| July 27 , 2001 #209 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) PLAN COLOMBIA EXPANSION THWARTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
House Rejects Bush Request on Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
The House last night rejected a White House request to allow
unlimited numbers of American civilians to work under contract on
U.S. military and other aid operations in Colombia, reflecting rising
congressional concern over the deteriorating situation in that
country and fears of expanded U.S. involvement. | ||||||||||||||||
The House move came during floor debate on the Bush administration's
$15.2 billion foreign aid bill, which includes $676 million in
military, social and economic assistance to Colombia and six other
countries in the Andean region. The Andean aid -- which emerged from
committee at $55 million less than President Bush requested -- is the
successor to last year's $1.3 billion Plan Colombia, the
military-dominated U.S. anti-drug program. | ||||||||||||||||
After 12 hours of debate, the overall aid bill was approved 381 to
46, the sixth of 13 appropriations bills passed thus far by the House
for fiscal 2002, which starts Oct. 1. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) UK: CANNABIS BAN FACES INVESTIGATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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A House of Commons committee is to investigate the possible
decriminalisation of cannabis. In its first major inquiry of the new
parliament, the powerful home affairs committee will also question
whether current drug rules work. | ||||||||||||||||
Witnesses include key government figures such as the Lord Chancellor.
Lord Irvine of Lairg and Home Secretary David Blunkett. | ||||||||||||||||
It comes against a growing background of opposition to the banning of marijuana from politicians of all sides and national newspapers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) UK: EDITORIAL: THE CASE FOR LEGALISATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Time For A Puff Of Sanity | ||||||||||||||||
IT IS every parent's nightmare. | ||||||||||||||||
A youngster slithers inexorably from a few puffs on a joint, to a snort of
cocaine, to the needle and addiction. | ||||||||||||||||
It was the flesh-creeping heart of "Traffic", a film about the descent into heroin hell of a pretty young middle-class girl, and it is the terror that keeps drug laws in place. It explains why even those politicians who puffed at a joint or two in their youth hesitate to put the case for legalising drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US: MILITARY'S DRUG WAR TARGETS 'RAVE' FAVORITES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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SAN DIEGO -- Alarmed by rising use of Ecstasy and other "party drugs" by military personnel at bases nationwide and abroad, the services are striking back by increasing random drug testing, booting out first-time offenders and court-martialing anyone caught selling narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-7) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In another relatively slow drug new week, a PRIDE survey which related (for the first time ever) drug use and parenting, found that kids from broken homes are far more likely to use drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
A federal conference on club drugs maintained the youthful focus; it now seems clear that aggressive policing will be the policy. | ||||||||||||||||
How grossly distorted this "educational" effort becomes after
translation by local law enforcement was (hilariously) revealed by
an item in a small Tennessee paper. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) SURVEY: KIDS LIKELY TO USE DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sixth to 12th graders who live in single-dad homes are more likely than others to use drugs, according to a survey released Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey, done by a division of an Atlanta-based anti-drug
organization, also found that high schoolers' use of such drugs as
heroin, Ecstasy, and marijuana increased -- reversing a three-year
decline in overall drug use. Meanwhile, cigarette and alcohol use
dropped to a 13-year low. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The survey found that 38.4 percent of students who lived with their
fathers only said they used drugs. The percentages for other family
structures were: father and stepmother, 31.9 percent; mother and
stepfather, 29.8 percent; mother only, 28.3 percent; and both
parents, 20.4 percent. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) EXPERTS SAY U.S. USE OF ECSTASY DRUG RISES SHARPLY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BETHESDA, Md, July 19 (Reuters) - Use of the drug ecstasy is
exploding among young people in the United States and could become as
destructive as the crack cocaine epidemic that swept the country 20
years ago, a conference heard on Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
The international conference at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington coincided with the introduction of bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate to boost education efforts against the drug and set up a federal task force to coordinate efforts to combat | ||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
RECALLS DEADLY CRACK EPIDEMIC | ||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, New York City police seized 1 million ecstasy pills
worth $40 million from a Manhattan apartment, the largest ecstasy
bust ever in the city. | ||||||||||||||||
But New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said
approximately 2 million pills were believed to move through New York
airports into the country every week. | ||||||||||||||||
