| November 23, 2001 #227 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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) PSYCHEDELIC FLASHBACK: NEW GURUS TOUT DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
'60s Counterculture Gives Way To Researchers Who Eye Notorious Drugs
As Way To Tune In, Not Out. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ken Kesey, the 1960s drug culture figure who died Nov. 10, might have
been amused by the latest twists in the long, strange legacy of the
psychedelic era. | ||||||||||||||||||
Talk about karma: Eight days before his death, the Food and Drug
Administration approved a pilot study of the club drug Ecstasy for
patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. And FDA-approved trials
of another psychedelic drug, psilocybin, as a treatment for obsessive-
compulsive disorder, are scheduled to begin at the University of
Arizona in January. The studies mark the first therapeutic trials of
psychedelic drugs in the United States since the 1970s. | ||||||||||||||||||
They also mark the passing of the torch from countercultural
renegades like Kesey and Timothy Leary to dutiful surfers of the
bureaucracy like Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit organization that
conceived the two new studies. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) BUSTED TOURIST VOWS TO FIGHT DRUG CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Californian Dennis Peron packed the necessities for his vacation to southern Utah: a sleeping bag for campouts, his dog for company -- and a stash of marijuana he says he uses to treat his alcoholism. | ||||||||||||||||||
Peron, founder of San Francisco's Cannabis Cultivation Club, was
stunned when Cedar City police objected to the marijuana last week
and seized it, and arrested him and his friends and booked them into
jail. "They overreacted. They should have given me a ticket," insists
Peron, 55. "They should have let it go." | ||||||||||||||||||
Now Peron promises to bring his campaign to legalize marijuana for
medicinal use to Utah as he fights charges of possession of marijuana
with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia. It is
a natural step -- Peron drafted the 1996 California proposition that
legalized marijuana for medical use, and his club was created to grow
it for that purpose. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'm going to make some noise," Peron said this week in a telephone
interview from San Francisco. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) ENGLISH POT SMOKERS' PUB MAY PROVE A MODEL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
STOCKPORT, England, -- Until the Dutch Experience cafe opened here
earlier this fall, providing marijuana by the bag instead of beer by
the pint, Stockport never loomed particularly large in the greater
British imagination. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I read in the newspaper that the only thing Stockport is famous for
is the hat museum," said Darren Ince, 32, a retail manager, on his
way to secure a joint or two at the cafe recently. "I didn't know we
were even famous for that." | ||||||||||||||||||
All that changed this fall, when the cafe opened its doors, let the
distinctive smoke waft out and instantly turned this unremarkable
suburb of Manchester into a battleground for Britain's growing pot
smokers' rights movement. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Dutch Experience, modeled on the pot-purveying coffee shops of
marijuana-friendly Amsterdam, may well prove to be the thin end of
the wedge in Britain, where the government is signaling that it might
relax laws on the use of soft drugs in the name of creating a
workable drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) MEXICO'S DRUG TRAFFICKERS TAKE AIM AT FEDERAL JUDGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Once-Cozy Relationship With Criminals Ends | ||||||||||||||||||
MAZATLAN, Mexico - The three couples were on their way to a baseball
game on a Sunday afternoon earlier this month. Jose Manuel de Alba
and two other federal judges were looking forward to a break from
their heavy workload. They stood chatting in front of de Alba's
bungalow, waiting for his wife, when a red Chevrolet pulled up. Out
stepped a man who leveled an AK47 assault rifle and sprayed them with
at least 40 bullets. | ||||||||||||||||||
In seconds, two judges and the wife of one lay dead. | ||||||||||||||||||
De Alba escaped by running into his garden. A few days later, at his
desk in a federal office building, armed bodyguards stood outside his
door and he pondered how violent drug traffickers who have bloodied
so much of Mexico have changed him forever. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The killing of two federal judges is a dramatic escalation in
Mexico's war with organized crime, which had left the judicial branch
