| Oct. 3, 2003 #320 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) FALSE DRUG INFORMATION HARMS KIDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
With little fanfare, highly touted researchers from Johns Hopkins
University recently made a stunning announcement. Data from their
experiments with the now infamous drug Ecstasy, published a year ago in
Science, turned out to be fatally flawed. | ||||||||||||||||
It seems the vials had been mislabeled and the drug administered to -- and that killed 20 percent of -- the study's laboratory monkeys and baboons was not Ecstasy but a completely different substance. | ||||||||||||||||
As a research scientist, having conducted the first federally funded
sociological study of Ecstasy users, I am happy about the recent news
that one dose of Ecstasy does not, as the widely publicized Science
article had claimed, cause irreversible brain damage leading to
Parkinson's disease. | ||||||||||||||||
What bothers me is the turn of events that enabled our government to consistently use faulty research to shape bad drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) GREENS BACK CANNABIS CALL WITH DOCTOR SURVEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Green Party is pushing its case for legalising the medicinal use
of cannabis with a survey showing a third of doctors would consider
prescribing it. | ||||||||||||||||
MP Nandor Tanczos, a cannabis law reform campaigner, said it was the
first such survey ever carried out. | ||||||||||||||||
"It is a reality check for those cannabis prohibitionists who seem
indifferent to the suffering of sick people and a wake-up call for
the Government," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey was sent to 500 doctors selected at random and 45 per cent
responded, giving a 6.5 per cent margin of error. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) PRO-POT ADS TO BE POSTED AT 10 METRO STATIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Metro subway stations will soon display a batch of ads promoting the
legalization and taxation of marijuana as a means to improve sex, save
taxes and protect children. | ||||||||||||||||
The poster ads, sponsored by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit group
Change the Climate Inc., had been displayed on Metro buses, billboards
and bus shelters during the past month. They are expected to be posted
at 10 subway stations as early as Monday, said Metro spokesman Steven
Taubenkibel. | ||||||||||||||||
D.C. Council member Jim Graham, chairman of Metro's Board of Directors,
said, "These ads are intolerable, and we need to review our policies so
that First Amendment considerations are not allowed to compel us to
accept this type of advertising."
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Under its policy for public service advertising, Metro reserves 10 percent of its advertising space for nonprofit groups. | ||||||||||||||||
Joseph White, founder and president of Change the Climate, said his
group is not advocating the use of marijuana but is seeking to prod
discussion about drug laws. The ad campaign is the group's third in the
metropolitan area since 2001. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) FACE-TO-FACE WITH CHRETIEN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A proud prime minister reflects on his past, muses about his future and
jokes about trying pot
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[snip]
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FREE PRESS: How does it feel to have bills to legalize same-sex
marriages and decriminalize marijuana as the exclamation points to your
political career?
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The decriminalization of marijuana is making normal what is the
practice. It is still illegal, but do you think Canadians want their
kids, 18 years old or 17, who smoke marijuana once and get caught by
the police to have a criminal record for the rest of their life? So
what has happened is so illogical that they are not prosecuted any
more. So let's make the law adjust to the realities. It is still
illegal, but they will pay a fine. It is in synch with the times. I
don't know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no
longer be criminal. I will have my money for my fine and a joint in the
other hand. | ||||||||||||||||
Same-sex marriage -- the decision has been coming from the court. Some
people complain that perhaps the judgment goes a little too far. But
for me, it is better to err on the side of giving more rights than
taking away rights. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Federal legislators who decry wasteful and oppressive big government
programs passed over a perfect opportunity to eliminate the Office
of National Drug Control Policy last week. Instead, with little
discussion, the bureaucratic office and its counterproductive pet
projects were funded for another five years. Drug czar John Walters
immediately illustrated the value of his office by using inaccurate
information to verbally attack a foreign country known for lower
drug use rates and a more sensible attitudes. | ||||||||||||||||
The efforts of the narco-warriors also paid off big in Hawaii, where an experimental hemp farm was essentially regulated out of existence, since purity in the war on marijuana is clearly more important than than helping a sagging agricultural industry. Another big benefit of the drug war: a coordinated attack on doctors who try to help patients cope with pain. When the ONDCP funding becomes an issue again in five years, one wonders if officials will tout the misery it has helped to cause as another success story. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) HOUSE APPROVES FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION OF WHITE HOUSE ANTI-DRUG (Top)OFFICE | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON ( AP ) - The House on Tuesday extended the life of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy for five years
while initiating a new program to protect neighborhood activists who
stand up to local drug dealers. | ||||||||||||||||
The legislation, passed by voice vote, also brings changes to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas ( HIDTA ) program to ensure that it focuses on places with critical drug problems and meets its goal of having local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work together in places with particularly serious drug problems. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., said it would give the
drug office director more flexibility to deal with changing
circumstances and tighten drug control programs to ensure they
remain focused on their core purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill, which still must be taken up by the Senate, authorizes
spending of about $2.5 billion over five years for programs
administered by the White House drug czar to reduce illegal drug
trafficking and use. | ||||||||||||||||
The White House, in a statement, praised the bill, saying it
"maintains an effective balance between both supply reduction and
demand reduction strategies."
