| May 3, 2002 #248 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) UK: POLICE CHIEFS PLAN SOFTER APPROACH TO HARD DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Chief constables will call today for some heroin and cocaine users to be sent for treatment rather than ending up in court. | ||||||||||||||||||
In radical plans for a shake-up of the drug laws, the Association of
Chief Police Officers (Acpo) also proposes a more relaxed approach
towards those caught with small amounts of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
A similar policy has been pioneered under the direction of Brian Paddick, the controversial commander whose tactics have led to an increase in arrests for hard drugs in his south London borough. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) EUROPE MOVES DRUG WAR FROM PRISONS TO CLINICS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LISBON -- The last time the cops nabbed Miguel, he was carrying one
envelope with several grams of heroin and another with a slightly
smaller stash of cocaine. "I thought, 'Oh Lord, here we go again,' "
Miguel said, grimacing at the memory. "I figured I was headed
straight back to Leiria," the dank national prison where he has
served two terms on drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||||
As it turned out, Miguel did not do another stretch behind bars --
not because of a clever defense lawyer, but because of Portugal's
fundamentally new battle plan in the long-running war on drugs: This
nation of 10 million has decriminalized all drug use. | ||||||||||||||||||
Today Miguel remains a free man, dividing his time between part-time
work as an auto mechanic and outpatient treatment at Lisbon's
biggest drug treatment clinic. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's a good deal, because what I really want is to give up drugs,"
said the 29-year-old addict, who admitted that he has sold small
amounts of drugs on occasion to support his habit. "And I could
never do that in prison; in there, the dealers are living right next
to you." | ||||||||||||||||||
The way Portugal has handled Miguel (under clinic rules, his full
name cannot be disclosed) and thousands of people like him reflects
a shifting attitude toward drugs in many West European countries.
Increasingly, drug users are viewed not as criminals, but as victims
of a drug culture that tough laws could not control. | ||||||||||||||||||
Spain, Italy and Luxembourg have also decriminalized possession and
use of most drugs, and several other countries have effectively done
the same by waiving criminal penalties for addicts who are not found
to be dealing. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) CANADA: PROHIBITION HAS LITTLE EFFECT ON POT-SMOKING: REPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Senate Committee Debunks Various Theories About Marijuana Use | ||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA (CP) - Efforts to prevent marijuana use are having little
impact, and young Canadians are smoking up in greater numbers than
ever, a Senate report says. An estimated 30 to 50 per cent of people
15 to 24 years old have used cannabis despite its illegality, the
report, released Thursday by the Senate committee on illegal drugs,
says. | ||||||||||||||||||
"When you examine cannabis usage among youth, you realize that
public policy has absolutely no effect," Senator Pierre Claude
Nolin, committee chairman, told a news conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The psychology of adolescents seems to take no account of the rules
of law." | ||||||||||||||||||
After studying the pros and cons of pot use for 14 months, the
committee also concludes that scientific evidence suggests marijuana
isn't a so-called gateway drug that leads to the use of harder
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The discussion paper, intended to guide public consultation on the
marijuana issues, indicates that millions of dollars in public money
being spent to combat pot is wasted. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) US CA: MANDATORY SENTENCING BACKLASH BUILDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Theresa Wilson--a first-time, nonviolent drug
offender--tried to sell a prescription medication to an undercover
police officer for $150 back in 1998. She was tried as a "drug
baron" under this state's strict narcotics laws, and sentenced to
life in prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, the 34-year-old mother of two got perhaps the first
break of her life. She was freed. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You've gotten a second chance," said Jefferson County Circuit Judge
Tommy Nail. "Don't blow it." To many, Wilson had become a symbol of
the high price of mandatory sentencing. And her release is the
latest in a series of events challenging those laws. | ||||||||||||||||||
Intended to target drug kingpins, many mandatory minimum laws, as
they're known, more often have sent addicts, drug dealers'
girlfriends and college kids peddling marijuana to prison for long
terms. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases, probably in
the fall, challenging California's three-strikes law, the toughest
of its kind in the nation. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The entrenched position of prohibitionists was on display across the
country last week. Drug czar John Walters took to the oped page of
the Washington Post to attack marijuana with the usual doublespeak.
