| Nov. 8, 2002 #275 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) US MI: US DRUG WAR CAUSES MORE CRIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug war increases crime. This is the hypothesis of Bruce Benson,
professor of economics at Florida State University, who spoke to
students about the drug war Wednesday in Knauss Hall. Benson provided
data which pointed to the emphasis on the war on drugs program during
Reagan's administration in the 1980s as the leading cause in a
substantial increase in non-drug related crime. His lecture was founded
on the economic principles of scarcity and competition for allocation
of resources and focused on the '80s -- the time when he said the drug
war was born. | ||||||||||||||||
Benson hypothesizes that tough drug enforcement laws are pulling police
resources away from other types of crime and in effect have increased
crime rates in other areas, particularly in the area of property crime
such as burglary. | ||||||||||||||||
"At least 50 percent of property crime increase was due to a shift out of property crime control to drug control," Benson said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) CN BC: PRESCRIPTION HEROIN PILOT PROJECT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - Heroin prescriptions could soon be given to Vancouver drug
addicts, as part of a pilot project that's still waiting for approval
from Health Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
A team of doctors would be allowed to prescribe heroin for a select group
of addicts, and then study them. | ||||||||||||||||
B.C.'s medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall says prescription heroin would be safer and cleaner than the street drugs addicts now inject. | ||||||||||||||||
He also points to a Dutch pilot project which showed that when addicts know they're going to get their fix, they stopped their criminal activity. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think we'd be stupid, quite frankly, not to try it in Canada as a
clinical trial to see if we could get the same benefits in Canada,"
he says. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US WI: POLICE ARREST 3, TICKET 445 AT RAVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Customs Tip Leads Racine Officers to Hall | ||||||||||||||||
Racine - Acting on a tip from U.S. Customs agents, Racine police
infiltrated and then busted a rave party early Sunday, arresting three
people, ticketing 445 others and confiscating various drugs, including
more than 100 Ecstasy pills. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Because of the tip authorities were able to plan the raid, Purdy said,
with a "very strong, proactive law enforcement action" against drug
activity typically associated with rave parties, which are underground
gatherings of youths that feature techno music. | ||||||||||||||||
"Rave parties are not going to be part of our community and are not
going to be tolerated," Purdy said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) US MI: OPED: CONFUSED ABOUT DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As most of you know, I am a very active member of the Republican party.
No one agrees with his or her party platform 100 percent, and that is
fine. Political parties are simply a way for different groups of people
who share many (but not all) of the same beliefs and values to try to
get most of their preferred policies enacted. I personally have several
problems with the platform of the overall Republican party. One of the
most significant differences is over the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
For several years now, I have been confused by Republican support for the
drug war. It seems to contradict a host of Republican principles. The
support for drug prohibition has only been getting stronger. More and more
it seems that cigarettes will be added to that list before too long, even
if politicians simply tax them out of legal markets and into the black
market (which is already beginning). Let's take a look at some of the
rather serious contradictions the war on drugs creates for its Republican
supporters. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It was a somber Wednesday morning after the elections as state voter
initiatives pushing drug reform issues returned dismal results.There
were some bright spots in local initiatives. Residents of San
Francisco voted to examine a city-run medical marijuana program. For
a more complete rundown of results and commentary from one reform
organization, see the press release from NORML in this week's
feature article space. | ||||||||||||||||
Beyond the generally harsh election, there was some reason for optimism about marijuana reform in the state of Texas. A respected professional football play is ready to lead Texas NORML. | ||||||||||||||||
A South Carolina woman is challenging a law used to charge her with
murder for using drugs while she was pregnant, but at the same time
a new study showed that medical experts have a difficult time
telling crack-exposed babies from babies who have not been exposed
to crack. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) 3 STATES REJECT DRUG REFORM MEASURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In a sharp rebuff of the drug-reform movement, Nevada voters refused Tuesday to make their state the first to legalize possession of marijuana, and reform measures also failed in Ohio and Arizona. | ||||||||||||||||
Federal and state law enforcement officials teamed up to oppose the
Nevada measure, which would have legalized possession of up to 3
ounces of pot. | ||||||||||||||||
