| April 27, 2001 #197 | ||||||||||||||||
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Listen On-Line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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(1) AN UNWINNABLE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
What has the war on drugs done for Darryl Strawberry and Robert Downey
Jr.? Are they better off or worse off? Are they the targets or the
victims? Should they be thankful or regretful? | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs is really a war on people - on anyone who uses or grows or makes or sells a forbidden drug. It essentially consists of two elements: the predominant role of criminalization of all things having to do with marijuana, cocaine, heroin, Ecstasy and other prohibited drugs and the presumption that abstinence - coerced if necessary - is the only permissible relationship with these drugs. It's that combination that ultimately makes this war unwinnable. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) HYPOCRISY 101: W. GETS TOUGH ON "YOUTHFUL INDESCRETIONS" (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
America's insane drug war claimed fresh victims last week. The
casualties were rightly front-page news -- a child and her mother
murdered in the skies of Peru in the name of protecting our children
from drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Receiving a lot less attention were the tens of thousands of young
people wounded by the Bush administration's decision to strictly
enforce a law that denies financial aid to college students convicted
of possessing illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) WILL FOSTER FREED FROM JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Will Foster, the Oklahoma medical marijuana patent who was sentenced to
93 years in prison for keeping a small cultivation room in his
basement, was released on parole yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
Foster, a 42-year-old father of two, was arrested in 1995 for growing marijuana in the basement of his Tulsa, home. He used the marijuana to relieve chronic pain caused by acute rheumatoid arthritis. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The parole board quickly issued a unanimous recommendation for the
release of Foster. Oklahoma governor Frank Keating made the unusual
move of turning this down. The next year Foster came up for parole and
he received the recommendation of the board but Keating rejected it. On
his third attempt at parole, Keating was busy being a candidate for
attorney general and then the drug czar. Only when it was clear that
Keating would not get either position did he finally agree to release
Foster. | ||||||||||||||||
Foster immediately flew to California where he plans to rebuild his
life. | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) U.S. SHIFTS ON AFGHANISTAN POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
2 Narcotics Experts Join International Team To Help Farmers | ||||||||||||||||
United Nations, New York -- In a first cautious step toward reducing
the near-total isolation of the Taleban, the Bush administration has
sent two U.S. narcotics experts to Afghanistan as part of an
international team assessing how to help farmers who have ended opium
poppy cultivation, according to UN officials. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Clinton administration had opposed projects to assist Afghans in a
drug-eradication program. U.S. policy had been to isolate the Taleban
and punish them through UN sanctions because of their refusal to turn
over Osama bin Laden, the Saudi-born Islamic militant wanted in
connection with bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. The United
States may now have a less rigid policy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Dan Forbes still has an uncanny ability to scope out ONDCP; his Salon piece identifying the new czar as John P. Walters, former Bennett deputy during Bush I, has elicited no denials from Bush II. | ||||||||||||||||
Those hoping for less punishment will be disappointed-- if quotes provided by hawkish Nevada Columnist Guy Farmer are accurate. | ||||||||||||||||
That 3/4 of Americans view the drug war as failing must irk such
dedicated warriors as Walters and DEA Administrator Donnie Marshall,
yet their best rhetorical efforts at countering that perception come
across as increasingly weak tea. | ||||||||||||||||
Gary Johnson was everywhere last week; attacking the drug war on one
TV show after another; Jake Tapper of Salon caught up with him after
one of them. | ||||||||||||||||
Columnist Peter Shrag's perceptive overview of reform's recent political victories also warns they are subject to misinterpretation by a chronically confused and poorly informed electorate. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) BUSH'S NEW DRUG CZAR? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