Los Angeles Police appear unable to even think about alternatives to
DARE, despite orders from the city's police commission. The naming
of a Wisconsin park led to new interest in CIA-related drug
trafficking last week. A participant in the Vietnam-era version of
the scheme still insists it never happened. | ||||||||||||||||||
An Alabama newspaper was one of the few in the country to notice
that the U.S. Government Accounting Office had issued a report about
drug court programs. The GAO said it's impossible to evaluate many
programs due to a lack of data. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police in Maryland are suing a cell phone company for not helping
enough with narcotics investigations. And, the U.S. Supreme Court
declined to review a case from Cincinnati in which lower courts had
rejected the city's plan to banish drug dealers from certain
neighborhoods. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) THE MYTH OF 'HARMLESS' MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Last December the University of Michigan released its annual survey
"Monitoring the Future," which measures drug use among American
youth. Very little had changed from the previous year's report; most
indicators were flat. The report generated little in the way of
public comment. | ||||||||||||||||||
Yet what it brought to light was deeply disturbing. Drug use among
our nation's teens remains stable, but at near-record levels, with
some 49 percent of high school seniors experimenting with marijuana
at least once prior to graduation -- and 22 percent smoking
marijuana at least once a month. | ||||||||||||||||||
After years of giggling at quaintly outdated marijuana scare stories like the 1936 movie "Reefer Madness," we've become almost conditioned to think that any warnings about the true dangers of marijuana are overblown. But marijuana is far from "harmless" -- it is pernicious. Parents are often unaware that today's marijuana is different from that of a generation ago, with potency levels 10 to 20 times stronger than the marijuana with which they were familiar. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) POLICE RESISTANCE TO GUTTING DARE PROGRAM ANGERS PANEL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Los Angeles Police Commission members didn't shrink at ousting a
powerful and popular police chief. But they seem to have found a
more formidable adversary in DARE, the LAPD's longtime drug-abuse
education program. | ||||||||||||||||||
Commissioners first talked about gutting DARE's staff two months ago
to free up more officers for the LAPD's depleted narcotics and gang
units. | ||||||||||||||||||
The deliberations have unfolded quietly in recent months in the
shadow of the higher-profile controversy over the commission's
rejection of a second five-year-term for Chief Bernard C. Parks.
Parks is now out, but DARE remains standing. Despite commissioners'
repeated requests, LAPD officials have yet to provide them with the
"creative solutions" they had requested so that most DARE officers
might be temporarily shifted to other duties and the program
replaced by something else. | ||||||||||||||||||
In fact, as the debate stretches into its third month, LAPD brass
appears to be more interested in arguing DARE's merits and
protecting it from further cuts than in responding to the
commission's requests. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) SEN. GEORGE ASKS UW FOR PROBE ON VANG PAO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
State Sen. Gary George is calling on UW-Madison Chancellor John
Wiley to order an investigation into allegations by a UW-Madison
professor that the commander of the CIA's secret army in the Vietnam
War - now a leader of refugee Hmong in the United States - engaged
in drug trafficking in Laos. | ||||||||||||||||||
The allegations, 30 years old, resurfaced this month, enraging the
refugee community. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We will seek the truth and follow that path wherever it leads,"
George said Friday at a news conference at the State Capitol packed
with Hmong veterans and supporters of Gen. Vang Pao. | ||||||||||||||||||
Professor Alfred McCoy wrote about his findings on the role of Vang
Pao and the CIA in drug trafficking in southeast Asia in a 1972
book, "The Politics of Heroin." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Since an April 17 article in The Capital Times recounting McCoy's
allegations, Hmong veterans and leaders from throughout the state
have protested his conclusions vigorously, picketing the University
of Wisconsin and demanding that McCoy apologize. | ||||||||||||||||||
The examination of Vang Pao's history was prompted by a proposal by
Madison Park Board member Locha Thao that a new park on the far east
