| March 21, 2003 #293 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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(1) CRACKDOWN STEMS A NEIGHBORHOOD DRUG CRISIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Outraged Residents, Authorities Join Forces to Take Back Alexandria
Community | ||||||||||||||||||
Today, the Hume Springs section of northern Alexandria is a
neighborhood of middle-income people who live in red-brick rowhouses,
send their children to the local school and enjoy the relative quiet of
the streets. | ||||||||||||||||||
But on a recent winter afternoon, the neighborhood was transformed in
the minds of prosecutors and police, back to the days when gunshots
rang out in the night and drug dealers sold crack on street corners and
near schools where children played outside at recess. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We'd see drug paraphernalia on the street all the time," Alexandria Police Detective Tom Kennedy said, standing beneath a blue "Drug Free School Zone" sign once spray-painted with gang slogans. "You'd see baggies, vials, old crack pipes. People would get their crack rocks, rip the bag open, take the rock out and throw the baggie away." | ||||||||||||||||||
"We locked up a guy in that house. We got a guy who lived in that house
and that house," Detective Dave Cutting recalled, pointing to a series
of homes along Dale Street in a section of the neighborhood known among
dealers as "the Hole." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
It was called "Operation Dirty Dozen" after the classic movie "The
Dirty Dozen" and is a tale of how a band of outraged residents
pressured police to get involved and then ultimately joined forces with
authorities to help take back their neighborhood. Three years after the
operation was launched, 36 people have been convicted of drug offenses,
and 34 of them pleaded guilty. Their sentences range from 30 months to
life in prison, with many locked away for 30 years under strict federal
sentencing guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) AUSTRALIA: FIGHT LOOMS ON CANNABIS LAW CHANGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE State Government will begin formal moves today to decriminalise
cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under the Cannabis Control Bill, to be introduced into Parliament
today, people growing two plants or possessing less than 30g of the
drug for personal use will not be treated as criminals but instead get
on-the-spot fines of up to $200. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Opposition has vowed to block the legislation in Parliament and
oppose it in the community. | ||||||||||||||||||
Leader Colin Barnett challenged Premier Geoff Gallop yesterday to
explain to WA parents why he supported legitimising a drug proved to
cause harm. | ||||||||||||||||||
Health Minister Bob Kucera said cannabis would remain illegal and all
users would be penalised. | ||||||||||||||||||
He denied that the Government was taking a soft stance on drugs, saying
the laws included tougher thresholds for dealing and the introduction
of regulations for smoking paraphernalia suppliers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) CN ON: HEMP SHORTAGE THREATENS GROWING CONCERNS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ontario's Producers Have So Successfully Cracked The Mainstream Retail
Market They Face A Supply Shortage | ||||||||||||||||||
Ontario hemp producers have a problem on their hands. | ||||||||||||||||||
As hemp-seed products move into the mainstream from health-food stores
to Loblaws, the producers have become more successful at marketing than
nailing down a supply of hemp seed from Ontario farmers who grow their
raw materials. | ||||||||||||||||||
Back in 1998, the first year to grow commercial hemp in Canada, there
was a lot of hype at the farming level and so many farmers grew hemp
there was an oversupply. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the second year, a group called Consolidated Growers and Processors contracted upwards of 20,000 acres and then, according to Greg Herriott, president of Hempola Valley Farms, declared bankruptcy at harvest, again creating an oversupply. Farmers began to shy away from the crop, while producers used what they could from the glut. | ||||||||||||||||||
Until this year, supply kept pace with demand, but now that the
products are really taking off, the producers face a supply shortage
for the coming summer. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) WOMAN CHARGED WITH CHILD ENDANGERMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Lone Tree woman who turned herself in to authorities Monday for
allegedly smoking marijuana in the presence of her children said she
used the drug to self-medicate. | ||||||||||||||||||
Juanita Marie Walker, 48, was charged with child endangerment and
possession of a schedule I controlled substance after her children
reportedly told Lone Tree school authorities last month that their mom
used drugs in their home. | ||||||||||||||||||
Steve Hayslett of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office said Walker
voluntarily came to the county courthouse Monday, 10 days after state
Department of Human Services called the sheriff to her residence upon
allegedly finding an undisclosed amount of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Court records show the Feb. 28 investigation started after Lone Tree
school authorities notified Human Services that Walker's children said
she used drugs in the residence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Walker allegedly admitted to authorities to buying and smoking the
marijuana to alleviate an undisclosed medical condition, court records
show. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hayslett said he did not know the age or number of children who were
living with Walker at the time of the investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The war in Iraq is dominating news coverage, but there were still
some notable drug news stories published last week. A new report on
California's drug war suggests that a voter-supported law mandating
treatment instead of jail has had a positive effect. The report
recommends other reforms. | ||||||||||||||||||
