| June 8, 2001 #202 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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) ROBERT RANDALL, WHO SUED FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA, IS DEAD AT 53 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SARASOTA, Fla., Robert Randall, to whom a court gave access
to government supplies of marijuana to treat his glaucoma in 1976,
died on Saturday at his home here. He was 53 and still smoking
government marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
The cause was AIDS-related complications. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Federal District Court ruled 25 years ago that Mr. Randall's use of marijuana was a medical necessity. Two years later, the government cut off his access to the drug, but he sued for reinstatement and won. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Randall developed glaucoma in his teens. An ophthalmologist told
him in the early 1970's that he would go blind within a few years. He
never lost his sight. | ||||||||||||||||||
He grew his own marijuana until he was prosecuted. He then underwent
exhaustive tests that indicated that no other glaucoma drug halted the
deterioration of his eyesight. He used that argument in demanding
legal access to government marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
In 1981, Mr. Randall and his wife, Alice, founded ACT, Alliance for
Cannabis Therapeutics, an organization that sought to legalize the
medicinal use of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
On May 14, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal law controlling narcotics makes no exception for therapeutic use of the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
In addition to his wife, Mr. Randall is survived by a sister, Susan,
and a brother, Dick, both of Sarasota. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) OPED: WHAT IF ALL DRUGS WERE LEGAL? (GASP!) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Warriors' biggest argument against medical marijuana is that
it's only the opening wedge in a movement toward total legalization of
drugs. So, supposedly, we have to "nip it in the bud" -- in the words
of Deputy Barney Fife, the nation's first Drug Czar. | ||||||||||||||||||
What if the Drug Warriors are right? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) CALIFORNIA SENATE BUCKS FEDS AND APPROVES MEDICAL MARIJUANA LICENSING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Conservative and liberal senators joined Wednesday to pass a statewide medical marijuana registry that could test the limits of an adverse U.S. Supreme Court decision last month. | ||||||||||||||||||
The measure pits California's landmark medical marijuana law against
last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision that Proposition 215 cannot
supersede federal laws against marijuana distribution. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) US: WEB: BOOK REVIEW: THE NIGHTMARE OF RECOVERY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Powerful New Book On The Drug War's Trenches Argues That Treatment
Is The Answer -- But Our Current System Dooms More Addicts Than It
Helps. | ||||||||||||||||||
Those who believe, as most sensible people do, that the current war
on drugs is a boondoggle and a disaster also usually say that we ought
to be spending our dollars on treatment, not law enforcement, if we
want to diminish the trade in illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But if "treatment" has become a buzzword for citizens tired of seeing
billions of their tax dollars wasted on hunting down South American
drug lords and warehousing nonviolent offenders in prisons, Lonny
Shavelson, a physician and journalist, argues that it's often not a
whole lot more than that. In his new book, "Hooked," which follows
five addicts through the tortuous process of getting help for their
substance abuse problems in San Francisco in the late 1990s, he makes
a powerful case that America's drug treatment program is hopelessly
flawed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week's Lindesmith-DPF Convention in Albuquerque was larger and
better attended than ever, thanks in large part to the reform efforts
of NM Governor Johnson. | ||||||||||||||||||
A hotly debated issue at that meeting - "treatment" in lieu of
incarceration as a potential trap for reform - didn't make press
reports, but a detailed WSJ report detailed its evolution within the
movement - and a report from Oregon suggests that state's legislature
may be in the process of cloning California's Prop 36 without need for
an initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
The legal and Constitutional status of another concept funded by the same trio - medical use of marijuana - was well covered by Bill Buckley, who also invoked the memory of a recently martyred colleague. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) JOHNSON SAYS FIGHT FOR NEW NATIONAL DRUG POLICY UPHILL BATTLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Gov. Gary Johnson was preaching to the converted Saturday when he
called the war on drugs a "miserable failure," but after two years of
fighting for a new national drug policy he said proponents are still
facing an uphill battle. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're going to look back on this issue and recognize it as the
atrocity that it is," Johnson told 700 people attending a national
drug-reform policy conference. "The war on drugs is a miserable
failure." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) SUPER-WEALTHY THREESOME FUND GROWING WAR ON THE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
As the pendulum on drug policy swings away from harsher penalties and
toward expanded treatment programs, it is getting a big shove from an
unusual trio of rich men: billionaires George Soros and Peter Lewis and
centimillionaire John Sperling. | ||||||||||||||||||
Opposed to locking up nonviolent drug users, the three have financed a
string of state-ballot-box victories on what until recently seemed an
unpromising electoral battlefield -- getting softer on the possession
