| Sept. 19, 2003 #318 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) COMPARING CANNABIS WITH TOBACCO-AGAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Link Between Cannabis and Mortality Is Still Not Established | ||||||||||||||||||
A recent editorial in this journal implied that as many as 30,000 deaths in Britain every year might be caused by smoking cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
The authors reasoned that since the prevalence of smoking cannabis is
about one quarter that of smoking tobacco the number of deaths
attributable to smoking cannabis might be about one quarter of the
number attributed to tobacco cigarettes (about 120,000). The idea that
the use of cannabis increases mortality is worthy of closer
examination. How do we assess this issue? | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) DRUG SQUADS 'HIKING UP VALUE OF HAULS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
POLICE drug squads are exaggerating the value of drugs they seize in
order to compete for a bigger share of government funding, legal
sources claimed yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The so-called "street value" attached to some hauls are often several times the real price at which they are being traded, they allege. Recent individual hauls have been attributed values of UKP 25m for cocaine, UKP 800,000 for cannabis, and UKP 3m for ecstasy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Senior lawyers, and a former drugs squad officer, have told The Herald
that the values of consignments are often based on unrealistic or
out-of-date assumptions about the retail price. They are exaggerated
either as PR hype or to enhance funding from the Scottish Executive for
the war against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
A former drugs squad officer admits talking up the values of seizures,
and says pressure has since grown because of the performance-related
nature of funding awarded to police forces and the Scottish Drug
Enforcement Agency. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) PATIENTS TESTIFY FOR MIKURIYA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
To refute the state Medical Board's Accusation against Tod Mikuriya, MD, the defense has called to the witness stand nine of the patients who allegedly received substandard care from him. Each patient described Mikuriya as a thorough, empathetic, and helpful consultant who never passed himself off as a primary care provider. | ||||||||||||||||||
Each confirmed that s/he had been self-medicating with cannabis
before seeking Mikuriya's approval to do so. | ||||||||||||||||||
The prosecution's expert, Laura Duskin, MD, had claimed that reading
Mikuriya's files enabled her to detect "extreme departures from the
standard of care" in his treatment of 16 patients. | ||||||||||||||||||
She felt no need to get input from the patients themselves. "We're
taught from day one in medical school that if you didn't write it
down, it didn't happen," Duskin testified in all seriousness. But
it became obvious, as the patients recalled their encounters with
Mikuriya, that a great deal had happened between them that Duskin
failed to discern. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) MILLIONS HAVE DRIVEN ON DRUGS, U.S. SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - An estimated 11 million Americans, including nearly one in
five 21-year-olds, have driven while under the influence of illegal
drugs, the government says. The numbers announced Tuesday were
especially high for college students. Eighteen percent of students
surveyed said they drove while on drugs last year, compared with 14
percent of their peers who weren't in college. | ||||||||||||||||||
John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, said the statistics show a failure to convince drivers
that drugs impair driving as much as alcohol does. His office is
kicking off an ad campaign to warn teens about driving while smoking
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Marijuana is not the soft drug. Marijuana is not the casual rite of
passage," Walters said at a news conference. "We have been sending the
wrong message." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Reverberations continue over the retracted Ecstasy scare study published in the journal Science. An in-depth look at the scandal, well-worth reading in its entirety, was published in The Scientist. The article quotes respected British researchers who expressed concerns about the study, and the way it was promoted to the media, well before the retraction took place. Among the searing comments: "It's another example of a certain breed of scientist who appear to do research on illegal drugs mainly to show what the governments want them to show. They extract large amounts of grant money from the government to do this sort of biased work. I hope the present retraction and embarrassment to the people involved will be some sort of lesson to them." If it hasn't been, another learning opportunity is coming, as the authors of the retracted study announced that they had to retract at least one more study. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's possible some state lawmakers have stopped believing drug war
hype. A report released by the Drug Policy Foundation suggested
several states have made moves away from tough drug policies in
recent years. Meanwhile, a drug-abuse foundation started by a North
Carolina congressman will stop providing services after an
investigation showed state funds for the foundation had been
distributed to organizations with political ties to the congressman.
