| Sept. 28, 2001 #219 | ||||||||||||||||
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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: REPORT URGES CANNABIS TO BE LEGALISED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
NSW Cabinet is to consider a report which found most people want cannabis to be used for medical purposes, particularly for pain relief. | ||||||||||||||||
While cannabis is illegal in NSW, the state government is investigating
whether to follow other countries which allow people with serious
illness to use it for pain relief. | ||||||||||||||||
A report on the results of community consultation into the drug's usage released in state parliament today found more than 70 per cent of 117 respondents said its use for medical purposes should be allowed. | ||||||||||||||||
Eleven per cent opposed it completely while the rest did not hold a
position. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) UK: LONDON GOES TO POT IN NORTH-SOUTH DIVIDE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The north and south are not only divided over housing and employment - but over cannabis use too, according to Whitehall research. | ||||||||||||||||
Almost 40% of 16 to 19-year-olds in London are estimated to have
smoked cannabis, against only 16% in Wales and 15% in Scotland, as
the Metropolitan police shows greater tolerance to the use of the
soft drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Deep divisions between the prosperous south and the rest of England show little sign of narrowing after four years of a Labour government, according to the annual Regional Trends Survey. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US NY: PANEL EXAMINES DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Common Ground Found On Topic Of Nonviolent Offenders | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly 50 people participated in a spirited, two-hour discussion
Wednesday night on New York state's drug policy and the | ||||||||||||||||
The forum, at Cayuga Community College, was sponsored by the League
of Women Voters' Balancing Justice Program, the Auburn-Cayuga chapter
of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and
Cayuga Community College's Student Activities Board. | ||||||||||||||||
The league asked its members to set up forums in each county across
the state to stimulate conversation and help educate people about the
issues surrounding drugs in our society. | ||||||||||||||||
Moderator Ed Lauckern, a local radio talk-show host, began the
evening by posing an open question: "Are we going in the right
direction in the 'war on drugs?' " | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US: OFFICIALS REPORT DROP IN DRUG SMUGGLING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The new American war on terrorism has scored an unintentional
victory, though it may be temporary. | ||||||||||||||||
Tightened security along the border with Mexico since the terrorist
attacks on Sept. 11 has helped reduce the flow of illegal drugs, as
cautious smugglers from Mexico have cut back on their shipments to
avoid having them seized, Customs officials say. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5 - 11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The connection between drug prohibition and terrorism was made
repeatedly in the press this week, but there seems to be little
consensus about the nature of the connection and the best method to
hurt terrorist efforts. A few columnists at generally smaller papers
noted the waste and futility of the drug war and how it undermined
the fight against terrorism. A larger paper dared to editorialize
that recent developments offer U.S. leaders a chance to reconsider
their precarious position in Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
Sadly, American leaders seem unwilling to lower the priority of the drug war, and some harbor illusions that pursuing it more aggressively will somehow succeed and help anti-terrorist efforts. Apparently they didn't see the newspapers articles in Washington, D.C. suggesting that addiction (primarily to legal drugs) in the city is as bad as its ever been despite the ongoing drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) ARE WE TOO POLITICALLY CORRECT TO APPROPRIATELY DEFEND OUR (Top) WAY OF LIFE? | ||||||||||||||||
I worry our adversaries may have it right -- America is no longer virile enough, America no longer has the resolve, America has become too silly and "mommified" and caught up in politically correct fibs and fripperies to win a protracted struggle for our very existence against a force as elemental as the Islamic fundamentalist drive to destroy capitalism, western values ... the modern world as we know it. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Are we serious about winning a "war against terrorism"? President Bush could begin by declaring an end tomorrow to the fruitless and expensive "War on Drugs." If heroin and morphine were legal, their prices would quickly drop by more than 90 percent. What do you suppose that would do the profitability of the Afghan poppy crop? | ||||||||||||||||
Think of how many police and intelligence resources could be
immediately diverted to tracking terrorists. | ||||||||||||||||
And how would that compare to the effects of the administration's
