| January 24, 2003 #285 | ||||||||||||||||
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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) JUDGE DENIES GAG ORDER REQUEST IN PRO-MARIJUANA ACTIVIST'S CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge on Thursday refused a prosecutor's
request for a gag order in the trial of pro-marijuana author and
activist Ed Rosenthal of Oakland. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said there's no evidence jurors have been biased by extensive media coverage of the trial so far. | ||||||||||||||||
The case is "part of a larger public debate, and he's not going to
muzzle that debate," said attorney Jim Wheaton, the First Amendment
Project co-founder and senior counsel who argued against the gag on
Rosenthal's behalf. | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant U.S. Attorney George L. Bevan Jr. sought the gag order Wednesday after several consecutive days of intense coverage by local and national media. He feared the admonition that Breyer gives jurors every day about not reading or watching any media accounts of the case would be insufficient, and jurors' viewpoints would be swayed. | ||||||||||||||||
But Breyer said Thursday that Bevan hadn't demonstrated enough risk of
bias to outweigh the damage a gag order would do to press and speech
freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) FEDERAL PRISONS FIGHT DRUG SMUGGLING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- Using everything from a baby's diaper to burritos,
smugglers regularly get illegal drugs to federal prisoners, even at
the highest-security institutions, Justice Department investigators
said Wednesday | ||||||||||||||||
Inmate visitors are the major source of drugs. But Justice Department
Inspector General Glen Fine found that mail and prison staff also
bring in marijuana, heroin, cocaine and other drugs at the nation's
102 Bureau of Prisons facilities, demonstrating a need to upgrade
interdiction efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
Prison personnel are of particular concern, Fine said, because they tend to bring in larger amounts that spread to more inmates. There are few restrictions on personal items prison staff can bring to work, and there is no program for drug testing or random searches. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In a written response, Bureau of Prisons Director Kathleen Hawk
Sawyer criticized what she called the "lack of statistical support"
for some of the report's conclusions. She rejected a recommendation
that the bureau begin searching prison staff when they come to
work. | ||||||||||||||||
"Overall, staff morale will suffer, thereby creating unwarranted concerns in areas other than drug detection," Sawyer wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) US NE: BILL WOULD MATCH POT, ALCOHOL PENALTIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
From high school students in his district, Wausa Sen. Doug Cunningham
got the idea of raising the penalty for smoking dope. | ||||||||||||||||
Many times when Cunningham visited schools, students would point out
that they have to pay a much heftier fine if they get caught with
alcohol than if they get caught with a marijuana joint. Minor in
possession of alcohol carries a maximum $500 fine, and many judges set
a $200 to $250 fine, explained Cunningham. Possession of less than 1
ounce of marijuana is a flat $100 fine. | ||||||||||||||||
Cunningham said students likely thought he would move to reduce the
fine for the booze. But the senator decided it was time to increase
the punishment for marijuana possession. His bill, LB176, makes the
possession of a small amount of marijuana a Class IV misdemeanor,
identical to a minor in possession conviction. | ||||||||||||||||
"It didn't seem logical to lower the minor in possession fine." And,
he said, the difference sent the wrong message: that it is less
harmful to smoke marijuana than to drink as a minor. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) 4 MARINES DIE IN HELICOPTER CRASH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FALCON HEIGHTS, Texas (AP) -- Two military helicopters crashed in
flames while helping the Border Patrol on a drug mission, killing all
four Marine reservists on board. The crash of the AH1W Super Cobra
helicopters happened Wednesday night at Falcon State Park in far South
Texas, near the Mexican border. | ||||||||||||||||
"We heard a loud boom and all of a sudden the engines in helicopters quit, so I went outside and looked and there was a ball of fire," said resident Larry Shoal. He saw another ball of fire close by. | ||||||||||||||||
"There was nobody that could have survived that," the 67-year-old said
Thursday morning. "There was no way to help them." | ||||||||||||||||
Each helicopter carried a crew of two, said Armando Carrasco, a spokesman for Joint Task Force Six, a Defense Department unit that helps the Border Patrol in efforts to combat drug smuggling. | ||||||||||||||||
"The helicopters were conducting a nighttime aviation reconnaissance
counterdrug operation in support of the U.S. Border Patrol," Carrasco
said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Medical marijuana is gaining a higher profile across the country. In
the west, new billboards protesting the federal prosecution of
medical marijuana providers debuted around the state. That
prosecution goes on, and it is drawing its own media attention. As
discussed in DrugSense Weekly's Cannabis section this week, the case