John Walters, a hard-line drug warrior, is the leading candidate to
replace Barry McCaffrey. Advocates say he's a throwback to the bad old
days of Bill Bennett. | ||||||||||||||||
April 20, 2001 - John Walters, a hard-liner who was former drug czar
William Bennett's deputy during the first Bush administration, has
emerged as the leading candidate to become director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy, according to a knowledgeable drug policy
source. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Walters is a self-proclaimed hawk on drug policy matters who has been strongly critical of the Clinton administration's execution of the drug war. At the ONDCP, he was responsible for developing enforcement policy and coordinating attempts to reduce the supply of banned drugs. The Bennett-Walters drug office was characterized by widespread use of the bully pulpit to issue harsh moral condemnations of users of illegal drugs, little distinction between marijuana and drugs like heroin and cocaine and an emphasis on punishment over rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) NEVADA LAWMAKERS TACKLE "MEDICAL MARIJUANA" (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Nevada voters, in their infinite wisdom (if that's the right word), saddled state lawmakers with a legal dilemma by approving a "medical marijuana" ballot initiative in 1998 and again last year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
As former Deputy Drug Czar John Walters noted recently in the Weekly
Standard, "Downey only seems to get treated for his addiction when he
is forced to by the criminal justice system. Indeed, it's hard to
imagine a worse advertisement for the effectiveness of drug treatment
than Robert Downey Jr..." | ||||||||||||||||
Those who advocate drug treatment programs instead of law enforcement
and incarceration are natural allies of the drug legalizers. "The
therapy-only lobby is alive and well and more dogmatic than ever,"
observed Walters. The therapy-only folks contend that drug addiction is
a disease, not a pattern of behavior for which people can be held
responsible. | ||||||||||||||||
"The idea that our prisons are filled with people whose only offense was possession of an illegal drug is utter fantasy," Walters asserted. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) HOW REAL IS 'TRAFFIC'? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The movie "Traffic" is the most realistic portrayal of drug law
enforcement and the ravages of drugs on American families that I've
ever seen. It accurately shows the complexity of the drug trade -- from
its origins in foreign countries to its terminal point on our streets
-- and how predatory drug traffickers victimize young, weak and
vulnerable people in our society. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Despite a perception that the fight against drugs is lost, today's
level of drug use is less than half what it was two decades ago. This
progress was made during a time when people thought casual drug use was
socially acceptable. But slowly we learned that the consequences and
risks of using drugs were severe. Through a balanced approach of law
enforcement, prevention and treatment, our nation has made a positive
impact on the levels of drug trafficking and use. For the sake of our
sons and daughters, the potential Carolines of the world, we need to
persevere, with courage and determination. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) VIRTUALLY NORML (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Gov. Gary Johnson comes to Washington hoping to find converts to his
anti-drug war crusade. He leaves one frustrated man. | ||||||||||||||||
Gov. Gary Johnson, Republican of New Mexico, shakes his head. He
doesn't seem angry, or outraged -- just sort of a combination of the
two. | ||||||||||||||||
But he's also kind of mellow. Like he's used to it all. | ||||||||||||||||
We're sitting in the green room at C-Span; Johnson's just finished taking an unreal number of supportive viewer calls on the morning chat show, "Washington Journal." But the conversation eventually turns to the victims of the shot-down missionary plane in Peru, which Johnson -- who has perhaps become the nation's leading critic of the drug war -- sees as just two more casualties in a senseless losing battle. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) CRANKING UP THE WAR AGAINST THE 'DRUG WAR' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It's more than likely that come June, the U.S. Supreme Court will
uphold federal attempts to shut down OCBC, ... But however the court
rules, voter-enacted medical marijuana laws in Arizona, Maine,
Colorado, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Nevada -- plus one
passed last year by the Hawaii Legislature -- will remain on the books.
