| Nov. 2, 2001 #224 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) US MI: RAINBOW FARM FALLOUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Families Left To Deal With Legal Aftermath Of Deaths | ||||||||||||||||
CASSOPOLIS -- Grover "Tom" Crosslin was shot to death by FBI agents
Sept. 3. | ||||||||||||||||
His companion, Rolland Rohm, died a similar death Sept. 4. | ||||||||||||||||
But the questions surrounding the shootings, and the legal fallout
that accompanied them, have refused to die. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) PRACTICE OF SHOOTING DOWN DRUG PLANES IN PERU SEEMS SIDELINED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 -- The Bush administration should not resume its
policy of helping shoot down planes suspected of carrying drugs over
Peru until safety procedures are radically improved, the Senate
Intelligence Committee said today. The committee's conclusion has the
practical effect of indefinitely sidelining a seven-year-old program
run by the Peruvian Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency to
halt drug flights over Peru. The program was suspended in April
after a Peruvian jet fighter shot down an American missionary flight,
killing two. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) CN BC: SICK PEOPLE CAN BREATHE EASIER IN NEW POT VENUE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
First Marijuana Teahouse In Canada Allows Those With Exemptions To
Use Medicinal Dope | ||||||||||||||||
Yoram Adler wore a deep maroon-coloured sports jacket, a bold striped shirt, a flowery tie and taupe slacks with a sharp crease yesterday to the opening of the first public marijuana teahouse in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
His attire reflected the seriousness of the moment. After years of
playing cat-and-mouse games with authorities, marijuana activists are
making their strongest bid yet for legitimacy. | ||||||||||||||||
The HC Marijuana Users Teahouse of Canada, located in the weary
eastern edge of Vancouver's downtown, is the first in the country to
take advantage of regulations governing the use of marijuana for
medicinal purposes that took effect on Aug. 1. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US CA: COURT BACKS HELP, NOT JAIL FOR DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Mandate For Treatment Given Maximum Effect | ||||||||||||||||
The first appellate court to consider California's voter-approved
overhaul of drug sentencing ruled yesterday that people sentenced
after July 1 for possessing drugs are entitled to treatment instead
of jail. | ||||||||||||||||
In a decision that affects hundreds or even thousands of defendants statewide, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel in Los Angeles said Proposition 36 applied to everyone waiting to be sentenced when it took effect in July, no matter when they committed their crimes. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5 - 12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
While examining the U.S. press coverage of opium's role in
Afghanistan's economic life, media analyst Cynthia Cotts broke some
interesting news herself: U.S. forces may have already seized Afghan
opium. In a reminder that U.S. military allies aren't pristine when
it comes to drug dealing, a Kosovar rebel leader was implicated in a
large California Ecstasy ring. And, another excellent oped
explained why the war on drugs hinders the war on terror, this time
in a conservative Canadian newspaper. | ||||||||||||||||
But even as the drug war's futility is exposed further, the DEA attempts broaden its reach, announcing it's ready to crack down on the illicit OxyContin market. Another report shows how drug warriors are going after mild, but exotic drugs like khat. While khat hasn't been portrayed as a demon drug, Vicodin is getting more bad press all the time, including recent reports that abuse leads to deafness. | ||||||||||||||||
A survey on drug use showed that not all kids are equally
susceptible to drug use; those who are dissatisfied with their lives
are much more prone. But that won't stop Iowa schools from
attempting to create all-encompassing anti-drug programs in
classrooms. There's too much grant money at stake. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) TALES OF THE AFGHAN DRUG TRADE - OPIUM FOR THE MASSES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
During the last few weeks of anthrax hysteria, a dozen or so U.S.