of grow guru Ed Rosenthal is proceeding and drawing outrage. In the
east, the new governor of Maryland said he would support medical
marijuana legislation in the state. | ||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, at the same time the old anti-marijuana myths keep
getting dusted off. After the release of a study performed on
Australian twins, headlines trumpeted new support for the gateway
theory. The comments of the study's authors seemed to contradict
this simplistic interpretation. | ||||||||||||||||
Is some treatment better than nothing for addicts? It depends on the
kind of treatment program. Some of them aren't just ineffective,
they are downright abusive. And, from Kentucky this week a flurry of
stories about growing rates of prescription drug abuse in rural
areas. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROUPS POSTING ROADSIDE BILLBOARDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Along with roadside advertisements for beer,
liquor and fast-food, California motorists will now see billboards
promoting medical marijuana. The 30 billboards, which began
appearing Wednesday in San Francisco and across the state, feature
an 8-year-old Chico girl whose father, Bryan Epis, is serving 10
years on federal marijuana cultivation charges. | ||||||||||||||||
"Medical marijuana, compassion not federal prison," read the
billboards, which are sponsored by a host of marijuana groups. They
also show young Ashley Epis holding a sign that reads: "My Dad is
not a criminal." | ||||||||||||||||
Her photo was taken at a rally outside the federal courthouse in
Sacramento last year, where her father was sentenced for growing
cannabis for a Chico medical marijuana club. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) MEDICAL MARIJUANA GETS NOD OF EHRLICH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Governor says he's likely to back decriminalization; Would be for use by terminally ill; Announcement gives impetus to Assembly bills | ||||||||||||||||
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announced yesterday that he would likely
back decriminalizing marijuana for terminally ill patients, a stance
that is expected to give momentum to the issue this year in the
General Assembly. | ||||||||||||||||
Ehrlich said he has been a longtime supporter of so-called medical
marijuana, including co-sponsoring a bill last year in Congress that
would have allowed states to liberalize drug laws so terminally ill
patients could use the drug. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) TWINS STUDY BOLSTERS POT 'GATEWAY THEORY' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CHICAGO - A study of Australian twins and marijuana bolsters the
fiercely debated ``gateway theory'' that pot can lead to harder
drugs. The researchers located 311 sets of same-sex twins in which
only one twin had smoked marijuana before age 17. Early marijuana
smokers were found to be up to five times more likely than their
twins to move on to harder drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
They were about twice as likely to use opiates, which include
heroin, and five times more likely to use hallucinogens, which
include LSD. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical
Association and was funded in part by the National Institutes of
Health. It does not answer how marijuana, or cannabis, might lead to
harder drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
``It is often implicitly assumed that using cannabis changes your
brain or makes you crave other drugs,'' said lead researcher Michael
Lynskey, ``but there are a number of other potential mechanisms,
including access to drugs, willingness to break the law and
likelihood of engaging in risk-taking behavior.'' | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) SICK TREATMENT - WHEN ADDICTION COUNSELORS ATTACK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Imagine if physicians could justify being abusive, arrogant and
condescending by arguing that it improves patient health. Imagine
that these professionals could decide not to use chemotherapy for
cancer, for example, because they "don't believe in it," despite
overwhelming research data. That's what addiction care has been like
for the last half-century. To this day, there's a huge gap between
clinical psychiatric knowledge and the way drug treatment actually
goes down. | ||||||||||||||||
Clinical research shows that, like anyone else, | ||||||||||||||||
Yet for years, the sort of "care" Gloria Holmes received has been par for the course in addiction treatment. Many providers believe that addicts needed to be "broken down" and then re-socialized, and that insults, humiliation and degrading treatment aid this process. And while the National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown that medications like antidepressants aid recovery, a large proportion of rehab programs still routinely deny addicts standard psychiatric medications on the premise that they could lead back to addiction. | ||||||||||||||||
Recently, a number of federal, state and local government initiatives have begun trying to reform drug treatment, through both regulations and research. But they'll have to overcome a deeply entrenched legacy of anti-science and even anti-addict ideology. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) RURAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG TRADE OUTPACES CITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"I can't imagine that Kentucky has any more pain than Detroit has.
