| Jan. 4, 2002 #232 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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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) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(1) US OH: SAYING NO TO DRUG REFORM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is Taft Thwarting Ohio Voters' Right To Decide? | ||||||||||||||||||||
If anyone can do it, they can. They're the Campaign for New Drug
Policies, a drug-law-reform outfit based in California. They're
proposing an Ohio ballot initiative for next November that would
mandate first- and second-time nonviolent drug offenders be sentenced
to treatment rather than prison. It would be a radical change in the
Ohio criminal justice system, one that Governor Bob Taft is already
working to defeat. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But CNDP has an enviable record of success, and Gov. Taft's
administration certainly seems to have confidence in the campaign's
abilities, to the point of allegedly making illegal use of government
time and money to block their efforts, as documents unearthed by CNDP
may imply. So far, CNDP is winning the fight; a bevy of foot-soldiers
will be dispatched in early January to begin collecting signatures,
which they'll continue to do into the early summer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) DRUG TRAFFIC OFF FLORIDA SPIKES AS US TURNS ITS FOCUS TO TERRORISM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shift Of Antidrug Resources To Guard Against Terrorists Has Increased
The Boldness Of Narcotics Trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
HOUSTON - When the Caribbean became a superhighway for drug trafficking
in the 1980s, it became the inspiration for a TV show - "Miami Vice."
Today, the azure waters of Florida are once again threatening to become
a major artery in the narcotics trade. As US antidrug authorities have
shifted their resources to the porous borders of Mexico and Canada over
recent years, drug smugglers have been prompted to once again test the
waters of the Sunshine State. Where's Crockett and Tubbs when you need
'em? | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) UK: 400 CANNABIS USERS GO FREE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than 400 drug users have escaped prosecution for possessing
cannabis in the first six months of a pilot scheme in Brixton,
Scotland Yard reveals today. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The initiative, which has now been extended until spring, is estimated
to have saved 2,000 hours of police time freeing officers to
concentrate on arrests for crack and heroin supply. It has also saved
potential court costs of UKP 4million. | ||||||||||||||||||||
From July to November 2000, 278 people were arrested for possession in Lambeth. In the same period last year, 381 were cautioned for possessing the drug, rising to an expected 400 by the end of December. | ||||||||||||||||||||
However, some officers are concerned that there is still too much
paperwork involved in the caution and confiscation process. Outside
forces have also warned that cautions may allow dealers off the hook
because searches of home addresses, where more evidence of abuse may
be found, are not carried out. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) BRAZIL'S DRUG USERS WILL GET HELP, INSTEAD OF JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sweeping New Laws Are Based On The View That Drug Users Need
Treatment, Not Criminal Punishment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
RIO DE JANEIRO - On the continent that produces most of the world's
cocaine and much of its heroin and marijuana, its largest country is
softening punishment on recreational drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Brazilian Congress adopted landmark legislation that substitutes
alternative punishments such as community service and rehabilitation
for custodial sentences. The government will now treat recreational
drug users not as criminals, but as people in need of medical and
psychological help. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Smoking marijuana is not a crime," says Paulo Roberto Uchoa, the
general who heads Brazil's National Antidrug Secretariat. "A drug
user is ... someone who needs counseling and information. The ones
who traffic drugs are the criminals." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The new legislation makes Brazil the first major South American
country to introduce more lenient legislation concerning drugs and
follows the trend in Europe where a host of nations including
Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal and Britain, have softened
their stances toward minor drug possession. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
No holiday break for federal drug warriors, as efforts move ahead to
deny financial aid to some 43,000 students with drug convictions.
The tragic implications have suddenly dawned on the law's author,
U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, who is clumsily trying to distance himself
from his monster. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What should have been a major story received virtually no play in the mainstream media as a study revealed that many antibiotics put users at risk for a false positive drug tests. Perhaps the big newspapers reasoned that few citizens use antibiotics or take drug tests, so there would be little interest in such information. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere, drug courts received some refreshingly critical coverage.
