| Jan. 16, 2004 #333 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) FEDS TO REVAMP DRUG TESTING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Employees' hair, saliva and sweat will be included in screenings | ||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK - The federal government is planning to overhaul its employee
drug-testing program to include scrutiny of workers' hair, saliva and
sweat, a shift that could spur more businesses to revise screening
for millions of their own workers. | ||||||||||||||||
The planned changes, long awaited by the testing industry, reflect
government efforts to be more precise in its drug screening and to
outmaneuver a small but growing subset of workers who try to cheat on
urine-based tests. | ||||||||||||||||
Some businesses have already adopted alternative testing, despite
criticism by privacy advocates. But others have held back, partly
awaiting government standards. | ||||||||||||||||
Alternative testing methods would give employers more certainty about the timing and scope of drug usage than is now possible solely with urine sampling, said Robert Stephenson II, an official with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. | ||||||||||||||||
That could be particularly valuable in situations like investigations of on-the-job accidents, to determine not just whether an employee uses drugs but if usage occurred recently enough to be a cause. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) COUPLE FACES FEDERAL POT CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Oakland man who went to state court this week to mount a medical
defense to marijuana charges was instead handed over to federal
authorities, who have filed charges that could put him and a
co-defendant behind bars for the rest of their lives. | ||||||||||||||||
David Davidson, 52, an Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative member, and
Cynthia Blake, 53, of Red Bluff are to be arraigned today by U.S.
Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows of Sacramento. | ||||||||||||||||
They're charged with manufacturing more than 100 marijuana plants and
conspiracy to cultivate more than 1,000 marijuana plants. The former
is punishable by five to 40 years in federal prison; the latter by a
mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Davidson and Blake both have doctor's recommendations to use marijuana.
But Tehama County Assistant District Attorney Lynn Strom unexpectedly
announced the state would drop its charges against the pair, and she
and the pair's lawyers went into a judge's chambers to discuss why.
When they did, Tehama County Sheriff's deputies -- acting on federal
authority under a local-federal drug task force's auspices -- arrested
the pair on the federal charges, issued last week by a grand jury in
Sacramento. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) WORTHING'S CANNABIS CHAMPION JAILED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS campaigner Chris Baldwin has been jailed for six months after running a Dutch-style "coffee shop" in Worthing. Around 30 supporters watched from the public gallery at Chichester Crown Court on Friday as Baldwin was sentenced for running the Quantum Leaf cafe in Rowlands Road, which was fronted by cannabis paraphernalia shop Bongchuffa. | ||||||||||||||||
Angry shouts came from the gallery as Judge John Sessions sent Baldwin,
53, of Carnegie Close, East Worthing, to prison. Police officers had to
clear the public gallery after some of the campaigners would not leave
the court. Baldwin appeared only days before cannabis is reclassified
from a class B to class C and Judge Sessions said he was sentencing
with this in mind. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) LAWSUIT FILED AFTER SWAT RAIDS HIGH SCHOOL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Goose Creek, S.C. - Students as young as 14 were terrorized by police with guns and drug-sniffing dogs in an early-morning SWAT raid at Stratford High School that violated their rights, the American Civil Liberties Union charged in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 20 families. | ||||||||||||||||
"What this school administration allowed is truly shocking," said
Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU's Drug Policy Litigation Project and
lead counsel in the lawsuit. "Officials at this school, along with law
enforcement officers, treated innocent children like hardened
criminals." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The ACLU's lawsuit charges school and police officials with violations
of the students' right to be free from unlawful search and seizure and
use of excessive force. The lawsuit seeks a court order declaring the
raids unconstitutional and blocking officials from carrying out future
raids, as well as damages on behalf of the students who were
terrorized. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Read the ACLU complaint online at | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Civil libertarians have been justifiably worried about secret
judicial proceedings in the war on terror, but court cases with
absolutely no public oversight too place well before Sept. 11, 2001,
according to a report in the Sun Sentinel newspaper of Florida.