There's something going on," April Vallerand, an assistant professor
at Detroit's Wayne State University who serves on pain advisory
panels. Richard Clayton, an addiction expert who heads the
University of Kentucky's Center for Prevention Research, said the
problem is already out of control. | ||||||||||||||||
"This may be the first epidemic - if it is an epidemic - that
started in rural areas," he said. Courts and hospitals are
overwhelmed. The newspaper found that possession and trafficking
charges for all controlled substances jumped 348 percent in eastern
Kentucky from 1997 through 2001, while admissions of | ||||||||||||||||
Eastern Kentucky counties led the nation in per capita narcotics
distribution in 1998, 1999 and 2000, the newspaper found. In 2001,
the St. Louis area passed Kentucky, driven by large increases in the
amount of OxyContin and of morphine, which is widely used to treat
pain after surgery. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Explosive new revelations have been uncovered in a lethal Colorado
drug bust that took place in 1999. Police said they shot Ismael Mena
to death after he pointed a gun at them during a mistaken drug raid.
The Denver Post reported last week on undisclosed tests showing that
gunshot residue found on Mena's hand did not match the gun police
said he was holding, and that no fingerprints were found on the gun
and ammunition. | ||||||||||||||||
The police in Denver didn't explain what happened, but a group of
Canadian drug cops say their legal problems were caused by their own
drug use. In Toronto, drug police accused of corruption were able to
avoid prosecution by entering rehab. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that a conspiracy doesn't
have to be carried in order for marginal participants to be punished
under harsh conspiracy laws. The case, naturally, involved drug
sales. | ||||||||||||||||
And, in another reminder that law enforcement officers get hurt by
the drug war too, a Wall Street Journal story detailed the life and
death of a national park ranger who was shot down after spending
more of his professional time chasing marijuana smugglers than
helping visitors enjoy the beauty of the park. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) FINDINGS COMPLICATE MENA CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sworn statements about the death of Ismael Mena raise troubling new
questions about the much-criticized police shooting, including
findings that gunshot residue found on Mena's hand did not come from
a gun police said he fired at them. | ||||||||||||||||
Mena, a 45-year-old Mexican immigrant, was shot by a police SWAT team on Sept. 29, 1999, after team members executing a drug search warrant entered the wrong house. Police said they shot and killed an armed Mena after he refused to drop his gun and then fired at them. | ||||||||||||||||
The shooting stirred outrage in Denver. Some residents formed the
Justice for Mena Committee to press for a fuller explanation of what
happened, and SWAT team members sued others who publicly questioned
the official findings in the case. In February 2000, Jefferson
County District Attorney Dave Thomas, named as a special prosecutor
to investigate the case, cleared the SWAT officers, calling the
shooting justifiable. | ||||||||||||||||
But never-before-reported depositions taken in connection with the
lawsuit filed by SWAT team members and other reports reveal new
facts about the case... | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
No fingerprints were found on the revolver police say they took from
Mena's hand, nor were fingerprints found on the ammunition in the
gun. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) COPS AND COKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A veteran Toronto police officer who once headed a drug squad is one
of several cops who last spring took a secret "package" to stave off
criminal prosecution, The Toronto Sun has learned. | ||||||||||||||||
The popular officer, who during a stellar career has dodged bullets
and worked on huge cases, went into rehab after confessing to a
decade-long cocaine habit, sources say. | ||||||||||||||||
The officer's case is being treated as a "disease" similar to
alcoholism, sources say, and he has spent several months in drug
therapy while on sick leave. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The revelation that an unspecified number of Toronto drug cops went into rehab amid findings of "serious criminal wrongdoing" is contained in a $116-million civil lawsuit filed against Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino and 22 other police officials, prosecutors and politicians by eight former drug squad cops. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) A CONSPIRACY NIPPED CAN STILL BRING CONVICTION, JUSTICES SAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - The Supreme Court ruled today that members of
a criminal conspiracy can be convicted regardless of whether the
discovery of the plot by the police has made it impossible for the
conspiracy to achieve its goal. | ||||||||||||||||
"The court has repeatedly said that the essence of a conspiracy is
`an agreement to commit an unlawful act,' " Justice Stephen G.