The Arizona proposal would have downgraded small-scale marijuana
possession to the equivalent of a traffic violation, while the Ohio
measure would have forced judges to order treatment instead of jail
for many drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||
In Florida, voters approved a sweeping ban on smoking in restaurants and virtually all other workplaces. "It's going to save lives," said Martin Larsen, chairman of the Smoke-Free for Health campaign. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) SAN FRANCISCO TO CONSIDER GROWING POT AFTER PROP. S PASSES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO -- Officials here will name a panel to seriously
consider entering the pot-growing business now that voters have
approved a measure directing them to study whether this city should
cultivate and sell its own medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
In what officials called a first-step gesture of defiance against
the federal government's zero-tolerance marijuana policy, voters
passed Proposition S by a 2-1 ratio. | ||||||||||||||||
San Francisco Supervisor Mark Leno said officials will name a
three-member committee to "hold hearings and bring in professional
expertise," exploring legal and medical ramifications of the
program. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) STEPPIN' OUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Former Cowboy Mark Stepnoski Tackles A New Role--Leading The Charge
For Marijuana Reform | ||||||||||||||||
He knows it won't be easy--coming out of the "smoky closet," as one
marijuana advocate puts it. After all, he has been a professional
football player for 13 years, a five-time Pro-Bowler, a two-time
Super Bowl champ, a Dallas Cowboy. He can almost hear the voices of
those who would accuse him of all manner of betrayal. Wasn't he
supposed to be a role model? Someone who needed to send the right
message to kids--a message in lockstep with the hard-line anti-drug
stance of the NFL? But to sign on as the new president of Texas
NORML, an organization dedicated to reforming marijuana laws, to
join its national advisory board, well that just seemed a reckless
way to kick off his retirement. | ||||||||||||||||
At 34, Mark Stepnoski could no longer keep his principles to
himself. He had known hypocrisy in a league that generates huge
revenue from alcohol and tobacco advertising, drugs that he believes
are much more harmful than marijuana. He had been subjected to
random drug testing for a recreational drug that in no way affected
his performance on the field. He had sensed the futility of an
unwinnable drug war whose main victims are marijuana users like
himself, their lives ruined because of a law that he believes is as
wasteful as it is unjust. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) STATE TO REVISIT CHARGES AGAINST PREGNANT WOMEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
COLUMBIA -- For the second time, attorneys will try to overturn a
South Carolina law allowing prosecutors to charge pregnant women
with homicide by child abuse if they kill their fetus by using
cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
This time, the law is being challenged by Regina McKnight, who was
sentenced to 12 years in prison after a jury took 10 minutes to
convict her in the death of her stillborn daughter. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney C. Rauch Wise, who will argue McKnight's case before the
state's high court Wednesday, said he doesn't understand how a state
that struggles to provide drug treatment to the poor can justify
such a harsh sentence to a woman who had named her daughter and
begged nurses to be allowed to hold the tiny body. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) RESEARCHERS COULDN'T TELL IF BABIES EXPOSED TO COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Trained research assistants, evaluating children's development,
cannot tell which ones were exposed to cocaine in the womb and which
weren't, a new study has found. | ||||||||||||||||
Boston scientists enrolled 163 4-year-olds in the study, and asked
evaluators who were unaware of the children's history to guess
whether each child had been exposed to cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
Although the exposed and unexposed groups scored similarly in
developmental testing, the evaluators were more likely to label
children who did worse as cocaine babies. In all, 74 percent of the
children unexposed to cocaine were labeled exposed, and 37 percent
of the exposed children were classified as unexposed. | ||||||||||||||||
Researchers haven't adequately shown that biological and
developmental problems stem from prenatal cocaine exposure, the
scientists argue. They note flaws in earlier studies. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Supreme Court will take a look at "3 strikes" laws that
have helped to keep prisons full in California. In Texas, a new drug
task force scandal seems to be building, this time in the town of
Hearne. Some of the details sound like the now infamous Tulia case
in which a single informant of questionable credibility helped to
bring drug charges against a large percentage of the town's black
population. | ||||||||||||||||
Meth lab clean-up costs continue to soar. In a group of small communities in Colorado, the cost increased by $1 million in just two years. And, in the wake of hung jury in a trial over a "no-knock raid" case, an Oklahoma newspaper is rightfully questioning the police practice of bursting in and asking questions later. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) COURT TO UMPIRE '3 STRIKES' DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Nearly a decade ago, the kidnapping and murder of