current "War on Drugs" hysteria? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) U.S. DRUG WAR PAYS AFGHANS WHO AID TERRORISTS WHO ATTACK U.S. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The United States doesn't officially recognize the Taliban as a
government. Only three Islamic nations do that. | ||||||||||||||||
But who needs official status when this country in May was happy to
cut a check for $43 million as a reward for the Taliban crushing
opium poppy production by desperate Afghan farmers? | ||||||||||||||||
America's drug war marches on against all logic and even into the
waiting arms of despots. | ||||||||||||||||
Make that despots with our money. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) INVASION OF A DIFFERENT SORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
I hope our new war on terrorism isn't filled with the ambiguous goals, outrageous spending and systematic abuses that have been the hallmarks our long-standing but ineffective war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs has caused the expansion of our prison population so
that it's now the largest in the world. It's restricted our basic
civil rights and it has increased the power of police to make stops,
conduct searches, use wiretapping and other invasive surveillance
technology and perform dangerous no-knock raids. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) THE WAR OUR LEADERS ARE HAPPY TO FORGET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Remember, there is a war on. I refer not to one war but to two. The
British and American Governments are fighting two wars, openly
declared by both over the past decade. One is in response to the
American air disasters of last week. The other, against drugs, was
declared by America in 1990 and by Britain in 1994. Both wars are in
response to assaults on the integrity of Western society. Both have
been called "total" and "long-term", demanding the global projection
of military, diplomatic and economic power. Both are fought against
shadowy foes mostly operating in regions where anarchy and poverty
march hand in hand. In each case the rhetoric of violence has been
easier to deploy than that of reason. | ||||||||||||||||
The War on Drugs has been lost but defeat is not admitted. Its battle
plans still lie on dusty shelves, its ships are mothballed, its
generals cashiered. Yet the two wars are closely linked. They finance
each other. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) MEANWHILE, BACK IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It is unavoidable, but still unfortunate, that the recent terrorist
attacks will push examination of U.S. policy toward Colombia further
down the list of congressional priorities. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Had Powell had the chance to evaluate the progress of Plan Colombia,
he would have found little encouraging news. If anything, the urgent
request for more money suggests that the American strategy is
foundering--a case of putting good money after bad. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) HASTERT FORMS TASK FORCE ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert has formed a task
force to combat drug trafficking, which he called the financial
engine that drives many terrorist organizations. | ||||||||||||||||
"By going after the illegal drug trade, we reduce the ability of these terrorists to launch attacks against the United States and other democracies," Hastert, R-Ill., said at a news conference Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) SURVEY SAYS 60,000 IN D.C. ARE ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
1 In 10 Dependent On Alcohol | ||||||||||||||||
About 60,000 District residents -- more than one in 10 -- are
addicted to illegal drugs or alcohol, D.C. health officials have
concluded after a door-to-door survey. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey of 15,035 households, conducted last December, is the most
comprehensive snapshot of substance abuse ever taken in the city,
D.C. government officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The study found that marijuana was the most commonly used illegal
drug in the District, with about 7 percent of those 12 and older
having used it in the past month. Next came cocaine, which about 2
percent reported using in the last month. Less than 0.4 percent
reported using heroin in the last month. | ||||||||||||||||
District residents were far more likely to be addicted to alcohol
than illegal drugs. Nearly 29,000 residents have an alcohol
addiction, according to the survey, compared with the 10,400
dependent on marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The enormous police and justice resources needed to continue the
drug war were highlighted as a California drug trial is expected to
cost taxpayers $6 million. While money doesn't seem like an object
there, a drug task force in Kentucky is bemoaning the fact that
budget cuts will force them to put less public money into the black
market for undercover drug buys. | ||||||||||||||||
There's no price tag attached to the tribulations of an Indiana man who won a settlement against local police years ago, and now says he is the target of repeated harassment. The drug war promoted police recklessness in another town where an undercover cop didn't call off a drug buy despite being in a school parking lot on a school day. | ||||||||||||||||