James Hall, who directs a drug information center in Miami, told the
conference use of MDMA was following a similar trajectory to that of
the crack cocaine epidemic that swept the United States in the 1970s
and 1980s. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) USE OF ECSTASY, OTHER 'CLUB DRUGS' ON RISE IN TRI-CITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Widespread abuse of the "hug drug" Ecstasy has been reported within
almost every major U.S. city. It often is used in combination with
other drugs and alcohol and has gained popularity among teen-agers
and young professionals due to the false perception that it is not as
harmful or addictive as mainstream drugs such as heroin, according to
the Drug Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
District Attorney General Joe Crumley said the use of Ecstasy is
"definitely on the increase and apparently is a type of narcotic that
can be fairly easily produced." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"The kids are basically being told it's a safe drug. There's things
on the Internet about it where they tout it as being safe, but my
understanding is it can cause the body temperature to go as high as
104 degrees with one tablet," Crumley said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Multiple tablets cause a breakdown in the organs, to where -- in a
crude way of saying it -- they practically melt.... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (8-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Needle exchange, an issue recently out of the news, resurfaced in
California; UCSF researchers took issue with the federal policy of
studied neglect of Hepatitis C and a Sacramento Bee editorial echoed
the frustration many feel at standing by while avoidable disease is
spread simply for the sake of doctrinal purity. | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) UCSF REJECTS U.S. HEPATITIS C POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Report Urges Treatment For Illicit Drug Users | ||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO -- University of California, San Francisco, researchers have released a report recommending that illicit drug users infected with the hepatitis C virus be eligible for treatment. The recommendation goes against federal guidelines set in 1997. | ||||||||||||||||
The article, published Thursday in the New England Journal of
Medicine,was written by seven UCSF scientists in conjunction with a
group of 38 national and international experts, a university
spokesman said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"If poor adherence were a reason to withhold treatment, most medical
conditions would go untreated," Edlin said. | ||||||||||||||||
"A policy of deferring treatment indefinitely in patients who do not have access to substance abuse treatment effectively abandons those most affected by the hepatitis C epidemic," the report notes. "A recommendation to withhold medical treatment from (illicit drug users)raises questions about fairness and discrimination." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) SANE NEEDLES: COUNTY BOARD MUST ACT TO SLOW DOWN AIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The recent conviction of a volunteer working with Sacramento Area Needle Exchange (SANE) has prompted the organization to look to come out into the sunshine. They want the Sacramento Board of Supervisors to finally legitimize their valuable public health work. ... | ||||||||||||||||
In 1994, a majority of the board voted to create a needle-exchange program. But a Superior Court judge said handing out needles violated existing law.Since then, state law has changed and local governments now have the authority to approve needle exchanges by declaring a public health emergency. Unfortunately, activists say, there are now only two sure-fire supporters of a needle-exchange program left on the board -- Roger Dickinson and Illa Collin. | ||||||||||||||||
Those opposed to the program don't question whether handing out clean
needles to drug users reduces the spread of HIV and hepatitis C.
Dozens of studies have proved the public health benefit of the
programs. HIV infection rates among intravenous drug users have
dropped by more than half in the last decade, an improvement that Dr.
Glennah Trochet, the county's public health officer, attributes
partly to SANE's efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead, opponents charge that exchanging needles will encourage drug
use.... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Data from the 2000 census has now been released in 29 states; in
every one, blacks were imprisoned far in excess of their share of
the population. | ||||||||||||||||
Although multiple reasons have been cited for the disparity, the WOD
was cited along with a vague admission of racism pervading most
local variations on the AP wire story. Two typical reports came from
North Carolina and West Virginia. | ||||||||||||||||
An irritating South Carolina editorial implicitly acknowledges the
racism but counseled against looking for any sudden change "for
political reasons." | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) CENSUS FIGURES INDICATE BLACKS IMPRISONED DISPROPORTIONATELY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- Blacks make up a disproportionate share of inmates in
America's prisons and jails, including 68 percent of male inmates in
South Carolina and 44 percent of the women in West Virginia's prison
population, new census figures show. | ||||||||||||||||
It is a phenomenon that can be traced in part to raw arrest figures
-- blacks are arrested at rates far higher than their national
population percentage. | ||||||||||||||||
The trend was evident in data available so far for 29 states and the
District of Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
791,600 black males were incarcerated in June 2000, a new high.