Criminal courts in Kentucky are being monitored by a | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) 43,000 STUDENTS WITH DRUG CONVICTIONS FACE DENIAL OF AID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than 43,000 college students face possible denials of federal
aid this year under a 1998 law that bans such help to people who
have drug convictions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The main lobbying group for colleges would like the ban repealed,
but those efforts have reached an impasse. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The author of the law, Representative Mark Souder, Republican of
Indiana, says the Bush administration is being tougher on applicants
than he intended, and federal officials have tried to find an
administrative action to ease the ban. "We looked in every nook and
cranny," a spokeswoman for the Education Department, Lindsey
Kozberg, said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Souder said he wanted the ban to apply solely to students
already receiving federal aid when convicted. His staff has
repeatedly met with Education Department officials this year to try
to bring enforcement more in line with what Mr. Souder says Congress
intended. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But this month, the department told the congressman that it could not change and that such a move would require Congressional action. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) ANTIBIOTICS CAUSE FALSE POSITIVES ON HEROIN TEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Athletes and hopeful job applicants
often hinge their careers on a clean drug test, but the use of
certain antibiotics may cause an unsuspecting person to test
positive for heroin even though they've never touched the drug,
according to study findings released Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Researchers led by Dr. Lindsey R. Baden of Harvard Medical School
(news - web sites) in Boston, Massachusetts, investigated this
problem after they came across a patient in their practice who
tested positive for opiates, and who was also taking an antibiotic
called levofloxacin. The patient was nearly kicked out from a drug
treatment center because of the result, which later proved to be
false. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two antibiotics, levofloxacin and ofloxacin, caused a strong
positive result on four of the five tests. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Most of the other antibiotics also caused a positive result on at least two or three of the five tests. For example, Cipro, the drug given to thousands of people to fight possible anthrax exposure, resulted in a positive test in one out of the five tests. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRAGGED INTO DRUG COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
But many judges--and [Adminstrative Judge George] Godwin is one of
them--oppose the drug-court system. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They view the policy behind such courts as wrongheaded and the effectiveness of the approach as unproven. Moreover, they see the system as being a huge unfunded and unaffordable mandate. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
With no solid research on drug courts, supporters and critics continue
to debate the merits and the legal prerogative to set up the courts.
And that situation is exactly what makes Denver's [District Court
Judge Morris] Hoffman uneasy about the momentum behind the wholesale
creation of the courts. "Perhaps the most startling thing about the
drug court phenomenon," he says, "is that they have so quickly become
fixtures of our jurisprudence in the absence of satisfying empirical
evidence that they actually work." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Aside from whether drug courts work, there are questions about
mandated treatment and who will pay for it, issues that are
surfacing in both Texas, where drug courts are being set up, and
California, where they have long been in existence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) ANTI-DRUG GROUP FILLS GAPS IN LEE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Members Monitor Treatment And Prevention Programs | ||||||||||||||||||||
State and local officials were pleased yesterday when 40 members of
a Lee County anti-drug group showed up in circuit court to witness
the indictments of 48 alleged drug dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"They're monitoring these individuals in court so they don't just
get a slap on the wrists," said Larry Carrico, executive director of
the Kentucky Agency for Substance Abuse Policy, which was created by
the Patton administration. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It was the first major step for the group -- People Encouraging People, or PEP -- which received a $50,000 state grant yesterday to help monitor drug prevention and treatment programs in the county. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We want to encourage police and judges and county prosectors to
make these charges stick instead of letting them out on probation or
reducing their bonds," said PEP's director, Anna Marie Dunahoo of
Beattyville. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) A JUNKIE'S CONFESSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SOMETIMES, even with a national story, I can know with certainty
that public figures or media reports are full of it because my
personal experience flatly contradicts what the public is being
told. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Like last week, when the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration warned a House subcommittee and the American public about the widespread abuse of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
I don't generally defend drug companies, but Hutchinson, in ripping
Purdue, showed the worst kind of fraudulent political opportunism.