reporters have pursued a more difficult, taboo story: opium's role as
the centerpiece of Afghanistan's economy. That cursed country was
already a place where children helped to harvest the gum from the
poppies, working people kept opium in their homes rather than money
in the bank, and the Taliban raked in up to $50 million a year in
drug taxes. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Some final facts to consider: The Taliban have at least 40 opium
warehouses in Afghanistan, as well as stockpiles in Iraq, Iran,
Pakistan, and elsewhere. U.S. sources have said they will try to find
the stockpiles using satellite imagery, and the Pentagon recently
moved to buy the rights to every photo it commissions from a
commercial satellite company effectively preventing the war photos
from ever becoming public. Does the U.S. have a secret plan to seize
raw opium as war booty? A DEA spokesperson told the Voice last week
that "a lot" of the Taliban stockpiles had already been "seized," a
report the Pentagon would not confirm or deny. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) ECSTASY RING LINKED TO MOB, KOSOVO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Possible ties to a New York organized
crime family and a rebel leader in Kosovo were unearthed during an
investigation into an alleged Ecstasy ring that was broken up this
month in California, it was reported Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Frank J. Cillufo, a terrorism analyst with the Center for Strategic
and International Studies in Washington, testified before a House
Judiciary subcommittee last December that the Kosovo Liberation Army
had its hands in the international drug trade before NATO troops
moved in and ousted the Yugoslav army. | ||||||||||||||||
"During the NATO campaign against the former Yugoslavia in the spring
of 1999, the allies looked to the KLA to assist in efforts to eject
the Serbian army from Kosovo," Cillufo said. "What was largely hidden
from public view was the fact that the KLA raise part of their funds
from the sale of narcotics..." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) TERROR OR DRUGS? WE CAN'T WAGE WAR ON BOTH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Buried in the back pages of Thursday's newspapers, behind tales of
anthrax in the United States and woe in Afghanistan, was news that
Britain may soon decriminalize marijuana. Under a proposal offered by
David Blunkett, the country's Home Secretary, the drug would remain a
controlled substance, but police would no longer arrest people who
smoke or possess it. It is only a matter of time before Canada
follows Mr. Blunkett's lead. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But the war on drugs is like a real war in at least one respect: It
attracts an army of eager profiteers. Many of them are the terrorists
and insurgents we are now watching on CNN. It is easy to whip
uneducated teenagers into a righteous frenzy with fiery Marxist or
Islamist rhetoric, but to keep them armed and fed you need cash.
Afghanistan and Colombia, the world's leading producers of,
respectively, heroin and cocaine, provide excellent examples. Both
the Taliban regime and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
would have been extinguished long ago if it were not for the revenues
they have raised by taxing local drug farmers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) DEA JOINS OXY COALITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The federal agency best known for slowing the flow of drugs has
signed on to a coalition to make sure a powerful painkiller gets only
into the right hands. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Tuesday announced it is
joining a coalition of 21 pain and health organizations calling for
more awareness and education about OxyContin, a legal pain medication
that, in the past year, has prompted arrests, illegal peddling and
deadly addictions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) FROM CIVIL WAR TO THE DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Immigrants Are Risking Prison For A Taste Of Home. | ||||||||||||||||
Mohamad Jama was crossing a street in downtown Minneapolis when a
police officer stopped him. It was rash hour and Jama was hurrying to
send money to his brother back in Somalia. | ||||||||||||||||
"It was my fault," says Jama. "I was jaywalking." But he was
surprised when the officer told him to freeze, turn him against a
wall, and started searching him - he says - without his consent. The
officer then reached into his belt and pulled out two small bundles
of khat leaves. Suddenly, Jama was under arrest for possessing what
to him were like tea leaves. But to the officer they were a Schedule
I narcotic, equivalent to heroin or LSD. And that, depending on state
laws, can mean prison, deportation, and serious problems for an
immigrant who suddenly finds himself a convicted felon. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) KILLING THE PAIN -- AND HEARING, TOO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Misuse Of Powerful, Widely Prescribed Vicodin Linked To Rapid Hearing
Loss, Even Deafness | ||||||||||||||||
LOS ANGELES: A powerful and potentially addictive painkiller used by
millions of Americans is causing rapid hearing loss, even deafness,
in some patients who are misusing the drug, according to hearing
researchers in Los Angeles and elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||
So far, at least 48 patients have been identified by doctors at the
House Ear Institute in Los Angeles and several other medical centers
who have treated patients with sudden hearing loss. The hearing
problems appear to be limited to people who abuse Vicodin and other
chemically comparable prescription drugs by taking exceptionally high
dosages for several months or more, doctors said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) STUDY: TEEN DRUG USE LINKED TO DISSATISFACTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
South Carolina high school students are far more likely to use drugs
and to start using them sooner if the teens are dissatisfied with
their lives, University of South Carolina researchers reported
Tuesday. Teens who are satisfied with their lives are less apt to try
or use drugs ranging from alcohol to marijuana, cocaine and heroin.