Nearly one in eight black males age 20 to 34 was in prison on any
given day. | ||||||||||||||||
While crime rates have fallen the last decade, the total number of people incarcerated in the United States has risen steadily to a record high of 1.9 million people in 2000, the Justice report said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) BLACKS BEHIND BARS IN RECORD NUMBERS, CENSUS SHOWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Advocates Point To Bias In Law Enforcement | ||||||||||||||||
Get-tough policies on crime and a jail- and prison-building boom in the 1990s put a record number of inmates behind bars in North Carolina, with blacks locked up in increasingly disproportionate numbers, according to new statistics from the 2000 Census. | ||||||||||||||||
Overall, North Carolina's inmate population nearly doubled over the
past decade to 46,614, as new sentencing guidelines kept some state
prisoners incarcerated longer, and as jails and prisons filled with
suspects and convicts from the war on drugs. The 88 percent increase
in the inmate population far outstripped the state's 21 percent
growth rate. | ||||||||||||||||
The number of blacks in prison rose even faster, by 101 percent.
Though about one in five North Carolinians is black, slightly more
than three in five inmates across the state are black. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) INCARCERATION RATE MUCH HIGHER FOR BLACKS THAN WHITES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
On any weekday morning, dozens of people are crowded on four benches,
tucked into corners and any available space in the waiting area for
Kanawha County Magistrate Court. | ||||||||||||||||
Most of them are black. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's apparent if you look around the courthouse at the huge body of
folks in magistrate court that there is an overrepresentation of
African-Americans," said Barbara Brown, a Kanawha County public
defender. | ||||||||||||||||
On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released data that shows that more
than one-third of the people behind bars in the Mountain State are
black, though blacks make up only about 3 percent of the general
population. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) OVERREPRESENTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug War Locks Up More Blacks | ||||||||||||||||
Blacks account for 27 percent of South Carolina's population, yet comprise more than 68 percent of its prison inmates, according to figures released by the U.S.=C2 Census.=C2 Many factors - cultural, social and economic - can be cited as contributors to such a high concentration of black males in prison. In terms of policy, the one thing that deserves the most review is this nation's war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Still, there is an outcry among prison advocates for federal and
state officials to review the consequences of mandatory minimums and
the fairness of higher penalties for crack cocaine.=C2 Politics makes
substantive review unlikely. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (14-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Tulia, Texas has become both a symbol and a prime example of the
differential enforcement of drug laws which has so distorted our
prison population. Last week end, a rally to commemorate Tulia's
infamous 1999 drug bust drew supporters from around the nation and
notice in newspapers across Texas. | ||||||||||||||||
In one of drug policy's longer running soap-operas, NY Governor
Pataki revived hopes for reform of the Rockefeller laws with a brand
new and unexpected proposal. | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) RALLY HELD TO PROTEST DRUG BUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Protesters mark the second anniversary of a controversial drug bust
that led to the arrests of 43 people, 40 of them black. | ||||||||||||||||
A crowd of about 350 people rallied peacefully in a Tulia park Sunday night to protest a 1999 drug bust they say was racially motivated. | ||||||||||||||||
All but three of the 43 people arrested in the bust were black.
Tulia's population is about 5,000, of which about 250 residents are
black. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Jerry Epstein, president of the Drug Policy Forum of Texas, said
prohibition of drugs is the problem. | ||||||||||||||||
"Without prohibition, there is no drug war. Without prohibition, you
do not have people selling drugs," Mr. Epstein said. "How many black
and brown people do you have to put into prison to get white people
to stop using drugs?" | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) PATAKI OFFERS REVISED PLAN ON DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ALBANY, July 23 -- Reviving moribund efforts to soften New York's
Rockefeller-era drug laws, Gov. George E. Pataki is making a new
offer, one that would give many more defendants the opportunity to
undergo drug treatment rather than long prison terms. | ||||||||||||||||
The new plan goes beyond what Mr. Pataki advocated in a bill he
proposed earlier this year. The Democrats who control the Assembly
had said the governor's earlier proposal did not go far enough, and
countered with their own bill, which the governor dismissed as
extreme. But there has been little substantive discussion between
them, and critics of the drug laws had begun to fear that the issue
was dead for the year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
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Last week Bush's DEA Director nominee, Asa Hutchinson, refused to
answer questions about federal enforcement of medical marijuana
prohibition during senate hearings. Some "wolf" showed through his
"sheep's clothing" as he spoke to a gathering of Arkansas law
enforcement officers this week. | ||||||||||||||||
A few weeks ago a Canadian columnist poked fun at the U.S. DEA