The "abuse" in this case is two decades' worth of War on Drugs
mentality, clouding fact. So let's start with fact. | ||||||||||||||||||||
OxyContin does not produce a "heroinlike" high. If it did, I
couldn't write this column. I've been taking the drug every few
hours for the last seven years because of persistent pain stemming
from an operation that saved my life--another person's kidney and
pancreas were transplanted into my body. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) ENTREPRENEUR INSISTS DRUG TESTING VIOLATES RIGHTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
MARIETTA, S.C. -- Bodily fluids do not often make headlines. But
urine has made Kenneth Curtis both famous and infamous. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Curtis was convicted in a Greenville, S.C., court Dec. 14 under a
1999 South Carolina law that made it a crime to sell urine to
defraud drug screening tests. He continues, however, to insist on
national television and in local newspaper interviews that the
government and employers are violating the rights of those subjected
to the widely used procedure. | ||||||||||||||||||||
While waiting for his appeal, which could take two or more years, a
judge has ordered the 43-year-old former pipe fitter not to leave
South Carolina and not to sell any more urine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Curtis faces six months in jail on the felony conviction and could
be sent to prison for six years if he is caught selling urine while
waiting for the appeal or while on probation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) PERU'S REBELS STAGE DRUG-FUELLED REVIVAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Peru's Maoist guerrilla movement, the Sendero Luminoso or Shining
Path, is reinventing itself as an international drugs gang, police
say. The group, dormant for almost 10 years, is regaining momentum
in the rugged highlands. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last spring, Colombian drug barons, who lose acres of supplies each
time US-donated helicopters spray their crops with herbicides, were
quick to seize an unexpected opportunity to move into Peru.
Washington had stopped using its aircraft to prevent drug flights
between Colombia and Peru after a CIA blunder led to the shooting
down of an American missionary's plane. Border surveillance was
badly affected, and within months world attention turned to
Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||||||
With the Afghan heroin trade in a shambles, Colombian traffickers
are poised to penetrate Europe, using cocaine distribution networks.
They already dominate the U.S. trade. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Aggressive drug raids have led to the death of a teen and the injury of a three-year-old girl. Neither victim was armed. More corruption cases were revealed in the last couple weeks. A pair of LA cops are under suspicion for the same types of crimes that rocked the Ramparts station in recent years. A different kind of corruption was discovered in Florida, where a sheriff allegedly delayed a significant drug bust - hoping to let the shipment enter his jurisdiction, where he could reap the benefits of any seized assets. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Texas, a drug informant who was well-respected by his police employers was getting paid real money to score fake drugs. Perhaps based on stunning successes like this, the leader of a state narcotics bureau in Missouri contended that his department should be immune from across the board budget cuts, and threatened to leave his post if he lost more funding. What a shame that would be. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) SLAIN TEEN WASN'T DRUG RAID'S TARGET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Says 19-Year-Old Was Unarmed And Asleep Before Deputy Shot | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Antonio Martinez wasn't the target of Thursday's drug raid in Del Valle, and he wasn't armed when a deputy fired the single shot that killed him, Travis County Sheriff Margo Frasier said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead, she said, the 19-year-old had been asleep on a couch when
the SWAT team rammed open the front door and stormed the mobile home
in Southeast Travis County. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The death of an unarmed man wasn't the only problem that morning: Deputies didn't find the stockpile of automatic weapons they were looking for -- or any guns at all. Instead, Frasier said, they found one bullet and about $55,000 worth of cocaine and methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And the unidentified officer who shot Martinez -- the sheriff's
office has refused to name him -- had been with Deputy Keith Ruiz
during a drug raid in February when the 36-year-old husband and
father was shot and killed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) GIRL INJURED IN MINNEAPOLIS DRUG HOUSE RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A 3-year-old girl was burned Thursday when a "flash-bang" device
used by Minneapolis police during a drug raid set fire to a mattress
she was lying on, an official said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Officers considered the house in the 3400 block of Bryant Av. N. to
be high risk partly because they had information that people inside
were armed, spokeswoman Cyndi Montgomery said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The device is used to temporarily disorient people and animals. When
police tossed it through a window, it bounced onto the mattress and
caught fire. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The girl suffered what appeared to be minor burns, Montgomery said.