Finally, there's nothing funny about federal taxpayers footing the
bill to incarcerate an aging comedian for nine months over bong
sales. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) RETRACTED ECSTASY PAPER "AN OUTRAGEOUS SCANDAL" (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Prominent scientists who raised concerns about paper now say Science
should publish referees' reports | ||||||||||||||||||
The retraction last week of a highly controversial paper published
in Science September 2002, which purported to show that the
recreational drug Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA)
caused severe damage to dopaminergic neurons, predisposing takers to
Parkinson disease, has prompted two leading British scientists to
call for the journal to publish the referees' reports. | ||||||||||||||||||
Colin Blakemore-professor of physiology at Oxford University and
chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science,
who will shortly take up the position of chief executive of the UK
Medical Research Council-and Leslie Iversen-a prominent | ||||||||||||||||||
Even before the retraction, Blakemore and Iversen had been involved
in a lengthy e-mail exchange about the original paper with Donald
Kennedy, the editor-in-chief of Science, last year. Neither believed
the paper should have been published, because of several glaring
discrepancies. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The issue is no small spat, but of profound public importance, say Blakemore and Iversen. "Scientific evidence is of crucial importance in our approach to the problem of drug abuse," Blakemore wrote to Kennedy last year, "but deliberate misrepresentation or exaggerated presentation of risk is likely to do more harm than good." | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's an outrageous scandal," Iversen told The Scientist. "It's
another example of a certain breed of scientist who appear to do
research on illegal drugs mainly to show what the governments want
them to show. They extract large amounts of grant money from the
government to do this sort of biased work. I hope the present
retraction and embarrassment to the people involved will be some
sort of lesson to them." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) SECOND ECSTASY STUDY RETRACTED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Johns Hopkins scientists find new error involving vial mislabeled in
the first experiment. | ||||||||||||||||||
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have retracted a
second study linking the drug Ecstasy to a certain type of brain
damage because once again the wrong drug was given to lab animals.
Dr. Una D. McCann, a neuroscientist involved in both experiments,
said a letter of retraction was sent Thursday to a medical journal,
which she declined to identify until editors there decide how to
handle the matter. | ||||||||||||||||||
Scientists discovered the mistake after they checked lab records to
see if methamphetamine from a mislabeled vial used in the first
experiment had been used elsewhere. | ||||||||||||||||||
"As you might imagine, we systematically went through the books to
find out which, if any, of our published studies involved the same
[vial]," she said Thursday. "We did find one, and a letter of
retraction was sent out to the journal today." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) REPORT: STATES BACK OFF TOUGH DRUG RULES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Scores of laws and voter initiatives since 1996 have turned states
away from "get tough" drug policies that emphasize the penalties for
drug offenses, according to a report released Tuesday by an advocacy
group. | ||||||||||||||||||
States approved measures that stress treatment instead of
incarceration, restore voting rights and welfare benefits for
offenders and allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
Overall, states were cobbling together policies that treat addiction
more like an illness than a crime, according to the Drug Policy
Alliance, a group that supports such an approach. | ||||||||||||||||||
More than 150 laws have been passed and, increasingly, support has come from both Democrats and Republicans, according to the report's authors and state lawmakers who spoke in a teleconference Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"There was a great deal of dissatisfaction with the way the war on
drugs has been pursued" from conservatives and liberals, said
Washington state Sen. Adam Kline, a Democrat who spoke about efforts
to reduce recidivism in his state. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) FOUNDATION WILL CLOSE DRUG-ABUSE PROGRAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
RALEIGH (AP) -- A foundation that U.S. Rep. Frank Ballance helped
create will shut down its drug- and alcohol-treatment program after
losing state financing earlier this year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Eddie Lawrence, who serves as director of the program for the John
A. Hyman Foundation, said that the substance-abuse program would
continue providing services to current clients through the end of
the month and then close. | ||||||||||||||||||
The foundation has come under increasing criticism since January,
when the N.C. Department of Correction withdrew funding because it
failed to provide audited financial statements. It had received
about $2million from the department since 1994. | ||||||||||||||||||
The organization had also failed to file tax forms required of
charitable groups showing how it disbursed the money, and some
critics charged that it served as a conduit for Ballance's political
patronage. | ||||||||||||||||||
Pastors at several churches that received grants from the foundation
