| June 22, 2001 #204 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) THIS IS A BUST - THE FUTILITY OF DRUG INTERDICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The drug war works, at least in Bolivia. Between 1995 and 2000, the amount of land in Bolivia with coca cultivated on it declined from almost 50,000 hectares to fewer than 20,000. In Peru, during the same period, land under cultivation for coca declined from 115,000 hectares to roughly 30,000. It was a nice winning streak for the American policy of coca eradication in the Andes, except for the minor matter of Colombia, where the coca crop doubled - keeping the level of production in the Andes approximately the same as it had been before those victories in Bolivia and Peru. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) CN AB: COLUMN: JURY CLEARS THE AIR IN MEDICINAL-POT CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Twelve ordinary Calgarians had the courage to do yesterday what our federal government has been unable or unwilling to do for years. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 11 women and one man who formed the jury at Grant Krieger's trial found
the 46-year-old Calgary cannabis crusader not guilty of possession of
marijuana for the purposes of trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||
It was a remarkable finding considering Krieger himself took the stand and
admitted that not only did he grow the 29 marijuana plants seized by police
from his Bowness home on August 25, 1999, but that he regularly sells
marijuana too. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) US: WEB: COLUMN: ENEMIES DOMESTIC (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The ugly side of the war on drugs was shoved smack-dab in the
nation's face in April when the Peruvian air force, acting with
U.S.-provided intelligence, shot down a plane packed with
missionaries -- presumably under the impression that the pontoon
craft was hauling coca, not Christians. | ||||||||||||||||||
A report detailing the "whys" and "hows" of the shoot-down that
killed missionary Roni Bowers and her baby, Charity, is set for
release late in July, according to a nameless U.S. State Department
official, cited in the June 20 Miami Herald. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We need to make sure," said the official in a great example of the
duh-speak that infects government "that every possible safeguard is
in place to prevent the accidental loss of civilian life as a result
of the anti-drug program in the Andes." | ||||||||||||||||||
You think? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) DOCTORS VS. DRUG WARRIORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
One egregious and less-than-publicized side of the drug war is its
interference with doctors and their ailing patients, especially those
suffering from chronic pain. | ||||||||||||||||||
WND's "Babe in the Bunker," Barbara Simpson, wrote yesterday about a
lawsuit aimed at one Dr. Wing Chin, an internist sued by the family of
cancer patient William Bergman for not adequately treating his pain.
Bergman is now dead, but the family scored a purse of $1.5 million in
general damages. | ||||||||||||||||||
The only reason punitive damages weren't heaped atop the judgment,
presumably, is that the doctor did not act with any malice. He was only
doing his job even if inadequately. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The nation's press was nearly unanimous in its approval of the Fourth
Amendment's 5-4 upset victory in the Supreme Court; equally
surprising: the author and vote split. | ||||||||||||||||||
(5) PRIVACY PROTECTION THE FOUNDERS WOULD HAVE WANTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In an admirably forward-looking decision protecting privacy in a
technological age, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that homes should be
as safe from law enforcement's modern electronic intrusions as they are
from old-fashioned, kick-down-the-door searches. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Writing for a 5 to 4 majority that scrambled the court's usual
ideological blocs, Justice Antonin Scalia said technology could not be
allowed to erode "that degree of privacy against government that
existed when the Fourth Amendment was adopted." That's powerful
reasoning. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT:(6) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In an unprecedented California case, a jury endorsed the newly
emergent idea that adequate pain treatment is an essential part of
medical practice. | ||||||||||||||||||
With a continuing swarm of "Oxy" scare stories in the background, that
notion must be balanced against one advanced in a West Virginia
lawsuit: pharmaceutical companies are liable for abuse of their
product. | ||||||||||||||||||
So far, only a minority of newspapers are resisting the urge to hype
the "Oxy Menace" | ||||||||||||||||||
See also focus alert 212 at http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0209.html | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) ELDER-ABUSE VERDICT CHALLENGES PHYSICIANS ON PAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Doctors Must Balance Relief Against Addiction | ||||||||||||||||||
A landmark verdict of elder abuse against an East Bay internist for not
giving enough painkillers to a dying man has grabbed the attention of
physicians already under pressure to make treatment decisions based on
subjective evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
An Alameda County jury on Wednesday found Dr. Wing Chin committed elder
abuse and reckless negligence for not giving enough pain medication to
lung cancer patient William Bergman, 85, who was admitted to Eden
Medical Center in Castro Valley in February 1998. He died later that
month at his home in Hayward. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) LAWSUIT TARGETS OXYCONTIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Mcgraw Calls Marketing 'Coercive And Deceptive' | ||||||||||||||||||
