| December 7, 2001 #229 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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) DRUG, ALCOHOL ABUSE UP SINCE SEPT. 11 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK - Drug and alcohol abuse appears to be up in many parts of
the country since Sept. 11, especially in New York City and
Washington, a survey suggests. | ||||||||||||||||||
"These are people who are self-medicating because of the stress they
feel," said Joseph Califano Jr., president of the Columbia University
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, which conducted the
survey. "I think we have the beginnings of a self-medicating
epidemic." | ||||||||||||||||||
The conclusion that drug and alcohol abuse has increased was drawn
indirectly, based on reports of people seeking substance-abuse
treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) US: 3 PUB LTES: THE (DRUG) WAR WE'VE ALREADY LOST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It is increasingly apparent that William Bennett is in a state of
denial with respect to the myriad effects of a legal ban on
marijuana, cocaine, opium and other drugs ("We Need a Drug Czar Now,"
editorial page, Nov. 29). | ||||||||||||||||||
He has only recently discovered one of the ugly side-effects of
driving a lucrative market underground, namely, that the revenues are
channeled into an underworld occupied by an assortment of shady
criminals, corrupt politicians and, yes, terrorists. But instead of
coming to grips with the blowback effect of enriching the enemies of
civil society, Mr. Bennett wants us to wear blinders and stay the
course. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) US SENATE CONFIRMS WALTERS AS 'DRUG CZAR' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Democratic-led US Senate on Wednesday confirmed the final member
of President George W. Bush's cabinet--John Walters as the director
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
After an undisclosed number of Democratic senators lifted private
"holds" on the nomination, the Senate approved Walters with a
unanimous consent agreement. | ||||||||||||||||||
Walters had come under fire since Bush nominated him 6 months ago
because of some past statements and writings. | ||||||||||||||||||
They ranged from questioning the effectiveness of drug treatment to
challenging the need for federal support of drug-abuse prevention to
dismissing as an "urban myth" the belief that the criminal justice
system has a racial bias. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a confirmation hearing on Walters, approved the nomination on Nov. 8 on a vote of 14-5. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) STUDY FINDS ARIZONA DRUG LAW AVOIDS MILLIONS IN PRISON COSTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PHOENIX (Associated Press) - Arizona avoided millions of dollars in
prison costs through a voter-approved 1996 law that requires that
some drug offenders be placed on probation and provided treatment
rather than locked up, a new study concludes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The sponsors of a similar California law that took effect in July
applauded the results as an example of what can be expected as the
treatment initiative diverts thousands of drug offenders from the
nation's largest prison system. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Arizona spent $1 million in 1999 to treat and supervise 390 inmates
kept out of prison by the 1996 law, while it would have cost $7.7
million to imprison them, the study said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. drug war in Latin America appears imperiled on many
fronts. Because resources have been diverted to the war on terror,
analysts are predicting new opportunities will be exploited by
smugglers. On top of that, Congress has denied some requested
anti-drug aid for Colombia, while another prominent environmental
group has called for an end to the aerial dumping of herbicides in
the nation. | ||||||||||||||||||
An intriguing scandal is developing in Arizona after several U.S.
Army personnel are tried for reportedly transporting illegal drugs
through the headquarters of an Army Intelligence Center. A
corruption task force allegedly caught them, but that same
corruption task force allegedly supplied the drugs. A tangled web,
indeed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere, a jury awarded a bus driver $120,000 in damages after he was fired for disputing a drug test, while a libertarian-leaning Republican candidate was savaged by a Democratic opponent for daring to say that marijuana should not be prohibited. And researchers say that Ritalin use before puberty may reduce the appeal of future drug use, while possibly reducing the pleasure of other activities too. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) EXPERTS FEAR MORE DRUGS FROM LATIN AMERICA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Sept. 11 terrorist strikes against the United States may have
claimed an unexpected victim: the war on drugs. Officials and experts
fear narcotics are pouring through holes in U.S. security created
when surveillance planes and drug agents were diverted to the war on
terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although Bush administration officials say they will not have hard
numbers until January, they say the early signs of trouble already
exist. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We are going to see an avalanche of drugs in 2002," says Bruce
Bagley, a drug trafficking expert with the University of Miami.