Naturally, the cases had to do with the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Another court conflict is intensifying in Colorado, where state
medical marijuana laws are clashing with federal drug laws. In the
latest twist, nine law enforcement officers have been charged with
contempt of court for refusing to return the medical marijuana of a
state-registered patient. | ||||||||||||||||
The irony of prohibition was also evident in New Jersey last week,
as drug arrests took place at an event billed as a benefit for an
anti-drug group. And how do teen drug surveys really work? A Florida
newspaper asked the question and found some interesting answers
about why the surveys just aren't that reliable. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) MIAMI FEDERAL COURT HAS 'SECRET DOCKET' TO KEEP CASES HIDDEN (Top)FROM PUBLIC | ||||||||||||||||
A secret docketing system hiding some sensitive Miami federal court
cases from public view has been exposed and is being challenged in
two higher courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court. | ||||||||||||||||
"We don't have secret justice in this country," said Lucy Dalglish,
executive director of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press. The Washington-based journalists watchdog group is asking the
appellate courts to open up two Miami federal cases it says were
litigated in secret. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The media group is challenging a secret plea bargain and sentencing
involving Nicolas Bergonzoli, a Colombian drug smuggler who had
business dealings with Ochoa. The case suggests the secret docketing
system predates the Sept. 11 attacks. | ||||||||||||||||
Both men were potential witnesses. | ||||||||||||||||
Bergonzoli was indicted in Connecticut for drug trafficking in 1995.
Four years later his case, still open, was transferred to Miami. No
record of it existed until Ochoa's lawyers were able to unseal parts
of the file in May. At the time, Ochoa was on trial and prosecutors
were resting their case. Bergonzoli entered a secret plea bargain
and was never called to testify at Ochoa's trial. | ||||||||||||||||
Neither case appeared on the court's public docket, where it would
have been assigned a number and scanned into a computer file. As a
result, the public had no way of knowing they existed. Hearings were
conducted behind closed doors, and all documents and legal motions
were filed under seal. The sensitive court papers were kept
separately in a vault at the court clerk's office in Miami,
according to attorneys familiar with the practice. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge William J. Zloch, chief judge for the South
Florida district, and Clerk of Courts Clarence Maddox were out of
the office and unavailable for comment on Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
Attorney Floyd Abrams, a nationally recognized expert on free press
and court access issues, said sealed documents and closed courtrooms
are nothing new and are sometimes necessary to protect national
security or investigations. But, he said from his New York office,
he was "very surprised" to learn about cases that were fully
litigated with no public record. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) 9 OFFICERS CITED FOR CONTEMPT IN POT CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In a collision of federal and state drug laws, nine law enforcement
officers, including a federal drug agent, were issued contempt
citations Wednesday and ordered by a judge to appear in court Feb. 2
to explain why they shouldn't be jailed or fined. | ||||||||||||||||
Routt County Court Judge James Garrecht had ordered the officers to
return 2 ounces of marijuana seized in an October raid of Don Nord's
apartment. | ||||||||||||||||
Nord, 57, who suffers from cancer, diabetes and other maladies, has
a certificate from the state's medical marijuana registry allowing
him to use and grow small amounts of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
His misdemeanor ticket for possession was dismissed after
prosecutors said the citation was lost. The judge ordered
authorities to return Nord's growing equipment, pipes and 2 ounces
of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
The Drug Enforcement Agency, however, refused to comply, saying
federal law supersedes state law and makes no provision for medical
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) BENEFIT ENDS WITH 10 ARRESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
'Safe, Drug-Free' Benefit Concert Ends With Arrests For Drug
Possession And Assault On Police Officers. | ||||||||||||||||
Billed by town officials as a safe, drug- and alcohol-free night of
entertainment for local teenagers, Friday night's benefit concert at
the Township Activity Center turned violent and ended in 10 arrests
-- including one for drug possession, authorities said. | ||||||||||||||||
