| Sept. 7, 2001 #216 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) SCHOOL ANTI-DRUG PROGRAMS FAULTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Sixty-one percent of U.S. high-school-age teens and 40
percent of middle-school-age kids say drugs are used, kept and sold
in their schools, according to a survey released Wednesday by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
The center, a nonprofit institute associated with Columbia University
in New York, also says that neither of the two most popular American
systems for controlling drug abuse by school-age children works very
well. The most popular, Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), shows
"little evidence ... of any extended impact," the center concluded.
Another frequently used approach, based on harsh penalties for even
minor drug abuse, often discourages students from turning in
substance abusers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The center's survey, "Malignant Neglect: Substance Abuse and
America's Schools," is based on 10,000 random telephone interviews
nationwide with parents, teachers and students, coupled with reviews
of outside research on the effectiveness of conventional drug
abuse-education programs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(2) WHAT THE NEEDLES SAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Yale Scientists Couldn't Test Drug Users For HIV So They Followed The
Hypodermics Instead - And Proved The Worth Of One Of The Nation's
First Legal Needle Exchanges. A Decade Later, Countless Lives Have
Been Saved As A Result. | ||||||||||||||||
On a balmy day in November 1990, a battered van that once delivered loaves of bread to Yale University dining halls set off on a voyage through New Haven's inner-city neighborhoods. Its cargo? | ||||||||||||||||
Clean syringes for the city's drug users. | ||||||||||||||||
No one knew whether needle exchange would do what was expected of
it--slow the spread of AIDS--because supporters lacked the scientific
evidence to confirm what intuitively made sense, that clean needles
were less likely to spread disease. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(3) COLOMBIA CALLS FOR DRUG WAR STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - President Andres Pastrana called Thursday for
a review of the global war against drugs, saying it should extend
beyond the U.S.-backed spraying of drug crops. | ||||||||||||||||
Pastrana - who is to meet here with Secretary of State Colin Powell next week - also said Washington's suspension of joint interdiction of drug flights with Colombia and Peru "has allowed a lot of drugs to pass over our territory because there is no control of our air space." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Wiping out drug crops has had some success, Pastrana noted. But he
said high drug demand in the United States and Europe makes the
global narcotics business one of the largest in the world, worth some
$500 billion annually. | ||||||||||||||||
Pastrana said the conference should look at past successes and
"errors" of the global anti-drug strategy and should also focus on
money laundering and nations that supply chemicals used to process
cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(4) DRUG CRAZED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Millions in federal tax dollars are being spent by narcotics task
forces in Texas to nab low-level users and dealers. Is this any way
to wage a drug war? | ||||||||||||||||
Just over a year ago, the small Texas Panhandle town of Tulia made national headlines when police rounded up more than 10 percent of the city's African-Americans and jailed them on drug charges. All of the arrests and charges were based on the uncorroborated word of one officer: Deputy Tom Coleman of the Swisher County sheriff's office. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The deadly effects of the drug prohibition were highlighted this
week. A series of injustices culminated with police killing of two
drug war protesters in Michigan. In Houston, 15 deaths were reported
in a single weekend, after a mixture of cocaine and heroin reached
apparently unsuspecting users. | ||||||||||||||||
The mainstream press did a pretty poor job of explaining how
prohibition helped to lead to those deaths, but it wasn't the worst
example of conflicted reporting. ABC broadcast a "news" segment on
cannabis policy in the Netherlands. The story was reported by the
son of a co-chairman of the Partnership For a Drug-Free America, and
the American "expert" was former professional Dutch slanderer Barry
McCaffrey. | ||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere, several outlets picked up on reports about a legal
Mexican herb as a new demon drug, but none followed up on a study
suggesting that illegal cocaine and legal methylphenidate (Ritalin)
act on users in very similar ways. | ||||||||||||||||