The limitations of drug testing as a tool for law enforcement were
demonstrated this week. In one high-profile accident case,
authorities can't figure out why a drug test turned out to be
completely wrong, while the owner of a drug testing company
acknowledged taking bribes to alter drug test results. | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) HELLS ANGELS CRIMINAL CASE WILL COST CALIF. COUNTY MILLIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A criminal conspiracy case against 28 members and associates of the
Hells Angels might end up costing local taxpayers more than $6
million. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
District Attorney Michael D. Bradbury also declined to comment on the
case. But his office already has spent $1 million on attorneys and
investigators and $300,000 for additional expenses such as expert
witnesses, travel and forensics, said Pete Pedroff, manager of its
fiscal services unit. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Jody Armour, a professor at the University of Southern California law
school, said there are two advantages to charging defendants with
conspiracy in addition to drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||
"There's a political benefit. If you can characterize something as a
conspiracy, you can claim to be ridding society of an organized
scourge," he said. "It's a little more glamorous than prosecuting
your typical street-corner drug peddlers. The legal benefit is that
you may not have to prove that the defendant was actually caught
selling the drugs." | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) FADE RUNS SHORT ON DRUG-BUY MONEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
GRAYSON - The FIVCO Area Drug Enforcement Task Force is running a
little short on drug money. | ||||||||||||||||
At a meeting last week of the agency's board of directors, FADE
Director Bob Jessie said the account the task force uses to pay for
undercover drug buys had been squeezed by budget cuts. | ||||||||||||||||
Last fiscal year, the task force received $50,000 for drug buys, Jessie said. This year, the allotment was reduced to $40,000. | ||||||||||||||||
Of that, $16,000 has already been spent, "and it's only the first
quarter," Jessie said. | ||||||||||||||||
"We've been very busy, and we've bought larger quantities than
normal," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) JUDGE ORDERS ACQUITTAL IN MARIJUANA CASE AGAINST 'HASSLED' MAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A deputy prosecutor failed to convince a judge that Corey Longs had possession of some marijuana that police found near his car May 2. | ||||||||||||||||
Superior Court Judge Jerome Frese acquitted Longs after a two-hour bench trial on Aug. 22. That means Longs has won the latest round in his ongoing dispute with the South Bend Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||
Longs, 22, says the South Bend police have singled him out for
harassment ever since the city settled his claim over alleged
wrongdoing by the police. Without admitting any wrongdoing, the city
agreed last year to pay Longs and his girlfriend $9,000 after the
couple alleged that police had entered their home illegally Oct. 8,
1998. | ||||||||||||||||
Ever since then, Longs said, the police won't leave him alone. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) SCHOOL PARKING LOT NO PLACE FOR POLICE DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Mercifully, no children were harmed Tuesday when a San Joaquin County
drug agent shot at a suspected drug dealer in the parking lot of
Osborn School in Turlock. | ||||||||||||||||
It started when another undercover officer saw the suspected dealer, whom he had been trying to make a deal with, in the parking lot. The man waved the officer in. And in he went, not realizing it was a school parking lot. That doesn't say much for the officer's ability to recognize the ubiquitous temporary buildings that dot so many school campuses. It's a lesson in opening your eyes to your surroundings, in thinking one step beyond the immediate. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) ERRONEOUS DRUG TEST APPARENTLY WAS CONDUCTED CORRECTLY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A drug screening performed on a truck driver
involved in an accident that killed five people last month was
conducted properly, although the results were wrong. | ||||||||||||||||
The screening tests resulted in false positives for three drugs, the
Missouri State Highway Patrol and Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall
said in a written statement Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO ALTERING COURT DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Former President Of Firm Took Bribes To Change Results | ||||||||||||||||
The former president of a Louisville drug-testing company pleaded
guilty yesterday to federal charges that he solicited bribes to alter
court-ordered drug tests. | ||||||||||||||||
Rodney K. Sanford, 49, admitted that while operating Adapt Inc. in
1996, he "solicited and received bribes from defendants in exchange
for falsely reporting that the tests had found no indication of
illicit drug use, or for not reporting tests which found the
defendant had been using illicit drugs," said Monica Wheatley, U.S.