"There will be less U.S. attention paid to drug trafficking, and at
the same time Latin American economies will be moving into deeper
recession." | ||||||||||||||||||
He and others point to a number of worrisome trends: | ||||||||||||||||||
Illegal drug smuggling to Florida through Caribbean routes rose by 25
percent in the month that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
largely because Drug Enforcement Administration agents and
intelligence analysts were diverted to homeland defense activities,
the DEA says. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) BUSH REQUEST FOR ANTI-DRUG AID CUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Congress is ready to cut more than $100 million from the
Bush administration's request for counternarcotics programs in the
Andes, congressional aides said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Opponents of President Bush's $731 million request cited problems
with the programs including human rights abuses by soldiers, fear of
deepening U.S. involvement in South American jungles and skepticism
over the programs' effectiveness. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under a tentative agreement by House-Senate conferees, Colombia's military would have to improve its human rights record to receive any money. Also, the United States would have to offer alternative crops to farmers in areas where drug crops are to be fumigated, said the aides, who spoke Thursday on condition they not be identified. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRUG SCANDAL IN THE DESERT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The government made them do it. | ||||||||||||||||||
That will be the legal defense for 10 soldiers from Fort Huachuca,
Ariz., charged in a $3 million drug plot. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to federal court records, the soldiers transported more
than 100 kilos of cocaine and 1,000 kilos of marijuana through Fort
Huachuca and a border checkpoint to the adjacent city of Sierra Vista
and farther-away Tucson - mostly in Army-owned vans with U. S.
government license plates. | ||||||||||||||||||
The whole time, they wore their BDUs or Class A uniforms to allay
suspicions on post and at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint, the
records say. Fort Huachuca is headquarters of the Army Intelligence
Center, which every year schools several thousand soldiers in
military intelligence. | ||||||||||||||||||
The prosecutors say the soldiers - six of whom served in MI units -
were able to cruise right through the post in their drug-laden vans
with no questions asked. | ||||||||||||||||||
For four months this summer and fall, the soldiers, who range in rank
from private first class to staff sergeant, allegedly hung around
with two drug dealers who paid them each several thousand dollars in
cash for their services. | ||||||||||||||||||
But as the soldiers discovered Nov. 13 when they were arrested and
jailed, those supposed dealers were really undercover FBI agents.
Even though it's an exceptionally large drug scandal involving
accusations against soldiers, no drugs were seized. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) BUS DRIVER WINS DRUG SUIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A federal jury Tuesday awarded a former Moose Lake school bus driver
$120,167 for the humiliation and lost wages he suffered after his
supervisor disclosed private information about the driver's refusal
to take a drug test. | ||||||||||||||||||
Duane "Dewey" Anderson, 57, said he's never taken drugs in his life.