Fortunately, some Canadian officials and journalists were more
straight-forward about drug war damage. Finally, in California, the
reach of Prop. 36 appears to be expanding. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(5) SECOND DEATH CAPS CAMPGROUND STANDOFF (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VANDALIA, Mich. -- A campground standoff ended in its fifth day
Tuesday with a second man fatally shot by police after allegedly
pointing a weapon at an officer. | ||||||||||||||||
Rolland Rohm, 28, was shot the day after his roommate was killed by an FBI agent, Cass County Sheriff Joseph Underwood Jr. said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Rohm lived at the campground, called Rainbow Farms, with its owner, Grover T. Crosslin. Crosslin, 47, was fatally shot Monday evening by an FBI agent after pointing a rifle at the agent, Underwood said. | ||||||||||||||||
Crosslin had been facing felony drug and weapons charges, authorities
said. | ||||||||||||||||
The standoff began Friday when deputies went to the farm after neighbors said Crosslin was burning buildings on his property, which is the target of civil forfeiture proceedings. A house and four main buildings appeared to have been burned since then, Underwood said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(6) HOUSTON'S OVERDOSE DEATHS 'THE WORST' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DEA Chief Cites Lethality, Swiftness | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- As chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Joe Keefe is an expert on illicit drug use. But the
cluster of 15 narcotic-related deaths in Houston earlier this month
was something new in his experience. | ||||||||||||||||
"I don't know of any other case anywhere in the country where you had
this number of deaths in so short of a time," said Keefe. "As far as
I know, Houston, thank God, has been the worst." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
At a bail hearing Friday for one of those held in the deaths, an FBI
agent testified that the deadly mixture of drugs found in one victim
was 53 percent heroin, 36 percent cocaine and the rest cutting agents
like talcum powder or baking soda. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(7) LAW AND DISORDER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. DISAGREES WITH HOLLAND'S SOLUTION TO ILLEGAL DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||
Chris Cuomo reporting: What would you say if I told you the answer to the drug problem could be right under your nose? Actually it could be in your mouth. Forget about more police or more laws, the way to defeat the epidemic of heroine and cocaine: easier access to marijuana. That's right. Allow people to walk to the corner store, buy some pot and smoke it up. Crazy you say? Well, reserve judgement until you see the results in Holland, where they believe that tolerating marijuana use is an antidote to harder drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Unidentified Police Officer: Get your hands up in the air! | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(8) DEA CHECKS INTO HERBAL HALLUCINOGEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MALIBU, Calif. -- A Mexican plant that contains the most powerful
natural hallucinogen known is being sold legally over the Internet
and is drawing the interest of medical researchers and law
enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||
Anecdotal accounts of use of the herb, called Salvia divinorum,
describe hallucinogenic trips that make the user feel like an
inanimate object or worse. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"We are gathering information on it to see if it needs to be
controlled," said Rogene Waite, a Drug Enforcement Administration
spokesman in Washington. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(9) PAY ATTENTION - RITALIN ACTS MUCH LIKE COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Washington - Advanced imaging research has answered a 40-year-old
question about methylphenidate ( Ritalin ), which is taken daily by 4
million to 6 million children in the United States: how does it work?
The answer may unsettle many parents, because the drug acts much like
cocaine, albeit cocaine dripped through molasses ( J Neurosci.
2001;21:RC121). | ||||||||||||||||
Taken orally in pill form, methylphenidate rarely produces a high and
has not been reported to be addictive. However, injected as a liquid
it sends a jolt that "addicts like very much," said Nora Volkow, MD,
psychiatrist and imaging expert at Brookhaven National Laboratory,
Upton, NY. "They say it's like cocaine." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"I've almost been obsessed about trying to understand | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"We were surprised as hell," said Volkow. "We didn't expect this."
