Stick to Convention
COMMENT: (4-5)
(4) In New Drug Battle, Use of Ecstasy Among Young Soars
(5) U.S. Drug Tsar Fights Ecstasy From Europe
COMMENT: (6-7)
(6) A Growing Supply
(7) Feds Go All-Out in War on Meth

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (8)
(8) Treatment Initiative 'Complex'
COMMENT: (9-10)
(9) Rampant Use of Informants in Drug Cases Coming Under Fire
(10) Grand Juror Arrested in Narcotics Bribe Case
COMMENT: (11)
(11) Court Says Juries, not Judges, Must Decide the Crime

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (12-14)
(12) Canada: Justice Minister Ready to Talk Pot
(13) Column: Decriminalizing Marijuana a No-Brainer
(14) Canada: Soros Group Funded Case for Medical Marijuana
COMMENT: (15-16)
(15) Medicinal Marijuana Still Opposed
(16) At The Movies - Masked Men, Grinches and Reefer Madness

International News-

COMMENT: (17-19)
(17) Canada's Drug Policy Attacked
(18) Cheap Drugs and Hurried Justice Put the System in the Dock
(19) Amphetamine Pill Scourge Has Spread to South, Says General
(20) Singapore: Drug Menace Hits New High
COMMENT: (21-22)
(21) Mexico: Big Overhaul for Mexico's Police Force
(22) UK: Detective 'Gang' Sold Drugs Seized in Raids

* Hot Off The 'Net


    C-Span Shadow Convention Coverage Online
    Campbell Senate Race  Article - National Journal

* Quote of the Week


    Tupac Shakur


FEATURE ARTICLE    (Top)

PHILLY SHADOW CONVENTION A FANTASTIC SUCCESS - L.A.  COULD BE EVEN BETTER

By Ethan Nadelmann

The L.A.  program has come together beautifully. It will cover most of the day 9:30 AM to midnight, Tues, Aug 15.  Should be exhilarating and exhausting.  The program should be almost finalized, circulated, and posted on http://www.drugpolicy.org/ on Wednesday.

Patriotic Hall is a little smaller than Annenberg was in Philly.  Holds I think 6-700.  But more side rooms are available for special meetings, and also more tables.  Contact Jane Spade at re tables.  Contact Ben Hewitt at re volunteering to help.

My guess is the place will be packed, and throughout the day given the program we've put together.  Remember to register at
http://www.drugpolicy.org/

Opportunities for audience interaction will unfortunately once again be virtually minimal -- at least in the main hall -- mostly for logistical/technical reasons.  But I am hopeful that we can make use of side rooms, especially on Wednesday and also on Monday, for meetings -- especially on issues like follow up to the Shadow, movement building, organization building, etc.  I very much regret that organizing the events has been so time consuming that we have devoted insufficient attentions to follow-up, but I don't want to lose the opportunities presented.

I also want to express my gratitude to all those, both at Lindesmith-DPF and other organizations, who did so much to make the Philly event a wonderful success.  Although we were disappointed at the low level of national media coverage of our actual day, C-SPAN apparently covered a fair portion of the day and ran it a few times, so many people saw it.  Tapes will be available. Our website links to video excerpts from the day.  And Arianna's syndicated column this week is absolutely superb http://www.mapinc.org/tlcnews/v00/n1141/a07.html We also exceeded our expectations regarding media coverage prior to the actual day.

But apart from the media aspect, the day itself was remarkable.  The atmosphere in the main hall was electric; the substance was compelling; Jackson and Johnson, Ed Sanders and the Crier panel, Gus Smith and Graham Boyd, and more.  Those already in the movement felt they were experiencing something new and significant.  Family members understood they were part of something bigger, and that there's a movement growing out there that cares about them and their loved ones behind bars. People who have had no voice got one, even if only for a few seconds or minutes.  Lots of people who knew nothing about us and our issues got a serious education.  And we put together something bigger and better than we've ever done before.

I am really grateful for the high level of commitment and energy and goodwill that so many of you have contributed these past weeks.  We are slowly but surely putting drug policy reform on the political and cultural map of American politics.  People are beginning to sense that there's a new movement in town, that we're not going away, and that it's only a matter of time before they have no choice but to engage us.

LA is going to be something!

