| Nov. 1, 2002 #274 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS SAY CARTELS REPLACING HIPPIES AS POT FARMERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO -- Mexican drug cartels, attracted by the state's rich soil and remote forests, grew nearly three-quarters of the pot seized in California this fall, state officials announced Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
That marks a dangerous shift toward large and sophisticated growing
operations, said Sonya Barna, commander of the Justice Department's
Campaign Against Marijuana Production, known as CAMP. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
This year, local, state and federal drug agents confiscated a record
354,000 of marijuana plants worth about $1.4 billion, Attorney General
Bill Lockyer said Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
State officials say higher prices -- as much as $4,000 a pound --
makes marijuana cultivation a fast-growing industry. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) U.S. HAS LOST DRUG WAR, MEXICAN CARTEL SUSPECT SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ALMOLOYA DE JUAREZ, Mexico -- Benjamin Arellano Felix, the man accused
of running Mexico's most ruthless drug cartel, said the United States
has already lost its war on drugs and that violent trafficking gangs
will thrive as long as Americans keep buying marijuana, cocaine and
heroin. | ||||||||||||||||
"It would stop being a business if the United States didn't want
drugs," Arellano said Tuesday during a rare interview in the La Palma
maximum-security federal prison here, where Mexican authorities hope
to keep him for life. | ||||||||||||||||
Most Latin Americans, from presidents to taxi drivers, say that U.S.
demand is responsible for the drug trade. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"They talk about a war against the Arellano brothers," said Arellano,
who eluded the Mexican police and military, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and the FBI for more than a decade. "They haven't won.
I'm here, and nothing has changed. | ||||||||||||||||
"When something is out of reach, it is more interesting to people," he
said. "If drugs were like cigarettes or alcohol, there wouldn't be a black
market. It would put an end to the capos." | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) DRUG TRADE FLOURISHES AGAIN IN AFGHANISTAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Critics Want The US To Target Production | ||||||||||||||||
MAM SAHIB, Afghanistan - It's here, somewhere. Tucked among the dusty
storefronts of this town, a secret laboratory reprocesses opium into
heroin that is then shipped north to Tajikistan and on to Russia,
Europe, and the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
The location of the laboratory in Imam Sahib is secret because, like
the estimated 61 other heroin factories in northern Afghanistan that
produce the deadly narcotic, it operates with the compliance, and
possibly the protection, of the warlords the US-led bombing campaign
helped bring to power. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
International drug control officials refuse to name names. But
privately they say that every major warlord and every provincial
governor in northern Afghanistan is involved. "Look at anyone who is
wealthy, and ask yourself, what in Afghanistan produces wealth, other
than drugs and smuggling," said one official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US NV: COLUMN: WONDER DRUG COVER-UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
We've heard it repeatedly. It's the mantra of prosecutors, police
officers and federal drug officials: There's no scientific evidence
that marijuana is medicine. | ||||||||||||||||
In D. Brian Burghart's News & Review article on ballot Question 9,
Burghart reported that number one on law enforcement's list of reasons
for opposing marijuana use was, "No one, not the American Medical
Association or the courts, has scientifically proven pot has medicinal
benefits." The distinguished physician Dr. Richard Gammick, Washoe
County's district attorney, once said, "They would have to prove this
is a medically necessary drug ... " | ||||||||||||||||
Well, no, they wouldn't. They already have. Not once, not twice, not a
hundred times, but thousands of times. That's how many studies of
medical marijuana are available. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-10) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As voters prepare to decide on a number of drug policy issues at the polls next week, the federal war against state marijuana initiatives took a shot this week as a federal appeals court ruled doctors may recommend marijuana for patients without fear of reprisal. The feds seem undeterred, however. A federal raid on a state-sanctioned medical marijuana user was reported for the first time in Oregon. | ||||||||||||||||
Other cases in state courts are challenging other aspects of the
drug war. In Texas, the state supreme court ruled that the smell of
marijuana is not sufficient cause for a search. The reliability of
skin patch drug tests was challenged in a Massachusetts court case
last week. An expert on the tests said outside sources can cause
false positives on the tests. | ||||||||||||||||
The hype over the overhauled DARE program is beginning, with a
cheerleader researcher boosting the program in a study this week.