West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw Jr. wants the company
that makes the powerful painkiller OxyContin to stop pushing it on
doctors who prescribe the drug to undeserving patients, according to a
lawsuit filed Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
When used properly, the drug can be very effective to treat pain,
McGraw said Monday. Doctors and addiction specialists have backed up
that claim in previous reports. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the suit, McGraw alleges that the defendants have used a marketing
campaign that pressures West Virginia doctors to prescribe the drug,
even if patients don't need it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) OFFICIALS GETTING HOOKED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The attorney general's staffers had been restless, bored and reduced to
casting about the legal landscape for an occasional fast-buck cable
operator or unscrupulous aluminum siding salesman to hammer with a
consent decree. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The product is the pain-killer OxyContin and people in the attorney
general's jurisdiction were cheating, lying, prostituting themselves,
even robbing to get their hands on some. | ||||||||||||||||||
The OxyContin abuse problem seems to have disproportionately fallen on
Southern West Virginia, which to dispassionate observers may say more
about Southern West Virginia than OxyContin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT:(9-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The dangers of ecstasy also continue to be hyped by irresponsible and
inaccurate media reports while a much watched New Orleans federal case
against rave promoters ended in a plea bargain that can only be
described as ludicrous. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) 'HUG DRUG' USE IS RISING FAST, HARMING TEENS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) | ||||||||||||||||||
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All my friends were doing it and they were having
so much fun and they were like come on, Dayna. Just do it. Nothing's
going to happen. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two typical Long
Island teenagers, now two recovering addicts, two of some 1.3 million
students in grades eight through 12, according to one study, that have
used ecstasy. | ||||||||||||||||||
DR. ALAN LESHNER, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: There's a terrible myth out there that ecstasy is a benign, harmless, fun drug, a hug drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) WEAK END TO A WEAK CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
When the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Orleans secured indictments earlier this year against promoters of local raves, it touted the move as an innovative use of a federal statute intended to punish owners of crack houses. But the specific act forbidden by the law -- managing or maintaining a building where drugs are used -- is poorly defined. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Common sense, however, did not fare so well. Under the plea deal, Barbecue of New Orleans will be forbidden to sell pacifiers, glow sticks and other items commonly associated with rave culture, or even allow those items into the State Palace Theater. ... it was the potential that the use of ecstasy, which can cause extreme dehydration and high fevers, could seriously injure ravers. In that context -- and given that even ravers who don't do drugs may want a break from the dance floor -- a chill room is arguably a sensible idea. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
There's a national consensus that incarceration of drug users has been
overdone, yet efforts to reform NY's harsh Rockefeller laws seem
stalled for the second consecutive year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement's power to stall legislative reforms is precisely what led to initiatives like 36 in California. The threat of a similar initiative already has Florida's law enforcement agencies organizing. | ||||||||||||||||||
They should relax; even if they lose at the polls, events in
California suggest they'll still get a shot at frustrating the will of
the voters when the law is finally implemented. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) EFFORT TO EASE DRUG LAWS STALLS IN ALBANY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Efforts to reach a deal to relax New York's drug sentencing laws have
stalled, leaving some proponents worried that no revisions will be made
this summer. | ||||||||||||||||||
In January, Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, threw his weight
behind the idea of easing the laws, which mandate long prison sentences
for drug felons, including many low-level street dealers and addicts.
The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, soon did the same.
And advocates on both sides of the issue predicted that a consensus
would be reached during the 2001 legislative session. | ||||||||||||||||||
But no substantive discussions have begun among the governor and the
two men who control the State Legislature.... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) DRUG FIGHTERS ORGANIZE OPPOSITION TO STATEWIDE TREATMENT PROPOSAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A burgeoning movement to reform Florida's drug laws has caught the
attention of the state's drug czar and the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement, which is leading the charge to rally police, prosecutors
and politicians against a 2002 ballot initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
The proposal to mandate drug treatment as an alternative to
imprisonment for certain nonviolent offenders is nothing more than a
precursor to drug legalization, warned FDLE Commissioner James T.