largely untouched while claiming police officers, informants and some
prominent political figures. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Some believe that the drug-related violence seen now is a response to
a government crackdown. They say one reason judges had not been
targeted by drug traffickers very often in the past is that they
frequently were bought off. In a state where drug lords coldly offer
public officials "silver or lead" - take a bribe or take a bullet -
judges have tended to take the money. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
State and local institutions have much to be thankful for at this time of year, though they will be dining on federal pork, not turkey. Millions in federal anti-drug grants are going to the usual suspects. And, speaking of cashing in, a $5.2 billion lawsuit against the makers of OxyContin is moving ahead in federal court. | ||||||||||||||||||
An article from the UK examined a research project funded by the US government that pays addicts and others to ingest radioactive cocaine. The completion of seemingly more beneficial research projects were announced in Europe, and those are discussed in the Cannabis and International sections of DrugSense Weekly. | ||||||||||||||||||
Back in the U.S., local officials in Washington, D.C. are
considering taking newborns from mothers who test positive for drugs
and alcohol. In the future, those kids might also have to be
separated from their school districts, where legal used stimulants
to treat behavioral problems appear to be hot black market
commodities. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) HOUSE OKS $1.4 MILLION TO FIGHT METH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. House of Representatives approved another $1.4 million
Wednesday for anti-methamphetamine programs in Oklahoma. Under the
House bill, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
Control will receive $1 million to purchase and equip a mobile field
command post to assist in meth cleanup operations. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Oklahoma City Police Department also is scheduled to receive
$461,000 through the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services)
Methamphetamine Hot Spots Program. The program assists local and
state law enforcement with the seizure and destruction of
methamphetamine labs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) IPS, PERRY TOWNSHIP SHARE $1.2 MILLION GRANT TO CURB DRUGS, VIOLENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Two Marion County public school districts will share $1.2 million in
federal grant money to focus on lessening violence and substance
abuse in middle schools. | ||||||||||||||||||
Indianapolis Public Schools will receive $664,772 over the next three
years, and Perry Township Schools will get $547,166. Each district
will use the money to hire coordinators to develop a middle school
anti-drug and anti-violence initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) METHAMPHETAMINES, OXYCONTIN TARGETED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - A spending bill approved by Congress this week takes aim
at fighting methamphetamines in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley and
prescribes steps to combat illegal use of OxyContin, a highly
addictive painkiller. | ||||||||||||||||||
The $39.3 billion spending bill for the departments of Commerce,
Justice and State includes a half-million dollars for the state
police to continue efforts to battle production and distribution of
methamphetamines in the valley. It directs the Drug Enforcement
Administration to develop a coordinated strategy to tackle illegal
use of OxyContin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) OXYCONTIN SUIT WILL BE HEARD IN FEDERAL COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Purdue Pharma's Lawyers Said The Attempted Addition Was A Sham
Designed To Get The Case Back To State Court. | ||||||||||||||||||
A $5.2 billion lawsuit claiming that a pharmaceutical company caused rampant crime and addiction in far Southwest Virginia with its potent painkiller will remain in federal court, a judge ruled Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Four people claim in the lawsuit that OxyContin manufacturer Purdue
Pharma heavily promoted the drug as a miracle painkiller while
failing to warn of its highly addictive side, causing them to get
hooked on the pills. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) INCURABLY ADDICTED TO RESEARCH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Eduardo Goncalves Reveals The Horrors Of The Worryingly Recent Past | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
This month, we travel to a former army camp in New York State.
Situated in 5,300 acres of New England, the site is home to a huge
laboratory that quietly conducts nuclear research for the government.
The Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) continues to experiment on
human guinea pigs, and one of its current programmes surely goes
beyond the definition of 'bizarre'. | ||||||||||||||||||
As part of a multi-million dollar 'research trial', scientists here
have been injecting people with radioactive cocaine - and then doing
tests on their brains. The subjects are recruited through classified
advertisements in the Village Voice newspaper, and include drug
addicts, alcoholics, and people with a range of mental illnesses,
including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The scientist in charge told me she did not think the experiments
were 'particularly' dangerous - although the official approval
documents note that a 'potential side effect' of the trial is 'the
induction of cancer'. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) D.C. STUDIES TAKING AWAY DRUG BABIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Measure Could Delay Treatment, Some Say | ||||||||||||||||||
Babies born with drugs or alcohol in their blood would automatically
be taken from their mothers' custody under legislation before the
D.C. Council, part of wide-ranging revisions proposed for the city's
child protection system. | ||||||||||||||||||
Unveiled yesterday, the proposal is dividing the child protection
community between those who believe babies should be safeguarded at
all costs and those who call the measure Draconian and say it would
result in more infants being exposed to drugs and alcohol. They argue
that mothers may avoid prenatal care out of fear they would lose
their children. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) ADD STIMULANTS BIG ON BLACK MARKET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Whatever the type, authorities are concerned about ADD drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Surveys of young people - from Massachusetts to the Midwest - also
have documented the trend. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of them, published in this month's Psychology in the Schools
journal, focussed on 651 students, ages 11 to 18, from Wisconsin and
Minnesota. | ||||||||||||||||||
Researchers found that more than a third of students who took
attention-deficit medication said they'd been asked to sell or trade
their drugs. And more than half of students who weren't prescribed
the medication said they knew students who gave away or sold their
medication. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The economic benefits of waging the drug war were highlighted again
this week as a new federal prison opened its doors in Tennessee.
Proponents said the prison, which will be used primarily to house
drug convicts, will boost the local economy. Elsewhere, police have
seen the drug war as a way to confiscate large bundles of cash
without investigation or trial. Resistance by those holding the
money, though, can lead to prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||
And defense lawyers in an upcoming Texas drug trial questioned the
reliability of a drug task force that included several members who
had been investigated for crimes themselves. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) NEW FEDERAL PRISON EXPECTED TO INJECT MORE THAN $25 MILLION (Top)ANNUALLY INTO LOCAL ECONOMY | ||||||||||||||||||
HICKORY FLATS - Approximately 300 people turned out Monday for the grand opening of the new federal prison at Hickory Flats. | ||||||||||||||||||
The opening ceremonies were hosted by U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher, D-9th
District, who said he sought to locate the prison in Lee County as a
way to create jobs and stimulate economic development to provide a
better future for area citizens. | ||||||||||||||||||
Boucher said he has been working since the early 1990s to bring the
prison to Lee County after he introduced Bureau of Prison officials
to the area. "To date, the prison represents the largest investment
in the history of Lee County," Boucher said of the $100 million
facility. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Most inmates will have been convicted of drug offenses, but the
prison will also house those convicted of robbery; arms, explosives
and arson crimes; immigration offenses; and other violent offenses.
It will also be home to sex offenders, those who are a threat to
government officials, and inmates who have a history of prison
disturbances. | ||||||||||||||||||
The prison will also be offering tours Tuesday from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. and will be giving tours to school children on Nov. 29. School districts interested in arranging tours should contact.... | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) PALM BEACH DEPUTIES, FORMER DOMINICAN OFFICIAL IN TUG-OF-WAR OVER (Top) $633,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Traveling on a La Cubana bus from New York to Miami, Orlando Rosado
had something in two canvas bags the Palm Beach County Sheriff's
Office wanted -- $633,995. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a routine search, narcotics agents ran a drug-sniffing dog past passengers' luggage at a West Palm Beach bus stop in January. The dog reacted to Rosado's bags, and he gave them permission to open them up. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Suspecting it was drug money, they took it and let Rosado go without
