| October 19, 2001 #222 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) UK: 'LET BELEAGUERED FARMERS GROW CANNABIS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Labour MP is launching a Private Member's Bill to legalise personal
use of cannabis - arguing that beleaguered British farmers could grow
it as a cash crop. | ||||||||||||||||
Jon Owen Jones said the measure would "remove criminals from the
equation" and could provide a "hardy cash crop" for British farmers,
left on their knees by foot-and-mouth disease, BSE, tumbling dairy
prices and concerns over GM crops. | ||||||||||||||||
The Cardiff Central MP's Legalisation of Cannabis Bill is due to be
debated in the House of Commons next week, but is highly unlikely to
become law. | ||||||||||||||||
However, it comes after a noticeable shift in public attitudes to the
drug. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) HOW SAFE ARE YOUR ILLEGAL DRUGS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Put this in your pipe and smoke it at your own risk: Terrorists could
poison drug supplies and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
probably can't do anything about it. | ||||||||||||||||
Politicos have warned that dirt-cheap, high-potency heroin will soon
flood world markets and cause an epidemic of overdoses in the wake of
the Taliban evacuating opium supplies before the first bombs hit
Afghani soil. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. | ||||||||||||||||
Because the drugs are illegal, health officials are not authorized to monitor the purity of such substances -- not just heroin, but marijuana and ecstasy and other illicit drugs. This coming at a time when authorities are on high alert against bio and chemical attacks. | ||||||||||||||||
"We can't stop all the drugs from coming into the country," said Drug
Enforcement Agency spokesman Will Glaspy. "Drugs are poisons in the
first place. You don't know what you're putting into your body --
that's why people die from this stuff." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) CN AB: COST OF COCAINE GOING UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Border Security Hiked After Terrorist Attacks | ||||||||||||||||
RCMP say the price of cocaine in Edmonton is going through the roof
and they believe the terrorist attacks in the United States are
responsible. | ||||||||||||||||
"The price of cocaine is up from around $42,000 a kilo to $47,000 or
so," said RCMP Staff Sgt. Doug Carruthers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
GRASS GROWN LOCALLY | ||||||||||||||||
He said the improved border security has not changed the price of
marijuana because it is produced locally. | ||||||||||||||||
"And the price of methamphetamine, which is also made locally, has
been cut in half," he added. "I have no details of the price of
heroin." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
ROBBERIES COULD INCREASE | ||||||||||||||||
"The potential for that does exist. If a bad guy is bound and
determined to feed his habit, and the price goes up, they may rob
more places," said Anderson. | ||||||||||||||||
So far for the year, Parthenis said the city has had 82 bank
robberies and 313 commercial robberies such as convenience stores.
Last year, for the same period, the city had 15 bank robberies and
290 commercial robberies. | ||||||||||||||||
City cops aren't sure why the numbers have gone up. "It may have something to do with the large number of parolees released back into the system (this year). We're not 100% sure," said Parthenis. | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) MEXICAN OFFICIAL FAULTS U.S. BORDER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- Increased security along the U.S. border after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington has made it harder for smugglers to move drugs onto American soil and increased cocaine use in Mexico, a police official said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
Crime Prevention Director Pedro Jose Penaloza told a news conference that cocaine smugglers, afraid to cross a fortified U.S. border, have begun selling drugs at rock-bottom prices in the central states of San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, Queretaro and Guanajuato. | ||||||||||||||||
The states have long been considered part of the "smugglers' bridge
to the U.S.-Mexican border," Penaloza said. | ||||||||||||||||
Penaloza said Mexico has become so saturated with cocaine that drug dealers in some locales are offering the usually high-priced narcotic at prices that are cheaper than the normal street price of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There was no smooth sailing for John Walters, the Bush | ||||||||||||||||
Some more excellent commentary on drug prohibition as a hindrance to
a war on terror appeared, but sadly, policy makers don't seem to be