Breyer wrote for the court. He added that the criminal agreement "is
a distinct evil," punishable whether or not the substantive crime
ever takes place. | ||||||||||||||||
The decision overturned a ruling two years ago by the United States
Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco. The
appeals court overturned the conspiracy convictions of two drug
couriers who went to a shopping mall in Idaho expecting to pick up a
shipment of drugs, not knowing that the police had already
discovered the shipment while it was in transit. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) THE DEATH OF A RANGER SHOWS VENERABLE JOB'S NEW HAZARDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz. -- In the ovenlike afternoon
heat last Aug. 9, Kris Eggle got a call for help. | ||||||||||||||||
Mexican police were chasing a truck that was about to cross the
poorly marked national border into this desert park. Mr. Eggle, a
28-year-old park ranger, raced to the scene and found the truck
stuck in a dust-filled pothole on the U.S. side. Several men spilled
out and ran. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Eggle spotted one of them trying to hide behind a bush. He
approached the suspect and prepared to arrest him, when the man
whipped out an AK-47 automatic rifle and fired. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In all, the team captured 10 backpacks containing 492 pounds of
marijuana. "That's just nothing," shrugs Mr. Jones, who says the
rangers assume they're catching a tiny fraction of the tons of
marijuana moving through the park. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Jones and his fellow rangers wonder if such busts may have led
to Mr. Eggle's death. Six days after the team captured the
smugglers, Mexican gunmen killed four people on the other side of
the border. The victims, Mexican authorities have told the rangers,
were drug smugglers unable to pay their debts to the larger cartel
that runs the marijuana trade. And the smugglers may have lost their
income thanks to the rangers' recent patrols. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
This week's cannabis section begins with a comprehensive update of
the Ed Rosenthal medical marijuana cultivation case that began on
Tuesday. This important trial will likely set the stage for future
federal government intervention and arrests in states that have
legalized medicinal cannabis. If you can help in any way, please
contact Green-Aid at (www.green-aid.com). As if to remind us of just
how unreasonable and disproportionate the U.S. penalties surrounding
cannabis have become, our second story reports on the trial of a 19
year-old Alabama student who was sentenced to 26 years in prison for
selling marijuana at his school. How quick the U.S. courts are to
sacrifice an individual - in these cases a young man, and an
experienced and accomplished activist - in order to support a failed
and obviously flawed drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||
On that note, we take a look at the recent Canadian court decisions
that have battered that countries cannabis prohibition. In the light
of imminent Canadian court-driven decriminalization of personal
amounts of cannabis, the U.S. prohibition looks all the more
irrational. In other good news, Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals has
announced that it will have its first cannabis-based medicines on
the market before year's end. GW has been focusing its research on a
sub-lingual spray for the reduction of neuropathic and MS related
pain. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, an interesting article about the father of
modern mycoherbicides, Dr. David Sands. The University State
professor used to be the head of a U.S. government-funded program
researching the possibility of fungi-based eradication of cannabis
and coca plants for use in Central and South America. Is there a
fungus around that attacks and destroys stupidity or ignorance? Now
that st would be worth breeding. | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) THE TRIAL OF ED ROSENTHAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A federal judge in San Francisco is blocking a jury from hearing
