| April 4, 2003 #295 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) GOP LEADERS PRESS EHRLICH TO VETO MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Rethink Longtime Support, White House, Others Urge | ||||||||||||||||
The Bush administration and other top national Republicans are heavily
pressuring Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to veto a proposal that would
drastically reduce penalties for terminally ill patients who smoke
marijuana to ease pain. | ||||||||||||||||
In recent days, several Republican officials have urged Ehrlich to
reconsider his longtime support of medical marijuana, which has become
one of the few issues that divide the state GOP. | ||||||||||||||||
Though Ehrlich, a Republican, has indicated a willingness to consider
the bill, some of his advisers are worried about a public split with
the White House. | ||||||||||||||||
There are signs that Ehrlich is trying to avoid the issue. Former Education Secretary William J. Bennett, a prominent Republican, is having trouble getting his phone calls to the governor returned. | ||||||||||||||||
Yesterday, John P. Walters, the White House drug policy coordinator,
used a speech in Baltimore to criticize proponents of medical
marijuana, saying they had "conned" the Maryland General Assembly into
supporting the measure. | ||||||||||||||||
He warned of the risk of subjecting the state to lawsuits and increased
drug abuse if the bill becomes law. | ||||||||||||||||
"We stand in the city that I believe has suffered more from drug abuse
and addiction than any city in the United States," Walters said while
attending a drug-prevention conference downtown. "It is an outrage
that, in this state, the legalizers would come here to try to put
additional people in harm's way." | ||||||||||||||||
Ehrlich, who co-sponsored medical marijuana legislation in Congress, is
unfazed by Walters' warnings. | ||||||||||||||||
"I have always taken pride in my independent streak," Ehrlich said. "I
respect those guys. They have a legitimate point of view, but we have a
point of view too. ... I can take some pressure." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(2) TULIA DRUG DEFENDANTS, COUNTY REACH DEAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Settlement May Avert Lawsuits In Disputed Drug Convictions | ||||||||||||||||
Swisher County officials, moving quickly to stave off lawsuits that could bankrupt the Panhandle county, say they have settled with the 38 Tulia drug defendants whose convictions a judge said he will recommend be thrown out because the key prosecution witness was not credible. | ||||||||||||||||
The settlements range from $12,000 for the 13 people still in prison to
$6,000 for those who served between six months and three years and
$2,000 for those who did not serve any time, officials said. Attorneys
for some of the defendants said they would seek investigations - and
possible lawsuits - - against the Panhandle Narcotics Regional Task
Force that directed the investigation. | ||||||||||||||||
Retired state District Judge Ron Chapman on Tuesday said prosecutors
and defense attorneys had agreed after a hearing on four cases that all
38 drug convictions - almost all involving black defendants - should be
thrown out. The judge, agreeing that former undercover agent Tom
Coleman was not credible, said he will recommend that the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals accept the settlement. | ||||||||||||||||
If new trials are ordered, the state's special prosecutors have said
that they would not retry the cases. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
At an emergency meeting Tuesday night, the Swisher County Commissioners
Court agreed to settle in exchange for no future lawsuits against the
county, which has an operating budget of $3.1 million. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(3) ROSENTHAL RETRIAL POSSIBLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Lawyers for medical marijuana champion Ed Rosenthal asked federal Judge
Charles Breyer for a new trial Tuesday after two jurors came forward to
say their ability to deliberate was compromised by advice from an
outside attorney. | ||||||||||||||||
Rosenthal juror Pamela Klarkowski testified that fellow juror Marney
Craig consulted with an attorney friend during the trial who said she
could not vote "her conscience." Klarkowski said the issue first came
up when the pair was carpooling home to Sonoma County. | ||||||||||||||||
"We were traveling north and Marney said, 'Do jurors always have to
follow the law? Don't they ever have the opportunity to make a decision
based on conscience?'" | ||||||||||||||||
Klarkowski responded that jurors had taken an oath to weigh the
evidence given, but added, 'Maybe you have a point.'" Craig then said
she had "real questions" and would like to "call an attorney friend to
ask about this point of law." "I said if you do, let me know what you
find out," testified Klarkowski. | ||||||||||||||||
The next day on their way back into The City, Craig said her friend had
told her to "do as we had been instructed, do as we had been told,"
said Klarkowski, a nurse in Marin Courty. | ||||||||||||||||
"Given instructions from the judge and all the evidence from
prosecution, which was pretty tidy, I felt that was it, I didn't have
much choice," she added. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(4) COURT SAYS MOM'S USE OF POT NOT REASON TO REMOVE KIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Akron- Smoking marijuana daily does not make a woman an unfit parent
and her four children should not have been removed by a county agency,
an appeals court has ruled. | ||||||||||||||||
Teresa Scott is a single working mother who paid her rent and provided
loving care to her children, her lawyer said, but when she admitted she
smoked marijuana, the Summit County Children Services Board removed the
children in August 2001. | ||||||||||||||||
The agency's decision was upheld in the county's Juvenile Court. | ||||||||||||||||
The 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals overruled that decision, 2-1, on
Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
"While this court certainly does not condone a parent's use of an
illegal substance or abuse of a legal substance, parents have a
fundamental right to raise their children," said appeals Judges Donna
Carr and William Batchelder. | ||||||||||||||||