attorney for the Western District of Kentucky. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There simply is no silver lining to be found in the tragic attacks
of 09/11/01, but one unintended consequence has been the grounding
of the helicopters commonly used for cannabis crop eradication and
the reprioritization of U.S. federal and state police funding away
from this season's interdiction efforts. With the increase of
security at both the Mexican and Canadian borders, the U.S. will have
to rely on its domestic supply to relieve the pain and suffering of
the last few weeks. | ||||||||||||||||
Activists around the world were busy attempting to right past wrongs
this week. Medical user and user-activist Steve Kubby filed a $250
million lawsuit against Placer County (CA) officials for violating
his civil rights and maliciously inflicting harm on him, his wife
Michele, and his children during a 1999 drug raid on his home. In
New Zealand, NORML has been busy petitioning for a moratorium on
cannabis arrests until the government decides the legal status of
the plant. And in the UK, Colin Davies, founder of the first
Dutch-style coffeeshop in Britain, is now facing eviction as well as
arrest, as police force landlords to legislate behaviour on their
premises. | ||||||||||||||||
Let's hope that there is some summer sunshine left in the fall
forecast; it's good for the flowers, and frankly, the world needs a
little bit of brightness and light right now. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) FEWER MARIJUANA PLANTS CONFISCATED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Despite being kept from the air by natural disasters and terrorists,
State Police have worked hard to keep West Virginia from growing a
bumper crop of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Troopers, National Guardsmen and those who spot the pot in the
valleys and mountains of the state have been grounded for a big part
of the growing season and now into harvest time. | ||||||||||||||||
With slightly more than a month of marijuana eradication time left, State Police have confiscated about 6,000 fewer plants than last year. Though there's still time to find more, Federal Aviation Administration rules enacted after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington are keeping helicopters grounded. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) KUBBY SUES PLACER COUNTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Libertarian politician, medical marijuana user, and author Steve
Kubby has filed a landmark lawsuit accusing government officials of
violating civil rights and maliciously inflicting harm on him, his
wife Michele, and his children during a 1999 drug raid. | ||||||||||||||||
The suit was filed by a team of attorneys from the respected
California law firm of Halpern and Halpern, on June 18, 2001, in
Placer County Superior Court. Kubby's complaint seeks $250 million in
damages and compensation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Kubby's lawsuit alleges that Placer officials violated the Americans
With Disabilities Act, committed assault, battery, trespass and false
imprisonment, deliberately inflicted emotional distress, and violated
Proposition 215, the medical marijuana law that Kubby helped pass in
1996. | ||||||||||||||||
The suit targets sheriff Ed Bonner, District Attorney Brad Fenocchio,
prosecutors Chris Cattran and Gene Geni, and lead investigator
Michael Lyke. | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) BORDER CRACKDOWN HURTING B.C. POT GROWERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The increased security along the B.C.-Washington border since last
week's terrorist attacks are wreaking havoc on B.C.'s multi-billion
dollar marijuana business. | ||||||||||||||||
B.C. Marijuana Party leader Marc Emery says growers are having a
tough time finding people willing to run drugs across the border in
boats, small planes or on foot. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He says mules are being offered twice as much for the risk up to
$1000 for a half kilo of B.C marijuana and that price is being passed
on to Americans. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) LANDLORD TAKES 'POT' CAFE MAN TO COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis campaigner Colin Davies will be in court today as a landlord
tries to put an end to his Amsterdam-style marijuana cafe. On
Saturday, police arrested Mr Davies and five others in a raid at the
Dutch Experience in Stockport. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
As soon as he was released on police bail pending further inquiries,
Colin, 44, re-opened the cafe on Hooper Street but insisted he would
be selling only tea and coffee. | ||||||||||||||||
But police have threatened his landlord, Leda Securities Northern
Ltd, in Macclesfield, with prosecution if cannabis is supplied on the
premises. | ||||||||||||||||
The company immediately launched court proceedings and today it will ask a High Court judge at Manchester Crown Court to grant an injunction preventing the sale of cannabis on the premises. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) ALT TO CANNABIS ARRESTS SOUGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Pro-cannabis organisation Norml is calling for a moratorium on
cannabis-related arrests until the Government decides if the drug
should be decriminalised. | ||||||||||||||||
After an annual meeting over the weekend, Norml (the National
Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) said cannabis arrests
should be stopped until the health select committee completed its
inquiry into the details of a possible law change. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
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Pino Arlacchi, director of the U.N. Drug Control bureau, last week declared UN crop substitution programs in Afghanistan "will dramatically reduce the movement of heroin from Afghanistan to the West." Yet later in the week, British press reports revealed the price of opium in Afghanistan had fallen sharply, indicating an increase of available supplies. In neighboring Pakistan also, opium prices were said to have "crashed," with raw opium selling now for about a third of the price fetched prior to September 11. | ||||||||||||||||
With the possibility of U.S. strikes on Afghanistan looming
imminently, the Taliban has reportedly threatened to lift the ban on
opium growing, thus flooding world markets with cheap opium and
heroin. As one Afghan farmer explained, "Ninety percent of this area
used to be cultivated with poppy. How much money can you make from
wheat?" | ||||||||||||||||
Reverberations of the terrorist strikes continue to be felt: U.S.
