| February 23, 2001 #188 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
This Just In- (1) Pardons Should Go To Those Caught In The 'War On Drugs' (2) US Anti-Drug Workers Brave Bullets In Reported Colombia Rescue (3) Canada: Critics Dismiss UN Drug Report As US - Driven (4) Australia: UN Slams States' Drug Stance | ||||||||||||||||
This Just In- | ||||||||||||||||
(1) PARDONS SHOULD GO TO THOSE CAUGHT IN THE 'WAR ON DRUGS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Almost as troublesome as the last-minute pardons President Clinton
decided to grant rich, powerful and connected figures like financier
Marc Rich are questions about the pardons he failed to issue to
hundreds of very ordinary people caught in the legal traps of our
misguided "war on drugs." | ||||||||||||||||
The number of Americans incarcerated for drug offenses has spiraled
upward tenfold since 1980. Some 500,000 are now held - 80,000 in
federal prisons. Many are serving extremely long sentences - 20
years. 25 years, life - with no chance of parole. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) US ANTI-DRUG WORKERS BRAVE BULLETS IN REPORTED COLOMBIA RESCUE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia--American anti-drug workers braved rebel gunfire to help
rescue the crew of a downed Colombian police helicopter during an anti-drug
mission, police and a U.S. official said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
The rescue Sunday illustrated the role American civilians hired by the
government are playing in the drug war in this Latin American country--and
the risks they face. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) CANADA: CRITICS DISMISS UN DRUG REPORT AS US - DRIVEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Ottawa (CP) The federal government is prepared to put up more money to
fight recreational drug use, an approach others say is U.S. driven
and out of touch with trends elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney General Anne Mclellan reiterated Liberal policy Wednesday after the United Nations criticized Canada's anti-drug efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's clear that we can do more and we must do more," Mclellan said outside Liberal caucus. "We're going to put more resources toward that. Certainly we as a government are seized with the issue." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The U.N. position, and Liberal policy, were challenged by Neil Boyd,
a criminologist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.N. report and Ottawa's get tough attitude are driven by U.S.
policy, he said in an interview. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) AUSTRALIA: UN SLAMS STATES' DRUG STANCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE United Nations has criticised Australian states for challenging the
Federal Government's anti-heroin injection room stance. The UN's
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said the continuing rise in
heroin deaths and the accessibility of heroin was a major problem facing
Australia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In its report, the INCB also said it was concerned about the high social
acceptance of illicit drugs and the large number of people in favour of the
legalisation of drugs in Australia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Boston Globe article on harm reduction is indicative of the change
in national thinking now under way: "just say no" is losing ground to
more pragmatic approaches. | ||||||||||||||||
The same idea was expressed more directly by an Arizona editor, while
a thoughtful Virginia OP-Ed points out how the HIDTA program initiated
under Bush, senior (and greatly expanded by McCzar) has pushed drug
arrests through the roof. | ||||||||||||||||
The same basic change in public attitude was acknowledged by D.A.R.E.
sponsors, who are modifying their program to deflect mounting
criticism. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) SAVING THE SINNER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
From Condoms For Teens To Needles For Addicts, Doctors Try To Lead A
Divided Public | ||||||||||||||||
WORCESTER - Jessie was blond and pretty at 23, except for the
pus-filled abscesses that dotted her arms. She told the doctor she was
shooting 20 bags of heroin a day. She was also sharing needles and
prostituting herself to buy drugs - in other words, practically
courting the HIV virus. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Erik Garcia didn't order her to quit. He didn't lecture, didn't tell her she was killing herself. Instead, he took Jessie's arm and showed her one of the first things he learned in medical school: How to inject drugs without infecting the skin and causing an abscess. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) AG HAS GOOD PRIORITIES ... EXCEPT ONE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The nation's new attorney general, John Ashcroft, set out a broad
agenda for his office in a recent interview. His top three priorities
are increased prosecution of gun law violators, a reinvigoration of the
war on drugs and stamping out racial discrimination. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
One of Ashcroft's goals, however, is misguided and doomed to failure.