So he sued in U.S. District Court in Duluth, alleging that in the
process of making the disclosure the Moose Lake School District broke
the law. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Anderson was suspended from his job as a bus driver for the Moose
Lake School District in May 1998 when the district said he failed to
provide enough urine for a drug test and refused to take a second
test. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) DEMS TAKING KUHN TO WOODSHED OVER ALLEGED MARIJUANA STATEMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
It's A Race For The State Senate But Also A Battle Over Who Said What
About Marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Democrats are alleging that Republican candidate John Kuhn is pro-pot based on remarks he made to students weeks ago at Stall High School. Kuhn, meanwhile, says that Democrats are taking the incident out of context and that he's a parent who is 100 percent opposed to drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
When Kuhn showed up, Desinger had prepared questions for the students to ask, including one that read: "Do you favor decriminalization of marijuana?" Kuhn answered: "Yes," according to Desinger, and then he reportedly went on to describe the war on drugs as a failure. | ||||||||||||||||||
The teacher said that no one at the school seemed shocked at Kuhn's
answer, given that Libertarians are known to have fairly liberal
views on an individual's choice to use drugs. Desinger also quoted
Kuhn as saying he was personally against drug use and felt drugs were
bad for anyone. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the S.C. Democratic Senate Caucus is now using the incident for
political gain sending out hundreds of oversized political flyers to
Senate District 43 voters that portray Kuhn as favoring | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) EARLY RITALIN USE MAY CURB ADULT DRUG ABUSE: STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Children who take Ritalin may be less likely than other kids to abuse
drugs such as cocaine as they grow up. But as they mature, they may
also be less likely to delight in other legal joys, a new study
suggests. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ritalin taken during childhood may alter something in the brain's
reward system, making a drug such as cocaine less enjoyable in later
life, suggests a study published today in the journal Nature
Neuroscience. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Ms. Andersen admitted she and her co-authors are concerned that if Ritalin makes stimulants less rewarding, it may also blunt enjoyment of other behaviours associated with the brain's reward system. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They might not like sex as much," she said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-15) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In Mexico, one city police department fired 77 officers after they all tested positive for drugs. In the U.S., the corrosive corruption of the drug war was exposed in a variety of places. A group of Chicago police were investigated, while a probation officer and a border patrol agent elsewhere were charged with drug offenses. | ||||||||||||||||||
But in New York City, narcotics detectives and other police
officials are being forced to work overtime to deal with an increase
of violent incidents, some apparently related to illegal drug
markets. The violence could be stopped more cost-effectively by
simply abandoning the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) 77 MEXICAN OFFICERS TEST POSITIVE FOR DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Results, Firings Are Latest Trouble For Ciudad Juarez Police | ||||||||||||||||||
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Seventy-seven police officers working the
streets here, where drug lords have periodically engaged in
shootouts, have tested positive for the use of illicit drugs such as
cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamines, according to Juarez Police
Department reports. | ||||||||||||||||||
The officers, members of specialized units, traffic and patrol
squads, and some administrators, were summarily fired. Their names
were not released, nor were the stations and districts where they
worked identified. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is a very grave situation," said Jose Reyes Ferriz, Juarez City
Council president. "It is an unfortunate state to which our police
have fallen and unfortunate that so many officers are drawn to acquire
and use illegal substances." | ||||||||||||||||||
The officers' substance abuse was uncovered during a round of drug
tests ordered last month after the disappearance of two police
captains, one of whom was allegedly last seen with the reputed head
of the city's heroin trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) FBI PROBES 5 COPS AS DRUG DEALERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Miedzianowski Case Spurs Inquiry | ||||||||||||||||||
While prosecuting a former officer who for years operated a drug ring from inside the Chicago Police Department, federal authorities discovered that as many as five other officers were involved in narcotics activity that included setting up drug dealers and stealing their cocaine, according to FBI documents obtained by the Tribune. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Police Department, which is assisting in the federal
investigation, stripped three officers of their badges in the summer
of 1999 and reassigned them to department headquarters, where they
continue to perform administrative duties. | ||||||||||||||||||
Those under investigation include an officer who is a defendant in a
federal lawsuit that accuses him and others of planting drugs on
Jeremiah Mearday in March 1998. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mearday has maintained he was set up in retaliation for his earlier complaints of police brutality that touched off a storm of community protests and led to the firing of two Chicago police officers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) PROBATION OFFICER CHARGED WITH TRAFFICKING COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A well-known local probation officer has been charged with four counts of trafficking cocaine after the State Bureau of Investigation said it caught the officer in a sting operation in Stanly County. | ||||||||||||||||||
Calvin Suber Jr., 43, of 710 Spencer Ave., Spencer, was being held
today in the Stanly County jail under $200,000 bond facing multiple
felony drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
Suber has been an employee of the N.C. Department of Corrections
since 1982. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Bonds would not go into detail about the events leading up to the
arrest but characterized it as a "sting operation." | ||||||||||||||||||
Officers seized 15 ounces of cocaine with a street value of $200,000.