Instead of being a less potent transport inhibitor than cocaine,
methylphenidate was more potent. A typical dose given to children,
0.5 mg/kg, blocked 70% of dopamine transporters. "The data clearly | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(10) LOOK FOR ALTERNATIVE TO FAILED DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE war on drugs is lost. We should run up the white flag and make
accommodation with the enemy. | ||||||||||||||||
Anything other than a defeatist attitude flies in the face of reality. The war on drugs is the longest war fought by either Canada or the United States. There have been no successful advances. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(11) MORE COULD DIE IF RAVES STIFLED, OFFICIAL WARNS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The chairman of the Toronto Board of Health warned yesterday that
young people's lives are being endangered by police actions that are
driving raves underground. | ||||||||||||||||
The chairman, Councillor Joe Mihevc, said in an interview after a
press conference by dance promoters that if raves are forced
underground, the city will likely experience another death like that
of Allan Ho's. The Ryerson University student died in 1999 after
using the drug ecstasy at an illegal rave. | ||||||||||||||||
"You don't know where they are, you have absolutely no control over
water, you have absolutely no one there from ambulance services and
no police officers there," Mr. Mihevc said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(12) OC JUDGES BOOST REACH OF PROP 36 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Orange County appeals panel has ruled that a new law that requires counseling instead of jail for drug offenders also applies to those caught with paraphernalia such as needles and cocaine pipes. | ||||||||||||||||
The ruling by a panel of Superior Court judges led the Anaheim city
attorney's office to stop seeking jail sentences for people caught
with paraphernalia, prosecutors disclosed Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Judges Frank F. Fasel and Nancy Wieben Stock also ruled that the
proposition approved in November applies to arrests before and after
the law took effect July 1. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A number of police corruption stories surfaced this week. In Puerto
Rico, reports of officers selling heroin from their patrol cars were
just one aspect of a deepening scandal. Those brazen actions are
somewhat understandable, considering the justifications given by
defenders of three law enforcement officials from different places
around the country who admitted being caught in embarrassing
situations related to drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
Outrageous prison spending isn't getting the same support. Many states are starting to feel the financial hangover years of tough-on-crime legislative binges - and they are quietly trying to find ways to get non-violent offenders out from behind bars earlier. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(13) MORE COPS ARRESTED IN NEW BUST IN PUERTO RICO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Seven police officers, including three
accused of selling pure-grade heroin from their patrol cars, were
arrested Wednesday in the latest corruption scandal to hit the
beleaguered Puerto Rico Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||
Five of the officers and a mechanic related to one of them were
rounded up Wednesday on various parts of the island. The other two
were among 29 officers arrested two weeks ago as part of the FBI's
Operation Lost Honor, the largest police-corruption probe in the
agency's history. | ||||||||||||||||
The officers arrested Wednesday are accused of receiving thousands of
dollars from undercover agents posing as drug dealers in exchange for
the use of their weapons, cars and identities as police officers to
transport and protect cocaine shipments. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(14) CITY FIGHTS COP'S REINSTATEMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cincinnati attorneys are fighting an arbitrator's decision to
reinstate a Cincinnati police sergeant who admitted planting drugs on
a suspect. | ||||||||||||||||
They have filed a petition in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court accusing arbitrator Harry Berns of exceeding his authority when he ordered the city to reinstate Sgt. John Sess last month. | ||||||||||||||||
Sgt. Sess, a 23-year veteran, was fired from the police division in
1997 after he admitted he planted a bag of marijuana on a suspect in
1984. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In his decision to reinstate the sergeant with back pay, benefits and seniority, Mr. Berns says the tactic was a legitimate maneuver. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(15) DEA AGENT ADMITS HE ABUSED POWERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Admission Could Hurt Murder Case | ||||||||||||||||
A federal drug agent admitted in court that he abused his authority
to acquire telephone records in a Steamboat Springs murder case to
help police. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"I misused my authority to get information about a homicide
investigation," Sperry said Wednesday in a hearing before District
Judge Joseph Quinn, who must determine whether to disqualify the
district attorney's office from the case because of the agent's
conduct. | ||||||||||||||||
Earlier this month, Sperry had the live-in girlfriend of the case's
original judge arrested on federal drug charges, forcing Judge Joel
Thompson to recuse himself. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(16) CALHOUN POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Petty Admits Took Drug Funds | ||||||||||||||||
Joe Petty, Calhoun police chief, has resigned after admitting to city
officials that he took money from the city drug fund, according to
Calhoun City Manager Joe Bryan. | ||||||||||||||||
Bryan said Petty allegedly used the money to cover bad check charges