of marijuana and other illegal drugs. Now, after a breakthrough win
last November in California, they are moving to expand their war on the
war on drugs by backing new initiatives elsewhere under the banner of
"treatment not jail." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The funders' political operatives say their private polling tells them
initiatives pushing treatment instead of jail can win in all three of
the states they are targeting next year... | ||||||||||||||||||
...after two decades in which drug abuse was generally met with tougher | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) WELCOME NEWS ON TWO FRONTS IN 'WAR ON DRUGS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Multnomah County Offers An Integrated Approach That Models New Thinking | ||||||||||||||||||
President Bush asked his secretary of Health and Human Services to
analyze how to close the treatment gap for citizens who need help for
drug problems. | ||||||||||||||||||
Promising "unprecedented attention on the demand side" of the drug
problem, Bush has targeted $1.6 billion over the next five years to
reduce the gap between those needing treatment and available
programs. He heralded "a thoughtful and integrated approach" between
law enforcement and treatment professionals. | ||||||||||||||||||
On the local front, the Oregon Senate unanimously approved Senate
Bill 914, which would steer more nonviolent drug offenders into
treatment programs rather than jail. The bill would allow someone
pleading guilty to certain drug charges to be placed on probation and
referred to treatment. Completion of treatment would erase criminal
charges on the person's record. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) THE LEGAL JAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It is a big confusing sprawl of a system, but there are those who love
it, and it takes lifelong love for our system, after weighing the
Supreme Court's decision. The anomalies knock you down, but there is
still light . . . | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
So it all crowds around our federal system: state laws, state
plebiscites, congressional laws, Supreme Court interpretations,
constitutional epiphanies. It is very red, white, and blue and, we
repeat, there are those who love it. | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (9-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Many reformers, seeing that powerful forces within the administration
remain committed to a punitive drug policy, are distrustful of our
present "rush to treatment." | ||||||||||||||||||
The explanation may be simple; since the same "consequences" suffered
by ordinary offenders, clearly don't apply to either Presidents or
First Daughters; perhaps two-tiered justice should be considered an
American norm. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) TWO VOICES ON BUSH DRUG POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - When President Bush ventured to Virginia recently for a
firsthand look at a successful drug-prevention program, he made it
clear that the most important facet of his administration's war on
illegal narcotics would be to reduce demand. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
While Bush has emphasized the need to reduce demand through education
programs and drug-abuse treatment, his public action on the
consistently vexing issue has produced mixed signals, indicating the
administration intends to focus more on the punishment and foreign
interdiction end than had originally been supposed. | ||||||||||||||||||
To direct the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bush has tapped Rep.
Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., a former federal prosecutor who earned a
reputation for being particularly tough on drug cases. But the
nomination that really raised eyebrows was the president's choice of
John Walters to become the high-profile director of the White House
Office of National Drug Policy - the drug czar. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) BUSH'S DRUG WAR STRATEGY: ESCALATE IT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It can't get worse. That's what many scientists, health advocates and
drug war reformers thought while doing battle with hyperactive drug
crusader General Barry McCaffrey, the head of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy in the Clinton administration. McCaffrey took a
fierce stance that helped produce skyrocketing arrests for drug
possession, steady militarization of the drug battle and short shrift
for treatment. ... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But any hope for relief, for a respite from the toll of the Clinton years, was hopelessly naive. Make no mistake, the drug war is about to get worse under Bush, maybe a whole lot worse. But at least some of the underlying rationale is becoming clearer. In fact, as the Bush administration's troika of backward generals -- Ashcroft, Walters and Hutchinson -- take command of the drug war, new revelations are exposing just how corporate-run and profitable the drug war has become. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) THE FIRST FAMILY'S ALCOHOL TROUBLES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
President Bush downplayed his own drinking problem and hid a DUI. Now
his daughters are making news for underage drinking. Is there a
connection? | ||||||||||||||||||
I don't envy Jenna and Barbara Bush, going off to college under the
watchful eye of the Secret Service and the international media. But the
sudden flurry of headlines about the first twins' alcohol-related
mishaps raises new questions about the way their father handled his own
"young and irresponsible" past. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Although prisons have failed to solve our "drug problem"-- they've had
their own economic and social costs; a fact finally being recognized
in Oklahoma (of all places). | ||||||||||||||||||
As more graduates of our expanded "correctional" institutions return to society, we may discover the price even higher than now imagined. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nor does the future look bright; just as Prohibition funded Capone, illegal drug markets have inevitably become major sources of revenue and power for uneducated and disaffected inner city youth. | ||||||||||||||||||