Many thanks

Ethan Nadelmann

If you were unable to attend, or just want to relive the magic, we've compiled the following resources on our site for your viewing pleasure:

Video Hightlights

http://www.lindesmith.org/shadowconventions/video_philly.html

Press Coverage

http://www.lindesmith.org/shadowconventions/news_shadow.html

Commentary by our Reporter at Large, Harry Gene Levine

http://www.lindesmith.org/news/DailyNews/08_01_00Levine.html

Join the Failed Drug War Debate at the Shadow Discussion Forum at:

http://www.shadowconventions.com/discuss.htm


WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW    (Top)


Domestic News- Policy


COMMENT: (1-3)    (Top)

The first-ever shadow convention is now history; early assessment suggests that pre-event press interest was not matched by live TV coverage- but hey, you have to start somewhere.

In general, the print media maintained its friendly interest in the idea of shadows; the best take may have been that of Dan Gillmor in Silicon Valley's home town paper- the Mercury-News

(1) BEYOND THE SHADOW OF THE DRUG WAR    (Top)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Shadow Convention continued Tuesday on the issue of the failed war on drugs.  The event's co-creator, columnist Arianna Huffington, opened the day by praising Colin Powell's speech at the Repugnicans' convention for his mention of 2 million prisoners in America.

Fat chance that the fat cats will change.  Huffington also quoted from The New York Times, which called the Shadow Convention "an uneasy assortment of the disgruntled."

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   Kansas City Star (MO)
Copyright:   2000 The Kansas City Star
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.kansascity.com/Discussion/
Website:   http://www.kcstar.com/
Author:   Frank Lingo, Special to The Star
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1101/a06.html


(2) THE SHADOW KNOWS    (Top)

It's tough to be alternative these days.  In a world where marketing is king, grass-roots movements don't stay rooted very long.  Ideas that are found to be popular are quickly taken, repackaged, and sold to the public at large.

[snip]

A short subway ride away from the GOP's Kumbaya 2000, over at the University of Pennsylvania, we may be witnessing the mainstreaming of alternative politics.  There, in a room roughly the size of a high school auditorium, the first of two planned "shadow conventions" has been unfolding.  It is something to behold.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 03 Aug 2000
Source:   Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright:   2000 The Christian Science Publishing Society.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.csmonitor.com/
Forum:   http://www.csmonitor.com/atcsmonitor/vox/p-vox.html
Author:   Dante Chinni
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1104/a09.html


(3) INTERNET REPORTERS MOSTLY STICK TO CONVENTION    (Top)

Stop the presses! You can view the Republican National Convention from seven simultaneous camera angles, with just a click of your mouse button! On second thought, keep the presses running.

[snip]

Some of the most substantive speeches in Philadelphia this week have discussed these very issues, which the powers-that-be in both parties are pondering mainly to reaffirm the status quo or fake reform.  The mainstream print media and some Web sites have given the shadow convention a modest amount of coverage, but the broadcasters have all but ignored it.  What a surprise.

Instead of pointing multiple cameras at the convention floor and streaming the images to our computer screens, Web journalists should be looking at the issues -- at what will happen if we elect these people and what has brought our society to the point where we are.

Aim 7 million cameras at a vacuous event, and it's still vacuous.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright:   2000 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author:   Dan Gillmor
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1097/a09.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/shadow.htm


COMMENT: (4-5)    (Top)

At drug war central, image makers sought the right note of alarm to sound about the surging ecstasy market.  Notice how the first line of the NYT article cleverly implies the war on other agents was progressing nicely until E came along.

The message now seems clear; a new drug "menace" is here.  Although in London, McCzar dutifully added to the parental anxiety being generated by a DEA "club drugs" conference in DC.

(4) IN NEW DRUG BATTLE, USE OF ECSTASY AMONG YOUNG SOARS    (Top)

WASHINGTON, Aug.  1 -- Even as casual drug use has dropped nationwide, some of the nation's most prominent drug experts warned today that the use of a psychedelic drug known as Ecstasy has risen sharply, particularly among young people, raising fears that a major new front has opened in the government's efforts to curb illegal drugs.  In the last 10 months alone, agents for the Customs Service have seized a record 8 million doses of the drug at the nation's airports and other ports of entry, far exceeding the 750,000 doses or tablets seized in 1998 and the 3.5 million confiscated last year, according to the government.

But federal officials gathered at a conference here to discuss how to deal with the drug acknowledge that the seizures represent only a fraction of the total amount of Ecstasy that has been smuggled into the country and, in turn, channeled into major cities like New York, Los Angeles and Miami.