in General Sessions Court against his wife. | ||||||||||||||||
"We were aware of his ( Petty ) wife's situation for a while now,"
said Bryan. "Even though he is no longer my employee, I will continue
to be his friend." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Bryan said that while Petty was police chief, he had done an
excellent job in leading a successful campaign to rid the city of
illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(17) STATES EASING STRINGENT LAWS ON PRISON TIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Reversing a 20-year trend toward ever-tougher criminal laws, a number
of states this year have quietly rolled back some of their most
stringent anticrime measures, including those imposing mandatory
minimum sentences and forbidding early parole. | ||||||||||||||||
The new laws, along with a voter initiative in California that provides for treatment rather than prison for many drug offenders, reflect a political climate that has changed markedly as crime has fallen, the cost of running prisons has exploded and the economy has slowed, state legislators and criminal justice experts say. | ||||||||||||||||
After a two-decade boom in prison construction that quadrupled the
number of inmates, the states now spend a total of $30 billion a year
to operate their prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice
Statistics. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
What a busy week it's been in the world of cannabis news. England's
GW Pharmaceuticals announced that their sub-lingual cannabis extract
has been effective at relieving pain in those suffering from MS and
spinal injury. This coincides with the release of a UK study
suggesting that easing Britain's enforcement of cannabis laws would
not be in conflict of the UN drug control convention. British common
sense was further reflected in a poll suggesting most Brits back
cannabis-law reform; Brixton is even considering the implementation
of Dutch-style coffee houses. Meanwhile, in Jamaica, the PM has been
making pro-decriminalization statements, drawing warnings from US
federal officials of trade/financial sanctions. | ||||||||||||||||
For those of us stuck in North America, news of record cannabis plant eradication and seizures in the U.S. was tempered by an announcement that the Nevada Board of Agriculture would soon be starting up and maintaining the state's medical cannabis program. And now a cannabis question for the ages: is Afroman's "Then I got High" pro or anti cannabis? Ponder wisely, grasshopper. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(18) UK STUDY GIVES HIGH HOPES FOR CANNABIS TO RELIEVE PAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis extract is proving remarkably effective at relieving severe pain in patients with multiple sclerosis and spinal injury, the British Association science festival in Glasgow heard yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Dr Nortcutt has studied 23 people with intractable pain for more than
a year, monitoring the responses of each patient to a succession of
different cannabis extracts and placebos. The materials were
administered through a spray under the tongue - a method that gives a
much faster and more reproducible effect than eating cannabis and is
safer than smoking it. "The joint is not analysable or suitable for
medical practice," Dr Nortcutt said. | ||||||||||||||||
Only one of the 23 patients failed to benefit from the cannabis spray
and two others dropped out because of side effects. The remaining 18
experienced pain relief that varied from moderate ("at least I can
sleep at night") to dramatic ("it has transformed my life"). Patients
on morphine to control severe pain were able to cut their doses
dramatically. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(19) UK FINDS THAT UN TREATY 'NO BAR' TO EASING DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A reform of Britain's drug laws could be introduced without the government breaching its international obligations under UN drug control conventions, according to a legal study published today. | ||||||||||||||||
The research shows there is no obstacle in international law to
ending the criminalisation of cannabis possession or low level drug
dealing among friends. | ||||||||||||||||
The conclusions of the study, entitled European Drug Laws: the Room
for Manoeuvre, are important because opponents of drug law reform
have argued that Britain could not liberalise its drug laws even if
it wanted to because it would breach the UN treaty. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(20) U.S. WORRIED AS JAMAICA RETHINKS MARIJUANA STANCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Washington Has Attacked Moves Towards Decriminalisation, Saying The
Island Could Be Penalised | ||||||||||||||||
The parliament of the English-speaking island of 2.5m people will
vote on the recommendations of the commission amid indications that
use of marijuana by adults in private will be allowed. "The
recommendations of the commission are very persuasive," said P.J.
Patterson, the prime minister. "Clearly we are not considering making
it legal for people to grow, sell and to export marijuana. It is for
private use and it will have to be confined to adults." | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana, known locally as ganja, has long been controversial on the
island that is a big producer and one of the biggest sources of the
drug smuggled to the US. On the back of this trade, in recent years
the island has become an important transhipment point of cocaine
being trafficked from South America to North America and Europe. The
local police have attributed a steady increase in organised and
violent crime to drug smuggling. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) NEVADA BOARD OF AGRICULTURE: PANEL ADOPTS MARIJUANA RULES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CARSON CITY -- A state-run medical marijuana program allowing
physician-approved patients to grow and use the drug will begin Oct.