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[snip]
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(6) U.S. DRUG CZAR SAYS DUTCH NEED TO GET TOUGHER ON ECSTASY (Top)PRODUCTION | ||||||||||||||||
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Faced with massive smuggling of ecstasy, a
U.S. official said Friday the Dutch government needs to give
authorities the power to use wiretaps and infiltrate criminal gangs
to crack down on its production. | ||||||||||||||||
The Dutch government "isn't serious enough" about closing down
laboratories that ship tons of synthetic drugs to the United States,
said John Walters, director of the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy. Walters, attending a conference in Rome, spoke
by telephone with The Associated Press. | ||||||||||||||||
The Netherlands is seen as the largest source of ecstasy in the
United States and the rest of the world. | ||||||||||||||||
Speaking to reporters in Rome on Friday, Walters also took European
countries to task for their lax punishment of marijuana use, calling
their policies "fundamentally irrational."
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[snip]
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(7) INDUSTRIAL HEMP PROJECT SHUT DOWN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The state's only industrial hemp research project shut down yesterday, with its operator blaming "bureaucratic runaround" from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration for its demise. | ||||||||||||||||
"You can bang your head on a rock for so long and eventually you want to stop banging your head on it, and today I stopped," said Dave West, manager of the Hawai'i Industrial Hemp Research Project. | ||||||||||||||||
Two DEA agents yesterday supervised the destruction of remaining
seeds at the Wahiawa site, a requirement after West announced that
the one-person operation was shutting down. | ||||||||||||||||
Briane Grey, DEA assistant special agent in charge, said that six
pounds of hemp seeds and no plants were destroyed. | ||||||||||||||||
The privately financed project planted its first seeds in December
1999 with the hope of exploring the possibility of using industrial
hemp as a cash crop for the state's struggling agricultural
industry. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS NATIONWIDE ARE TARGETING DOCTORS THEY (Top)SAY ARE RUNNING 'PILL MILLS' | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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"If a prosecutor thinks that he has a federal case, then he's going
to go after it," said Charlie Cichon, president of the National
Association of Drug Diversion Investigators and the head of the
investigative unit for the Maryland Medical Board. | ||||||||||||||||
A spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Agency, Ed Childress, did not
return a call for comment on how many doctors are being investigated
around the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
The DEA has identified the abuse and diversion of OxyContin as a
serious problem in certain parts of the United States, particularly
in the East, according to its Web site. And the DEA identifies
doctors and pharmacists as being the primary route through which
pharmaceuticals get illegally diverted to the black market,
according to its Web site. Several doctors in far Southwest Virginia
have been convicted of writing illegal prescriptions. | ||||||||||||||||
From 1996 to 1999, the last year figures were available, deaths from
drug abuse that were reported in connection with the use of
oxycodone quadrupled, from 51 deaths in 1996 to 268 deaths in 1999,
according to the Web site. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Arizona-based Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, characterized the investigations and prosecutions of doctors as a "witch hunt." | ||||||||||||||||
"Being a bad doctor is not a crime," Orient argued. "Without an intention to harm the patient, and without an intention to participate in drug dealing, how can you say it's a crime?" | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
We knew some states were using very broad definitions of anti-terror
laws to go after people who break drug laws; now it seems federal
prosecutors have been doing the same thing. However, the question
is, will the feds run out of space money to house all those
convicts? That continues to happen in the states, notably Alabama,
where thousands of prisoners will receive early parole to cope with
prison crowding. And in a surprisingly progressive move, some of
those convicts will have a process in place to reclaim their voting
rights, thanks to the Alabama legislature. | ||||||||||||||||
It's easy to see why Alabama prisons are packed full by looking at
