| Feb. 13, 2004 #337 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) NAACP OFFICIAL MISTAKEN FOR SUSPECT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Law officers handcuffed an executive board member of Oklahoma City's NAACP Wednesday in northeast Oklahoma City before releasing him. | ||||||||||||||||
Sean Baker said members of the Drug Enforcement Agency forced him to
the ground at a gasoline station with guns drawn, then released him
about 6 p.m. while his family watched. | ||||||||||||||||
"It was terrible," said Baker, who is a police and criminal justice
investigator with the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People. "My children are terrified. My children have never
experienced anything like that in their life." | ||||||||||||||||
Agents were tracking a man wanted on drug complaints. They nearly
arrested the man they were looking for earlier but failed. After the
incident with Baker, they arrested the other man later. | ||||||||||||||||
Bob Surovec, assistant special agent in charge of the Oklahoma City DEA office, told KWTV NEWS 9 that agents received a tip that the wanted man was supposed to be near the gasoline station. | ||||||||||||||||
"Regrettably it was not the subject we were looking for, and regrettably he was there with his wife and family," Surovec said. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're sorry this incident happened." | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) MARIJUANA ADVOCATE CONVICTED ON DRUG CHARGE, PLANS APPEAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ALEXANDER CITY, Ala. (AP) -- A marijuana legalization activist who had
argued that she was searched illegally has been convicted of possession
of less than a gram of the drug and some paraphernalia. | ||||||||||||||||
Loretta Nall, who founded the U.S. Marijuana Party in 2002, was given a
30-day suspended sentence for the misdemeanors and was ordered to pay
several hundred dollars in fines. She immediately filed a notice to
appeal. | ||||||||||||||||
Nall and her attorney argued that the Tallapoosa County Narcotics
Task Force illegally obtained the search warrant that resulted in
her arrest. | ||||||||||||||||
Members of the drug squad raided her mobile home on Nov. 13, 2002, based on statements her daughter made in a kindergarten class. | ||||||||||||||||
Officers also used as evidence for the warrant a letter to the editor
published in The Birmingham News. The letter signed by Nall calls
for marijuana users to come out of the closet and change laws
against it. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) MEDICAL POT BACKERS PICKET FEDERAL DRUG CZAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
About A Dozen Activists Protest As The Official Visits The State
Capital. He Says Such Demonstrations Are Part Of A Larger Effort To
Legalize Recreational Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO -- A visit Wednesday to the California capital by President
Bush's drug czar prompted a placard-waving protest by medical
marijuana supporters angry over the federal government's opposition to
use of the drug by the ill. | ||||||||||||||||
The demonstration by about a dozen activists came as John Walters,
director of the president's Office of National Drug Control Policy,
met in a downtown office building with members of law enforcement and
leaders of the drug treatment effort to discuss the U.S. effort to
stem abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
"The czar belongs in Russia, not in California," said state Sen. John Vasconcellos, a Santa Clara Democrat who remains one of the Legislature's most vocal supporters of medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Walters, who encountered similar pickets during appearances in Los
Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, said the protesters were part of
a broader movement to legalize recreational drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
After the protest, Walters said that marijuana had not been shown to be a safe and effective medicine, and that marijuana was continuing to be the single most prevalent cause of drug treatment in the nation. | ||||||||||||||||
"Some people who use marijuana say it makes them feel better," Walters said. "But feeling better is not the standard of modern medicine." | ||||||||||||||||
He said that a small group of wealthy businessmen led by billionaire financier George Soros, one of the most aggressive foes of President Bush heading into the 2004 election, was using the medical marijuana movement to promote efforts to legalize recreational drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
"They are using the sick and suffering as a prop for political
action," Walters said. "I think that is immoral and improper. I think
this con has gone on long enough." | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) FOR DUTCH PAIN SUFFERERS, MARIJUANA IS JUST ANOTHER PRESCRIPTION DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
GRONINGEN, Netherlands -- With a lever controlled by his left arm --
the only part of his body he still can move -- Peter Boonman maneuvers
his motorized wheelchair across his spacious apartment to a table
where he keeps a vaporizing pipe and small plastic pharmaceutical