any criminal charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
That started a legal odyssey for Rosado that continues today. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although he won a fight for the money in civil court, Rosado was charged with a felony six months after the money was seized. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) SHERIFF'S OFFICE WILL FILE LAWSUIT TO KEEP $17,000 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Midland County Sheriff's Office will attempt to keep the $17,000
seized early Saturday morning from a bus passenger traveling through
Midland. | ||||||||||||||||||
Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said his office would attempt to
retain control of the money through the courts. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We have to file a lawsuit," Painter said. "It will be filed in
federal court. Other people can lay claim to it." | ||||||||||||||||||
Deputies from the Midland County Sheriff's Office seized the $17,000
at about 3:45 a.m. in the 2500 block of Rankin Highway. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although the individual was not arrested, deputies did take the money, putting the individual back on the bus en route for El Paso. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) UNIT'S PROBLEMS MAY CHALLENGE DRUG CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
6 Task Force Members Have Faced Own Investigations | ||||||||||||||||||
At least six law enforcement personnel who worked with the FBI's
Denton/Collin County Drug Task Force have faced criminal or internal
police investigations that could affect a major drug case that goes
to trial next month, records show. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's crazy," said Denton lawyer Chris Blanton, who is representing
several defendants in a task force case against an alleged crack
cocaine ring known as the Catlin organization. "You get this task
force in there, and the only distinction you can find between members
of the task force and members of the conspiracy is who is wearing a
badge." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16 - 20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It was a sad week in California. On the 5th anniversary of the
passing of California's Prop 215, the groundbreaking medical
marijuana access law that led the drive to legitimize pot as a
medicine, one of California's oldest clinics, the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center held a vigil for its own operations. The
club was raided by the DEA on October 25th of this year and has been
closed ever since. To further dampen the mood, a federal district
judge in Sacramento has agreed to allow prosecutors to scour through
6000 confidential client/patient files seized from the California
Medical Research Center. An earlier ruling by another judge had
limited the scope of government access to the files. | ||||||||||||||||||
The news was not much better in Canada. The Canadian Medical
Protective Association, which represents about 60 000 physicians
throughout the country, has just sent out an advisory warning
doctors against recommending medical cannabis, stating that not
enough research has been done to allow doctors to safely prescribe
its use. This follows similar concerns expressed by the Canadian
Medical Association. Meanwhile Alliance MP Dr. Keith Martin
continues to push his private members bill recommending that the
penalties for the personal use of cannabis be reduced to a finable
offence. Activists fear that this streamlining would only lead to
more arrests for marijuana use. The bill will be further debated
over the coming month. | ||||||||||||||||||
The UK continues to break down legal/social barriers to cannabis use
at break-neck speeds. This week a federal advisory group called
Drugscope recommended to Ministers that marijuana be sold at legal
cannabis cafes. The recommendations suggest that this would reduce
many of the supposed harms associated with its use. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) RULING OVERTURNED FOR CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO -- A federal district judge in Sacramento has overruled a
magistrate judge's order on how prosecutors must handle at least
6,000 client and patient files seized from an attorney-physician
couple who advocate the medical use of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows last month ordered
prosecutors to use an independent, court-appointed special master to
review the files and determine which of them the government could
legally access. He also ordered that the special master segregate
initial-visit questionnaires and medical records of the clients and
patients and return those documents to the couple. | ||||||||||||||||||
But U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. overturned both
orders, ruling that the evidence supports the prosecutors' contention
that they are entitled to review all the documents, including
computer-generated files. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) VIGIL HELD FOR CALIFORNIA CANNABIS CLUB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
With waves of tears washing his face, Kirk Wilson described how he hadn't been able to eat in three days and needed medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"It is closed, I don't eat, I don't know where to go," Wilson said.