"The consistent association between kids who are not happy and kids
who use drugs is amazing," said Dr. Robert F. Valois, a USC public
health researcher who studies teen risk behavior. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) SCHOOLS WORK TO MAKE DRUG LESSONS PAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Iowa schools are changing their approach to drug-abuse prevention and
education. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead of periodic, stand-alone events such as Red Ribbon Week and
an alcohol-free prom, school districts now must teach students how to
avoid drugs as part of class activities - if they are to get grant
money. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Last school year, 369 of Iowa's 374 school districts were at work
revamping prevention programs, said Linda Miller with the Iowa
Department of Education. Miller helps distribute federal money the
state receives through the Safe and Drug-Free Schools program. Last
year $2.8 million in grants went to Iowa schools. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13 - 17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The war on terror is running up huge costs for local police
departments, forcing them away from more traditional work, like drug
enforcement. In Texas, however, one drug task force just keeps
getting more funding, even though it apparently does little and
takes credit for the work of other agencies. | ||||||||||||||||
In Tulia, Tx., one lawsuit filed after a now infamous series of drug
busts has been settled. But there was no justice in LA, where
officials have "exonerated" an officer who shot grandfather Mario
Paz in the back during a mistaken drug raid. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) FOCUS ON TERROR CREATES BURDEN FOR THE POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The recent terrorist attacks are placing an intense burden on police
departments around the country as officers juggle urgent new
demands: responding to hundreds of reports of spilled powder,
bolstering security in public places and even leaving their
departments to serve in the military reserves. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Boston estimates that it is spending $100,000 a week on police overtime alone. Baltimore has had unanticipated costs of $2.6 million since Sept. 11, much of it for police, and city officials expect to spend $9 million by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) THE NUMBERS GAME - AN INSIDE LOOK AT A TEXAS DRUG TASK FORCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Across the country, the task force model of drug enforcement has come
under increasing fire in recent years from judges, prosecutors, and
civil liberties advocates. | ||||||||||||||||
The amount of federal drug war money flowing to the states has not
slackened, however, even as the public's faith in the effort has
steadily dwindled. | ||||||||||||||||
Well into their second decade, federally funded drug task forces have
become a whole new tier of law enforcement, one with very little
accountability to any governing body. In Texas, there are currently
some four dozen task forces in operation, mostly in rural areas, each
one a little fiefdom with its own territorial and financial
prerogatives to defend. As the objective of victory grows more
remote, other, less ambitious objectives prevail. | ||||||||||||||||
For those who have become addicted to the annual grants, keeping the
program alive has become an end in itself. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) PADDING THE BOOKS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Observer has tabulated almost 200 suspect cases-cases the task
force claimed credit for but apparently had nothing to do with-found
in the CCNTF [Chambers County Narcotics Task Force] log books from
1996 to 1998. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The Observer picked one at random, a 177-pound possession of
marijuana case filed against Dwayne Lewis on August 25, 1996. The
Polk County Enterprise ran a brief story on the arrest, which
involved a 2 A.M. traffic stop on Interstate 59 near Corrigan. The
arresting officer, according to the Enterprise, was Polk County
Sheriff's deputy Jason Bridges, assisted at the scene by Bobby
Cheshire of the Corrigan Police Department. No mention was made of
the task force. | ||||||||||||||||
In a phone interview, Bobby Cheshire, who now works as a truck
driver, said he recalled the stop. Was the task force involved? "No,
no, no. That was all Jason," he said. "He observed the car, and he
stopped it. I don't recall what the traffic violation was," Cheshire
said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) SETTLEMENT RELEASED IN WAFER CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Terms of the settlement in a civil rights lawsuit filed by one of 46
people arrested in a controversial 1999 drug sting in Tulia were
released Thursday. Attorneys for plaintiff Billy Wafer and defendants
Tom Coleman, Swisher County Sheriff Larry Stewart and Swisher County
reached a settlement in Wafer's lawsuit and the case was dismissed
from U.S. District Court, according to court records. | ||||||||||||||||
Wafer will receive $5,000 cash in hand plus $25,000 for attorneys'
fees in the settlement, records show. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) EL MONTE OFFICER IS EXONERATED IN FATAL DRUG RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Federal and Los Angeles County officials have decided not to prosecute an El Monte police officer who fatally shot a 65-year-old man in the back during a 1999 narcotics raid in Compton. | ||||||||||||||||
Federal prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence that Sgt. George Hopkins violated Mario Paz's civil rights when he shot him as he was kneeling beside his bed, according to a U.S. Department of Justice letter released by El Monte officials this week. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18 - 22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
News of a move to decriminalize personal possession of cannabis in
the UK dominated the headlines this week. David Blunkett, Britain's
Home Secretary, announced that cannabis will be rescheduled to a
Class C drug, putting it in the same category as steroids and