In New Jersey, tenacious activist Edward "NJWeedman" Forchion sued a
cable television company after it refused to air his advertisements
about cannabis policy. | ||||||||||||||||||
New anti-Ecstasy studies are prompting the press to trumpet
headlines about long-term brain damage from one or two pills. The
story from Australia's Sydney Morning Herald featured such a
headline, but to its credit, also included an interview with a
skeptical expert. | ||||||||||||||||||
And in Iowa, a well-respected college president was outed as a
marijuana smoker last week by police, who have say he may be charged
as a dealer. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) STUDY URGES INTENSIFIED WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A law requiring treatment instead of jail for drug users has been a good start, but California must do more to reduce addiction's high fiscal and human costs by expanding the quality and quantity of treatment, a bipartisan watchdog agency reported Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Little Hoover Commission's 108-page report, "For Our Health &
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"The evidence is clear that treatment can be a cost-effective,
socially responsible and humane solution," said Commissioner Daniel
Hancock, who chaired the subcommittee for this study. "But public
agencies have been so concerned about expanding the supply of
treatment, that we haven't paid enough attention to the quality of
treatment." The commission noted that California still spends most
of its resources dealing with drug and alcohol abuse's consequences,
such as health and foster care. Meanwhile, people often are turned
away from publicly funded treatment programs, and very few treatment
programs are available for young people -- even those at high risk
of abusing drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) ADVOCATE OF LEGALIZING MARIJUANA SUES COMCAST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
R. Edward Forchion Jr., a marijuana legalization advocate who goes by the nickname Weedman, has sued the area's largest cable TV provider, claiming it censored his ads and libeled him in the media. | ||||||||||||||||||
Forchion said he had a contract with Comcast Corp. to broadcast
"political issue ads" last summer. But the company yanked the ads
from its lineup and told members of the media that Forchion was
proposing the illegal use of drugs, the Browns Mills man claims in a
federal lawsuit filed last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
The contract covered 260 TV spots at a total cost of $5,710. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court here, Forchion seeks
$420,000 as compensation from Comcast. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) ONE ECSTASY PILL COULD RUIN MENTAL HEALTH FOR LIFE: STUDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Taking just one or two ecstasy pills could cause long-lasting brain
damage and lead to depression, scientists have warned. | ||||||||||||||||||
A team of British psychologists found that people who had tried ecstasy only a few times had depression levels four times higher than those who had taken a range of other drugs, but not ecstasy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although they did not qualify as clinically depressed, they were
left susceptible to problems triggered by stress or emotional
turbulence, the findings found. | ||||||||||||||||||
Researcher Lynn Taurah, from the London Metropolitan University,
said: "People often think taking ecstasy just once or twice won't
matter, but we're seeing evidence that if you take ecstasy a couple
of times you do damage to your brain that later in life will make
you more vulnerable. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
However, Paul Dillon, information manager at the National Drug and
Alcohol Research Centre, said the findings were "alarmist and
misleading". | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's important to note that the animal studies and psychological
studies are separate," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's still a leap to say one or two ecstasy pills causes long-term
brain damage. A link between human use and brain damage has yet to
be established." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) IOWA COMMUNITY COLLEGE PRESIDENT CHARGED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
JOHNSTON, Iowa - Police who searched the home of a community-college
president say they found harvested marijuana, seedlings in starter
trays and pot smoke in the air. | ||||||||||||||||||
Officers on Wednesday seized marijuana worth about $20,000 from the home of David England, Polk County Sheriff's Lt. Vic Munoz said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Des Moines Area Community College president is charged with
drug-related conspiracy and possession of drug paraphernalia. His
wife, Donna, 49, and their children - Jessica, 22, and a 16-year-old
son - also face charges and surrendered Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Kansas officials are taking a hard look at replacing prison with
treatment for some drug offenders. The state senate passed such a
measure last week. Also bearing close scrutiny last week was the
undercover narcotics officer at the center of the scandal in Tulia,
Texas. At hearings that could ultimately free some of the Tulia
residents who were sentenced to massive prison terms primarily on
the word of former officer Tom Coleman, many colleagues who worked
with Coleman painted an unflattering portrait of the erstwhile
lawman. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Miami, another drug-related police corruption scandal headed to a
jury. And, in Kentucky, a new multi-county "superstars" drug task
force is so secret none of its members can be named and its
headquarters cannot be revealed. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) SENATE PASSES BILL PUSHING TREATMENT OVER PUNISHMENT (Top) FOR DRUG OFFENDERS | ||||||||||||||||||
Legislation that would keep some drug offenders out of prison but
force them to get treatment cleared the Senate on a 26-14 vote
Thursday and headed to the House. | ||||||||||||||||||
The measure would require judges to place nonviolent offenders