side be named in honor of Vang Pao. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) OVERSIGHT LACKING IN 560 DRUG COURTS, SAYS REPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON The government is not properly tracking whether 560 drug
courts in the United States, including Birmingham's, are successful
in keeping offenders off drugs and out of jail, according to a
report released Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Those 560 courts, out of 800 total, have received more than $217
million in federal grants since 1995. | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Department of Justice "continues to lack vital information
on the overall impact of federally funded drug court programs,"
according to a General Accounting Office review. The GAO is the
investigative arm of Congress and studied the issue at the request
of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) NEXTEL BEING SUED BY CITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Companies Accused Of Impeding Drug Cases; Charged With Defying
Order; Disconnected Cell Phones Disrupt Police Wiretaps | ||||||||||||||||||
Fed up with phone companies jeopardizing their wiretap | ||||||||||||||||||
Assistant State's Attorney Jill J. Myers has asked a Circuit Court
judge to fine Nextel for "intentional and willful noncompliance"
with a court order demanding that the company not turn off a cell
phone number used by an alleged drug kingpin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) NO REVIEW FOR DRUG DEALER POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court refused Monday to enter a
constitutional debate over the policy of banishing drug dealers or
other criminals from neighborhoods with severe drug and crime
problems. | ||||||||||||||||||
The court did not comment in rejecting an appeal from authorities in
Cincinnati. The city tried to ban drug criminals from the crime- and
drug-plagued Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, but the policy was
declared unconstitutional in state and federal courts. | ||||||||||||||||||
The issue may return to the high court soon, however. Challenges to "drug-free zones" are still working their way through lower courts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
There was little major news in the world of prisons and law
enforcement this week. Some less prominent stories showed that
police officials often have their own ideas about drug law
enforcement, regardless of constitutional principles, the viewpoints
of others, and objective reality. | ||||||||||||||||||
For example, bail money isn't good enough to get out of jail in one
Louisiana municipality. Morgan City has been sued over a policy that
hinders arrestees from making bail without first passing, and paying
for, a urine test. | ||||||||||||||||||
In New York, witnesses are now disputing police accounts of a
botched drug raid that left one man dead. In New Jersey, the state
Supreme Court ruled that police can't search people based solely on
a hunch. And in Philadelphia, police are ready to solve the city's
drug problems in a single day. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) LAWSUIT SAYS DRUG-TESTING POLICY VIOLATES CONSTITUTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LAFAYETTE - A class action lawsuit has been filed against Morgan City, alleging that a policy that requires people arrested there to submit to drug test as a condition of bail is unconstitutional. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Morgan City police arrested [Michael] Lemoine on May 2, 2001, on an
DWI charge. The charge has been dismissed. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to the lawsuit, Lemoine was told he had to take a urine
drug test - and pay $10 for it - if he wanted to be released on the
preset bail amount for the charge. | ||||||||||||||||||
If Lemoine refused the test, the lawsuit states, he would have had to wait for one of the semi-weekly bail hearings before a judge. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) COPS' ACCOUNT DISPUTED AGAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A second witness in the fatal shooting of Jose Colon -- who Suffolk
police have said was accidentally killed by an officer during a drug
raid in Bellport April 19 -- has come forward to dispute the
police's version of events. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
...about 50 friends and relatives of Colon, who gathered on Friday | ||||||||||||||||||
"I want justice for my son because he was murdered in cold blood,"
Colon's father, Juan Colon, said, calling for a special independent
investigator. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We can't have cops investigating cops," he said. Colon also said
Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota is too close to the police