containers of pungent marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Getting high makes Mr. Boonman's life bearable. Since his multiple
sclerosis was diagnosed at the end of the 1980s, his body has slowly
deteriorated. At 52 years old, he is almost entirely paralyzed and is
confined to his wheelchair or bed. | ||||||||||||||||
"The MS makes me tired," he said. "The marijuana gives me strength and
energy." | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Boonman smokes about three grams of marijuana each day. When he
runs low, he picks up the phone and calls a pharmacy. A pharmacist
delivers the pot in small plastic jars -- usually 20 bottles, enough
to last him a month. | ||||||||||||||||
Eighty percent of the cost is covered by national health insurance. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The big news of the week appears in the Cannabis and Hemp section of
DrugSense Weekly: A federal court has finally overturned the DEA's
ban on edible hemp. So hemp businesses will be a bit safer, but that
doesn't mean the drug war has stopped targeting the wrong people,
especially young people. A North Carolina school district garnered
lots of attention last week after the arrest of dozens of students
on drug charges. Administrators say undercover police did a good
job; some students said they knew who the narcs were, and that young
attractive agents lured some lonely kids into a trap. | ||||||||||||||||
Does dragging kids into the criminal justice system help them and
society? Not in California where a disturbing new report suggests
that young people leave the state's youth prisons more prone to
violence than they were before incarceration. And, while we can't
control drugs in this country by locking everyone up, the U.N. says
the U.S. should be somehow helping to reduce skyrocketing opium
production in Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) STUDENTS ARRESTED IN DRUG STING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BURLINGTON -- Authorities arrested 50 Alamance County high school
students Wednesday on charges of peddling drugs after police
officers posed as students and bought marijuana, cocaine and other
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
A basketball player who has signed a letter of intent to play for
UNC-Chapel Hill next year was among those arrested. | ||||||||||||||||
Youthful-looking officers, some borrowed from law enforcement
agencies in other counties, enrolled in all six Alamance County high
schools and the Sellars-Gunn Education Center in August. They spent
five months posing as students and bought marijuana and other drugs
from students in school classrooms, hallways and restrooms, as well
as off campus. | ||||||||||||||||
"Some transactions were conducted in the classroom with the
teacher's back to the class," said Sheriff Terry Johnson, who had
undercover officers in three high schools. The Burlington and Graham
police departments also placed officers in schools. | ||||||||||||||||
The investigation, dubbed Operation Safe Schools, began last spring
after Alamance-Burlington School System Superintendent James Merrill
sought help from local authorities. Since 2000, parents, teachers
and principals had shown increasing concern about drug and alcohol
use at the high schools, school officials said. Officials were also
concerned about an increase in violence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) STUDENTS TALK ABOUT UNDERCOVER OFFICERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Maybe it's kids being bold after the fact, but some students at
Cummings High School in Burlington say they knew who the undercover
police officer at their school was. | ||||||||||||||||
They say she was a white girl named Cindy. She was always asking
other students about where to buy drugs. To get sympathy, she told
everyone that her grandmother had died. | ||||||||||||||||
They say she went to a party and even spent the night at students'
houses. | ||||||||||||||||
Some students at local schools where 50 students were arrested on
drug charges this week say that they knew there was an undercover
officer in their ranks. Others were as shocked as many parents when
the arrests were made Wednesday morning. | ||||||||||||||||
Joe Bodenheimer says he shared a trigonometry class with Cindy but
didn't suspect anything. Kelly Deese, another student, said that
Cindy would dress provocatively and play easy to get. "She flaunted
it," Deese said. | ||||||||||||||||
She thinks the boys who were charged at Cummings were attracted to
Cindy and let it cloud suspicions that she was a cop. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) SYSTEM HARDENS YOUTHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Punishment, Fear for Safety 'Dehumanizes' Juveniles in State
Facilities, Experts Say | ||||||||||||||||
California's youth prison system attempts to reform offenders by
blasting them with powerful chemicals, confining them in cages, and
keeping wards locked down 23 hours a day. | ||||||||||||||||
The punishments are the most severe in the country -- and perhaps
the most ineffective -- according to experts who have just completed
a year's review of the California Youth Authority. | ||||||||||||||||
Their reports, commissioned by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer,