[snip]

Donnie Marshall, the head of the DEA, described the growth of Ecstasy as "the most frightening trend" he had seen in his 30-year career.  He said that the drug had rapidly spread from New York and Los Angeles to middle sized towns throughout America.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2000 The New York Times Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum:   http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author:   Raymond Hernandez
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1097/a02.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm


(5) U.S. DRUG TSAR FIGHTS ECSTASY FROM EUROPE    (Top)

AMERICA N authorities have started a campaign to stop Ecstasy flooding in from Europe.  Barry McCaffrey, President Clinton's drug "tsar", announced a radio and Internet advertising drive against the growing popularity of the drug among young people.

"They're calling it the 'hug drug', but Ecstasy is actually a powerful and destructive substance that can wreck mind and body," Mr McCaffrey said.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   Times, The (UK)
Copyright:   2000 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Author:   Ian Brodie
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1102/a10.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm


COMMENT: (6-7)    (Top)

Anyone who reads newspapers knows the war against other agents continues to be a failure- as underscored by the following:

(6) A GROWING SUPPLY    (Top)

DEA Paints bleak picture of fight against Mexican heroin trade

MEXICO CITY - Call it what you want - smack, horse, white lady, junk, joy powder.  Heroin means money by any name, and Mexican traffickers who peddle it are suddenly flush.

All they have to do is spirit the drugs to the Southwest border and after that, it's usually pay dirt.  That's because they're almost never caught, according to a confidential Drug Enforcement Administration report.  The 15-page report, called "The Mexican Heroin Trade," paints one of the darkest pictures yet on how the crooks are winning the drug war.

[snip]

American authorities believe there are as many as 980,000 hard-core heroin addicts in the United States.  The average age of first-time users - 27 in 1988 - plunged to 17 in 1997.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 6 Aug 2000
Source:   Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright:   2000 The Dallas Morning News
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://dmnweb.dallasnews.com/letters/
Website:   http://www.dallasnews.com/
Forum:   http://forums.dallasnews.com:81/webx
Author:   Tracey Eaton
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1118/a07.html


(7) FEDS GO ALL-OUT IN WAR ON METH:    (Top)

Lodi Man Among 40 Held In Latest Wave

Federal law enforcement officials said Tuesday that they have launched an all-out, nationwide offensive against renegade distributors of pseudoephedrine, the primary chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine.

The latest wave of arrests began late Friday, and by Tuesday agents had rounded up 40 people, including a Lodi man, suspected of illegally trafficking in the strictly regulated chemical.  The arrests brought the total to 140 in eight cities since the operation began in December.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright:   2000 The Sacramento Bee
Contact:  
Feedback:   http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html
Website:   http://www.sacbee.com/
Forum:   http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html
Author:   Denny Walsh, Bee Staff Writer
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1097/a06.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm


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

COMMENT: (8)    (Top)

"Treatment beats incarceration" is the new mantra; the Mercury-News sorted out differences between the two coerced treatment plans that California voters get to choose between in November.

(8) TREATMENT INITIATIVE 'COMPLEX'    (Top)

Prop.  36: Measure Would Trade Jail For Recovery Homes In Drug Convictions.

Everyone agrees they're a vital thread in the social fabric, but few people want a drug and alcohol recovery house as part of their neighborhood.  Sponsors of an initiative that would mandate treatment instead of jail or prison for non-violent, first- or second-time drug offenders easily qualified the issue for the ballot in November's general election.  The issue's passage could divert up to 37,000 people from jails and prisons each year -- dramatically increasing the number of recovery houses needed throughout the state.

[snip]

California has one of the most comprehensive drug-court systems in the country -- a system that already provides treatment, and one that judges and prosecutors say would change radically if treatment were mandated rather than an option.  The measure effectively would decriminalize drug and alcohol crimes by taking away the ability of judges to sentence offenders to jail time.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 06 Aug 2000
Source:   San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright:   2000 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author:   Ed Pope, and Bill Romano
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1122/a07.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/prop36.htm


COMMENT: (9-10)    (Top)

Meanwhile, the degree to which drug cases compromise law enforcement and the judicial process also continued to make news.

Now that sale of grand jury findings has been pioneered, will it become a new staple in the corruption inventory?

(9) RAMPANT USE OF INFORMANTS IN DRUG CASES COMING UNDER FIRE    (Top)

Fighting Crime With Crime

Arrested in 1998 for smuggling a load of marijuana into Florida, Jimmie Ellard thought he had the perfect cover: He was working for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Since his release from prison in 1996, after serving six years for marijuana smuggling, he said, agents had let him smuggle pot into the country so they could bust his customers.