One of every five Americans now lives in a place where state law allows
the medical use of pot. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
shows that 74 percent of Americans believe that the drug war is a
losing cause. And while most are not ready to decriminalize drugs, a
large majority support policies allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana
for their patients. And in states such as California, sizable
majorities are ready to send most hard drug addicts to treatment rather
than prison. | ||||||||||||||||
But those attitudes could easily change if the reform laws don't work
in the states where they've been enacted. Here again, California is
likely to become the bellwether state. The reformers think it can be
done, but the big tests still lie ahead. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In other news, it's increasingly obvious that policy makers at both
federal and state levels are oblivious to public sentiment; they want
strict enforcement of existing drug laws and are leaning toward
tougher laws against club drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Many of the rural newspapers that warned readers about the meth danger
a year or two ago are now publishing similar scare stories about club
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Any concern about alienating youth seems completely off their radar
screens; they seem to be forgetting that the same young people will be
voting in a few years. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) BUSH TO REQUIRE DISCLOSURE OF DRUG OFFENSES FOR STUDENT AID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Washington --- The Bush administration says it will enforce a 1998 law
requiring college students to disclose drug convictions on the main
application for federal financial aid. | ||||||||||||||||
The law prohibits federal grants, loans or work assistance for at least
one year after a student has been convicted of possessing or selling an
illegal drug. But the Education Department under President Clinton
allowed applicants to skip the question on the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid. | ||||||||||||||||
"Congress passed a law. We're enforcing it accordingly," department
spokeswoman Lindsey Kozberg said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) CITY LAW TARGETING RAVES TAKES BIG STEP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Landlords Would Face Jail If They Rented Drug Site | ||||||||||||||||
An ordinance that would make it a crime for Chicago landlords to
knowingly rent out buildings for rave parties where illegal drugs are
used was approved Wednesday by the City Council's Committee on Police
and Fire. | ||||||||||||||||
Officials said the law, which carries a jail sentence of up to 6
months, is a cautious first step in the battle against Ecstasy and
other designer drugs, which are gaining popularity and were linked to
three deaths in the Chicago area last year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) CONFERENCE WARNS OF RAVES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Expert Says It's Vital To Stop The Use Of Designer Drugs At All-Night
Parties | ||||||||||||||||
By the end of Tuesday's conference on raves and club drugs, the crowd
had one more question: Is it happening here? | ||||||||||||||||
There was no clear answer. | ||||||||||||||||
No arrests have been made in connection with designer drugs since the
all-night raves began surfacing in the north state in the past year or
two, authorities said. | ||||||||||||||||
But that's no reason to get complacent, they were quick to add. | ||||||||||||||||
At least 250 police officers, social workers, teachers and students
heard shocking, sometimes chilling stories on Tuesday about the
relatively new drugs and their effects. Retired Los Angeles police
detective Trinka Porrata, considered to be a worldwide expert, led the
conference at the Holiday Inn on Hilltop Drive. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A book examining the recent explosive growth of America's prisons found it to have been primarily motivated by greed at various levels; beyond that, overcrowding has already vitiated any potential benefits. | ||||||||||||||||
Two detailed accounts in the weekly press provide ample confirmation
of the author's contentions-- and also underscore the dangers implicit
in an over expanded and overcrowded prison system. | ||||||||||||||||
As for how those prisons are stocked and maintained; the importance of
point of view was strikingly underscored by two senior columnists. A
supercilious George will sniffed incredulously at the mere suggestion
of police bias, while Anthony Lewis wrote passionately that a society
is measured by the way it treats its prisoners. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) STIR CRAZY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
How America's Get-Tough-On-Crime Attitudes Created A Prison-industrial
Complex | ||||||||||||||||
NON-FICTION : GOING UP THE RIVER: Travels in a Prison Nation by Joseph
T. Hallinan (Random House, 263 pp., $24.95) | ||||||||||||||||
Gene Roberts, the former editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer, likes to
say that the most important stories don't break, they ooze. He cites
the migration of African-Americans from the South to the North after
World War II as a historic shift that got little or no coverage at the
time it was happening. | ||||||||||||||||
In "Going Up the River," Wall Street Journal reporter Joseph T.
Hallinan examines an equally historic shift that has oozed in the 1980s
and 1990s -- the staggering growth of a prison-industrial complex that
has become entrenched with little public awareness or media attention.