drew wide attention last week for their revelation that some wards
were kept in cages. But a closer look at these and other studies
indicates that the mental health and crime experts, Stanford
University psychiatrists and Office of the Inspector General who
produced them have reached a common and far more important
conclusion: | ||||||||||||||||
Inside the Youth Authority's 10 lockups, the climate of violence,
punishment and fear makes young people more likely -- not less -- to
resort to violence themselves. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) U.N. CALLS FOR WAR ON AFGHAN DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Foreign troops must target traffickers if Afghanistan is to win its
war on drugs, a senior UN official says. | ||||||||||||||||
Antonio Mario Costa, head of the UN office on drugs and crime, said
a rare U.S. raid on an Afghan opium-processing lab last month should
be repeated. | ||||||||||||||||
US and Nato-led forces have so far resisted calls to tackle drugs
traffickers, saying their first responsibility is to maintain
security. | ||||||||||||||||
Three-quarters of the world's opium was produced in Afghanistan last
year. | ||||||||||||||||
The UN and other agencies have warned the country risks becoming
economically dependent on the drug trade. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Costa told a major conference in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday
that a bombing raid by American warplanes against a northern opium
processing plant last month had sent ripples through the Afghan
drugs world. | ||||||||||||||||
He said it was crucial that similar military action took place if
the country was to win its war against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
He warned that Afghanistan was at risk of becoming a narco state
because corruption was aggravating the drugs problem. | ||||||||||||||||
"The more we tolerate that [corruption], the more dangerous the
situation becomes," Mr Costa said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Mississippi woman is seeking the return of thousands of dollars in cash confiscated from her during an incident in which she did nothing. Police are using drug-related seizure laws to justify the forfeiture of the money, even though there's no evidence drugs have anything to do with the case. Another form of overkill in property seizures is being rightly criticized by the Miami Herald this week. | ||||||||||||||||
In Washington state, some legislators are attempting to correct an
overreaching laws which prohibit drug convicts from receiving food
stamps, a penalty that does not apply to murderers and rapists. And
from Georgia, a rare balanced assessment of the value of police dogs.
According to one expert, some of them might be smarter than their
handlers, but that doesn't mean the dogs are accurate. "Dogs want
rewards and so they will give false alerts to get them," said the
expert. "Dogs lie." | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) WOMAN PLANS TO CONTEST FORFEITURE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A McComb woman said she will contest the forfeiture of money seized
by McComb police in December. | ||||||||||||||||
Police filed suit in Pike County Circuit Court in January seeking a
judge's approval of the seizure. | ||||||||||||||||
Angela Harris said police seized $19,490 from her purse Dec. 31
after her husband Paul was charged with aggravated assault and
conspiracy. But she was not charged in the incident and said police
don't have a right to the money. | ||||||||||||||||
Mrs. Harris said she and her husband had taken $19,000 out of the bank to pay for a new house before the end of the year, and she had an additional $490 to get her truck out of the repair shop. | ||||||||||||||||
Paul Harris is out on bond. The Harrises have hired Summit attorney
Gus Sermos to represent them. | ||||||||||||||||
"We'll probably be submitting some bank record evidence and some
other evidence to try to convince whatever judge has it to return
the money," Sermos said. | ||||||||||||||||
He noted the forfeiture suit was filed under authority of a drug crime statute, but Harris was not charged with a drug crime. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: MIAMI ORDINANCE PENALIZES THE WRONG PEOPLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Court Puts The Brakes On Car-Seizure Policy | ||||||||||||||||
To deter persistent crimes, such as prostitution and drug dealing,
municipalities sometimes get creative. Some put johns' names on
billboards; others create drug-free zones near schools and parks.
The most effective initiatives target perpetrators, leave
law-abiding residents unscathed and pass legal muster. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that
Miami's car-impoundment policy fails on all three counts. City
ordinance allows police to impound vehicles believed to have been
used to facilitate a crime. If a driver tries make a deal with a
prostitute or buy drugs, police make an arrest and take the vehicle.
The owner must pay $1,000 to get the vehicle returned. If not, the
car can be sold, reaping revenue for private towing companies and
the city. Between 1997 and 2001 the city collected more than $8.5
million. | ||||||||||||||||
But the profits came, sometimes, at the expense of the wrong people.