"Without some evidence that Teresa's supervision of her children or the
environment of her children has been affected in some negative way by
her use of marijuana, there is not clear and convincing evidence" the
children should be removed. | ||||||||||||||||
Judge Lynn Slaby dissented. "I believe the continued use of an illegal
substance can do nothing but have a detrimental impact on the
children," he wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
He said people may argue that alcohol abuse may not warrant the removal of children, but "I believe there is a distinction between using a legal substance and the continued use of an illegal substance." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The biggest news of the week, the move to overturn convictions of 38 Tulia residents convicted on drug charges, is covered in the Law Enforcement & Prisons of DrugSense Weekly, but just as significant is the cancellation of the federal government's terror and drugs propaganda campaign. The good news is tempered by the cancellation of a study indicating that the ads don't work, and reports that other aspects of the anti-drug ad campaign will continue. | ||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere in the news were inspiring stories of individuals standing
up against drug war mentality. A temporary judge in Arizona was
fired for declining to hear drug cases. A minister in Mississippi
refused to give drug agents the name of a church member who turned
in a load of marijuana. Reason Magazine also offered a long study
into the trials of Dr. William Hurwitz, who only wanted to help
patients cope with pain, before the feds got involved. | ||||||||||||||||
Finally, a new Scientology-based Narcanon treatment center is
opening in Florida, but this one is exceptional. It may receive
state and federal funds for a program that some see as religious
indoctrination. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(5) WHITE HOUSE TO END DRUGS & TERROR ADS | ||||||||||||||||
Also Stops Study That Found Campaign Wasn't Working | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The White House anti-drug office will end its
controversial drugs-and-terror advertising campaign and, in a
reversal, shift more of its $150 million budget toward children's
media as it fights for Congress to extend the program another five
years. | ||||||||||||||||
The Office of National Drug Control Policy will also cease a
polarizing $8 million annual study that found the ads aimed at youth
were not working and that pitted the drug office against the
Partnership for a Drug-Free America. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, the office will direct 60% of its buys toward youth-oriented
media -- the same percentage it had previously directed at adults --
and will focus on halting drug use among children already using
rather than aim to deter youth from starting drugs. The | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(6) FILL-IN JUDGE FIRED FOR REFUSAL TO HEAR DRUG CASES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A judge pro tem was fired Thursday, his first day on the job at a
Mesa courthouse, for refusing to hear drug cases. | ||||||||||||||||
Arizona Chief Justice Charles Jones fired Marc Victor, a Mesa
defense attorney, saying Victor "expressly declared his inability to
be impartial in the application of the law and the disposition of
cases before him." | ||||||||||||||||
But Victor, a marijuana legalization activist, said he recused
himself only on drug cases, not all cases. | ||||||||||||||||
"I thought it was the honest, up-front thing to do," said Victor,
who brought a six-page proposed "minute entry" with him to Maricopa
County Superior Court, outlining why he believes drug laws violate
the U.S. and Arizona constitutions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(7) MINISTER WON'T IDENTIFY WOMAN TO DRUG AGENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An effort to help a parishioner has landed a Hattiesburg minister in
the middle of a controversy with federal drug enforcement
authorities. | ||||||||||||||||
But the Rev. Kenneth Fairley said he will not violate the sanctity
of the ministry by providing federal drug agents the identity of the
woman who gave him a bag with an estimated $100,000 worth of
marijuana she found in her house in February. | ||||||||||||||||
Fairley, pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, said the incident occurred when one of his parishioners asked him for advice on what to do with a large bag of marijuana she found in her house. | ||||||||||||||||
"She brought the bag to me at the church and told me a family member
was apparently involved in drugs. She wanted it off the streets,"
Fairley said Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
Fairley said he called Hattiesburg Police Chief David Wynn who sent
an officer to remove the drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
"Five or six days later, two men with the Drug Enforcement Agency
came to the church seeking to know the identity of the woman," he
said. "They told me that I needed to tell them or I could face
obstruction of justice charges. I told them I did not appreciate
threats and asked them to leave." | ||||||||||||||||
A spokesman with the Gulfport office of the Drug Enforcement Agency, the office closest to Hattiesburg, could not be reached for comment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(8) THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
How The OxyContin Crackdown Hurts Patients In Pain | ||||||||||||||||
William E. Hurwitz spent much of last year trying to find new
doctors for his patients. It wasn't easy, since physicians often are
reluctant to treat chronic pain. They worry that repeated
prescriptions for large doses of narcotic painkillers will attract
unwanted attention from the government. That anxiety was the main
reason Hurwitz had ended up treating so many people for pain --
about 300 patients suffering from cancer, rheumatoid arthritis,
degenerative disc disease, diabetic complications, and other painful
conditions. Some of them had searched for months or years, growing
increasingly desperate, before finding him. Many lived hundreds of
miles from his Northern Virginia office. | ||||||||||||||||
Hurwitz's retirement was not exactly voluntary. A veteran of battles
with state regulators and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA),