Police said four adults and five juveniles were arrested, some for
aggravated assault on police officers, after several of those in
attendance became disorderly when police shut down the event, which
they felt had begun to get out of hand. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In addition, 18-year-old Michael Murphy, of Toms River, was arrested
and charged with possession of marijuana at the event, which was
sponsored by the Brick Municipal Alliance Committee on Alcoholism,
Drug Abuse and Youth Services; the Brick Youth Club; and a student
organization run by the School-Based Youth Services Program of Brick
Memorial High School. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) HERALD-TRIBUNE ANALYZES '02 TEEN DRUG USE SURVEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey reported that the
state's biggest teen drug problem wasn't in Miami, Tampa or any
county with an urban center. | ||||||||||||||||
According to the survey, Charlotte County ranks as the state's worst
when it comes to teen substance abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
The Herald-Tribune analyzed the results and methodology of the
survey. The review included interviews with experts in the field of
surveys and teen drug use, as well as with representatives of the
company that created and administered the survey. The goal of the
analysis was to answer some of the questions a skeptic of the
survey's findings would have, such as: | ||||||||||||||||
Were there flaws in the way the survey was administered? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Residents and city officials of Louisville, Kentucky are learning
about the terrible price of continued drug prohibition. After a drug
suspect was fatally shot in the back, protesters have demanded
answers from police and the city. And an old police drug corruption
case could cost the city millions in lawsuits. | ||||||||||||||||
Overzealous law enforcement in Florida are being refuted by a court
there, but police seem unrepentant. A judge ruled against so-called
"knock and talk" drug raids, but police don't plan to change their
procedures. And in San Francisco, the best District Attorney in
America is leaving office. Terence Hallinan lost his re-election
campaign, but his successor plans to keep many of his policies,
including tolerance for medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) PROTEST OF FATAL POLICE SHOOTING TURNS VIOLENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Demonstrators At Louisville Police Headquarters Refuse To Disperse,
Break Windows In The Office Of Chief Robert White | ||||||||||||||||
Police arrested a protester after a group of about 60 people refused
to leave the area around Louisville Metro Police headquarters
downtown. Police arrested three adults and a juvenile. | ||||||||||||||||
What started out as a peaceful demonstration of several hundred
people in front of Louisville Metro Police headquarters last night
ended with officers in riot gear and horse-mounted police trying to
disperse about 60 people who didn't want to leave. | ||||||||||||||||
The crowd finally melted away when Chief Robert White emerged from
the station and agreed to meet with the remaining protesters at the
Justice Resource Center on Cecil Avenue, more than 30 blocks west.
White spent nearly two hours answering questions in a session with
about 50 people. It was closed to news media. | ||||||||||||||||
The demonstration was in response to the death of Michael Newby, 19, who was shot in the back three times by undercover Officer McKenzie G. Mattingly during an alleged attempted drug buy Saturday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) POLICE CORRUPTION LAWSUITS COULD COST LOUISVILLE MILLIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
10 People Claim Their Civil Rights Were Violated | ||||||||||||||||
Almost a year after former Metro Narcotics partners Mark Watson and Christie Richardson were tried criminally in Jefferson County's largest police scandal in decades, the fallout is far from over. | ||||||||||||||||
Even as the officers serve their sentences - he's in prison; she's
on probation - six civil suits, involving 10 people who were cited
or had property seized by the officers, are pending in Jefferson
Circuit Court and U.S. District Court, alleging the detectives and
local government violated citizens' civil rights when charging them
with trumped-up charges. | ||||||||||||||||
At least eight of the 10 people suing had been jailed by the
officers; nine of the 10 either had charges against them dismissed
or convictions overturned. Sentences ranged from probation to
prison. | ||||||||||||||||
One plaintiff, Robert Hardin, said his arrest on drug charges "was a
nightmare." His conviction ultimately was set aside. | ||||||||||||||||
The cases could cost Louisville metro government millions of
dollars, based on verdicts and settlements in other police
corruption cases throughout the country in the last several years.