reading any of it. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, in honor of Red Ribbon Week, we take a look at a few
stories that show the gap between perception and reality when it
comes to drugs and kids. The methods allegedly used to stop kids
from using drugs also seems likely to cause a gap of trust between
youth and adults. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) BUSH'S CHOICE AS 'DRUG CZAR' RECEIVES HEAVY FIRE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Walters, President Bush's nominee to head the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, came under Democratic fire on Thursday at his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing. | ||||||||||||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, both Democrats, openly challenged
Walter's drug-fighting philosophy. | ||||||||||||||||
They noted Walters, who served in the office of drug control policy
in the administration of Bush's father, President George Bush, has
questioned the effectiveness of drug-abuse treatment and the need for
federal support of drug-abuse prevention. | ||||||||||||||||
Leahy also said while a number of lawmakers and judges have called
for the repeal of federal mandatory minimum sentences, Walters has
defended such punishment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) DRUG CZAR NOMINEE REBUFFS CRITICISMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Congressional Bureau Chief October 11, 2001 (CNSNews.com) - The
president's nominee to be the director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) has clarified his positions on a number of
statements he previously made regarding the role of treatment and
education in the war on drugs. Opponents to his nomination seem
pleased but remain cautious. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Walters now says mandatory minimum sentences probably should be
reexamined. But he warns that changes must be carefully weighed. "I
would not want a change in the law to be one that either went as far
as to normalize the drug trade as an acceptable activity," he said,
"or to send a signal that there was a consensus that drug trafficking
in serious addictive substances is not a serious concern of national
legal and political authorities." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) THE HILL - PAT LEAHY RECALLS A STING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But Leahy, whose district included the state's largest city,
Burlington, began to hear disturbing talk about [narcotics officer]
Lawrence's methods. So he set up a sting. He brought in an undercover
cop from Brooklyn, who was dubbed the Rabbi, and made sure that the
Rabbi was described to Lawrence as a major drug dealer who was new in
Burlington. One day, Leahy and his colleagues watched from across the
street and listened in on a wire as the Rabbi sat down on a park
bench and began reading a newspaper. The observed Lawrence as he
walked past the Rabbi, without speaking to him. Soon afterward,
Lawrence returned to the state office building with a bag of heroin,
which he said he had bought from the Rabbi. He then went back a
second time and repeated the exercise, returning with more narcotics.
Lawrence said that he was ready to make an arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead, Leahy and his men arrested Lawrence, who was subsequently
convicted of perjury and jailed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) STOP BOMBS, NOT DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Spending billions going after the illegal drug trade is not only
ineffective, it wastes money that could be used more effectively in
the war on terror | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Actually, "going after the illegal drug trade" is what allows
terrorists to fund their operations with the artificial profits
created by prohibition. In that sense, the US$40-billion or so the
United States spends on drug law enforcement each year represents a
subsidy for murderers. | ||||||||||||||||
Banning a product that people want to buy creates an opportunity for criminals, who can earn big profits because they are willing to run the risk of producing, transporting and selling contraband. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) U.S. EXPECTED TO TARGET AFGHANISTAN'S OPIUM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Heroin Trade Feeds Talibans Coffers, Dimantling It Could Prove Critical | ||||||||||||||||
As American bombers continue to pound Taliban facilities in
Afghanistan, U.S. officials say the campaign against the
terrorist-friendly regime inevitably will target its biggest
moneymaker: a vibrant drug network that supplies more than 70% of the
world's opium. Authorities in the USA and Europe already have frozen
an estimated $24 million in assets linked to Osama bin Laden, his
al-Qa'eda terrorist network and the Taliban. But the American-led
effort is just beginning to put a dent in a drug trade that U.S.