1 after unanimous approval of regulations Thursday by the Board of
Agriculture. | ||||||||||||||||
Nevada is the ninth state to offer a medical marijuana program after
action by the 2001 Legislature. Under the state law, qualified
patients suffering from AIDS, cancer and other illnesses, or nausea
related to those illnesses, can grow small amounts of the drug in
their homes for personal use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(22) ONE TOKE OVER THE LINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Afroman Sings Of Pot's Perils ( Wink, Wink ). 'High' Is Big--And
Blatant. | ||||||||||||||||
Afroman's smash hit "Because I Got High" offers a strong anti-drug
message. | ||||||||||||||||
Try making that statement with a--pardon the expression--straight
face. | ||||||||||||||||
The song may detail the perils of pot use, but it's delivered with a
wink as big as the giant spliff Afroman wields in the song's video.
But there is a sober tone, literally and figuratively, in Afroman's
voice as he talks about his ditty. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
A report issued by the Colombian government this week implicated the crop-killing poisons intended for coca and opium poppies in "damaging the environment," while "failing to curb drug production." At the same time, a high-level U.S. delegation to the region urged more of the same, predictably concluding the U.S. must give the Colombian military more money. This, declared the delegation's leader, would make Colombia safe for democracy, peace, and freedom. | ||||||||||||||||
Several dispatches from Colombia last week revealed a growing
movement for the outright legalization of drugs. "The main ally of
narco-trafficking is prohibition," stated senator Viviane Morales.
In Jamaica also, calls for cannabis law reform grew louder and more
resentful of U.S. meddling. A National Commission there had recently
recommended the decriminalization of ganja use. | ||||||||||||||||
The Canadian HIV AIDS Legal Network issued a report last week
recommending changes to drug policy which included allowing heroin
by prescription, and urged improvements in existing methadone
treatment programs. A Health Canada finding, underwritten by Health
Minister Alan Rock, urged injection-drug use be viewed as a health
issue, as opposed to a criminal matter. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(23) REPORT CRITICIZES DRUG-CROP SPRAYING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- A Colombian government report has raised fresh
doubts about the U.S. drug-fighting strategy, saying aerial
fumigation of crops may be damaging the environment and failing to
curb drug production. | ||||||||||||||||
The report, released over the weekend by the comptroller-general's
office, urged President Andres Pastrana to halt the spraying of drug
crops until scientists can study the environmental effects of the
herbicide. | ||||||||||||||||
The spraying of cocaine and heroin-producing crops is a major
component of Pastrana's Plan Colombia, an anti-drug strategy
supported by $1.3 billion in U.S. aid. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(24) MORE ANTI-DRUG AID SOUGHT FOR COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Delegation Finds Money Well-Spent | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A high-level U.S. delegation that came to take a
hard look at Colombia's battle against drug trafficking said
Washington needs to put more money into the fight. | ||||||||||||||||
"President Andres Pastrana's government is engaged in a struggle that
matters to everyone in this hemisphere because Colombians are
fighting to re-establish two things that almost every citizen of our
hemisphere wants: peace and prosperity," said Marc Grossman, the
undersecretary of state for political affairs who led the U.S.