evidence that could exculpate an outspoken medical marijuana
activist. Ed Rosenthal, who is facing 20 years in prison on federal
drug charges, believed himself to be immune from prosecution when he
was deputized by the nearby city of Oakland in 1998 to cultivate
cannabis for chronically ill patients. | ||||||||||||||||
Rosenthal's case is a challenge by federal prosecutors to
California's Compassionate Use Act (Prop. 215), a 1996 voter
referendum that made the cultivation, possession and consumption of
medical marijuana legal in California with a doctor's | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) ALABAMA TEEN GETS 26 YEARS FOR SCHOOL DRUG SALE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Lawrence County High School student pleaded guilty Monday to
selling drugs at school and received sentences totaling 26 years in
prison. | ||||||||||||||||
Webster Alexander, 19, of 2161 Lawrence County 180, Moulton,
received the jail time for six drug charges, including four for
distributing controlled substances at the school. | ||||||||||||||||
Lawrence County District Attorney Jim Osborn said the sentences were
stiff, but justified. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) OTTAWA BATTLES TO REGAIN CONTROL OF REEFER MADNESS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Recipe for Reefer Madness: | ||||||||||||||||
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Toss in: Several court rulings that Ottawa must allow medical use
and possession of pot. | ||||||||||||||||
Spike with: Two lower-court acquittals (and counting) of
recreational pot smokers by judges who say the law is no longer
valid. | ||||||||||||||||
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Serve up: Confusion for millions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) GW SETS UP UK LAUNCH OF CANNABIS DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a Home Office licence to produce cannabis-derived medicines said yesterday that it was on track to launch the first of its products before the end of the year. | ||||||||||||||||
Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman, said the company hoped to follow
up UK approval with similar licences in Continental countries in the
near future, but it could be several years before the product is
available in the US. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
GW's first launch in the UK is likely to be an under-the-tongue
spray for treating sufferers from multiple sclerosis and neuropathic
pain. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) THE TEMPTATION OF DR. WEED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
This is not the first time reporters have called on Sands. Between 1999 and 2000, he was hounded by media from all over the world--the BBC, Mother Jones, the London Observer and Newsweek all wanted access to the man and his groundbreaking research. Sands was one of the world's few experts on mycoherbicides--fungi that kill other living plants. Sands' specialty was a fungus meant to replace toxic chemicals as the weapon of choice in a drug war battle plan designed to decimate crops of coca and cannabis in the jungles of Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
The press wasn't kind to Sands, or to his work. Mother Jones portrayed him as a reckless scientist unconcerned about the potential health risks posed by mycoherbicides to the Colombian people. Later that year the London Observer reported links between Sands' private Bozeman company, Ag/Bio Con, high-ranking U.S. military personnel, and Florida drug czar Jim McDonough. As recently as last month, an article in Counterpunch, which dubbed Sands' coca-killing fungus "agent green," drew a parallel between Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele's merciless human experiments and a U.S. government proposal to spray Sands' fungal agent over Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-25) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Protests continued in Bolivia as thousands of poor coca farmers
clashed with authorities over the US-dictated policy to destroy
traditional coca plants. Demonstrators shut down a main highway as
police retaliated with tear gas and shotgun blasts, wounding three.