For example, Los Angeles agreed to pay $2.8million in 2002 to settle
with seven victims of a police corruption scandal, and in 2000,
Miami paid $2.5million to settle a civil case tied to one of a
series of shootings where officers were accused of lying and
tampering with evidence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) SHERIFF LOSES 'KNOCK' RULING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An appellate court has ruled against the Orange County Sheriff's
Office's use of controversial tactics while entering a woman's home
in 2001 and seizing a small amount of drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
The 5th District Court of Appeal ruling filed Friday says members of the sheriff's so-called "tip squad" conducted an "unlawful seizure" after they approached Lynn Miller outside her house on Edland Drive. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
It's not clear how the court's decision will affect the sheriff's
operations or the policies of other departments in the 13 counties
covered by the appellate court. Lawyers with the state Attorney
General's Office arguing the case may ask for a re-hearing. The case
may ultimately go to the Florida Supreme Court. | ||||||||||||||||
"Until and if it becomes finalized, our procedures are going to be
the same," said Cpl. Carlos Torres, a sheriff's spokesman. "And if
or when it becomes finalized, or if there is a decision, they'll
have to sit down and review our policy and deal with it | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) NEW D.A. PROMISES TO BE 'SMART ON CRIME' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Kamala Harris was sworn in Thursday as the first black woman in
California history to serve as a district attorney, pledging to be
"smart on crime" as she assumes the role of San Francisco's top
prosecutor. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Harris, a career prosecutor and supervisor in the city attorney's
office, defeated her former boss Terence Hallinan last month after
an acrimonious campaign in which she portrayed the incumbent
district attorney as an incompetent prosecutor. | ||||||||||||||||
On Thursday, however, Harris praised Hallinan for having brought a
"progressive agenda" to the prosecutor's office. | ||||||||||||||||
"You served this city well," she said. Hallinan, 67, had received a warm round of applause as he sat in the front of the auditorium. | ||||||||||||||||
Hallinan said he was leaving office after eight years and going into
private practice will no ill feelings, satisfied his key policies
will continue. | ||||||||||||||||
"I thought it went well -- I got a nice hand from the crowd,"
Hallinan said. | ||||||||||||||||
Harris has pledged to continue Hallinan's practice of supporting
patients receiving medical marijuana, refusing to seek the death
penalty and prosecuting three-strike offenders only for serious or
violent felonies. | ||||||||||||||||
"It takes much more than building prisons and locking away prisoners
to keep our city safe," Harris said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Although Canada already benefits from the reputation of having both
stronger beer and cannabis than what's available in the U.S., no one
could have foreseen that the two would be so intertwined until a
bust at a former Molson Brewery in Barrie Ontario uncovered what may
turn out to be the biggest illegal grow-op in Canada. Over 100
police officers were involved in the bust, which has uncovered over
10,000 plants, many of which were being grown in the beer vats of
the former brewery. This gives a new meaning to the popular Molson
catch phrase "I am Canadian!". | ||||||||||||||||
In our second story, MPP has issued a final report card grading the
Democratic presidential candidates based on their support for
medicinal cannabis. Front-runner Howard Dean received a failing
grade of D- for his lackluster support of state medical marijuana
laws; Dennis Kucinich lead the pack with an A+. Our third story
continues the long saga of California's Hayward Hempery, one of the
nation's oldest medicinal cannabis dispensaries. The organization
now faces eviction from its present location for failing to pay
rent. | ||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story is good news for those pledging to lead a healthier
lifestyle in 2004. The Georgia Institute of Technology and UCLA
Irvine have released a study that links the "runner's high"
phenomenon with high levels of anandamide - a naturally occurring
endocannabinoid - found in the blood of joggers, rather than the
release of endorphins, as was previously speculated by some
scientists. This may tempt authorities to drug test and arrest
marathon runners once they're done shutting down raves, compassion
clubs and pot rallies. | ||||||||||||||||
And lastly the news that Canadian medicinal cannabis activist and
distributor Grant Kreiger has once again been arrested and charged
with cannabis possession with the intent to distribute by the RCMP.