Against this social chaos, the "reforms" of Proposition 36-- which
must be implemented by its most recalcitrant opponents-- may serve
only to recruit even more drug war victims: those who can afford
shakedowns to avoid incarceration. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) NO END IN SIGHT TO CORRECTIONS DEMANDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
News that the Corrections Department needs more money is now so routine
that citizens probably pay little attention to it. .. | ||||||||||||||||||
Will it ever get through to lawmakers and others that throwing money down a bottomless pit is not going to address corrections problems? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Paying more attention to the front end -- with adequate education and
early childhood services and programs for those who might end up in
prison -- is another approach finally being embraced. But again, it's
only been dabbled in. | ||||||||||||||||||
Unless Oklahoma gets more serious about how to address criminal
behavior in ways other than draining the treasury to fund prisons, that
will continue to be where most of the money goes. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) PRISON NATION TURNS ITS BACK ON RELEASED CONVICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK -- We've seen this scene in countless movies: A just-released inmate stands at the gates of a fortress-like prison clutching a bus ticket, two $20 bills and a slip of paper with the name of his parole officer. His hunched shoulders and his puzzled gaze suggest that it will take more than a hot shower to wash away the memories of captivity. He is nominally free, but we know that his prospects are bleak and his re-entry to life on the outside will be harsh. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now for the reality. This year, according to estimates by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than 600,000 Americans will be released from state and federal prisons. Overwhelmingly male, disproportionately black and Hispanic, mostly ill-educated, this army of former inmates represents a searing and neglected social problem... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) US: SHARP, BROAD RISE SEEN IN GANG PROBLEMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Since The Early 1970s, States That Reported Trouble Rose From 19,
Mostly In The Northeast, To All 50. | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Thousands of young Americans in all 50 states are joining gangs, according to a Justice Department study released yesterday that blamed profits from drug trafficking, new immigrant groups trying to assimilate, and a growing number of households without male role models. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
High profits from the sale of street drugs such as crack cocaine, which
became popular in the 1980s, are first among reasons that young people
join gangs, the study said. It compared the phenomenon to the way the
illegal liquor trade fueled gangland activity in New York and Chicago
during Prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) COUNTY READY TO TURN PROP. 36 INTO A REALITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In five weeks, San Bernardino County officials will begin a $12.7 million plan to treat drug offenders in ways no one is sure will work. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's unknown if there will be enough money to do what voters wanted when they passed Proposition 36 or if addicts will receive the supervision needed to make treatment, rather than incarceration, work. | ||||||||||||||||||
And no one knows how much county money will be needed to supplement
state funding or how it will be spent. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
How Long? ... Not Long! | ||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis prohibition was initiated for purely political reasons and is being continued on a 'guilty until proven innocent' basis. In the US, Colorado and Nevada became the next two states to allow use by the sick and dying while the rest of the world is moving quickly towards decriminalization and possible legalization/regulation models. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) COLO. MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DENVER -- Despite threats of federal prosecution, Coloradans suffering
from illnesses such as cancer are paying $140 apiece to sign up on a
new state registry of licensed medical marijuana users. | ||||||||||||||||||
The registry, which took effect Friday, was created by a law approved by voters in November that allows license holders to legally grow or possess marijuana. Still, Attorney General Ken Salazar has urged federal authorities to prosecute anybody who sells, distributes or grows marijuana, even if they qualify under the state program. | ||||||||||||||||||
By midday Friday, the Colorado Medical Marijuana Registry had received
eight applications and approved one. Officials expect about 800 people
to sign up for the program this year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) MARIJUANA BILL PASSED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Legislation legalizing medical marijuana and reducing penalties for use
or possession of small quantities of the drug will be on its way to the
governor's office later today. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Senate joined the Assembly in approving AB453 Sunday. The bill passed on a 15-6 vote with Senators Bill Raggio, Maurice Washington, Ann O'Connell, Bill O'Donnell, Lawrence Jacobsen and Jon Porter opposed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Senators did amend the bill, but the changes are supported by sponsor
Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nearly two thirds of Nevada voters in the last two general elections supported legalizing medical uses of marijuana for those with terminal or chronically disabling diseases such as AIDS, cancer and glaucoma. | ||||||||||||||||||