the explosion of drug crime in one small town in the state. And in
Michigan, a judge who smoked marijuana at a Rolling Stones concert
has been suspended for six months. Some of the judges judging the
accused judge him thought the punishment was too light, especially
considering his admission that the Stones concert wasn't the only
place he puffed the demon weed in recent years. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) U.S. USES TERROR LAW TO PURSUE CRIMES FROM DRUGS TO SWINDLING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration, which calls the USA Patriot Act perhaps its most essential tool in fighting terrorists, has begun using the law with increasing frequency in many criminal investigations that have little or no connection to terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||
The government is using its expanded authority under the
far-reaching law to investigate suspected drug traffickers,
white-collar criminals, blackmailers, child pornographers, money
launderers, spies and even corrupt foreign leaders, federal
officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
Justice Department officials say they are simply using all the tools
now available to them to pursue criminals - terrorists or otherwise.
But critics of the administration's antiterrorism tactics assert
that such use of the law is evidence the administration has sold the
American public a false bill of goods, using terrorism as a guise to
pursue a broader law enforcement agenda. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) LAWMAKERS APPROVE FELON VOTING RIGHTS BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MONTGOMERY - State lawmakers gave their final approval Wednesday to a bill making it easier for some felons to regain the right to vote. | ||||||||||||||||
"If you've served your time, then I think you ought to get your
voting privileges back," said the Senate sponsor, Sen. E.B. McClain,
D-Midfield. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill also would expand the state Parole Board so it could give
early releases to an extra 5,000 state inmates in the coming year to
ease prison crowding. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) DRUG CASES KEEP PELHAM, HOOVER POLICE SWAMPED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In a back office of the Pelham Police Department, two detectives start each day with a stack of cases that never seems to end. | ||||||||||||||||
The illegal sale and use of pharmaceutical drugs hit town about
three years ago and has not let up since, said Bobby Smith, one of
two detectives assigned to the city's drug unit. | ||||||||||||||||
This year has been especially busy for the city, possibly a record
when the final numbers are calculated, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug unit has signed 114 felony warrants and 125 misdemeanor
warrants, and has worked 11 trafficking cases, said Mike Roberts,
the second detective in the unit. | ||||||||||||||||
To add to the mix, a Pelham pharmacy was burglarized last month,
putting 5,000 pills such as the pain medicine oxycodone on the
street, Smith said. | ||||||||||||||||
That's in a city of 16,000 residents, according to the latest
figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. The number of drug cases is
nearing that of neighboring Hoover, a city of about 65,000
residents. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) GILBERT BANNED FOR 6 MONTHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
State Supreme Court Issues Suspension
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TRAVERSE CITY - District Judge Thomas Gilbert has been suspended for
six months without pay, nearly a year after a witness spotted him
smoking marijuana at a rock concert. | ||||||||||||||||
The Michigan Supreme Court released an order late Thursday that
chronicled the Court's fractious debate over what an appropriate
punishment would be for the judge. | ||||||||||||||||
"I would remove Judge Thomas Gilbert from the bench for the remainder of his term, so I respectfully dissent from the majority's six-month unpaid suspension," wrote Justice Elizabeth A. Weaver. | ||||||||||||||||
During the judicial misconduct investigation, Gilbert admitted that he used marijuana "approximately two times per year and has continued to do so since becoming a judge," according to the order. | ||||||||||||||||
"In addition to the obvious hypocrisy of his conduct, Judge Gilbert
has misled the public in his voluntary statements to the press by
actively minimizing and mischaracterizing the extent of his
marijuana use," Weaver wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