delegation's three-day mission to Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
"Colombia is a fellow democracy ... Colombians deserve the right to
live in peace and freedom," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(25) COLOMBIA FACES STRONG PUSH TO LEGALISE DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A growing number of influential Colombians, sickened by the damage
that drugs trafficking is doing to their country, are stepping up
criticism of US-backed counter-narcotics policies and pushing for
legalisation of drugs as a solution. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Global prohibition, they say, has driven the trade's huge profits and
given drug traffickers the wealth and power to corrupt or murder
anyone who stood in their way. Over the past two decades, hundreds of
leading politicians, judges, police, and soldiers have died trying to
confront Colombia's violent and wealthy drugs cartels. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"From the 1990s onwards, the guerrillas and paramilitaries have grown incredibly because of the money coming from narco-trafficking," says senator Viviane Morales, author of a bill that calls for drug legalisation. "The main ally of narco-trafficking is prohibition." | ||||||||||||||||
Such arguments have gathered force in recent weeks. Various other
parliamentarians want to ease curbs on drugs, while some provincial
governors have also spoken up in favour of decriminalising the drugs
trade. They say it could help to solve Colombia's conflict by
cutting away at its financial support. | ||||||||||||||||
The huge state resources now being devoted to curbing drugs
trafficking could also be used to improve social conditions, they
argue - reducing support for the armed insurgency. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(26) GOV'T URGED TO EXAMINE DRUG LIBERALISATION POLICIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
AN INTERNATIONAL drug policy expert is advising local authorities to
examine the drug liberalisation policies of developed countries, and
seek their support if necessary, as Jamaica deliberates the National
Ganja Commission's recommendation to decriminalise use of the
substance. "It would be wise right now for Jamaica to seek some
support from Canada, and European countries, especially those who are
also moving forward ( in their drug policy ): the Netherlands,
Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal and the UK," said Tim
Boekhout van Solinge, a lecturer and researcher in Criminology at
Utrecht University in the Netherlands. | ||||||||||||||||
He was speaking to The Gleaner against the background of recent
concerns that Jamaica's foreign relations with the United States
could be damaged if it adopts a recommendation from the National
Commission on Ganja to decriminalise the use of cannabis for private,
personal use. | ||||||||||||||||
These concerns came to the fore after U.S. Embassy spokesman, Michael
Koplovsky, issued a reminder that the U.S. government opposes the
decriminalisation of cannabis, raising fears that the island could
lose its certification next March when its drug-fighting policy comes
up for review by the U.S. State Department. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(27) AIDS GROUP SEEKS OVERHAUL OF DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Canadian health crisis -- to which Calgary is not immune -- must be
stopped, says a national HIV/AIDS organization. | ||||||||||||||||
A report by the Canadian HIV AIDS Legal Network has prompted city groups to call for senior governments to reduce the toll of drug-injection use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The network has recommended long-term changes to drug legislation and
policy. It also wants heroin prescription pilot programs to be
started in Calgary and urges access to methadone treatment be
improved. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Federal Health Minister Allan Rock responded to the network's report
by recognizing three priorities: reducing the harm associated with
injection drug use; providing care, treatment and support; and
involving injection drug users in policy-making. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(28) EASE UP ON HEROIN ADDICTS, FEDERAL STUDY SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A report endorsed by federal Health Minister Allan Rock says Canada's drug laws should be reviewed because they contribute to the epidemic spread of HIV-AIDS and hepatitis C among injection-drug users. | ||||||||||||||||
The Health Canada report says that injection-drug use should be
considered a health problem, not a law-and-order issue, an approach
it says could mean prescribing heroin to addicts rather than
prosecuting them. It was posted without fanfare on the department's
Web site yesterday, the day before a long weekend, and attracted
little immediate attention in Ottawa. | ||||||||||||||||
"Injection-drug use is first and foremost a health issue," Mr. Rock writes in the report's introduction. "Involving all Canadians in a just and compassionate response means that we must dig deep in our search for solutions and not stop until we find ones that work." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
EcstasyData.org | ||||||||||||||||
Launched out of Dancesafe's laboratory pill testing program,
EcstasyData.org is an independent project, co-sponsored by Erowid,
Dancesafe, MAPS, & the Promind Foundation. Its purpose is to collect,
manage, and present laboratory pill testing results from a variety of
organizations. The site is still in beta mode, though open to the
public. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
UKCIA Law Library | ||||||||||||||||
The UKCIA law library contains the full text of the most important
legislation governing the use of drugs in the UK. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Study Shows THC May Protect Developing Brains Against Degeneration | ||||||||||||||||
"Neuroprotection by Tetrahydrocannabinol, the Main Active Compound