Other people in the house, including two children ages 1 and 6, were
not hurt. Officers put out the fire. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We had no information whatsoever that there would be children in
the house," Montgomery said. "Had we known, we might have used
another means of entering the house." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) POLICE ADD OLD CASES TO PROBE OF 2 OFFICERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Calling an investigation into allegedly rogue Los Angeles police officers "very sensitive and significant in nature," a top LAPD official said Thursday that detectives are taking a fresh look at several unsolved crimes once thought to be the work of common thugs, but now suspected to have involved some of the LAPD's own. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy Chief J.I. Davis said detectives also were reopening several
internal affairs investigations involving officers who are now
implicated in the brewing scandal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Davis called the news conference in response to a Times article
Thursday, which disclosed that federal and local authorities are
investigating allegations that LAPD officers Ruben Palomares and
William Ferguson committed a series of invasion-style robberies of
drug dealers, stealing narcotics and money. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) FBI INVESTIGATES SHERIFF, BROTHER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Duo Accused Of Delaying Drug Bust | ||||||||||||||||||||
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS - The FBI is investigating Walton County's sheriff
and his brother, a state trooper, over the delayed seizure of 750
pounds of marijuana on Interstate 10, the Florida Highway Patrol
confirmed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The investigation of Sheriff Ralph Johnson and his brother, Trooper
Charlie Johnson, began after Mike Newborn, fired in August as the
Panhandle county's chief narcotics investigator, took a list of
complaints to federal prosecutors. | ||||||||||||||||||||
One allegation is the brothers used their positions to delay the drug arrest July 2 until a truck carrying the marijuana got to Walton County so a portion of any money seized or proceeds from selling confiscated items would go to the Walton Sheriff's Office. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I was told we would get on the interstate and stop big trucks
carrying drug money," Newborn said. "We were going to funnel the
money through the sheriff's office." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) SOME DRUGS FAKE, POLICE SAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DALLAS - In some drug busts involving a highly paid informant, the
substances that were seized weren't narcotics at all, Dallas Police
Chief Terrell Bolton said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bolton's disclosure of the informant, who has been paid $200,000
over the past two years, came after a drug suspect complained to
local media that he was framed by narcotics officers, The Associated
Press reported. He said he was charged with dealing crushed gypsum,
the substance used to make sheet rock. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"As it turns out, some of the evidence seized was simulated
substances," Bolton said during a news conference. But, he added,
"We have not found anything now to suggest that this confidential
informant was not aboveboard. If we find anything wrong later, we'll
make a decision about what to do at that time." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) NARCOTICS BUREAU LEADER GIVES STATE ULTIMATUM ON CUTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Don Strange has a message for state lawmakers: Restore funding for
the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics or find someone else to run the
agency. "I don't think you can cut almost $4 million out of the
budget for drug enforcement and have it not hurt," said Strange.
"The people of Mississippi had better get their priorities straight
on drug traffic. You have no business in hiring a guy with my
qualifications if you are not going to give me the tools to fight
the war on drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The bureau's director, along with some 250 of the law enforcement
agency's employees and assorted dignitaries, was in Hattiesburg
Tuesday for the bureau's annual meeting at the Lake Terrace
Convention Center. Strange didn't mince words in describing the
financial struggles the bureau has faced this year after a 15
percent across-the-board budget cut for state agencies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We're roughly at the salary point right now with this year's
budget," said Strange. "We can pay salaries, but I don't know if
there is enough money left to turn on the lights and put gas in the
cars." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
If no news is good news, than the New Year has begun fairly well for
cannabis users worldwide. The Canadian federal government proudly
announced that its licensed medical marijuana grow operation had
taken in its first harvest, boasting of THC levels in excess of 12%.