12-year-old Polly Klaas by a repeat offender so horrified
Californians that voters approved the "three-strikes" law requiring
a prison sentence of 25 years to life for a criminal's third felony
conviction. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, the Supreme Court must decide if the California law went too
far in the cases of one man who stole videocassettes and another who
stole golf clubs. | ||||||||||||||||
For both men, the crimes were their "third strike," requiring the court to sentence each to a minimum of 25 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
On Tuesday, the justices will consider whether the law violates the
Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment
when it's used against a defendant whose third-strike conviction is
for a small-time theft. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) AFTER DRUG BUST GOES AWRY, ACLU ALLEGES RACISM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
No one disputes that the confidential informant who claimed he
bought drugs from 28 black people in the community of Hearne was
trouble. | ||||||||||||||||
Robertson County District Attorney John Paschall said the informant,
Derrick Megress, stole some of the cocaine he was supposed to turn
over to police as evidence, masking the thefts with flour. Megress
also probably pocketed some of the money he was supposed to use to
buy drugs, Paschall said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Unfortunately, we can't get Baptist ministers to go make drug
busts," Paschall said. | ||||||||||||||||
The American Civil Liberties Union, however, believes there is
something more sinister involved in the November 2000 drug
investigation: racism. The ACLU intends to file a lawsuit today in
U.S. District Court in Austin alleging the drug bust was just the
latest in a long line conducted by the South Central Texas Regional
Narcotics Task Force and Robertson County officials that targeted
blacks. | ||||||||||||||||
"Individuals were targeted (in this bust) and in years past based on
their race and despite the fact that they were innocent. It's
intentional," said Graham Boyd, an attorney with the ACLU Drug
Policy Litigation Project. | ||||||||||||||||
"The statistics are quite staggering," Boyd said. "In the arrests in
November of 2000, 15 percent of the young black men in town (were
picked up). A similar number have been arrested in each and every
year for the last 10 years." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) METH LABS TAX RURAL BUDGETS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The costs of coping with methamphetamine in seven northeastern Colorado counties increased by nearly $1 million from 1999 to 2001, proving in dramatic dollar terms that the drug has become a scourge in farm and ranch country, a new study shows. Methamphetamine response is taxing rural government agencies from police and fire departments to courts and social services, according to the study released Monday by Colorado State University Cooperative Extension. | ||||||||||||||||
"People tend to think of drugs as an urban problem, and this clearly shows that methamphetamine is a rural problem as well," said Lilias Jarding, who headed the study, the first to quantify the impact of methamphetamine use and production on the Eastern Plains. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug's use and manufacture have mushroomed in the state's
northeastern quadrant because the activities are more easily hidden,
rural highways offer easy trafficking routes and agricultural
chemicals are accessible for production, Jarding said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) EDITORIAL: THE 'NO-KNOCK' LAW PROVED ITS WORTH IN CASE OF DEAD TROOPER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Should police have the authority to kick in your door and serve you
with a search warrant? Should they be able to arrive in unmarked
cars, and not be dressed in uniforms when they approach your house
fully armed? | ||||||||||||||||
Those are some good questions we think -- and some that ought to be re-asked in light of a hung jury the other day in a 1999 shooting death of a state trooper who was doing exactly that. The defense of the man who killed the trooper was that he was defending his home. | ||||||||||||||||
This is, after all, a state which allows concealed weapons and is darn sensitive about the rights of citizens to own guns. | ||||||||||||||||
We think that State Sen. Frank Shurden, D-Henryetta, has got it
right on "no knock" warrants." Sen. Shurden was skeptical of
no-knock warrants at the time the current law was passed in 1999 and
still expresses concern that the law not only broadened law
enforcement authority to break into people's homes unannounced, but
also increased the danger for police and citizens if raids are
conducted on the wrong house. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Fear and sadness, my friends. That is what I feel for all of us
after waking up to Republican control of all three branches of
government. Nevada lost, Arizona lost, and the war on | ||||||||||||||||
This week's stories begin with whining from the Nevada anti-pot
groups claiming that they were outfinanced in their bid to defeat
Question 9. They conveniently overlook the billions of dollars spent
by the feds over the last 70 years misinforming the U.S. public
about cannabis. Our second story comes from Salon and gives a more
complete and clear-eyed account of the American failed war on drugs.