"While Judge Gilbert repeatedly smoked marijuana, he sat in judgment of others for their marijuana use, fining and jailing them for their violations of the same laws he himself was violating," she wrote. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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The return of fall weather means two things; the outdoor crop should
be curing up nicely by now, and politicians are back at work dancing
the prohibition boogie. Our first story comes to us from Australia,
where the government of New South Wales has taken "a step to the
left" by allowing physicians to prescribe therapeutic cannabis
treatment as early as next year. The scheme includes the founding of
an Office of Medical Cannabis, and will focus on research and
distribution of cannabis medicines, which the government hopes will
take the form of a pill or spray. | ||||||||||||||||
Our second story this week is a column that discounts a shoddy
British Medical Journal study suggesting that cannabis may be
responsible for up to 30,000 deaths a year in Britain. Since there
has never been a single death solely attributable to cannabis use,
either through overdose or in long-term use studies, this
speculation was clearly more bad "slip-and-slide and shuffle"
science than substance. | ||||||||||||||||
Our third story looks at the controversial lambada-like legal dance
going on in Maryland, which will now allow those arrested for
cannabis possession to argue that it is a medical necessity, and
possibly receive a drastically reduced sentence. Forbidden dance
indeed!
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And finally a story about some flat-footed Canadian provincial
politicians who are against the admittedly poorly drafted federal
cannabis decriminalization bill, arguing that they should have been
consulted on this piece of legislation, and that it is far too
lenient. How amazing that a bill that would make the maximum
penalties for the cultivation of 50 plants or more a 14 year jail
sentence should be considered "too lenient". These folks have no
music in their soul; as is often said during the limbo dance that is
life, "how low can you go?"
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(13) NSW DOCTORS TO PRESCRIBE MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PEOPLE will be able to register to use marijuana for medical
conditions in NSW from next year. | ||||||||||||||||
The scheme -- which caused an outcry when proposed by the Carr
Government before last March's state election -- won in-principle
Federal Government approval last week. | ||||||||||||||||
Legislation allowing gravely ill people to use marijuana -- most
likely in the form of a pill or nasal spray -- is due to be released
within weeks. | ||||||||||||||||
The scheme will be expanded to include both a clinical trial and to
offer several categories of gravely ill people immediate use of
cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) SMOKING POT KILLS... NOT. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
For the health-conscious pothead who can't afford or can't get motivated to use a vaporizer, the mother of all questions has to be: does smoking cannabis lower life expectancy? A recent editorial in the British Medical Journal generated ominous headlines, attributing some 30,000 deaths annually in the UK to cannabis smoking. But you can relax a little, dear reader: the authors simply extrapolated from the number of deaths caused by cigarette smoking (120,000) and assumed that pot smoking was 1/4 as common and equally dangerous. | ||||||||||||||||
In the Sept. 20 BMJ, Stephen Sidney, MD -the associate director of
clinical research for Kaiser Permanente, who has conducted the most
relevant studies-explains how to approach the question
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"Firstly, we need to examine published data regarding use of
cannabis and mortality. These data come from two large studies. The
first study done in a cohort of 45,450 male Swedish conscripts, age
18-20 when interviewed about the use of cannabis, reported no
increase in the 15-year mortality associated with the use of
cannabis after social factors were taken into account. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) MARYLAND STARTS TEST RUN OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Silver Spring lawyer Jonathan L. Katz considers it a defense
attorney's dream: A Maryland law taking effect today allows anyone
convicted of possessing marijuana to argue for a drastically reduced
sentence if the drug was used for medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
"How many people out there don't have any kind of physical pain that
marijuana might alleviate?" asked Katz, who specializes in defending
people charged with marijuana-related offenses. "People with sports
injuries and back injuries. For people with asthma, marijuana can
help breathing. For anorexics, it can help stimulate the appetite.