This announcement was tempered somewhat by Health Canada's admission
that it still had no idea how it was going to get the cannabis to
legal users or even how much the cannabis will cost. Further
Canadian news suggested that the national postal organization,
Canada Post, had initiated a program to protect and ensure the safe
delivery of medicinal cannabis from illegal compassion clubs to
legal users. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, the UK has extended a harm-reduction pilot-program taking place in Lambeth, South London. The successful program allows officers to issue simple warnings for personal possession of cannabis. This plays well into Home Secretary David Blunkett's plans to reclassify cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And in the US, two medicinal cannabis groups have initiated a
lawsuit against the federal government to have a medical marijuana
question put on next November's local election ballot. Four years
ago an identical initiative passed with 69% of the vote, but
measures were put in place by Congress to invalidate the results (at
first by not allowing the allocation of funds necessary to count the
votes) and to block future initiatives. I guess that sometimes no
news isn't good news at all; it's just censorship. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) CANADIAN MEDICINAL-POT USERS FUMING OVER DELAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
While 250 kilograms of marijuana sits in cold storage in a Manitoba
mineshaft, Health Canada is learning it is not easy to be a drug
dealer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The government announced last December that it would take the
unprecedented step of growing the otherwise illegal weed for
medicinal purposes. A year later, federal bureaucrats are still
trying to figure out how to package, label and distribute their
first dope harvest. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Officials have not decided whether to roll it into joints, send it
out in Ziploc bags, grind it or deliver it in bulk. They are
investigating whether to make it available from drugstore
pharmacists or by personal courier. Neither has the department
pinned down the labelling details of the drug's active ingredients
or its shelf life. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) FOR THE ILL IN CANADA, THE POT'S IN THE POST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
It has been a green Christmas for many medical marijuana users
across Canada, courtesy of Canada Post. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Canadian compassion clubs were able to leave shrink-wrapped ounces
of marijuana under trees via a new shipping system that utilizes
Canada Express Post. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The system is giving sick and dying Canadians, who have legal
exemptions from the health ministry to smoke marijuana as medicine,
safe and secure delivery. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) UK POLICE EXTEND SOFTLY-SOFTLY PILOT SCHEME ON CANNABIS POSSESSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Scotland Yard has extended a controversial pilot scheme that relaxes
the force's attitude towards cannabis possession following an
interim study that indicates it has been a complete success, the
Guardian can reveal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The six-month initiative in Lambeth, south London, was due to end on December 31, but senior officers have decided to leave it in place pending a comprehensive review by the Police Foundation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Although the Met is cautious about pre-empting the foundation's findings, which are due to be published in February, the force has decided to persevere with the scheme - a sure sign that the commissioner, Sir John Stevens, is keen for it to roll out across the capital. He regards the system whereby people caught with cannabis are given on-the-spot warnings rather than being cautioned, arrested and possibly charged as "sensible and progressive". | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACK IN U.S. COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
District advocates of medical marijuana use filed suit in U.S.
District Court yesterday to put the issue back on the ballot in
November, four years after an identical initiative set off a
confrontation with Congress over home rule. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two advocacy groups are seeking an injunction against a federal law
that effectively blocks the city from putting the issue before
voters again. Sixty-nine percent of D.C. residents supported the
medical use of marijuana in a 1998 vote. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"This is a clear First Amendment, free-speech issue," said Alexei
Silverman, an attorney for the Marijuana Policy Project and the
Medical Marijuana Initiative Committee, the two groups backing the
lawsuit. "D.C. residents have the right to voice their opinion and
their vision of what the laws in their city should be." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (22-27) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
So-called "Plan Colombia," reported the Financial Times, has failed.
Coca paste prices were said to be unchanged, and previously sprayed
areas are once more green with coca. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The amount of amphetamine smuggled from China to South Korea has
tripled over the past year, officials reported. Police seized 91
kilograms of amphetamines last week, South Korea's "largest amount
of narcotics ever confiscated at a single time." Chinese officials
admitted last week that the manufacture of illegal drugs there is
increasing. Chinese government figures count "901,000 registered
drug abusers, including 745,000 heroin addicts." | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Vietnam, there were still 37 "drug addicts" remaining at large