One interesting revelation about the new program: school teachers,
as well as police, will be dispensing anti-drug propaganda under the
new and allegedly improved program. | ||||||||||||||||
DARE doesn't seem to be doing much in Massachusetts, where a new
report suggests that teen cocaine use is skyrocketing. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) COURT BACKS DOCS WHO TALK MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled for the first
time Tuesday that the government cannot revoke doctors' prescription
licences for recommending marijuana to sick patients. A three-judge
panel of the 9th U.S. circuit court of appeals unanimously ruled
that the Justice Department's policy interferes with the free-speech
rights of doctors and patients. | ||||||||||||||||
"An integral component of the practice of medicine is the
communication between doctor and a patient. Physicians must be able
to speak frankly and openly to patients," chief circuit Judge Mary
Schroeder said. | ||||||||||||||||
The 9th circuit upheld a two-year-old court order prohibiting the
government from stripping doctors of their licences to dispense
medication. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) FEDERAL DRUG AGENTS SEIZE MAN'S STATE-ALLOWED MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The daylight basement in Leroy Stubblefield's Sweet Home area house seems an unlikely battlefield for America's war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Stubblefield, a 52-year-old quadriplegic, and two of his caregivers
were growing 12 marijuana plants in his basement in a state-licensed
operation until Sept. 23, when a federal drug agent seized them in a
drug raid. No one was arrested. | ||||||||||||||||
It is thought to be the first time in Oregon that federal
authorities have overstepped state law -- which allows cultivation
of marijuana for personal medicinal purposes under a $150 annual
license -- and raided a marijuana growing operation. | ||||||||||||||||
Kevin Neely, spokesman for the Oregon attorney general's office,
said the seizure raises an unfortunate conflict between state and
federal law. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) JUDGES THROW OUT ODOR-BASED DRUG BUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
AUSTIN -- Where there's smoke, there may not be fire, the Court of
Criminal Appeals concluded Wednesday in ruling that the odor of
marijuana didn't give Abilene police officers probable cause to
enter a home. | ||||||||||||||||
"The odor of marijuana, standing alone, does not authorize a
warrantless search and seizure in a home," wrote Judge Charles
Holcomb in a 6-3 opinion. | ||||||||||||||||
"This case is about the right of citizens to be left alone in the
privacy of their homes," wrote Judge Cathy Cochran in a concurring
opinion. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) MASSACHUSETTS CASE CHALLENGES SWEAT PATCHES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOSTON - Henry Alfonso was arrested for allegedly dealing the
prescription painkiller OxyContin. But he's in prison now because a
small adhesive patch on his arm tested positive for traces of
cocaine. Alfonso's case is the first in Massachusetts to challenge
the reliability of the sweat patches, which are used by federal
courts across the country to test for various drugs, including
cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||
Alfonso, 32, insists he has never used cocaine. He claims the six
positive test results he has had since April were caused either by
cocaine residue left in his apartment by a previous tenant or traces
of the drug that may have been on cash his wife brought home from
her job as a stripper. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Frederick P. Smith, a professor of forensic science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said a 1999 study showed that even trace amounts of drug residue can contaminate the outside of the patch and cause a positive result. The patches absorb sweat on the skin, which is then tested for the presence of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) REVAMPED DARE PROGRAM CUTS KIDS' DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The New Curriculum Targets 5th-, 7th- And 9th-Grade Students | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - An overhauled version of the much-maligned D.A.R.E.