That is his plan to reinvigorate the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs is a lost cause. No matter how hard we crack down on
drug use, the problem will not go away because addicts and their
suppliers won't obey laws against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
The answer is not tougher laws or enforcement, but rather to deal with drug addiction as a social issue, much like we do with alcoholism. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) DON'T PUNISH DRUG ABUSERS, TREAT THEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Rigid Policies Are Counterproductive | ||||||||||||||||
IF ATTORNEY General John Ashcroft wants to put as many drug-law
violators as possible behind bars and provide treatment to as few as
possible, he will simply fall in love with the High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area program run by President George W. Bush's
yet-to-be-named drug czar. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The new administration may be looking for a way to spread Washington's
rigid, punitive drug-enforcement policies to state and local police
agencies. If so, the HIDTA program is an ideal vehicle. The program's
advertised goal is to increase the ability of state and local police
departments to catch drug traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) ANTIDRUG PROGRAM SAYS IT WILL ADOPT A NEW STRATEGY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In a striking shift, leaders of the nation's most widely used program
to discourage drug use among schoolchildren have acknowledged that
their strategy has not had sufficient impact and say they are
developing a new approach to spreading their message. | ||||||||||||||||
DARE - for Drug Abuse Resistance Education - has grown so rapidly since
its founding 18 years ago that it is now taught in 75 percent of school
districts nationwide and in 54 other countries. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
DARE officials and independent researchers have quietly worked for two
years to develop a new curriculum and plan to introduce it in
Washington today. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (9-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Although a less punitive attitude toward drug use is developing, the old approach is very much with us--- and as Bill Bennett demonstrates quite capable at claiming a patina of tolerance for itself. | ||||||||||||||||
Another voice from the past had a somewhat different opinion:
presidential use of the bully pulpit is the most decisive element of
drug policy. Wonder what Dubya will finally say and when he'll get
around to saying it. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, for all those awaiting a magic bullet to finally solve our
drug problems: help is on the way. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) THE REAL LESSONS FROM 'TRAFFIC' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The critically acclaimed film "Traffic" is a poignant movie about drug
use and the war on drugs. By almost all accounts, it captures the
hopelessness and tragedy of drug addiction, as well as the perils
inherent in combating a moral and legal wrong, in a forthright and
convincing manner. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
... the criminal justice system plays a critical role as well. It can | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) WHITE HOUSE MUST TAKE LEAD IN DRUG WARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, Only Lip Service Has Been Given To Demand Reduction Or
Drug Prevention | ||||||||||||||||
The use of illegal drugs is probably the most serious problem facing America and most other nations because increasing numbers of users are chancing addiction, irreversible physical or mental impairment and death. Yet Americans spend an estimated $63.2 billion annually on these drugs while, globally, the price tag is around $400 billion. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Reagans' message was heard and acted on because it was consistent
and because they were perceived as sincere. Their admonitions urging
parents to counsel their children and unite with other parents in
protecting their homes, schools and neighborhoods, therefore, was
heeded. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) DRUG WARRIOR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When immunologist Philippe Pouletty was a resident at a hospital
emergency room in Paris in the early 1980s, he was struck by the fact
that, although 20% of patients admitted were drunks or drug addicts,
doctors had no adequate treatment for them. .. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
To get around the problem of addicts failing to follow a drug regimen,
DrugAbuse Sciences is developing a controlled-release version of
naltrexone that requires only a monthly injection. Naltrel, as it is
known, is in the last phase of human trials. So far one injection
eliminated the highs experienced by a group of 15 heroin users for six
weeks. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug Abuse Sciences also is working on a cocaine vaccine, licensed from the Scripps Research Institute. Scripps scientists used lab rats to prove that the body's immune system can be prompted into destroying cocaine molecules before they cross from the blood into the brain. .. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The press finally discovered what reformers have understood for
several years: drug arrests soared under Clinton, simply because the
arresting bureaucracy becomes ever more voracious- even as it
continues to grow. | ||||||||||||||||
A Midwestern article illustrates how police specialization combines
with the lure of forfeiture to increase drug arrests. | ||||||||||||||||
The prison population is still growing, but the rate of that growth
has slowed-- leaving the private prison industry in a bind; as
recounted in a long Washington Post article. | ||||||||||||||||
Nate Blakeslee of the Texas Observer (he broke the Tulia story)
explains how rehabilitation in the Texas prison system was adversely
affected by Dubya's election. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally; the Supremes will soon render an important decision on
admitting evidence gathered by yet another high tech process-- this
time, thermal imaging. | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) CLINTON PRESIDENCY BLAMED FOR RECORD LEAP IN PRISON POPULATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The federal and state prison populations rose more under former
President Bill Clinton than under any other president, according to a
report from a criminal justice institute to be released today.