A must read for all. | ||||||||||||||||
Also, news from the north suggests that Canada is now the third
biggest supplier of cannabis to the U.S. (after Colombia and
Mexico). Ontario's Public Safety and Security Commissioner reported
this news with some concern, and I agree; with our vast shared
border and our superior cannabis products, there is no reason for
Colombia to beat us out of the number two spot. It is my hope that
this year's long dry fall will result in a bounteous harvest, and
that we Canadians will soon take our rightful place behind Mexico
(Republican rule of the nation makes our hard work that much more
imperative and important!). | ||||||||||||||||
Lastly, the use of drug sniffing dogs in schools is currently growing in Canada, following a trend started in the U.S. If we're going to follow certain U.S. trends, why do we always chose restrictions of civil liberties? Can't we aim to produce a better pizza, or really bad big budget movies, or Britney clones or something? All hail our Republican Overlords! All hail our Republican Overlords! | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) NEVADA'S QUESTION 9 OPPONENTS FEEL SHORTCHANGED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The latest campaign contribution reports have confirmed marijuana
opponent Sandy Heverly's long-standing belief that she is in the
midst of a David versus Goliath battle over legalization of the
drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Reports filed this week with the secretary of state's office show supporters of Question 9, which would legalize possession of as much as 3 ounces of marijuana, have raised 12 times more money than organizations that oppose the statewide ballot initiative. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Despite his fund-raising advantage, Rogers thinks his side still is
the underdog. He said the contribution numbers do not count the
large number of anti-drug advertisements being run by national drug
czar John Walters. | ||||||||||||||||
"You can't turn on the TV without seeing his spots," Rogers said.
"When you are up against the federal drug czar and the establishment
here, I'd say despite what the reports show, we have been
outresourced." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) BUSH'S REEFER MADNESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The new front in the nation's drug war came into sharp focus at 7
a.m. on Sept. 5, when loud shouts and stomping woke Valerie Corral
at her home north of Santa Cruz, Calif. Suspecting that the
intruders weren't ordinary burglars, she snuck out a back entrance
and walked around to her front door to tell them to leave. When she
opened the door, stunned federal agents in flak jackets trained
M-16s on the 50-year-old homeowner. When she asked to see a search
warrant, the officers screamed at her to get down. They pushed her
to her knees, then forced her to lie face down on the floor. With
her hands handcuffed behind her back, an officer pressed his rifle
muzzle to the back of her head. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) CANADA HIGH ON POT LIST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Canada trails only the corruption-riddled regimes of Mexico and
Colombia as the top supplier of killer-quality weed to the U.S.,
says Ontario's Public Safety and Security Commissioner. | ||||||||||||||||
"That's not something to be proud of," Bob Runciman told The Sun.
"We can see the United States wanting us to play a more active role
in dealing with this." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) USE OF DRUG DOGS WITHIN THE 'RIGHTS' OF SCHOOLS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly all Surrey's current school trustees say they'd support the
use of drug-sniffing dogs in local schools as a potential strategy
to ferret out students possessing and possibly dealing illegal
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
The use of such initiatives has received mixed reviews in other
areas. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Similar dog-sniffing initiatives have also been used in California,
Michigan and Texas, with districts in those states reporting a
significant reduction in the amount of drugs seized. | ||||||||||||||||
Civil libertarians across the border reported students as resentful
when dogs were brought in, saying it was an invasion of privacy.