There are a whole bunch of people who like marijuana who can now try
to use this defense."
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Prosecutors say they are a bit nervous, noting the law lacks
language defining just who can use the defense and how a judge
should interpret it. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The first-if-its-kind legislation has also drawn the attention of
the White House, which lobbied hard against it and of a national
marijuana advocacy group, which argues the measure does not go far
enough. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) PROVINCE PANS FEDERAL STANCE ON POT BILL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Alberta Solicitor General Heather Forsyth says she's frustrated with
the federal government's refusal to budge or consult others on the
decriminalization of marijuana possession. | ||||||||||||||||
Forsyth believes decriminalization is inconsistent with the federal
position that organized crime increasingly controls the grow
operations and sale of the drug in this country. | ||||||||||||||||
"To me there is a serious disconnect in their logic. Why say it's a
very serious offence to grow it or sell it, but it's OK to smoke
it?" she asked Tuesday, after discussing the issue at a conference
of federal and provincial ministers in Quebec. | ||||||||||||||||
She said she asked federal officials to consult with high-profile
organizations that oppose decriminalization, such as the Canadian
Police Association. | ||||||||||||||||
But after Tuesday's talks it is clear the government will go ahead
with plans to remove possession of small amounts of marijuana from
the Criminal Code of Canada, she said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (not content with some 2,500
suspected drug offenders summarily executed by thinly-veiled police
death squads in the past year) this week declared the drug war would
be intensified to make Thailand drug free before December 5. "We
will play hard and scan every square inch of the country to root out
drug abusers," the Prime Minister huffed. Thai papers did not
mention what would happen to the Prime Minister when this
prohibition will also fail, and drugs would continue to be available
after the deadline. | ||||||||||||||||
Perhaps longing for Thai-style executions of suspected drug users,
the mayor of an Australian city urged that drug addicts "should be
given a lethal injection." Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis made his
modest proposal last week while speaking on the topic of needle
exchange services, reported the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
While the the mayor did not specify the types of drugs which might
make users eligible for execution, the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation report helpfully asserted "police statistics" which
"alarmingly" proved danger to teens, whose "rate of amphetamine and
marijuana use" was increasing. | ||||||||||||||||
Vancouver police are again dealing with some statistics of their own
this week as they were forced to investigate another of their
members for brutality and misconduct, including lying under oath and
fabricating evidence in court. While mounting allegations of police
brutality and frame-ups have shaken public trust in the Vancouver
police, prosecutors deny any need for an open inquiry. The latest
allegations came to light when a Vancouver officer was subjected to
lie detector tests when applying for another job. | ||||||||||||||||
In Mexico, Cardinal Juan Sandoval of Guadalajara fell under
government suspicion last week in a money-laundering probe, as the
Mexican federal Attorney General's Office subpoenaed records of the
cardinal and his associates. Leaked details of the investigation
have incensed clergy and church activists alike: the archdiocese's
web site announced a mass rally in support of the cardinal last
week. Meanwhile, Mexican Bishops defended the embroiled cardinal,
hinting the government wanted to cover up details of the murder of
an earlier cardinal, Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who was killed by
traffickers in 1993. | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) PM REOPENS WAR ON DRUG TRAFFICKERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday kicked off what he called the second round of the war on illicit drugs, vowing to leave no stone unturned in the search for traffickers and users. | ||||||||||||||||
The 60-day battle is aimed at eliminating illicit drugs from the
country before December 3 to please His Majesty the King, Thaksin
said. The premier said the second round would be much more difficult
than the first - which lasted from February to May - because the
government would have to scrutinise all areas for the "remaining 20
per cent" involved in drugs. Thaksin said the first round had been
very successful, leading to the arrest of 80 per cent of drug
traffickers and users in the country. "Now we will have to use nets
with finer mesh to catch the remaining 20 per cent," he said. "In
the 60 days from now I would like to ask all Thais to join the fight
and clean up all narcotics before December 5, which is the birthday
of His Majesty. We must finish our war." Thaksin also said he would
like to thank the 46 officials who were killed, and the 60 injured,
among others, for their contribution in the first phase of the
campaign. | ||||||||||||||||
He said the second round would be even harsher and more decisive.