In fact, the analysis of U.S. Justice Department statistics by the
left-leaning Justice Policy Institute found that more federal inmates
were added to prisons under Clinton than under Presidents George Bush
and Ronald Reagan combined. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
During Clinton's eight-year tenure, the total population of federal
and state prisons combined rose by 673,000 inmates -- 235,000 more
than during Reagan's two terms. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) AIRPORT DRUG BUSTS DOUBLED IN 2000 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport's Drug
Interdiction Task Force last year nearly doubled the number of arrests
made. | ||||||||||||||||
Last year 92 people were arrested, up from 48 in 1999. In addition, the
amount of cash that was seized from drug couriers last year - $570,994 -
was up from 1999, when $447,115 was seized. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) PRISON FIRMS SEEK INMATES AND PROFITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
McRAE, GA - The late afternoon sun glints from coils of razor wire carefully intertwined in double rows of chain-link fence. Cellblocks coated with fresh paint are neat and ready. In the empty parking lot, a sign welcomes visitors to the McRae Correctional Facility. But the $45 million private prison holds no prisoners. Finished months ago by Corrections Corporation of America in anticipation of business that has not arrived, the gleaming compound is a symbol of an industry whose grand expectations have outpaced its ability to deliver. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) JUST BUILD IT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Is TDJC Addicted To Prison Construction? | ||||||||||||||||
When Ann Richards became governor in 1991, the state was facing a
prison crisis. County jails were filled with inmates waiting to go to
prisons that were already over capacity; and the counties were suing
the state for refusing to take the inmates. | ||||||||||||||||
Faced with building 25,000 new beds just to get free of the lawsuit, Richards, a recovering addict herself, resolved that a good portion of any beds built on her watch would be drug treatment beds. | ||||||||||||||||
Aided by Senator Ted Lyon and others, Richards pushed through the
legislature one of the most ambitious inmate drug rehabilitation
programs in the country. | ||||||||||||||||
But Richards' New Texas was fleeting. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) SUPREME COURT HEARS ARGUMENTS ON MARIJUANA CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) An Oregon man says narcotics agents invaded his privacy
and trampled on his Fourth Amendment rights when they used a device to
detect excessive heat coming from his house -- without a search
warrant. The "thermal imager," a camera-like device that depicts
infrared radiation, gave law enforcement officials a piece of evidence
that led to a search warrant for Danny Lee Kyllo's home in Florence,
Ore. Inside, agents found drug paraphernalia and more than 100
marijuana plants, and arrested him. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Alan Fotheringham used the plight of an activist to illustrate Liberal
government bumbling as it plods towards its avowed goal of permitting
medical use. No one said they had to be reasonable. | ||||||||||||||||
Speaking of reasonable; the ex- guv of Kentucky now argues that the
federal position on hemp (which he supported while governor) is based
on neither truth nor logic. | ||||||||||||||||
In Hawaii, there's been no rush of patients to register as medical users; could that be because the list is maintained by state narcs? | ||||||||||||||||
Matt Smith, of the SF Weekly, brought hyperbole and vitriol to
ridiculous heights; all in defense of an embattled local DA facing a
May recall. | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) THE POLITICS OF MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
On Feb. 15, 2000, Oak Bay police in suburban Victoria paid a visit to
the Vancouver Island Compassion Society offices. Here is their Report
to Crown Counsel: | ||||||||||||||||
"Const. Tim Henderson met with Philippe Lucas and Colleen O'Neill at
the premises of the VICS. On entering the office, Const. Henderson was
struck by the clean and friendly atmosphere, and observed that there