Several residents sued the city, saying the law was flawed:
Defendants paid the $1,000 fine before a finding of guilt. If they
are acquitted, the fine isn't refunded. The fine far exceeded the
penalty for soliciting prostitution; and the city penalized
''innocent third parties'' -- spouses, for instance, who owned the
car in which their partner was arrested for an alleged crime. The
spouses, too, have to pay the fine, even though they may not have
been present during the alleged crime or aware of their partner's
actions. Too often, innocent spouses have been stuck without means
to get to work or take children to school. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) BILL WOULD LET DRUG FELONS GET FOOD STAMPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
OLYMPIA - Eighteen months after finishing a three-month jail term
for drug charges, Dawn Kortness has no health insurance, no home of
her own, no job and no prospects. | ||||||||||||||||
She stays with relatives and applies for jobs. Of 40 applications --
fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, a laundry, a | ||||||||||||||||
She's even tried attaching her graduation certificate from an intensive anti-drug program and that just made things worse. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm an excellent worker," she said. "I show up, I learn fast, I
listen to rules. I just can't get a chance." | ||||||||||||||||
Some state lawmakers want to throw a taxpayer-funded lifeline to people like Kortness. They want to overturn the state's lifetime ban on giving food stamps to people convicted of a drug felony. | ||||||||||||||||
"You can be a child molester, a murderer, a rapist or a terrorist
(and still qualify for food stamps when released), but you can't be
a drug felon," said Linda Stone, Eastern Washington Director of the
Children's Alliance, an advocacy group. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) SUPER SNIFFERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Detection dogs aren't always on top of their game. | ||||||||||||||||
"Dental tartar can have an effect," Myers says. "Really. Clean the
teeth and you get an almost immediate recovery of smell. Dogs get
allergies. They get colds." | ||||||||||||||||
"A dog's sense of smell is not forever," he says. "A variety of
diseases can destroy the sense of smell." | ||||||||||||||||
That's why he says that while he'd "bet my life" on certain dogs,
he's not sure he'd want to bet someone else's. | ||||||||||||||||
"We really don't know what a dog is picking up on when it alerts," Myers says. "In many ways we're still dealing with a black box. It could be picking up on a lot of things rather than just the scent of a person. It'd be hard to convict someone on that kind of evidence." | ||||||||||||||||
Also, he says, not all dogs are trained well. "Poor handlers can
cause a dog's accuracy rate of 85-95 percent to drop to about 60
percent. Dogs want rewards and so they will give false alerts to get
them. Dogs lie. Programs are supposed to train dogs so that doesn't
happen. Not all do." | ||||||||||||||||
The standard measure of a dog's accuracy, Myers says, is what it
finds. "The best programs subtract from that score the number of
false alerts, but many do not. They have no accurate measure of
their dog's reliability." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Great news for the hemp industry this week: the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals has overturned a federal rule that would ban the sale of
foods containing hemp. This huge victory means that producers and
distributors of hemp foods can continue their business without the
threat of federal prosecution. Our second story looks at the Oakland
City Council's decision to regulate local compassion clubs. The
council has decided that as of June 1st, Oakland clubs will have to
apply for a business license; the catch is that only 4 will be
issued, effectively shutting at least 8 medicinal cannabis
organizations down. The new regulations will also prohibit smoking
in the clubs, and will require that organizations be located at
least 1000 feet from each other. | ||||||||||||||||
Our third story tracks the slow progress of a medical cannabis
legislation introduced by Illinois state rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano,
who now claims that he introduced the bill - which would protect
state approved medicinal cannabis dispensaries from federal
prosecution - with the hope of "educating" members of the house. In
our fourth story we hear of the first prosecution stemming from a
disturbing new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation program that tracks
the sale and purchase of indoor growing equipment such as
high-intensity lights and fans. | ||||||||||||||||
And lastly this week, a study conducted by a palliative care
specialist from UBC suggests that terminal patients may not seek
pain relief from medicines such as cannabis or opiates because of
the social stigma associated with their use. She also cited
physician bias against discussing and prescribing pain medication as
major factor. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) HEMP RULING HAILED - COURT RULES DEA CANNOT REGULATE FOOD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Rejecting one front of the government's drug war, a federal appeals
court ruled Friday the United States cannot ban the sale of food