"We can't take it lightly. We will play hard and scan every square
inch of the country to root out drug abusers and traffickers from
Thai society," Thaksin said. | ||||||||||||||||
The government came in for much criticism during the first phase,
which saw more than 2,500 people killed in incidents suspected to be
related to the crackdown. | ||||||||||||||||
Thaksin said authorities would also try to seize more assets from
drug suspects. If anti-money laundering laws could not be applied,
Revenue Department checks would be used. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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A source from the coordination centre for the war on drugs said
special teams would be set up to carry out secret operations, which
would be "finer" in order to prevent criticism from human-rights
activists. AMLO secretary-general Peeraphan Premputi said his office
aimed to seized another Bt3 billion. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) MAYOR CALLS FOR LETHAL INJECTION FOR DRUG USERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Controversial Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis has called for drug
addicts to be given a lethal injection to cut rising illicit drug
use on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. | ||||||||||||||||
Police statistics show the rate of amphetamine and marijuana use among teenagers in the region is increasing alarmingly. | ||||||||||||||||
Cr Davis says the use of intravenous drugs has also risen since the
introduction of a local needle exchange program. | ||||||||||||||||
He says there should be less tolerance to both drug users and
traffickers. | ||||||||||||||||
"I don't have a problem with the free needle exchange but the drug
addict who wants to exchange a needle should be given a lethal
injection," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
"You want the trip of your life, in fact the last trip of your life?
Not a problem, come on in and we'll deal with you."
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Exchange)
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(19) VANCOUVER POLICE BEGIN INTERNAL PROBE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Police Department confirmed
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A police officer is accused of lying under oath, fabricating
evidence in court, stealing items seized by police and withholding
information concerning police brutality. | ||||||||||||||||
The series of allegations, revealed in a highly unusual news
conference on the weekend by Chief Constable Jamie Graham, are the
sixth set of serious charges against the force to be aired in recent
months. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite the mounting accusations of brutality and misconduct, B.C.
Solicitor-General Rich Coleman ruled out the use of a public
inquiry. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The most recent surfaced when a three-year member of the force
applied for a job with the police department in Saanich, a community
outside Victoria. | ||||||||||||||||
The junior constable allegedly revealed at that time that he had
given false evidence in a criminal trial involving drugs, as well as
mishandling items that were evidence in the trial. | ||||||||||||||||
The constable made a vague reference to overhearing noises at a
police station that he said could have been officers using excessive
force. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The officer is the eighth with the Vancouver force to come under
investigation since the start of the year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) CARDINAL IN MEXICO UNDER SUSPICION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Money-Laundering Allegations Affect Vatican Finances
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MEXICO CITY - The Mexican government is squabbling with the Roman
Catholic church over a money-laundering probe involving Cardinal
Juan Sandoval of Guadalajara, one of a handful of clerics who
oversee Vatican finances. | ||||||||||||||||
The affair has drawn in a wealthy friend of Fidel Castro's, renewed
allegations of murder and coverup, and raised questions about the
role and rights of the church in a changing nation. | ||||||||||||||||
It pits the church against prosecutors in the government of
President Vicente Fox who, despite being divorced and remarried, is
the most openly and devoutly Catholic head of state Mexico has had
in 140 years. | ||||||||||||||||
Sept. 11, the newspaper Reforma said the federal Attorney General's
Office had subpoenaed bank records of the cardinal and several of
his relatives and friends in a probe of possible money laundering.