convicted of nothing more than drug possession into community
treatment programs rather than prison. The state would cover the
cost of treatment, which officials have estimated could be as much
as $9.2 million in the next fiscal year. | ||||||||||||||||||
''This is a vote to reduce crime by breaking the drug addiction
cycle,'' said Sen. Pete Brungardt, R-Salina. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sen. Christine Downey, D-Newton, said this is one of the most
controversial issues of the 2003 session. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) TEXAS CASES CHALLENGED OVER OFFICER'S TESTIMONY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TULIA, Tex.-- It has been some time since people here have had a
good look at Thomas Coleman, the former undercover police officer
whose uncorroborated testimony was all that supported a drug sweep
in which more than a tenth of this small town's black population was
arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||
On the morning of July 23, 1999, Mr. Coleman wore a ski mask as the
people he said he had bought drugs from were arrested in their
nightclothes, in front of television cameras. The trials that
followed were brief and businesslike, and after the initial
sentences were handed down -- 60 years, 99 years, 434 years --
people started to plead guilty to shorter but still substantial
sentences without a chance to confront their accuser. | ||||||||||||||||||
This week, Tulia will reacquaint itself with Mr. Coleman, now 43, in a hearing to determine whether four black men convicted on his say-so should be freed because his testimony had been false. It may be the first of many such hearings; his reports in several cases have proved false and his character and credibility have been harshly questioned by former law enforcement colleagues. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) MIAMI POLICE CORRUPTION TRIAL HEADED TO JURY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Federal prosecutors charge bad cops planted guns on the unarmed
victims of four police shootings, and their police buddies covered
it up. The officers' defenders say it never happened and it wasn't
proven during a 10-week trial. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jurors will be asked this week to decide the corruption case
involving 11 Miami officers who face possible 10-year prison
sentences and loss of their careers. None of the defendants
testified, but two officers on their special teams broke the police
"code of silence." | ||||||||||||||||||
Back at the station, the Miami Police Department has a new chief and
new policies after years of rubber-stamping police shootings as
justified in spite of brewing community outrage. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police shootings, beatings or acquittals in Miami triggered riots or
smaller street clashes six times from 1980 to 1995. The indictment
covers shootings from 1995 to 1997 and is the city's worst police
scandal since the 1980s when the so-called "Miami River Cops" stole
cocaine from drug traffickers and sold the drug themselves. More
than 100 officers were arrested, fired or disciplined. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) SPECIAL 'SOLDIERS' WAGING WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ASHEBORO - We heard about them last weekend but, if they do their
job as planned, we won't be hearing a lot more. | ||||||||||||||||||
That's because a special team of officers involved in recent
Randolph County drug busts must wage the war on drugs under a veil
of secrecy and anonymity. | ||||||||||||||||||
The sheriffs of Guilford, Alamance, Forsyth, Davidson, Caswell and
Randolph counties are calling their new effort in drug enforcement
the Superstars Task Force. | ||||||||||||||||||
The six-member group, with one officer assigned from each county,
works out of an undisclosed location. Their identities are withheld
from the public because of the undercover and surveillance work they
have to do in order to follow drug buyers and distributors
throughout the area. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Building on last year's supreme court observation that the
antiquated Controlled Substances Act makes no mention of the
necessity to distribute cannabis for medicinal purposes, a federal
judge denied an injunction that would have blocked federal
prosecution of medicinal users in California. | ||||||||||||||||||
Yet another judge has ruled that, because Canada's so-called
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act makes no mention of the
necessity to distribute cannabis for medicinal purposes, the law
prohibiting possession of 30 grams or less for any purpose is
invalid, and has been invalid, from coast to coast, since the summer
of 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||
The ideological gap between the Bush administration and the
civilized world became a chasm last week as the Dutch began
distributing whole cannabis from pharmacies. | ||||||||||||||||||
If you have ever felt nervous about writing letters to the editor, the surreal experiences of U.S. Marijuana Party President Loretta Nall vindicate your paranoia ... at least if you live in Alabama. | ||||||||||||||||||
An unpublished study which found that a synthetic cannabinoid-like substance, Nabilone, may not be very effective for treating some forms of chronic pain was misinterpreted by the New Zealand press as proof positive that whole cannabis lacks therapeutic value. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO BLOCK POTENTIAL FEDERAL ARRESTS (Top) OF CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS | ||||||||||||||||||
A federal judge in San Francisco Monday refused to grant a
preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. government from prosecuting
medical marijuana users in California. The plaintiffs in the case,
patients Angel Raich and Diane Monson, sought an order blocking
Attorney General John Ashcroft from prosecuting them for growing,
smoking, or obtaining medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
While U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins said he was sympathetic to
the plaintiffs' plight, he ruled that federal law and the Food and
Drug Administration prevented him from issuing the injunction.