made with natural hemp that contains only trace amounts of the
psychoactive chemical in marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
The decision overturns the Drug Enforcement Administration's ban on
the domestic sale of hemp food products. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals had suspended the prohibition so judges could hear a
challenge from the hemp industry, which has been allowed to sell its
products while awaiting the court's decision. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"They cannot regulate naturally-occurring THC not contained within
or derived from marijuana," the court ruled, noting it's not
possible to get high from products with only trace amounts of the
mind-altering chemical. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) NEW LIMITS IN OAKLAND FOR MEDICAL POT CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Oakland will issue business licenses to four nonprofit medical
marijuana vendors and force eight others to close or face possible
prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
The new limits adopted by the Oakland City Council will break up the
cluster of downtown marijuana clubs -- collectively known as
"Oaksterdam" - -- by forcing them to operate at least 1,000 feet
apart. | ||||||||||||||||
During a six-hour meeting Tuesday night, the council voted to adopt
new regulations on marijuana clubs, which have recently sprouted on
the northern edge of downtown Oakland. | ||||||||||||||||
Effective June 1, Oakland medical marijuana clubs operating under
state Proposition 215, approved by voters in 1996, must apply for
business licenses. The city will select four vendors from among the
applicants. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) ILLINOIS REPRESENTATIVE TESTS POT WATERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Cancer and AIDS sufferers as well as Illinoisans suffering from
glaucoma, would be able to grow, possess and use marijuana without
fear of arrest or jail under legislation just introduced in the
General Assembly. | ||||||||||||||||
But House Bill 4868's sponsor, Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano, R-River
Grove, said his motivation in offering the measure is only to
educate his fellow lawmakers. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm approaching this with the idea of seeing where everybody lines
up on it - law enforcement, the medical community - to see if this
would be something feasible or palatable," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
As a practical matter, he said the measure probably will not make it
to the electronic tote board in the House chamber that records the
"ayes" and "nays." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) TBI PROGRAM NETS FIRST DRUG CONVICTION IN HAWKINS COUNTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation program which monitors the sale
of growing lamps and accessories in hopes of catching people growing
marijuana indoors has achieved its first conviction in Hawkins
County. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant Attorney General Doug Godbee said the investigation that led to Fore's arrest was initiated by the new TBI program. | ||||||||||||||||
"We've actually got a part of the TBI drug task force that
specializes in trying to target indoor marijuana growers by watching
people who buy a certain kind of growing equipment and lights that
are used for high intensity indoor growing," Godbee said. "Part of
our information that led to the search warrant on Mr. Fore's
property came from that TBI program. The TBI forwarded that
information to our sheriff's department, who was then able to build
a good case against Mr. Fore." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) YOUR BIAS MAY BE KEEPING POT FROM PAIN PATIENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Patients Humiliated Because They Have To keep Justifying Their Pain:
Study | ||||||||||||||||
The stigma attached to cannabis use keeps dying patients from taking
advantage of the medicinal benefits of the drug, according to a
study by palliative care specialist Dr. Romayne Gallagher, a
professor at the University of British Columbia. | ||||||||||||||||
The study, which drew on a survey of dying patients in palliative
care units in Kelowna and Vancouver, showed these patients worried
that smoking marijuana could damage their lungs, be illegal or cause
addiction. They were also worried about the impact pot smoke might
have on family members. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Sweden's prohibitionist policies are paying deadly dividends as the
numbers of "drug" deaths (mostly heroin overdoses) has increased by
more than 400 percent over the past nine years. As the stats roll in
from forensic medicine stations across Sweden, the picture painted
is one of another utter failure of prohibitionist laws, laws which
were ostensibly enacted to save Swedish lives. According to Swedish
television reports, "addicts are refused care." Don't expect much to
change; Sweden loves repressive prohibition and will have nothing
but more of the same failed policy. Says Swedish government drug
czar Bjorn Fries: "efforts must be redoubled." | ||||||||||||||||