to provide drug counseling have been Ballance political supporters
and donors. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Tax returns that the foundation has begun to file show that it gave
$7,250 in two years to a nonprofit day-care center owned by
Ballance's mother. | ||||||||||||||||||
Other records show that two of Ballance's campaign staff members are
paid employees, and that some of the small grants went to nonprofit
agencies run by campaign contributors. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) CHONG JAILED FOR SELLING DRUG ACCESSORIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PITTSBURGH -- Tommy Chong, who played one half of the dope-smoking
duo in the Cheech and Chong movies, was sentenced to nine months in
federal prison and fined $20,000 (U.S.) yesterday for selling bongs
and other drug paraphernalia over the Internet. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 65-year-old was allowed to remain free until federal prison officials tell him in a few weeks where he must report to prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chong also forfeited about $100,000 for his arrest on federal drug
paraphernalia charges. He'll spend a year on probation after he's
released from prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
His Nice Dreams Enterprises, which made a line of marijuana bongs and pipes, also faced sentencing. Under federal law, the business itself can be placed on probation or face other sanctions. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Alaskan law enforcement officials have different responses to an
appeals court decision allowing the personal possession of marijuana
in the state, but few seem prepared to act in the spirit or letter
of the ruling. State police say they won't arrest anyone, but they
plan to continue seizing marijuana and referring the cases to state
prosecutors. Local police in Fairbanks said the ruling won't change
the way marijuana cases are handled by officers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Even less respect for the law in North Carolina, where a
self-promoting, tough-on-drugs sheriff has been suspended and
charged with several felonies. The suspension of Gerald Hege was
followed by allegations that he not only allowed racial profiling in
his jurisdiction, he insisted on it. And, in Alabama, the
overcrowded, understaffed state prison system is a threat to public
safety, according to the state's prison commissioner. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) STATE WON'T ARREST FOR PERSONAL POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Attorney General Gregg Renkes instructed state law enforcement
Tuesday not to arrest or cite adults for personal marijuana
possession in their home. Renkes' announcement came in light of a
recent Alaska Court of Appeals decision that called a portion of the
state's marijuana laws unconstitutional. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I am advising the Alaska State Troopers and directing that the
district attorneys advise their local law enforcement not to arrest
or cite any adult for a violation of state law under the
circumstances protected by the Court of Appeals," Renkes wrote in a
memo to the Department of Public Safety and the state's district
attorneys. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, Renkes wrote that state law enforcement should still
investigate personal marijuana possession in "a manner that would
allow for prosecution" by seizing the drug, writing a report and
referring the case to state prosecutors. | ||||||||||||||||||
That procedure should be followed, Renkes wrote, because the
Attorney General's Office is asking the Court of Appeals to
reconsider the decision it rendered on Aug. 29 in the case of Noy v.
State and because federal prosecutors could accept a | ||||||||||||||||||
Possession of any amount of marijuana is a crime under federal law
and state agents could bring a case to the U.S. Attorney's Office
for prosecution, said Alaska U.S. Attorney Tim Burgess. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Individuals shouldn't feel that they don't risk federal prosecution
following the Noy decision," Burgess said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTENDS WITH DECISION ON POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Literally and figuratively, it's a burning question: Can Alaskans
have marijuana or not? | ||||||||||||||||||
The state Court of Appeals recently said yes, ruling that adult
Alaskans can legally possess up to a quarter pound of marijuana in
their homes for personal use. But the ruling, based on the
two-year-old case of a North Pole man found with marijuana in his
home, has met with varying responses from local and statewide law
enforcement agencies and state prosecutors. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police Director Paul Harris said it would be "business as usual" at
the Fairbanks Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If you break the law, you end up suffering the consequences," he
said. "This appeals court decision does not affect how we do
business." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) HEGE FACES 15 CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Is Suspended; DA Files Papers To Have Him Removed | ||||||||||||||||||
LEXINGTON - Sheriff Gerald Hege of Davidson County was charged with
15 felonies and suspended from office yesterday after a wide-ranging
state and federal investigation into corruption and misconduct by
the sheriff and his allies. | ||||||||||||||||||
Judge W. Erwin Spainhour issued an order for Hege's arrest about
10:15 a.m., after he opened 15 indictments that were sealed Sept. 2.