The U.S. prison system has grown tenfold in 30 years, he reports, and
the 2 million men and women now behind bars on any given day make up
one of the largest migrations in the nation's history. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) DESPERATE FOR PRISON GUARDS, SOME STATES ROB CRADLES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LANSING, Kan. Donald Culbertson's face betrays the untamed skin of a
teenager, and his uniform practically swims on his gangly frame. His
buzz haircut does nothing to disguise the fact that he is not long out
of high school, and his way of blowing off steam after work is to play
video games. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Put together the shortage of officers, the size of the system, the attrition rate and new officers coming on line almost all of the time, and you have a dynamite keg," said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. "You have a real threat in terms of the security of state prisons." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) INSIDE PELICAN BAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Instructions are written in tiny print on small scraps of paper that
are wrapped in protective coverings and hidden in body cavities of
departing prison parolees and inmate visitors. | ||||||||||||||||
Called "kites" or "wilas," the smuggled messages are a key part of an
elaborate communications system that has enabled Nuestra Familia gang
leaders at Pelican Bay State Prison, 250 miles north of Santa Rosa, to
run organized crime syndicates on the streets of Northern California
communities, authorities say. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) THE MYTH OF RACIAL PROFILING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
IT is former Sen. Eugene McCarthy's axiom: Anything said three times in
Washington becomes a fact. So it now is a fact, universally attested
and detested, that racial profiling is a widespread police tactic.
Everyone says so, especially since the disturbances in Cincinnati set
off a riot of television chatter, many of the chatterers having no
direct knowledge of that city, or of policing. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) A TEST OF CIVILIZATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOSTON -- There is a class of Americans, two million of them, who have little if any way to vindicate their constitutional rights. They can be abused, tortured, raped without effective recourse to law. | ||||||||||||||||
They are the inmates of America's prisons. As such, they get little
sympathy from the public. But I hope and believe that few among us
would want even those who have been properly convicted and imprisoned
to be deprived of their legal protection from physical harm and
brutality. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
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Governor Johnson conducted a whirlwind DC tour which brought cannabis
reform to the nation's media, especially TV. His delivery, far more
polished (although still laced with the paternal "don't do drugs!"),
is now uniform whether he's facing the choir at NORML or a skeptical
television host. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) THE POL & THE POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
To Gov. Gary Johnson, the War on Drugs Has Misfired | ||||||||||||||||
"We need to legalize marijuana," New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson said
yesterday, and the crowd cheered wildly. | ||||||||||||||||
The crowd, it should be noted, was gathered at the annual conference of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) SHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Now, drunk driving is kind of cool too in a way, but would you get up and tell high school kids that they ought to drunk drive? | ||||||||||||||||
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Those same rules need to apply to marijuana, or any other drug.
Meaning, smoking marijuana in the confines of your own home doing no
harm, arguably, to anybody other than yourself. Do you belong in
prison? No. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Over four years since 215 passed, California remains in disarray on "medical marijuana." Will the whiff of jury nullification emanating from Sonoma last week encourage the legislature to finally do its job? | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) UP IN SMOKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
California Still Lacks Coherent Standards On Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||
In the aftermath of a second major defeat, it's no surprise that Sonoma
County District Attorney Mike Mullins will reconsider his judgments
about medical marijuana cases. | ||||||||||||||||
After seven weeks of testimony, a jury on Thursday took less than five
hours to acquit two Petaluma men. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
So, it may fall to Attorney General Bill Lockyer to pull together
prosecutors, Proposition 215 advocates and others to fashion standards
that are consistent and enforceable. | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Up North, cannabis reform is also gaining political strength (and
provoking editorial wordplay); in its latest move, the 'Marijuana
Party' (BCMP) is seeking common cause with the more traditional
Canadian Alliance. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) 'GRASSROOTS' PARTNERSHIP SEEKS HIGH VOTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Former Jaffer Aide Onside | ||||||||||||||||
The B.C. Marijuana Party has embarked on a surprising joint venture with the deputy national director of Stockwell Day's federal leadership campaign and several Canadian Alliance parliamentary assistants to help smoke out the right wing vote in the upcoming provincial election. | ||||||||||||||||
The fledgling pro-cannabis party, which plans to run a full slate of
candidates in the May 16 vote, is hoping to convince Alliance
supporters that its less-government, heavy-on-personal-freedom platform
is a more comfortable fit than the policies of the favoured B.C.