There are no "summary" executions of drug suspects by the Davao Death Squad, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte insisted again last week in a media forum. Besides that, Davao City mayor Duterte proclaimed, the Davao Death Squad only makes life dangerous for criminals. The so-called "summary" executions aren't really executions at all: they are merely "unsolved killings," explained the mayor. While not revealing how he was able to ascertain killers' motives in the mounting unsolved murders, the mayor did express his desire to mete out the death penalty, in order to cut crime. Some 90 "suspected drug and theft suspects" were executed by the Davao Death Squad last year; nine drug suspects were killed by the death squad last month. | ||||||||||||||||
Canadian federal Conservative party leadership hopeful Belinda
Stronach admits she's consumed cannabis in the past, but frets over
the possibility that cannabis may be discovered to have some impact
on health in the future. Because such unanswered questions exist
over cannabis, Stronach says she is against decriminalization of the
weed. Stronach did not address the impacts on health that prison may
have for those caught with cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile in Canada, the Parkland Industrial Hemp Growers Co-op, a
group of farmers in Dauphin, Manitoba are planning on building a
"hemp factory" to process the fiber. Construction of the planned
$15-million plant may begin this summer, according to Joe
Federowich, chairman of the farmer's group. Federowich hailed the
new administration in Ottawa, saying "doors have swung wide open"
for the project. | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) DRUG DEATHS QUADRUPLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The number of deaths resulting from drug abuse have more than quadrupled in Sweden during the last nine years according to statistics from the countries six forensic medicine stations. | ||||||||||||||||
This is alarming and probably reflects a big increase of both heroin
and mixed drug abuse, especially amongst younger persons, says
associate professor Peter Kranz of the Forensic Medicine Institution
in Lund to the newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning. | ||||||||||||||||
99 persons died in 1995 in connection with drug abuse. For the last two years the figures have been 425 and 413 respectively. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The governments drug co-ordinator Bjorn Fries is worried about the
statistics: | ||||||||||||||||
The developments show that efforts must be redoubled on a broad
front. The number of heavy drug abusers has increased and we must
improve care for these people, he says to TT (the Swedish television
news service) | ||||||||||||||||
The number of heavy drug abusers is steadily increasing. At the end
of the 1990's they were estimated to be 26,000 and Bjorn Fries
believes that today they are upwards of 30,000. | ||||||||||||||||
"Drug Addicts Refused Care" | ||||||||||||||||
What is causing the increasing mortality? According to Peter Krantz
it is a reflection of increased drug abuse. Per Sternbeck of the
National Organisation for Helping Drug Addicts (RFHL) agrees that
drug abuse has increased, but he also has other ideas. | ||||||||||||||||
The reason is because addicts are refused care which is based on
real needs, but instead on abstract ideas, he says to Swedish
Television Text. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
translation, and also currently at the above Webpage.
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(19) NO SUMMARY EXECUTIONS, ONLY UNSOLVED KILLINGS: DUTERTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THERE are no summary executions in Davao City, only unsolved
killings, according to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte during the weekly Ato
ni Bay media forum Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||
This after Chief Supt. Isidro Lapena, regional police chief, said
killings in the city allegedly committed by the Davao Death Squad
(DDS) could have been solved if there were citizens willing to
testify. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Last year, motorcycle-riding gunmen killed at least 90 suspected
drug and theft suspects. Nine victims were executed last month. Not
a single incident has been solved so far and suspects have remained
at large. | ||||||||||||||||
As this developed, Duterte reiterated that Davao City is the most
dangerous place for criminals, but it is the safest haven for
law-abiding citizens. | ||||||||||||||||
Death Penalty | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, Duterte on Sunday said he supports the implementation of
the death penalty to curb the increasing number of criminals in the
country. | ||||||||||||||||
He said he would like to see a decrease in crimes, even if it means
executing five criminals everyday. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(20) STRONACH SMOKED POT, WON'T DECRIMINALIZE IT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
EDMUNSTON, N.B. - Belinda Stronach says she's smoked pot, but still
won't decriminalize it. | ||||||||||||||||
The federal Conservative leadership candidate admitted to reporters
in New Brunswick Sunday that she's smoked up before - back in her
highschool days. But Stronach says she's against decriminalizing
marijuana because there are too many unanswered questions about the
drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Stronach says she's concerned for public safety because it is still