The bill also lowers Nevada's felony penalty for simple possession and
use of marijuana to a misdemeanor for the first two convictions and
gross misdemeanor for the third. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) WORLD LEADERS ON DOPE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Right Joins Left in Call for an End to the Drug War | ||||||||||||||||||
The American drug war may yet grind on, but one by one, the troops are
hiking out. Right-wingers like Jesse Ventura, Gary Johnson, Dan Quayle,
William F. Buckley, and George Schultz have all voiced support for
either ending the costly campaign of interdiction and imprisonment, or
at least decriminalizing pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
While the U.S. continues its self-destructive orgy of arrests and
wasted money, other parts of the world move forward. The Swiss
government has endorsed a plan to legalize pot and hash consumption and
allow some shops to sell cannabis. Belgium allows people to grow pot
for personal use. The Netherlands allows coffee houses to sell
marijuana. Portugal, Spain, and Italy punish the use of any drug
(including heroin and coke) with only an administrative sanction, such
as a fine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) POT PANEL MAY HELP TURN OVER A NEW LEAF (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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KINGSTON, Jamaica--Imagine a lush, tropical land just a few hundred
miles off the U.S. coast where marijuana, though illegal, is a cultural
icon worshiped by thousands and so plentiful it goes for just $26 a
pound. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now, imagine this place when it's legal. | ||||||||||||||||||
That's precisely what Jamaica's government-appointed National Commission on Ganja has been doing for the last nine months. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION SUPPORTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
As the issue of decriminalizing marijuana makes its way into the
federal political arena, Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca MP Keith Martin is the
latest politician to get in on the action. | ||||||||||||||||||
Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark recently said that the time
has come to explore the idea of decriminalizing pot. A federal
multi-party committee has now been established to determine whether
decriminalizing marijuana is the way to go. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Martin's bill would see the criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana removed, to be replaced with a system of fines. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under Martin's private member's bill, a person found to be in
possession of marijuana could be fined $200 for the first offence,
while people found guilty of second and third offences would be fined
$500 and $1,000 respectively. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (21-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
There seems to be no end to the privatisation of the drug war - now soldiers for hire, as The Guardian notes. But Europe does not march to the beat of the U.S. war lords, as the article from The International Herald-Tribune - the largest circulation English language newspaper on the newsstands of non-English speaking countries - states. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) A PLANE IS SHOT DOWN AND THE U.S. PROXY WAR ON DRUG BARONS UNRAVELS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The surveillance plane was piloted not by U.S. military pilots but by
private contractors who, according to U.S. congressional officials,
were hired by an Alabama-based company called Aviation Development
Corporation (ADC). In the words of one outraged official: "There were
just businessmen in that plane. They were accountable to no one but
their bottom line." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Moreover, the involvement of a U.S. firm operating for profit over the Peruvian and Colombian jungles has drawn attention to an important but little-noticed trend - the privatisation of the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
Congress is now trying to investigate the role of the commercial contractors and two bills have been proposed to try to curb their influence. Their chances of success in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives are unclear, but their sponsors are determined to force the administration to at least explain its actions. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We are hiring a private army," Janice Schakowsky, a Democratic
congresswoman who authored one of the bills, told the Guardian. "We
are engaging in a secret war, and the American people need to be told
why." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) U.S. AND EUROPE DIFFER OVER COLOMBIAN DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"It is certainly true that a bigger portion of cocaine goes to Europe
than previously," said Klaus Nyholm, who oversees the UN Drug Control
Program's office in Colombia. "The U.S. was the country of cocaine
consumption par excellence, while heroin and opiates were for Asia and
Europe. What we see now is that the markets are coming to look more and
more alike." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"There is very little sympathy and understanding," Martin Jelsma, a drug
policy expert in the Netherlands, said of how Europeans view U.S. policy
toward Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Based on private conversations I've had this year with officials from
several European countries, the rejection of the current U.S. drug
policy approach to Colombia is growing very clearly," added Mr. Jelsma,
of the Transnational Institute, which analyzes drug use and
international trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
European drug experts say that U.S. high-tech interdiction efforts and
harsh enforcement inside the United States have had little impact in
curtailing the flow of drugs to American users, an assertion that many