Moore in a recent letter to Keith Chandler of Melbourne, head of the
Florida Police Chiefs Association. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) FLOOD OF DRUG DIVERSION CASES FEARED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
L.A. County: Some Say Prop. 36, Requiring Treatment Rather Than Jail,
Will Swamp System. | ||||||||||||||||||
Despite months of preparation, the state's largest local criminal
justice system could be overwhelmed by a new law transforming
California's approach to drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||
Just weeks before the July 1 launch of Proposition 36, Los Angeles
County judges, attorneys and other officials say the county could find
itself without enough courtrooms, treatment centers or counselors to
handle an estimated 20,000 or more defendants a year who will be
eligible for drug treatment rather than prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Added Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Tynan: "The big
problem is that the number of people involved in Proposition 36 as
defendants was grossly underestimated . . . and the money is just not
going to be there." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT:(14-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The increase in illicit drugs seized at airports should tell any rational person all they need to know about the "success" of the drug war; sadly the warriors insist that every seizure is a victory. | ||||||||||||||||||
Remember body counts? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) AS NEWARK AIRPORT GROWS, SO DOES THE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Seizures By Customs Rank Third In The U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
Weighing 272,500 pounds and featuring a huge cargo hold and roomy
cabin, a Boeing 757 comes with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
And, when you consider not just one but 69 other planes - some much,
much larger - fly from overseas into Newark International Airport every
day, that's a lot of places to search. | ||||||||||||||||||
But in the war on drugs, 80-pound dogs like Mickey and a unit of
100-plus U.S. Customs Service inspectors are making an impact. In the
last year, the unit has confiscated 845 pounds of heroin, cocaine and
Ecstasy, ranking Newark third after Miami and Kennedy as the airports
with the nation's most narcotics seizures. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) AIRPORT ARRESTS FOR DRUGS SKYROCKET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Sometimes the stuff is stashed in hefty duffel bags. Sometimes it's
hidden on the smuggler's body as drug couriers haul their illegal
merchandise pound by pound through Nashville International Airport,
authorities say. | ||||||||||||||||||
And the numbers are going up. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug arrests at the airport rose about 400% from 1999 to 2000, and
officers now are catching five to 10 suspects a week on drug-related
charges, said Harry Sommers, resident agent in charge of the Drug
Enforcement Agency's Nashville office. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
South Carolina easily leads all others in punishing pregnant (black) women for drug (cocaine) use. The Supreme Court just struck down one provision of their law; it may eventually deal with another. | ||||||||||||||||||
== | ||||||||||||||||||
(16) PREGNANCY AND COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Mom Fights Drug-Abuse Law In Court | ||||||||||||||||||
After Conviction In Death Of Unborn Child, Ex-Addict Wants To See
Policy Change | ||||||||||||||||||
GREENWOOD -- Brenda Peppers had already lost her daughter, born dead.
In a coma after her labor, a crack-addicted Peppers struggled to live
and doctors had to revive her four times in six weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||
Peppers never smoked crack again after her miracle recovery. But nearly
two years later, prosecutors charged her with abusing her unborn child
by taking cocaine while pregnant. | ||||||||||||||||||
She didn't think it was fair to punish her further, but Peppers
accepted a plea agreement at the time because she would only get two
years' probation and could avoid the media attention of a trial. Now
the 35-year-old Greenwood County woman is fighting the law because she
thinks her battle can help other women. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
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Around the English speaking world, a similar story: glacially slow
government recognition that there is increasing acceptance of cannabis
for both medical and recreational use. | ||||||||||||||||||
From Canada, complaints that the much heralded government medical use
program is excessively restrictive; meanwhile British activists proved
they are not "fair weather protestors." In a significant step,
Scotland Yard announced a trial of merely citing people caught with
small amounts. Even in the U.S., a widely reprinted AP story told of
business as usual in Northern California clubs despite last month's
Supreme Court ruling. | ||||||||||||||||||
There was one real bummer: Dr. Murray " Heart Attack" Mittleman snookered the press into publicizing the same grossly exaggerated data he presented to the American Heart Association fifteen months ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) CANADIANS LEAN TOWARD EASING MARIJUANA LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
As the government puts the finishing touches on regulations that will
make Canada one of the first countries to license marijuana growers,
deepening public tolerance for the drug is clearing the path to legal
reforms that could make Canada much more permissive of marijuana than
the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) POT PROBLEMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The feds say they support using marijuana for medicinal purposes, but
you wouldn't know that from the horror stories some are telling. Cancer
patients, AIDS and arthritis sufferers and people with injuries that
stop them from working are among those who applied to Health Canada
recently for an exemption that allows them to possess and grow pot for
medicinal purposes without fear of prosecution. But all of them were
rejected, even though doctors attested to weed's therapeutic benefits