not known what smoking pot does to your health. | ||||||||||||||||
She also says until there is a better way to test for the drug,
especially if someone is driving high, then penalties for pot should
not be reduced. | ||||||||||||||||
Stronach stressed that Canadians must seriously consider what decriminalizing pot might do to economic relations with the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
She says Canadians need to ask themselves if they are prepared to be stopped and searched for drugs at the border more frequently. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) FARMERS PLANNING HEMP FACTORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Dauphin Group Hopes To Build This Summer | ||||||||||||||||
A group of farmers is hoping to build Manitoba's first hemp
processing plant in Dauphin. | ||||||||||||||||
Construction of the $15-million plant, which would turn hemp fibres
into products such as insulation, has been five years in the making,
but hopefully ground can be broken this summer, said Joe Federowich,
chairman of the Parkland Industrial Hemp Growers Co-op. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But he said recently "the doors have swung wide open" since a new
administration in Ottawa began to look at the future blueprint for
agriculture. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"We've been doing our homework," he said. Parkland Industrial Hemp
Growers Co-op, a group of 59 farmers, went to work on a sustainable
business plan in the fall of 2000. | ||||||||||||||||
The proposed processing plant would give local hemp farmers a place
to bring their crop. The hemp, which is a drug-free marijuana with
almost no THC (tetrahydrocannabinol -- the cannabis narcotic), would
be turned into fibre and sold on the open market. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Federowich hopes Dauphin can be the hemp capital of Canada. "Our
target goal is not just one facility," he said, noting the goal is
to build similar plants every 100 to 200 miles. | ||||||||||||||||
"Once you build the first one and it's up and running and proving
itself, others will be built quite quickly." | ||||||||||||||||
Federowich said the economic spinoffs for the Dauphin-area would mean
up to 25 jobs for the community, not including people needed to haul
the crop to and from the plant. | ||||||||||||||||
He said the project is crucial for hemp farmers in rural communities
struggling to make ends meet. "Our rural communities are dying a
slow death and this may breathe new life into them." | ||||||||||||||||
The RM of Dauphin and City of Dauphin continue to support the
project 100 per cent, said Dauphin Mayor Alex Paul. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DRUG WAR PROSECUTOR DEFAMES REFORMERS | ||||||||||||||||
A DrugSense Focus Alert | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
ENTHEOGENESIS CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||||||
Speakers from the first annual Entheogenesis Conference | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
BATTLE FOR CANADA #13 | ||||||||||||||||
BC Bud & Afghan Guns? | ||||||||||||||||
Analysis by Richard Cowan | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
During the last week of KPFT's pledge drive, we offer some current and
past "best of" the Canadian look at the drug war and the war on
marijuana consumers. | ||||||||||||||||
MP3: http://www.cultural-baggage.com/Audio/FDBCB_021004.mp3
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Live Interview from the Federal Pen George is serving life without
parole for drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
THE CANNABIS CONUNDRUM | ||||||||||||||||
Journalist Bill Breen has done a excellent job in presenting the
clinical cannabis/GW Pharmaceuticals issue. Please see the magazine
article from Fast Company plus added bonuses at the bottom of the page
under "Web Exclusives and Extras": | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS CORRELATES SURVEY | ||||||||||||||||
Dr. Mitch Earleywine, Associate Professor of Psychology at the
University of Southern California and author of 'Understanding
Marijuana' (Oxford University Press, 2002) is conducting an online
survey designed to assess correlates of cannabis use, so we need users
and non users. | ||||||||||||||||
Please help science and get a chance at a $500, $250 or $100 prize by completing the survey. It takes 20-30 minutes and does ask about your personal habits, but all answers are completely confidential. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LIBERALS BRING BACK POT BILL | ||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA - The Liberal government has formally reintroduced legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DRUGSENSE HOSTS NORML CHAPTERS | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense has offered to host websites for any NORML chapter that is
interested. Any chapter that chooses to take advantage of this offer
will be able to use a norml.net address for their website. DrugSense
will host sites such as texas.norml.net, florida.norml.net,
fsu.norml.net, etc. | ||||||||||||||||
If you would like to set up a norml.net address for your web site,
simply contact Matt Elrod at | ||||||||||||||||
For more information on DrugSense website hosting visit: | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug Policies Contradict Aim Of U.S. Constitution | ||||||||||||||||