anti-drug program shows promising results in early trials,
researchers said, suggesting that lessons once reserved for
fifth-graders could be reborn someday for pupils in elementary
school through high school. | ||||||||||||||||
Researchers found that seventh-graders in six cities who took part in the new curriculum were more likely to find using drugs socially inappropriate than a control group, were better at refusing drugs and had fewer misconceptions about how many of their peers use drugs. They were also less likely to say they would use inhalants. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The new D.A.R.E. curriculum will target students not only in fifth
grade, but in seventh and ninth grades as well. Teachers will also
help teach lessons, unlike the current program, taught largely by
police officers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) COCAINE USE SOARS AMONG STATE YOUTH, SURVEY FINDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cocaine use tripled among Massachusetts middle school students and doubled among high school students in the past three years, according to a report issued yesterday, signaling the resurgence of a drug that counselors believed had been in decline for a decade. | ||||||||||||||||
The Department of Public Health surveyed more than 3,000 adolescents
earlier this year and found that 5.6 percent of middle school
students and 5.8 percent of high school students had used cocaine
during the preceding month, figures that spurred an immediate
reaction from the report's authors. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Counselors and treatment specialists interviewed yesterday said
cocaine has been reappearing at the street level as teenagers pursue
a quicker - and often cheaper - high. In many respects, they say,
the surge in cocaine use is a classic case of market-driven
economics: As designer ''club drugs'' such as Ecstasy flooded the
streets and commanded a growing share of the drug business, cocaine
dealers responded by slashing the price on their product. The result
was a buying binge by adolescents. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (11-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Some police are happy to run into people who appear to be using drugs. The Wall Street Journal reported this week on police efforts to learn more about the signs of intoxication. In some cities, police are cruising the streets looking for people who appear to be high in order to bring them into the station without arrest to see how people on drugs really act. After all the drug arrests that take place each year, you'd think they'd have a pretty good idea already. | ||||||||||||||||
A pair of unrelated court cases illustrated the nature of justice in
the drug war last week. A jury awarded $2 million to a man who was
shot by police in a drug raid that recovered no drugs, but no blame
was assigned to the shooter. And while police superiors were
criticized in the case, they faced no real sanctions. On the other
hand, a man who wounded a police officer in drug raid was sentenced
to at least 19 years in prison. The defendant was acquitted on drug
charges, and he says he did not realize the people storming his
house were police. | ||||||||||||||||
And there was mixed justice in Texas, where the state supreme court
ruled that police cannot obtain search warrants by phone. However,
the court still upheld the conviction of the subject of the case,
because police "acted in good faith," while trying to obtain that
warrant. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) HONING THEIR CRAFT, POLICE WANT TO GET PEOPLE DRUNK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In the search for strategies to deal with the stubborn and deadly
problem of driving under the influence, many cops are turning to an
unusual tactic: Recruiting volunteer drinkers and drug users to
teach officers to recognize impaired drivers. The tactic is drawing
criticism from skeptics who think it isn't effective or ethical. But
advocates say there is no substitute for working directly with
people who are drunk or stoned and that the training helps bolster
courtroom testimony by officers. | ||||||||||||||||
Texas and a majority of other states hold "wet workshops," in which
bar-tending cops get volunteer subjects drunk. Police in Minneapolis
say they drive around looking for people on the street who appear to
be on drugs. Officers stop the wobbly pedestrians, promising they
won't be arrested. If the subjects agree, the police take them back
to the precinct house, where other officers are waiting to inspect
them. | ||||||||||||||||
The most common technique, used in Phoenix, Houston and other
cities, is to intercept nonviolent arrestees on their way into jail.
Police offer food and an hour-long diversion from the holding tank,
in exchange for their services. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) JURY AWARDS MORE THAN $2 MILLION TO MAN WOUNDED IN '98 POLICE RAID (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Federal jurors awarded more than $2 million Thursday to a
52-year-old trailer mechanic who was wounded during a 1998 raid on
his south Kansas City home. | ||||||||||||||||
Officers raided the house in the 600 block of West 101st Street
looking for a methamphetamine lab, but found no evidence of one.