It published a photocopy of the request for the records, listing
names. Prosecutors confirmed only that an investigation of the
cardinal was under way. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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With no charges filed, Mexican law bars prosecutors from giving
details of investigations. But the news media added a slew of
leaked, anonymous hints and speculation about what might be
involved. | ||||||||||||||||
Church activists and clergy were outraged, and the archdiocese's Web
site has promoted a mass rally for the cardinal today in
Guadalajara. Its magazine, Semanario, has complained that the
freezing of church accounts even blocked movement of donations to
the Vatican. | ||||||||||||||||
A statement by the Mexican bishops' conference defended Sandoval's
``integrity and honor.'' It suggested the aim was to undermine
Sandoval's efforts to prove that an earlier cardinal, Juan Jesus
Posadas Ocampo, was killed in 1993 to keep him from revealing ties
between drug traffickers and the government. If proved, that could
make Posadas eligible for sainthood as a martyr. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ED ROSENTHAL BLASTS FEDS
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A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||
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IS THE DRUG CZAR AFRAID TO DEBATE?
| ||||||||||||||||
By Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Rick Doblin, President of MAPS
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Rick Doblin, PhD, is president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies and Publisher of their quarterly magazine. | ||||||||||||||||
MP3: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/Audio/FDBCB_093003.mp3
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We NEED YOUR PLEDGE!
| ||||||||||||||||
Cultural Baggage and the Drug Truth Network depend on KPFT and
Pacifica Radio. KPFT depends on you and your pledges of support.
Please listen to our shows and call in your pledge at that time
to support our efforts. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MARC EMERY SMOKES OUT PARLIAMENT HILL
| ||||||||||||||||
The Summer of Legalization Smoke-Out Tour with Pot-TV
| ||||||||||||||||
Exclusive footage of Marc Emery's September 25th Smoke Out at
Parliament Hill.
| ||||||||||||||||
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HEALTH CANADA'S DIRTY LITTLE SECRET
| ||||||||||||||||
Government "Medicinal" Grow-op Located in One of Canada's Most
Contaminated Regions
| ||||||||||||||||
Despite an independent test by Canadians for Safe Access
(www.safeacess.ca) indicating elevated levels of heavy metals
such as arsenic and lead [i] on the Health Canada cannabis
being cultivated in an abandoned copper and zinc mine in
Flin Flon Manitoba by Prairie Plant Systems (PPS), neither
Health Canada nor PPS has acted to reassure Canadians that
this product is indeed safe. | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Pot Propaganda
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By Matthew Hulett
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Re: "Police pursue today's high-yield pot" (Sept. 2). Thanks for the propaganda about potent pot. Now, let's examine the facts. | ||||||||||||||||
No. 1, hash products that measure up to 50 per cent THC content have
been available for centuries. No. 2, Starks measured Thai samples of
marijuana in 1974 that came in at 17 per cent THC content. No. 3,
samples that measure above 12 per cent THC content are relatively
rare. | ||||||||||||||||
Take the time to ask baby boomers about Thai stick, Panama Red, and
Colombian Gold, and then come back to me and attempt to persuade me
most of them were smoking hemp-like marijuana measuring 0.9 per cent
THC content. | ||||||||||||||||
I quote your own RCMP's data:
| ||||||||||||||||
"Survey Results: The THC content of the 3,160 marihuana samples
analyzed during the three-year period varies considerably. Although
the highest value recorded was 25 percent, the yearly country-wide
averages are much lower: 6 percent for 96-97, 5.5 percent for 97-98,
and 5.7 percent for 98-99. In fact, almost a third of the samples
were under 3 percent."
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Just the facts, please. | ||||||||||||||||
Matthew Hulett,
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LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - SEPTEMBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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DrugSense recognizes Stan White of Dillon, Colorado for his eleven
letters to the editor published during September, bringing his
career total that we know of to an impressive 121. | ||||||||||||||||
You can read all of Stan's excellent letters by clicking this link: | ||||||||||||||||
This monthly recognition is based strictly on numbers of letters published. The person with the highest count at http://www.mapinc.org/lte/ is recognized. In case of a tie the recognition goes to the person with the largest total career count. But once recognized, a person is not eligible again for a year. | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Rush's Chance For Redemption
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By Stephen Young
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Rush Limbaugh thrives on controversy. His words are calculated to
arouse reactions. That's his job, and if popularity is any
indication, he's quite good at it. | ||||||||||||||||
I'm not a regular Limbaugh listener, though I've heard his show. I was dying to hear it yesterday, Thursday, the day the headlines broke. But alas, he had a substitute. Not to avoid claims he pressured his former housekeeper to illegally procure large amounts prescription painkillers for him. He was speaking at a broadcasting convention, so he couldn't make his show. He's expected back today. | ||||||||||||||||
The accusations against Limbaugh are, of course, just accusations.