officials believe nets the Taliban up to $30 million a year in taxes
and tolls that it collects from Afghan drug rings. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) A DRINK, A DRUG - AN EVERYDAY DISASTER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
David saw "a lot" of students ingest illicit drugs last year at Edmond North's campus. "I've seen kids selling it there. | ||||||||||||||||
I've seen kids pulling it out of their backpacks," said the 18-year-old, who asked that his real name not be used. "I've never really seen anything - I don't really want to say, 'bad,' because it's pretty much all bad - anything like cocaine actually on campus. | ||||||||||||||||
But I've seen like countless amounts of marijuana and stuff up there
all the time." The two times the North graduate smoked marijuana left
him feeling sick, so he never smoked again. "I actually got so sick I
threw up," he said. Nearly a quarter of high school students in
Oklahoma report being involved with the transfer of illegal drugs on
school property, according to a statewide survey conducted during the
1999-2000 school year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) DRUG SWEEP OF 5 MAURY SCHOOLS BRINGS CHARGES AGAINST 1 STUDENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
COLUMBIA -- A dozen drug-sniffing dogs descended on Maury County
schools yesterday, making a surprise sweep of students' lockers,
belongings and automobiles. | ||||||||||||||||
And when their keen noses had cleared the area, one Columbia Central
High School student was charged with having drug paraphernalia, and
evidence of marijuana had been found in a Spring Hill High School
student's car, according to Maury County Drug Task Force and K-9
Officer Stuart Chaffin. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) TOMAH COP POSING AS STUDENT MAKES BUSTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TOMAH, Wis. - The new kid at Tomah Senior High School this fall
wasn't a kid after all. He was a 30-year-old law enforcement officer,
whose three weeks of attending classes at the school resulted in two
teens being charged with several drug offenses. | ||||||||||||||||
The two face marijuana and cocaine charges for activities that took
place either in the school or just off school grounds, Tomah Police
Chief Chris Anderson said. Adam-Cade Gilson, 17, is charged with four
counts of felony delivery of crack/cocaine and one count of
possession of crack/cocaine with intent to deliver, plus a penalty
enhancer for delivery of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of
a school. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) PARENTS ALLOWED TO CALL IN DRUG DOGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Anxious parents who call in sniffer dogs to search for drugs in their
children's bedrooms in their absence should not fear legal problems
under the Privacy Act. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But New Zealand was a signatory to the United Nations Convention on
the Rights of the Child, which says children should not be subjected
to "arbitrary" infringements of their privacy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Asset forfeiture practices in North Carolina were scrutinized by
local media. Some people who have property seized in drug incidents
are encouraged by police to immediately waive their right to
challenge the seizures. Meanwhile, the Washington Post glossed over
the source of forfeited assets as it covered the distribution of
seized funds as just desserts for police. | ||||||||||||||||
Local Florida media had much to write about a scandal involving a
police chief who allegedly escorted his daughter home after she was
caught in a drug raid. And in Nevada, cannabis law reforms might
actually lead to more cannabis arrests. | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) DRUG UNIT'S SEIZURES FROM ARRESTEES STIR DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Those Arrested Are Asked To Sign Forfeiture Papers Before They Have
Lawyers | ||||||||||||||||
ROCK HILL -- Since police departments across York County joined
forces to fight drugs three years ago, officers have seized more than
$370,000 in cash and property from people suspected of selling and
buying drugs, records show. | ||||||||||||||||
Police and prosecutors say the money has allowed them to buy needed
equipment to further their operations, saving taxpayer dollars. But
some defense lawyers say the county's forfeiture process is unfair
because suspects are being asked to sign away their money immediately
after being arrested and before they've had a chance to consult a
lawyer. | ||||||||||||||||
According to York County Multijurisdictional Drug Enforcement Unit records, officers seized $373,953 in cash and property from October 1998 to the end of August 2001. Much of the money and property was taken from suspects during house raids and undercover drug buys. | ||||||||||||||||
Of the money that the drug enforcement unit has seized, about
$354,000 of it was forfeited to police, prosecutors and the state.
Most of the rest is still tied up in court, and only a tiny amount
went back to the people it was taken from. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) LAW ENFORCEMENT SHARES THE WEALTH IN WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DEA Distributes $2.2 Million From Traffickers' Assets for
Collaborative Efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
Washington area police and sheriffs departments received nearly $2.2
million last year from cars, houses, cash and other assets seized
from drug traffickers, according to the Drug Enforcement
Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The seized assets were sold, and 80 percent of the proceeds were