Liberals. And to get the message out, it has hired Sean McKinsley, a
former aide to MP Jason Kenney and advisor to Mr. Day, to run its
high-tech computerized phone bank. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (22-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Without question, the fatal downing of a plane carrying American missionaries by a Peruvian Air Force jet was the most densely covered story of the week. As the tale unfolded, it was inevitable that the questions raised would shift from the specifics of the incident to the entire drug war; especially its emphasis on interdiction. | ||||||||||||||||
In Colombia, that interdiction is represented by a feckless aerial
spraying program of dubious effectiveness. | ||||||||||||||||
Although one might have gathered from US media coverage that the
Summit of the Americas in Quebec last week-end was only about protests
against NAFTA, President Bush also heard some pointed objections to US
drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||
Whether he bothered to listen is another question. | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) PERU'S RECKLESS SHOOTING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It should not have taken the tragic deaths of two innocent members of
an American missionary family to force Washington to re-examine its
cooperation with Peru's risky drug interdiction program. Although the
facts of last Friday's incident are still being sorted out, the deaths
raise serious questions about how Peru's air force has been carrying
out a program involving help from the Central Intelligence Agency to
fight drug trafficking. The White House is right to suspend the
program's operations until it can be sure more reliable controls are in
place. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) PLANE'S SHOOTING RAISES DOUBTS OVER DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The shooting down of a missionary plane by anti-drug
forces in Peru is raising new questions about the effectiveness of the
U.S.-led drug interdiction program overseas. | ||||||||||||||||
White House officials lauded the program Monday and called the deaths of
American missionary Veronica "Roni" Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old
daughter, Charity, an "isolated incident." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But the cocaine business remains lucrative in Peru, which is one indication
that interdiction and eradication efforts are having little impact. The
high value reflects "trafficker success in transporting drugs from Peru to
external markets, and returning to make additional purchases," the State
Department report says. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) SPRAYING MISERY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN JUAN DE CERRO AZUL, despite its impressive name, consists of just
half a dozen wooden huts. It stands on a ridge overlooking steep
hillsides at the end of a bruising dirt track, an hour by jeep from
the riverside town of San Pablo, on the Magdalena in the south of
Bolivar department. For the past ten years, San Juan has been home to
Eliecer Galvis, a 38-year-old farmer. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
That is the vicious circle that is at the heart of Colombia's plight. As an illegal product, cocaine attracts a risk-inflated price. Although most of the profits go to dealers in consumer countries, what filters back to Colombia amounts to significant wealth in a poor country: estimates of the money repatriated by the drug industry range from $2.5 billion to $5 billion a year (or 2-4% of GDP). For comparison, Colombia's defence budget is $2.8 billion, including army and police pensions. Whether the drug money is used to finance illegal armed groups or to corrupt officials, the outcome has been a catastrophic weakening of the democratic state and the rule of law. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) MESSAGE TO BUSH - FIGHT DRUGS WITH AID, NOT GUNS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
This week, leaders of 34 nations will gather in Quebec City for the
third Summit of the Americas. On behalf of a powerful and growing
movement in Latin America, I'm coming to Canada to deliver a message:
"Plan Colombia,"the U.S.-backed anti-drug aid package, must be stopped
-- for the good of Colombia and the hemisphere. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
This week, 100 Latin American civic and political leaders, including
Nobel laureates Rigoberta Mench Tum and Adolfo Perez Esquivel, former
Bolivian president Lydia Gueiler Tejada and former Colombian foreign
minister Rodrigo Pardo, joined me in sending a letter to George W. Bush
urging him to use the Quebec City summit as an opportunity to take Plan
Colombia back to the drawing board. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MPP Call to Action | ||||||||||||||||
If you have not done so already, please visit http://www.mpp.org/CA today to automatically send an e-mail to your legislators, encouraging them to enact every provision of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Ellen Komp | ||||||||||||||||
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Drugs and Disparity | ||||||||||||||||
"Drugs and Disparity: The Racial Impact of Illinois Practice of
Transferring Young Drug Offenders to Adult Court" at: | ||||||||||||||||
It will be released formally at a press conference including people
from the faith community, civil rights leaders and juvenile justice