U.S. drug experts do not dispute. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Europeans strongly oppose aerial spraying of coca crops in
Colombia, which they say fails to address the country's deep social
problems. Their opposition was highlighted in February when the
European Parliament voted 474 to 1 to reject the U.S.-supported
spraying program in Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Safe heroin injecting centers operate in both Germany and The Netherlands, but the Kings Cross centre - and the battle for it to open - has long been of interest to drug policy reformers around the world. Nobody should be surprised at the media interest - we all work hard using the 'net to insure that they are alerted to these efforts. The thoughtful analysis of the process in the media and the public, below, should be a 'must read' for us all. Nearly all of the referenced articles may be found in the MAP archives by using our power search at http://www.mapinc.org/find/ or the "bookmark" below. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) TIMELY INJECTION OF BALANCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Interest in the English-speaking world's first legal heroin injecting
facility has not been confined to the Australian media. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nor has it been confined to the mainstream news outlets. | ||||||||||||||||||
The centre's spokesman, Patrick Kennedy, has fielded inquiries from
more than 50 media outlets, from internet sites to magazines including
Elle and Who Weekly. He has also spoken to a large number of
international media outlets, including CNN, the BBC and The New York
Times. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The level of national interest, let alone international interest, has
been quite amazing," says the centre's medical director, Dr Ingrid van
Beek. "Maybe that reflects my naivete about the importance of this
story [to the media]." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Media coverage of the issues surrounding the facility will have a
significant impact on whether or not the 18-month trial is deemed a
success, according to Paul Dillon from Australia's National Drug and
Alcohol Research Centre. "Only a minority in the wider community have
direct experience of heroin abuse, so public perceptions will be shaped
by the media's coverage," he says. "If the media gives a balanced
viewpoint, this initiative has a better chance of gaining public
acceptance." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Like any media-sensitive policy, the merits of the Kings Cross
injecting facility need to be effectively marketed. Realising this, the
centre's organisers hired a public relations firm to liaise with the
media and implement a communications strategy. | ||||||||||||||||||
The key messages of the policy revolve around a central premise that
the facility is not in itself a panacea for the Kings Cross heroin
problem. According to Kennedy -- a public relations professional with
more than 17 years' experience -- it needs to be emphasised that while
the centre's main function is to provide a supervised environment for
injecting heroin, it also acts as a gateway for treatment and
rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The media is important for the centre in communicating its messages,
not just to the drug injecting community, but to the broader community
as well," he says. "The second part of the strategy is to ensure that
only the correct messages are communicated. So, there is a bit of
issues management with such a high-profile topic. This is an area where
on occasion, no news is good news." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Kennedy handed out prepared video footage of mock heroin users inside
the facility for the TV news services. "This strategy was designed to
ensure high-quality and non-identifying images appeared in the media,
and leaves less reason for clandestine attempts to gather footage," he
says. | ||||||||||||||||||
The media were also given updates on the centre's progress before it opened, with many taking guided tours inside the building. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The same information appeared in nearly every news story about the
centre. It attracted coverage on news bulletins and in newspapers in
nearly every Australian state. "Few visit injecting room" said
Adelaide's The Advertiser; "Quiet start for injecting room" was The
Courier-Mail's summation in Brisbane; and Melbourne's Herald Sun simply
declared "Injecting room opens its doors". | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
After a nervous beginning, the Kings Cross injecting centre's
organisers are content with the media coverage to date. "You could
argue that the media were creating a story by being on our doorstep,"
says van Beek. "But on the other hand, they also quoted me as saying
the media presence had discouraged people from using the centre. To
that extent it has been fair." | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Maximizing Harm by Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||||
I thought you might find this book of interest. It is a short, concise
summary of the drug reform field and issues. | ||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Kevin Zeese | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense Presentation at TLC-DPF Conference | ||||||||||||||||||
The DrugSense Portion of the Internet Panel at The New Mexico
Conference can be reviewed. There are some really fascinating overviews
and opportunities for all reform groups encapsulated in this
presentation. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is now archived at: | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Michael Moore has just launched a mission for "Mike's Militia" to help
Renee Boje, Todd McCormick -- and of course, by extension, countless
other victims of the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Join a chat session with Judge James Gray, author of 'Why Our Drug Laws
Have Failed and What We Can Do About It' | ||||||||||||||||||
The first chat session will be held this Tuesday, 12 June, at 8 p.m.