Here, the Canadian Charter of Rights states that "everyone has the
right to be secure against unreasonable search or seizure." While
the police are restricted in what circumstances they can perform a
search -- during a lawful arrest, with a search warrant or with
consent -- permission is not required when a search is performed by
a teacher or principal. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In the UK, shares of GW Pharmaceuticals shot up 17.5% this week as
the company prepared to release positive cannabis-based medical
trial results. GW is expected to announce that cannabis treatment
tests for multiple sclerosis, which involve a cannabis extract
sprayed under the tongue, were successful. | ||||||||||||||||
Fearing embarrassment that could jeopardize the smooth flow of funds
from the United States, Colombian president Uribe last week blocked
the release of two jailed "drug lords" from prison. The convicts had
served their time as required by law. But "the government,"
explained Uribe, "has ordered that the prisoners not be released
while many doubts exist." | ||||||||||||||||
Borrowing heavily from U.S. prohibitionist rhetoric, President Vicente Fox last week declared "all-out war" on the drug trade, a brave new war "to fight on all fronts," he declared. Fox vowed to use the next four years to stop drugs "at all levels," to save the "children from becoming users." Chiming in agreement, the chief Mexican prosecutor promised to extradite "drug lords" aplenty to the United States, because "United we will triumph." In Mexico City, a military court summarily convicted two generals who had been accused of aiding drug smugglers prior to 1997. The men, accused of protecting and taking bribes from the drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, were sentenced to terms of 15 and 16 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) TRIALS SHOW CANNABIS SPRAY HELPS MS PATIENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Shares in GW Pharmaceuticals, the company pioneering research into cannabis-based medicines, soared 17.5% to 151p yesterday as it prepared to announce positive trial results this morning. | ||||||||||||||||
The Salisbury-based business will say tests on treatments for
patients with multiple scelorosis ( MS ) have been successful and it
plans to apply for early approval to make products available to
patients. | ||||||||||||||||
GW has been developing for three years a range of products based on
cannabis extracts that can be taken orally via a spray under the
tongue. | ||||||||||||||||
The latest results are the first from seven, phase three, clinical trials being undertaken on 600 patients but they pave the way for the development of what could become a UKP250m per annum market. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT BLOCKS THE RELEASE OF 2 JAILED DRUG LORDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Judge Had Ruled That The Brothers Who Headed The Cali Cartel Could
Leave Prison Early. | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia -- The Colombian government blocked the release
from prison of two former bosses of the Cali cocaine cartel a day
after a judge infuriated President Alvaro Uribe by ruling that the
two powerful drug lords could go free with less than half their
sentences served. | ||||||||||||||||
"The government has ordered that the prisoners not be released while
many doubts exist," Uribe said Saturday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Allowing the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers to walk out of prison would
be an international embarrassment for Uribe and would likely damage
Colombia's relations with the United States, which has spent $1.5
billion in mostly military aid to help Bogota fight a drug industry
that exports about 580 tons of cocaine a year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) MEXICO'S FOX UNVEILS PLAN TO ESCALATE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Far-Reaching Effort To Target Supply, Demand | ||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY - President Vicente Fox pledged Monday to launch an all-out
war on the drug trade, saying his administration would go beyond
nabbing drug lords and take on drug consumption and production in
Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"This is a war that we have to fight on all fronts,'' he said. "It's
not enough to attack the supply. We must also stop the growth of
demand.'' | ||||||||||||||||
Fox said his Cabinet would spend the next four years -- the remainder of his term -- working to stop smuggling at all levels, including arresting drug lords and preventing children from becoming users. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Macedo, the attorney general, said he would continue efforts at extraditing drug lords to the United States, while sharing information on the drug trade with authorities all over the world. | ||||||||||||||||
The fight is important not just to halt the drug trade, he said, but
also to stop the underworld of terrorists and other illegal activity
it creates. | ||||||||||||||||
"Never again will we be hostages to criminal organizations,'' Macedo
said. "United we will triumph.'' | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) GENERALS GUILTY IN MEXICO DRUG CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- A military court Friday convicted two generals of aiding
drug smugglers, concluding a high-profile case aimed at cracking down
on Mexico's drug trade. | ||||||||||||||||
The five-general panel convicted Gen. Francisco Quiros and Brig.