By Jose Melendez | ||||||||||||||||
Eugene R. Dunn's letter against George Soros and anything liberal
suggests that under the current aggressive Republican World War III
strategy, those attacking our homeland are the only ones at risk of
life or liberty. | ||||||||||||||||
Yet news reports and studies consistently show that opium and heroin
production and trafficking from Afghanistan -- and therefore illicit
profits to the aforementioned "bad guys" -- have increased ever
since. | ||||||||||||||||
In fact, a few months before 9/11, the current regime in Washington
provided $43 million in aid to the Afghans in exchange for a promise
from Taliban leadership to outlaw poppy production. | ||||||||||||||||
If increasing the cash value of resulting opium stockpiles and
flooding American streets with cheap heroin does not fall under "aid
and comfort to the enemy," then what does? | ||||||||||||||||
If this sounds familiar, there is an established historical
precedent. During a previous Republican administration, | ||||||||||||||||
Perhaps conservatives, war hawks and drug warriors ought to read
Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, before they
complain about others providing aid and comfort to the enemy. As
drug control policies and incarceration statistics prove, we wage
war on our own citizens to protect them from marijuana! | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, political contributions protect poisonous alcohol,
tobacco and pharmaceutical dealers and users from arrest,
prosecution and asset forfeiture, even though half a million
citizens die annually from the use of those products. | ||||||||||||||||
Jose Melendez, http://www.mapinc.org/writers/jose+melendez DeLand,
Fla. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drinking With The Press During Alcohol Prohibition | ||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||
I called Walter Trohan just after his 100th birthday last summer. He answered the phone at the house where he lived by himself. | ||||||||||||||||
I didn't know him, but I had questions about something that happened at the Chicago Tribune, his former employer. Trohan had headed the Tribune's Washington Bureau in the 1930s and I had read about hemp growing on the estate of the Tribune's publisher in the 1930s. | ||||||||||||||||
He remembered part of the hemp story vaguely, but he couldn't offer
any new details. As we talked, I mentioned some names he recognized,
which seemed to spur his memory. Eventually, the conversation turned
to the St. Valentine's Day Massacre of 1929. | ||||||||||||||||
Trohan was the first reporter on the scene 75 years ago when 7
Chicago mobsters were lined up and gunned down in a north side
warehouse. The violence shocked a city that had been desensitized by
years of gang warfare over the illegal alcohol market. Some
historians look at the massacre as a pivotal point in public
perceptions turning against alcohol prohibition. A few years after
the massacre, prohibition would be repealed. | ||||||||||||||||
The old journalist told me he beat the competition to the story
because some of his colleagues were engaged in "rackets" to make
money on the side, instead of looking after their beat. It was
fascinating, but after I got off the phone I realized I should have
asked more questions about alcohol prohibition in general, and what
he thought of modern prohibition. I planned to call him back in time
to have a story for Valentine's Day. | ||||||||||||||||
Trohan died in October, leaving me with an important lesson about
procrastination. However, with the anniversary of the massacre
looming, I went back to the tape of our conversation. One
interesting section indicate how some in the press felt about
prohibition at the time. | ||||||||||||||||
"I know one reporter who ran off with a case of liquor," said Trohan. "The liquor commissioner was screaming. The reporter said the case was just hanging around so he took it. What was his name? He later became city day editor of the Tribune. But I don't think they knew he stole a case of liquor from the government. He was city editor when I was in Washington, so I knew him from when we were at City News together. In a way I was kind of proud of him, running off with a case of government liquor. I didn't get any of it." | ||||||||||||||||
I told him I was sorry to hear that. | ||||||||||||||||
"I am too. I could have used that at the time," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
"We had quite a bit of it of course. It wasn't hard to get for the
press. There was a warehouse in Chicago, Brum's Warwick, it was
loaded with bourbon. Lawyers and whatnot had access to it, I don't
know if the government allowed them or not, but they were taking it
out case by case. Damn good whiskey. I think somebody was getting
paid off with it. As you know, the police were always getting paid
off, and liquor to them was extra pay, so they were all on the make,
and the cops would get you a bottle of bourbon to get their name in
the paper or some damn thing." | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and the author of
Maximizing Harm, www.maximizingharm.com | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits,
but not when it misses." -- Francis Bacon, Sr. | ||||||||||||||||
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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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