"Despite the gravity of the plaintiffs' need for medical cannabis,
and despite the concrete interest of California to provide it for
individuals like them, the court is constraining from granting their
request," Jenkins wrote. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In a message to supporters Monday, Raich called the ruling "a
travesty and a miscarriage of justice" and vowed not to give up. She
also vowed to continue to use marijuana as medicine. "I have been
asked if I would continue to use medical cannabis after the
decision," she wrote. "The answer is yes! I will continue to use my
medicine and if the government does not like it they know where I
live, and they can come and get me. I will not have my own blood on
my hands by stopping using medical cannabis, and I am not going to
give up this fight." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) JUDGE IN SUMMERSIDE STAYS POT POSSESSION CHARGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A judge has stayed a marijuana possession charge against an Island teen, ruling it wouldn't be fair to prosecute him when approximately 12 million other Canadians have immunity from the same charge. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Provincial Court in Summerside Friday, Judge Ralph C. Thompson
stayed proceedings against a 19-year-old after considering cases in
Ontario. | ||||||||||||||||||
The young Islander had been charged with possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana in the fall. His defence lawyer, Clifford McCabe, had argued in a previous hearing that the charge should be quashed, because it's not a valid offence based on the Ontario cases. | ||||||||||||||||||
In his 11-page decision, Thompson explained an Ontario Court of
Appeal ruling known as the Parker decision effectively struck down
the law that prohibits simple possession. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug possession laws across the country all come under the domain of
the Federal Crown. Judge Thompson ruled that the law should be
applied the same across the country. In that case, proceeding with
the possession of marijuana charge in an Island court -- when such
charges haven't been proceeding in Ontario -- would simply not be
fair. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If this prosecution is permitted to continue, in effect it would be
tantamount to a ruling that more than one third of the population of
Canada is immune from prosecution while the residents of Prince
Edward Island are not." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) MARIJUANA NOW LEGAL IN DUTCH PHARMACIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Just what the doctor ordered? | ||||||||||||||||||
Pharmacies may fill prescriptions for marijuana and patients can get
the cost covered by insurance, according to a law that went into
effect Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Doctors in the famously liberal Netherlands have long recommended
marijuana to cancer patients as an appetite enhancer and to combat
pain and nausea. But it is usually bought at one of the country's
800 "coffee shops," where the plant is sold openly while police look
the other way. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The health minister said, look, doctors are prescribing marijuana
to their patients anyway, and there are many medicinal users, so we
may as well regulate it," said Bas Kuik, a spokesman for the Dutch
Ministry of Health. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The Dutch parliament approved the change in policy by a large
majority in 2001. The law stipulates that patients can get medical
coverage for marijuana use, though most policies don't yet cover
pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
Kuik said that the Dutch government will license several official
growers later this year. In the meantime, pharmacies will have to
decide for themselves where to get the marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) MARIJUANA ADVOCATE ENERGIZED BY ARREST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Loretta Lynn Nall is an unlikely political activist. With her
at-home candle business, Stevie Nicks hairdo, and kitchen-table
computer, the mother of two is truly grassroots, especially the
grass part. | ||||||||||||||||||
In October, Nall founded the Alabama Marijuana Party, a political