the 57-year-old internist saw more trouble on the horizon. After
learning that he had been targeted by a federal grand jury
investigation of prescription drug diversion, he decided to
gradually transfer his patients rather than put them at risk of
suddenly losing access to pain medication. | ||||||||||||||||
Hurwitz was still working to match patients with new doctors in
November, when the DEA raided his home and office. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(9) DETOX CENTER SEEKS WIDER ACCEPTANCE | ||||||||||||||||
CLEARWATER -- At Tampa Bay's newest alternative to mainstream drug
treatment, the license issued by the state hangs next to
commendations from the Church of Scientology. | ||||||||||||||||
Narconon, a controversial drug treatment program based on techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, has opened its first Florida facility in Clearwater in a commercial park off U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Past the meticulously clean lobby are classrooms where recovering
addicts take a series of life improvement courses incorporating the
same concepts and principles one encounters in introductory
Scientology courses at a church mission. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Now [Clearwater Narconon Director Chery] Alderman plans to do what
no other Narconon program in the country does: Get taxpayer
assistance in the form of state and federal grants. | ||||||||||||||||
She also plans to seek referrals from local court systems and
permission to teach a Narconon-based prevention program in Pinellas
public schools. | ||||||||||||||||
Some in the political elite indicate they will listen. Pinellas
County Commissioner Susan Latvala and Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judges
Linda Allan and Linda Babb have toured the facility and left
impressed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The long road to justice for 38 people convicted after an outrageous
drug sting in Tulia, Texas may be reaching its end. As widely
reported, prosecutors moved to overturn convictions of all 38 after
the credibility of an undercover cop who made the busts was shredded
in hearings last week. Making fewer headlines were the dismissals of
24 drug cases in Tennessee after another informant apparently lost
his credibility. | ||||||||||||||||
An editorial in an Iowa college newspaper wondered whether the highly-publicized bust of a college president had more to do with a drug task force seeking funds than the protection of the public. Another editorial from Louisiana lambasted an indicted judge who copped a plea last week for allegedly trying to plant drugs on a critic, along with other crimes. And corruption continues to challenge drug testing companies, as a Hawaiian drug tester was convicted of taking bribes to change drug test results. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(10) TEXAS COURT ACTS TO CLEAR 38, ALMOST ALL BLACK, IN DRUG CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TULIA, Tex. -- Conceding that they had made a catastrophic mistake
in relying solely on the uncorroborated testimony of an undercover
officer, prosecutors moved today to overturn the convictions of 38
people, almost all of them black, who were caught in a series of
drug arrests in 1999 that tore this town apart. | ||||||||||||||||
A judge agreed with the prosecutors, and defense lawyers, that the Texas courts should vacate every conviction arising from the drug sting, including those in which the defendants pleaded guilty. | ||||||||||||||||
The extraordinary turnabout followed hearings here last month in
which the undercover officer, Thomas Coleman, and many other
witnesses testified about his troubled law enforcement career,
unorthodox methods, pervasive errors, combustible temperament and
apparent racism. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(11) JUDGE DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST 24 DEFENDANTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Credibility Of Informant In Drug Sting Is Questioned | ||||||||||||||||
Circuit Court Judge Clayburn Peeples recently dismissed charges
against 24 defendants after officials said the confidential
informant's credibility was questioned. | ||||||||||||||||
The 24 defendants were arrested as part of one of the largest
Brownsville Police Department drug stings in recent years. The
accused were mostly small to moderate "street dealers." | ||||||||||||||||
Most of them were charged with sale of scheduled II controlled
substance for allegedly selling crack cocaine. They could have faced
between three and 12 years in prison, if found guilty, depending on
how much they sold. | ||||||||||||||||
Peeples dismissed the charges on Wednesday after District Attorney
General Garry Brown requested it. | ||||||||||||||||
Brown read a statement in court that said the informant "committed
certain acts, during the course of the investigation, that have
destroyed his credibility as a witness." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(12) EDITORIAL: DRUG TASK FORCE MUST STOP BUSTS-FOR-MONEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
David England, the president of Des Moines Area Community College,
was targeted by the Mid-Iowa Drug Task Force to pad its grant
application. England is accused of having 2.5 pounds of pot at his
home, along with someplant seedlings. Yes, drugs are illegal, but
prosecuting those who choose to use them should not occur for an
agency's gain. | ||||||||||||||||
Many were not surprised that the bust on the England home happened
in March, just a few weeks from the task force's April application
deadline for federal aid, its main source of funding. Last year, the
task force received $500,000 from the federal Edward Byrne Memorial
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Grant program. The Byrne
fund helps 25 drug task forces in Iowa. The task-force program
brings in around $5.5 million each year, with $3 million spent on
actual task-force activities and the rest on prevention and
treatment programs. | ||||||||||||||||
England's lawyer, Allen St. Pierre, who is the executive director of
the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, says,
"The government will use this as an example." Even though task-force
officials deny that they used the England bust to help their
application, they admit that the grant process is very competitive.