Eastern, starting at 5 p.m. Pacific time in the New York Times National
Forum on Drug Policy which you may access from the following webpage
(Note: If you are not registered with the New York Times you will need
to register): | ||||||||||||||||||
The second chat session with Judge Gray will be held in the DrugSense
chat room on Saturday, 23 June, at 10 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Pacific at
the following webpage: | ||||||||||||||||||
Details and updates about these chats, and future chats with others, is being posted at http://www.cultural-baggage.com/schedule.htm | ||||||||||||||||||
Judge Gray's website is http://www.judgejimgray.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
James P. Gray is Judge of the Superior Court in Orange County in
Southern California. He has served as former federal prosecutor in Los
Angeles and as a criminal defense attorney as a member of the JAG Corps
in the Navy. In 1998 he made an unsuccessful run for Congress as a
Republican against Bob Dornan. Judge Gray has discussed issues of drug
policy on more than one hundred radio and TV shows and numerous drug
forums around the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Looking for up-to-date, accurate research and info on prison issues?
There is a great site, relatively new: | ||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by | ||||||||||||||||||
Brigette Sarabi, Director | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
What Price "Success?" / by Tom O'Connell M.D. | ||||||||||||||||||
A panel discussion at last Saturday morning's plenary session involved the most spirited and meaningful debate I've yet encountered at a DPF meeting. The question at issue was how reform should deal with coerced treatment as an alternative to incarceration; the same concept embodied in California's recently passed (but yet to be implemented) Proposition | ||||||||||||||||||
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Those advising caution were troubled because the initiative implicitly agrees with the central prohibitionist notion that the danger of "drug use" is so extraordinary that society is obligated to forcibly intervene in the lives of individual citizens. Beyond that, they were concerned that the principle implicit in coerced treatment can actually extend the power of law enforcement and also provide a cosmetic "fix" for the image of an increasingly discredited war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Those wanting to forge ahead with similar initiatives in other states
agreed with both concerns, but insisted that the need to "rescue" those
now being sentenced to Draconian -- literally life destroying --
sentences in our crowded and brutal state prisons overrides such
considerations. | ||||||||||||||||||
This may be the most troubling and difficult issue yet to emerge from the schism between anti-prohibitionists and harm reductionists which has plagued our movement. There is no doubt that thousands of lives are being destroyed every year by imprisonment; but there can also be no doubt that the forces now running our police state -- although they bitterly opposed the restraints of Proposition 36 -- are the same people best positioned to coopt it for their own purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's not difficult to imagine a scenario in which coerced treatment extends the reach of prohibition to the middle class, generates substantial revenues from fines, recruits a coterie of treatment providers, and grants the drug war another decade or more of longevity. It all depends on public perceptions which are now imponderable. | ||||||||||||||||||
One suggestion was that the results of Prop. 36 (which will not even be implemented until July 1, 2001), be observed before forging ahead with similar initiatives; however an article written for the May 30 Wall Street Journal disclosed that to be a forlorn hope.* The same funders who have been key to qualifying both medical marijuana initiatives and Proposition 36 have already decided to finance coerced treatment initiatives in three more populous states in the next election cycle. | ||||||||||||||||||
Not only is this is an issue with the potential to splinter our movement,
it's also an excellent example of the critical importance of money in
American politics -- not just for the major parties, but also for the
"radical" opposition. | ||||||||||||||||||
Super-Wealthy Threesome Fund Growing War on the War on Drugs * | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Essence of Leadership | ||||||||||||||||||
"A True Leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make
tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to others. S/He does not
set out to be a leader but becomes one by the quality of his/her
actions and the integrity of his/her intent. In the end true leaders
are much like eagles...they don't flock, you find them one at a time."
-- Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (),
Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Jo-D Dunbar
(), International content selection and analysis 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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