passed to the local police and sheriffs departments, said Supervisory
Special Agent Michael Turner. The DEA keeps the rest to cover costs
of administering the program. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Prince George's, which received $654,000 last year, recently used
some of its asset forfeiture funds to buy a Barringer ion scanner,
which can determine whether cash has been in the presence of cocaine
or other illegal drugs, Lindsay said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) FDLE EYES POLICE ACTIONS IN GIBBS CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Florida's top law enforcement agency has begun an investigation of
the Cape Coral Police Department's actions during an Aug. 18 drug
bust involving Chief Arnold Gibbs' daughter. | ||||||||||||||||
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Fort Myers office is investigating whether Gibbs and members of his department committed any misconduct during a drug bust at room 107 of the Del Prado Inn. | ||||||||||||||||
City officials asked for the investigation after The News-Press
revealed Tuesday that FDLE officials and state prosecutors denied
Gibbs' claims they had cleared him and his department of any
misconduct in the case. | ||||||||||||||||
At the center of the FDLE investigation is the department's decision to allow Gibbs' daughter, Monique Gibbs, 19, to leave a crime scene and go home with her parents. She was allowed to go home after she told police she flushed rock cocaine down a toilet as police were executing a warrant to seize the drugs and detain anyone in the room. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) MORE LENIENT POT LAW MAY ACTUALLY INCREASE ARRESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
While many local police disagree with the philosophy behind a state law reducing the penalty for possessing a small amount of marijuana, they said it may give them a stronger tool to fight drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||
Frustrated by the Washoe County district attorney's reluctance to
prosecute first-time pot offenders on felony drug possession, local
police said they often would not arrest a person who had a small
amount if they hadn't committed any other crime. Those crime reports
would be submitted to the district attorney, who would decide whether
to prosecute. | ||||||||||||||||
Since Oct. 1, officers have the option of issuing a misdemeanor
citation that carries a $600 fine for a first offense and requires a
substance abuse treatment evaluation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Even as Nevada forges ahead with its new medical marijuana
initiative, the American industrial hemp movement suffered its worst
blow in recent years. In 120 days the sale of edible hemp products
(such as oil, cheese, tortilla chips and pasta) will be illegal in
the US. The new DEA rules should please the highly lucrative
drug-testing industry, who have spent much time and money lobbying
for a ban on hemp products over the last few years. | ||||||||||||||||
In further U.S. news, a convicted axe murderer has won an appeal because his case was presided over by a judge who claims to have been addicted to marijuana. Meanwhile, in San Mateo, California, the sole participant in a government-sponsored smoked cannabis study is forced to drop out due to a throat inflammation he claims was caused by the poor quality of the NIDA/University of Mississippi cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
In Canada, Alliance party MP Dr. Keith Martin has put forward a
private member's bill decriminalizing cannabis use, essentially
making it a finable offence. He argued before the Senate
Sub-Committee on Illegal Drugs to have the bill voted on by the
Canadian House of Commons. | ||||||||||||||||
The lesson for the week: stock up on hemp treats, don't smoke the
government pot; and if you're going Canada, bring money for the
fines. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) NEVADA'S FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA SMOKERS CERTIFIED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
There are now six people in Nevada legally allowed to smoke marijuana
under state law. | ||||||||||||||||
Cecile Crofoot, who runs the program for the state Department of
Agriculture, said notices have been sent out to the first six
admitted to the program. Their names are confidential even to law
enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
That authorization exempts those individuals from prosecution for possession, use and cultivation of small amounts of marijuana. It doesn't protect them from potential federal prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) DEA RULES BAN EDIBLE HEMP PRODUCTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Supporters of industrial hemp say they will pursue a temporary restraining order and other legal action to halt implementation of federal rules issued yesterday that would ban edible hemp products. | ||||||||||||||||
The rules by the Drug Enforcement Administration, published in the Federal Register, give merchants 120 days to dispose of food products such as beer, pasta, tortilla chips, candy bars, salad dressing and cheese when the items contain tetrahydrocannabinols, known as THC. | ||||||||||||||||
Exemptions apply to products such as paper, animal feed, clothing and rope, and personal-care items such as shampoos, soaps and lotions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) LONE PATIENT QUITS CALIFORNIA SMOKED MARIJUANA STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
One evening last week, AIDS activist Phillip Alden unpacked some groceries in the kitchen of his stylishly appointed Redwood Shores condominium and prepared for his daily pre-dinner ritual. | ||||||||||||||||