department to conduct an impartial investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) JUSTICES SAY A HUNCH NOT GOOD ENOUGH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The state Supreme Court, continuing a long tradition of favoring individual privacy rights over police powers, has ruled law enforcement authorities need more than a hunch about potential danger before searching a person arrested for a minor offense. | ||||||||||||||||||
The case arises from a 1999 incident in Long Branch in which Detective Raymond Chaparro Jr. arrested someone for trespassing, a disorderly persons offense, and searched him. Police normally search people they arrest to be sure suspects don't have weapons. | ||||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement officers say the decision could make it harder for
them to work in drug-infested areas. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) PHILADELPHIA POLICE PLAN NEW ANTI-DRUG PUSH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The goal is prevention and deterrence rather than arrests, the
police commissioner said - and the campaign will last "as long as it
takes." | ||||||||||||||||||
The Philadelphia Police Department is expected to launch its largest
antidrug operation ever this week: an unprecedented campaign to
disrupt narcotics trafficking citywide. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're going to take back this city - basically in one day," said
Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson. | ||||||||||||||||||
He said details of the effort would be revealed before the police
move ahead. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
This week's first three stories focus on California, the most active
battleground between federal and state's rights over medicinal
cannabis legislation. With the hope of avoiding further suffering by
their sickest constituents, the Berkeley City Council unanimously
passed a resolution asking local city police not to cooperate with
the DEA in its ongoing investigation of medical marijuana compassion
clubs. Meanwhile, James Halloran, one of the men arrested in the
last series of club busts, may have avoided jail time by pleading
guilty to cultivation and money laundering in a plea bargain that
could see him turn evidence against his former partners, including
famed cannabis author/grow expert Ed Rosenthal. Lastly, Hollister
Sheriff Curtis Hill, who gained a brief amount of infamy for
refusing to return 11 grams of medical marijuana to a seriously ill
California man after a judge had ordered him to do so, has finally
relinquished the cannabis. The sheriff tried to get the cannabis
seized by federal agents, but two federal magistrate judge's refused
to sign the order that would allow the DEA to take possession of the
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis news from the East coast focused on the Vermont medical
cannabis bill, which has just been endorsed by the state Senate
Health and Welfare Committee. The more conservative Judiciary
Committee must now approve the bill before the Senate breaks for the
summer. | ||||||||||||||||||
And in the UK, the death knell of prohibition was drowned out by the sound of sirens and drug-dogs as 60 officers raided the UK's second Dutch-style coffee shop, located in Dorset, as it was being featured in a BBC documentary on the financial aspects of the cannabis trade. The bust netted 7 arrests, or about 9 officers per detainee. Even in the ever more liberal UK, poor policing policy prevails. Pity. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) BERKELEY CITY COUNCIL DIRECTS POLICE TO SHUN DEA IN POT BUSTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Berkeley City Council quietly and unanimously passed a
resolution affirming the city's support for medical marijuana
Tuesday night. | ||||||||||||||||||
Against the recommendation of City Manager Weldon Rucker, the
council directed the Berkeley Police Department not to cooperate
with the Drug Enforcement Administration in investigations of
medical marijuana clubs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The council, however, tabled a second measure calling for the city's
support for Ed Rosenthal, a high-profile marijuana grower arrested
in the Harm Reduction Center bust. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) GUILTY PLEA IN CALIFORNIA MEDICAL POT CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OAKLAND -- An Oakland man arrested in February's federal raids of
Bay Area marijuana sites pleaded guilty Tuesday to cultivation and
money laundering charges that could put him in federal prison for
life. | ||||||||||||||||||
But James Halloran, 61, might not serve a day behind bars. Under his
plea bargain -- filed under seal but discussed in court Tuesday --
he might give prosecutors information useful in their case against
others who were arrested Feb. 12, including well-known marijuana
writer and activist Ed Rosenthal, 56, of Oakland. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Mr. Halloran is very ill -- that's why he pled today," Dennis J.