Bonds said both men were arrested without incident. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) BORDER AGENT HELD ON BRIBERY CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A U.S. Border Patrol agent faces three bribery counts accusing him of
selling his agency's reports on marijuana seizures. | ||||||||||||||||||
Charles D. Brown, 55, was charged Friday with accepting $1,000 apiece
for three reports detailing Southern Arizona drug seizures. He faces
up to 15 years in prison or up to $750,000 in fines if he's convicted
of selling the documents, which drug dealers can use to account for
lost shipments or verify their subordinates' stories. | ||||||||||||||||||
Brown is a supervisory agent who served 23 years with the Border
Patrol. An agency spokesman declined to comment. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) CRIME SPURT PUTS DETECTIVES ON EXTRA DAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Responding to a recent surge in shootings and murders in New York
City, the Police Department has ordered all detectives in the
narcotics division to work six-day weeks, possibly until the end of
the year. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is a response to a recent spike in shooting incidents following Sept. 11," said Thomas Antenen, a police spokesman. "We will key in on the precincts where we have increased criminal activity." | ||||||||||||||||||
In the four-week period ending Nov. 25, shootings were up 36.7 percent, to 160 from 117, compared with the same period a year ago. Murders were up 25 percent, to 55 from 44, over that same period. | ||||||||||||||||||
Investigators said the primary purpose of forcing narcotics detectives to work an extra day was to flood high-crime areas that have drug problems and related violence with plainclothes officers, which could bolster arrest tallies and curtail the surge in shootings. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (16-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Unhappy times for hemp/cannabis users worldwide. In an attempt to
stop the DEA's unjustifiable ban on edible hemp products,
manufacturers of hemp food products and the Hemp Industry
Association have filed for an emergency stay of the enforcement of
the rule, which is scheduled to go into effect on Feb. 6th. In
normally conservative Utah, the small town of Big Water passed an
ordinance reducing the penalty for personal possession of under an
ounce of cannabis to a $10 fine. The State DA responded by saying
that the ordinance is in violation of state law, and therefore
unconstitutional. Willie Marshall, the town's newly elected mayor,
has defended the council's unanimous vote to reduce the pot
penalties. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the UK, 3 protesters were arrested after a group of activists
marched from the Dutch Experience, the UK's first Dutch-style
coffeehouse, to the local Stockport police station. The march was to
protest the arrest and detention of Colin Davies, the pot cafe's
founder. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Canada, an insidious group called IDEAS (International Drug
Education & Awareness Symposium) has announced plans to hold an
international conference in Vancouver (May 1-3) in order to reverse
the country's shift towards more rational drug policies. Organized
by notorious U.S. drug war advocacy groups like the Drug Free America
Foundation and Drug Prevention Network of the Americas (and funded
locally by Lynda Bentall, the wife of wealthy local businessman
Robert Bentall), the conference is seeking to reverse progressive
government policies such as medical cannabis initiatives, methadone
clinics, and heroin maintenance programs. | ||||||||||||||||||
And in this weeks final story, the December issue of the American
Journal of Psychiatry has published a study by Dr. Gregory B Bossaro
which suggests that marijuana abuse may increase the risk of
depression. With all of the recent bad news, unscientific laws, and
unethical arrests surrounding cannabis and hemp issues, can you
blame us so called "abusers" for being depressed? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) DEA RULE BANS HEMP FOOD PRODUCTS IN US (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
On Feb. 6, it will be illegal to sell or import hemp-containing
foods, under a new rule of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA). The DEA says it is interpreting and enforcing an existing
rule, which doesn't require formal rule-making procedures. But
critics charge that the agency is simultaneously soliciting comments
for a new rule with the same wording and effect. It published the
rule in the Federal Register Oct. 9. | ||||||||||||||||||
The foods are being banned for import or sale because they contain
traces of THC, the primary active constituent of marijuana. DEA
Administrator Asa Hutchinson has also said that "many Americans do
not know that hemp and marijuana are both parts of the same plant and
that hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana," according
to a DEA statement. | ||||||||||||||||||
Several hemp food products manufacturers and the Hemp Industry Association, their trade group, have asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay of the enforcement of the rule. They also seek formal review of the rule (66 Fed. Reg. 51530 et. seq.). | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.nlj.com/cases/1210hemp-interim.pdf
The DEA Press Advisory http://www.dea.gov/advisories/pa100901.html
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(17) SMALL UTAH TOWN'S LENIENT NEW POT LAW MAY GO UP IN SMOKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Big Water Councilman Willie Marshall thought it no big deal when he