were potted plants around the place, … | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Liberal government is in -- not unusual -- a complete mess over this situation. A Compas survey in May of 2000 found that 92 per cent of Canadians feel medicinal marijuana should be legalized. And a perhaps-surprising 69 per cent favour decriminalizing cannabis. The pointy-headed judges of the legal profession seem, sort of, to agree - -- at least advising that the government doesn't know what it is doing. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) KENTUCKY VOICES: WE CAN DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN HEMP, MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It is time to separate reality from rhetoric. When I was governor, I
listened to all sides of the issues, carefully considered all opinions
before me and tried to be fair in my responses. | ||||||||||||||||
One of the most recent, the industrial hemp issue, has also proven to
be one of the most important. | ||||||||||||||||
Although Kentucky has long been known for its historical hemp industry,
it wasn't until about a year ago that I became educated about
industrial hemp. Frankly, I was opposed to the legalization of hemp
for years because I had been of the opinion that hemp was marijuana. I
was shortsighted in my thinking, and I was wrong. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Remember, we can't distinguish between Kentucky white moonshine and spring water by looking, but we haven't seen fit to outlaw spring water. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) FEAR STYMIES DEMAND FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Patients wanting to use medical marijuana aren't knocking any doors down to apply under the law passed by last year's Legislature. Only 27 people statewide have registered to use marijuana for medical purposes since the program began operating Dec. 28, said Keith Kamita, head of the Narcotics Enforcement Division, state Department of Public Safety. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) SMOKE AND SMEARERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Potheads Distort The Record - And Endanger The Justice System - As They
Try To Recall The Marin DA | ||||||||||||||||
Of all of the underreported stories of 2001 -- the simian Evernet(1), secret BART tunnels(2), Hetch Hetchy reactor problems(3) -- the most egregious by far is the fact that marijuana smokers are lame losers.(4) Before the Medical Marijuana Initiative, aka Proposition 215, passed in 1996, it was possible to note a person curled into a paranoid, catatonic ball, to turn to one's companion, and to say, "Look at the pothead; now there's a lame-o for you," and go on about one's business. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (21-24) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
UN inspectors in Afghanistan, finding few poppy fields, claimed
success for their plan to reduce opium production; even while
admitting that compliance with the ban worsens the lot of poor Afghan
farmers | ||||||||||||||||
The DEA, not buying the UN claims at face value, urged waiting until harvest time and also suggested the Taliban may be trying to copy OPEC. | ||||||||||||||||
Australia's heroin comes mostly from Burma; whether a current shortage
is due to increased police efficiency or source country woes isn't
clear. | ||||||||||||||||
Australian PM Howard's veto of the 1997 "heroin trial" was softened by creation of an advisory council . Results? Between '96 and '00, none of its recommendations were implemented and overdose deaths jumped 45%. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) UN SAYS TALIBAN WIPED OUT OPIUM THAT SUPPLIED BULK OF WORLD'S HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
JALALABAD, Afghanistan -- U.N. drug-control officers said the Taliban
religious militia has virtually wiped out opium production in
Afghanistan - -- once the world's largest producer -- since banning
poppy cultivation in July. | ||||||||||||||||
A 12-member team from the U.N. Drug Control Program spent two weeks
searching most of the nation's largest opium-producing areas and found
so few poppies that they do not expect any opium to come out of
Afghanistan this year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The ban has badly hurt farmers in one of the world's poorest countries,
shattered by two decades of war and devastated by drought. Shams-ul-Haq
Sayed, an officer of the Taliban drug-control office in Jalalabad, said
farmers need international aid to recover from the loss of their
traditional income. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) DEA OFFICIAL QUESTIONS AFGHAN DATA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - A U.S. narcotics official said Friday it was too early to
confirm a reported plunge in opium production in Afghanistan, a drop U.N.
officials are attributing to a ban the Taliban militia imposed last year
against poppy cultivation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Casteel, however, said drought could be a factor in a production drop.