If he wasn't so stricken with MS - for which he has legal permission
to use and possess marijuana - the police might have suggested that
he simply "flee the scene" in order to get a natural high. I am
Cannabian indeed. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) THE MASSIVE SECRET INSIDE BARRIE'S FORMER BREWERY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"You had to see it to believe it," OPP Superintendent Bill Crate
said after touring the operation, which was set up in a former
Molson brewery on the east side of Highway 400 in the city of
Barrie. The highway, a main conduit for commuters and cottage-goers,
carries up to 159,000 cars a day. | ||||||||||||||||
Police arrested 11 people after a Saturday morning raid, then spent
the weekend collecting evidence at the colossal indoor marijuana
farm, which was located in windowless space inside the former
brewery. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Supt. Crate said there were "thousands upon thousands" of plants in
the indoor farm, which was attended by "farmers" who lived inside
the former brewery to guard and tend the plants, which were grown in
hydroponic tanks under huge lamps. The plants were watered by an
extensive irrigation system. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) WEED WATCH: DEMOCRATS ON DRUGS, PART II (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
On Jan. 6, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Marijuana Policy
Project issued its final report cards for each of the major
presidential candidates, grading them based on their support for
medical marijuana. In just eight months of campaigning and lobbying
the candidates, the MPP reports success in persuading six of the
nine major candidates to adopt various positive positions on medical
marijuana. Topping the list is Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who earned
an A+. The MPP notes that Kucinich told the San Francisco Chronicle
that he supports medical marijuana "without reservation" and that as
president he would be willing to sign an executive order permitting
its use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Conversely, the current Dem front-runner, former Vermont Gov. Howard
Dean, failed the MPP's exam, earning a D- for his wishy-washy stance
on medical pot. During a town hall meeting, Dean told the MPP that
he doesn't believe in putting sick people in prison for using
medical marijuana -- "I don't believe in what Ashcroft's doing about
medical - -- putting people in prison who are, who have AIDS," he
said. But Dean, a physician, still doesn't support medical pot, for
reasons that aren't exactly clear: "I stopped a medical marijuana
bill in my Legislature," when he was governor, he said. "Because I'm
a doctor, I think substances taken into your body have to be treated
the same if they are meant to be medicines, no matter what they
are." And, the MPP reports, Dean has called for a mere one-year
moratorium on federal raids on medical marijuana users -- why, and
to what end, are completely unclear. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) HAYWARD HEMPERY IS FACING EVICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cheryl Adams, who owns The Hayward Hempery and its medical marijuana dispensary, has been evicted from her business's downtown building at the corner of Foothill Boulevard and B Street, her landlord said. | ||||||||||||||||
Adams, who has been running one of the county's oldest and
best-known dispensaries, was evicted because she was several months
behind on rent, said Mountain View Realtor and property owner Ron
Ikebe. For lease and for sale signs went up Friday, although Adams
still has a few more days to pay and possibly getback on the lease,
Ikebe said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Adams and her Hayward Patient Group have been in the spotlight
lately as the City Council struggled to come up with a way to
sanction existing dispensaries amid conflicting state and federal
drug laws and efforts to revive downtown. | ||||||||||||||||
She was also arrested in Newark last month on felony marijuana
possession charges, and her business has been the victim of several
recent burglaries, including one Ikebe heard about a couple of days
ago. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) STUDY: MARIJUANA BUZZ LINKED TO 'RUNNER'S HIGH' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The same family of chemicals that produces a buzz in marijuana smokers may be responsible for "runner's high," the euphoric feeling that some people get when they exercise, U.S. researchers say. | ||||||||||||||||
High levels of anandamide were found in young men who ran or cycled
at a moderate rate for about an hour, according to a study made
public this week by the Georgia Institute of Technology and the
University of California, Irvine. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) RCMP ARREST PRO-POT PUFFER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Calgary-based medicinal pot crusader faces possession charges
after being busted by Headingley Mounties on Tuesday. Grant Krieger,
49, said he was pulled over Tuesday night by RCMP, who seized
roughly $7,500 worth of marijuana and cash from his vehicle.
Krieger, an MS sufferer who has smoked marijuana for medicinal
purposes since 1994, said the pot was for himself and a Selkirk
resident stricken with cancer. | ||||||||||||||||
Both are legally allowed to grow weed and smoke it for medicinal
purposes, Krieger said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Despite a ban on capital punishment in the Philippines, after some
high-profile kidnappings president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced
that drug traffickers and other criminals would again be put to
death. The president's decision to reintroduce the death penalty,
explained the Cebu Daily News, was a means to both enforce justice,
as well as boost the flagging Philippine economy. | ||||||||||||||||
Also from the Philippines this week: the National Capital Regional Police Office has proclaimed it would be "clearing" exactly 443 metro Manila barangays (neighborhoods) "of illegal drugs" in the next 100 days. While the rhetoric of the "drug-clearing operations" seemed directed at concentrating police firepower at big "shabu laboratories and warehouses," the Manila residential neighborhoods themselves were described as "Level 1 targets" by police. | ||||||||||||||||
Victims of gung-ho Thai drug prohibition death squads have been
generously extended the right to file for compensation, the Thai
"Rights and Liberties Protection Department" announced last week.
