| Jan. 30, 2004 #335 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) POT PARADISE LOST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Reefer Refugees Caught In U.S. War On Drugs Freaked By Feds' Order To
Deport Cancer Patient | ||||||||||||||||
Last month's refugee board ruling giving refugee Steve Kubby, a
medical pot user and cancer patient, 30 days to pack up and leave was
a terrible downer for those seriously ill folk from south of the
border who hope to find safe haven here. Whenever things got too
rough there on the front lines of America's drug war, they could
at least fantasize about heading out in the dark of night along
the new underground railway to Canada. Many of them have actually
done this. With U.S. drug czar John Walters trying to nullify the
effects of state laws allowing a medical defence for possession,
many vocal users find their only options are to flee north or
face 25 years in the pen. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, with the Kubby decision, other medical marijuana users seeking refugee status in Canada are fearful about their own cases. | ||||||||||||||||
There are now 100 to 150 Americans in perilous health living on the
Sunshine Coast, victims of a senseless war that has forced them to
follow in the footsteps of slaves and draft dodgers. | ||||||||||||||||
And a willing crew is pledged to help them along the path.
Undergroundrailway.ca offers suggestions on crossing legally: be
clean-shaven, cut long hair, look wealthy, have a story like
'going to a concert' or 'going to a (Vancouver) Canucks game'
well rehearsed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) WHITE HOUSE DRUG CZAR UNVEILS NEW AD CAMPAIGN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK -- White House drug czar John Walters unveiled a new ad
campaign Wednesday intended to coax parents and friends to confront
drug-using teenagers. | ||||||||||||||||
"Young people have the power to help steer their friends who have veered into the dangerous world of drug use back onto a safer path," said Walters, who heads the Office of National Drug Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||
In one TV ad, which will debut during the fourth quarter of the
Super Bowl on Sunday, a teenage girl's descent into drugs rewinds
to the moment when her mother could have talked to her about it.
In another, parents slam the door in each other's faces to steel
themselves against their son's reaction when they confront him
about drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) ARRESTS AS CANNABIS CAFE OPENS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THREE people were arrested for drugs offences at Scotland's first
cannabis cafe, police said last night. | ||||||||||||||||
The arrest of the two men and a woman for possession of cannabis at
the Purple Haze Cafe coincided with the reclassification of the drug,
from class B to class C, which came into force yesterday. It is
understood that Paul Stewart, the owner of the cafe in Leith,
Edinburgh, was one of the three. | ||||||||||||||||
A Lothian and Borders Police spokesman said: "Three people have been arrested and charged with possession of drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Two people were seen using drugs within the premises." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He added that officers had been maintaining a presence outside the
cafe and had warned customers they could be arrested if seen with
any illegal substances. | ||||||||||||||||
The cannabis cafe launched as a private members' club yesterday
afternoon. The initiative means customers will be able to come
in off the streets and use the soft drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Backed by the Scottish Cannabis Coffeeshop Movement (SCCM), the plan aims to highlight what campaigners cite as a confusing legal situation surrounding the possession and use of the drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Yesterday's high-profile launch was attended by the SSP MSPs Tommy
Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne, who came to show "solidarity" with
those who choose to use cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) BACKING FOR LAW ON MEDICAL POT CLIMBS IN POLL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Californians' views about the use of medical marijuana have relaxed dramatically since voters agreed to legalize the drug for ill patients in this state eight years ago, a new statewide survey found. | ||||||||||||||||
Now three in four voters, cutting across political, religious and
generational spectrums, believe that 1996's largely stalled medical
marijuana proposition should be enforced, according to a Field Poll
released today. | ||||||||||||||||
That is a far greater percentage than cast ballots in favor of Proposition 215, which is supposed to exempt from criminal charges patients or caregivers with a doctor's prescription to possess or cultivate marijuana. The law passed with 56 percent approval. | ||||||||||||||||
The law has largely stalled because federal authorities refuse to
recognize it in California and continue to enforce federal marijuana
laws even in medical cases. | ||||||||||||||||
"A majority of (voters) are supportive of implementation of the law,"