[snip]

The DEA acknowledges having twice as many documented informants (4,500) as field agents.  But the FBI, Customs Service and the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms declined to even estimate the number they handle.

"The care and feeding of informants is big business in the U.S. government," said William Moffitt, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.  "It's like the CIA's `black budget.'

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 06 Aug 2000
Source:   Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright:   2000 Houston Chronicle
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.chron.com/
Forum:   http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author:   Mark Smith
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1124/a11.html


(10) GRAND JUROR ARRESTED IN NARCOTICS BRIBE CASE    (Top)

Hidden Camera Provides Evidence

DENVER -- A day after a Denver federal grand jury handed up indictments in a nationwide narcotics investigation, one of those grand jurors walked into the offices of an alleged drug kingpin and offered to sell the information for $50,000, authorities have charged.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Thu, 03 Aug 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:   Karen Abbott, Scripps Howard News Service
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1104/a05.html


COMMENT: (11)    (Top)

A recent Supreme Court decision resolved a complex New Jersey case in such a way that thousands of drug convictions could be in jeopardy. Robyn Blumner explains implications that most reporters have yet to grasp.

(11) COURT SAYS JURIES, NOT JUDGES, MUST DECIDE THE CRIME    (Top)

Just say "criminal procedure" to most people and, as if through autonomic function, their eyes start to glaze over.  The field can be duller than spectator golf and as hard to follow as Newt Gingrich's code of marital fidelity.  But if ever you or someone you care about is falsely accused of a crime, the constitutional protections for criminal defendants become very relevant.

This past term, the U.S.  Supreme Court decided a case with such far-reaching implications that it could force the reconsideration of prison sentences for tens of thousands of convicted drug dealers.  Why haven't you heard of it? Well, first, the case came down the same week the court ruled on explosive issues over partial-birth abortion and gay Boy Scouts.  And, second, the ruling ran 106 pages long and involved the complex, arcane world of sentencing law.  Lawyers are struggling to understand the case's consequences, most reporters are understandably clueless.

[snip]

Susan Klein, a professor at the University of Texas Law School and a former federal prosecutor, said she has identified at least 40 federal criminal statutes that appear to be unconstitutional under these new rules.  "And there are similar statutes in every state," she said.

Prosecutors should be waking up at night in a cold sweat: Virtually every conviction under a federal drug statute is now at risk.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Sun, 06 Aug 2000
Source:   St.  Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright:   2000 St.  Petersburg Times
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sptimes.com/
Forum:   http://www.sptimes.com/Interact.html
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1133/a04.html
Author:   Robyn E.  Blumner


Cannabis & Hemp-


COMMENT: (12-14)    (Top)

After last week's surprising court decision, the near certainty of relaxed cannabis laws remained big news in Canada but was ignored by parochial US media; an article by Nate Hendley linked some familiar American names to the Parker case.

(12) CANADA: JUSTICE MINISTER READY TO TALK POT    (Top)

McLellan leaves open the possibility of decriminalization

OTTAWA - Justice Minister Anne McLellan says she's willing to consider the possibility of decriminalizing marijuana following a court decision striking down Canada's possession law.

``I think we do have to be concerned about the best use of our law enforcement resources, and the best use of our judicial resources and court facilities,'' McLellan said yesterday.

``Is the best use in pursuing possession charges for small amounts of soft drugs?'' she said.  ``That's a legitimate question that one needs to fully comprehend and talk to a lot of people about.''

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 Aug 2000
Source:   Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright:   2000 The Toronto Star
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.thestar.com/
Forum:   http://www.thestar.com/editorial/disc_board/
Author:   Valerie Lawton, Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1107/a08.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/parker.htm


(13) COLUMN: DECRIMINALIZING MARIJUANA A NO-BRAINER    (Top)

Ten-month-old Dylan Clay is making happy little baby noises while his dad Chris talks expectantly of a day when the family can visit Disneyland.  Realistically, any travel by Clay outside Canada will be a long way off.  Like 600,000 other Canadians who have fallen victim to Canada's senseless and futile efforts to prohibit marijuana use, the 29-year-old former Londoner has a criminal record that severely restricts travel.

The United States, with its war on drugs so conveniently papering over a host of social ills from decaying cities to lousy test scores for students, will be off-limits for some time.