anti-depressants. The Secretary also announced hopes to make medical
access to marijuana completely legal in the near future, prompting
shares of GW Pharmaceuticals, Europe's only private grower of
medicinal marijuana, to go up by 13%. | ||||||||||||||||
In the US, Staff and members of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource
Center protested the recent DEA raid of the 5 year old compassion
club, equating the bust to handing a "death-sentence" to the
hundreds of ill Californians who depend on the organization for a
safe supply of medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, in El Dorado County, CA. US magistrate Hollows rejected
claims of attorney-client privilege regarding the seizure of
medical/legal documents from the California Medical Research Center,
a medical marijuana advocacy group run by an attorney-physician
couple. | ||||||||||||||||
News in Canada was not much better. Dianne Bruce, a legal medical
marijuana user and grower from Cramahe, Ontario, was arrested by
members of a local OPP drug squad. They claimed that she was in
possession of more cannabis material and plants than her legal
exemption allowed. Bruce has stated that the cannabis in question
was being grown for other medical users in compliance with Health
Canada's new third party production regulations. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) UK CANNABIS SMOKERS WILL NOT BE ARRESTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS will be reclassified so that possession of the drug is no
longer an arrestable offence, David Blunkett announced yesterday, in
the first relaxation of British drug laws in 30 years. | ||||||||||||||||
In the surprise announcement the Home Secretary said that drug laws had to be credible, particularly to young people. He said that cannabis would be moved from a Class B drug to a Class C drug, putting it in the same category as anti-depressants and steroids. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Blunkett denied that the move, which in practice will mean that cannabis smokers are unlikely to be prosecuted if caught with small amounts of the drug, was decriminalisation by another name.The maximum sentence for possession will, however, be cut from five to two years and the term for dealing in cannabis from 14 to five. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) CANNABIS FREE-UP BOOSTS UK DRUG FIRM STOCK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The only UK firm licensed to produce remedies from cannabis has seen
its shares soar after the government announced plans to legalise the
drug for medical use. | ||||||||||||||||
GW Pharmaceuticals boss Dr Geoffrey Guy said he was "delighted" with an announcement by Home Secretary David Blunkett of proposals to allow the use of cannabis-based medicines on prescription. | ||||||||||||||||
The price of shares in GW Pharmaceuticals, which was floated in June,
surged almost 17% in early trade on Wednesday over hopes of the
firm's improved profitability. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) STAFF OF W. HOLLYWOOD MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLINIC PROTEST DEA RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Operators of a medical marijuana clinic raided by federal agents
blasted the action Friday as a "death sentence" for people who use
the facility. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center Thursday afternoon, seizing computers,
financial documents, 400 marijuana plants and medical records of some
3,000 current and former patients, said Scott Imler, resident of the
resource center. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The center, which has been open since 1996, provides marijuana to patients suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer and other serious illnesses, he said. To receive the marijuana, patients must be referred by their physicians and undergo a screening process. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) JUDGE RULES COUPLE'S FILES FROM RAID NOT PROTECTED BY PRIVILEGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thousands of files seized by federal drug agents from an
attorney-physician couple who advocate the medical use of marijuana
need not be returned, a judge ruled Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows rejected the attorney-client
privilege asserted by the operators of California Medical Research
Center in the El Dorado County town of Cool, but set up rigid rules
by which the still-sealed records may be reviewed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Their lawyer, J. David Nick of San Francisco, could not be reached
for comment, but after Monday's hearing in U.S. District Court in
Sacramento he characterized the government's campaign against the
pair as an "unsavory attempt" to instill fear in seriously ill
Californians. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) CRAMAHE ONTARIO FARM PROPERTY USED TO GROW MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A local woman featured in a recent story about medical marijuana use
sat in a Whitby jail last weekend after OPP drug squad officers
raided her Cramahe Township home October 19. | ||||||||||||||||
Late Friday afternoon officers from the Kawartha Combined Forces Drug
Unit, accompanied by members of Northumberland Detachment OPP,
arrested Dianne Bruce and her 18-year-old daughter Michelle after
executing a search warrant on her Dundonald-area property. Dianne
Bruce was remanded in custody pending her bail hearing in Cobourg on
Monday. Michelle was released on her own recognizance, and allowed to
return home. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The federal government passed amendments to Section 56 of those
regulations on July 31 this year, outlining the rules for growing and
possessing medical marijuana. Bruce's company, Lady Dyz Helping
Hands, was producing marijuana according to those rules, she said
during an earlier interview. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
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Coca production in Peru is increasing: falling coffee prices have
farmers there "looking to their only viable cash crop." The story is
the same in Colombia. "This isn't pressure from the guerrillas . . .