Also, because opium has a shelf life "almost of an eternity," the
Taliban may have stockpiled crops to help drive up prices. One pound of
opium worth $25 several months ago is now worth "in the hundreds," and
a kilo of heroin in Afghanistan has gone from $690 to about $2,500,
Casteel said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) HEROIN SHORTAGE MAY BRING MORE FATALITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sydney is in the grip of a heroin shortage, sparking frenzied demand for methadone and detoxification treatment and rising anxiety about an overdose epidemic when supplies are inevitably restored. | ||||||||||||||||
The shortage, confirmed by police, doctors and drug and alcohol
workers, has led to reports of a dangerous increase in impurities and a
doubling in the street price of heroin - from the usual $50 a quarter
gram up to $120 per quarter in some areas. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) COUNCIL TOOTHLESS IN WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE AUSTRALIAN National Council on Drugs has been in existence for
almost three years and the terms of its members are up for renewal next
month. | ||||||||||||||||
Just what has the council achieved in those three years? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The council has certainly allocated some much-needed money, but in the
most critical areas of overdose deaths and influencing government
policy, it has made no difference whatsoever. | ||||||||||||||||
The number of people who have used illicit drugs in the previous 12 months is increasing. Despite increased seizures, illicit drugs are more easily available and cheaper. Drug-related crimes are increasing. Overdose deaths have continued to rise from 526 in 1996 to 958 in 1999. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In as neat a demonstration of the "balloon effect" as one could ask,
the BBC reported how spraying Colombia's coca crop is leading Peruvian
peasants to start growing again. | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) PERU SET TO BE DRUG LEADER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Fears are growing in Peru that the country could soon regain its title of
being the world's number one cocaine supplier. | ||||||||||||||||
It is because of the huge US-financed anti-drugs operation in neighbouring
Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
According to a report being prepared by the United Nations Drug Control Project (UNDCP), the implementation of the $1.3bn Plan Colombia is already increasing the price of the raw material used to make cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
And that is encouraging Peruvian farmers to return to the industry.
There are around 77,000 hectares of abandoned coca fields in Peru, which
need only three to six months to become active again. New fields have
already been sighted in the south-east of the country. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (26-27) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Last Friday, Dubya went to Mexico on his first state visit; drug
policy was allegedly on the agenda, but whatever non-platitudes were
uttered didn't make any of the published accounts. | ||||||||||||||||
There was at least one interesting pre-visit report however, it raised
an entirely different set of issues. | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) MEXICAN DRUG TRAFFICKING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. DRUG WAR ARE TOP ISSUES BETWEEN BUSH AND FOX | ||||||||||||||||
Facing Corrupt Police, Justice System Is A Daunting Challenge For Fox's
Reforms | ||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- When Mexican President Vicente Fox welcomes President
Bush to his ranch Friday, he'll try to persuade Bush that Mexico is now
serious about fighting the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
But although Fox is cracking down on organized crime and appears to be
stepping up drug eradications, seizures and arrests, the country's police
and legal system remain deeply corrupt. Mexico is a leading producer and
smuggler of drugs into the United States, principally cocaine from South
America and locally produced marijuana and heroin. | ||||||||||||||||
Fox wants the United States to stop deciding every year whether foreign countries are cooperating fully with Washington's anti-drug efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(27) PRESIDENT FOX GUARDING NARCO-HEN HOUSE? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There's an intriguing story left virtually unreported by the mainstream U.S. media regarding a friendship between alleged Cancun drug-trafficker and banker Roberto Hernandez Ramirez and Mexican President Vicente Fox. This is especially strange when you throw in President Bush's Feb. 16 meeting in Mexico with the nation's new leader. | ||||||||||||||||