After other officers battered down the front door, Kansas City
Officer Mark Sumpter shot David Doran twice. | ||||||||||||||||
Jurors declined to hold Sumpter responsible for Doran's injuries. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead they penalized more senior police officials for failing to
supervise and properly train officers in the raid. Jurors also found
that the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners had been
"deliberately indifferent" in allowing its officers to illegally
enter homes when serving search warrants. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) JURY FINDS WINNABOW MAN GUILTY IN ASSAULT ON OFFICER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOLIVIA - A Winnabow man was sentenced Tuesday to 19 to 26 years in
prison after being found guilty of various assault charges from a
shootout with Brunswick County sheriff's deputies during a drug raid
last year. | ||||||||||||||||
A Superior Court jury found 25-year-old Paul Pelham guilty of
assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill and inflicting
serious injury, three counts of assault with a firearm on a law
enforcement officer and four drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The defense had contended throughout the trial that Mr. Pelham began
firing after men rushed into his home on Oct. 5 of last year. Mr.
Pelham was unaware they were deputies on a drug raid, the defense
said. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Pelham was shot in the left arm during the raid. Defense Lawyer Calvin Chandler argued unsuccessfully Tuesday that Mr. Pelham should receive a minimal sentence because of his serious injury. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Pelham also was sentenced for shooting at other narcotics
officers. He was found not guilty of selling drugs to a paid drug
informant on Oct. 3, 2001. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) TELEPHONIC SEARCH WARRANTS NOW BARRED BY HIGH COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
JACKSON - Law enforcement officers will not be allowed to call
judges to get search warrants issued by phone, but the state Supreme
Court made an exception in one case. | ||||||||||||||||
The justices allowed to stand the drug conviction of a Clinton man
whose apartment was searched by lawmen under a warrant issued after
a telephone call to a judge. | ||||||||||||||||
But the Supreme Court said future telephonic searches will be
considered illegal. | ||||||||||||||||
James V. White was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2000 after
his conviction in Hinds County of possession of marijuana with
intent to distribute. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A new poll by Time/CNN has shown that 72% of Americans feel that those caught with personal amounts of cannabis should not go to jail; and a full 34% favoured legalization of the herb. Which is a bit of a surprise in light of a comprehensive new article by Dan Forbes examining the incredible amount of the money and efforts being spent by drug warriors crusading against drug policy reform. | ||||||||||||||||
In Nevada, despite aggressive lobbying by the federal government,
Question 9 (which would legalize possession of small amounts by
adults) remains to close to call. Let's hope that common sense and
harm reduction will prevail. Well, at least the nation is now paying
attention to this important issue. This week, Time magazine ran a
cover story on marijuana and the upcoming polling initiatives.
Although the main article takes a rather callous tone in regards to
medical cannabis, this addendum (which examines the history, current
research and efficacy of medicinal cannabis) sheds some light on the
topic. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally, as Americans still argue and vacillate in their
opinions regarding the effectiveness of medicinal cannabis, the UK
has been forging ahead with two hospital based clinical trials. The
trials, which could result in the sale of whole-plant cannabis
derivatives in the U.K. by 2004, are examining the role of
cannabinoids in the treatment of spasticity and pain. | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) AMERICANS 'HIGH' ON MARIJUANA: POLL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
America's conservative attitude toward marijuana is going up in
smoke, according to a new survey. | ||||||||||||||||
The Time/CNN poll revealed that 72 percent of Americans now feel
that people arrested with small amounts of marijuana should not do
any jail time, while just 19 percent favored sending pot smokers up
the river. | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly 60 percent of Americans still want marijuana possession to be
considered a criminal offense - but 34 percent now favor complete
legalization. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) U.S. DRUG WARRIORS CRUSADE AGAINST REFORM INITIATIVES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
On drug policy, the voting public has proven ready to lead
spaniel-like politicians by the nose, voting for one liberalization
measure after another. But government, state and local officials
have begun a crusade to scuttle reform initiatives around the
nation. | ||||||||||||||||
Three wealthy drug reform proponents have backed a string of
successful state ballot initiatives across the nation. Focusing
initially on medical marijuana measures out west, billionaires
George Soros and Peter Lewis and multi-millionaire John Sperling
have won 12 of 13 ballot measures since 1996. Their handiwork also
includes Proposition 36, which mandates treatment rather than prison
for low-level drug offenders and was passed overwhelmingly in
California in 2000. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) NEVADA DIVIDED ON BALLOT ISSUE TO LEGALIZE USE OF MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Wedding chapel minister William Merrell, 78, says he has never smoked marijuana and doesn't drink, either. But next month he will vote to legalize personal possession of the drug for adults. | ||||||||||||||||
''I just don't like to see people put in jail for a couple of ounces
of marijuana in their possession,'' Merrell said between performing
quickie $100 weddings at the Say I Do Wedding Drive Thru on Las
Vegas Boulevard. ``I say, let the cops use those man-hours finding
some crooks.'' | ||||||||||||||||
But his wife sees it differently. A driver high on dope fell asleep
at the wheel during the summer and slammed his vehicle into a car at
a downtown stoplight, killing a woman motorist. ''That pushed her to
the other side,'' he says. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) IS POT GOOD FOR YOU? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Well, No. But the Latest Research Suggests the Health Risk From
Occasional Use Is Mild, and It Might Ease Certain Ills | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
It turns out that the study of marijuana's health effects is at once
more complex and less advanced than you might imagine.