The applications show only arrest statistics, but the task force
sends news clippings to the drug-control office to impress those who
will fund its requests. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(13) EDITORIAL: A JUDGE'S DISGRACE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Former Jefferson Parish Judge Ronald Bodenheimer made a disgraceful
exit from public life Monday when he stood before a federal judge in
New Orleans and pleaded guilty to three crimes, two of which involve
him abusing his authority as judge. | ||||||||||||||||
Not only did Mr. Bodenheimer admit to scheming to fix a custody case
in favor of restaurateur Al Copeland, but he also admitted to
reducing and splitting bonds to maximize profit for bondsman Louis
Marcotte III. Mr. Bodenheimer, owner of Venetian Isles Marina in
eastern New Orleans, also says he conspired to plant drugs on a man
who had criticized the marina. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Bodenheimer brought shame upon the judiciary with his crimes,
and it's wholly appropriate that he be punished severely. His
admission of guilt is likely to bring him 31/2 years in a federal
penitentiary. In addition to the incarceration, the chief
disciplinary counsel for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board
said he plans to file charges of misconduct against Mr. Bodenheimer,
asking the Supreme Court to permanently disbar him. | ||||||||||||||||
If Mr. Bodenheimer were a blight on an otherwise spotless Jefferson
Parish judicial system, local residents would probably be breathing
a sigh of relief that he is off the bench. But federal prosecutors
think he will reveal even more corruption at the Jefferson Parish
courthouse. Federal officials say his 42-month sentence is
conditioned on his promise to testify against others. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(14) DRUG TESTER IS SORRY HE HAD HIS HAND OUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A former employee of Drug Addiction Services of Hawaii said he took
bribes to alter drug-test results for federal defendants under
supervised release because he felt sorry for them. | ||||||||||||||||
Carl Hauoli Kaikaina, 48, himself a convicted felon, had been
ordered by the court to undergo urinalysis testing, making him aware
of the seriousness and consequences of his actions, said Assistant
U.S. Attorney Tracy Hino. | ||||||||||||||||
"If he truly intended to help people, why was he charging people
money?" Hino argued yesterday against Kaikaina's request for a more
lenient sentence. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Helen Gillmor sentenced Kaikaina yesterday to
the maximum under federal guidelines of 24 months in prison for
soliciting and accepting bribes on three occasions, plus one count
of making a false statement. He was also ordered to serve three
years of supervised release after he gets out of prison. She also
fined him $1,000. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Still shaking their collective heads in shock and awe over Operation
Pipedreams, American marijuana law reformers were hit with another
strategically targeted strike on the outskirts of cannabis last week
when the DEA announced that their long-sought prohibition of hemp
consumables, such as corn chips and frozen waffles, will take effect
this 4/21. | ||||||||||||||||
Reformers may have been fortified by the passage of a medical
marijuana Bill in Maryland that reduced the penalty for
self-medication from a criminal offense to a mere ticket and fine.