said survey director Mark DiCamillo. "There is no subgroup -- be it
conservative, be it regular churchgoer, be it Republican -- that is
opposed." | ||||||||||||||||
Indeed, six in 10 Republicans surveyed and more than half of those
who said they considered themselves conservative favor the law's
implementation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Priorities, priorities. If you only had only several billion dollars to fight a drug war, how to best spend the money? If you were the federal government, you'd take money away from gathering real data and put more money toward experimental strategies that invade the privacy of the innocent. For example, the Justice Department has announced that it will stop funding a program that tested convicts entering prison for drug use, while the Bush administration has announced millions of dollars for in-school drug testing programs. | ||||||||||||||||
Another brilliant use of tax dollars from the Bush administration - more anti-drug ads. Sure, they've never worked before, but why not spend a few million on the most expensive advertising day of the year? The new twist this time links alcohol (which is an acceptable drug when used by adults) with marijuana (which is an unacceptable drug even when sick people who can benefit use it). For more on this issue, see this week's DrugSense Weekly Feature article. | ||||||||||||||||
Of course, the feds aren't the only ones with money to burn. In West Virginia, the state legislature appears likely to pass a bill that cracks down on drug dealing within 1,000 feet of a park. Clearly, there aren't enough drug criminals in West Virginia prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
And, we close this week with a more hopeful story from Georgia,
where a departing district attorney said the war on drugs is
threatening the perception of justice. A sensible and admirable
declaration - how come they never come when officials are still in
office and can do something about it? | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) JUSTICE DEPT. ENDS TESTING OF CRIMINALS FOR DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Justice Department has quietly ended a program to measure
criminals' use of drugs and forecast new drug epidemics, citing
budget cuts by Congress. | ||||||||||||||||
The program, the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program, or ADAM,
tests newly arrested criminals entering jail for narcotics
violations in 35 cities. Attorney General Edwin Meese 3d, in the
Reagan administration, started it in 1986. | ||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement officials and criminal justice experts criticized
ending the program, saying it was a useful tool in the battle
against crime and drugs and was widely credited for tracking the
rise and fall of the crack epidemic and detecting the beginning of
the methamphetamine epidemic on the West Coast. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) BILL WOULD FUND SCHOOL DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- President Bush's call last week for $25 million for
drug testing in public schools has led to legislation. Three House
members introduced a bill to fund random student drug testing. The
money would be in the form of grants to schools that want to fashion
a program under guidelines of the legislation. | ||||||||||||||||
An Oklahoma school district was at the forefront of the drug testing
debate two years ago, when the Supreme Court ruled schools could
impose mandatory testing for students in extracurricular activities.
Before the Tecumseh case decision, the court had held that schools
could test football players. | ||||||||||||||||
The court has not sanctioned mandatory testing for an entire student body, and the legislation introduced last week establishes a program that allows parents to withdraw their children from participation. | ||||||||||||||||
Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., said the bill would prohibit the
disclosure of tests to law enforcement and require the results be
kept confidential and destroyed when the student graduates or leaves
school. | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) ONDCP LINKS DRUGS, DRINKING IN NEW ADS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Early-Intervention Campaign From Fcb, Ogilvy Kicks Off On Super Bowl | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON The White House's latest anti-drug media effort, which
launches during the Super Bowl this Sunday, links drug use with
drinking in TV ads for the first time in the campaign's five-year
history, sources said. | ||||||||||||||||
The new work, from New York shops Foote Cone & Belding and Ogilvy &
Mather, also promotes the concept of "early intervention" another
first. That marks a shift in focus from the campaign's usual
prevention-based messages. Early intervention is a drug-treatment
strategy favored by drug czar John Walters. | ||||||||||||||||
"The campaign enlists the power of peers and parents of teens to take early action against youth drug use and will provide information and support to help get their friends or children to stop using illicit drugs," the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said in a statement. The work will be unveiled at a press event in New York this week before airing this weekend. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) HOUSE GETS TOUGH ON SELLING DRUGS NEAR A PARK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bill Makes It A Felony With Stiffer Penalties | ||||||||||||||||
Selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a park will get the same extra
penalties as selling near a school if a bill moving through the
House of Delegates passes. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill, House Bill 2088, moved to its second reading Wednesday
after a voice vote. Three delegates were absent, including Delegate
Tom Coleman, D-Preston. | ||||||||||||||||
The bill would make dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a park a
felony, punishable by imprisonment for not more than 10 years, or a
fine not more than $20,000, or both. | ||||||||||||||||
Second or subsequent convictions would result in imprisonment for 5-20 years, or a fine of not more than $40,000, or both. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) DEPARTING DA PULLS NO PUNCHES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As he ends a 21-year career as a prosecutor, DeKalb County District
Attorney J. Tom Morgan offers some blunt warnings: | ||||||||||||||||
* People increasingly don't trust cops, leading to juries that won't
convict. | ||||||||||||||||
* Frustration of victims who don't see offenders held accountable
could invite vigilante justice. | ||||||||||||||||
* Many citizens regard the war on drugs as misguided and
hypocritical. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think our whole war on drugs needs to be looked at," Morgan said
as he prepares to leave office Saturday. He said people see crack
cocaine users being sent to prison "and on the other hand you've got
Rush Limbaugh getting thousands of [prescription pills] and he's
making millions of dollars and he's out on the street." | ||||||||||||||||
The result, he said, is that "juries will no longer hold individuals
accountable in drug cases. . . . Juries are telling us that
prosecution is not the answer." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
If you're mixing chemicals for any reason, watch out for the meth
police. That's what a pair of would-be alchemists learned in
Virginia recently. Their business was destroyed because police
thought they might be running a meth lab. Law enforcement now admits
their perception was incorrect, but the businessman say they are not
being offered fair compensation for the mistake. | ||||||||||||||||
Also on the meth front, Hawaiian legislators were shocked to learn
that long prison sentences don't deter people from using or selling
meth. In Texas, on the other hand, imprisoning innocent people and
destroying lives by orchestrating fake drug doesn't seem to need
much deterrence if the first sentence in the sheetrock scandal is
any indicator. | ||||||||||||||||
And when it comes to justice, the feds always want to control the
venue. In a Colorado case that pits state medical marijuana laws
against federal prohibition, a federal judge has moved the case to a
federal courtroom, and away from the state judge who issued contempt
citations for police officers who refuse to return marijuana to a
legitimate patient. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) RAID SHATTERS ALCHEMISTS' LAB - BUT FINDS NO METH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"How do I get my privacy and dignity back?" asked Ariel Alonso, one
of two partners in an alchemy venture. | ||||||||||||||||
Ariel Alonso was thrilled to meet someone over the Internet who
shared Alonso's interest in alchemy. | ||||||||||||||||
The Franklin County resident invited Jonathan Conrad, who was living
in Missouri and ringing a bell for the Salvation Army, to come live
in Alonso's small Henry home almost three years ago. They planned to
establish a lab together and sell essential oils and elixirs on the
Internet. Alonso, 78, thought Conrad's grasp of what Alonso refers
to as the ancient science of alchemy - the power to change elements
into some higher form - was "brilliant." | ||||||||||||||||
Alonso racked up credit card charges of between $20,000 and $25,000 to finance the venture and, until recently, was able to keep up with the payments from money they received from orders, Alonso said. | ||||||||||||||||
Their dream was obliterated Oct. 13, when federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Alonso's home, arrested the duo on charges of manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing equipment to do so, searched the premises and destroyed their lab. | ||||||||||||||||
Since then, federal prosecutors have dropped charges against the duo
after tests from their own lab showed no evidence of the manufacture
of methamphetamine or any other illegal drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Now, Alonso and Conrad are hoping to be reimbursed for the lab,
which was worth $15,000, according to a report from the DEA. Alonso
estimated the value at about $30,000. But Conrad, 52, estimated that
the value, including the intellectual property, is more like
$250,000. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) MANDATORY PRISON TERMS FAIL TO FULLY DETER ICE USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A big part of Hawai'i's response to the ice epidemic so far has been to crack down hard on people caught repeatedly with the drug. | ||||||||||||||||