Gen. Arturo Acosta of protecting cocaine and marijuana shipments for
drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died in 1997 after undergoing
plastic surgery. | ||||||||||||||||
It sentenced Quiros to 16 years in prison and Acosta to 15. They
have already served two years. The court cleared the men of another
charge of criminal association. | ||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors accused the generals of protecting drug smugglers and
using military airplanes to transport shipments of cocaine and
marijuana. Quiros was also found guilty of taking bribes from
Carrillo Fuentes, who was Mexico's most-wanted drug trafficker in
the mid-1990s. The panel ordered two cars and other goods
confiscated. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Poll Of Candidates On Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuanainfo.com asked candidates in the recent election for their
views on medical marijuana. Here are the results. | ||||||||||||||||
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A Call For Drug War Democracy | ||||||||||||||||
By Jose' Cuesta, published at Narconews.com | ||||||||||||||||
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Activism Against the US Drug Gulag Grows | ||||||||||||||||
Journey for Justice Comes to Washington, DC | ||||||||||||||||
By Kevin B. Zeese, President of Common Sense for Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||
Posted at DrugWar.com Nov. 5, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
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Medical Marijuana Activist Claims Ohio First Lady Manhandled Her at
Debate | ||||||||||||||||
By Daniel Forbes - for DrugWar.com, November 4, 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
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Los Angeles Newshawk Needed! | ||||||||||||||||
We are looking for a volunteer to cover the Los Angeles Times on a
daily or near daily basis. Details about collecting articles can be
found at http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm. Please email Jo-D,
, if you can dedicate about one hour per day to ensure
this paper is included in our archives. | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DARE - No Evidence Of Caring | ||||||||||||||||
By Matthew Hulett | ||||||||||||||||
Dear Editor, | ||||||||||||||||
You say these men care about kids [Cop dads DARE to lend a hand,
Oct. 22, Langley Advance News]? People who truly care about kids
would take the time to study the scholarly evidence which states
clearly that DARE is at best ineffective, and at worst raises drug
use and is counterproductive. | ||||||||||||||||
The United States Justice Dept. has refused to certify DARE, and
will issue no grants to support its implementation. There are
numerous programs that work, that are shown to work through science,
and that are certified by the U.S. Justice Dept. DARE is not on the
list. | ||||||||||||||||
Yet, you write these men care about kids? | ||||||||||||||||
DARE was the brainchild of former L.A. police chief Daryl Gates, a man who stated openly to a Californian newspaper all casual users of drugs should be taken outside the courthouse and shot dead. | ||||||||||||||||
DARE is about propagating intolerance and propaganda, not about
helping kids. | ||||||||||||||||
Matthew Hulett, | ||||||||||||||||
Short Hills, New Jersey | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - OCTOBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Jason Marrs of White Plains, New York had six letters to the editor
published during October, 2002. Jason is relatively new as a published
Letter to the Editor writer. His success shows that when folks get busy
and start sending them in they will in time have hits. Jason's 15
published letters to date can be reviewed at | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Election 2002 Wrap-Up | ||||||||||||||||
By NORML | ||||||||||||||||
Washington, DC: Yesterday's defeat of a trio of marijuana reform
initiatives in Arizona, Nevada and South Dakota mark a temporary
setback, but also offer an opportunity for self assessment, NORML
Executive Director Keith Stroup said today. | ||||||||||||||||
All three initiatives targeted separate aspects of marijuana law
reform. | ||||||||||||||||
* ARIZONA | ||||||||||||||||
Arizona's proposal, which won only 43 percent of the vote, would
have replaced criminal penalties on minor marijuana offenses with a
civil fine, and mandated the state to distribute medical marijuana
free to qualified patients. | ||||||||||||||||