last week from a group of 142 involved in a mass escape from a "drug
rehabilitation center." It was the second mass breakout from the
center in the past month. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The UK government will make compulsory "on-the-spot" drug tests for
drivers who police suspect of using drugs, transport minister David
Jamieson declared last week. The announcement followed a television
dramatization where a BBC reporter smoked cannabis and then had
difficulties driving. A government "campaign" was also launched last
week in the UK to emphasize the dangers of taking drugs like cocaine
and heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) PLAN COLOMBIA FAILS TO CUT SUPPLY OF DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Just over a year ago, the people of Putumayo province watched the
launch of 'Plan Colombia', the US-supported anti-drug programme. For
weeks, helicopters patrolled and crop-spraying aircraft deposited a
fine mist of herbicide over Putumayo's huge fields of coca, the raw
material for cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In El Tigre, at the heart of the drug-growing area, there has been
one big change since then: the village, which used to live under
leftwing guerrilla control, is now dominated by illegal rightwing
paramilitaries. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
That professed support probably makes the U.S. squeamish. After all,
paramilitaries and guerrillas alike are considered terrorist enemies
of the US. But Washington is likely to be just as concerned by what
has not happened in El Tigre and elsewhere in Putumayo: so far,
there are not many signs that Plan Colombia is succeeding in cutting
the supply of illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Local prices for semi-processed coca paste ( a useful indicator of availability ) have barely changed, and fields left brown by herbicide spraying are now once more sprouting with coca. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Although the paramilitaries say they agree with eradication because it helps to reduce the guerrilla presence, coca still flourishes in areas they control: they charge less tax than the leftwing groups. Both guerrillas and paramilitaries depend heavily on drug money. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(23) AMOUNT OF DRUGS SMUGGLED FROM CHINA SKYROCKETS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The amount of methamphetamine, or speed, smuggled from China into
South Korea this year is 3.2 times larger than last year's total,
officials and prosecutors said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There also is rapid growth in cases where drugs produced in China
are shipped to South Korea before reaching destinations in Southeast
Asia, they said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office said that a total of 149.2 kg
of the drugs were smuggled into Korea by air or sea from last
January to November, a quantity 3.2 times larger than the 46.2 kg in
2000, and 14 times larger than the 10.2 kg in 1999. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The amount of methamphetamine produced in China and confiscated in
South Korea by investigators this year, reached 145 kg, a hefty
increase from 35.5 kg in 2000 and 10.2 kg in 1999. The figures show
that drugs from China make up most of the narcotics smuggled into
Korea, the officials said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last week in Busan, authorities seized 91 kg of speed, the largest
amount of narcotics ever confiscated at a single time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The stash, worth 300 billion won on the street, was en route to a
drug crime ring in Manila, the Philippines, they said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(24) CHINA TO STRIKE HARD ON DRUG-RELATED CRIMES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the first 11 months of this year, anti-drug forces throughout the
country cracked down on a total of 97,800 drug cases, arresting
67,500 people on drug charges and confiscating 12.3 tons of heroin,
2.3 tons of opium, 4.6 tons of methamphetamine hydrochloride known | ||||||||||||||||||||
The authorities have successfully stopped the trafficking of 1,352
tons of raw material chemicals abroad and shut down 44 underground
drug factories throughout the country, Jia said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
By the end of October this year, China had 901,000 registered drug
abusers, including 745,000 heroin addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(25) MASS ESCAPE FROM VIETNAMESE DRUG REHAB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HANOI, Vietnam ( AP ) -- Vietnamese police are searching for 37 drug
addicts still at large from a group of 142 who escaped from a drug
rehabilitation center in southern Vietnam, in the second massive
breakout from the same center in less than a month, an official said
Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The inmates climbed the center's two-meter (6.5 foot ) wall while 12
guards were busy distributing meals to other inmates, said the
official of the center in Can Tho province, 200 kilometers (125
miles ) south of Ho Chi Minh City. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police, guards and villagers captured 98 of the addicts later in the
day, and families and local governments handed over seven more three
days later, the official said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
News of the Dec. 9 escape did not appear in Vietnam's | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Vietnam plans to send all of its known 130,000 drug addicts through
mandatory rehabilitation programs over the next five years despite
their high failure rate. Officials say 97 percent of treated addicts