officials report marijuana seizures have dramatically declined along
both the Mexican and Canadian borders. However, in what may portend
a rise in hard drug addiction, one paper noted what seizures have
been made were of heroin, which is more easily concealed than
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
In Colombia, a U.S.-backed military offensive continues to rack up
rebel body counts with regularity, if not effect. At a press
conference last week, the military displayed the bodies of rebels
killed in recent fighting. "The FARC was dealt a huge defeat,"
claimed Gen. Carlos Fracica, commander of Colombia's U.S.-supported
Rapid Deployment Forces. | ||||||||||||||||
A Colombian civilian peace commission, created last February by
government agreement with FARC rebels, will press for a cease-fire,
a Colombian paper reported. If the agreement is adopted, rebels will
halt kidnappings, while government would be bound to stop right wing
paramilitary violence, as well as terminate "indiscriminate
fumigation of drug crops." | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) U.N. HAILS DROP IN OPIUM FARMING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VIENNA, Austria ( AP ) - International efforts to discourage farmers
in Afghanistan from growing opium - a suspected cash crop for Osama
bin Laden's terrorism network - are paying off, the United Nations'
anti-crime czar said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
Pino Arlacchi, executive director of the U.N. Office for Drug Control
and Crime Prevention, said programs designed to get farmers to grow
other crops instead of opium, which is used to make heroin, were
choking off the flow of cash to terrorists. | ||||||||||||||||
"This will dramatically reduce the movement of heroin from
Afghanistan to the West," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Until this year, Afghanistan was the world's No. 1 source of opium
and produced 4,000 tons annually - three quarters of the global
supply. But there has been no sign of any new cultivation of opium
poppy this year, Arlacchi said. | ||||||||||||||||
Experts believe there are still 100 tons in storage in Afghanistan.
"But stockpiles don't last forever, and if there is no production, no
replanting, we will see a dramatic effect on the world market,"
Arlacchi said. Already, the wholesale price per kilogram has soared
from $30 to $500-600, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) FLOOD OF CHEAP AFGHAN HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
AFGHAN farmers are ready to swamp world markets with heroin amid signs that the Taleban has dropped its ban on opium growing. | ||||||||||||||||
The ban was imposed by Mullah Muhammad Omar last year, leaving many farmers ruined. But the sudden halving of the price of raw opium to $250 a kg suggests the decree has been reversed. Even if it remains in place, desperate farmers are expected to resume planting next month while Taleban security forces are engaged elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||
One source confirmed last night: "There has definitely been a decrease in the price of opium in Afghanistan in recent days. This would happen either because people expect an increase in supply or a decrease in demand, and if there is one thing from Afghanistan which is guaranteed to have an international demand, it is opium." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) AFGHAN OPIUM PRICES 'CRASH' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Street Value Of Opium Has Fallen In Recent Days | ||||||||||||||||
ISLAMABAD -- UN officials in Pakistan say the price of Afghan opium
has collapsed following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. | ||||||||||||||||
Before 11 September, one kilo of opium was selling for $700. The
price is now between $200-300. | ||||||||||||||||
The Taleban regime in Afghanistan had outlawed poppy production, but
it's now feared that cultivation will start once again. | ||||||||||||||||
There are two possible reasons for the collapse in opium prices - some Afghans holding stocks of opium are now trying to off-load them. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) TALIBAN TO LIFT BAN ON FARMERS GROWING OPIUM IF U.S. ATTACKS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Edict Reverses Policy That Wiped Out Crop | ||||||||||||||||
In a dramatic and little-noticed reversal of policy, the Taliban have told farmers in Afghanistan that they are free to start planting poppy seeds again if the Americans decide to launch a military attack. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In July last year he said that growing opium was "un-Islamic" and warned that anyone caught planting seeds would be severely punished. | ||||||||||||||||
Taliban soldiers enforced the ruling two summers ago and made
thousands of villagers across Afghanistan plough up their fields.
Earlier this year UN observers agreed that Afghanistan's opium crop
had been completely wiped out. | ||||||||||||||||
Last night Bernard Frahi, the head of the UN's drugs control
programme ( UNDCP ) in Islamabad, confirmed that the price of opium
had suddenly plunged. Existing opium stockpiles had fallen in value
because of the prospect of new cultivation. "Our sources tell us the
price has decreased," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(27) DRUG TRAFFIC VIA MEXICO NEAR ZERO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Mexican traffickers have all but frozen daily shipments of illegal
drugs across the U.S.-Mexican border amid a massive buildup of U.S.
