| August 24, 2001 #214 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) AUSTRALIA: MARIJUANA REPORT TOO HOT TO RELEASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A MAJOR report backing marijuana decriminalisation was suppressed
despite a specific requirement that it be made public. | ||||||||||||||||
The report to a powerful State Parliament committee backed
decriminalisation, smaller fines for personal use and allowing as
many as 10 plants to be grown by smokers. | ||||||||||||||||
But the State Government yesterday distanced itself from the report,
which was handed to the Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee shortly
before Steve Bracks seized power. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) CANADA: STUDIES LAUD SAFE-INJECTION SITES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Vancouver - It is time for Canada to embrace a policy of safe injection sites for drug addicts, the authors of two new medical studies on the grim impact of injection drug use in Vancouver say. | ||||||||||||||||
The studies, published in Tuesday's edition of the Canadian Medical
Association Journal, found that injection-drug users clog hospital
beds and emergency wards at huge expense to the health-care system,
suffer an appalling number of fatal drug overdoses and continue the
risky practice of sharing needles, despite comprehensive
needle-exchange programs. | ||||||||||||||||
"Safe injection sites are an investment to prevent medical problems
that we would otherwise end up paying for downstream," said Anita
Palepu, an internal medicine specialist at St. Paul's Hospital in
downtown Vancouver. "They make sense from both a moral and fiscal
point of view." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US: MARIJUANA SUPPORT AT 30-YEAR HIGH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Poll: 34% Favor Legalization | ||||||||||||||||
Support for legalizing marijuana is at its highest level in at least
30 years, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll. | ||||||||||||||||
The poll found that 34% favored legalizing marijuana use while 62%
were opposed, the most support for legalization since pollsters began
asking the question in 1969. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) PETITION ASKS UN RACISM CONFERENCE TO TAKE UP US WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
New York -- A petition signed by more than 100 U.S. civil rights and
religious leaders on Wednesday asked the United Nations to take up
what they called the biased implementation of the U.S. "war on drugs"
at the upcoming U.N. World Conference Against Racism. | ||||||||||||||||
The petition was sent to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, asking
him to make the issue a top priority at the conference, set August 31
to September 7 in Durban, South Africa. | ||||||||||||||||
The petition charged that the U.S. government unfairly targets blacks
and Latinos for prosecution in its fight against drugs and treats
whites with leniency although the rate of drug use in the United
States is equal among the races. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Another major outlet in an English speaking country-- this time,
Toronto's Globe and Mail, is looking at legalization. How long can
our feds and the American press pretend not to notice? | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) TO DECRIMINALIZE THE USE OF DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Ask police officers to guess how much drug traffic goes undetected,
and many will roll their eyes. Whatever the benchmark -- the number
of charges laid, the quantity of drugs seized, the property crimes
committed to feed drug habits -- only a fraction of the full picture
is ever visible. | ||||||||||||||||
Perhaps 5 per cent of the heroin, cocaine and designer drugs smuggled
into this country each year is intercepted. A similarly dismal
success rate probably applies to Canada's massive hydroponic
marijuana industry, which each year dispatches hundreds of tonnes of
the drug across our porous southern border. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
That said, there is no avoiding the possibility that decriminalizing
personal drug use might lead to wider experimentation. We would
argue, however, that for most drug users, greater damage is incurred
through being arrested, fined and possibly imprisoned. A bad drug
experience may last only a day or two. The same is not true of a
criminal record, or of the lasting damage incarceration commonly
inflicts. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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COMMENT: (6-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
With little happening in Washington, the week's news was mostly
regional. A cluster of deaths in Houston made headlines in New York
City. | ||||||||||||||||
Long Island's Newsday, which had also covered the underlying story
well, wrote an excellent editorial on the local significance of Don
Des Jerlais' syringe exchange study . | ||||||||||||||||