In a sign of growing insecurity, the Bolivian government expelled
four Swedish women accused of taking part in the demonstrations and
aiding opposition leader Evo Morales. | ||||||||||||||||
In Mexico, the elite Federal Special Prosecutor's Office for Drug Crimes (FEADS) units were completely dismantled in the wake of evidence that the anti-drug agency was corrupted by drug profits. This is the second elite counter-narcotics unit in Mexico to be taken down in the last six years. The Mexican Army conducted raids on FEADS offices in 11 states throughout Mexico over the past week. | ||||||||||||||||
Following in the footsteps of the Canadian federal auditor general and a parliamentary committee, a new study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal released last week also concluded that the "war on drugs" has been a waste of time and money. Researchers cited evidence the largest heroin bust in Canadian history (over 100 kilograms) had absolutely no impact on the street supply of heroin. The study recommended moving to a harm-reduction approach. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally this week from Malaysia, more gung ho drug war
declarations from the authoritarian Malaysian regime, this time
another wildly optimistic promise to wipe out drug addiction by
2015. Claiming that the "drug menace" is a major threat to
Malaysia's security, the Islamic government pledged to rally all of
society in the renewed fight. Making Malaysia drug-free by 2015,
asserted Moslem Home Minister Abdullah, would be done by a "media
blitz," instilling an "anti-drug" culture, and activating "all
agencies ... to organise programmes that enhance discipline and
morality of the public." According to government plans, "addicts"
would also be forced into servitude in sweatshop factories, and on
plantations. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) POLICE BREAK UP BOLIVIAN PROTEST OVER COCA FARMING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AP) -- Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse scores of protesters Friday in the fifth straight day of demonstrations against a coca eradication program. | ||||||||||||||||
Protesters since Monday have shut down the main highway linking this
key central city to Santa Cruz, 200 miles to the east, by heaping
boulders and logs along the roadway. | ||||||||||||||||
That action continued Friday as thousands turned out to oppose a
U.S.-sponsored, government plan to destroy illegal coca crops - the
base ingredient used to make cocaine . | ||||||||||||||||
Helmeted police chased demonstrators through the streets, firing
tear gas into crowds gathered behind barricades of garbage cans and
burning tires. | ||||||||||||||||
Doctor Eduardo Arnez said he treated three young men for shotgun
wounds. He claimed that police fired the weapons. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) SWEDES EXPELLED FROM BOLIVIA FOR SUPPORTING COCA FARMERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- The government has ordered four Swedish
women expelled from Bolivia, accusing them of illegal political
activism by supporting protests by coca growers. | ||||||||||||||||
The four women, who have been detained since Monday, were given
until Saturday to leave Bolivia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The protests have left four people dead in clashes with police and
soldiers. | ||||||||||||||||
The coca growers are protesting the eradication of their plants by
the government. Coca leaf is processed to make cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
Deputy Interior Minister Jose Luis Harb said the Swedish women gave
$2,000 to Evo Morales, the leftist leader of the coca peasants in
the Chapare region, to help finance the protests. | ||||||||||||||||
Harb said the four women were detained because they joined several
marches against the government, a political activity prohibited to
foreigners. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) ANTI-DRUG OFFICE CLOSED OVER CORRUPTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
For the second time in six years, the Mexican government has dismantled an elite federal anti-drug unit after discovering evidence that it had been corrupted by drug traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||
Closure of the Federal Special Prosecutor's Office for Drug Crimes
followed simultaneous military raids last week on the agency's
offices in 11 states. The raids began in Tijuana, where seven agents
are accused of offering to return nearly five tons of seized
marijuana to drug lords in exchange for $2 million. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha, whose office oversees
the agency, said over the weekend that all 200 of the agency's
employees are being questioned. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(22) WAR ON DRUGS HAS BEEN A WASTE OF MONEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The millions of dollars we spend annually to crack down on the use
of illicit drugs is a big huge waste of time. | ||||||||||||||||
The biggest heroin haul in Canadian history - 100 kilograms of the
stuff, seized by Vancouver police in 2000 - didn't make the
slightest dent in supply, the researchers found. | ||||||||||||||||
Heroin was just as easy to get in the weeks after the bust and the
price actually went down, according to the study. | ||||||||||||||||
"We saw literally zero impact on the street," noted Dr. Martin
Schechter, senior author of the paper. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
If there have been any successes, the parliamentary committee
certainly couldn't find them. | ||||||||||||||||
There wasn't a shred of evidence submitted during the hearings that
supports our ongoing police crackdown on illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
It is no surprise that the Vancouver researchers in the latest study
have also embraced the harm-reduction approach. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(23) MALAYSIA AIMS TO WIPE OUT DRUG MENACE BY 2015 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has pledged to free the country | ||||||||||||||||
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said that the campaign against
the drug menace - seen as a major threat to the country's security -
would involve all sections of society and be undertaken by the
National Drugs Council. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
'Therefore, a new approach has to be taken immediately before this gets out of control to ensure Malaysia and Asean are free of drugs by 2015. This is the approach we have taken,' said Datuk Abdullah, who is also Home Minister, after a meeting of the council. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Datuk Zainal said: 'Drug addicts will be given training in areas
like plantations and electronics during their stay at the
rehabilitation centres, which would enable them to be placed with
factories and offices in the private sector. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
END PROHIBITION NOW. SIGN THE APPEAL TO THE U.N. | ||||||||||||||||
By Arnold S. Trebach | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.radicalparty.org/elist/archivio/corafax/cog02-03ese.htm | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
SPEAK OUT FOR ED ROSENTHAL! | ||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
TRUST BUT VERIFY | ||||||||||||||||
by Doug McVay - Common Sense for Drug Policy - for DrugWar.com | ||||||||||||||||
Using this stuff leads to hard drug use and abuse? | ||||||||||||||||
By now people have heard of the just-published report in JAMA
regarding 'gateway theory' and cannabis use. | ||||||||||||||||
Many media outlets are reporting the research as showing that
cannabis use at an early age leads to use of hard drugs later
on. There's a good deal less -- and more -- to the study than
has been reported so far, at least in the US. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CANADIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL REPORT | ||||||||||||||||
"More than 93% of the nearly $500 million spent annually on Canada's
drug strategy goes toward efforts to reduce the illicit drug supply.