This week's National Enquirer lays out a lot of details, including
copies of emails allegedly sent between Limbaugh and his
housekeeper. I don't know how much of it is true. Limbaugh's web
site failed to offer a clear denial of charges that he used
OxyContin and a couple other drugs. Instead, a statement on the web
site said was not contacted by government officials about any
investigation, but he would cooperate if approached. | ||||||||||||||||
I'll definitely be listening to today's show. In my drug policy
reform fantasy world, I will hear him say that people have a right
to deal with pain on their own terms; that while drug use can be
dangerous, it should not be prosecuted or persecuted. And then he'll
expose the drug war for the boondoggle that it is. | ||||||||||||||||
Back in the real world, though, I wouldn't bet on it, even if a wild-eyed William Bennett offered one-hundred to one odds. I'm not expecting any major statements on drugs or drug abuse from Limbaugh. He apparently hasn't said much publicly about drugs in recent years. | ||||||||||||||||
The Enquirer, however, does offer several offensive Limbaugh quotes
on drugs from 1993, the year U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders
suggested support for legalizing drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
"By legalizing drugs, all you're going to do is define further deviance downward," he said. "We have a duty to pass our values to our descendents. Values that will maintain the standards of behavior and ensure the survivability of the American way of life. And drugs are no different. You end up destroying more than yourself." | ||||||||||||||||
Beyond several similar statements from the same year, the Enquirer
didn't dig up much else about Limbaugh's position on drugs. Another
publication found the same sort of thoughts from Limbaugh in 1995 -
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread17457.shtml
| ||||||||||||||||
Back in 1998, Limbaugh touched on drug policy, but his tone was
different. He used his show to criticize government lawsuits against
tobacco companies. | ||||||||||||||||
"It seems to me that what is missing in the drug fight is
legalization," he said on his show. "If we want to go after drugs
with the same fervor and intensity with which we go after
cigarettes, let's legalize drugs. Legalize the manufacture of drugs.
License the Cali Cartel. Make them tax payers and then sue them. Sue
them left and right and then get control of the price and generate
tax revenue from it. Raise the price sky high and fund all sorts of
other wonderful social programs."
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While many saw that as an optimistic sign of a change in position,
others heard sarcastic contempt for the tobacco settlements. After
that show, DrugSense sent out a Focus Alert urging drug policy
reform supporters to contact Limbaugh and encourage him to speak out
unequivocally against the drug war. Scores of messages were sent, we
listened, but the subject didn't come up again. | ||||||||||||||||
It's understandable for Limbaugh to have felt like he couldn't say
much at that time - the same year his housekeeper alleged that he
began receiving drugs from her. | ||||||||||||||||
People who use drugs in ways contrary to government regulations have
been largely neutralized in the debate about drug policy. While
there are some brave exceptions, not a lot of people are willing to
stand up and openly identify themselves as lawbreakers. And, when
they are caught, the standard pattern is to renounce drugs in an
effort to appease authorities, whether the drug user believes the
renunciations or not. | ||||||||||||||||
This is one of the main reasons that the drug war plods along its
destructive path - the central constituency affected by the laws are
afraid to speak out. Celebrities, no matter how blustery, can't be
expected to act much differently. | ||||||||||||||||
But, Limbaugh, with his massive audience, has a wonderful
opportunity today to enlighten his listeners from his own personal
experience. He's got the perfect forum. I hope he finds his voice
and speaks honestly. | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of
Maximizing Harm - www.maximizingharm.com
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"There are so many mixed messages that kids think everybody is
lying." - Mike Gray commenting on drug education, see
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (), Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||
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