Other incremental initiatives made progress in Missouri, Connecticut
and Oklahoma (of all places), despite the perfectly legal efforts of
the ONDCP to "clear up misinformation" for voters. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, possessing five grams or less for any non-commercial
purpose will soon be legal with a capital "L" for anyone 18 or over
in Belgium. Both the Jamaican Attorney General and Canadian Justice
Minister promise decriminalization in the very near future, but
there is growing consensus within the Canadian legal community that
the law prohibiting possession of 30 grams or less has been null and
void for almost two years. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(15) FOODS CONTAINING HEMP FACE IMPENDING DEA BAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The use of hemp in corn chips, frozen waffles and other foodstuffs
will be nipped in the bud next month under a new ruling by the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
Any cannabis products intended for human consumption will not be
allowed to be manufactured or sold after April 21, the agency said
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
A trade group representing dozens of companies that mix hemp oils
and fiber into their products - including San Diego County-based
Govinda's Fitness Foods and Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap - said it plans
to file a brief today in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco seeking a stay of the ban. | ||||||||||||||||
Several executives at companies distributing hemp-related goods threatened acts of civil disobedience if the ruling is enforced. | ||||||||||||||||
Hemp contains trace elements of the psychoactive substance
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is found in marijuana. U.S. drug
laws list THC as a Schedule 1 controlled substance. | ||||||||||||||||
"We expect most of the public to abide by the ban," DEA spokeswoman
Rogene Waite said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(16) WHITE HOUSE WEIGHS IN ON POT ISSUE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A local initiative aimed at softening the city's marijuana laws has caught the attention of the White House's drug prevention office. | ||||||||||||||||
Scott Burns, an appointee of President George W. Bush and director of state and local affairs for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, will speak Thursday at a luncheon sponsored by a local anti-drug group at the Peachtree Banquet Center. The subject of the luncheon will be how Proposition 1 conflicts with federal laws. | ||||||||||||||||
Burns, along with a staffer from the Washington, D.C., office and
another from Kansas City, will also hold a news conference about the
measure. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're not here to tell people how to vote. The president has a
strategy to reduce drug abuse, and any attempt to decriminalize or
legalize drugs runs counter to our mission," said Kevin Sabet, a
senior speechwriter with the drug policy office, which coordinates a
widespread anti-drug media campaign. | ||||||||||||||||
Instead of telling people how to vote, Sabet said that Burns would
be "clearing up misinformation." | ||||||||||||||||
For example, Sabet said that marijuana is a dangerous drug and its
use puts more teenagers in rehab every year than alcohol and other
drugs combined. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(17) BELGIUM TO LEGALISE CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BRUSSELS -- The Belgian parliament has voted to legalise the
personal use of cannabis, within certain guidelines, for anyone over
the age of 18. | ||||||||||||||||
The move, which has been the subject of fierce debate in Belgium for the last two years, will allow users to smoke small quantities of the drug in private, provided they do not disturb public order. | ||||||||||||||||
Its sale will, however, remain illegal and Belgium will not tolerate
Dutch-style coffee shops selling cannabis over the counter. Hard
drugs will continue to be outlawed. | ||||||||||||||||
The possession of up to 5g of cannabis for personal use will no
longer be punishable and police officers who find such quantities in
routine searches will take no action. | ||||||||||||||||
The country's ruling coalition of Liberals, Socialists and Greens
said it had been trying to decriminalise use of the soft drug since
2001. | ||||||||||||||||
The new law cleared the final hurdle after the Belgian senate voted
by a margin of 30 to 19 to adopt it. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(18) BILL TO LEGALISE GANJA FOR PRIVATE USE SOON, SAYS NICHOLSON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ATTORNEY General A J Nicholson said yesterday that legislation is
now being prepared to give effect to the recommendation of a
commission, which sat two years ago, for the decriminalisation of
marijuana when in private use here. | ||||||||||||||||
Nicholson did not say when a Bill will reach Parliament and neither
did he give details of the drafting instructions, but stressed that
decriminalising marijuana -- called ganja here -- will be within a
limited scope. | ||||||||||||||||
"Yes, it will, for private use only," he told the Sunday Observer
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana is widely used in Jamaica, and is said by Rastafarians to
be holy sacrament. But the use of the drug is illegal, for which a
person can be fined and, or, jailed. | ||||||||||||||||
Additionally, the island is one of the hemisphere's leading exporters of marijuana to the United States, and the Americans have promoted eradication and interdiction efforts in the island. | ||||||||||||||||
Earlier, in a speech to the Surrey Chapter of the Lay Magistrate's
Association, Nicholson sought to draw a distinction between the
historic use of marijuana in Jamaica and the country's more recent
role as a trans-shipment point for cocaine and the crime and
violence that has come in its wake. | ||||||||||||||||
"I am a 1942 model, which means I have been on planet earth for
quite sometime and I know that it is only recently that we are
having the kind of violent crimes that we are now experiencing,"
Nicholson told the lay magistrates. "So it couldn't be caused from
ganja. The illegal trade in cocaine is what is tearing the heart out
of Jamaica." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(19) POT CHARGES COULD BE STAYED ACROSS CANADA: EXPERT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA (CP) - Criminal charges for possessing small amounts of pot could be put on hold in provinces across the country following court rulings in Ontario and P.E.I., says a prominent legal expert. | ||||||||||||||||
A provincial court judge in P.E.I. ruled this month that an Ontario
court decision which prompted the adjournment of all simple
possession charges in Ontario should be binding in other provinces
as well. He was referring to the Parker case in Windsor, Ont. - now
under appeal - which saw charges thrown out against a 16-year-old
boy on the argument that the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances
Act no longer effectively prohibits possession under 30 grams. It
led the federal Justice Department to ask its Crown attorneys to
seek an adjournment or stay of all simple possession charges in
Ontario. | ||||||||||||||||
Justice officials last week similarly stayed all pot possession
charges in P.E.I. as a result of the ruling there. | ||||||||||||||||
Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto, said
judges in other provinces may also follow suit out of sheer
frustration with Ottawa's sluggishness in dealing with marijuana
possession laws. | ||||||||||||||||
"Really, I think people are fed up and I would think that pretty
much across the country, with the exception of possibly Alberta,
most courts would be more than happy to start staying marijuana
prosecution." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"If raised, I can't imagine many courts wanting to proceed with
these minor cases knowing that they may be imposing criminal records
on people who effectively have done nothing criminal." | ||||||||||||||||
In an interview, Justice Ralph Thompson of P.E.I. provincial court
said he'd received several requests for a copy of his ruling from
other provinces. Adding to the law's vulnerability is the fact
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has promised to introduce new
legislation to decriminalize marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
The legislation, originally promised by the end of April, could now
take until the end of the session in late June, Cauchon said
recently. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thai government death squads continue to slaughter drug users. Thai
officials find they are blocked from investigating the murders:
police refuse to cooperate. Police are openly killing suspects; any
excuse seems to do. For example, police in one Thai city last week
claimed a drug user drowned himself in a bucket of water, while in
custody. Noting the lack of investigation over obvious death squad
murders, Thai Attorney general Wichian Wiriyaprasit admitted the
orders for police not to investigate the killings had come from the
prime minister himself: "I suspect the silencings were carried out
to prevent the dead from implicating police." | ||||||||||||||||
While police in British Columbia may not yet have resorted to death squads as in Thailand, Vancouver city police apparently have their own ways of punishing drug "dealers" outside of the law. Six police officers were charged with assault after caught beating drug suspects, and then dumping them miles out of town last January. The six cops were suspended pending further investigations. | ||||||||||||||||
The existence of safe-injection sites in Vancouver is provoking much
wrath and harsh rhetoric from hard-line prohibitionists in Canada
and to the south. U.S. Drug Czar John Walters, unconcerned by police
death-squads or brutality anywhere, denounced the safe-injection
centers in Canada as "state-sponsored personal suicide," reported
the Wall Street Journal. A Canadian Alliance party spokesman wailed
that each safe injection center would become "a magnet" for addicts
seeking to evade punishment. About 70% of Vancouver residents
support safe injection centers there. | ||||||||||||||||
On the heels of news that an Australian heroin shortage had ushered
in a new era of drug-free obedience to government dictates, the
Australian government admitted last week that their aim was to
procure more money for government bureaucrats, in the name of
"prevention." A government-sponsored report on heroin predictably
concluded that government needs to grow ever larger and be fed more
money. Hopeful government officials urged taxpayers to view this as
an "investment." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(20) POLICE 'REFUSING' TO HELP GOVT PROBE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Justice Ministry officials say requests for reports into murders
have been ignored | ||||||||||||||||
Police have apparently refused to cooperate with a government investigation into the "silencing" of more than 1,000 people in | ||||||||||||||||
the first month of a crackdown on drug trafficking, senior Justice
Ministry officials said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
The attorney general, his deputy and a deputy permanent secretary of
the Justice Ministry complained that police had failed to submit a
single report to the investigating committee | ||||||||||||||||
on the estimated 1,000 cases of murdered drug suspects. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Following police reports at the end of February that more than 1,000
drug suspects had been killed, there was mounting public concern
that the pressure to apprehend a large number of criminals may have
led to unlawful executions. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney general Wichian Wiriyaprasit said he was perplexed at the lack of assistance as the order came from the prime minister. | ||||||||||||||||
"As such, I suspect the silencings were carried out to prevent the
dead from implicating police," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Dr Pornthip Rojanasunand, the acting deputy director | ||||||||||||||||
of the Justice Ministry's Forensic Science Institute, said it was
impossible for a drug suspect to commit suicide by immersing his
head in a bucket of water. | ||||||||||||||||
"So we won't call this suicide," she said, referring to a report
from Hua Mark police station that drug suspect Hong Khampu had
committed suicide by drowning himself early Sunday morning inside a
detention room. Pornthip said she couldn't investigate because the
case was outside her institute's jurisdiction. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) WANNA GET PICKED UP? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
On Saturday, March 21, six Vancouver city police officers were
charged with assault after the alleged beating of three suspected
drug dealers were taken on a 'Starlight Tour' to Stanley Park on
January 14. A young member of the force came forward to superiors in
the wake of the incident, and police Chief Jamie Graham swiftly
suspended the six, telling reporters | ||||||||||||||||
that he was stunned by the allegations and promising an immediate
criminal investigation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
At a recent community forum in Strathcona, the neighbourhood
adjacent to the Downtown Eastside, one resident told the
Ubyssey | ||||||||||||||||
simple: to make it difficult for dealers and users to stay on
the street. | ||||||||||||||||
Such tactics will force folk out of reach of both the newly built
safe-injection site and the two-year-old health contact centre on
Hastings. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(22) VANCOUVER DRUG FACILITIES DRAW IRE OF U.S. OFFICIALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Angering U.S. officials fighting the war on drugs, the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia, is opening North America's | ||||||||||||||||
first safe-injection sites for heroin users. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"If I thought tripling the police force would solve this problem, I
would do it," says Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell, who was
previously British Columbia's chief coroner. "But that's not the
case. We're dealing with addiction and disease. | ||||||||||||||||
And prison doesn't solve either of those problems." | ||||||||||||||||
One supervised site is already operating at a clinic that treats
people with HIV and AIDS. Officials in the West Coast port city,
located north of Seattle, say they hope to have a second
safe-injection site running by summer. | ||||||||||||||||
Critics, including U.S. drug czar John Walters, warn the sites | ||||||||||||||||
will encourage heroin addiction and worsen the city's drug problem.