proposed an ordinance last week that essentially decriminalizes the
possession of small amounts of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
He concluded it was even less of an issue when the council voted
unanimously to pass the measure. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Big Water, a town of 400 people 60 miles east of Kanab near the
Arizona border, is now in hot water. Kane County Attorney Eric Lind
says the town's new statute violates state law, and has fired off a
warning letter to the council. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) UK CANNABIS PROTESTERS ARRESTED AFTER MARCH TO POLICE STATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Three patrons of Britain's first ever Dutch-style coffee house have
been arrested after a pro-cannabis demonstration. | ||||||||||||||||||
The men were arrested after 40 demonstrators marched from the Dutch Experience cafe in Stockport to the local police station. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Laugh at the Law demonstration was organised to call for the
legalisation of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
Protesters were also showing their support for the Dutch Experience
cafe-owner Colin Davies, who has been remanded in custody following a
raid on the premises last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) BENTALL MONEY GOING TO FIGHT CANADIAN DRUG LIBERALIZATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Lynda Bentall, whose husband Robert is the retired chairman of the
Bentall Corporation, has formed a group called the International Drug
Education and Awareness Society (IDEAS) to put on the symposium, for
which she's willing to supply $200,000 in funding. | ||||||||||||||||||
Bentall, who opposes the medical use of marijuana, is taking out ads
in local and national papers listing the dangers of marijuana use and
needle exchanges and touting the benefits of Sweden's zero-tolerance
drug policy. "There's not a qualified physician that would say an
AIDS patient or a cancer patient should smoke marijuana," said
Bentall, who says she's never smoked pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The point is, marijuana is an intoxicant and some people like it. This is the biggest scam that has ever been brought to Canada." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) MARIJUANA ABUSE MAY UP RISK OF DEPRESSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults who abuse marijuana may be putting themselves at risk for depression, results of a new study indicate. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to the report, adults who were not depressed when the study
began but who abused marijuana were about four times more likely to
report symptoms of depression 15 years later, compared with their
non-smoking peers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (21-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In Afghanistan, hopes that caches of opium and heroin could be
captured by coalition forces are fading. Located were "none of the
monstrous stockpiles we expected," admitted one U.S. DEA official.
Reports continue to reveal Afghan farmers, now free of the Taliban,
are planting poppies in abundance. | ||||||||||||||||||
The World Wildlife Fund last week called on the U.S. to stop aerial
herbicide spraying in Colombia. Citing "devastating consequences on
the Colombian environment," the poison used tends "to drift away
from coca fields, or wash into nearby streams and rivers." U.S.
Officials denied the charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. military installed a new $13 million radar in southern Colombia. Giving body counts as evidence, chirped one Colombian general at the radar's inaugural: "We are winning this war." | ||||||||||||||||||
A report last week confirmed that Colombia is the main source of
heroin for the US. Blaming a fall in coffee prices, Colombian
farmers are planting poppies. "With poppies, I can even save a
little bit," stated one farmer. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) IN AFGHANISTAN: DEA HELPS CIA IN HUNT FOR OPIUM CACHES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Small Stores Are Found; Huge Stockpiles Elusive | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The Drug Enforcement Administration is providing the
CIA with field drug-test kits to track down what are believed to be
huge opium stockpiles in Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||||
The DEA also is passing information to the CIA and U.S. military about possible locations of the stockpiles, once considered an important source of finances for the Taliban and Al Qaeda, said Steven Casteel, the DEA's assistant administrator for intelligence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Casteel said Tuesday that drug seizures so far have been in the range
of 40 pounds to 100 pounds, "none of the monstrous stockpiles we
expected." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Afghan opium production was virtually wiped out after the Taliban, citing Islamic principals, banned production in July 2000. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) OPIUM GROWERS REJOICE AT TALIBAN LOSS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Poor Farmers Till Land To Plant Crop That Brings Cash | ||||||||||||||||||
KARIZ, Afghanistan -- No one could be more delighted about the
departure of the Taliban regime than the opium poppy growers in
eastern Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||||