coca brings in 10 times the amount as coffee." | ||||||||||||||||
The New Haven Peace Commission warned US weapons are going to
Colombian paramilitary units who force farmers to grow coca.
Disregarding mission creep, US Officials last week announced that
more "counterterrorist aid as part of the new global war on
terrorism," was en route to Colombia. "Sept. 11 has enabled us,"
declared one official. | ||||||||||||||||
In Afghanistan, amid much talk US forces would boldly destroy opium
stockpiles, sources now admit the US does not know where such
"caches" might actually exist (though this is contradicted by some
other press reports mentioned in the policy section above). And last
week Jane's Defense Weekly disputed the notion "the Western market
will be flooded by cheap heroin," as drug trafficking routes outside
of Afghanistan are not controlled the Taliban. | ||||||||||||||||
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(23) COCA CULTIVATION IS GROWING IN PERU (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As Coffee Prices Keep Plunging, Many Farmers Are Looking To Their
Only Viable Cash Crop. | ||||||||||||||||
APURIMAC-ENE VALLEY, Peru - For 10 hours a day in a field in Peru's southern jungle, Lucia Huarca strips green coca leaves off bushes with calloused hands and collects her harvest in her wide blue skirt. | ||||||||||||||||
Her day's haul - typically 66 pounds, for which she is paid around $3
will probably end up in the hands of drug traffickers to be
transformed into cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite a decade-long, U.S.-backed crackdown to strangle the drug trade at its source in the world's No. 2 cocaine producing country, coca cultivation is thriving - even spreading - where Huarca works in the lush Apurimac-Ene valley, about 520 miles southeast of Lima. | ||||||||||||||||
"We live off coca because we're poor. Without it, our children can't
eat," said Huarca, 52, as she harvested a field in Pichari where
stray coffee plants nestling among the coca bushes bear witness to
the plot's now-abandoned crop. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(24) COCA INVADES COLOMBIA'S COFFEE FIELDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Falling Prices Push Farmers to Plant Illegal Crops, Threatening U.S.
Drug War. | ||||||||||||||||
Coffee shrubs the color of army fatigues cover the hills above this
village, which is set in a deep valley cut by the River Samana. But
near the peaks, the bright green stripes of another crop can be seen
between the coffee, spelling trouble for Colombia's most renowned
industry and the United States' drug war. | ||||||||||||||||
No one here will claim the brilliant fields of coca, the key ingredient in cocaine. But farmers acknowledge that some among them have yanked up coffee plants in the past year and replaced them with crops that have a more profitable and reliable, if illegal, market. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In the town of Pensilvania, in eastern Caldas, Mayor Jose Oscar
Gonzales said coffee has been uprooted in favor of coca in the nearby
towns of El Verdal, Playa Rica, Pueblo Nuevo and La Ceba. In all, he
said, about 440 acres of coca have replaced coffee. The plots are
tiny -1,000 to 2,000 plants each, enough to cover only a fraction of
an acre. | ||||||||||||||||
But Gonzales predicted that the 100 or so farmers who have made the
change to coca, which can be harvested three times a year to coffee's
one, are just the vanguard. "This isn't pressure from the
guerrillas," he said. "This is poverty. Look, coca brings in 10
times the amount as coffee right now. This is the heart of the
crisis." | ||||||||||||||||
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(25) PEACE COMMISSION EYES HOME EFFORT IN DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As most eyes around the world are fixed on the United States' war
against the Taliban in Afghanistan, John Jairo Lugo fears U.S.