[snip]

As it stands, Young argues the law has only a political purpose -- it protects Ottawa from retaliation by our southern neighbour for whom drugs are a bogeyman.  And a drug that's so ubiquitous is a perfect foil for police in chasing other concerns.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 Aug 2000
Source:   London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright:   2000 The London Free Press a division of Sun Media Corporation.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.canoe.ca/LondonFreePress/home.html
Forum:   http://www.lfpress.com/londoncalling/SelectForum.asp
Author:   David Dauphinee,
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1109/a06.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm


(14) CANADA: SOROS GROUP FUNDED CASE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA    (Top)

U.S.  think-tank backed by billionaire gave Canadian man $25,000 for appeal

A Toronto man who won the legal right to use marijuana for medicinal purposes received financial support from a U.S.  think-tank funded by billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

The Lindesmith Center gave more than US $25,000 to help cover Terry Parker's legal bills.  Mr. Parker uses the drug to fight his severe epilepsy.  Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal not only upheld his right to use marijuana, but it declared Canada's cannabis law to be unconstitutional.  The court gave Parliament 12 months to rewrite the legislation so legitimate patients can get medicinal cannabis.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 Aug 2000
Source:   National Post (Canada)
Copyright:   2000 Southam Inc.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nationalpost.com/
Forum:   http://forums.canada.com/~nationalpost
Author:   Nate Hendley
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1131/a08.html
Cited:   http://www.lindesmith.org/
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/parker.htm


COMMENT: (15-16)    (Top)

ONDCP, seemingly as oblivious to Canadian developments as to public sentiment in the US, signaled no change in its determination to oppose medical use.

Sympathetic treatment of the issue in a movie opening soon at a theater near you should add considerably to the major headache it has already given them.  Tough.

(15) MEDICINAL MARIJUANA STILL OPPOSED    (Top)

The Department of Justice yesterday pledged to continue resisting California's voter-approved medical marijuana law, arguing the government has the right to penalize doctors who recommend cannabis by revoking their licenses to dispense medication.

Justice Department lawyers argued their position in U.S.  District Court here during the final stage of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which contends the government's position violates doctors' free speech rights, and because many doctors resist recommending pot for fear of losing the federal right to prescribe medication.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 Aug 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
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1108/a10.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm


(16) AT THE MOVIES - MASKED MEN, GRINCHES AND REEFER MADNESS    (Top)

Reefer Madness

Brenda Blethyn's sense is that public attitudes toward marijuana and other illegal drugs are just about the same in Britain, where she lives, as in the United States.  But she hopes that not too much emphasis is placed on the dope-smoking aspects of "Saving Grace," the new comedy in which she stars as a Cornish housewife persuaded by her gardener to grow and sell pot as a means of saving her impoverished estate.

[snip]

The film, which opens on Friday in New York and some other cities, is the work of the first-time director Nigel Cole and was one of the hits at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Fri, 04 Aug 2000
Source:   New York Times (NY)
Copyright:   2000 The New York Times Company
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum:   http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author:   Rick Lyman
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1108/a02.html


International News


COMMENT: (17-19)    (Top)

The subtext of the following items: the international criminal markets sponsored and maintained by American domestic policy are thriving around the world.

(17) CANADA'S DRUG POLICY ATTACKED    (Top)

Chemicals Used To Make Ecstasy Not Controlled: Official

A United Nations narcotics watchdog has accused Canada of failing to adequately monitor chemicals that can be used to produce illicit drugs like speed and ecstasy.

Criminals are benefiting from the lack of controls and setting up clandestine synthetic drug labs at an alarming rate, local police say.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 02 Aug 2000
Source:   Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright:   2000 The Toronto Star
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.thestar.com/
Forum:   http://www.thestar.com/editorial/disc_board/
Author:   Amira Elghawaby
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1099/a11.html


(18) CHEAP DRUGS AND HURRIED JUSTICE PUT THE SYSTEM IN THE DOCK    (Top)

As politicians fight over policy, the drug trade is pushing the justice system to the limit.  Bernard Lagan joins a magistrate, a lawyer and a probation officer on the front line at Fairfield Local Court.

[snip]

This is justice on the city's south-west fringes, a system stretched to the edges of tolerance.