Hege appeared in Davidson Superior Court around noon and was
suspended as sheriff before posting a $15,000 bond and leaving the
courthouse with his family. | ||||||||||||||||||
District Attorney Garry Frank immediately filed a petition to remove
Hege as sheriff, and the 67 affidavits he provided in support of
that motion paint a chilling picture of the sheriff as a
law-enforcement officer with contempt for the laws he is supposed to
enforce. Frank suggested that Hege might retaliate against deputies
who the sheriff felt had betrayed him and that the state could not
risk keeping Hege in office any longer. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) HEGE URGED USE OF ETHNICITY, RACE IN DECIDING ON STOPS, OFFICER (Top)SAYS | ||||||||||||||||||
Three years ago, Sheriff Gerald Hege allowed the news media to tag
along as his deputies conducted traffic stops. The results of this
informal study, Hege said at the time, supported his contention that
he was not using racial profiling. | ||||||||||||||||||
But affidavits from Hege's deputies, filed in support of a petition
to remove him from office, paint a different picture of the
department, one that used race and ethnicity as reasons for stopping
motorists. | ||||||||||||||||||
'On several occasions Sheriff Hege told me to go out and stop 'every Mexican or black guy," Maj. Brad Glisson said in an affidavit. | ||||||||||||||||||
Many of these stops led to arrests on more serious charges, but District Attorney Garry Frank said yesterday that some of these cases may have to be dismissed if it is determined that the sole reason a person was stopped or apprehended was because of his race. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) OFFICIAL: CROWDED, UNDERSTAFFED PRISONS PUT PUBLIC AT SAFETY (Top)RISK | ||||||||||||||||||
MONTGOMERY -- Alabama's crowded, understaffed prisons are a threat
to public safety, Prison Commissioner Donal Campbell told the state
Sentencing Commission Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're on the verge of breaking down. It's broken," Campbell said.
The prison system has 28,142 inmates in facilities designed for half
that many. | ||||||||||||||||||
There are so few officers on duty in Alabama prisons that "when
inmates decide to come out of there" there will be no way to stop
them, Campbell said. | ||||||||||||||||||
One prison with nearly 2,000 inmates has only 22 officers on duty
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and only one officer on duty in a
gymnasium with 250 inmates, Campbell said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Great news from the northwest to start off this week's edition:
voters in Seattle approved a motion on their municipal ballot that
would ask local law enforcement to consider arrests for the personal
possession of cannabis the lowest possible policing priority.