return to drugs within five years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The country has more than 50 drug rehabilitation centers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(26) DRUG-DRIVE TESTS TO BE COMPULSORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
On-the-spot capability tests for motorists suspected of driving
under the influence of drugs will be made compulsory, a minister has
confirmed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The tests will allow police officers to check a driver's ability,
even if he or she passes a standard breath test. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Junior transport minister David Jamieson told BBC Radio Five Live
that as soon as legislative time allows, driving impairment tests
will be made compulsory. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A investigation for the Five Live Report programme found a driver who smoked cannabis could not walk in a straight line and went on to fail three basic tests on reaction time and co-ordination. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The findings follow proposals to re-classify cannabis from a class
'B' to a class 'C' drug and a UKP1.5m government campaign aimed at
preventing young people from taking ecstasy and cocaine on New
Year's Eve. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(27) CHANGE OF TACK IN DRUG WARNING CAMPAIGN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A government campaign to highlight the health risks of teenagers taking class A drugs such as heroin and cocaine was launched yesterday to coincide with the run-up to New Year's Eve. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The latest official figures estimate that 675,000 16-19 year olds
regularly take drugs and that up to 220,000 use class A drugs such
as heroin, cocaine and ecstasy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The publicity campaign is using radio and magazine advertising, and
posters in clubs and colleges. It marks a sharp departure from the
"just say no" campaigns, concentrating instead on educating young
people and their parents on the health risks and dangers of drug
use. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
CSDP Ad Shows Public Saying No To Drug War | ||||||||||||||||||||
The most recent advertisement from Common Sense for Drug Policy is
entitled "The Public Is Saying No More Drug War." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
GRASS, The Movie - On Line! | ||||||||||||||||||||
This feature length film takes a comprehensive look at cannabis -
classic clips and rare footage provide a historical look at cannabis
and how it was made illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It can be viewed at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||
Salute To DrugSense | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thank you for the kind words in your New Year's Day message, Steve
Kubby. Actually it is the thousands of volunteers who accomplish a
wide range of tasks that make DrugSense a success. Readers may see
what Steve wrote at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Upcoming Online Chats | ||||||||||||||||||||
Guest Venue Date Time Nol van Schaik Drugsense 01/06/02 8 PM EDT | ||||||||||||||||||||
Panel - "Indictment of Prohibition" | ||||||||||||||||||||
NY Times 01/07/02 8 PM EDT | ||||||||||||||||||||
Judge James P. Gray, Superior Court Judge | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/auth/login | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
PRISONER OF WAR | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Michael L. Cummings | ||||||||||||||||||||
To the editor: | ||||||||||||||||||||
This was my 11th Christmas in the federal prison at Terre Haute. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Christmas time brings back memories; some good and some bad. It
brings back memories of being free, and memories of my Christmases
in 1967 and 1968, while serving as a young medic paratrooper in
Vietnam. I received hundreds of cards and Christmas packages from
people back home, thanking me and showing their appreciation for me
serving my country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
When I returned from Vietnam, not only did I bring back the
memories, the malaria, the wounds and the medals, (my country said I
was a hero), but I also brought back a drug habit. Eventually, the
drug habit won over and landed me in a new war. This time, as a
"prisoner of the drug war." | ||||||||||||||||||||
I no longer receive the Christmas cards and packages, although I'm
still the same person I was back then, when my country said I was a
war hero, albeit much older, and I no longer have a drug habit. But,
now my country says I'm a threat to society, "for a nonviolent drug
crime," and I must spend the rest of my Christmases here in federal
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Recently, the Supreme Court ruled, in Apprendi vs. New Jersey, that
sentences like mine were un-Constitutional. But, Congress passed a
law in 1996 called the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty
Act, that says I can no longer file an appeal because of a
technicality. So, I must sit here. Christmas after Christmas,
thinking of the memories, for the rest of my life. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Do you really think the "war on drugs" is working? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Michael L. Cummings, | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Honorable Mention Letters of the Week | ||||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Federal Blasphemy | ||||||||||||||||||||
Steven McCarty | ||||||||||||||||||||
The arguments presented in this paper, though Christian in
perspective apply to all of the major religions. In particular,
blasphemy against God is not tolerated by any of the major religions
and in some cases warrants the death penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The government of the United States is bound by the Constitution.