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[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) BENEFITS OF CANNABIS SCRUTINIZED IN BRITAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Somewhere in the south of England, cannabis plants worth a small
fortune on the street are ripening in high-tech glasshouses. But
this crop, cultivated at a secret location under tight security,
will never be rolled up and smoked. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead, it will be processed into a pharmaceutical-grade extract as
part of an initiative that could see cannabis return to medical
respectability. | ||||||||||||||||
Two British research groups are conducting the world's biggest
clinical trials to determine whether the Indian hemp plant really
does confer the medical benefits many users claim. They will know
the answer in a few months. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In Vancouver, Canada, police regularly break laws and abuse suspects in the city, a report from the Pivot Legal Society revealed last week. In some cases, the physical abuse meted out by police meets U.N. definitions of torture. A Society spokesman noted drug prohibition was partly to blame by making addictions a crime. | ||||||||||||||||
Officials in Calgary, Canada made one of the nation's largest-ever MDMA busts last week. Some 120 kilos of MDMA powder was discovered hidden in pianos shipped from Germany. Police estimate the 120 kilos would yield 1.5 million doses, worth about $52.5 Canadian dollars. | ||||||||||||||||
According to a Canadian police study, most of the "Ecstasy" taken by
people at clubs is adulterated with chemicals other than MDMA.
Police admitted that many of the contaminants (such as amphetamines
or MDA) were often more dangerous than MDMA. (Under prohibition,
illegal drugs -- unlike legal drugs -- are not inspected and have
little quality control.) | ||||||||||||||||
Also from Canada last week, a new needle exchange program is slated
to open in Ontario. The Leeds, Grenville, Lanark District Health
Unit is designing the exchange program, which will also offer to
addicts counseling and some medical services. | ||||||||||||||||
In Liberia last week, experts, officials and authorities made a cheery 2.1 million dollar bonfire out of bales of confiscated buds, in a show of drug-war righteousness and bravado for an audience from the "American Embassy and UNDP." Police made predictable speeches urging "rigid and stringent laws against illicit drugs in society." | ||||||||||||||||
And finally, the official U.N. opium production estimates released this week put the year's Afghan opium harvest at 3,400 tons. This is compared to an annual 185 tons of opium produced under the Taliban. | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) POLICE ABUSE AUTHORITY, LEGAL ADVOCACY GROUP SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
City police routinely break the law and abuse the very rights they
are supposed to protect in the country's poorest neighbourhood, says
a report released Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
The conduct of Vancouver police in the Downtown Eastside meets the
legal definition of abuse of authority and, in 12 cases, meets the
United Nations definition of torture, according to the Pivot Legal
Society. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Of 50 sworn statements collected by the society over nine months,
six people said they suffered broken bones or teeth at the hands of
police. Eight others said they were beaten after they had
surrendered or were in handcuffs. | ||||||||||||||||
Thirty-six people said police used unreasonable force and seven said
they were subjected to illegal strip searches. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Pivot's [John] Richardson said the criminalization of drug addiction
is partly to blame. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) POLICE IN CALGARY MAKE BIG ECSTASY BUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CALGARY -- Describing it as one of the largest drug busts in Canadian
history, law-enforcement officials in Calgary announced yesterday the
seizure of 120 kilograms of ecstasy powder that had been stashed in
three upright pianos. | ||||||||||||||||
The powder could have made more than 1.5 million euphoria-inducing
pills worth an estimated $52.5-million on the street, RCMP Corporal