Customs Service inspectors and National Guard troops. | ||||||||||||||||
Daily drug seizures along the Mexican border have dropped to almost zero since last week's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials said Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
That's a direct result of U.S. authorities searching almost every
passenger and commercial vehicle crossing the border, U.S. Customs
Service officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Traffickers watch us very closely, so they know we are now on a very
tough security footing," said Customs Service spokesman Dean Boyd.
"If I were a smuggler, I would not want to be trying to send anything
illegal across the border right now." | ||||||||||||||||
The growing stockpiles of illegal drugs waiting to be shipped across
the border into the United States could soon start affecting the
street price of cocaine, heroin and marijuana, Mexican authorities
said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(28) BODIES EQUAL RESULTS IN COLOMBIA WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN JOSE DEL GUAVIARE, Colombia ( AP ) -- Sheets covering the rebel
bodies were supposed to lend decency to an otherwise grisly scene,
but a sour stench filled the tropical air, flies buzzed hungrily and
bloodstains had seeped through the cloth. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Showing rebel bodies is an ugly ritual of Colombia's decades-old war. | ||||||||||||||||
Battling Latin America's most powerful leftist insurgency, Colombia's
U.S.-backed military is struggling to convince the public that it is
winning the war, now in its 37th year. But in a hit-and-run guerrilla
conflict with no set battle lines in the jungle, victory is not so
easy to judge. | ||||||||||||||||
Military pronouncements about heavy rebel casualties are taken with a grain of salt, since only a few years ago it was the guerrillas doing the damage. So when it can, the military shows corpses. | ||||||||||||||||
Last Friday, the army packed two dozen reporters and cameramen -most from local TV stations -- into an executive style Cessna and whisked them into the war zone. They were back in Bogota before noon, just in time to get the images of the 24 dead rebels on the midday news. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"I see success mainly from the strategic point of view," Fracica said.
"The FARC was dealt a huge defeat. The number of dead bandits is not
the most important thing." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(29) COLOMBIA PEACE COMMISSION TO URGE CEASE-FIRE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia ( AP ) - Colombia's leading newspaper reported Sunday that a peace commission will urge warring parties in Colombia's decades-old armed conflict to declare a cease-fire this week. | ||||||||||||||||
If accepted, the proposal would require the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, or FARC - the nation's largest rebel army - to renounce
its practice of extortion and kidnapping. It would oblige the
government to curb violence sponsored by rightist paramilitaries and
to halt indiscriminate fumigation of drug crops. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug sprayings - funded through part of a $1.3 billion U.S. aid
package - are the backbone of Washington's drug war in Colombia, the
world's biggest supplier of cocaine. The sprayings are a prerequisite
of further U.S. support. | ||||||||||||||||
Members of the civilian peace commission told El Tiempo that the
six-month proposed truce would spur peace accords to end 37 years of
fighting, which kills at least 3,000 people a year. | ||||||||||||||||
"If it's accepted, it would give a huge boost to the peace process,"
Daniel Garcia-Pena, a former government peace envoy, told The
Associated Press on Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||
During a February peace summit, President Andres Pastrana and Manuel
Marulanda, chief of the FARC, agreed to create the "Commission of
Notables," as the three-member committee is called. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MIKE GRAY'S VISIT TO THE NYT DRUG POLICY FORUM | ||||||||||||||||
Read the transcript of the chat with the author of Drug Crazy. | ||||||||||||||||
Guest Schedule http://www.cultural-baggage.com/schedule.htm | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
COERCED TREATMENT: TOO MANY STEPS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION | ||||||||||||||||
Article by Maia Szalavitz at AlterNet | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
PETITION FOR BILL MAHER | ||||||||||||||||
As many of you probably know, Bill Maher is being unfairly
condemned for comments he recently made on Politically | ||||||||||||||||
That's why I've worked with some other folks to start a new
effort to support Bill Maher. Please go to ... | ||||||||||||||||
... sign our petition, and send a message to show your support. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by John Hlinko | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
OPPOSE BUSH'S NEW "DRUG CZAR" | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on October 9 on the nomination of John Walters, whom President Bush has tapped to be the new "drug czar" -- also known as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). | ||||||||||||||||
The committee is expected to vote on the nomination in mid-October,
and -- if the committee gives him a majority vote -- then the full
Senate will vote on him shortly thereafter (also requiring a majority