Roberts, Halloran's attorney, told U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown
Armstrong. "He has hepatitis C." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) CALIFORNIA SHERIFF RETURNS POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Curtis Hill relinquished 11 grams of medicinal marijuana
belonging to a terminally ill Hollister man Monday, hours before
Judge Steve Sanders was poised to cite the lawman for contempt of
court. | ||||||||||||||||||
Two weeks ago, Hill said that he would not return Jack Campo's pot
after UNET agents busted the man and his roommates last January
during a drug raid at their rented home on Hilltop Road. Because the
50-year-old Campo had a Stanford doctor's letter explaining his
condition and that symptoms are relieved by smoking marijuana, the
drug case against Campo was dismissed. Sanders then ordered that the
sheriff return the medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Hill refused, pitting federal law against state law. Under
California's Proposition 215, medically qualified patients are
allowed to possess small amounts of pot. Under federal law,
possession of any amount of marijuana is illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) VERMONT SENATE COMMITTEE ENDORSES MARIJUANA BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MONTPELIER -- The Senate Health and Welfare Committee Thursday
unanimously endorsed a bill that would decriminalize marijuana
possession and use for patients suffering from a variety of
illnesses, but prospects for further action on the bill appeared
dim. | ||||||||||||||||||
By a 5-0 vote the committee sent the bill back to the full Senate
after making a few changes. But committee Chairwoman Sen. Nancy
Chard, D-Windham, made it clear to members that theirs wasn't the
final word. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This bill must go to the Judiciary Committee because there's a lot
of law enforcement (provisions) in it," she said. "(Judiciary
Committee Chair-man) Sen. (Richard) Sears (D-Bennington) has made it
clear that it's unlikely he'll have time to take testimony ... and
act on it." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) SEVEN HELD IN UK CANNABIS CAFE RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Seven people have been arrested for alleged drugs offences after a
police raid on a cannabis cafe. Dorset Police raided the shop in
Station Approach, Bournemouth, on Wednesday night, as it was being
featured in a BBC Two documentary. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
A total of 60 police officers as well as a police dog and handler
were involved in the raid. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
As Afghan opium traders fumed over government raids that looked more like stealing than orderly seizures, the UN optimistically predicted that it could take "a decade" to stop Afghani opium production. | ||||||||||||||||||
A U.S. grand jury returned an indictment against the Colombian FARC
rebel group and six of its members. This was, declared John
Ashcroft, a great leap forward "toward ridding our hemisphere of the
narcoterrorism that threatens our lives, our freedom and our human
dignity." | ||||||||||||||||||
Attempting to outdo one other in drug-war righteousness and purity,
politicians in Indonesia were asked (as part of the PDI-P's party
"commitment to combating the use of drugs"), to submit urine for
drug testing. The testing proposal was made by president
Sukarnoputri Megawati, who is also the party chairman. The proposed
testing exempts the president. | ||||||||||||||||||
A report last week in the Bangkok Post detailed allegations that Thai authorities were engaging in extra-judicial killings, summarily executing people suspected of selling drugs. "Many addicts and dealers were killed after the government launched its campaign on drugs," said one social worker. "Most were shot in the head." | ||||||||||||||||||
And last week, former anti-drugs cabinet minister Mo Mowlam
announced that all drugs should be legal. "You'd have the money from
tax," she noted. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) AFGHAN SHOP OWNERS PROTEST OPIUM RAIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
GHANI KHIEL, Afghanistan -- Soldiers stormed Afghanistan's
biggest drug market, seizing more than 6 tons of opium. | ||||||||||||||||||
The raid this week showed the interim government's resolve to wipe
out the lucrative opium trade that resumed with the fall of the
Taliban. But shopkeepers said the soldiers appeared more like a
thieving party, ripping the watches off the wrists of store owners,
pulling money from their pockets and taking everything in the shops
-- as well as the opium. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They weren't interested in destroying our opium. They took our
opium to sell," said Javed Khan, a store owner. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now residents of Ghani Khiel, 36 miles east of the provincial capital of Jalalabad, are fighting mad -- and heavily armed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) ANGRY OPIUM DEALERS PROTEST RAID ON SHOPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
On Friday residents warned they were ready to do battle with the
government if a settlement is not brokered by their elders, who were
meeting to find a way out of the impasse. But negotiations won't be
easy -- 50 residents are in jail and the entire village is up in
arms. The U.N. Drug Control Program, meanwhile, warned that it could
take a decade to end poppy production in Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) U.S. INDICTS COLOMBIAN REBEL GROUP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- A federal grand jury, striking a blow against a
terrorist threat outside the Arab world, indicted a Colombian rebel
group and six of its members Tuesday on charges of murdering three
Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||
The indictment, returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in
Washington, accused the FARC organization and the individuals of
murder, conspiracy to commit murder, using a firearm during a crime
of violence and aiding and abetting. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"These three workers went to Colombia to do good but instead met with great evil," Attorney General John Ashcroft said. "Today's action is a step toward ridding our hemisphere of the narcoterrorism that threatens our lives, our freedom and our human dignity." | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) MEGA ORDERS DRUGS TESTS FOR HER PARTY LEADERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
JAKARTA - An executive-committee meeting of President Megawati
Sukarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle ( PDI-P ) began
with party leaders taking a urine test. | ||||||||||||||||||