Patrick Webb said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Canada Customs and Revenue Agency commercial-goods inspectors discovered the drug on Oct. 16, when the pianos, shipped from Frankfurt, Germany, arrived at Calgary International Airport. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) MOST ECSTASY PILLS TAINTED: UBC STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Deadly additives found | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - The Ecstasy being consumed by young people at clubs,
raves and schools is contaminated with many other chemicals, many of
them more dangerous than pure Ecstasy, according to a study of large
quantities of the drug confiscated in British Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||
An analysis of the pills, liquid and crystals conducted by the RCMP
forensic lab and the University of British Columbia shows drugs
purported to be pure Ecstasy can contain up to nine different
chemicals. "We have never seen so many combinations," RCMP Corporal
Scott Rintoul said. | ||||||||||||||||
Some are loaded with MDA, or methylendioxyamphetamine, a much
harsher chemical. Other common additives include methamphetamine, or
speed, which is addictive; ketamine, a veterinary analgesic that
acts as a hallucinogen; and dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant
that can trigger a sense of euphoria. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
While there is debate about the dangers of using Ecstacy, Dr. Kish
said there is no question some of the other drugs in the pills are
health threats. "Amphetamine and methamphetamine are much more
likely to cause death than ecstacy," said Dr. Kish, who heads the
human neurochemical pathology lab at the Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(23) NEEDLE EXCHANGE PLANNED FOR TRI-COUNTIES DRUG ADDICTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Local drug addicts will soon have a place to trade used needles for
fresh ones as part of a plan to reduce the spread of AIDS and
hepatitis. | ||||||||||||||||
The Leeds, Grenville, Lanark District Health Unit is in the process
of designing a needle exchange program for the tri-county area. The
Harm Reduction Strategy will also be a way to reach out to addicts
to provide medical help and counselling. | ||||||||||||||||
The provincially mandated strategy is being implemented after a
Toronto study revealed intravenous drug use is a problem in the
tri-counties, said Laurie Doxtator, special projects co-ordinator
for the department of clinical services. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The need for the program was demonstrated in a provincewide study of intravenous drug use conducted by the University of Toronto in 1997. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(24) POLICE BURNS U.S. $2M DRUGS ... CALLS FOR RIGID DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Liberia National Police on Friday burned more than $2million
U.S. worth of illicit and dangerous drugs, including heroine,
cocaine and marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
At the burning ceremony at the National Police Headquarters on
Capitol Hill, Police Director Paul Mulbah called upon the National
Legislature to pass rigid and stringent laws against illicit drugs
in society. | ||||||||||||||||
He said otherwise, "drugs will continue to haunt us, destroy our
society and take us down the drain." | ||||||||||||||||
The police chief appeal comes in the wake of the submission of a
bill to the Legislature for the enactment of tough laws against the
sale and usage of illegal drugs in society. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Among others who watched the drugs burning ceremony were the
Minister of Information, the Director of the National Bureau of
Investigation, a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice, as well
as representatives of the American Embassy and UNDP. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(25) OPIUM OUTPUT IS SOARING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Taliban Rulers Gone, Afghans Plant Again | ||||||||||||||||
ROME -- Afghanistan's opium production has dramatically increased
this year due to U.S.-led military strikes that toppled the Taliban
rulers and enabled widespread poppy planting, the head of the United
Nations' drug agency said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
Opium output in Afghanistan this year is expected to be 3,400 tons.