Relatives of the 2,500 slain by police death squads in the past year
must merely "prove in court" their relatives were "innocent." For
those able to prove the innocence of their deceased kin, payments
range from "30,000 to 100,000 baht" (from about 768 to 2563 U.S.
dollars, at current exchange rates). | ||||||||||||||||
And in the UK, a last-ditch attempt to roll back the impending
downgrading of cannabis to a less-serious class C drug was mounted
by Labor MP Janet Dean. Claiming that the very latest "recent
studies" linked reefer to madness, psychiatry experts warned that
some 80 percent of "all new psychotic cases" are preceded by
cannabis use. Effects such as "psychosis, delusions or manic
depression" are caused, suggested experts, by the use of cannabis.
The Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, which endorsed the
government's decision to reclassify cannabis in 2002, is not
expected to revisit the decision. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) PRESIDENT STANDS PAT ON DEATH PENALTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday stood firm on her
decision to allow the execution of convicted kidnappers and drug
traffickers as a means to enforce justice and to boost the economy
in the country. | ||||||||||||||||
"We are striking down these two crimes with effectiveness and
consistency and these executions will bolster the overall campaign
so I will let them run their course as mandated by courts," Ms
Macapagal said in a statement. | ||||||||||||||||
"The average Filipino must feel safe in the streets and in their
homes because this is important for justice and the economy," Ms
Macapagal added. | ||||||||||||||||
The President said the continued fight against crime would help
encourage investments, create jobs, and improve wages. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Distancing herself from the anti-death penalty stance of the Roman
Catholic Church, the President lifted the moratorium on capital
punishment late last year, following a wave of high-profile
kidnappings and bank robberies. | ||||||||||||||||
It has been reported that the Bureau of Corrections has begun its dry run for the execution of two convicts on January 30. | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) 443 DRUG-FREE BARANGAYS IN 100 DAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) has set for
itself a goal of clearing 443 Metro Manila barangays of illegal
drugs in the next 100 days. | ||||||||||||||||
Metro police chief Director Ricardo de Leon said the intensified
barangay drug-clearing operations are aimed at complementing the
successful busting of shabu laboratories and warehouses in Metro
Manila and nearby areas by the Anti-Illegal Drugs-Special Task Force
(AID-SOTF) in the last six months. | ||||||||||||||||
"The 443 barangays have been categorized as Level 1 targets. They
earned the distinction of being the first to be cracked by us," De
Leon said in an interview. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) VICTIM'S KIN CAN CLAIM COMPENSATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Relatives of about 2,500 drug suspects killed during the government's war on drugs last year can claim compensation under the Compensation Payment for Crime Victims and Suspects of Wrongful Conviction Act, a senior Justice Ministry official said. | ||||||||||||||||
Charnchao Chaiyanukij, the director-general of the Rights and
Liberties Protection Department, said they would get compensation if
they could prove in court that their relatives were innocent victims
of the campaign to clean up drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Payments ranged from 30,000 to 100,000 baht. Medical treatment
expenses could also be met. Meanwhile Wasant Panich, a human rights
commissioner, yesterday presented the department with investigation
reports into the deaths of 30 drug suspects. Another five cases are
still being investigated. | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) MPs URGED TO RECONSIDER THE DANGERS OF CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MPs responsible for drugs legislation will be asked today to
consider fresh research into the dangers of cannabis, before the
drug is downgraded later this month. | ||||||||||||||||
Recent studies, which were unavailable to the Commons Home Affairs
Select Committee when they last considered drugs policy 18 months
ago, have highlighted a greater link between cannabis use and
psychosis. | ||||||||||||||||
Janet Dean, the Labour MP for Burton and a committee member, promised to raise reports in The Times on the growing concern among psychiatrists about the use of cannabis by young people. | ||||||||||||||||
The committee endorsed David Blunkett's decision to reclassify
cannabis from a class B to a class C drug, which comes into force on
January 29. | ||||||||||||||||
But since then Robin Murray, head of psychiatry at the Institute of
Psychiatry, told The Times that inner-city psychiatric services were
nearing a crisis point, with up to 80 per cent of all new psychotic
cases reporting a history of cannabis use. | ||||||||||||||||
Professor Murray said that recent studies showed that those who used
cannabis in their teens were up to seven times more likely to
develop psychosis, delusions or manic depression. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Ideally of course we do not want people to start taking drugs at
all." | ||||||||||||||||
Last night John Denham, the new committee chairman, said that it
could re-visit its decision but only after a chance to see the
impact of the change in government policy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VENEZUELA DECRIMINALIZES DRUG POSSESSION | ||||||||||||||||
By Al Giordano at Bigleftoutside.com | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CANDIDATES SUPPORT REPEAL OF HEA DRUG PROVISION | ||||||||||||||||
Manchester, NH - Six Presidential candidates support the repeal of
the 1998 Drug Provision of the Higher Education Act (HEA).