in Marijuana, against Ouabain-Induced In Vivo Excitotoxicity"
published in The Journal of Neuroscience, September 1, 2001,
21(17):6475-6479 | ||||||||||||||||
"These results provide evidence that the cannabinoid system can
serve to protect the brain against neurodegeneration. " | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Summer of Unity Day of Voice | ||||||||||||||||
Several issues, including the war on drugs, will be discussed at
this event September 16 in Los Angeles. Organizers are looking for
speakers that could talk about the damages and money that is spent
on a war that after 30 years has not been able to change anything
but put people in prison and destroy lives. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Save Trails End | ||||||||||||||||
As You know my husband DONALD SCOTT was murdered on October 2, 1992
when we were falsely accused of growing marijuana. The Ranch burned
down to the ground one year later due to arson. Now the IRS is
forcing the auctioning of our land due to these unlawful DEATH TAXES
that has been placed on all American families. | ||||||||||||||||
Please visit my website http://www.savetrailsend.org/ and click on
"Frances Scott" for updates. | ||||||||||||||||
Sincerely, | ||||||||||||||||
Go to FEAR's webpage, "Trails End: A Memorial to Donald Scott" for more background on this unbelievable miscarriage of justice. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Pot Trade Is Gateway To Crime | ||||||||||||||||
By Paul Miller | ||||||||||||||||
Thank you for your Aug. 13 article on the Gary Reams campaign ["Candidate pushes his 'reeferendum'"]. I'm glad Reams is running this year because marijuana reform should be on the table for discussion, as the prohibition is causing far more harm than the plant itself. | ||||||||||||||||
As a parent, I would rather see marijuana for sale in state stores than
in schools. I don't believe it is a gateway drug (an opinion I formed
after reading the 1999 federally commissioned study, "Marijuana and
Medicine"). But I do believe the illegal marijuana industry is the
prominent gateway into organized crime. | ||||||||||||||||
We can't keep drugs out of prisons. Professional prison guards can't
resist the associated profit motive. Why do we expect our 14-year-old
children to be more resilient? | ||||||||||||||||
I'm glad to see at least one candidate talking about this problem we
have created for ourselves. I'm also glad to see The Daily Journal
covering the issue, despite the fact that the major party candidates
won't discuss it. I guess the fact that organized drug dealers have
recruited students in every high school and junior high school in the
state just isn't that important to them. | ||||||||||||||||
Paul Miller, | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Honorable Mentions | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FREE IN B.C. / by Steve Kubby | ||||||||||||||||
BRITISH COLUMBIA -- Every American should come to B.C., if only to see
what a terrible price we all pay for living under Prohibition in the
U.S. If you do come, be prepared to see what real freedom is about and
why it is so superior to the fraudulent and repressive police state
mentality that has infected the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
Here on the Sunshine Coast, where my family and I have moved, there is
no drug war and only six RCMP officers to protect 20,000 residents.
There is no CHP, DEA, FBI or any other law enforcement, save our one
lone sheriff, who only delivers summons and court papers and is not
allowed to make arrests. All court cases are heard in a single
courtroom, located above a building supply store. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite such a tiny criminal justice system, we've found B.C. to be
the most crime-free area we've ever seen. Furthermore, not having to
support a bloated criminal justice system here, as we do in the U.S.,
has reduced the cost of living by nearly 50%. | ||||||||||||||||
Now you would think that because the U.S. has such great
infrastructure, goods and services would be more expensive here in
B.C. Twenty years ago, that was certainly the case and Canadians all
flocked to the U.S. to save money. | ||||||||||||||||
No more. Now nearly everything is much less expensive in Canada. For
example, my family and I rent a wonderful 4 bedroom 3 1/2 bath house
with a two car garage, two fireplaces and a great view for $690
(U.S. dollars) a month. A visit to a local doctor or chiropractor is
usually about $20. Food is better and costs about half of what we paid
in California. Even medical cannabis can be purchased here in B.C. for
half of what it sells for in the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
So why is everything so much cheaper here than just over the U.S.
border? The answer should be evident -- the extra 50% we pay in the
U.S. is a direct reflection of the real burden of American government
on its citizens. Worst of all, that money paid to government parasites
to manage our lives has only driven up costs and failures in everything
from education to health care in America. | ||||||||||||||||
We could learn a lot from Canadians, starting with ending the Drug War
and legalizing medical marijuana. Regardless of how you feel about
these issues, can you really ignore the 50% surcharge you are being
forced to pay to continue this phony drug war? | ||||||||||||||||
Come to British Columbia and breath some free air. You may never be the
same again. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach
is more so." - Mohandas K. Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War,"
vol. 2, 1949 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you. | ||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analyses by Stephen Young (), 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. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE | ||||||||||||||||
-OR- | ||||||||||||||||
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to: | ||||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. |
 | current issue | this issue |