in their cases. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) BRITONS RALLY FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LONDON -- Braving torrential rain, thousands gathered in a park in London on Saturday to call for the legalization of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Organizers estimated that 30,000 people attended the Cannabis Freedom
Festival in the Brixton area of south London. | ||||||||||||||||||
Participants heard speeches calling for the decriminalization of cannabis, listened to bands from Europe, Africa and Brazil, absorbed the verses of "poets for pot" and browsed stalls offering hemp ice cream, hemp clothing and a cookbook entitled "Cooking with Ganja." | ||||||||||||||||||
There were no reports of arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) WARNINGS PLANNED FOR THOSE CAUGHT WITH MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LONDON, ENGLAND Scotland Yard plans to ease its enforcement of laws against possessing marijuana so officers can focus on arresting crack cocaine dealers and violent criminals, police said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
As part of a pilot program in one high-crime district, London police
will release people found with a small amount of marijuana with just a
warning instead of bringing them to a police station for formal arrest,
Scotland Yard said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) FEDS SILENT ON MARIJUANA STRATEGY DESPITE HIGH COURT VICTORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court said it's illegal to sell or possess marijuana for medical use, the decision appears to be having little effect in the eight states with medical marijuana laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I dispense a couple pounds a month," said Jim Green, operator of the Market Street Club, where business has thrived even after the May 14 ruling. "All of my clients have a legitimate and compelling need." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think they are biding their time and are being very careful for
which organizations or persons they are going to target first after
this U.S. Supreme Court decision because that is what is going to get
all of the media attention," said Tim Lynch, the Cato Institute
director of criminal justice studies. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) POT RAISES HEART ATTACK RISK IN SOME, STUDY SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Air pollution and smoking marijuana both temporarily increase heart
attack risk in persons with cardiovascular disease, researchers
reported Monday, June 11. | ||||||||||||||||||
Baby boomers' heart attack risk increases almost five times within one
hour after smoking marijuana, especially if they have other
cardiovascular risk factors, said Dr. Murray Mittleman, director of
cardiovascular surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and
Harvard University in Boston. "People who have heart attacks triggered
by smoking marijuana almost certainly have a heart condition, which
they may not be aware of, that predisposes them to having a heart
attack," he told United Press International. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (23-28) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The past and present of the Colombia drug war were highlighted in dark
detail last week. A deadly air raid that killed several civilians in
1998 was blamed on private American contractors and anti-drug aid.
More recently, the side effects from spraying human habitats with
concentrated poison, allegedly to eradicate drugs, were painfully
illustrated. | ||||||||||||||||||
When justifying tough international policies like those pursued in
Colombia, U.S. officials sometimes point to the drug war in Peru as a
model. A new report tagging Peru as a "narcostate" indicates
otherwise. The black market for drugs can also cause relatively small
islands to become narcostates, according to reports from Haiti
and some Pacific Islands near Australia. | ||||||||||||||||||
And, in a bit of positive news from inside Australia, a
government-sponsored report has recommended a heroin trial, in which
addicts would be given maintenance doses of the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) AMERICANS BLAMED IN COLOMBIA RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Bogota -- Three American civilian airmen providing airborne security
for a U.S. oil company coordinated an anti-guerrilla raid in Colombia
in 1998, marking targets and directing helicopter gunships that
mistakenly killed 18 civilians, Colombian military pilots have alleged
in a official inquiry. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
...the fact that U.S.-donated helicopters dropped cluster bombs and | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(24) HOW GLOBAL BATTLE AGAINST DRUGS RISKS BACKFIRING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Franci sits on the veranda and whimpers. The little girl is
underweight. Her armpits are erupting in boils. Like most of her
people, she has suffered from respiratory problems and stomach pains
since the aircraft and the helicopter gunships came over at Christmas
and again at New Year dropping toxic pesticides on their villages. The
tiny indigenous Kofan community of Santa Rosa de Guamuez in Colombia
had it hard enough with pressures from settlers on their reservation,
without Roundup Ultra containing Cosmoflux 411F, a weedkiller that is
being sprayed on their villages in a concentration 100 times more
powerful than is permitted in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(25) REPORT - MONTESINOS TURNED PERU INTO 'NARCO STATE' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LIMA, Peru ( Reuters ) -- Fugitive former spy chief Vladimiro
Montesinos and his cronies turned Peru into a "narco state," a
congressional commission investigating his alleged web of corruption
said after completing seven months of work. | ||||||||||||||||||
In its final report, excerpts of which were released late on Friday,
the panel said the previous regime had "turned Peru into a sort of
narco state, in which networks of support for this illicit activity
were set up, using the concentration of information that Montesinos had
in the SIN ( intelligence services )" on local and international drugs
figures. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(26) HAITI'S BUSINESS IS DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The international community froze all loans to Haiti in 1997 because of
the country's political turmoil. This May President Mejia of the
neighbouring Dominican Republic appealed for aid to be resumed since
its discontinuation is affecting not only Haiti but the whole region.