Mr. Walters has called Vancouver's safe-injection sites | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In 2000, then-mayor Philip Owen, championed the idea of treating drug addiction as a public-health issue. His office devised a strategy that emphasized "harm reduction" as well as law enforcement, and pushed methadone clinics, needle exchanges and | ||||||||||||||||
safe-injection sites. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Canada's Health Ministry has said it's willing to allow | ||||||||||||||||
A recent poll showed 71% of Vancouver residents support such sites.
Critics say they set a dangerous precedent. Randy White, justice
critic for the Canadian Alliance federal political party, says
safe-injection sites result in "harm extension." He adds that
safe-injection sites are "a magnet" for addicts looking to use drugs
without threat of prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(23) MORE FUNDS SOUGHT IN HEROIN FIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PRESSURE for increased government spending on drug prevention grew
yesterday with the release of a new report on the cost of heroin
abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
One of the report's authors, Professor Alison Ritter, said at its
launch by Health Minister Bronwyn Pike that the Government needed to
address the issue. | ||||||||||||||||
The Herald Sun revealed yesterday the Premier's Drug Prevention | ||||||||||||||||
Council study found the cost to the community of heroin abuse was at
least $845 million a year. | ||||||||||||||||
It reported that government spending on drug prevention was less
than 1 per cent of the economic cost of heroin abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Former police chief Neil Comrie, a member of the council, said the
research study showed a modest 5 per cent reduction in heroin uptake
could free up $42 million for other priority areas. | ||||||||||||||||
"This commitment (to prevention) must be seen as an investment, not
a cost," Mr Comrie said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
A book by Kleanthis Grivas posted by Drugtext.org | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Mike Gray On Cultural Baggage | ||||||||||||||||
Listen online to the recording of this radio show from Houston,
Texas. Drug Crazy author Mike Gray's segment starts at about the 16
minute mark, and lasts for about 40 minutes - a superb 40 minute
review of the entire War on Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Brazil Health Official Slams Current Drug Policy | ||||||||||||||||
By Adriana Veloso, posted at narconews.com | ||||||||||||||||
Regina Benevides Criticizes Her Own Government's Anti-Drug Office | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CBC Cannabis Archives | ||||||||||||||||
An audio/vidio collection on the "marijuana debate" in Canada
dating from the Le Dain Commission forward. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Human Rights and the Drug War Updated | ||||||||||||||||
I just wanted to let you know that we've added three new pages to the Human Rights and the Drug War website, one for Ed Rosenthal, one for Lynn and Judy Osburn, and an update on the Tulia TX situation. You can access any of them from the main URL, http://www.hr95.org/ | ||||||||||||||||
Submitted by Chris Conrad | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Morality | ||||||||||||||||
By Bruce Mirken | ||||||||||||||||
White House drug czar John P. Walters' dishonesty about medical
marijuana ("Drug czar calls Maryland marijuana bill 'immoral,'Y"
Metro, yesterday) now borders on the pathological. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Walters, presumably with a straight face, called a bill to
reduce - not eliminate - criminal penalties for patients who use
marijuana to relieve pain and nausea caused by cancer, AIDS and
other illnesses, "scientifically irresponsible and contrary to our
high standards for approval of medications." | ||||||||||||||||
Surely, Mr. Walters is aware that the New England Journal of
Medicine, considered the world's most prestigious medical journal,
called for lifting the ban on medical use of marijuana back in 1997,
calling it, "misguided, heavy-handed and inhumane." Surely, he
remembers that the Institute of Medicine, in a 1999 report
commissioned by his office, stated, "Nausea, appetite loss, pain and
anxiety ... all can be mitigated by marijuana." | ||||||||||||||||
And, surely, Mr. Walters knows that the movement to protect medical
marijuana patients from criminal penalties includes the American
Academy of Family Physicians, the American Public Health
Association, the California Medical Association, the Florida Medical
Association and at least one former U.S. surgeon general, among
others. | ||||||||||||||||
It is Mr. Walters, not these experts, who is "cynical, cruel and
immoral." | ||||||||||||||||
Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications Marijuana Policy Project,
Washington | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Save Federal Judicial Discretion! | ||||||||||||||||
By Families Against Mandatory Minimums | ||||||||||||||||
The House of Representatives passed legislation on March 27 that
would, among other things, radically limit judicial discretion to
grant downward departures from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.