Although only symbolic, it is hoped that the ballot initiative will
reduce the occurrence of such unnecessary, time-consuming, and
costly arrests. Before the vote, U.S. Drug czar John Walters argued
strenuously for the continuance of the unnecessary, time-consuming
and costly arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our next story looks at the storm of discontent brewing North of the
border over the poor quality of medicinal cannabis being grown and
distributed by the Canadian federal government (see exclusive pictures
at http://safeaccess.ca/research/HCvsVICSpics.htm). Two initial
recipients of this cannabis have returned the pot and asked for their
money back, and a group called Canadians for Safe Access (of which
your humble editor is founder and acting-Director) has had laboratory
testing done that suggests that the pot is not only of poor quality,
but potentially dangerous due to elevated levels of heavy metals such
as lead and arsenic. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our third story this week takes a look at a controversial Ohio medical marijuana bill that is slotted to be introduced by Democrat state representative Ken Carano. The bill would allow those with a legitimate medical reason to use whole-plant cannabis in pill form. However, the original bill as drafted by the Ohio Patient Network (OPN) would have allowed for the use of marijuana in any form by those with a physician's recommendation. As a result of the change in wording, OPN feels that it can no longer support the "pot-pill bill" in question. Since both the state house and senate are controlled by a Republican majority, it has been suggested that either version would be unlikely to pass this time around. | ||||||||||||||||||
And lastly, a good look at the proposed re-classification of
cannabis in the U.K. by the Eastern Daily Press; is it real
progress, or simply the "illusion of change" as has been suggested
by some activists? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) SEATTLE VOTERS FAVOR MEASURE ON MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Seattle initiative that would make adult marijuana possession the
lowest law-enforcement priority was passing last night, leaving
police and prosecutors concerned about a soft-on-drugs message. I-75
was promoted as a way to make the most of limited law-enforcement
resources, though critics called it a veiled attempt to condone
marijuana use. I-75's biggest financial backers included the
national Marijuana Policy Project and Peter Lewis, head of
Ohio-based Progressive Auto Insurance, which favor | ||||||||||||||||||
Dominic Holden, a leader in the I-75 campaign and organizer of
Seattle's annual Hempfest, said voters "don't think that adults who
possess marijuana for personal use should go to jail." | ||||||||||||||||||
Victory is likely to be mostly symbolic. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske has said I-75 wouldn't change police
work on the street. Police handle about 400 misdemeanor-possession
cases a year. | ||||||||||||||||||
City Attorney Tom Carr predicted defense attorneys now will likely
challenge the prosecution of possession cases as running contrary to
voters' wishes. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) DRUG CZAR CALLS SEATTLE POT INITIATIVE A 'CON' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
White House drug czar John Walters yesterday condemned a Seattle
ballot initiative aimed at making marijuana possession the lowest
law-enforcement priority, calling it a "con" and a "silly and
irresponsible game." | ||||||||||||||||||
In Seattle yesterday and today to meet with local officials involved
with drug treatment, law enforcement and homeland security, Walters
talked of the dangers of marijuana, of increased pot use among
teenagers and what he views as society's too-frequent attempts to
forgive and condone. | ||||||||||||||||||
The initiative on Tuesday's ballot, he said, is "designed to send a
message that marijuana is a trivial matter." | ||||||||||||||||||
Backers are promoting Initiative 75 as a way to save limited law-enforcement money for crimes more serious than marijuana possession. The initiative would not decriminalize marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) FIRST TOKERS OF FEDS' POT WANT MONEY BACK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ottawa - Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's
government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their
money back. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford,
58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Laboratory tests indicate the Health Canada product has only about
three per cent THC -- not the 10.2 per cent advertised -- and
contains contaminants such as lead and arsenic, said spokesman
Philippe Lucas of Victoria. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This particular product wouldn't hold a candle to street level
cannabis," he said in an interview. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medical marijuana advocates aren't interested in swallowing cannabis
in pill form. Instead, they want to stick to their pipe dreams. And
they were super bummed to read that one of their favorite lawmakers
was tinkering with their plan. | ||||||||||||||||||
Youngstown area state rep. Ken Carano told The Other Paper last week
that he was planning to introduce a bill that would allow for the
medicinal use of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a move aimed at giving the measure broader support, the 58
year-old Democrat said the bill would be crafted to allow a medical
marijuana pill to be swallowed, rather than legalizing the medicinal