action committee trying to loosen marijuana laws and raise awareness
about the plant's medicinal benefits. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'm a common country girl. I have big ideas and opinions," she
says. "And a big mouth." | ||||||||||||||||||
Nall and her family live in the backwoods of Tallapoosa County, hardly a hotbed for the cause. So she was quite pleased when her letters to the editor began appearing in Alabama newspapers. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We are not criminals who rob, steal or otherwise cause harm to the
fabric of society, and it is time to stop treating us as if we
were," Nall wrote. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Birmingham News published a letter Nov. 7. | ||||||||||||||||||
Six days later, eight agents with the Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force converged on Nall's home and took her to jail. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) NEW ZEALAND: CANNABIS FAILS IN CHRONIC PAIN TEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Claims that cannabis relieves pain have been contradicted by new
research released in Christchurch. | ||||||||||||||||||
UK anaesthetist Dilip Kapur told delegates at the Australian and New
Zealand pain conference in Christchurch that despite repeated claims
that cannabis had medicinal qualities, its use in chronic pain
management was questionable. | ||||||||||||||||||
The unpublished data released by Dr Kapur shows synthetic
cannabinoid nabilone (derived from the cannabis plant) did not
reduce chronic pain in people suffering from a variety of
conditions, including nerve damage. | ||||||||||||||||||
His comments were based on preliminary results from a 14-week trial
of 60 people, many of whom had experienced chronic pain for up to
five years. | ||||||||||||||||||
It appeared only patients (26) with spinal cord tumours experienced
slight pain relief from the cannabinoids, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Reports of Thai police death squads continue. Although Thai
officials deny they are responsible for the wholesale slaughter of
drug users, human rights observers indicate the police, using death
lists, are committing the extralegal killings. Critics note Amnesty
International has barely responded: "If it was any other social
minority being rounded-up and dragged off, human rights groups would
undoubtedly be describing the 'live-fire' phase of the Thai
government's 'war on drugs' by its true description: human rights
atrocities." | ||||||||||||||||||
As Thai police struggle to kill off and round up as many drug
"dealers" as possible, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra boasted of
his bravery because of what he claimed were death threats allegedly
made against him by drug dealers. The supposed threats made against
PM Shinawatra were given great play. "Wouldn't I look good dying for
the good of the country?" bragged Shinawatra. Earlier, the PM had
laughed off death threats against Thai human right campaigner Pradit
Charoenthaithawee, who had complained about the murders of so many
suspected drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Mexico last week, Osiel Cardenas -- the reported leader of a "drug cartel" -- was arrested. Papers declared this arrest was the "end" of the "reign of drug lords." Reading on, however, it was admitted that the drug distribution channels actually had split into "smaller, more businesslike gangs, which fight less among themselves." Confessed Mexican Defense Secretary Gen. Gerardo Vega: "Obviously, this makes it harder to detect who their leaders are." | ||||||||||||||||||
UN and Colombian government officials ballyhooed a UN study which
used satellite imagery to estimate a 30 percent decrease in
Colombian coca planting. US-backed rightist Colombian Presidente
Alvaro Uribe has pleased the U.S. by spraying all the plant-killing
chemicals on his country that the U.S. ordered. | ||||||||||||||||||
As prohibitionist ideologues crow over Colombian claims of winning
the war on drugs, they would do well to remember Bolivia. In 2001,
the U.S. puffed up the Bolivian "model for coca eradication" as an
example. Coca farmers organized, fought back, and forced the
Bolivian government to allow farmers to grow their traditional coca.