"It is lost. We can gather, we can cry, but it's the whole Supreme
Court." | ||||||||||||||||||
Wilson stood near last Tuesday's candlelight vigil for the Los
Angeles Cannabis Resource Center that was raided by the Drug
Enforcement Agency on Oct. 25. The raid followed a May decision by
the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled marijuana does not have medical
value and that it is against federal law. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) CANADIAN DOCS LEERY OF PRESCRIBING POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Canadian Medical Protective Association has written to Allan Rock
telling him the Marijuana Medicinal Access Regulations, introduced in
July, place an unfair responsibility on physicians. | ||||||||||||||||||
Patients who want marijuana have to get a doctor to sign a declaration
approving the use of the drug and setting a dosage. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The CMPA believes the medical declarations required under the regulations place an unacceptable burden on member physicians to inform themselves as to the effectiveness of medicinal marijuana in each patient's case, as well as the relative risks and benefits of the drug and what dosage would be appropriate," said Dr. John Gray, the association's secretary treasurer in his letter to Rock. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) CANADIAN BILL PUSHES DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Keith Martin has his fingers crossed the federal government will eventually throw out the current laws governing marijuana possession. | ||||||||||||||||||
So far, the Canadian Alliance MP for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca has
managed to get his private member's bill - Bill C-344 - accepted for
debate in the House of Commons. The Bill pushes for the | ||||||||||||||||||
The debate began last Wednesday and three more sessions will be held
in the near future. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) UK MINISTERS ADVISED TO LEGALISE CANNABIS CAFES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE Government's senior advisers on drugs will recommend this week
that legalising cannabis and selling it through a network of licensed
cafes would end many problems associated with its use. | ||||||||||||||||||
A report is to be released on Tuesday by Drugscope, which is part of
the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - the body
which advises ministers on drugs policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
It will say that Amsterdam-style drugs cafes would cut deaths and
reduce the health problems associated with all drug use. The cafes
would also, the report states, destroy the link between cannabis and
hard drugs such as cocaine and heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
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The US and UK are considering buying up an entire year's opium harvest in a bid to halt the Afghan heroin trade, according to reports. UN officials fear that Afghan farmers, "now free of Taliban control," are replanting poppies. The UN-financed International Narcotics Control Board also called for the prohibition of opium production in areas controlled by the Afghan Northern Alliance. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis cannot be allowed for religious use, an appeal in a UK
court upheld. This was because "an unqualified ban on possession of
cannabis with intent to supply" was needed to fight drugs, said the
ruling. | ||||||||||||||||||
A study from Papua New Guinea showed that over 35 million dollars worth of cannabis is grown there yearly. Estimates put the number of citizens growing marijuana there at between 50,000 and 120,000. | ||||||||||||||||||
Opium poppy eradication efforts in Colombia are failing. US
Government reports reveal "75 percent less opium" was destroyed this
year than last. Congressional Republicans, alarmed at the failure,
blamed the State Department. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Finnish independent quality control group for clinical
laboratories last week cast doubt on the reliability workplace drug
tests. The group also concluded that no evidence exists that "drug
testing offers any real benefits." | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) BRITAIN AND US PLAN TO STOP HEROIN TRADE BY BUYING AFGHAN OPIUM CROP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BRITAIN and America are to devote tens of millions of pounds to an
attempt to end Afghanistan's notorious heroin trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
One option being considered is to buy this year's entire opium harvest
at black market prices - on the condition that farmers then plough up
their poppy fields and sow a different crop. | ||||||||||||||||||
The move to tackle the menace of heroin came as disturbing new evidence emerged that warlords of the Northern Alliance are conniving in the renewed planting of poppy fields under the cover of war. | ||||||||||||||||||
United Nations drug monitors say the weakening Taliban grip over
drug-producing areas of Afghanistan has allowed farmers to exploit the
last weeks of the sowing season. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) DRUGS BAN DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH RELIGIOUS RIGHTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The prohibition in the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in relation to the supply of cannabis did not amount to an interference with a defendant's rights under article 9.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights to manifest his religion in worship, teaching, practice and observance, in view of the provisions of article 9.2. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