The military signaled a determination to crack down on Ecstasy,
which suggests we'll be reading even more stories about its inroads
in near future. | ||||||||||||||||
Speaking of drug menaces, two brand new candidates made follow-up
appearances: the LAT headline writer had a predictable premonition
about a little known Mexican herb, and the Seattle Times' story on
formaldehyde sounded eerily like reefer madness redux. | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) UP TO 18 MAY HAVE DIED OF OVERDOSES IN HOUSTON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HOUSTON,--One man was found in a car, another slumped over a toilet. Others were discovered in their beds. They had gotten drowsy, officials say, maybe a little nauseous, and had fallen asleep. | ||||||||||||||||
Only they did not wake up. In a rash of deaths without precedent in
the Houston area, as many as 18 people may have died since Saturday
from suspected overdoses, possibly caused by a fatal cocktail of
cocaine and heroin known as a speedball. | ||||||||||||||||
Most of the victims were Hispanic men, many of whom lived in the same
working-class neighborhoods in the northern part of the city,
suggesting a shared source of drugs. One victim was a 16-year-old
girl. The cluster of deaths comes as overdoses, fatal and nonfatal,
are rising across the country, ... officials were trying to determine
whether the deaths were caused by drugs that were too pure or that
were laced with a toxic substance. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) LESSON FOR AIDS FIGHTERS - SYRINGE SWAPS WORK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A decade ago, New Yorkers agonized over whether to provide clean
needles to the city's 200,000 people who inject drugs. Officials
worried that syringe exchanges might inadvertently make drug abuse
and AIDS even more widespread. | ||||||||||||||||
Well, surprise. Their qualms have proved to be not just a little
misguided, but dramatically off base - a fact that policy makers from
Queens to Washington ought to ponder. | ||||||||||||||||
In a paper delivered this week to a national HIV prevention conference in Atlanta, Don DesJarlais of New York's Beth Israel Medical Center reported that the proportion of infected drug injectors in the city has tumbled by more than half since the 1980s. | ||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) ECSTASY IS LATEST CONFLICT MILITARY IS CONFRONTING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - After a two-decade decline in drug abuse, the U.S. military now is confronting a surge in GI use of the "club" drug Ecstasy, the nation's fastest-growing illegal intoxicant. | ||||||||||||||||
While only a tiny portion of the 1.4 million-person active-duty force is believed to have used the amphetamine-related substance, a series of recent arrests has focused the Pentagon's attention on the matter. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
To combat the rise in Ecstasy use, the Pentagon is attacking on
several fronts: | ||||||||||||||||
A new, improved test that is better at picking up traces of Ecstasy
is being used. | ||||||||||||||||
Random drug tests are being given on weekends, holidays, Mondays and
even the middle of the night in order to try to catch more
recreational users. | ||||||||||||||||
More anti-drug instruction and abuse prevention education programs
are being established. | ||||||||||||||||
Military dogs are being trained to detect Ecstasy in living and work
spaces. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) A LEGAL HALLUCINOGEN, AT LEAST FOR NOW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Looking like an Old West preacher, with an earnest manner and long
wavy air, an amateur botanist from Malibu takes the podium and
soberly lectures a small but keenly interested audience on a
hallucinogenic drug that is legal and available. | ||||||||||||||||
This is Daniel Siebert, the local apostle of an unlikely Mexican herb
called salvia divinorum, or diviner's sage. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Like peyote, the sage is said to cause vivid hallucinations and a
deeply transcendental sensation, and it has a tradition of ritual use
by Native American shamans seeking spiritual realms. But salvia
divinorum is not a controlled substance. Americans looking for
consciousness-altering experiences buy it on Web sites, grow it in
their yards and share their experiences at conventions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) 'SHERM' INFUSES MANY USERS WITH RAGING PARANOIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
They come disguised as ordinary brown cigarettes, or as sloppy
marijuana joints stained brown from their plunge into noxious liquid
meant for preserving human bodies for burial. | ||||||||||||||||
Doctors and cops say users smoke "Sherms" because they're a cheap
trip, an accessible method of feeling omniscient, omnipowerful or
just plain removed from reality. | ||||||||||||||||
They also say smoking Sherms can turn a person violent and paranoid.