"The United States thinks it can spend billions of dollars to reach
zero coca, but this isn't a solution. All this social and political
revolt is thanks to the coca leaf," said Evo Morales, leader of the
coca farmer's movement. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) DEATH SQUADS TARGET DRUG USERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Senior police claim that dealers will be given the chance "to be converted" and addicts will "weaned off their habits". According to reports, at least 50,000 drug users have turned themselves in to the police. How the Thai regime will deal with such a demand on detox services is unclear; it is very likely users will be crammed into prisons, probably renamed as "hospitals", and subjected to mandatory withdrawal with little or no medical assistance or supervision. | ||||||||||||||||||
The reason for the surrender by so many users becomes clear when the
"unofficial" elements of the campaign are examined. "Drug dealers"
are being murdered across Thailand; a BBC report on February 14
stated the death toll was 350 in two weeks -- more than 25 murders a
day. | ||||||||||||||||||
The police have taken responsibility for a small number of the
deaths, claiming that they occurred when the police acted in
"self-defence". The police claim the majority of killings result
from inter- and intra-gang attacks, supposedly sparked by fears that
those murdered were about to inform on drug gang activities to the
police. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, a number of prominent human rights groups have described
the murders as extra-judicial executions. Somchai Homlaor, secretary
general of the Asia Forum human rights group, stated: "The only
sensible conclusion is that the police are sending out death
squads." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, Amnesty is only protesting against the "excesses" of
the government's policy. The organisation has stated that it does
not oppose the drug-war policies of the Thai government, which has
also resulted in the arrest of more than 6900 suspected drug
dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The systematic removal of liberty for around 60,000 largely disenfranchised Thais is surely a clear abuse of human rights, but Amnesty sees drug users only as "criminals" -- not bad enough to be shot willy-nilly, but certainly not worthy of the support due to political prisoners. If it was any other social minority being rounded-up and dragged off, human rights groups would undoubtedly be describing the "live-fire" phase of the Thai government's "war on drugs" by its true description: human rights atrocities. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) IT'S BRAGGADOCIO TIME AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Threats against a national leader should not be taken lightly. Even
while experts are still debating their credibility, intelligence
reports that big-time drug dealers have put a bounty on Prime
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's head certainly warrant a security
beef-up for him. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Thaksin didn't hesitate to bask in the public sympathy generated by
the reported threat to his life. He used every available occasion
last week to keep himself in the spotlight with statements like "I
am not afraid to die", or "it would be an honour to lie in a coffin
draped with the national flag". | ||||||||||||||||||
Then he spent a good portion of his weekly radio talk last Saturday
bragging about his courage to stand up to the threats against his
life. "Wouldn't I look good dying for the good of the country?" he
said. Then with a touch of boldness, he declared: "Why should I be
afraid? You only die once." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
It was embarrassing enough that the police and military intelligence
agencies were at odds as to how verifiable the reports on the
Bt81-million contract on Thaksin were even before they were leaked
to the media. And Thaksin made it even more embarrassing by putting
on a show of bravado in the hope of political gains. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But there is an irony here. When well-known human-rights activist
Pradit Charoenthaithawee said he had received death threats after
making noises over the rising death toll of drug suspects, he was
quickly laughed off - even by Thaksin himself. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) ARRESTS, DEATHS MAY SPELL END TO REIGN OF DRUG LORDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY ( AP )- The arrest of reputed drug cartel leader Osiel Cardenas, nearly a year after the death of a notorious drug lord and the arrest of his brother, could mark the end of an era for the narcotics kingpins who have dominated the nation for two decades. | ||||||||||||||||||
Smaller, more businesslike gangs, which fight less among themselves
but react violently to police pressure, appear to be taking the
place of the big "corporate" cartels. | ||||||||||||||||||
"These cartels have changed, they have fragmented, they have become
more rationalized in some aspects," Mexican Defense Secretary Gen.
Gerardo Vega said. "Obviously, this makes it harder to detect who
their leaders are." | ||||||||||||||||||
Cardenas, who allegedly headed an army of 300 hit men and drug
traffickers in the Gulf coast state of Tamaulipas, was so powerful
he enlisted dozens of police as bodyguards. | ||||||||||||||||||
He was captured Friday after a shootout with Mexican troops in the border city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) COLOMBIA TRUMPETS UN STUDY SHOWING RECORD DROP IN COCA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA -- Colombia, the world's largest supplier of cocaine, said
yesterday that new evidence showed the harvest of coca leaf dropped
by a record 30 percent in 2002, a finding it hailed as a major
victory in the US-backed war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The data came from a UN study, which was based on satellite imaging
taken on Dec. 31, 2002, and showed a far more dramatic reduction in