This legislation, referred to as the Feeney Amendment, constitutes
an extraordinary transfer of power to federal prosecutors, dramatic
changes to the laws and procedures that govern sentencing and a
drastic encroachment on the independence of the federal judiciary.
It places virtually all sentencing discretion in the hands of
federal prosecutors. The amendment was attached to child abduction
legislation at the last minute in an effort to avoid a debate of its
merits and a discussion of its flaws. No input from the Sentencing
Commission, the bar or federal judges was sought. | ||||||||||||||||
FAMM and several allies immediately sent a letter in opposition to the full House of Representatives before the vote. And we have been working diligently to stop this measure ever since -- but we need you help. Because the measure is attached to popular child-abduction legislation that will bypass the committee process, time is of the essence. This bill could be enacted into law in the next few days. | ||||||||||||||||
SUMMARY OF THE FEENEY AMENDMENT: | ||||||||||||||||
Offered by Rep. Feeney (R-FL) with the full support of Chairman
Sensenbrenner (R-WI), the legislation will dramatically restrict the
ability of federal judges to depart from the federal Sentencing
Guidelines. Today, if a judge feels that a guideline sentence is
unjust or unwarranted, sometimes he or she may "depart" on one or
more grounds to achieve a sentence that he or she feels is just.
Departures are permitted when judges find that the guidelines do not
adequately account for certain circumstances that must be considered
in reaching a just sentence. Departures help judges fit the
punishment to the crime. FAMM has always supported the federal
Sentencing Guidelines because they permit each judge to fit the
punishment to the offense and the offender. | ||||||||||||||||
Departure authority, while used rarely, is essential to ensure that
the Guidelines allow judges discretion, something that mandatory
sentencing does not permit. FAMM has always stood for judicial
discretion. | ||||||||||||||||
If the amendment passes into law much will change: | ||||||||||||||||
1. Judges sentencing first time, non-violent offenders will be | ||||||||||||||||
2. Judges will be unable to depart from the guidelines for "aberrant | ||||||||||||||||
3. Judges will be forbidden from awarding a one-point sentence | ||||||||||||||||
4. Judges will be forbidden from awarding any downward departures | ||||||||||||||||
5. The U.S. Sentencing Commission, which amends the Sentencing | ||||||||||||||||
REASONS FOR OPPOSING THE FEENEY AMENDMENT: | ||||||||||||||||
- Judicial discretion is necessary because no set of rules can predict the circumstances of every individual defendant. | ||||||||||||||||
- The Feeney Amendment, in effect, transforms the guidelines into a
system of mandatory minimum sentences. | ||||||||||||||||
- Throughout the Guidelines' 15-year existence, most criticism from
judges, academics and observers has been aimed at their excessive
severity and rigidity. | ||||||||||||||||
- The Feeney Amendment would overrule a decision of the Supreme
Court, Koon v. United States, that was written by Justice Kennedy
and joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia
and Thomas. | ||||||||||||||||
- Downward departure rates are well below the range contemplated by
Congress when it authorized the Sentencing Guidelines, except for
departures requested by the government. | ||||||||||||||||
- The overwhelming majority of downward departures (79%) are requested by federal prosecutors to reward cooperation or to manage the high volume of immigration cases in certain border districts. | ||||||||||||||||
- The government can appeal downward departures it doesn't consider appropriate, and it wins approximately 80% of such appeals. | ||||||||||||||||
- The bill imposes burdensome reporting requirements on the
judiciary without any new funding. | ||||||||||||||||
- The Feeney Amendment would result in increased incarceration at
taxpayer expense without any proven need. | ||||||||||||||||
- Such a dramatic rewriting of federal sentencing law requires
hearings and input from judges, the bar, the Sentencing Commission
and other experts. | ||||||||||||||||
- The amendment is designed to increase penalties imposed on persons
sentenced in federal cases by limiting federal judges from
exercising long-standing judicial discretion to mitigate the
punishment even for first-time, nonviolent offenders who have
otherwise exhibited exemplary conduct, including military service
and charitable works. | ||||||||||||||||
- The changes wrought by this amendment will be very costly in terms
of additional legal challenges, increased prison terms for even
nonviolent first offenders where compassion exercised by Article III
judges would be appropriate, and the untold costs to families and
society as a result of the increased incarceration. | ||||||||||||||||
This is excerpted from an alert by Families Against Mandatory
Minimums. For more information, and details on how to respond, see
http://www.famm.org/si_federal_sentencing_feeney.htm | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Nothing is 'harmless,' and harmlessness is not a prerequisite for
being legal." | ||||||||||||||||
Richard Cowan, see http://www.marijuananews.com/news.php3?sid=657 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE | ||||||||||||||||
-OR- | ||||||||||||||||
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to: | ||||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. |
 | current issue | this issue |