Seattle police say 20-year-old Devon Jackson was on a Sherm binge
before he killed a man and a toddler in South Seattle on Monday and
beat a 6-year-old girl with his pistol. Jackson was shot and mortally
wounded by police. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
From a national perspective, the most important news was a report which confirmed the human toll of our mid-Eighties "tough on drugs" legislative binge.To no one's surprise, the new AG liked the numbers, but other observers read them quite differently. | ||||||||||||||||
Asa Hutchinson, sworn in as DEA chief on the same day, promised more
tough enforcement, but seemed to hedge a bit on incarceration and
medical cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
The feds aren't the only ones determining incarceration levels; a
thoughtful editorial from the heartland reminds us that state
prisons can be expensive; especially in a recession. | ||||||||||||||||
Tulia Texas, a case in point, was the subject of a rebuttal Op-Ed
allowed to reform spokesmen by the generally hostile Amarillo
Globe-News. | ||||||||||||||||
Another enforcement area where the feds have significantly changed
policing is by militarizing small departments, a phenomenon examined
by a Wisconsin series. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) FEDERAL DRUG-TRAFFICKING CHARGES UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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WASHINGTON More than 30,000 people were charged with federal drug
offenses in 1999, more than double the number 15 years earlier, and
most of those convicted were drug traffickers, a Justice Department
study says. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney General John Ashcroft said the report shows federal drug
laws are succeeding in catching the serious criminals and keeping
them behind bars longer. | ||||||||||||||||
One crime expert disputed that, saying only a fraction of traffickers
are being arrested. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Tougher federal drug laws are making a real difference in clearing major drug offenders from our nation's streets," Ashcroft said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said while the jump reflects the government's increased drug-fighting efforts, prosecutors are only getting the tip of the iceberg. | ||||||||||||||||
"We are devoting a tremendous amount of money and resources to this relentless war on drugs, which is not winnable" he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) NEW U.S. ANTI-DRUGS CHIEF PLEDGES TOUGH FIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Three-term congressman and federal
prosecutor Asa Hutchinson was sworn in on Monday as head of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration and pledged to do all he could to
"stay ahead" of drugs traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
While targeting traffickers was important, Hutchinson said it was
also key to provide access to rehabilitation for people who abused
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
"How many times has Mr. Downey Jr. in California gone through rehab,
because it started with law enforcement," he said, referring to actor
Robert Downey Jr. who was sentenced last month to spend a year in a
live-in drug rehabilitation program. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He said scientific and medical communities had thus far found no
legitimate use for marijuana, adding that he remained open to further
study on the topic. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) FAIR SHAKE REPORT: MINORITIES HARDEST HIT BY MANDATORY SENTENCING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Weekend reports indicate that the U.S. prison population, led by the state of Texas, is down somewhat this year compared to last year. | ||||||||||||||||
That small decline comes after years of explosive growth in the
nation's prison population and prison numbers. | ||||||||||||||||
That's been very expensive growth, incidentally, because prisons are
not exactly cheap or easy to run. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
What the federal government does about mandatory sentencing makes a
difference to the states because the feds tend to set the tone in
such matters. | ||||||||||||||||
But it's the states where most of the money is spent on keeping
people in prison at huge expense, and it's in the states where the
debate over sentencing has to take place if it's to have much effect
on taxpayers and on those accused of crimes -- and those who might
use the money if it weren't tied up in bars and guards. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) TULIA RALLY SEEKS SENSIBLE POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HOUSTON - People seeking a more sensible and effective drug policy
came to Tulia last month, both to help individuals there and to give
witness to the hard truth that racially skewed drug-law enforcement is
a nationwide problem. | ||||||||||||||||
The events in Tulia shone a spotlight on one blatant injustice, but such miscarriages of justice are systemic in the war on drugs. Thus, it makes very good sense to draw a connection between the injustice in Tulia and how it was facilitated through our misguided drug policies. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) A SPECIAL REPORT: HOOKED ON SWAT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Fueled With Drug Enforcement Money, Military-Style Police Teams Are
Exploding In The Backwoods Of Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||
On Oct. 5, about 50 miles north of Madison in the peaceful Green Lake
County countryside of rural Dalton, the Olveda family was enjoying a
quiet evening... | ||||||||||||||||
Suddenly the door burst open and several armed men in black uniforms
burst into the home. Within seconds Wendy and her husband, Jesus,
were thrown roughly face down to the floor and ordered to put their
hands behind their heads. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
To sell local governments on the need for SWAT teams, police
officials usually talk about preparedness for terrorist incidents or
barricaded hostage situations. | ||||||||||||||||
But once trained, SWAT personnel are most commonly used to serve drug
warrants and make drug arrests. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Criminologist Peter Kraska, one of the nation's leading authorities
on SWAT teams, has a similar opinion. | ||||||||||||||||
"It taps into a lot of masculine fantasies about being a warrior," says Kraska, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University. | ||||||||||||||||
"Culturally, it can infect the mindset of the whole police department, or the whole police institution. It's insidious." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There is no better illustration of the currently contradictory and
convoluted state of cannabis clinical research than having a
37-year-old AIDS sufferer and activist give up cannabis for six
weeks in order to participate in the U.S. government's first
clinical study of "medipot". Asa Hutchinson, new head of the DEA,
now says that we must "listen to the doctors" while at the same time
solidifying the feds hard-line on medical marijuana; why not listen
to the patients? | ||||||||||||||||
Or to world opinion? Canada continues its slow progress towards
medical and scientific acceptance by allowing testing of a whole-plant
delivery system developed by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals, and a
Jamaican government panel recommends legalization for personal use.