military aid in the failed "war on drugs" in Colombia can only
escalate anti-American sentiments in his native land. | ||||||||||||||||
And he's not alone. Lugo has joined with Yale University Chaplain Frederick J. Streets and the New Haven Peace Commission, warning that U.S. military resources are falling into the hands of paramilitary units that either massacre farmers, seize their land or force peasants to grow the lucrative cocaine-yielding crop, coca. | ||||||||||||||||
"Over 2 million people are displaced. The war on drugs as it was
declared has been a failure," said Streets, who spent 12 days in
January 2000 at a northern Columbia refugee settlement called Camp
Nelson Mandela. | ||||||||||||||||
"The gun and the machete is what speaks in Colombia. Death speaks in
Colombia," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(26) U.S. TO ADD ANTI-TERROR AID TO ANTI-DRUG EFFORT IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Training and equipment for elite anti-kidnapping and bomb squads are
among plans, an official said. | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - The United States is planning to go beyond helping
Colombia battle drugs by providing counterterrorist aid as part of
the new global war on terrorism, Ambassador Anne Patterson said
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration plans to train and equip elite | ||||||||||||||||
"Certainly, Sept. 11 has enabled us to do more of these kinds of
things," she said of the broadened assistance. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(27) TALIBAN BAN ON GROWING OPIUM POPPIES FADES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A highly successful ban by the Taliban on the growing of opium
poppies in Afghanistan, which had been by far the biggest source of
opium in the world, has begun to unravel as the United States presses
its war there, U.S. and U.N. officials say. | ||||||||||||||||
Reports from Afghanistan received last week by the United Nations show that farmers are planting or preparing to plant opium poppies in at least two key growing areas of the country. Recent U.S. intelligence reports also suggest that the year-old ban may be eroding as the military assault continues, U.S. officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
"They may have told people they can plant, they may tell people
nothing and allow them to plant, or there may be enough chaos with
the war that it won't matter what the Taliban says," said the State
Department's senior official for international narcotics issues, R.
Rand Beers. "We had a situation that showed promise that is now headed
in absolutely the wrong direction." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(28) HEROIN ONSLAUGHT THEORY PREMATURE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Shortly following the events of 11 September, the media in the UK and US reported unconfirmed rumours that the Taliban had lifted their ban on opium poppy production as a show of support for Osama bin Laden. The conclusions drawn from this was that the West would soon be flooded with cheap Afghan heroin - including a new liquid heroin financed by Osama bin Laden, called the 'Tears of Allah'. | ||||||||||||||||
Increased seizure rates on the Afghan-Iranian and Afghan-Tajik borders
have been cited as evidence that large shipments of opium and heroin
were being moved out of Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||
This assessment, however, is premature and is somewhat flawed, since
it is important to note that neither the Taliban nor al-Qaeda control
the majority of drug trafficking routes outside of Afghanistan. The
Taliban's involvement in drugs has revolved around taxing the illicit
trade, while Al-Qaeda has access to a small number of routes as a
result of the organisation's contacts with the Islamic Movement of
Uzbekistan and with Chechen militants. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Sad State of Affairs | ||||||||||||||||
by Congressman Ron Paul, MD | ||||||||||||||||
At least one U.S. congressman understands the drug war well enough to
see most of his colleagues have learned no lessons. | ||||||||||||||||
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John Turmel's Visit To The DrugSense Chat Room | ||||||||||||||||
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"Hold" Put on Drug Czar Vote | ||||||||||||||||
A Member on the Senate Judiciary Committee has put a "hold" on the John
Walters vote, which was scheduled for Thursday, November 1 - postponing
the vote until at least November 8th. This is a very good sign that
Committee Members consider Mr. Walters, President Bush's proposed drug
czar, to be so controversial that they need more time to debate whether
or not he should be confirmed. | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/DailyNews/11_01_01WaltersHold.html | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PUT DRUG LEGALIZATION TO A TEST | ||||||||||||||||
By Jerry Epstein | ||||||||||||||||
Doug Clark asks how drugs would be "legalized" (Oct. 23). The thoughtful responses of many (Oct. 25) are doubtless correct in their general point that prohibition causes a great deal of harm and offers nothing positive in return, but to be pragmatic, a specific test is required. | ||||||||||||||||
We need only to test two of the thousands of illegal drugs to see which
side is right. The first is marijuana because it is clearly less
dangerous than alcohol, and we know that its "legalization" by the
Dutch for more than 25 years has had no more impact than the
introduction of a new brand of beer. We simply could ban off-premise
advertising and public use and weigh the results of sale to adults by