smoking of pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"Honestly, I would still be lobbying to find a sponsor if I knew
that was the case," said Deirdre Zoretic, director of patient
advocacy for the Ohio Patient Network. "The pill isn't acceptable to
us." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) IS DOPE LAW REFFER MADNESS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
If smoking pot muddles the mind, then the new guidelines on police
enforcement could leave you equally confused. In trying to usher in
a more relaxed attitude towards cannabis, also known as dope, pot,
hash, weed and blow, the Government is reclassifying the drug from
Class B to Class C, and effectively saying that smoking it at home
is fine by them. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police chiefs this week issued their guidelines about the
circumstances in which cannabis users could find themselves
arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||
But while there is no doubt that a more relaxed approach is being taken to allow police to concentrate their efforts on crack cocaine and heroin, critics say it fails to address many key issues. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
After years of political haggling, North America's first
government-approved drug-injection facility officially opened last
week in Vancouver, Canada. The government-sponsored site -- which
provides IV drug users with injection kits, mirrored injection
booths, nurse supervision, and counseling -- has been controversial
from the start, but championed by the Vancouver Mayor, and funded by
Health Canada and the B.C. government to the tune of some $3.5
million. | ||||||||||||||||||
Citing the unreliability of saliva-based testing, the Australian
state of Western Australia will not mandate driver drug tests. The
state of Victoria had announced last week police there would begin
saliva tests for drivers, in an attempt to catch drivers who had
consumed cannabis before driving. In the state of Western Australia,
police would be given new behavioral tests to catch drug-impaired
drivers. Critics cited new research which demonstrated that
behavioral tests, the Standardised Field Sobriety Tests police use
to snare drivers, are also not reliable. | ||||||||||||||||||
The United Nations last week trumpeted new estimates which proved
the war on drugs can, after all, be won because UN estimates
estimate that Colombia's coca crop had dropped 32 percent from
January to July 2003. Jubilation at the UN's latest estimates was,
however, tempered with clashing estimates from the US, which
estimated a more modest reduction of only 15 percent, as well as
surging coca production in the nearby nations of Peru and Bolivia.
Nonetheless, prohibitionists like U.S. Drug Czar John Walters hailed
the estimates as proof that the strategy of dumping tons of plant
poison on the Colombia countryside will win the drug war. The coca
production estimates are based on satellite imagery. | ||||||||||||||||||
Citing an anonymous "U.S. State Department official," the Associated
Press last week reported that Guatemala has now become a "major
cocaine pipeline" (much as Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, Honduras and Belize have also become major cocaine
pipelines). Denouncing the laxity of Guatemalan President Alfonso
Portillo in fighting Washington's war on drugs, US officials
lamented that, "The government of Guatemala lost its will to attack
the problem." Followers of drug policy, however, won't be too
surprised that drug smugglers endlessly exploit places and ways to
circumvent prohibition, such as using myriad alternate | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) DRUG INJECTION SITE A REALITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
While some of its potential clients huddled nearby, North America's
first authorized drug-injection site had its long-awaited official
opening Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The so-called safe-injection site won't be open to addicts for a
week or so, but its political backers greeted the move with whoops
and cheers. | ||||||||||||||||||
The controversial government-funded project will give users
injection kits and allow them to shoot up inside under nurse
supervision. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug users sometimes will use dirty needles and water from puddles
to shoot up. Now, addicts wanting to use the new facility will be
ushered into a brightly-lit room lined on one side by open, mirrored
booths where they can inject drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Health Canada has committed $1.5 million to pay for research during
the pilot project and the B.C. government will also give $2 million
to help cover costs. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) WA SNUB TO DRIVER DRUG TEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WA WILL not follow Victoria's lead to introduce random roadside drug
tests. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Road Safety Council, which will shortly report to the State
Government on how to tackle drug driving, believes saliva-testing
technology is not sufficiently proved or effective. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Victorian Government announced yesterday it would introduce
random roadside drug testing similar to booze buses next year - the
first jurisdiction in the world to do so. | ||||||||||||||||||
Drivers will give a saliva sample that is processed within minutes,
showing the presence of drugs such as marijuana, speed, cocaine and
ecstasy. The roadside tests will target transport workers and rave