''This is part of the PDI-P's commitment to combating the use of
drugs,'' deputy secretary-general Pramono Anung said after the
party's weekly meeting on Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The order for the tests came from Ms Megawati, who is the party
chairman. | ||||||||||||||||||
She was exempted because, according to protocol, examination of the
President of Indonesia can be undertaken only by presidential
doctors. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(24) 'DEATH SQUAD' CLAIM DENIED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Two Dealers In Each Village Killed This Year | ||||||||||||||||||
The government has declared Kalasin the first drug-free province,
but critics ask whether police have been murdering dealers to keep
the streets clean. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sources say at least two suspected drug dealers in each village have
been killed in the past year, but no estimates of the number of
those killed were available. | ||||||||||||||||||
Activists tell stories of ''death squads'' being deployed. At the
province's behest, villagers left sandal flower _ used for cremation
_ at the doors of suspected dealers as a sign of death. | ||||||||||||||||||
Within two weeks, some dealers were shot and killed, their bodies
discarded in the street. | ||||||||||||||||||
Provincial authorities say the shootings were justified | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
NGOs believe the project is just a propaganda campaign for the
government. | ||||||||||||||||||
Angkhana Songsilp, of the Kalasin Network, said many drug addicts
under her care had moved to nearby provinces because they were
afraid of being arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Few addicts had been approached about joining rehabilitation
centres, she said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Many addicts and dealers were killed after the government launched its campaign on drugs, she said. Most were shot in the head. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(25) 'LEGALISE ALL DRUGS' - MOWLAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Former cabinet minister Mo Mowlam has called for the legalisation of
all drugs - including ecstasy, heroin and cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr Mowlam, once responsible for the government's anti-drugs policy,
told the Independent on Sunday she would tax drugs and use the
revenue to help reduce addiction. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You'd have the money from tax, which if it were ring-fenced for working with addicts whether cannabis, pills, barbiturates, coke or heroin you'd have a chance of beating it," she is quoted as saying. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PHOTOS OF MAP/DRUGSENSE PEOPLE AT NORML CONFERENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
DRUG CZAR IGNORES IOM REPORT, RECORD OF FAILURE | ||||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert on John Walters in the Washington Post | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
A FAILED STRATEGY: THE WAR ON DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
By Gustavo de Greiff - translated and published at Narco News. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ATTORNEY TONY SERRA DELIVERS SPEECH AT NORML CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT DRUG FREE AMERICA INC. | ||||||||||||||||||
Toni Latino of the Coalition for the Advocation of Medical Marijuana
tells viewers why "anti-drug" forces from Florida are not to be
believed. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
SENATE COMMITTEE DISCUSSION PAPER SETS AGENDA FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS | ||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA, May 2, 2002 - The Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs
today released a discussion paper outlining its findings to date on
marijuana policy and setting out issues for consideration in public
meetings to be held across Canada in the coming weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||
Available in PDF at: | ||||||||||||||||||
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BOOZE, DRUGS FUELLING CRIME, REPORT FINDS | ||||||||||||||||||
Most Violent Offenders Say They Were Drunk, High During Crimes | ||||||||||||||||||
Charlottetown - A national study on substance abuse and crime in
Canada has confirmed what many have long suspected: that booze and
drugs fuel criminal activity across the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
Federal Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay released the results
Tuesday of a three-year study into the cause and effect of substance
abuse on Canadian crime rates. | ||||||||||||||||||
The study found that alcohol is more often associated with violent
crimes such as murder and assault, while illegal drugs are more
commonly linked to break-ins and robberies. | ||||||||||||||||||
Available in PDF at Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ANTI-DRUG CONFERENCE ATTRACTS CRITICS | ||||||||||||||||||
Vancouver - A Vancouver anti-drug conference is being targeted by advocates of a more permissive approach to illegal drug usage. | ||||||||||||||||||
The B.C. Marijuana Party held a rally outside the trade and
convention centre, because the International Drug Education and
Awareness ( IDEA ) symposium is not open to anyone who supports drug
use. | ||||||||||||||||||
B.C. Compassion Club president Hilary Black says the conference is
about oppression, not education. | ||||||||||||||||||
Streaming Video | ||||||||||||||||||
http://vancouver.cbc.ca/clips/Vancouver/ram-lo/0200501_drugidea.ram | ||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Testing Of Workers For Drugs Is Wrong | ||||||||||||||||||
By Walter F. Wouk | ||||||||||||||||||
The right to be left alone is, in the words of the late Supreme
Court Justice Louis Brandeis, "The most comprehensive of rights and
the right most valued by civilized men." The right to privacy is an
implicit guarantee of the Constitution; yet it's the right most
violated by government officials and corporate America, who force
millions of Americans to submit to drug testing in order to get or
keep a job. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug testing presumably innocent individuals as a condition of
employment is a repudiation of everything America stands for. Drug
testing reverses the presumption of innocence upon which much of our
legal system is built. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. Many courts have ruled that to require a urine sample to be analyzed is a search under the Fourth Amendment | ||||||||||||||||||
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than 90 percent of
U.S. companies with more than 1,000 workers require drug tests.