In 2001, 185 tons were produced when the Taliban rulers cracked down
on poppy cultivation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CONANT V. WALTERS FEDERAL APPEALS COURT DOCUMENT ON THE NET | ||||||||||||||||
The decision was one of the top news stories of the week, as can be
seen at http://www.mapinc.org/find?154 | ||||||||||||||||
The opinion is now at: | ||||||||||||||||
Judge Kozinski's concurring opinion is at: | ||||||||||||||||
The entire document as a high quality printable .pdf file (34 pages,
78k) - an exact copy of the document provided by the court - is at
http://www.mapinc.org/conantvwalters.pdf | ||||||||||||||||
Thanks to Debra Harper of the Drug Policy Central Web Design,
Hosting and Internet Services team | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
TIME MAGAZINE SAYS WE MOVE FAST. LET'S SHOW THEM HOW FAST! | ||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
JOURNEY FOR JUSTICE | ||||||||||||||||
November Coalition Roadshow Hits East Coast | ||||||||||||||||
From the Week Online with DRCnet / by Phil Smith | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CRIME IN THE UNITED STATES, 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
FBI National Press Office, October 28, 2002, Washington D.C. | ||||||||||||||||
The Nation's Crime Index increased 2.1 percent in 2001 from the 2000
number, the first year-to-year increase since 1991, the Federal Bureau
of Investigation reported today. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MARIJUANA ARRESTS NEAR ALL-TIME HIGH IN 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
Special Release: Marijuana Arrests For Year 2001 Second Highest Ever
Despite Feds' War On Terror, FBI Report Reveals | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
THE SECRET OF WORLD-WIDE DRUG PROHIBITION | ||||||||||||||||
The varieties and uses of drug prohibition -- | ||||||||||||||||
by HARRY G. LEVINE | ||||||||||||||||
Department of Sociology | ||||||||||||||||
October 2001 | ||||||||||||||||
"What percentage of countries in the world have drug prohibition?
Is it 100 percent, 75 percent, 50 percent or 25 percent?"
I recently asked many people I know to guess the answer to this
question. Most people, especially avid readers and the political
aware, guess 25 or 50 percent. More suspicious people sometimes
guess 75 percent. The correct answer is 100 percent, but nobody
guesses that. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
COCAINE INDUSTRY 'KILLING RAINFOREST' | ||||||||||||||||
By Tim Hirsch, BBC environment correspondent | ||||||||||||||||
Cocaine-users across the world are helping to destroy the Amazon
rainforest, Colombian Environment Minister Cecilia Rodriguez has
warned. | ||||||||||||||||
Speaking in London, she appealed to the international community to
help fund a scheme to pay poor farmers to protect trees instead
of cutting them down to grow drug crops. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Look To Europe For Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||
By David d'Apollonia | ||||||||||||||||
Changing our bad prohibitive laws that criminalize marijuana is long
overdue (Gazette, Oct. 24, "Tolerance for legal pot higher"),
considering the LeDain Commission recommended decriminalization way
back in the early 1970s. What are our lawmakers waiting for,
permission from the Drug War barons in Washington? | ||||||||||||||||
Canada's own drug laws are evidently tweaked, to put it mildly, by
the United States's own warped political interests and its
puritanical social-engineering mind-set of "just say no,"
zero-tolerance, zero-thinking drug policies. Canadians deserve
better than the failures of American prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
We should be looking to the Europeans, in particular to the Netherlands, for a good example of not only a rational drug policy that works regarding marijuana use but also one that has been clearly successful in separating the truly dangerous hard drugs from the easy availability of the uncontrolled, illicit marketplace. | ||||||||||||||||
It's time our government wised up and dumped the delusions of
prohibition. Decriminalization and legalization actually mean a
regulated, controlled market - just the opposite of what criminal
interdiction and prohibition policies have delivered for the last 70
years. Prohibition is not just a failure; it's a counterproductive
fraud. | ||||||||||||||||
The majority of Canadians are trying to tell their lawmakers
something. Is the government paying attention? | ||||||||||||||||
David d'Apollonia, | ||||||||||||||||
Dollard des Ormeaux | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Does the Canadian Government Really Want To Know About Medical Marijuana? | ||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
It's very difficult to make someone understand something if their
livelihood depends on maintaining the misunderstanding. | ||||||||||||||||