vote). The U.S. House of Representatives has no role in the nomination
process. | ||||||||||||||||
MPP strongly opposes this nomination and asks you to contact your two
U.S. senators and ask them to vote NO on it: | ||||||||||||||||
1. Please visit http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/walters to e-mail or
fax a pre-written letter to your two U.S. senators. After you are
done, use the tell-a-friend form on that Web site or forward this
alert to spread the word. | ||||||||||||||||
2. If you have an extra minute after you have visited the Web site, please also call your two U.S. senators -- you can reach them through the congressional switchboard operator at 202-224-3121. | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by MPP, http://www.mpp.org/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MILITARY AND COPS WASTING TIME ON POT | ||||||||||||||||
By Matthew M. Elrod | ||||||||||||||||
In regard to their seasonal search and destroy operations, ("Pot busts
with a military flair", The Weekender Sept. 7), RCMP Const. Andy
Rickaby remarked, "Our sources tell us that the majority of the outdoor
pot is destined for local streets so this operation should translate
into a significant reduction in the amount of the drug getting into
the hands of some of our most vulnerable populations, such as our
youth." | ||||||||||||||||
It was my understanding, based on earlier RCMP reports, that over 80
per cent of the B.C. cannabis crop is destined for the United States.
That is to say, B.C. produces so much cannabis that we are able to
export most of it and still meet our domestic demand. | ||||||||||||||||
Surely then Const. Rickaby meant to say that this most recent
operation, involving three helicopters and 60 police officers, will
prevent an insignificant amount of cannabis from getting into the hands
of American consumers in exchange for a significant reduction in the
amount of U.S. money getting into the hands of B.C. communities and a
slight increase in unsolved crimes | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Matthew M. Elrod, | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Honorable Mention Letter of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SUPPORTING AMERICA'S ENEMIES | ||||||||||||||||
By M.L. Simon | ||||||||||||||||
Last Tuesday America was attacked by the enemies of peace. My heart goes out to all those who died, their loved ones and friends. | ||||||||||||||||
Its time America focused on its real problems and real enemies. In so
many ways America's problems are worsened by not focusing on our real
problems. This lack of focus not only embolden's our enemies but in
many cases actually provides them material aid. | ||||||||||||||||
In America we are fighting a drug war against our own citizens at a
cost of at least $60 billion a year. Think of what this kind of money
could do if re-allocated to more pressing needs or even to your own
pocket. After all, it was your money once. | ||||||||||||||||
But this is not the worst part of this whole business. The worst part is the other $60 billion a year in drug money that leaves the country. And the $350 billion a year leaving other countries that have joined in our drug crusade. This money goes to support our enemies. Among them the FARC communists in Columbia and the Taliban in Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||
Right now it looks like the Taliban is our most pressing problem. The
Taliban makes its money from taxing the sale of opium. Now it is true
that our government has been pressing the Taliban to stop supporting
the drug trade. And there is evidence that they may have actually
prevented some significant number of farmers from growing opium in
Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||
But these gains may be temporary. You see there is a glut of opium in
Afghanistan. Prices are down. So it may have been convenient for the
government ( like socialist governments everywhere ) to do a price
support program to keep the farm economy growing. What better way to
do this and curry American favor than declare a ban on opium
production. I expect that as soon as prices start to come back
Afghanistan will resume growing opium. In any case the shipments of
opium from Afghanistan never stopped. They have been shipping opium
stockpiled when prices were low. | ||||||||||||||||
Isn't it insane to follow a policy that not only weakens America but
finances her enemies? You would think we were bent on self-destruction.
David Hackworth in a recent article ... | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22830 | ||||||||||||||||
... says we are spending more on enforcing prohibition in Colombia | ||||||||||||||||
So here we are destroying America, financing our enemies, and focusing on the wrong threats. It is time we changed. Well past time. Its time to stop supporting anti-American terror. Its time to end the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
As a first step please help me get E.J. out of the gulag. So he can be
an aid to our economy rather than a drain. He needs work. If you can
help leave a message at: | ||||||||||||||||
M.L. Simon is an industrial controls designer and Libertarian activist | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Justice, being destroyed, will destroy; being preserved, will
preserve; it must therefore never be violated." | ||||||||||||||||
- Manu, "The Laws of Manu," circa 200 BC - 200 AD | ||||||||||||||||
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