Wesley Clark, Howard Dean, Joseph Lieberman, Carol Moseley Braun,
Richard Gephardt, and Dennis Kucinich announced their support
after listening to concerns from members of Students for Sensible
Drug Policy at the SSDP national conference. Photos and video
footage from the conference are online at: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
THE CBC ON BREWERY GROW OPERATION | ||||||||||||||||
The CBC's Avril Benoit talks to Rosie Rowbotham about the
record-breaking cannabis growing operation found in an old brewery in
Ontario. (Runs 8:03 | Jan. 12, 2004) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MONTEL WILLIAMS ON MS AND MJ | ||||||||||||||||
In a heart wrenching episode popular daytime talkshow host Montel
Williams talks about living with the depression and pain caused
by the MS from which he suffers, and then explains that natural
cannabis medicine is the only thing that works for him. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DRUG TRUTH SPECIAL PANEL - RACIAL BIAS IN THE DRUG WAR | ||||||||||||||||
Recorded Tuesday, 01/13/04 Now | ||||||||||||||||
Participants include Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, Roger Goodman of the King County Bar Association, Sanho Tree of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and Deborah Small of the Drug Policy Alliance. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(Todd McCormick postponed his visit.) | ||||||||||||||||
MP3: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/Audio/FDBCB_011304.mp3
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS IN CALIFORNIA TOP 75,000 | ||||||||||||||||
January 15, 2004 - San Francisco, CA, USA | ||||||||||||||||
The number of patients in California using marijuana medicinally under a doctor's supervision is rising dramatically and now tops 75,000, according to estimates released this week by California NORML. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
By Jose Melendez | ||||||||||||||||
Whatever your age, it takes guts to write a letter to a newspaper
editor. | ||||||||||||||||
However, several studies prove anti-drug efforts either increase
substance abuse and youth use rates, or as Harold Woolridge (The
Times, Nov. 28) points out, have no meaningful influence on whether
a teenager uses drugs, legal or illegal. | ||||||||||||||||
Think about it. Woolridge formed Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
- against his own professional interests - to blow the whistle on
such fraudulent abuses of community resources. | ||||||||||||||||
My own country's "Justice" department even admits that during
historical periods of drug or alcohol prohibition, homicides
increase drastically. | ||||||||||||||||
So, when a 10-year-old girl defends a program shown to increase
marijuana consumption among 12 and 13-year-old girls, I wonder about
those charged with her care. | ||||||||||||||||
I'm guessing Cpl. Tomalty's fun and worthwhile classes will steer
clear of discussing how alcohol prohibition increased budgets,
firepower and paychecks on both sides of that 'noble experiment'.