Is there hope for the U.S.? Anyone attending this year's smoke-filled
Seattle Hemp Festival, the world's largest cannabis rally (100,000
people!!), would have to say "maybe." | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) CANNABIS-BASED PAIN SPRAY TO BE TESTED IN OTTAWA HOSPITAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA - An Ottawa doctor will next week begin running the first
North American trial of a cannabis-based drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Dan DeForge at Ottawa Hospital's Rehabilitation Centre plans to
administer the drug to up to 10 volunteers suffering from multiple
sclerosis and spinal cord injuries. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug, developed by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals, is administered
as a spray under the tongue so it is rapidly absorbed into the system
without the harmful side effects of smoke. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) DEA HEAD BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - The new chief of the Drug Enforcement
Administration said Monday he would strive to enforce the federal ban
on medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and
Washington allow sick people to receive, possess, grow or smoke
marijuana for medical purposes without fear of state prosecution.
Those states have done little to change their statutes since the
Supreme Court ruled federal law prohibits people from dispensing
marijuana to the ill, saying it's up to federal authorities to
enforce the court's decision. | ||||||||||||||||
Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor who served as a House
prosecutor in former President Clinton's impeachment trial, said the
scientific and medical communities have thus far determined there is
no legitimate medical use for marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) HEMPFEST WAFTS DISTINCT ODOR OF DRUG-POLICY CHANGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Seattle's Hempfest, a celebration of hemp and a | ||||||||||||||||
With the increased crowds came increased calls to relax the rules on
pot. Among the most prominent was Initiative 73, which would make
arresting and prosecuting adults possessing less than 40 grams of
marijuana the Seattle Police Department's and the City Attorney's
Office's lowest enforcement priority. | ||||||||||||||||
If it passes, Seattle would be the country's largest city with such a
policy, said Keith Stroup, executive director of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), based in
Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) JAMAICA SHOULD OK MARIJUANA, GROUP URGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
'Ganja' Commission Wants Drug Legalized | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The aptly named National Commission for Ganja -- the Hindi word for
marijuana -- recommended last week that the government legalize the
private use and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Between 20
percent and 40 percent of the country's 2.6 million people are
believed to smoke marijuana, many openly. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
It is by no means certain that Jamaica will change its marijuana laws
-- several top government officials have already voiced their
emphatic disagreement -- but the commission's suggestion to legalize
the substance is part of a growing clamor throughout the hemisphere
to ease strictures against it. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The United States is watching warily to see whether Jamaica's
Parliament will adopt the commission's recommendations. Jamaica, a
major producer and exporter of marijuana, could risk losing U.S.