The result has been a steady influx of prisoners into a correctional
system that's strained far beyond its limits, but the crystal meth
problem is as bad as ever -- or worse. | ||||||||||||||||
One way the state got tough was to require mandatory jail and prison
terms for repeat ice offenses. | ||||||||||||||||
Lawmakers approved the sentencing law in 1996, following an alarming
series of violent incidents involving suspects high on the drug,
including the shooting of a police officer and a shooting in a
hospital emergency room. | ||||||||||||||||
The measure requires that anyone with a record caught with even a
tiny amount of crystal meth be locked up for 30 days to 2 1/2 years,
and anyone caught selling one-eighth of an ounce or more faces an
automatic 10-year sentence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) INFORMANT WHO LIED ABOUT DRUG DEALS GETS 3 YEARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DALLAS - A police informant who set up fake drug busts that led to
the false arrests of dozens of immigrants was sentenced today to
three years and two months in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
Enrique Martinez Alonso and two other men pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate civil rights, a charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Alonso received the lighter sentence because he agreed to testify against others involved in the scandal. | ||||||||||||||||
Alonso, who admitted being the mastermind behind the scheme, also
must be deported after he completes his sentence, U.S. District
Judge Barefoot Sanders said. | ||||||||||||||||
The other men, Jose Ruiz Serrano and Reyes Roberto Rodriguez, were
scheduled to be sentenced later Thursday. The three men, all illegal
immigrants from Mexico, already have spent about two years in
prison. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) U.S. ATTORNEY ENTERS MARIJUANA CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Attorney's Office has asked a federal judge to dismiss
contempt citations against six federal agents who seized marijuana
from a Hayden man with a medicinal marijuana permit. | ||||||||||||||||
In a simultaneous action, the U.S. Attorney's Office removed the
case from the state court, taking the case -- for the most part --
out of the hands of Routt County Judge James Garrecht. | ||||||||||||||||
Garrecht issued the contempt citations Jan. 6. The U.S. Attorney's
Office took its action Friday. | ||||||||||||||||
Nine officers were involved in the Oct. 14 search, which has
highlighted a conflict between a voter-approved state rule allowing
medicinal marijuana and federal laws that do not allow anyone to use
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Good news from Canada this week as federal prosecutors announced that they were dismissing the long-standing charges brought against 2 employees of the Toronto Compassion Center following a break-in and subsequent raid in 2002. The dismissal was hailed as a victory by Canadian medicinal cannabis users and distributors. Although Canada has had a legal federal medicinal cannabis program for a number of years, the program is considered ineffective and unworkable by critics; as a result illegal cannabis dispensaries continue to supply many of Canada's legitimate medicinal users. Our second story looks at a proposed plan being considered by the Oakland City Council that would force medicinal cannabis clubs to get permits from the city, and that might also limit the number of cannabis dispensaries allowed to operate in Oakland to 4, down from about a dozen today. | ||||||||||||||||
Our third story comes to us from the U.K., where cannabis has been re-classified to make personal possession a non-arrestable offense as of this Thursday. An internet poll by YouGov run for the Telegraph newspaper suggests that over 50% of Brits believe that the government isn't going far enough, and that both the possession and sale of cannabis should be decriminalized or legalized. Our fourth story is a New York Times report on the anticipated spring release of Sativex, a sub-lingual whole-plant cannabis spray, in the U.K. The comprehensive article quotes Dr. Lester Grinspoon's concerns that the pharmaceuticalization of cannabis products may lead to further crackdowns on users and distributors of medicinal cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
And lastly, more drug release news from the U.K. A company called
Sanofi has developed an anti-obesity drug called Rimonabant that
reduces the urge to eat by blocking cannabinoid receptor cites. The
repercussions for the Frito-Lay chip company and other snack
manufacturers could be dire! | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) OTTAWA WON'T PROSECUTE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Citizen groups that provide medicinal marijuana to the | ||||||||||||||||
The Globe and Mail has learned that the federal government will
refrain from pursuing a prosecution against two men who operated a
Toronto organization whose workers were devoted to dispensing
cannabis to patients suffering from persistent illnesses like AIDS