Not to mention youth access and abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
That's what I D.A.R.E. say. | ||||||||||||||||
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LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - DECEMBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Sandy Cote of Toledo, Ohio for having six letters
to the editor published during December. This brings her published
letters up to twenty, a superb accomplishment considering that her
first published letter that we know of was printed only last June. You
may review her published letters at | ||||||||||||||||
Sandy is the co-founder, Ohio Marijuana Party Political Action
Committee http://ohio.usmjparty.com and national outreach coordinator,
U.S. Marijuana Party http://usmjparty.com | ||||||||||||||||
Unlike the Letter Of The Week which is selected after review of the
past week's published letters to find the best in the opinion of a
committee, Letter Writer of the Month is based strictly on success in
having letters published that newshawks find and MAP archives. The
person with the most published in a month is recognized. In case of a
tie, the recognition goes to the person with the most letters published
as a total. But, once recognized, the person is not eligible for
recognition again for a year. The published letter writers recognized
for last year are: Jan - Chris Buors, Feb - Alan Randell, Mar - Kirk
Muse, Apr - Robert Merkin, May - Larry Sequin, Jun - Matthew Hulett,
Jul - Gary Storck, Aug - Stephen Heath, Sep - Stan White, Oct - Scott
Russ, Nov - Howard Wooldridge, and Dec - Sandy Cote. | ||||||||||||||||
Thanks to Derek Rea, our published letter archivist | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Excerpt From Dissent In Canadian Supreme Court Decision Over
Marijuana Prohibition | ||||||||||||||||
(Editor's Note: In late December, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in
case over the right to marijuana possession in a case known as R. v.
Malmo-Levine; R. v. Caine. While the majority ruled that the
government could prohibit marijuana possession, the minority offered
an eloquent dissent about the relative dangers of marijuana and the
relative dangers of prohibition. Below is a short excerpt of the
dissent - the whole entire ruling can be read at | ||||||||||||||||
A law that has the potential to imprison a person whose conduct
causes little or no reasoned risk of harm to others offends the
principles of fundamental justice. Such a law violates a person's
right to liberty under section 7 of the Charter. Be it as a criminal
sanction or as a sanction to any other prohibition, imprisonment
must, as a constitutional minimum standard, be reserved for those
whose conduct causes a reasoned risk of harm to others. In
victimizing conduct, the attribution of fault is relatively
straightforward because of the close links between the actor's
culpable conduct and the resulting harm to the victim. Harm caused
to collective interests, as opposed to harm caused to identifiable
individuals, is not easy to quantify and even less easy to impute to
a distinguishable activity or actor. In order to determine whether
specific conduct, which perhaps only causes direct harm to the
actor, or which seems rather benign, causes more than little or no
risk of harm to others, courts must assess the interest of society
in prohibiting and sanctioning the conduct. "Societal interests" may
indeed form part of the s. 7 analysis where the operative principle
of fundamental justice necessarily involves issues like the
protection of society. Societal interests in prohibiting conduct are
evaluated by balancing the harmful effects on society should the
conduct in question not be prohibited by law against the effects of
prohibiting the conduct. The harm or risk of harm to society caused
by the prohibited conduct must outweigh any harm that may result
from enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||
The harm associated with marihuana use does not justify the state's
decision to use imprisonment as a sanction against the prohibition
of its possession. Apart from the risks of impairment while driving,
flying or operating complex machinery and the impact of marihuana
use on the health care and welfare systems, the harms associated
with marihuana use are exclusively health risks for the individual
user, ranging from almost non-existent for low/occasional/moderate
users of marihuana to relatively significant for chronic users. Harm
to self does not satisfy the constitutional requirement that
whenever the state resorts to imprisonment, there must be a minimum
harm to others as an essential part of the offence. | ||||||||||||||||
The majority argue that the potential for imprisonment of members of
vulnerable groups is not serious, since it is only in the "presence
of aggravating circumstances" that imprisonment for possession will
be a fit sentence. This does not strengthen their position; it
highlights the difficulty. By their reasoning, it is those who are
not members of vulnerable groups and who therefore pose no more than
negligible harm to themselves or others who face the threat of
imprisonment due to "aggravating circumstances..." | ||||||||||||||||
Sending vulnerable people to jail to protect them from self-inflicted
harm does not respect the harm principle as a principle of fundamental
justice. Similarly, the fact that some vulnerable people may harm
themselves by using marihuana is not a sufficient justification to send
other members of the population to jail for engaging in that activity.
The state cannot prevent the general population, under threat of
imprisonment, from engaging in conduct that is harmless to them, on the
basis that other, more vulnerable persons may harm themselves if they
engage in it, particularly if one accepts that imprisonment would be
inappropriate for the targeted vulnerable groups. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible;
thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions and
comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not
afraid. Thought is great and swift and free, and the light of the
world and the chief glory of man." - Bertrand Russell | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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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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