certification -- and millions of dollars in American foreign aid --
if Washington decides the island is no longer cooperating in the war
on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) CALIFORNIA BEGINS 'MEDIPOT' TRIALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The nation's first government-run clinical trial of "medipot," or
medical marijuana, began slowly and ironically here last week when a
37-year-old AIDS activist forswore his longtime use of marijuana for
six weeks. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The $500,000 study, which will take about 18 months to complete, will
eventually involve 60 patients in a trial carefully controlled to
exclude recreational marijuana users. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But California's Narcotics Officers Association disapproves of the
effort. "It is our firm belief that any movement that liberalizes or
legalizes substance abuse laws would set us back to the days of the
1970s when we experienced this country's worst drug problem," the
group said in a position paper. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (21-26) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Events in Colombia dominated international drug news this week. A
Chicago Tribune report headlined U.S. efforts to eradicate Colombian
coca growing as "Safe": safe enough that a State Department official
would be willing to expose his family to it. The St. Petersburg
Times quoted the same State Department head as confessing the spray
was not completely safe. | ||||||||||||||||
A U.S. congresswoman found the State Department to be using a
"loophole" by asking a private contractor to hire foreign pilots to
help fight the drug war in Colombia. Ultimately, supply and demand
will dictate the need to spray much of South America. Opium poppy
cultivation, admitted officials this week, has now spread from
Colombia to Peru. | ||||||||||||||||
To the chagrin of human rights groups, Colombian President Pastrana signed special "war legislation" into law, giving new powers to the military. In Thailand also, the Interior Minister pushed plans to increase domestic police powers of the military, adding "drug rehabilitation" to their existing drug suppression roles. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) U.S. SAYS SPRAYING IN COLOMBIA IS SAFE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Chemicals sprayed on coca crops in Colombia as part of a massive
campaign against drug trafficking can cause skin and eye irritations,
the State Department acknowledged for the first time Thursday, but
the effects are considered mild, and the Bush administration plans to
push forward aggressively with the program. | ||||||||||||||||
Part of the administration's $1.3 billion Plan Colombia initiative to
help the South American country curtail its illicit cocaine industry,
the aerial spraying of herbicides is viewed in Washington as the key
to success. The Bush administration is opening a public-relations
campaign for the spraying program out of concern that it will be
halted by protests in Colombia and opposition from environmentalists.
The State Department's senior official in charge of counternarcotics
said he is so confident of the program's safety that he would be
willing to put his family in a field while it was being sprayed with
the plant killer. | ||||||||||||||||
At the same time, Rand Beers acknowledged some evidence of health risks and enough unanswered questions that the U.S. is launching an investigation to determine whether the herbicide is safe. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) COLOMBIA SPRAYING PLAN MAY BE RETHOUGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A senior State Department official said Thursday that a chemical solution used to spray illegal crops in Colombia "is not a totally benign product" and that Washington might reconsider the program. | ||||||||||||||||
Rand Beers, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics
and law enforcement affairs, appeared to give at least some credence
to complaints by peasants in Colombia that aerial spraying is making
them sick, causing skin rashes and diarrhea. | ||||||||||||||||
"This particular mixture does cause slight irritation to the eyes and
the skin," said Beers, who helps oversee a $1.3-billion aid package
to Bogota known as Plan Colombia. "This is not a totally benign
product." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) USE OF FOREIGN PILOTS AVOIDS DRUG WAR POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The U.S. State Department has directed its
largest private contractor in Colombia to hire foreign pilots to
fight the drug war, an order that helps get around Congress' attempt
to keep the United States from slipping further into this country's
messy civil war. | ||||||||||||||||
Last year, Congress limited to 300 the number of civilian contract
workers participating in U.S.-financed drug-eradication efforts in
Colombia. But in a little-noticed decision, the State Department has
counted only U.S. citizens toward that limit. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"This seems to be a loophole around the cap, a way to get around
them," said Rep. Janice Schakowsky, D-Ill., who has sought to
eliminate the use of private contractors in the region since a U.S.
company was involved in an accidental downing of a private airplane
by the Peruvian military in April that killed a missionary and her
daughter. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) OPIUM POPPY SPREADING FROM COLOMBIA TO PERU (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Traffickers Are Moving Outside Drug War Areas | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The opium poppy, the raw ingredient for heroin, has now been found in Peru, where it has spread from Colombia, underscoring the difficulty of containing the boundaries of the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're finding it in high altitudes in Peru," said Rand Beers,
assistant secretary of state for international law enforcement and
narcotics affairs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Authorities are noticing "rapid increases in cultivation of opium
poppy" in Peru as traffickers look for "geographic regions that are
outside of the current target areas," according to a Web site of
the U.S. Agency for International Development. | ||||||||||||||||
Carlos Alzamora, Peru's ambassador to the United States, recently
wrote that he is worried U.S.-financed aerial fumigation of coca
and poppy plantations in Colombia will raise prices for the raw
materials for narcotics, "motivating [Peruvian] peasants to return
to coca cultivation." | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) COLOMBIAN MILITARY'S POWER EXPANDED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Brushing aside human rights concerns, President
Andres Pastrana signed "war legislation" granting Colombia's
U.S.-backed military expanded powers to battle insurgents, his office
said Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
U.N. rights monitors, human rights groups and some members of the U.S.