However, little is known about the effectiveness of this strategy.
On Sept. 2, 2000, Canadian police seized approximately 100 kg of
heroin in one of the nation's largest-ever seizures of this drug. An
ongoing prospective cohort study of injection drug users afforded an
opportunity to evaluate the impact of this seizure." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MOUSE MODEL LINKS ALCOHOL INTAKE TO MARIJUANA-LIKE BRAIN COMPOUNDS | ||||||||||||||||
"Brain molecules similar to the active compound in marijuana help to
regulate alcohol consumption, according to new reports by scientists
at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),
Bethesda, Maryland, and a separate NIAAA-supported group at several
New York state research institutions." | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/nioa-mml011703.php | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
JOSEPH MCNAMARA ON CBC'S "THE CURRENT" | ||||||||||||||||
Police Corruption | ||||||||||||||||
It's dominating headlines in Toronto this week ... police officers in
an elite narcotics squad allegedly stealing drug money. Dozens of
cases being thrown out of court. An inquiry into the allegations about
to wrap up. Joseph McNamara should know. He's a former chief with the
San Jose police department, and a 35-year veteran of policing. Mr.
McNamara is now a university professor and is currently studying the
U.S. war on drugs. He says it's leading to rampant gangster cop
corruption in many cities. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SCURRILOUS DISINFORMATION LABELED AS HEALTH ADVICE | ||||||||||||||||
By Mett Ausley M.D | ||||||||||||||||
The Herald's recent article on marijuana's dangers (Fighting drug
legalization through prosecutors, December 27), essentially a press
release from the Drug Czar's office, reminds me of East Bloc
propaganda from the Cold War. There's nothing new, and the dire
warnings simply reflect old issues repackaged with a harder slant
and shriller tone announcing the government's position that
marijuana now poses the greatest "threat" of all drugs. Indeed that
may be true, but the threat they're worried about isn't | ||||||||||||||||
From a medical perspective, the seemingly bold health warnings are
uniformly ambiguous, stripped of context, misleading and plainly
contrived to convey alarm rather than fact. For example, the facile
statement that marijuana is "addictive" somehow escapes elaboration,
leaving one to wonder how this slippery term should apply here. The
breathless revelation that marijuana has surpassed heroin as a
"factor" in emergency room visits loses its punch when one considers
that the number of heroin users is minuscule compared with pot
smokers. | ||||||||||||||||
Condemning "medical" marijuana while trotting out the shopworn
"gateway theory" once again is downright shameless. | ||||||||||||||||
Well.., everybody gets to believe in Santa Claus for a while, I
guess. | ||||||||||||||||
I do agree on one point-marijuana isn't harmless. | ||||||||||||||||
Neither are sunshine, aspirin or jogging. | ||||||||||||||||
For some persons it can be habit-forming and impair social function,
and may cause more serious harm in a small minority of users. At
best, it's a frivolous diversion for adults. | ||||||||||||||||
Anyone considering using marijuana should be made aware of these
small but genuine risks. Regrettably, our officials, preoccupied
with politics and saving face, are attempting to foist upon us
scurrilous disinformation labeled as health advice. | ||||||||||||||||
Sincerely, | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Book Review: Down by the River/ Reviewed By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
Down by the River: Drugs, Money, Murder, and Family By Charles
Bowden Simon & Schuster, 433 pages | ||||||||||||||||
Trying to understand a seemingly senseless 1995 murder, author
Charles Bowden follows a trail of drug-related corruption littered
with human remains in "Down by the River." | ||||||||||||||||