The State Government will release a report this week showing that criminal charges to be heard in local courts have increased by more than 13 per cent in the past year, causing six-month delays before matters can be heard.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Wed, 09 Aug 2000
Source:   Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Copyright:   2000 The Sydney Morning Herald
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.smh.com.au/
Forum:   http://forums.fairfax.com.au/
Author:   Bernard Lagan
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1135/a02.html


(19) AMPHETAMINE PILL SCOURGE HAS SPREAD TO SOUTH, SAYS GENERAL    (Top)

Thailand's Drug Problem

HAADYAI -- Amphetamine addiction, which has caused havoc in Thailand's cities and has been named its top national security threat, has now spread to the rural south, the army says.

""I believe more than 50 per cent of villages in the south already have a drugs problem,'' said Lt-Gen Narong Denudom, the commander of Thailand's Fourth Army.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 Aug 2000
Source:   Straits Times (Singapore)
Copyright:   2000 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
Contact:  
Website:   http://straitstimes.asia1.com/
Author:   AFP
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1134/a07.html


(20) SINGAPORE: DRUG MENACE HITS NEW HIGH    (Top)

SINGAPORE'S relentless battle against drug trafficking has moved to a new high.

More than 220 tonnes of narcotics with a street value of a whopping S$5.3bil (RM11.66bil) were seized and destroyed here in the three years from 1996 to 1998.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 08 Aug 2000
Source:   Star, The (Malaysia)
Copyright:   2000 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd.
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.thestar.com.my
Author:   The Straits Times-Asia News Network
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1134/a05.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/asia.htm


COMMENT: (21-22)    (Top)

Mexico under the PRI became infamous for the corruption of its law enforcement agencies; last week, the new president, wisely took the army out of the drug enforcement business.  This week, he promised cleaner police.

That may be no easy task- as a report from Britain suggests.

(21) MEXICO: BIG OVERHAUL FOR MEXICO'S POLICE FORCE    (Top)

President-Elect To Try To End Rampant Corruption

Mexico City - President-elect Vicente Fox's top aides announced a plan yesterday to transform radically Mexico's corrupted police and judiciary and to demilitarize its anti-narcotics programs.

The proposal includes a new public security system that would unify and professionalize Mexico's many police forces.  It also would create a federal prosecutor general's office to replace the police and judicial functions of the long-troubled attorney general's office.

[snip]

Pubdate:   Tue, 01 Aug 2000
Source:   San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright:   2000 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum:   http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Author:   Mark Fineman, Los Angeles Times
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1100/a06.html
Related:   http://www.mapinc.org/mexico.htm


(22) UK: DETECTIVE 'GANG' SOLD DRUGS SEIZED IN RAIDS    (Top)

A DETECTIVE who used his affair with a woman trafficker to sell drugs stolen in police raids through her network has been jailed for 12 years, the longest sentence imposed on a corrupt officer for 30 years.

[snip]

Studies of police corruption in New York, which influenced the Met, identified two types of corrupt officer: "meat eaters", relentless, cunning seekers of dishonest opportunities, and less active "grass eaters".  Clark was regarded as one of the most ravenous "meat eaters".  His relationship with Evelyn Fleckney, 43, a drug trafficker jailed for 15 years in 1998, broke every rule in the police manual on the handling of informants.

[snip]

Cdr Andy Hayman, of the Met's internal investigations command, said: "The sentences should act as a deterrent to those who consider engaging in corrupt activity."

Pubdate:   Sat, 05 Aug 2000
Source:   Daily Telegraph (UK)
Copyright:   2000 Telegraph Group Limited
Contact:  
Website:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Author:   John Steele, Crime Correspondent
URL:   http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1110/a12.html


HOT OFF THE 'NET    (Top)

C-Span Shadow Convention Coverage Online

While their broadcast coverage of the Philly Shadow left something to be desired, C-Span has put up some very good video clips of the convention.

http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/kdrive/c2k073000_shadow2.rm http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/ldrive/rnc080200_shadow.rm http://video.c-span.org:8080/ramgen/ldrive/rnc080300_shadow.rm


Campbell Senate Race Article - National Journal

An article on the Tom Campbell race for Senate is now on the National Journal website.  The National Journal is available to nonsubscribers through the end of the Democratic convention on August 18, and there's a lot on that website, do check it out.

http://nationaljournal.com/members/adspotlight/2000/08/0804tcca1.htm

Submitted by Doug McVay


QUOTE OF THE WEEK    (Top)

"Instead of a war on poverty, They got a war on drugs, So the police can bother me." -- Tupac Shakur "Changes" from 2Pac Greatest Hits

Submitted by Michael Nendick


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