and other ailments. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Hitzig, 27, and a colleague, Zach Naftolin, were charged in 2002
after the Toronto Compassion Centre they helped to operate was
robbed and investigating police later found large quantities of
marijuana on the premises. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL LOOKS TO TRIM NUMBER OF POT CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The City Council will consider a plan next month to prune back the flourishing medical cannabis trade to a maximum of four local clubs. | ||||||||||||||||
The dozen or so pot clubs already operating in Oakland would have to
apply for city permits to remain open, and those that don't make the
city's cut would be shut down as of June 1. | ||||||||||||||||
The wide-ranging regulations put together by Council President Ignacio De La Fuente (San Antonio-Fruitvale) and Councilmember Jean Quan (Montclair-Laurel) would prohibit smoking at the clubs and require dispensaries to operate on a not-for-profit basis. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) ONE IN FOUR BRITS BELIEVE SALE OF CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGALISED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Home Secretary's decision to downgrade cannabis from a class B
to a class C drug has majority support among the public, according
to YouGov's survey for The Telegraph. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey reveals that more than half of all adults would be happy to see its sale and possession decriminalised or even legalised. | ||||||||||||||||
The great majority reserve their fear and detestation for hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. Nearly everyone believes these to be seriously addictive and almost invariably harmful to users. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) BRITAIN POISED TO APPROVE MEDICINE DERIVED FROM MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A marijuana-based medication for people suffering from multiple
sclerosis and severe pain is expected to be approved for sale in
Britain early this year, British officials say. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug, Sativex, developed by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British
company, is a liquid extract from marijuana grown by the company
under license from the government. Developed to be sprayed under the
tongue, it would be the first drug in recent decades to include all
the components of the cannabis plant,= advocates of medical
marijuana say. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a retired psychiatry professor at Harvard
Medical School and a longtime marijuana proponent, said Sativex
would be an improvement over Marinol. "But many or quite possibly
most people would still find smoking marijuana to be quicker, more
effective and cheaper," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Grinspoon worries that what he calls the pharmaceuticalization
of marijuana - the advent of Sativex and related drugs - could
weaken public support for easing laws on the possession and use of
the plant. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) FROM THE MUNCHIES TO A SLIMMING DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sanofi's potential blockbuster obesity and anti-smoking drug
Rimonabant has its roots in efforts to understand why smoking
cannabis tends to make people feel insatiably hungry. Scientists
reasoned that if taking the drug gave people the so-called munchies,
then identifying and blocking the brain pathways responsible might
stop others overeating. | ||||||||||||||||
It works by binding to and blocking a receptor protein found on the
surface of brain cells. These receptors are set up to receive
chemical molecules acting as messengers, and when they do, this
triggers a chemical reaction that sends an instruction to the brain.
The scientists found that chemicals called canna-binoids, which
occur naturally in cannabis, bound to these receptors and made the
cells issue an instruction to eat. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Prohibition death squads were again hard at work in Davao City,
Philippines last week as three more "suspected drug pushers" were
summarily executed. All of the the victims had earlier been
blacklisted by the Davao City police anti-narcotics department,
according to the Philippine Star newspaper. While denying the police
had anything at all to do with the killings, Davao Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte spoke at length on the extra-judicial "salvagings," as the
executions are called. The Davao Death Squad, Mayor Duterte
proclaimed, is but a "myth" to God-fearing and law-abiding city
residents. But for criminals the Death Squad is a real terror that
instills fear, explained the Mayor. Sensing the motives of the death
squad, Mayor Duterte announced the killings were due neither to
ideology nor to politics because there are "no such kind of killings
here, only those involving criminals." | ||||||||||||||||
Philippine drug suspects that escape death squads are often
consigned to concentration camps, compounds surrounded "by a high
fence with barbed wire," for "treatment." Treatment at one compound
included staff extortion of inmate/patients. Beatings by the staff
resulted in "contusions and hematoma," according to medical reports.