Among the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution is the freedom of
religion. This freedom of religion has been compromised in recent
years by the never ending and dismally unsuccessful drug war. The
federal government and the DEA in there attempts to control the use
of psychoactive substances have enacted many laws which are aimed
primarily at Hemp in all its forms. No one can argue that purified
drugs like heroin, cocaine and liquor can be extremely dangerous and
should be regulated. Marijuana however is in it's natural form and
not in a chemically purified form. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Here is where our constitutionally protected freedom of religion has been violated. This nation is composed largely of people who believe in a supreme being, a creator of Man and the universe and referred to as God. America was founded by people who believed in this same God and provisions were made to allow for the belief and worship of God without government interference. In our courts when a witness takes the stand they are required to take an oath by God with their right hand raised. Severe penalties including imprisonment can result if that oath is violated. At the beginning a session of Congress a prayer is delivered by the House Chaplain. It is too late to deny that belief in God shapes and has shaped our nation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now those who believe in God also believe the Bible when it tells us
that God created all things and that there is nothing which exists
that God did not make, Marijuana included. God created all things in
his wisdom and our government may not deny this. Marijuana has been
used for thousands of years as a medicine. Many doctors today
including the former Surgeon General of the United States have told
us that Marijuana is not only a useful medicinal substance but that
there are cannabinoid receptors in the human brain. The existence of
these receptors is clear evidence that God intended for us to use
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Holy Bible tells us to listen to our doctors, that they have
been given knowledge and that someday our lives may be in the hands
of doctors. The Federal Government, by controlling marijuana is
guilty of not only of violating religious freedom but of committing
the most heinous infraction mentioned in the Bible. The violations I
am referring to are the influencing of the thinking our religious
leaders to gain compliance for a government agenda and Blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is no stretch of the imagination to say that our religious leaders are echoing the governments anti drug rhetoric. If you ask any member of the Clergy regardless of the religion they will tell you that Marijuana is bad. This is an automatic reaction that requires no thought on their part. Pot is bad, end of story. They have been conditioned by government propaganda to condemn Marijuana. When Marijuana is mentioned they no longer stop to think that it is something that God created in his wisdom for our benefit. They just condemn it and pass on the rhetoric. In this way the federal government has altered the thinking of our religious leaders to reject God's work and wisdom in favor of a government agenda. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The manipulation of the thinking of the Clergy is not the most
serious infraction. The next one is far more damning and insidious.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, this is the one sin which even
Jesus Christ has no power to forgive. Jesus told the Apostles that
all manor of sins in this world and the next will be forgiven, sins
against the Father and sins against the Son. The one sin which will
not be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What is blasphemy? This is a difficult question, one with many
answers. One clear answer is to reject the wisdom of God, this can
most certainly be considered blasphemy. By making marijuana illegal
the federal government shows intolerance for the works of God and
thereby rejects the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, saying this has no
place in Man's world. By making marijuana illegal the effect is to
say God was wrong to create this and Man will now correct his
mistake. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The federal government has rallied the people to accept it's policy
of condemning Marijuana. In doing so the people have unwittingly
rejected the work of God to satisfy the federal government. The
individual members of the federal government may personally reject
the works and deny the wisdom of God but they may not make it a
government policy to do so nor may they force the people to do so.
It is a personal choice to reject and thereby deny the wisdom of
God. | ||||||||||||||||||||
By making marijuana illegal they force the people to reject the
works of God in order to be in compliance with a government policy.
If this rejection could not be construed as blasphemy then we might
go ahead and abuse the salvation Christ brought us and commit this
sin as a fact of daily life. The fact that it might be considered
blasphemy against the Holy Spirit makes it impossible. Further,
since the Constitution provides for separation of Church and state
the federal government may not deny or even rule on the possibility
of blasphemy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In addition to the above, the federal government is guilty of
attempted genocide of the species hemp. A small body of men has
decided for all humanity alive today and for all future generations
that hemp may not exist on this planet. They have ignored the advice
of our doctors and made a decision which they are unqualified to
make. It's as if someone goes to a doctor and a diagnosis is made, a
prescription is written and the person then goes down the street and
asks a policeman what they should do. The federal government must
cease and desist in it's interference with religious freedom and
it's attempts at genocide and repeal any and all laws pertaining to
the control of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In conclusion, it might be argued that this is all just a hypothetical argument and not to be taken seriously. The problem is that countless American citizens have had their lives destroyed by the war on drugs. People are taken and thrown into the worst hell on earth where they are beaten, molested, raped and murdered. Their lives are replaced with utter hopelessness, their families destroyed and their assets seized. They loose everything because of a government policy. Because of the destruction of American lives the drug war and particularly the war on hemp has caused, a careful examination of the arguments presented in this paper is warranted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed
(and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an
endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." | ||||||||||||||||||||
-- H.L. Mencken | ||||||||||||||||||||
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