stating that Canadian cops have no trouble telling the difference
between marijuana and hemp. It is possible that this writer has
nearly died from laughter after reading about the Virginia
narcotic's officers who mistakenly raided a gardener for growing
tomatoes. | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) ASA GOES ON OFFENSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Facing a friendly crowd of law enforcers, Arkansas Rep. Asa
Hutchinson, the nominee to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration,
stepped up his pitch Friday for strong policing efforts to curb
narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||
Awaiting Senate confirmation votes, Hutchinson, R-Fort Smith, broke
the silence typical of nominees by speaking to about 100 local police
officials gathered at a methamphetamine workshop. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Hutchinson did not mention medical marijuana during his speech
Friday. But he argued the government should not cave into pressures
to legalize narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) DRUG AGENTS KETCHUP TO WRONG SUSPECT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Tomato Vines, Pot Similar From The Air | ||||||||||||||||
MIDDLESEX - A helicopter was whomp-whomp-whomping overhead when men
with guns drawn surrounded Glen Coberly's tomato patch about noon
Wednesday and ordered him to the ground. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"They had their guns out," said Coberly. After a minute or two he was told to get up, and someone started to read him his rights, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, one of the raiders examined the plants and determined they
were tomatoes, not marijuana. Abbott tapped him on the shoulder as he
was leaving and said he was sorry for the mistake. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Two California judges added to the "confusion" over the
implementation of the California Compassionate Use Act. In the
southern part of the state a judge claimed that he could do nothing
about the city police who "confiscated" a patient's medicine and
then gave it to the feds even though the amount, 40 plants, was less
than half of what is usually considered a federal offense. In
northern California a judge declined to grant an extension on Steve
Kubby's surrender date. The latest reports have Mr. Kubby within a
few pieces of paperwork of becoming a fugitive. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) JUDGE REFUSES TO RETURN MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- A Superior Court judge Tuesday denied medicinal marijuana supporter David Fawcett's request to reclaim 40 seized marijuana plants from the Drug Enforcement Agency, ruling that as a state judge, he had no jurisdiction over the federal agency. | ||||||||||||||||
"The federal government has your property, sir," Dennis G. Cole said,
citing the recent Supreme Court ruling in U.S. vs. Oakland Cannabis
Buyer's Collective. "The federal government has determined that
possession of marijuana is still a crime." | ||||||||||||||||
Fawcett's complaint was dismissed. The Ontario resident is expected
to appeal Cole's ruling. | ||||||||||||||||
Fawcett was arrested in May, shortly after a story on his medicinal
marijuana use appeared in the Daily Bulletin. The San Bernardino
County District Attorney's Office decided not to file charges, saying
he was within California law, which allows for medicinal marijuana
use if a doctor approves. | ||||||||||||||||
An Ontario Police Department spokesman said in June the department
had turned Fawcett's plants over to the Drug Enforcement
Administration for investigation of a possible federal crime.
Fawcett, acting as his own attorney, had argued that the plants had
been illegally seized and that the Ontario Police Department had no
right to act as an agent for the federal government. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) KUBBY FAILS TO APPEAR FOR JAIL SENTENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Medical marijuana advocate and former Libertarian Party gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby remains free after failing to show up Friday at North Auburn's Placer County Jail to begin serving a 120-day sentence. | ||||||||||||||||
Now a resident of Canada's Sechelt, British Columbia, Kubby said
Saturday that "nothing has been settled in court" and he's now being
threatened by law enforcement with either "becoming a fugitive or
being murdered in their jail." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
If someone doesn't show up for a jail sentence, an arrest warrant is normally issued soon afterward. A check with Auburn Police on Saturday indicated a warrant had yet to be issued for Kubby's arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-24) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The decriminalization of drug use has been in effect for about one
month in Portugal, and the nation hasn't fallen apart. Some early
analysis shows why the policy is now in place, while other stories
from around the world demonstrate the failures and great costs of
prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
Iran, which has taken a very hard line on drug use and trafficking, is reportedly being overrun by both. In South America, chaos in Colombia is driving the drug trade to Peru, and Peruvian leaders say they want more US aid, presumably to drive the problem to another neighbor. Back inside Colombia, internal political pressure is building against the devastation already caused by U.S. "anti-drug" aid, though that pressure isn't stopping the flow of arms from the US. And in New Zealand prisons, where about one-third of inmates test positive for drugs, a proposal that includes strip searching prison visitors and other extreme measures are being considered. | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) PORTUGAL ABANDONS HARDLINE ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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The new law, which came into effect on July 1, takes a socially conservative country far ahead of much of northern Europe in treating drug abuse as a social and health problem rather than a criminal one. | ||||||||||||||||