In the world he describes, people disappear, arms are hacked off with axes and whole families are buried alive. It's a horrible story, but once started, difficult to put down, and crucial as document of the devastating consequences of prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||
"Down by The River" covers a broad range of subjects, but the drug
war stands at its heart. | ||||||||||||||||
"The tale involves two countries, the United States and Mexico,
fused together in one lie," Bowden writes near the beginning of the
book. | ||||||||||||||||
The Rio Grande, the river of the title, serves as a border between the United States and Mexico. It separates the city of Juarez, Mexico from El Paso, Texas, where the events primarily take place. | ||||||||||||||||
Focused on a DEA agent who rose to a position of authority after a series of fabled busts, the book shows how his career and family life crashed down in the wake of his brother's murder. Obsessed over determining why his brother was killed, the agent finds powerful interests on both sides of the border obstructing his investigation. | ||||||||||||||||
As the story progresses, Bowden details increasingly complex
connections between drug cartels and government on both sides of the
river. | ||||||||||||||||
A DEA agent might not seem like a sympathetic subject for readers,
like me, who are critics of the drug war. However, the author makes
agent Phil Jordan's motivations understandable, and portrays him as
a likable if flawed person. Bowden cites plenty of disturbing facts
for context, but the book is really about people on both sides of
the drug trade. | ||||||||||||||||
"The drug war lacks any honest metaphors," Bowden writes. "The common ones such as drug lords and drug czars are falsely grand. It is simply a business and like all businesses it has merchants and like all merchants they have power and access to people in power. The merchants are natural lobbyists. They are strictly business." | ||||||||||||||||
The myth of the supernarc is also stripped down. While Bowden
clearly respects Jordan, he offers an unromantic view of his work.
Jordan and his colleagues lie to gain trust - just enough trust for
effective betrayal. | ||||||||||||||||
Those who already understand prohibition as a brutal and destructive
farce may be startled by some details. A Mexican marijuana
plantation comprising four square miles somehow goes undetected by
law enforcement within the country as well as the expensive
surveillance technology operated in the United States. Smuggling
schemes that count the loss of large jetliners as the cost of doing
business. Investigations pointing toward the upper echelons of
Mexican government before suddenly being abandoned. | ||||||||||||||||
Readers are repeatedly reminded that drugs and cash flow more or
less freely over the border. In many ways, Bowden writes about
boundaries that get violated, even if citizens of both countries
attempt to ignore those violations. | ||||||||||||||||
Ominously for U.S residents, the book suggests those violations will become more blatant. The nastiest violence has been restricted to the Mexican side of the border for now, but just a few weeks ago, newspapers published stories about a sudden, unexplained mass murder in the little town of Edinburg, Texas. Six men were shot to death under one roof. Investigators suspect drugs were involved. | ||||||||||||||||
It sounds like an incident out of "Down by the River," where the
cartels kill indiscriminately on mere suspicions that their
operations might be compromised. | ||||||||||||||||
In the book, one of Bowden's sources suggests that Jordan, the DEA agent, needs to stop thinking about drugs. She doesn't see them everywhere as Jordan does. Bowden replies from grim experience. | ||||||||||||||||
"It is everywhere, if you look, if you know how to look. It is too
big to ignore." | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author
"Maximizing Harm," www.maximizingharm.com | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it -
namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is
only necessary to make the thing difficult to obtain." | ||||||||||||||||
- Mark Twain, "Tom Sawyer" | ||||||||||||||||
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