Alden, a long-time AIDS survivor, pulled a tightly rolled joint of marijuana from a plastic medicine jar, noted it on an index card, and then settled back into his recliner and took a long drag. | ||||||||||||||||
Seeds in the cigarette sparked and popped. | ||||||||||||||||
"I know after I take a few hits that within 10 minutes I'm going to
be hungry and my nausea is going to go away," said Alden, who suffers
from chronic persistent wasting syndrome, a condition that inhibits
the body's ability to absorb nutrients. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Last Thursday, however, in a development that could be a serious setback to San Mateo County's groundbreaking study on the medicinal use of pot, Alden's participation came to an abrupt end. | ||||||||||||||||
A sudden throat inflammation, which he blamed on the poor quality of
the pot, left Alden unable to eat and gulping for air. Alden said the
marijuana was not as good as the pot he was used to getting from Bay
Area cannabis clubs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) CONVICTED KILLER WINS APPEAL OVER JUDGE'S DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A man who has spent nearly 20 years on death row in Arizona is
entitled to have his sentence reconsidered because the judge who
imposed it was addicted to marijuana at the time, a sharply divided
federal appeals court ruled Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
"The experts tell us that we can tolerate a certain number of insignificant parts of arsenic in our drinking water and a certain irreducible number of insect parts in our edible grain supplies," U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen S. Trott wrote in the 2-to-1 decision. "But we need not, and we should not, similarly tolerate a single drug-addicted jurist whose judgment is impaired, especially in a case involving life-and-death decisions. | ||||||||||||||||
"If it is against the law to drive a vehicle under the influence of marijuana, surely it must be at least equally offensive to allow a judge in a similar condition to preside over a capital trial," added Trott, a former prosecutor who was appointed by President Reagan. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) CANADIAN MP DR. KEITH MARTIN WANTS FINES FOR POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
If Keith Martin had his way, anyone caught by the police with a small amount of pot wouldn't have to worry about facing a criminal charge. | ||||||||||||||||
The Canadian Alliance MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca addressed a House
of Commons sub-committee on Oct. 3 and argued to have his Private
Members Bill, which pushes for decriminalization of marijuana, voted
on in the House of Commons. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
If the bill were to ever become legislation, a person caught with a small amount of marijuana wouldn't face criminal prosecution. Instead, says Martin, they would be fined in the same way you pay a fine for a traffic violation. Fines would be $200 for the first offence, $500 for the second offence and $1,000 for the third offence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (23-28) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Opium continues to pour out of Afghanistan, severely depressing
prices in neighboring countries. In Pakistan, heroin is sold for 30
cents a gram; a gram of raw opium fetches 15 cents. | ||||||||||||||||
In Colombia, right-wing paramilitary fighters killed 24 unarmed
people in one massacre. Hard-liners in Washington and Colombia have
redefined the leftist FARC as a "terrorist" group funded by selling
drugs. The Colombian Supreme Court approved the extradition of
another accused smuggler, after a "request" by the US. | ||||||||||||||||
New Zealanders are using more "ice," a smokable form of amphetamines
selling for "up to $1000 a gram," reports say. In New South Wales,
Australia, heroin use declined due to a local shortage, while use of
cocaine and amphetamines increased, claimed officials. | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) AFGHAN WAR MEANS CHEAP HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- These are easier times for Pakistan's estimated
300,000 heroin users, with prices tumbling from $1.20 a gram to 30
U.S. cents after the Taliban government in Afghanistan, the world's
largest grower of opium poppies, lifted all restrictions on the
industry in the face of U.S. attacks. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Three blocks from where Abdullah and Jamial snort, anyone who can get
past the police checkpoint and the sign that says "No Foreigners
Allowed Beyond This Point" can walk into a shop and buy a gram of
opium for 15 U.S. cents or an AK-47 assault rifle for as little as
$30. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) WAVE OF CIVIL-WAR VIOLENCE GROWING ACROSS COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Right-Wing Militia Accused Of Killing 24; Toll In Massacres Hits 49 | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Right-wing paramilitary fighters pulled unarmed
people off buses and out of their homes in a southern village,
killing at least 24 men after accusing them of aiding leftist rebels,
authorities said Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) COLOMBIA MAY TAKE HARD LINE WITH REBELS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Officials Urged To Rethink Peace Talks In Aftermath Of Terror Attacks
On U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA: Pressure is growing on Colombia to abandon peace
talks in favor of a military solution to its nearly four-decade war
against drug-funded Marxist guerrillas, as the Sept. 11 attacks on
the United States focus worldwide attention on international
terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia ( FARC ) is on the State
Department's global list of 29 terrorist groups, in part because of
attacks on U.S. oil interests in Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, Sept. 11 has helped hard-liners in Washington and Colombia to shift the focus on the FARC from an insurgent movement to a terrorist organization funded by illicit international drug sales. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) COLOMBIA COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia's Supreme Court on Friday approved a
U.S. request to extradite the suspected leader of a cocaine
smuggling group authorities say used to ship 30 tons of the drug to
the United States every month. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. prosecutors say alleged drug kingpin Alejandro Bernal was a
close associate of Fabio Ochoa, a former Medellin cocaine cartel
leader extradited last month to stand charges in Florida for his
suspected role in the same ring. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Bernal is believed to be a former lieutenant of Escobar, who was
killed by police in 1993. But he is considered an example of
Colombia's newer generation of traffickers -- lower-profile,
higher-tech, and less violent than their predecessors. | ||||||||||||||||
Traffickers typically receive much stiffer sentences in the United States than in Colombia, where corruption plagues the justice system. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(27) 'ICE' ADDICTS USE CRIME TO FEED $1000-A-DAY HABITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A new, powerful and expensive form of methamphetamine is creating a surge in burglaries by addicts desperate to feed $1000-a-day habits. | ||||||||||||||||
Crystal methamphetamine, known as "ice" because of its crystalline
appearance, is becoming more common among drug users, despite its
price tag of up to $1000 a gram here, say police. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug, also known as "burn" or "pure", has a purity level of more than 80 per cent, compared with common methamphetamine, or speed, which varies between 10 and 20 per cent and costs $100 a gram. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Users here are sold the drug in packets called "points", as in "point
one of a gram for $100". | ||||||||||||||||
Unlike common speed, which is inhaled, the crystals are smoked in
pipes, or burned, and the vapours inhaled, giving users an unusually
powerful dose. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(28) HEROIN USAGE DECLINING, COCAINE ON THE RISE: REPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The New South Wales Premier, Bob Carr, has warned that the increasing
level of cocaine addiction in the state is more dangerous than heroin
and may lead to more violent crime. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Carr yesterday revealed that a soon to be released study on the
effects of the "heroin drought" shows heroin use is declining and
cocaine use is on the rise, along with other psycho-stimulants, such as
amphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||
He says the effect of this trend could be even more costly to the
community than heroin. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
How You Can Help Stop John Walters | ||||||||||||||||
We need your help! Many members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are considering voting against John Walters as drug czar. If we can get ten Senators on the Committee to vote against him, we can prevent Walters from becoming our ntion's next drug czar. We have as little as two weeks to convince Judiciary Members to vote against Walters. | ||||||||||||||||
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New CSDP Ad Looks At Narcoterror | ||||||||||||||||
The advertisement will appear in The Weekly Standard, National
Review, New Republic, Reason, Progressive, and The Nation in coming
weeks. | ||||||||||||||||
In addition to the print ad, Common Sense for Drug Policy has launched a supporting web site at: http://www.narcoterror.org/ | ||||||||||||||||
The ad is at: http://www.csdp.org/ads/narcofund.htm | ||||||||||||||||
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The Hempcar Crew's Visit To The DrugSense Chat Room | ||||||||||||||||
A transcript from Oct. 7 | ||||||||||||||||
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Dr. Tom O'Connell's Visit to the NYT Drug Policy Forum | ||||||||||||||||
A transcript from Oct. 9 | ||||||||||||||||
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CIA Denies Documents on Southeast Asia Bioweapons Plan | ||||||||||||||||
The Sunshine Project ( http://www.sunshine-project.org ) | ||||||||||||||||
News Release: | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. NOT VERY POPULAR OVERSEAS | ||||||||||||||||
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Instead of promoting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for
all people, our leaders have waged war against civilians at home and
abroad. | ||||||||||||||||
In his Sept. 28 letter The unspeakable truth, Arnold Harris says that
the United States has been the cause of much misery and suffering in
the underdeveloped world. I lived 30 years outside of the United
States. Person to person, Americans are reasonably acceptable overseas,
but the U.S. government and its institutions are universally detested
and despised. Our allies wonder at our gullibility. | ||||||||||||||||
Foreign- and military-aid recipients marvel at the ease with which we
are conned out of money and materiel, much of which is diverted from
the intended goals. | ||||||||||||||||