LORD JUSTICE ROSE said that the judge was properly entitled to rely
upon the inferences to be drawn from the United Kingdom's
subscription to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 and the
United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances 1988, that an unqualified ban on
possession of cannabis with intent to supply was necessary to combat
the public health and safety dangers of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
He was also, in the exercise of his discretion, fully entitled to
reach the conclusion, which he did, that no stay was appropriate in
relation to the prosecution of the defendant and that questions of
proportionality and necessity were not proper questions for
consideration by a jury. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) PROVINCES' GREEN THUMBS STROKE A POT OF GOLD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A study has revealed that four Papua New Guinean provinces are making
64.5million kina ( $35.6million ) a year from marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
According to the study, Chimbu topped the list of marijuana earnings,
making 23.5million kina a year. It reported that of the 35,516 people
who grew coffee, most also cultivated marijuana as an alternative
cash crop. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Eastern Highlands between 30,000 and 50,000 people are estimated
to be growing marijuana, which makes about 20million kina for the
province every year. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Western Highlands between 15,000 and 44,000 people grow marijuana either in their food gardens or in their coffee or spice farms. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(24) OPIUM ERADICATION SLOWS IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Pilots who spray herbicide over drug fields in Colombia
have destroyed 75 percent less opium so far this year than they did
in 2000, despite the start of a $1.3 billion U.S. anti-drug program,
according to U.S. government figures. Coca eradication, however, has
increased. | ||||||||||||||||||
A senior Republican congressman called the decline in opium destruction alarming and said the State Department, which oversees the program with Colombian police, should be held accountable. | ||||||||||||||||||
"There is no reason that we could not have eradicated this scourge of
opium this year," said Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-N.Y., former chairman
of the House International Relations Committee. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(25) WORKING GROUP FINDS DRUG TESTS UNRELIABLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
No Evidence To Support Benefits Of Drug Testing | ||||||||||||||||||
A working group set up by @Labquality, an independent quality control
organisation for clinical laboratories, has found that work place
drug tests are very unreliable, yielding many false positive
results. According to the working group, the results of tests need
to be verified, lest a person getting a positive result be falsely
labelled a drug abuser. | ||||||||||||||||||
The working group presented a set of recommendations for how drug
tests should be conducted, pointing out that if they are not done
right, the tests are useless. According to the chairman of the
working group, Dr. Timo Seppala, consideration should be given to
the initiation of drug tests, because there is no scientific evidence
that drug testing offers any real benefits. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
South Texas Trafficking - Anatomy Of A Pipeline | ||||||||||||||||||
Index of multi-part series. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Say No to DEA Attempts to Ban Hemp Products | ||||||||||||||||||
Nationwide Day Of Action -- Tuesday, December 4, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||
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The European Monitoring Center on Drugs and Drug Addiction has released its new 2001 Annual Report on European Drug Use. It is available online
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Submitted by Doug McVay | ||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana In El Dorado | ||||||||||||||||||
By Ray Carlson | ||||||||||||||||||
The confiscation of Patrick McMahon's plants and personal medicine in El Dorado County, in spite of his presentation of his cannabis card to the police shows a continuing pattern of harassment on the part of certain law enforcement officials toward medical marijuana patients five years after Proposition 215 was passed in California. What a coincidence that El Dorado County is where the current district attorney turned loose the DEA against his opponent Dale Schafer, who just happens to be opposing the incumbent. What is even more telling is that no arrests or charges have been filed in either case! | ||||||||||||||||||
I would suggest to El Dorado County voters that they make a prudent
choice next March between an incumbent District Attorney who openly
shows contempt for the voters of California by citing "Federal Law"
when his only rightful jurisdiction is California State law, and one
who supports the compassionate use of medical marijuana as mandated
by the voters. | ||||||||||||||||||
To me, the choice couldn't be clearer. | ||||||||||||||||||
Since medical marijuana patients aren't going to get a decent jury trial any time soon because raids are not followed by due process, I would hope that El Dorado County voters unseat the incumbent and send a message to other rogue District Attorneys in California. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ray Carlson,