As the political vacuum grows, the mafia is expanding to fill it: the
traffic in drugs has increased more than threefold in the space of four
years, adding to Haitis already disastrous image. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(27) PACIFIC HAVEN FOR CRIME GANGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE seizure of 357kg of heroin in Fiji confirmed what police
intelligence was suggesting that Asian organised crime gangs were
entrenched in Pacific island countries. | ||||||||||||||||||
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty says there is no doubt such gangs see the area as a platform to Australia. | ||||||||||||||||||
"A warning bell was sounded last August when an Asian group allegedly
attempted to stage a 1.2 tonne shipment of amphetamine precursor
chemicals through Papua New Guinea," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(28) HEROIN TRIAL WINS SUPPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A report commissioned by the Prime Minister's hand-picked drug advisory group has recommended the introduction of a heroin trial. | ||||||||||||||||||
Heroin addicts who failed to respond to other forms of treatment would
be best suited to a trial, in which they were given free
pharmaceutical-grade heroin under strict conditions, according to the
report. The cautious but controversial backing for a heroin trial was
in the final paragraph of the report on heroin abuse, released
yesterday by the Australian National Council on Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report was prepared by researchers from the National Drug and
Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. It says
that, aside from reducing crimes committed by heroin addicts,
"injectable heroin maintenance" could also reduce the spread of HIV,
hepatitis C and other blood-borne viruses. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Tulia TX Documentary On-Line | ||||||||||||||||||
The William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice has just completed
work on a 23 minute documentary about the Tulia drug sting. The video
is a shocking look at the collateral consequences of America's racist
drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
You can view the video in Real Audio format at: | ||||||||||||||||||
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On-line Survey - Vote Now | ||||||||||||||||||
Pastor Offers Clean Needles To Drug Users is a story at | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.wdiv.com/det/news/stories/news-82869120010620-100655.html | ||||||||||||||||||
On the page they ask you to vote, and the results as of this msg are: | ||||||||||||||||||
Do you think this type of program encourages drug use? | ||||||||||||||||||
Choice Votes Percent of 168 votes | ||||||||||||||||||
(as of Wed PM 6/20/2001) | ||||||||||||||||||
Yes 92 55% | ||||||||||||||||||
No 76 45% | ||||||||||||||||||
We can turn this around. Please vote. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Transcript of Kevin Zeese's Visit to the Drug Policy Forum | ||||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, June 20, the NYTimes.com's Drug Policy forum hosted
Kevin Zeese, President, Common Sense For Drug Policy. This
discussion was the second in a series organized by forum
participants. | ||||||||||||||||||
Please join special guests Kay Lee and Jodi James from | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Upcoming DrugSense Chat Guests, http://www.drugsense.org/chat/ | ||||||||||||||||||
Be sure to join us on Saturday June 23, 2001 10 p.m. Eastern when our special guest will be Judge James P. Gray, http://www.judgejimgray.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
A second chat session with Mr. Zeese, http://www.csdp.org/kz/
will be held in the DrugSense chat room on Sunday, 1 July, at 8 p.m.