That adage was proven again this week in Canada, where several medical marijuana patients are suing the federal government because they believe current medical marijuana regulations are unconstitutional. | ||||||||||||||||
The government has hired an American researcher to compile the risks of
smoking marijuana for the court case. As reported by the Ottawa Citizen
this week, Dr. Billy Martin has strong ties to the prohibitionist
National Institute of Drug Abuse, and he holds a patent on a sprayable
THC delivery system. | ||||||||||||||||
Martin is working with Solvay Pharmaceuticals Inc. to develop a product
based on his patent. Solvay also manufactures Marinol, the synthetic
THC pill that prohibitionists hype as a better alternative to whole
cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
To see the story from the Ottawa Citizen, go here | ||||||||||||||||
Since Marinol and other pharmaceutical products based on marijuana have more sales potential as long as whole marijuana is illegal, the article subtly asks questions about whether Martin's observations are biased. Of course, all the government sources contacted for the article said | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, the reporter didn't contact Dr. Ethan Russo for a
comment. Russo, the tireless Montana-based MD who has researched the
therapeutic potential of cannabis, filed a lengthy critique of Martin's
views about marijuana with the Canadian government. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Russo was kind enough to email the 23-page document to me. And he
offered it to me, as he did to the Canadian government, at no charge.
Martin, on the other hand, will be paid $9,000 Canadian for his
government work. | ||||||||||||||||
Russo's critique indicates Canadian taxpayers aren't getting much for
their money. | ||||||||||||||||
"Dr. Martin's affidavit is a relatively moderate assessment of the
literature on the subject, but from my standpoint, it is highly
selective, ignores many factors that support clinical cannabis, is
self-serving, and in some instances, is irrelevant to the issues at
hand," Russo wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
While corresponding with me, Russo wanted to clarify why he thought
some of Martin's statements were irrelevant. | ||||||||||||||||
"Most of Martin's submission criticized cannabis as medicine, when,
Canada has already accepted the concept for [medical marijuana]
exemptees," Russo said. "The real issue at hand pertained to whether
the Flin Flon material was reasonable to distribute, and I felt it
was." | ||||||||||||||||
The Flin Flon material is the cannabis that was grown for medical
patients at the Canadian government's behest. It was never distributed
by the government. | ||||||||||||||||
While Martin can't seem to pass up an opportunity to bash medical
marijuana, he is not one to bite the hand that feeds him. Martin touts
Marinol as an effective alternative to marijuana in his statement to
the government. Russo challenges the rosy picture Martin paints of
Marinol's effectiveness. | ||||||||||||||||
"Marinol is a synthetic THC. Its absorption is limited and variable, while its use has been extremely limited due to poor efficacy for most conditions, its lack of titratability, its tendency toward sedative and other side effects, and its extreme cost in the USA," Russo wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
"I have had extensive clinical experience with Marinol, and have spoken
to perhaps 200 patients who have employed it. Not a single one
preferred it to cannabis, which was far more effective for their
clinical conditions, and better tolerated." | ||||||||||||||||
As I communicated with him, Russo wanted to make another clarification
about Marinol. | ||||||||||||||||
Whole cannabis is superior to Marinol because of "its inclusion of
other synergistic cannabinoids and terpenoid essential oils that
contribute to therapeutic effects and mitigate THC side effects," Russo
said. | ||||||||||||||||
It's impossible to say how much Martin's observations will impact the
court case. But the government's choice and defense of Martin as an
expert indicates that government officials want to maintain the status
quo more than they want to offer rational, realistic policy for their
citizens. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Ethan Russo is the editor of The Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, the official Journal of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine. http://www.cannabis-med.org/science/jcant.htm | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"It appears that the establishment would prefer people sober and dead
rather than high and alive." | ||||||||||||||||
- Boas Wachtel, head of the Green Leaf Party of Israel, referring to
the evidence that marijuana may protect against brain damage in nerve
gas attacks. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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