We are reaping the wrongs of what we have sown. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead of promoting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all people, our leaders have waged war against civilians at home and abroad. Lawmakers continue to legislate morality, which they then must enforce with the barrel of a gun. The war on drugs has turned our protectors into enforcers with warrantless searches, confiscation, mandatory sentencing and dumping herbicides on crops and civilians. | ||||||||||||||||
In her Sept. 28 letter, Cut off this terrorist-money source, too, Ginger Warbis makes a most sensible case to legalize drugs, stop the inane war on drugs and deprive terrorists and organized crime of funds. Maybe this would curb some of the law-enforcement excesses. | ||||||||||||||||
Bobby R. Lang, | ||||||||||||||||
Col. U.S. Army (Ret.), | ||||||||||||||||
Miami | ||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letter of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WAR ON DRUGS AND WAR ON TERROR - PART 2 | ||||||||||||||||
By Tom O'Connell | ||||||||||||||||
Part 1 from last week is available at | ||||||||||||||||
All the nations from the Eastern Mediterranean to Pakistan have been drug producers at one time or another, but Afghanistan did not emerge as a major source of opium for world heroin markets until after 1979 when the Soviet Union attempted to establish a puppet government. | ||||||||||||||||
While it is claimed that the CIA had a lot to do with that development,
it's not our purpose to examine that claim; simply to note that by 1992,
when the Taliban first came to power, Afghanistan had become the world
leader in opium production and conversely, opium was their major source
of foreign exchange. Also, Pakistan, a traditional American ally
against the Soviet Union, had become increasingly sucked into the
global heroin market by virtue of several factors: a long common border
and religion with Afghanistan, their acceptance of a large number of
Afghan refugees, and the emergence of drug processing labs for the
conversion of opium to heroin. A political fact of life is that any
ruler in Pakistan (they've recently had a series of military coups)
must get along with the fundamentalists to survive. | ||||||||||||||||
Enter Osama Bin Laden; on the record, a brilliant and charismatic
leader; he was a rich Saudi activist originally attracted to the cause
of the Mujahadeen in the mid Eighties-- a time when they were
supported by the CIA. An effective fighter against the Soviets, he has
since become an implacable enemy of the U.S. and has demonstrated an
impressive ability to rally Arabs of various nationalities to his
cause. Whatever his original sources, some of his funding- and much of
the economy of both Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan- is dependent
on heroin. We are not privy to his hold on the governments of either
Afghanistan or Pakistan, but clearly, it's powerful. | ||||||||||||||||
A good analogy can be drawn between Bin Laden and Pablo Escobar, the
late architect of the Medellin cartel in Colombia during the late
Eighties. | ||||||||||||||||
While clearly not as political as Bin Laden, Escobar was, nevertheless, a ruthless organizational genius who created a multi-billion dollar criminal enterprise. He ruthlessly employed domestic terror to avoid extradition. As a result, he became a focal point of U.S. policy, which eventually succeeded in destroying his organization and killing him. | ||||||||||||||||
The net result- which should have been anticipated- was that the cocaine trade continued to thrive and was simply taken over by another cartel based in Cali. After we destroyed the Cali cartel, cocaine production became less centralized, but continues to thrive under the protection of the FARC guerrilla movement based in Southern Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
We are now engaged in defoliating the Amazon Basin and waging war against Colombian peasants as part of "Plan Colombia," a failing policy which is losing popularity around the world- and at home- even as its original funding has been increased by over one third. | ||||||||||||||||
In much the same way that we convinced ourselves that success against
drugs in Colombia would attend the destruction of the cocaine cartels,
we are now convincing ourselves that we can destroy terrorism by
waging "war" against specific people and organizations in Southwest
Asia and perhaps, the Middle East. Just as we failed to appreciate
that our enemy in Colombia was not "drugs,' but human nature itself,
we are also failing to understand that what impels Islamic terrorism
is not blind hatred of the US, but a long list of grievances, some of
which are actually justified. | ||||||||||||||||
Unless we come to grips with the conceptual defects in both our drug
and foreign policies, we risk completely alienating one billion
Muslims. The idea that we can eliminate terrorism by killing Bin
Laden and his followers is just as ridiculous and ill-conceived as
our campaign against the Colombian cartels-- and potentially far
more costly in terms blood, treasure, and our ephemeral status as
"leader of the free world." | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Among the calamities of war may be justly numbered the diminution of
the love of truth by falsehoods which interest dictates and credulity
encourages. A peace will equally leave the warrior and the relater of
wars destitute of employment; and I know not whether more is to be
dreaded from streets filled with soldiers accustomed to plunder, or
from garrets filled with scribblers accustomed to lie." | ||||||||||||||||
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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 () | ||||||||||||||||
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