parties. | ||||||||||||||||||
In WA, the Road Safety Council will only recommend that police crack down on people driving under the influence of illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police will be given recommended new procedures to catch drug
drivers, including behavioural tests. | ||||||||||||||||||
But new Australian research reveals behavioural tests are also
unreliable. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But the Standardised Field Sobriety Tests used by police - such as following an object with the eyes or walking a straight line - successfully identified only three in four drivers impaired by marijuana, and only one in 10 under the influence of amphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) COCA SPRAYING WAR PAYS OFF (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - The United Nations said on Wednesday that
American-financed aerial eradication of Colombia's vast coca fields
is starting to pay big dividends, releasing new estimates that show
the size of the crop dropping by 32 percent in the first seven
months of the year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Production of coca -- the main ingredient in cocaine -- is
increasing slightly in Peru and Bolivia. But the sizable reduction
in Colombia's crop means that for the first time overall coca
production in the Andes is dropping at a rapid pace. The new
estimates from the U.N. Drug Control Program show that coca fields
in Colombia fell from 251,940 acres in December to 170,430 acres on
July 31. At this rate, the United Nations said, Colombia's coca crop
will be reduced 50 percent by the end of the year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Human rights groups frequently criticize President Alvaro Uribe's
government, and some American congressmen have questioned the
effectiveness of U.S. aid. The new data, though, are sure to
encourage supporters of eradication. "Many people who thought this
couldn't be done in the past are having to rethink their
assumptions," John Walters, the White House drug policy chief, said
by phone from Washington. | ||||||||||||||||||
The United States, which does its own study of Colombia's drug
crops, first started to register a decline in Colombian coca
production last year. But the findings were tempered by | ||||||||||||||||||
The figures released on Wednesday, the first time Nyholm's office
has presented half-year figures, are based on satellite imagery and
calculations. His office also releases an annual census, which found
Colombia's drug crop dropped by 30 percent from December 2001 to
December 2002. The U.S. figures showed a much smaller drop, 15
percent, during the same period. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(23) GUATEMALA BECOMES MAJOR COCAINE PIPELINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
LOS AMATES, Guatemala -- Starting as a small-time smuggler deep in
the countryside, a trucking company boss has become Central
America's most-wanted drug suspect, using platoons of pilots,
fishermen and truck drivers to turn Guatemala's sliver of Caribbean
coast into a major pipeline for Colombian cocaine. U.S. and
Guatemalan officials say Otto Herrera succeeded in building a small
but powerful smuggling gang because Guatemala's government did
little in recent years to stop the drug trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now, facing increasing pressure from Washington, Guatemalan
President Alfonso Portillo is taking steps to crack down on drug
smugglers. But even one of the country's top drug investigators
acknowledges more needs to be done. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Guatemala was a paradise for them. There was total freedom, a green
light for narcos for three full years," said Jorge Paredes, national
director of anti-drug investigations. "The government of Guatemala
lost its will to attack the problem." | ||||||||||||||||||
The problem got so bad after Portillo took office at the beginning of 2000 that President Bush dropped Guatemala last January from America's list of allies in the counter-narcotics effort, citing corruption that reached to the highest level of government. | ||||||||||||||||||
Guatemala long has been a transit point for shipping narcotics to
Mexico and the United States. But with Mexican President Vicente Fox
increasing efforts to cripple his country's narcotics trade,
Colombian smugglers began working more closely with Guatemalan gangs
that collect, store and prepare drugs, said a U.S. State Department
official who spoke on condition of anonymity. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Successful drug raids in other parts of Central America -- including
El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua -- made Guatemala an
even more popular route for narcotics flowing from South America's
jungles to U.S. streets. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
says half of the 400 tons of cocaine smuggled through Central
America each year passes through Guatemala. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
CHERYL MILLER MEMORIAL AND PHONE SLAM | ||||||||||||||||||
On Monday and Tuesday, September 22 and 23, 2003, Cheryl Miller's
family and friends will join with medical marijuana supporters in
Washington, D.C. to memorialize her life and contributions to the
medical marijuana movement. | ||||||||||||||||||
If you can't be there, take some time Sept. 23 to call your representative about federal medical marijuana legislation. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS DEBATE IN THE UK: DECRIM VS. LEGALISATION | ||||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Geoffrey Guy, Exec. Chairman of G.W. Pharmaceuticals,