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Honorable Mention Letter of the Week | ||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Other War | ||||||||||||||||||
By Thomas J. DiLorenzo | ||||||||||||||||||
America's emergency room physicians met recently for their annual
convention and emerged with their well-scrubbed hands extended and
begging for government handouts. Terrorism, they say, means that
taxpayers will have to hand over additional billions of dollars to
the emergency rooms of America's hospitals. | ||||||||||||||||||
Additional tax dollars would not be necessary, however, if government
would eliminate the main source of medical emergencies--at least in
urban hospitals: the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
A former MBA student of mine was the director of emergency medicine
at a large hospital in the city of Baltimore. He once told me that he
and his colleagues spent about 90 percent of their time treating the
knife and gunshot wounds of drug gang members. Drug war-related
injuries are bound to dominate the emergency room services of virtually
all inner-city hospitals. The incredible violence in America's inner
cities that most Americans have become numbed to is almost exclusively
the result of the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
None of this should be surprising. In a free and legal market, any
dispute between business associates can be settled through negotiation
or, if that fails, lawsuits. If one businessman defrauds another, he
can seek to have his property protected by the courts. | ||||||||||||||||||
No such (relatively) civilized solution is available to illegal
products. A drug dealer cannot go to a judge and say, "Your Honor,
I delivered one ton of cocaine to Mr. Tucker here, and he refuses to
pay. In the name of justice, I want you to make him pay up." Instead,
drug dealers -- like alcohol dealers during prohibition -- resort to
the only means available to enforce their business agreements:
violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
There is an even more ominous dynamic at work here. Once violence becomes the means by which one succeeds in illegal markets, the profits earned in those markets will attract those elements of society who have a comparative advantage in violence. The most violent will rise to the top, as witnessed by such characters as the Los Angeles drug gang leader known as "Little Monster," who is an especially vicious killer. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug gangs are simply business partnerships, but unlike normal
business partnerships, they have great latitude in destroying their
competitors by violent means. If there are above-normal profits in the
skateboard business, for example, new competitors will materialize and
compete for those profits by offering lower-priced and/or
better-quality skateboards. | ||||||||||||||||||
Such entry cannot occur in the market for illicit drugs if the
existing gangs can literally murder the competition, which they often
do. Moreover, the police are often "silent partners" in such
situations, since existing drug gangs can become police informants and
(anonymously) inform the police of the new entrants into their
business. | ||||||||||||||||||
In legal markets, a brand name that is established by years of good
performance and competitive pricing is a valuable asset that can
lead to high levels of profitability. In illegal markets, a brand
name is earned by acts of violence. Drug gangs intimidate potential
rivals with their acts of violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Moreover, there are economies of scale to such behavior. If a drug
gang is especially violent in Los Angeles, it will find it all the
easier to enter the drug market (and to face little or no competition)
in Chicago, St. Louis, New York, or other cities because of the
intimidation factor. | ||||||||||||||||||
This monopolization of the illicit drug trade has also lured thousands
of children into the world of drug-related violence. With the
extraordinary money being earned selling illicit drugs, it is
inevitable that young children will be enticed by the money they can
make as "spotters" (of police) or "runners" (i.e., drug deliverers)
for drug gangs. | ||||||||||||||||||
To make matters worse, children under the age of 18 who are arrested for violent, drug-related crimes are usually put on probation or released outright to the custody of their parents. In some states, a jail term cannot extend past age 17, even for murder. Facing little or no consequences for their violent behavior, these children grow up to be the most hardened, violent criminals in society, thanks to the war on drugs and a buffoonish "juvenile justice" system. | ||||||||||||||||||
The workload of hospital emergency rooms in America's cities could
probably be cut at least in half by ending the failed war on drugs.
That would make room for more genuine emergencies and reduce the
financial burden on taxpayers as well, since the big majority of
hospitals are either government-run or government-subsidized
nonprofit hospitals. The cycle of violence in America's cities would
be reversed, property values there would soar, and the lives of
literally thousands of Americans would be saved. | ||||||||||||||||||
Thomas DiLorenzo is a professor of economics in the Sellinger School of
Business and Management at Loyola College in Baltimore, and is senior
scholar of the Mises Institute. This article was originally published
Nov. 19 on the Ludwig von Mises Institute web site: | ||||||||||||||||||
To access the article, go to http://mises.org/fullstory.asp?control=828 | ||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Energy rightly applied can accomplish anything" -- Nellie Bly | ||||||||||||||||||
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