the output of coca -- cocaine's raw ingredient -- than was seen in
an earlier US survey. | ||||||||||||||||||
President Alvaro Uribe, whose country is home to 60 percent of the
world's coca, has pleased the United States by dramatically
increasing the pace of a US-funded drug crop-spraying program since
he took office in August. | ||||||||||||||||||
''Uribe's pledge to permanently eradicate coca from our territory is irrevocable. It isn't about dealing with a problem, but ending a nightmare for the Colombian people,'' Interior Minister Fernando Londono said at a UN-Colombian government news conference in Bogota. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(22) COCALEROS REWRITE U.S. DRUGS WAR 'SUCCESS STORY' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PEASANT farmers in Bolivia have brought the country to its knees by mounting a ferocious campaign to be allowed to grow coca leaves. | ||||||||||||||||||
Two years ago, the U.S. State Department praised Bolivia as "the
model for coca eradication" in South America, but the Bolivian
government now appears to be losing the war on drugs after tens of
thousands of defiant, sandal-wearing farmers, known as cocaleros,
have taken up arms. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In the Chapare jungle, they have doggedly replanted fields destroyed
by anti-narcotics troops, resulting in an increase of coca
production from 600 to 5,400 hectares in two years, according to
U.S. government statistics. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Fiercely anti-American, the cocaleros might represent the single
greatest threat to President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who is
clinging to power after the recent violence in Chapare and a clash
between police and soldiers in La Paz last month, which resulted in
33 more casualties. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The war on drugs is failing," said Aymara cocalero leader Evo
Morales, 42, who narrowly lost Bolivia's presidential election last
July. "The United States thinks it can spend billions of dollars to
reach zero coca, but this isn't a solution. All this social and
political revolt is thanks to the coca leaf." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
"On this site, I use only the best available U.S. Government data
and reporting to refute every reason we've been given as
justification for waging drugwar against our fellow citizens. I
believe that if you take the time to peruse the site, you will find
there really is no justifiable basis for waging a campaign of hatred
upon our fellow citizens simply because they do things to
themselves." | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CALL TO REFORM UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS ON DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
Over 200 Members of Parliament from 27 Countries Call for Reform of
United Nations Conventions On Drugs | ||||||||||||||||||
Thurs, March 20, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
While talking heads in the U.S. debate the relevance of the United Nations, the International Antiprohibitionist League is working diligently with European Members of Parliament to reform United Nations conventions that bind countries to global drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||
At a press conference today in London, Marco Cappato, Member of the European Parliament (Transnational Radical Party) and Parliamentarians for Antiprohibitionist Action Coordinator will present a reform action resolution signed by over 200 Members of Parliament. The Parliamentarians for Antiprohibitionist Action Resolution has been formally presented to the European Parliament, Canadian Parliament, Greek Parliament, New Zealand Parliament, and the Colombian Parliament. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
SIGN THE APPEALS TO REFORM INTERNATIONAL DRUG TREATIES | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WOMEN AND CANNABIS | ||||||||||||||||||
We are pleased to inform you that "Women and Cannabis: Medicine, Science
and Sociology" has been published. | ||||||||||||||||||
Edited by: Ethan Russo MD, Melanie Dreher RN, PhD., Mary Lynn Mathre RN,
CARN | ||||||||||||||||||
Available form The Haworth Herbal Press. | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.haworthpress.com/store/product.asp?sku=4836&AuthType=2 | ||||||||||||||||||
Reviewed at http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2888.html | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL-BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
Friday, March 14, 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||
Officer Howard Wooldridge | ||||||||||||||||||
Retired police officer with 15 years experience. Now a lobbyist in Austin for Texas Drug Laws. President of Texas NORML and a member of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Howard just returned from the first International Drug Conference in Merida Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
PARTITO RADICALE INTERNATIONAL ANTIPROHIBITIONIST LEAGUE | ||||||||||||||||||
MARCO CAPPATO, RADICAL MEP, ARRESTED IN MANCHESTER FOR DISOBEYING AN | ||||||||||||||||||
On 21 march 2003, Marco Cappato, Member of the European Parliament, was
arrested in Manchester on "drug-related" charges. In December 2001,
with Chris Davis, MEP (Lib-Dem, UK), Marco Cappato staged a civil
disobedience on drugs walking into a police station in Stocport, near
Manchester, with a small quantity of cannabis derivatives in his pocket
and was consequently arrested and put in custody. Last fall the MEPs
were found guilty and ordered to pay a fine. In today's hearing at the
Court of Manchester, Cappato refused to pay his and was immediately
jailed. | ||||||||||||||||||
For more info see: http://www.radicalparty.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Health Facility, Not A 'Shooting Gallery' | ||||||||||||||||||
By Larry Campbell | ||||||||||||||||||
Your headline writer's reference recently to a "shooting gallery" opening in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside was inaccurate. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has applied to the federal