* NEVADA | ||||||||||||||||
Question 9 in Nevada, which won only 39 percent of the vote, sought to eliminate all penalties on the possession of three ounces or less of marijuana, and mandated state officials to implement a system whereby adults could obtain pot through a legally regulated market. | ||||||||||||||||
* SOUTH DAKOTA | ||||||||||||||||
South Dakota's Initiative 1, which gained a reported 38 percent of
the vote (with 769 of 844 precincts counted), sought to establish a
state-licensing system so that farmers could legally grow the
non-psychoactive variety of cannabis known as hemp. | ||||||||||||||||
Local marijuana reform initiatives fared much better in yesterday's
election. | ||||||||||||||||
* SAN FRANCISCO | ||||||||||||||||
In San Francisco, nearly 7 out of 10 voters approved Proposition S,
which encourages the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to enact
legislation authorizing the cultivation and distribution of
medicinal pot by city officials. | ||||||||||||||||
* MASSACHUSETTS | ||||||||||||||||
In Massachusetts, voters in 19 State House districts approved non-binding resolutions instructing their state representative to vote in favor of making marijuana possession a civil rather than a criminal violation. Voters in Massachusetts' 14th Worchester District also endorsed a non-binding resolution supporting the use of medical marijuana, and voters in the state's 2nd Franklin District endorsed a proposal to legalize hemp cultivation. | ||||||||||||||||
Broader statewide drug reform initiatives also yielded disappointing
results. | ||||||||||||||||
* OHIO and ARIZONA | ||||||||||||||||
An Ohio initiative (Initiative 1) mandating treatment rather than
incarceration for non-violent drug offenders gained only 33 percent
of the vote, and an Arizona proposal (Prop. 302) re-instituting
probation and incarceration for some non-violent drug offenders
passed with 69 percent of the vote. | ||||||||||||||||
* WASHINGTON DC | ||||||||||||||||
A Washington DC proposal (Initiative 62) mandating alternative
sentencing for some drug offenders did pass overwhelmingly, but must
still be approved by Congress. | ||||||||||||||||
NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said there are many lessons
drug-law reformers can learn from yesterday's outcome, and stressed
the need for follow-up polling in Arizona and Nevada to better
determine why a majority of citizens voted against these proposals.
"Certainly, the political climate of this year's election was
decidedly conservative, as evidence by the gains made by Republicans
in both the House and Senate and the defeat of several other
liberal, but non-drug reform initiatives around the country," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Specific to marijuana-law reform, however, it appears clear that
although a majority of the public supports the legalization of
medical marijuana as well as the decriminalization of small amounts
of marijuana for personal use, much of the U.S. public remains
skeptical of broader-reaching proposals - particularly those that
mandate the state to become involved in either the distribution or
regulation of pot. Drug law reformers also need to do a better job
countering some of our opponents concerns, such as the issue of
marijuana and driving as well as the rising use of marijuana by
adolescents, as it is clear that much of the voting public also
shares these anxieties." | ||||||||||||||||
Nevertheless, despite yesterday's defeats, Stroup's outlook for the
marijuana law reform movement remains optimistic. "Yesterday's
losses represent a temporary setback, but it's one we know we can
and will overcome. The American public stands solidly against our
government's policy of arresting and jailing responsible adult
marijuana smokers, and we will continue to make gains on this core
issue." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"We don't have czars in this country ... People have fought and died
so we don't have that system." | ||||||||||||||||
- U.S. drug czar John Walters as he used the taxpayers' resources to
make a campaign appearance for a like-minded legislator where he
told a captive audience of high school students that it is their
responsibility to serve as functionaries in the government's crusade
against drugs. See the story "Anti-Drug Boss Urges Students To Join
Fight" at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2034/a11.html for more
details. | ||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||
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