http://www.gwpharm.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Marc Emery, Publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, | ||||||||||||||||||
Listen live at http://www.kpft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
JACK COLE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION (LEAP) | ||||||||||||||||||
Power Point presentation to the Rockport, MA, Rotary. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS LEGAL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA? | ||||||||||||||||||
A B.C. provincial court judge has ruled that "there is no offence known to law at this time for simple possession of marihuana" in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
Read the ruling online at: | ||||||||||||||||||
http://www.provincialcourt.bc.ca/judgments/pc/2003/03/p03%5F0328.htm | ||||||||||||||||||
See also a compilation of conflicting media coverage at: | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LUCAS AND ELROD ON THE AIR | ||||||||||||||||||
A seven minute audio file of Philippe Lucas of Canadians for Safe
Access on CBC' Radio One's 'As It Happens' talking about Health
Canada's medical cannabis is at | ||||||||||||||||||
Phil's press release, http://safeaccess.ca/pr/csapr7.htm, resulted in dozens of stories, from newspapers all over and as far away as England, South Africa and Australia, as well as one cartoon at http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20030918/OPINION01/30918001 | ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Still Illegal Despite Ruling, Or Is It? Listen, in low bandwidth realaudio, to criminal lawyer Michael Mines and MAP's Matt Elrod discussing this issue on CBC's BC Almanac for about ten minutes at: http://www.salvagingelectrons.com/drugradio/cbc-bca-20030917-nomjlaws.ram | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
STATES BACK OFF TOUGH DRUG LAWS | ||||||||||||||||||
46 states passed laws to ease tough laws on drug violations according
to a detailed study released this week by the Drug Policy Alliance. The
webpage for the report is at | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Forum Announced: The Truth About Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||||
A Policy Forum sponsored by The Independent Institute, co-sponsored
by Harper's Magazine, Drug Policy Alliance, and The Goldman School
of Public Policy at UC Berkley. Featuring Ed Rosenthal, Donald I.
Abrams, M.D., Edwin Dobb, and Robert J. MacCoun. Thursday, October 2
at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco. Details at | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Students for Sensible Drug Policy and Drug Policy Forum of Michigan
present 2003 Drug Policy Conference "And Justice for All? Communities
of Color & The War on Drugs" October 3rd & 4th, Wayne State University,
Detroit, Michigan. The Conference is FREE! Please register so we may
accommodate you for lunch. Registration information and details at
http://www.dpfmi.org/conf.htm | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
War On Drugs Is A Failure | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jeff Miller | ||||||||||||||||||
Readers' views: | ||||||||||||||||||
While most of the world has acknowledged that the war on drugs is a
complete failure and more destructive to society and drug users than
the drugs themselves, the U.S. government refuses even to debate the
possibility of doing anything but waging war on its own citizens.
Our system of dealing with drug abuse is a system that stops nobody,
including teenagers, from finding any drug they please. The enormous
amount of profit that is involved with the illicit drug trade
encourages criminal organizations and gangs to flourish. And with
them, comes all the violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Countries that have experimented with decriminalization and/or harm reduction strategies have had positive results. Where ever marijuana has been decriminalized, rates of usage have been affected very little and the usage of hard drugs has decreased over time. In the late 1970s, the average age of hard drug users in the Netherlands was in the mid 20s. Now the average age is 36. This tells us that young people are never coming into contact with hard drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Switzerland is experimenting with "heroin assisted treatment." So
far the experiment is working very well. In the cities where the
plan is in place, crime has declined up to 60 percent. The black
market for heroin has been crushed, and the overall health of the
addicts has gotten better. The Swiss program has seen a higher rate
of people going into treatment and after treatment a higher
percentage stay off the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
We as a society need to approach drug abuse as managers rather than moralizers. It's time to start looking at better more viable and freedom-loving options when approaching the issue of drug abuse, rather than building more prisons and spending more money. | ||||||||||||||||||
Jeff Miller,
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
An Exceptional Occasion to Help DrugSense Help You | ||||||||||||||||||
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Dear Fellow Reformer: | ||||||||||||||||||
Are you one of the 20,000 people per day who use DrugSense/MAP
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"The real issue is should we legalize marijuana. Let's have a debate
about that." - U.S. drug czar John Walters, see | ||||||||||||||||||
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