Congress have criticized the measure, fearing it will lead to abuses
in Colombia's 37-year war. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
One of the law's most criticized articles allows the president to set
up martial law zones called "theaters of operations," in which local
civilian officials would be subordinate to regional police and
military commanders. | ||||||||||||||||
The law also allows soldiers to detain suspects longer before handing
them over to a judge. | ||||||||||||||||
Amnesty International, in a statement from New York, said: "There is
serious concern that these provisions could facilitate torture or
other forms of human rights violations of those captured during
counterinsurgency operations." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) WIDER THAI MILITARY ROLE BACKED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsombun says he backs a plan to give
more authority to the military. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Purachai said he was willing to back soldiers playing a bigger role
as officers of the state, besides their drug suppression role, on
condition they boned up on the law. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
``I accept that the military helps us much with drug prevention and
suppression now,'' he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Changes to the law were needed to allow officers to perform the functions of Corrections Department officers on drug rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Additions to the DrugSense Weekly Newsletter Team | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense is proud to announce the addition of Doug Snead and Phillipe
Lucas to our production team. Doug, who has been analyzing drug war
dogma at http://www.mapinc.org/propaganda/, is now doing our
international content selection and analysis. Phillipe, the founder
of The Vancouver Island Compassion Society, http://www.thevics.com/,
has taken on cannabis news content and analysis. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Put Drugnews on Your Website | ||||||||||||||||
I've been working on a system for providing MAP headlines/links to
other websites. | ||||||||||||||||
Obviously MAP newsfeeds are nothing new, however, this new system provides webmasters with some simple JavaScript code they can paste into their own pages without my help, much like they can add MAP banner code to their sites from http://www.mapinc.org/banners.htm | ||||||||||||||||
Anyway, I'd appreciate it if some of you with websites beta tested
this system for me and gave me some feedback before I promote it
on the MAP site. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted By: Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Friction Magazine On The Ironic Drug Trade In Mexico | ||||||||||||||||
A writer finds irony in the fact he can't score a bag in one of the largest marijuana and opium growing regions in the world. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted By: Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Atrocity's Apologist | ||||||||||||||||
It looks like Al Giordano might be ready to topple another mainstream
reporter for questionable ethical practices. This time it's Juan Forero,
who has been covering Colombia for the New York Times. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted By: Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Photos Of Canada's Hempfest | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted By: Steve Heath | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Fraser Institute publication proposes alternatives to the war on drugs | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER, BC—The war on drugs is lost and prohibition has been a
complete failure. These are the conclusions of Sensible Solutions to
the Urban Drug Problem, a series of policy papers released today by
The Fraser Institute. | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/media/media_releases/2001/20010822.html | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Dr. David Hadorn Launches Website | ||||||||||||||||
Our friend David Hadorn, formerly with the New Zealand Drug Policy
Forum Trust, has just launched a new website to "provide a solid
foundation for my efforts to help change two major aspects of most
contemporary Western societies: (1) how health care is delivered and
(2) how non-medical use of illicit drugs is managed." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
B.E. Smith Launches Radio Show | ||||||||||||||||
B.E. Smith is doing a "live" radio show on a FM station out of Fresno,
California, which is also on the Internet Monday through Thursday
between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. PST. The Internet location is
http://www.crusaderadio.com/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Look To Canada / By Phin MacDonald | ||||||||||||||||
Ellen Goodman's column, "Canada Takes Lead on Marijuana," [Currents &
Books, Aug. 5] accurately described the absurdity of America's
puritanical position on medical marijuana. It makes no sense that any
adult can smoke tobacco and legally obtain marijuana's primary active
ingredient, THC, in a prescription pill, but cannot legally get that
same THC from smoking marijuana, which is cheaper and more effective
for many patients. | ||||||||||||||||
A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives that would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana with the same restrictions and oversight that now exist for medically approved drugs such as morphine. | ||||||||||||||||
The legislation would also allow states to run their medical marijuana
programs without conflicting with federal law. Anyone who thinks
American patients should have the same right to use medical marijuana
that Canadians now have should contact their representatives and ask
them to support this bill. | ||||||||||||||||
Phin MacDonald, | ||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letters of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Review of "Resin" / By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
Since "Traffic" made a splash with drug policy reformers, film
critics and general audiences, new movies involving the drug war will
be compared to it for some time. | ||||||||||||||||
So, I'll get right to it: I liked the new movie "Resin" better than I
liked "Traffic." But, I should fully disclose my biases. It was hard
for me not like the producers of "Resin," as they offered drug policy
reformers and other activists tables at this week's world premiere of
the film in Chicago. Before the show I chatted with producers, and
after the screening one left with several pieces of literature from
DrugSense and other organizations. | ||||||||||||||||
I never got a chance to chat with the producers of "Traffic." And, I
wasn't terribly impressed with "Traffic," particularly as it
reinforced the Hollywood mythology of super-cops and demonic drugs.