Ministry of Health to operate a safe injection site as part of a
comprehensive scientific research program into this aspect of harm
reduction. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is a health facility to treat a health-care crisis. | ||||||||||||||||||
With addiction deaths again on the rise, we are moving forward with
the four-pillars strategy, which includes harm reduction as one
element. | ||||||||||||||||||
Larry Campbell, Mayor, | ||||||||||||||||||
Vancouver | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Racism and the Drug War / by Jacob G. Hornberger | ||||||||||||||||||
It's all fine and good that Trent Lott is no longer Senate majority
as a result of his praise for Strom Thurmond's 1948 race for
president, in which Thurmond endorsed segregation. It's also fine
and good that Lott's fellow members of Congress, both Democrats and
Republicans, overwhelmingly condemned his racial insensitivity and
elected Bill Frist in his stead. | ||||||||||||||||||
But given that Congress is filled with people who condemn racism, why is it that most of them continue to embrace and support the most racist government program since segregation the war on drugs? | ||||||||||||||||||
Consider the following statistics published by the Drug Policy
Alliance (www.drugpolicy.org): | ||||||||||||||||||
Blacks constitute 13 percent of all drug users, but 35 percent of
those arrested for drug possession, 55 percent of persons convicted,
and 74 percent of people sent to prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
The rate of drug admissions to state prison for black men is 13
times greater than the rate for white men. | ||||||||||||||||||
In 1986, before the enactment of federal mandatory minimum
sentencing for crack-cocaine offenses, the average federal drug
sentence for African-Americans was 11 percent higher than for
whites. Four years later, the average federal drug sentence for
African-Americans was 49 percent higher. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rates of drug use or drug selling are no greater for members of
minorities than for non-minorities, yet minorities are stopped,
searched, arrested, prosecuted, and incarcerated at far greater
rates than whites. | ||||||||||||||||||
Persons of color are typically sentenced to longer jail and prison terms than white counterparts convicted of identical offenses. | ||||||||||||||||||
Felony disfranchisement laws have resulted in the disfranchisement
of 1.4 million African-American men, or 13 percent of the
African-American adult male population, a rate that is seven times
the national average. | ||||||||||||||||||
Or consider how the drug war was used to go after African-Americans
in Tulia, Texas, which has been the subject of a series of scathing
editorials by Bob Herbert of the New York Times. In 1999, drug-war
law-enforcement officers swarmed into the black sections of that
community and arrested more than 10 percent of the town's
African-American population. | ||||||||||||||||||
They didn't find drugs but that didn't stop the prosecutions. The
government had the testimony of a single undercover police officer,
who had often referred to blacks as niggers and who claimed to have
bought drugs from the defendants. | ||||||||||||||||||
On the basis of his uncorroborated testimony, a black hog farmer
named Joe Moore, who is in his late 50s, was sentenced to 90 years
in prison. Kareem White, a 26-year-old black man, got 60 years. His
sister Kizzie, 25, was luckier she got only 25 years in prison. Cash
Love, a white man who fathered one of Kizzie's children, was
sentenced to more than 300 years. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hey, why fret about losing segregation when you can just use the
drug war to remove blacks entirely from a city and relocate them to
a penitentiary hundreds of miles away, possibly for the rest of
their lives? And it's all legal, just like segregation. | ||||||||||||||||||
We might compare the sentences that the blacks of Tulia received to
the treatment that has been accorded to President Bush's niece (Gov.
Jeb Bush's daughter), Noelle Bush. She first received a jail
sentence of 3 days for possession of prescription drugs that were
taken from a medicine cabinet in a nurse's office. She then tried
using a falsified prescription for Zanax, an antiaxiety drug, and
the same judge sentenced her to 10 more days in jail. While that
charge was pending, Noelle was caught at her drug rehab center with
what was allegedly crack cocaine but she wasn't prosecuted because
another Florida judge ruled that a federal law protecting a drug
treatment patient's privacy outweighs the interests of the war on
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
So what's the solution to the racist consequences of the war on
drugs? Is it the standard one that congressmen use with respect to
failed government programs: The system needs reform ? | ||||||||||||||||||
If so, then the obvious question arises: Why haven't the (nonracist)
members of Congress reformed the drug war to eliminate its racist
consequences? There can be only one answer: It can't be reformed
because if it could have been, the (nonracist) members of Congress
would have already done so. | ||||||||||||||||||
Given the manifest failure of the drug war to achieve its purported
goals after several decades of warfare, and given the inability of
the Congress to eliminate the racist consequences of the drug war,
there is one and only one solution to racism in the drug war: Forget
about reforming the war on drugs and instead end it. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr. Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom
Foundation - www.fff.org | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"The soul of science is found in courageous thought and creative experiment, not in restrictive fear and prohibitions. For science to progress, it must be given the opportunity to succeed or fail." | ||||||||||||||||||
- Michael Shermer | ||||||||||||||||||
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