In July 2000, the Taliban's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, issued an
edict banning poppy cultivation across Afghanistan, then the world's
largest producer of the flower pod used to make heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) COCA DEFOLIATION WORRIES CONSERVATIONISTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- One of the world's largest environmental groups is calling on the U.S. government to cease aerial spraying of herbicide on coca crops in Colombia until it can be determined that the eradication effort won't devastate the nation's fragile tropics. | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. branch of the World Wildlife Fund made the plea in letters
sent to Capitol Hill and the State Department. | ||||||||||||||||||
Washington has made aerial eradication a key part of a massive aid
program to Colombia designed to cripple the illicit drug trade and
undercut the finances of several guerrilla groups seriously
destabilizing the nation. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We remain alarmed about the potential long-term devastating consequences on the Colombian environment, one of ( the ) most biologically rich places on the planet," World Wildlife Fund vice president William Eichbaum said in a letter dated Nov. 21 to U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis. The letter was made public last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(24) U.S. MILITARY BOOSTS FIREPOWER IN COLOMBIAN DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TRES ESQUINAS MILITARY BASE, Colombia - Protruding above the jungle
like a giant white golf ball on a tee, Washington's latest investment
in the war on drugs scans the horizon for small planes ferrying
cocaine over the Amazon. | ||||||||||||||||||
The $13 million radar station was just inaugurated by President
Andres Pastrana and the U.S. ambassador to Colombia and even given a
blessing by a Roman Catholic priest. While skepticism about the drug
war grows among some critics, so does this jungle outpost where the
campaign is anchored. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
At Tres Esquinas, Brig. Gen. Mario Montoya, the commander of Colombia's southern forces, brushes aside the criticism. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We are winning this war," he said, rattling off statistics he said
showed progress, including the destruction of hundreds of thousands
of acres of coca and the combat deaths at the hands of the
U.S.-trained troops of 166 "drug traffickers." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(25) COLOMBIA BECOMES MAIN SOURCE OF U.S. HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
As Coffee Prices Drop, Farmers Turn To Poppies | ||||||||||||||||||
MANAURE, Colombia - Delicate red, pink and lavender poppies decorate
the steep mountainsides above this village, vivid evidence of what
U.S. drug agents say is a deadly trend. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Field hands who tend the poppy crops, scraping the seed pods for the
resin that will later be converted to heroin, make 15,000 pesos (
about $6.50) a day. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We have to make a living," Jesus says. "With poppies, I can even
save a little bit." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S.-backed efforts to crush heroin production in Colombia with
aerial fumigation of poppy plants and seizures of drug shipments have
had little effect. | ||||||||||||||||||
Clouds that often hug the mountains hide the poppy fields from U.S.-
financed crop-dusting planes, and the rugged terrain makes spraying
missions dangerous. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Chris Conrad's Visit To The NYT Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
A transcript. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Catherine Austin Fitts's Visit To The DrugSense Chat Room | ||||||||||||||||||
A Transcript | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
NarcoNews Goes Live From The Andes | ||||||||||||||||||
NarcoNews ( www.narconews.com ) is offering some of the only
English-language reports on remarkable events in Bolivia and
elsewhere in the Andes. Read the announcement and some recently
translated stories along with publisher Al Giordano's unique
commentary. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Zogby Poll: Majority of Americans Oppose US Marijuana Policies | ||||||||||||||||||
2/3 Oppose Feds' Closing of Medical Pot Clubs; 3/5 Oppose Arresting Pot
Smokers | ||||||||||||||||||
Washington, DC: Americans oppose federal efforts to close California
medical marijuana providers, and reject the notion that recreational
users of the drug should face arrest or criminal prosecution, according
to a national poll of 1,024 likely voters by Zogby International and
commissioned by the NORML Foundation. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Witnesses include: Mr. Philip Owen, Mayor, City of Vancouver;
Mr. Donald MacPherson, Drug Policy Coordinator, City of Vancouver;
Dr. Mark Tyndall, B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS;
Ms Hilary Black, B.C. Compassion Club Society; | ||||||||||||||||||
Witnesses include: Mr. Kash Heed, Vice Drugs Section, Vancouver
Police Service; Ms Nichola Hall, Chairperson, From Grief to Action;
Mr. Dana Larsen, Cannabis Culture Magazine; Mr. David Malmo-Levine,
POT-TV; Mr. Chris Bennett, Author and Scholar; | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Illicit Drugs – The Federal Government's Role | ||||||||||||||||||
Office of the Auditor General of Canada and the Commissioner of the
Environment and Sustainable Development | ||||||||||||||||||