And that crazy thing about the baseball field at the end. What was
that? I guess the drug war can't stop the drug trade, but it can
bring baseball fields to poor children somewhere, so we're supposed
to feel good about that, right? But I digress - I come to not to bury
"Traffic" but to praise "Resin." | ||||||||||||||||
Low-budget, independent, and featuring an unknown cast, "Resin" does
a lot with a little. But mostly I liked "Resin" because it shows one
viewpoint totally ignored by "Traffic." | ||||||||||||||||
"Resin" follows the downfall of Zeke, a young, low-level cannabis
dealer. After a quick series of seemingly minor brushes with the
criminal justice system, Zeke suddenly finds himself facing 25 years
to life thanks to California's "Three Strikes" laws. | ||||||||||||||||
The film actually starts with a short history of the "Three Strikes" laws, showing how the family that tragically inspired the laws fought against them after they realized people like Zeke would be impacted. | ||||||||||||||||
In contrast the panoramic "Traffic," which attempted to show the drug war from many angles, "Resin" portrays a single, relatively brief episode from the drug war. The film isn't violent (at least the film's few violent moments are not explicitly shown), but it was hard to watch at times. Those who know how the drug war really works understand such tragedies take place in the real world, and, sadly, they are hardly uncommon under "Three Strikes" legislation. | ||||||||||||||||
And while the film makes the effects of the "Three Strikes" laws
painfully clear, it also explored some interesting human themes. The
difference between being inside or outside a group is examined on a
number of levels. Zeke, with his exotic appearance and complex longing
for family, seems distanced from everyone he encounters, even those he
considers friends. As paranoia (a mood captured well by the filmmakers)
builds within Zeke's circle while a drug investigation edges closer
and closer, the distance increases. | ||||||||||||||||
In the film, drug prohibition solidifies social barriers through
injustice and snitch culture, as it leads to the cruel physical barrier
of prison. | ||||||||||||||||
There are few light moments in "Resin," and no baseball field at the
end. But by humanizing a character whose punishment would be gleefully
cheered in most Hollywood films, "Resin" tries to shed a little more
harsh light on the drug war, which is noble, even if it's not
uplifting. | ||||||||||||||||
("Resin" will be officially released in 2002, but it will soon premiere
in Europe before going on a five-city "sneak preview" tour in
California.) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"I am confounded by those oracles of the far right who defend mandatory
minimums (sentences) as being consistent with the goals of our Founding
Fathers and our national purpose of maintaining an ordered society.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The founders of this nation
knew all too well that the granting of too much power to prosecutors
would lead to rampant injustice. It was for this reason that two-thirds
of the provisions of the Bill of Rights address the rights of those
accused of crimes." | ||||||||||||||||
--Sol Wachtler, former Chief Judge of the New York State Court of
Appeals, for the 1999 FAMM Workshop | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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Content selection and analyses by Tom O'Connell (),
Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Phillipe Lucas
(), International content selection and analysis by
Doug Snead (), 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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