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest corporation, drug tests all of its
800,000-plus employees. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug tests can reveal the use of contraceptives, pregnancy, medications used for depression, epilepsy, diabetes, insomnia, high blood pressure and heart disease. Employers have found drug testing a simple way to look into an individual's medical history. They can easily obtain confidential medical information and use it to eliminate job candidates and force employees out of their jobs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Employers who require individuals to submit to drug testing, as a condition of employment, are demonstrating their contempt for the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and "We the People." | ||||||||||||||||||
There is no place in a free country for gratuitous drug testing. It
is fundamentally anti-American. | ||||||||||||||||||
Walter F. Wouk, | ||||||||||||||||||
Cobleskill | ||||||||||||||||||
Wouk is director of The Thomas Paine Project, an organization
dedicated to protecting the freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of
Rights. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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HONORABLE MENTION | ||||||||||||||||||
SOCIETY PROGRAMMED TO RELY ON DRUGS
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NORML Conference Highlights | ||||||||||||||||||
By Mark Greer | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
The NORML Conference in San Francisco was one of the finest and most
enjoyable conferences I have ever attended. The attitude was upbeat,
positive, and aggressively pro-reform. The crowd numbers represented
the largest NORML conference ever and by a fairly hefty margin. Hats
off to Keith Stroup, Allan St. Pierre and other key NORML staff for
pulling off a really excellent event. | ||||||||||||||||||
I was particularly pleased to see the high percentage of
DrugSense/MAP staff and volunteers that were able to attend. It
seemed that everywhere you looked you saw another DrugSense T-Shirt
or jacket. Many were being worn by people I had never met face to
face before. For me this really seemed to help us to build an esprit
de corps both among direct DrugSense/MAP supporters and amongst
those with a looser affiliation with our organization. Judging from
the amazing amount of kudos and kind words I came away assuming that
we must be doing something right that is helping a wide array of
activists in a number of different ways. | ||||||||||||||||||
On Thursday PM we had a very nice dinner for about 40 DrugSense
folks in a private room catered by Zingare Ristorante, an upscale
restaurant near the Crowne Plaza Hotel. This was a really enjoyable
kick start to the 3 day conference. We had an "open mic" session
during which various reform leaders discussed developing projects,
acknowledged many of the attendees for their contributions and, in
general, we had a great time patting each other on the back for a
wide array of jobs well done. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of the highlights of the conference was a very funny and yet
right on target analysis of the drug war by Bill Maher. We had hoped
to have a streaming video of this excellent presentation on-line by
now but it is still pending. Stay tuned. Among other things, Maher
called for a huge march similar to the Million Man March on the mall
in Washington D.C. and aimed at reforming marijuana laws. It appears
that this suggestion is being taken seriously by many in the reform
movement. | ||||||||||||||||||
The entire flavor of the conference was one of positive, confident,
movement towards more sensible drug policies. | ||||||||||||||||||
I will not reinvent the wheel in describing the many excellent panels and speeches as Phil Smith has already done an outstanding job of this at: http://drcnet.org/wol/234.html#normlconference | ||||||||||||||||||
Suffice it to say that, if this sort of trend keeps up, we are well on our way to more major victories and sooner rather than later. | ||||||||||||||||||
Have a nice day Asa. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any
other reason but because they are not already common." - John Locke,
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, 1690 | ||||||||||||||||||
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