Eastern, 5 p.m. Pacific. | ||||||||||||||||||
Stay tuned to http://www.cultural-baggage.com/schedule.htm for upcoming guests on the NYTimes Forum and DrugSense Chat. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The AMA and Cannabis: Institutional Memory Loss: a Planet of the Apes
redux / by Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a display of burying the past under ignorance, the AMA voted against
medicinal use of cannabis. The previous knowledge of cannabis in the
AMA institutional memory was totally forgotten. Like suggesting
exorcism and trephining for treatment of conditions, the old clinical
intelligence was lacking. The AMA had become mind poisoned by the
"cannabis is a new drug" official premise. | ||||||||||||||||||
The mind poisoning of the AMA was evident as a devitalized and attenuated shadow of itself. Mercantilization and captive to government and corporate money, it did the politically correct rather than the ethical and right thing. How many misadventures and problems with harmful but legal drugs could be avoided? Amend the Hippocratic oath. | ||||||||||||||||||
If William C. Woodward, M.D., LL.M were alive today he would sternly
reeducate them about the policy towards marihuana. Woodward, long time
legal counsel and lobbyist for the AMA would recount the campaign by
Harry J. Anslinger of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics waged from 1933
to 1937. | ||||||||||||||||||
He would summarize the study by the AMA Bureau of Legal Medicine and
Legislation in 1935 which was copied from the files of Anslinger
archives at Penn State University. The official policy of AMA "We see
no reason for the inclusion of Cannabis Indica in the provisions of a
Uniform State Narcotic Law. In any event it would be extremely
unnecessary to include compounds of Cannabis Indica where the other
ingredients would prevent the use of it for narcotic purposes. We
particularly refer to a number of tablet combinations indicated in
certain nerve conditions." In the same collection from the Anslinger
archives letters from Parke Davis, Eli Lilly, and J.L. Hopkins & Co,
importers and wholesalers of crude drugs, all deny any problems with
illicit diversion or use. These documents never made it into the
hearings- withheld by Anslinger as part of his stories about reefer
madness. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Woodward would describe how he was insulted at the committee of
Ways & Means in the House of Representatives whose chairman
misrepresented the position of the AMA. The Marihuana Tax Act was
vigorously opposed by the AMA. In 1937 the committee on legislative
activities concluded: "...there is positively no evidence to indicate
the abuse of cannabis as a medicinal agent or to show that its
medicinal use is leading to the development of cannabis addiction.
Cannabis at the present time is slightly used for medicinal purposes,
but it would seem worthwhile to maintain its status as a medicinal
agent for such purposes as it now has. There is a possibility that a
restudy of the drug by modern means may show other advantages to be
derived from its medicinal use." (JAMA 108:2214-15 1937) Reprinted from
Marijuana Medical Papers 1839 - 1972 ed T.H. Mikuriya. | ||||||||||||||||||
The contemporary memory loss from 64 years of prohibition with dogma
substituting for medical intelligence and clinical experience has
produced a toxic myth that medicinal cannabis is a new drug with need
for perpetual study to protect the public. This mind poisoning of lies
and censorship remains a substantive impediment to restoration of
cannabis to prescriptive availability. The broad medical and
pharmaceutical literature on cannabis attesting to its medicinal uses
and high level of safety compared to other pharmaceuticals or alcohol
can no longer be ignored. Cannabis is an effective alternative
medication for optimal management of chronic illnesses. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tod H. Mikuriya, M.D. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Wonder Drug
| ||||||||||||||||||
"It would be sending the wrong message to the children" is one of the standard responses to arguments in support of medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
I'm convinced that by keeping marijuana a Schedule One Controlled
Substance, the federal government is sending the wrong message to my
14-year-old daughter. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our daughter's Sunday school teacher, a close family friend, contracted
HIV through a blood transfusion in 1982. Diagnosed more than a decade
later, AIDS eventually caught up with her. The side effects of the
medications she took forced her to stop teaching. She couldn't eat and
was being fed through a tube. She wasted away and looked like a skeleton.
After visiting her my daughter had nightmares. | ||||||||||||||||||
In January 1997, California's Compassionate Use Act, Proposition 215,
went into effect and we encouraged our friend to try cannabis, since
she clearly qualified for its use. As a Sunday school teacher, she
thought it would send the wrong message to her students. We finally
convinced her to try it in private. Within weeks she was eating
voraciously. She was out and about, enjoying herself. She returned
to the classroom. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our young daughter saw the transformation. This unique medicine gave
our friend two more years of life. In May 1999, our friend died from a
ruptured pancreas, a result of the highly toxic AIDS medications she
took. | ||||||||||||||||||
My daughter fully understands that Congress has made possession of
marijuana a federal crime. I recently asked her whether the mixed
messages confused her and how she could reconcile the government's
stance with her own direct experience. "No, I'm not confused," she
said. "They're just stupid." | ||||||||||||||||||
I want the next generation to be able to look up to our government and
elected leaders. My daughter sees through the government's stubborn
refusal to admit to marijuana's obvious medical benefit and the
disinformation campaign used to support that inhumane position. And
that sends the wrong message to my kid. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jane Marcus, | ||||||||||||||||||
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RUNNERS UP | ||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"There is much to be said in favor of modern journalism. By giving us
the opinions of the uneducated, it keeps us in touch with the ignorance
of the community." -- Oscar Wilde | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 by Stephen Young
(), Layout by Matt Elrod | ||||||||||||||||||
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