Leadership and information are missing | ||||||||||||||||||
Ottawa, 4 December 2001 — The federal government must provide better
leadership and co-ordination if it wishes to reduce the impact of
illicit drugs in Canada, according to the report tabled in the House
of Commons today by Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General of Canada. The
Report notes that the federal departments and agencies involved in
combatting illicit drug use have failed to agree on common objectives
and a plan for achieving them. | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada's drug strategy calls for a balanced approach to reducing the
demand for drugs as well as the supply. The approach involves action
in four key areas: control and enforcement, prevention, treatment and
rehabilitation, and harm reduction. However, despite the call for
this approach, balance has not been defined, and 95 percent of the
$500 million spent annually by the federal government goes toward
enforcement. The amount spent by other levels of government is
unknown. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/0111ce.html | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
POTaid Benefit Concert | ||||||||||||||||||
Just a quick note to let you know that we are in the middle of
organizing a HUGE benefit concert called POTaid! I have put up a
brief web site at http://www.potaid.org/ and you are welcome to
take a look at your earliest convenience. I would certainly welcome
your feedback on this. A lot of people are getting very excited
about the potential impact this event could make on the War On
Drugs. We are counting on it! | ||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Tracy Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Dope On Dope | ||||||||||||||||||
By Maia Szalavitz | ||||||||||||||||||
David Fergusson was quoted as saying that he "can't explain away" the
correlation between marijuana use and subsequent hard drugs use found
in his study in New Zealand. But the hardly radical Institute of
Medicine, part of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, discredited
the "gateway theory" that marijuana leads to hard drugs use in its
recent report to Congress on the potential dangers of medical
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report said, "There is no conclusive evidence that the drug
effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of
other illicit drugs." Even Fergusson's paper qualifies his comments
more than your reporter suggests. | ||||||||||||||||||
His abstract ends with the statement: "Findings support the view
that cannabis may act as a gateway drug that encourages other forms
of illicit drug use. None the less, the possibility remains that the
association is non-causal and reflects factors that were not
adequately controlled in the analysis." Let me suggest just one major
confounding factor. | ||||||||||||||||||
Perhaps some people simply like taking drugs, and some of those people
like to take them more often than others and like to try many
different ones. This could explain why two-thirds of cannabis smokers
don't use other drugs--and why heavier smokers are more prone to use
other drugs--better than any pharmacological idea about pot changing
the brain. | ||||||||||||||||||
Occam's razor needs to be applied with particular sharpness to
research on illicit drugs, which tends to serve political agendas far
more than scientific ones. | ||||||||||||||||||
Maia Szalavitz, | ||||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letters of the Week | ||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Report From Hemp Taste Test | ||||||||||||||||||
By Alexis Baden-Mayer | ||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday there were Taste Tests in 76 cities: Arlington, Austin, Boulder, Burlington, Chas, Chicago, Columbia, Columbus, Delhi, Denton, Denton, Detroit, Detroit, Dillon, Dover, Eau Claire, Eugene, Fayetteville, Flagstaff, Folly Beach, Ft. Collins, Hood River, Houston, Indianapolis, Ithaca, Jupiter, La Crosse, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Manchester, Manitou Springs, Miami, Middletown, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Missoula, New Paltz, New York City, Norfolk, Oakland, Ogden, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Paducah, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Potosi, Providence, Quad Cities, Richland, Richmond, Roanoke, Sacramento, Saginaw, Salem, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, Seattle, Sebastopol, Springfield, St. Louis, Syracuse, Tallahassee, Tampa, Templeton, Trinidad, Tucson, Tumwater, and West Palm Beach | ||||||||||||||||||
In Arlington, VA, at the national DEA headquarters, hemp industry
representatives, John Roulac, founder and president of Nutiva, David
Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps, and Eric Steenstra,
President of VoteHemp.com, were joined by drug policy reformers (and
hemp enthusiasts!) from the Drug Reform Coordination Network, the
Marijuana Policy Project, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and
Common Sense for Drug Policy, and members of the Libertarian and Green
Parties. | ||||||||||||||||||
We were initially met with resistance from the building security staff
which deployed a ring of cops and barricades around the building and
forbade us to set foot on the property (which they insisted included
the sidewalk and the curb). After setting up shop in the street by a
traffic light, the local police came and negotiated a spot for us on
the sidewalk. | ||||||||||||||||||
It was a gorgeous sunny warm blue sky day, just like the end of summer.