present liquor stores. | ||||||||||||||||
Second, we could adopt the halfway measure begun by the Swiss seven
years ago and sell heroin to registered addicts. If nothing else, this
would deny terrorists and other criminals billions of dollars. In fact,
the Swiss have found sharp reductions in crime, large financial savings
and no overdose deaths. | ||||||||||||||||
The program easily could be reversed if we failed to get similar
results. Or, if it worked, expanded to include prescription sale to
licensed adults, a move that would dry up the easy access to heroin
that the young now have. | ||||||||||||||||
A similar system was used in Shreveport from 1919 to 1923 and worked great until the federal government shut it down over the strong protests of local citizens, including law-enforcement officials. | ||||||||||||||||
Clark is like a car owner boasting that his car is faster than his
neighbor's but refusing to actually have a race to find out. It's
time for a trial. | ||||||||||||||||
Jerry Epstein, | ||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letter of the Week | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LIFE BEYOND THE DRUG WAR | ||||||||||||||||
Sitting out the Drug War in a Safe Haven | ||||||||||||||||
by Steve Kubby | ||||||||||||||||
The Federal crackdown on medical marijuana has begun. Several major
clubs and physicians have been raided and confidential medical records
seized. No charges have been filed yet, but the government is clearly
aiming at closing down distribution points and obtaining the names of
"known drug users." | ||||||||||||||||
For several weeks now, I have been issuing warnings about the Bush
Administration's grab for power, the new "Medical Marijuana Federal
Task Force," and how the "War on Terrorism" will be used to escalate
the drug war. Furthermore, I wrote several OPED pieces on this topic
that were distributed by a variety of news outlets including:
WorldNetDaily, Antiwar.com, Yahoo, Pravda, and various newspapers
including the L.A. Daily News. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, as a result of 9/11, we find ourselves in a grave new world,
surrounded by hostile government forces empowered with unprecedented
powers. Medical marijuana patients are the logical scapegoats and
targets of a government that finds itself threatened and powerless to
fight back. The U.S. may not be able to protect anyone against
anthrax, but they can damn well protect us against medical
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
As you know, we fought Placer County and won. But the Federal government is very different, it is more like the Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park, devouring everything and everyone in its path. Once you show up on a federal radar scope, your days are numbered. | ||||||||||||||||
It is important to understand that the greatest atrocities occur at
the end of each war. Medical marijuana patients are in grave danger
right now and are well advised to leave the United States and sit
out the remainder of this war in the relative safety of countries
like British Columbia, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Jamaica,
Belize, or Belgium. | ||||||||||||||||
Our own experience here in British Columbia has been totally positive. There is a rapidly growing group of American medical patients and the Canadians have been extraordinarily helpful and understanding. Furthermore, most Canadian Compassion Clubs honor American issued patient cards or physician recommendations. Cannabis is plentiful here and sells for about U.S. $2,000 a pound. Best of all, we are able to live a happy and healthy lifestyle, in a beautiful house and neighborhood, for about half of what we were spending in the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
One warning however, don't come here with the intention of working or
making money off Canadians, because the government probably won't let
you in, except perhaps as an immigrant. However, under NAFTA, if you
come here and can show that you have income from outside of Canada,
such as with an Internet business, the Canadians are bound by the
treaty to let you in. In our case, we started a video production
company and, thanks to the favorable exchange rate, we're already
breaking even and making Canadian officials happy by bringing money
into the local B.C. economy. | ||||||||||||||||
If you are currently living on Social Security, your money will go
twice as far up here. Energy in particular is much less expensive
here in B.C. where they have a surplus of hydro power. Most of all,
you will find the people of British Columbia to be far happier and
delightful than just about anywhere else around. | ||||||||||||||||
You don't have to live in fear of your own government. There really
are safe havens and life beyond this immoral and unconstitutional
war. Most Americans come from families who have left their home
countries and moved on to find freedom. Sadly, the time has now come
to move away from America, at least temporarily, until the
Constitution and Bill of Rights have been restored and people can
again feel safe and secure in their own homes. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Steve Kubby currently serves as a commentator for the Pot TV News. His video news analysis is updated three days a week at: | ||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"As one character says, there is freedom to and freedom from. But how much of the first should you have to give up in order to assure the second? All cultures have had to grapple with that, and our own -- as we are now seeing -- is no exception." -- Margaret Atwood | ||||||||||||||||
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