Vitalino Canas, the drug tsar appointed by the Prime Minister,
Antonio Guterres, to steer the law into place, said on Thursday it
made more sense to change the law than ignore it, as police forces do
in The Netherlands and now experimentally in the Brixton area of
south London. | ||||||||||||||||
"Why not change the law to recognise that consuming drugs can be an
illness or the route to illness?" Mr Canas said. "America has spent
billions on enforcement but it has got nowhere." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) IRAN FIGHTING A LOSING DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A nation that Washington labels a sponsor of international terrorism,
Iran has become the critical bulwark between the globe's largest
opium supplier and consumers in Europe, the Middle East and,
increasingly, the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
Last year Iran seized 85 percent of all the opium and nearly half of the heroin and morphine captured worldwide -- 278 tons of opiates, according to the U.N. Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention. | ||||||||||||||||
Even so, officials here concede they are losing this war. | ||||||||||||||||
"If we built the Great Wall of China, the traffickers would still
find a way to get in," said Hossein Ketabdar, the anti-drug chief of
Khorasan province, which is jammed against Afghanistan and
Turkmenistan on Iran's eastern border. "We shoot one today, and
tomorrow there are two." | ||||||||||||||||
More than 3,000 Iranian law enforcement officers have been killed in combat with suspected drug traffickers in the past two decades, most on the border with Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Pakistan. Last year Iranian police and village guards waged more than 1,500 gunfights with narcotics traffickers, an average of about four a day. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) COLOMBIA CARTELS MOVING INTO PERU (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Neighbor's Ambassador Asks U.S. For More Anti-Drug Funds. | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- Peru has seen a huge increase in crops of | ||||||||||||||||
In the letter, Ambassador Carlos Alzamora said that "the situation is a clear indication of the first effects of the spillover of Plan
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"As a result, for the past year or so, there has been an increase in
drug trafficking in Peru," said Vasquez. "That is a reversal of an
earlier trend in which Peru had pushed production of coca leaves (
the raw material for cocaine ) into Colombia." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) U.S.-BACKED COUNTERDRUG PUSH HITS POLITICAL SNAGS IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
President Andres Pastrana's U.S.-backed offensive against drug crops
has hit a flurry of domestic opposition from critics who say aerial
spraying harms people and the environment, punishes poor farmers and
has failed to stem drug trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Their arguments are now echoing on the political level, where
governors from the main drug-producing states, Colombia's top human
rights official, the nation's comptroller general and a leading
lawmaker from Pastrana's own party came out this week against the
policy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) PROPOSAL COULD ALLOW PRISON OFFICERS TO STRIP-SEARCH VISITORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Strip-searching prison visitors and examining inmates' bodies for
drugs are among ideas being considered by the Corrections Department
to stop illegal items entering prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
Draft proposals are being considered for the new Corrections Act to
halt drug use in prisons, as nearly one-third of prisoners
drugs-tested last year returned positive results. | ||||||||||||||||
Ideas include allowing officers to strip-search adult prison visitors with their consent and conducting full body examinations of inmates. | ||||||||||||||||
Prisoners now could be strip-searched and have their nose, ears and mouths examined but the new proposal would cover all orifices. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
July 25, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
New Trends Released for Drug Related Emergency Department Visits | ||||||||||||||||
20 Percent Increase Found for Youth age 12 to 17 | ||||||||||||||||
Emergency department visits involving the club drug MDMA (Ecstasy)
increased 58 percent, from 2,850 visits in 1999 to 4,511 in 2000 in the
continental United States. The number of heroin/morphine related visits
increased 15 percent, from 84,409 to 97,287. These and other significant
trends in drug related emergency department visits are reported for
the first time today with the release of the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) 2000 Emergency Department Data
from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN). | ||||||||||||||||
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Canada's Special Committee on Illegal Drugs | ||||||||||||||||
On March 16, 2001, the Senate re-established the Special Senate Committee
on Illegal Drugs. The Committee resumed proceedings on April 23, 2001, in
the context of the other work undertaken by the 36th Parliament. Its
mandate is to examine the Canadian government’s current laws, policies and
international obligations, and the policies adopted by other countries,
with respect to cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
The Committee wants to maintain a dialogue with all interested parties.