As happens for prohibition generally, hapless "patients" (i.e., drug
suspects forced into treatment by police and courts) are "not
allowed ... to question the way things were done." | ||||||||||||||||
In Thailand last week, a former police officer was sentenced to
death after being convicted for possession of amphetamine pills with
intent to distribute. Lieutenant Songphol Prathangthatho was
arrested last year after an undercover operation uncovered some
38,000 amphetamine pills said to belong to him. The death sentence
pronounced upon the Thai police officer follows a year in which the
death squad murders of some 2,500 drug suspects -- death squads who
are widely believed to be the Thai police themselves -- caused alarm
internationally among human rights activists. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, the Thai Army has found the solution to "the
drug problem" for areas near the Burmese border. The Army will herd
peasants into strategic hamlets, and make them grow bamboo.
According to the Chiangmai Mail newspaper in Thailand, "border
villages" will be developed under the care of the Thai Third Army,
where inhabitants "can turn bamboo into value-added products." The
idea to grow bamboo (apparently overlooked by Thai farmers in the
area until now), was said to be the brainchild of the Third Army's
operation center, who hatched the drug-fighting plan with the aid of
"Japanese specialists." | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) VIGILANTE KILLINGS ON THE RISE ANEW IN DAVAO CITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DAVAO CITY -- Three suspected drug pushers have been "salvaged" (summarily executed) in the past five days in what certain quarters fear could be a new wave of vigilante killings in the city. | ||||||||||||||||
The bodies of the three victims were found last Sunday, Monday and
the other night, the last being in Barangay Ma-a. | ||||||||||||||||
All three victims were said to be involved in the illegal drug trade
and were listed in the "order of battle" of the city police
anti-narcotics department. | ||||||||||||||||
The extra-judicial killings, blamed on the so-called Davao Death
Squad, have claimed the lives of over a hundred people since last
year. | ||||||||||||||||
Most of the victims were gunned down at close range by | ||||||||||||||||
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has repeatedly denied any hand in the
"salvagings" although he admitted that the city has become a
dangerous place for criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite his denial, Duterte said he was accepting full | ||||||||||||||||
"I only accept responsibility for the police not having been able to
solve the killings, but I did not say I am behind the killings which
is an entirely different matter," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
Duterte said the Davao Death Squad (DDS) is only a "myth" to
God-fearing and law-abiding city residents, but for criminals, a
reality that instills fear among them. | ||||||||||||||||
"There is no DDS in Davao, it was only created by the media," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||
Duterte added that the killings neither involved politics nor
ideology. "There is no such kind of killings here, only those
involving criminals," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
(20) CENTRAL LUZON'S DRUG CENTER TAKES A BAD TRIP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"BAD trip dun," said Alex, using the parlance of drug addicts to
describe the situation at the Central Luzon Drug Rehabilitation
Center at the foothills of Mount Arayat in Magalang town, Pampanga
province. | ||||||||||||||||
Alex's affidavit and those of 10 other male patients exposed an
ordeal instead of a positive high from the six-month cure program
they underwent beginning in August last year. | ||||||||||||||||
The regimen did not allow the patients to question the way things
were done. Extortion was commonly practiced. Unauthorized fees were
collected. | ||||||||||||||||
At least 73 male patients, including Alex and the 10 others,
received harsh punishments. | ||||||||||||||||
Police investigators said the claims of the 11 patients could not be
easily dismissed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The victims suffered contusions and hematoma, according to a
medico-legal report done at the regional police headquarters in Camp
Olivas. | ||||||||||||||||
Shocking | ||||||||||||||||
To Reynaldo Lopez, whose son was among those punished, three things were "shocking." First, the parents were initially denied access to their children. Second, force was used on the patients. And third, some officials held the view that the handling was correct. | ||||||||||||||||
"They told us our children deserved to be treated that way because
they were addicts anyway," Lopez said in an interview. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Reporting the incident, he added, was impossible because Dormitory G
is isolated from the rest of the compound by a high fence with
barbed wire. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Investigators also uncovered a string of extortion activities, as
well as unauthorized collections, by many in the center's staff.