Few people have cued into the Mexican president's connections to Bush's own Dallas TV ad consultant, Robert Allyn. Along with consulting work for Bush, according to a July 9, 2000, Dallas Morning News report, Allyn worked secretly for three years on the election campaign of Vicente Fox and would have most likely known about the alleged connection between Fox and drug runners. The allegations were made specifically by three Yucatan newspapers: Por Esto! (Dec. 16, 1996), El Universal (July 8, 2000) and La Jornada (July 9, 2000). | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Cast your vote. | ||||||||||||||||
Without a search warrant, is the use of a thermal imaging device, which
scans the exterior of a building for excessive heat levels, an illegal
search of a home? | ||||||||||||||||
Yes; 65% = 23027 votes | ||||||||||||||||
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New Study "The Influence of Cannabis on Driving," | ||||||||||||||||
A study performed for the UK Department of the Environment, Transportation and the Regions by the Transport Research Laboratory, "The Influence of Cannabis on Driving," is available for download in
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Or a web version is available at | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.detr.gov.uk/roads/roadsafety/research16/index.htm | ||||||||||||||||
The study concludes that though cannabis does have an effect on driving ability, that alcohol is much worse, and that marijuana users notice their impairment and compensate by driving slower and more carefully. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Doug McVay | ||||||||||||||||
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UN World Drug Report 2000 | ||||||||||||||||
With this Report, the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention describes and explains the extent and development of this complex problem-and the important progress that has been made in recent years towards its amelioration. Illustrated with numerous maps, graphs, charts and tables, the World Drug Report 2000 provides the reader with a unique insight into the realities of the international drug problem and reveals the most complete picture of the extent of the problem. | ||||||||||||||||
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The Spin Room | ||||||||||||||||
Should the Government Legalize Drugs? | ||||||||||||||||
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The Kubby Files on POT-TV | ||||||||||||||||
Steve and Michele Kubby have launched a new streaming video program
on POT-TV. Guests so far include cannabis expert Chris Conrad and
Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. of the American Medical Marijuana Association. Stay tuned for interviews
with Mark Greer and Matt Elrod of DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Academy falls asleep at the wheel ; | ||||||||||||||||
BY LINEERIC HARRISON | ||||||||||||||||
Soderbergh's films typify obsession with mediocrity | ||||||||||||||||
AND the winner is . . . | ||||||||||||||||
The only good thing about director Steven Soderbergh getting two Oscar
nominations for best director (one for the trifling Erin Brockovich,
the other for the impressive if flawed Traffic) is that the split votes
might cancel each other out, making it possible for a truly good movie
to win - a movie like ... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The movie fails to personalize the bad guys. It makes do by treating
some of the good guys (corporate lawyers who are more polished than
Roberts' down-to-earth character) as if they're bad, concocting straw
men she can triumph over for the requisite big finish. | ||||||||||||||||
Traffic is a much more daring movie. Using a faux-documentary approach, it juggles several storylines to examine the folly of the American war on drugs. But here, as in his 1999 movie The Limey, Soderbergh shows a greater feel for formal experimentation than for characters or drama. | ||||||||||||||||
The most interesting part of the movie, the only story we haven't
already seen done as well a dozen times before on episodic television,
is the part featuring Benicio Del Toro as a Mexican cop surrounded by
official corruption. | ||||||||||||||||
The film is being championed by people and organizations concerned
about America's drug policy. The Lindesmith Center, a drug-policy
foundation based in New York, last week announced a new Internet site
(StopTheWar.com) that uses stills from the movie to bolster its message
that current strategies aren't working. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"In every society, there will emerge a caste of propagandists who labor
to disguise the obvious, to conceal the actual workings of power, and
to spin a web of mythical goals and purposes, utterly benign, that
allegedly guide national policy. A typical thesis of the propaganda
system is that 'the nation' is guided by certain ideals and principles,
all of them noble radical priorities." --Noam Chomsky | ||||||||||||||||
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