experts. For more information on the press conference, contact Laura
Jones or Jason Ziedenberg at (202) 737-7270. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Articles on the Shoot down | ||||||||||||||||
The Muskegon (MI) Chronicle -- hometown paper of the late Roni Bowers, Baptist missionary mistakenly shot down in Peru -- has a great section of their website listing articles on the shoot down. The URL is: | ||||||||||||||||
http://mu.mlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/pages/perucrash.html | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Doug McVay | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Grass : The Paged Experience | ||||||||||||||||
This book accompanies "Grass, the Movie," the 2000 award-winning documentary film by Ron Mann. Through vast archival imagery, new graphics by Paul Mavrides, and Mann's text, the book navigates through the history of marijuana prohibition in the US, focussing both on the legislative and extra-legal machinations developed and also on the popular media manipulations employed to legitimize these restrictions. | ||||||||||||||||
The book also includes essays by critic Jonathan Rosenbaum on pot and
film, Dr. John Morgan on pot and music, and Keith Stroup of NORML on
the past and present politics of pot, and is introduced by
actor/activist Woody Harrelson. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bad News for Drug Warriors | ||||||||||||||||
One week ago, two seemingly unrelated news items were posted to the MAP
archive; one was the Salon piece by veteran ONDCP observer Dan Forbes
who scooped the world by identifying John P. Walters as the Bush
Administration's choice to be the new drug czar. | ||||||||||||||||
The second was the original AP report that a plane carrying American
missionaries was shot down by a Peruvian Air Force jet. | ||||||||||||||||
As the week progressed, it became apparent that the two stories are not
only closely related, but together, may represent an important
watershed in the public's understanding of just how feckless and
destructive our drug policy really is. | ||||||||||||||||
Those who follow drug policy news closely have been aware for some time of the growing disconnect between public opinion and those who implement policy. This was first manifest when Arizona and California passed 'medical marijuana' initiatives in 1996 over the strenuous objections of high ranking state and federal officials; the perception was further strengthened by passage of similar initiatives in 1998. | ||||||||||||||||
In 2000, California's Proposition 36 mandating treatment instead of incarceration extended the scope of the public's dissatisfaction with the drug war into the realm of its reliance on punishment. | ||||||||||||||||
Significantly, in passing 36, voters disregarded the opposition of many
of the media sources which had supported 215. Subsequently, the
enthusiastic reception accorded "Traffic" and the results of the latest
Pew Survey have suggested to thoughtful columnists and editorial
writers that public dissatisfaction with the drug war may run even
deeper than they first suspected. | ||||||||||||||||
In this setting, the nomination of a proponent of interdiction like
Walters, who recently spoke scornfully of the very concept of
'treatment,' must be a bitter disappointment for those who had read the
failure of the Bush team to quickly select a drug czar as a shift away
from his father's hard line on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
When the Senate begins to question Walters, many will also discover
"Body Count," the harshly doctrinaire book he co-authored with Bennett
and DiIulio in 1997, an effort for which the British phrase "over the
top" seems particularly apt. | ||||||||||||||||
Peru's unique contribution to the strategy of interdiction had been to
use military jets to shoot down small planes suspected of ferrying coca
paste to Colombian labs; like most interdiction strategies, its
"success" merely forced traffickers to use other tactics, so-- like
all interdiction techniques ever devised-- it must be judged a strategic
failure. | ||||||||||||||||
The discovery that not only is it still being used, but had resulted in
the killing of a young mother and her infant daughter and was initiated
at the behest a US spy plane could not have come at a worse time for our
drug warriors. As the Peruvian story unfolds with the all-too predictable
efforts of the two governments to point fingers at each other, it seems to
be striking a chord with a public already far more disenchanted by the
drug war than bureaucrats and politicians realize. | ||||||||||||||||
The missionary plane was shot down only a week ago; the story may yet blow
over quickly, but by underscoring the futility and destructive nature of
the new drug czar's favorite 'drug control' strategy, it has guaranteed
the policy he represents will receive considerable hostile scrutiny in the
weeks to come. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"The world is one percent good, one percent bad, ninety-eight percent neutral. It can go one way or the other, depending on which side is pushing. This is why what individuals do is important." -- Hans Habe | ||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analyses by Jo-D Dunbar (), International content selection by Richard Lake (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||
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