They included: | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) EX-OFFICER GETS DEATH FOR DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A former police officer was sentenced to death by the Criminal Court
yesterday after being found guilty of possessing drugs with the
intent to sell. | ||||||||||||||||
Lieutenant Songphol Prathangthatho, 29, who had worked at Bang Sue
Police Station, was arrested last year in an undercover operation at
a snooker club in Bangkok's Chatuchak district. | ||||||||||||||||
Police later found 38,400 methamphetamine pills in his room. A
dealer who was arrested in May last year had identified Songphol as
a supplier. Police then launched an investigation into Songphol and
he was arrested soon after. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(22) BAMBOO PLANTING TOUTED AS ANSWER TO DRUG RUNNING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Japan And Third Army Think So | ||||||||||||||||
The Third Army's operation center, with Japanese specialists, is
promoting bamboo planting as a viably economic means to earn an
honest living. People can turn bamboo into value-added products,
which the army hopes could help solve the drug problem along the
Thai- Burmese border areas. | ||||||||||||||||
Major General Veerawat Tansuhut, Chiang Rai provincial army
commander, explained the project during his keynote address to the
Thai- Burma cooperation training course to develop border villages
under the supervision of the Third Army Region. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The army would work with the Foundation, while Japan would buy the
bamboo and turn it into bamboo tissues and clothes. The bamboo trunk
can also be burnt and used as charcoal fuel and bamboo oil is used
as a beauty treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
The project is free of charge to the planters and they can sell
their quality products to the companies as well. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ENTHEOGENESIS WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE ON POT TV | ||||||||||||||||
Pot TV manager Chris Bennett tells how Pot TV will be broadcasting 4
days of Live shows starting Friday Jan. 30, with a very special
Psychedelic MARC EMERY LIVE, which will include guests from the
ENTHEOGENESIS CONFERENCE, then on Saturday, Jan. 31st and Sunday,
Feb 1st the full slate of speakers presenting at ENTHEOGENESIS
will be broadcast live, (see schedule on the showpage) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DRUG WARS' SUPER SUNDAY | ||||||||||||||||
This year's fictitious Bud Bowl has a different match-up: Instead of a tussle between animated helmet-wearing Budweiser bottles and its arch-rival Bud Light, the company will be taking on a real world rival - a White House that claims drinking leads to drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
BATTLE FOR CANADA PART 12 | ||||||||||||||||
Canada's Jekyll and Hyde Medical Cannabis Policies | ||||||||||||||||
Ottawa Won't Prosecute Medical Marijuana Providers But Wants To Give
Patient Info To Police. | ||||||||||||||||
Analysis by Richard Cowan | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Editor in Chief of the brand new magazine, "Grow America" and Sr.
Editor of High Times Magazine. Grow America hit the news stands
for this first time on this date as well. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Publisher of NarcoNews.com. We will discuss the everchanging, ever astounding events of South and Central America in regards to the drug war, the war of terror, and the war for democratic freedoms. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
AP SURVEY ON POLITICAL ISSUES | ||||||||||||||||
The Associated Press (AP) is inviting comments from the public on
which political issues should be covered, especially during the
2004 presidential election. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS WIN NEW HAMPSHIRE PRIMARY | ||||||||||||||||
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Medical marijuana patients were the
clear winners in today's New Hampshire primary as U.S. Sen. John
Kerry (D-MA) beat former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean by a double-digit
margin, while a solid majority of Granite Staters voted for
candidates who have pledged to end the Bush administration's raids
on medical marijuana patients and providers. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Police Raid Left My Children Terrified | ||||||||||||||||
By Samantha Wagner | ||||||||||||||||
I am writing in reply to the letter headed "He put family at risk"
(Mail, January 8) which accused Carl Wagner of endangering his
family through cannabis use. | ||||||||||||||||
Reader G Coleman suggested that the police's actions were justified
because Mr Wagner "put cannabis before his family." | ||||||||||||||||
This could not be further from the truth. My husband always has and
always will put his family first. | ||||||||||||||||
He is an honest man with strong principles and beliefs, whose only
crime is to tell the truth about a therapeutic herb, instead of
hiding away his cannabis use like some kind of criminal as the law
would make him. | ||||||||||||||||
Our children are brought up in a safe, loving, happy and stable
environment. They are polite, intelligent and popular children.