Hearings are broadcast on the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) and
are available on our Web site. | ||||||||||||||||
In return, you can send us your questions and comments by any of the usual
means of communication. | ||||||||||||||||
Pierre-Claude Nolin, Chairman | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Don't Forget The Drugs | ||||||||||||||||
By Larry Stevens | ||||||||||||||||
Martha Miller's feature article on Springfield's gangs [see Illinois
Times, "People & folks," July 5] missed the mark by failing to
address the role of drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug prohibition creates black markets that foster street gangs. If
we were serious about solving the gang problem, we would regulate
drugs instead of prohibiting them. We learned the lesson of prohibition
regarding alcohol, so why do we seem to need to relearn it regarding
other recreational drugs? The answer lies in the central element of
the story that Miller and the gangbusters tried, but failed, to
obscure: race. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug prohibition was racist in its inception and remains a racist institution in the post-civil rights era. Consider the following: in Illinois, African-Americans comprise 90 percent of drug offenders admitted into prison, making the state the worst offender in the national scandal of racial disparities in drug offender incarceration. | ||||||||||||||||
Hispanics comprise less than 8 percent of the Illinois population (and take fewer than 3 percent of the personal vehicle trips in the state), and yet comprise approximately 30 percent of the motorists stopped by Illinois State Police drug interdiction units over a five-year period. Of the 259 juveniles in Illinois automatically transferred to adult court for a drug crime in 2000, all but one were minorities. | ||||||||||||||||
Among the original arguments made for drug prohibition by our
great-grandparents' generation there were overtly racist warnings of
"hopped up Negroes", marijuana-smoking Mexicans and Chinese opium
fiends. Is it any wonder that today we have racial profiling and
racially disproportionate incarceration rates? | ||||||||||||||||
As long as we remain in a state of denial about this and continue to
support our Jim Crow drug war, street gangs are going to continue to
serve our despised and dispossessed neighbors as the only survival
mechanism available to them. | ||||||||||||||||
Larry Stevens, | ||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letter of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Heroin | ||||||||||||||||
By M. Simon | ||||||||||||||||
Heroin. The name itself strikes terror into the heart these days. But
originally it was named by the Bayer people from the word heroine. Or
female hero. Why? Because it was so effective in relieving pain and
suffering. If it were legal it would still be one of the most
effective pain relievers in the doctor's arsenal. It was also
considered such a safe and effective medicine that it was available
over the counter until 1914. | ||||||||||||||||
The story these days with heroin is different. It not only is not
available over the counter, its not available anywhere in America
legally. | ||||||||||||||||
So where does this leave us today? We have black markets and addicts. Black markets of course require police and addicts require treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
An interesting study by Dr. Lonny Shavelson looks into the world of
the addicts and their treatment. What do we know? What works? How can
addicts be helped? | ||||||||||||||||
First we start out with an unusual point of view. Most addicts are in
pain. This is quite surprising. It surprised me. I thought they were
just in it for the euphoria. | ||||||||||||||||
Here is what Dr. Shavelson found in his study of 200 addicts: a high
proportion of severely abused children ( beatings, rapes, rapes of
siblings ). He questioned his study methodology. He thought there
must have been a flaw in how his sample was selected or in how the
questions he asked were framed. | ||||||||||||||||
Then while he was doing his research an article came out in the
Journal of the American Medical Association that said that the
addiction rate goes up for male sexually abused children. And it
doesn't just double or triple. It is 25 to 50 times higher than the
rest of the population. Approximately 70% of the women in drug rehab
experienced sexual abuse before they started on drugs. What is the
preferred treatment in America today for these hurt and humiliated
souls? We don't deal with the pain that made them liable for drug
abuse. We ask that before they can be healed that they heal themselves
by giving up drugs. And then we wonder why rehab for hardcore addicts
does not work too well. But how could it when the treatment does not
match the disease. | ||||||||||||||||
So the next time the TV expose shows the junkie with the spike in his
or her vein think of what torment that person must be in internally in
order to put them in the place they are in. And all too often our
response to those suffering is to jail them. Barbaric. Or treatment
that deals with symptoms and not causes. Stupid. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Shavelson has written a book called "Hooked" about his experiences
with addicts. A recent transcript of an interview by NPR with the
doctor is available at: | ||||||||||||||||
There is another stupid barbarity close to my heart and that is the
fact that E.J. Pagel was sent to prison for trying to relieve the
suffering of others. | ||||||||||||||||
So tell Governor Ryan: Free E.J. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Published in the Rock River Times | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men,
undergo the fatigue of supporting it." - Thomas Paine, "The American
Crisis," 1776 | ||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (),
Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Jo-D Dunbar
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