A perfect kind of day for a picket/picnic! | ||||||||||||||||||
There was a good deal of foot traffic, DEA employees, and other working people on their lunch breaks. It was easy to tell the DEAs from people who aren't paid to believe that banning hemp is an acceptable use of law enforcement resources. Most of the DEAs walked swiftly by, pretending to have no interest in the free food or why we were there. | ||||||||||||||||||
Some claimed to have no knowledge of the rules regulating hemp. Other
said they knew everything about the subject but refused to comment on
it. One DEA employee who was innocently enjoying her hemp bar, while
learning about the myriad food uses of the hemp plant, was chastised
by a fellow employee screaming from her car, "Don't eat that food!
You're not allowed to talk to them!" More honest than most, but
probably expressing a common internal monologue, one DEA employee, at
refused the offer of a hemp bar by saying that he was going to wait
until old age before he tried what he'd been missing all these years:
"I know I'm going to regret I didn't do it forty years earlier!" We
had to explain that he'd have to go somewhere other than his local
health food store to get what he was talking about. | ||||||||||||||||||
In contrast to the DEAs, the average person was thrilled to receive
the free hemp bars, candies, salted hempseeds, chips (with salsa and
guacamole), hot soft Hempzles, pasta salad, poppy seed bagels, and
orange juice. They participated happily in the taste test, were
eager to learn about the nutritional value of hemp, and were
interested in sending comments to the DEA. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our Taste Test was well documented by the DC Independent Media Center
(video) and Doug McVay of Common Sense for Drug Policy (photos). The
IMC is making a newsreel on the event that will be shown in a couple
of weeks at an IMC film showing, and will be posted on the
http://dc.indymedia.org/ site. | ||||||||||||||||||
There was a decent media presence. The local ABC affiliate, Channel
7, and a CNN cameraman filmed the event. There were reporters from
the City Paper, High Times.... | ||||||||||||||||||
We hope you'll stick with us as we continue to fight for access to nutritious and delicious hemp food in the face of the DEA's outrageous and unreasonable regulation. As you know, the period for public comment to the DEA ends December 10th. We're currently in federal court seeking an injunction against implementation of the new rule, but February 6th is the date enforcement could begin. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now is a critical moment for public education. Most people in
America don't even know what hemp is, let alone how the DEA treats
it, but right now we still have the opportunity to organize
resistance and stop the DEA's attempts to crush a burgeoning
natural foods industry. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alexis Baden-Mayer for VoteHemp.com | ||||||||||||||||||
All the city reports received to date are at: | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Why that stuff should be illegal is beyond me. It's so benign compared
to alcohol. When you come right down to it, alcohol destroys your body
and makes you do violent things. With grass you sit back and enjoy
life. I don't smoke dope anymore. I'm in the 12-step program so I can't
do any of that. Anyhow, that's my take on it. People say, 'Well, you
shouldn't talk like that. They'll nail you.' What do I care? I'm not
carrying, I don't use. What are they going to nail me for -- talking
too much?" | ||||||||||||||||||
-- Actor Larry Hagman, interview, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 () | ||||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||||
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