Anyone who has met them would vouch for that. | ||||||||||||||||
It is one thing to disagree with someone's opinion but to make
assumptions about them as a person, or indeed a parent, just because
they have the courage to voice that opinion is an entirely different
thing altogether. | ||||||||||||||||
If G Coleman or anyone had been at our home on the day the riot
police arrived and witnessed the terrified reaction of our little
girl to seeing her daddy handcuffed and taken away, you would have
realised the harm this raid has done to them. | ||||||||||||||||
If they suffer nightmares, it won't be because of my husband's
outspoken views on cannabis but because of repressive laws and
heavy-handed police. | ||||||||||||||||
And for what? | ||||||||||||||||
A plant that used to grow all over the country and our | ||||||||||||||||
Arresting people like Carl, who have done no harm, simply makes a
mockery of the law. | ||||||||||||||||
Samantha Wagner, | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Blowing More Smoke At The Super Bowl | ||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
If everything you knew about drugs came from the taxpayer-funded ads
on TV,= you might think marijuana is the root cause of teenage sex,
manslaughter and terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||
But the great showmen at the Office of National Drug Control Policy
and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America have an even scarier
association. New ads set to debut at the Super Bowl on Sunday
reportedly link marijuana to ... alcohol! | ||||||||||||||||
This may be startling to football fans, perhaps even causing some to
spill their drinks. Others may hold their glasses securely, but
suddenly long to tackle a super bowl of their own. | ||||||||||||||||
Ostensibly, the ads are designed to urge parental and peer intervention for teenage drug users, but what's notable is the acknowledgement of alcohol as a drug. This never would have happened back when Anheuser-Busch was donating money to the Partnership for a Drug-free America. But the Partnership apparently experienced a tiny twinge of shame several years ago and stopped taking money from companies that peddled alcohol and tobacco. (The twinge was brief enough that the PDFA continues accepting pharmaceutical money.) | ||||||||||||||||
If the beer and liquor companies are bothered by the new ads, they don't seem to be making a public fuss. It's easy to understand. The feds may have millions of dollars from you and me to sponsor their depressing little public service campaign, but it's never going to have the impact of the spots that sell wine and spirits. | ||||||||||||||||
That will be clear to anyone watching the Super Bowl, where funny,
sensuous alcohol ads featuring heroic professional athletes will be
the real attention-getters. And it's clear to researchers who have
tested the anti-drug ads and repeatedly found them ineffective. The
images of sex and pleasure used to entice drinkers will always have
more impact than the PDFA's typically irritating mix of absurd
hyperbole and stern paternalism. | ||||||||||||||||
Even without the competing messages from a formal industry, the drug
warrior efforts are doomed. There's no marijuana advisory board to
offer a different image of cannabis, but the anti-cannabis ads fail
on their own. Most people find the ads unbelievable for a good
reason =96 they are based on myths and outright lies. The liquor ads
are full of myths and lies as well,= but at least they are fun to
watch. | ||||||||||||||||
Because marijuana fails to scare by itself, advertisers need
additional scary elements - just like alcohol ads try to succeed by
adding sexy elements that aren't necessarily inherent in the
product. So instead of just hearing about marijuana, we hear about
marijuana and guns; marijuana and teen sex; marijuana and terror.
And, now, marijuana and alcohol. | ||||||||||||||||
Some may find it frightening; I think most will find it boring.
Either way,= I suspect most Super Bowl watchers will respond to the
ads by having another sip of their preferred beverage while waiting
for real entertainment - something more worthy of their time and the
money they paid for it. | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of
Maximizing Harm: Losers and Winners in the Drug War - | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which
cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves up when
taken little by little." -- Plutarch | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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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 () | ||||||||||||||||
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