| May 14, 2004 #349 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) HOUSE SAYS VERY SICK CAN USE MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Montpelier, Vt. -- The House gave preliminary approval Thursday to a
bill that would allow people with certain life-threatening illnesses
to use marijuana to relieve pain and nausea without fear of arrest and
prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"This bill does not legalize marijuana," said Rep. Thomas Koch, R-Barre Town and chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee. "What it does do is say that for a limited number of people with debilitating and intractable diseases who have registered with the Department of Public Safety, that we will not arrest and prosecute them, even though what they are doing is technically illegal." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The House bill is more restrictive than a version passed by the Senate
last year. It narrows the list of people eligible to use marijuana,
and it allows possession of three plants instead of seven. It also
requires registration of users, not with the Department of Health, as
called for in the Senate bill, but with the Department of Public
Safety, which includes the state police. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 79-48 vote came after more about four hours of debate. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Critics of the legislation said it would send the wrong message to
Vermont's young people. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"What message are we sending to our young people regarding illegal
drugs and respect for law?" asked Rep. Virginia Duffy, R-Rutland.
"Never has it been more important to just say no." | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) SRI LANKA TO LEGALISE CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SRI Lanka plans to lift a ban on growing cannabis and begin government
cultivation of the plant, which is a key ingredient in traditional
medicine, a minister was quoted saying today. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Indigenous Medicine Minister Tissa Karaliyadde said he hoped to introduce a bill in parliament to allow practitioners of herbal medicine known as ayurveda to grow at least five plants each. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The state itself hopes to start cultivation and land has already been
earmarked for the pilot project, The Island newspaper quoted
Karaliyadde saying. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Despite an official ban on cannabis in Sri Lanka, it is easily
available on the clandestine market both for traditional healers and
smokers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) DRUG TEST RESULTS MAY DETERMINE WORKERS' BENEFITS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
COLUMBUS - Legislators are trying to overturn an Ohio Supreme Court
decision in 2002 that pleased labor unions and infuriated business
groups.Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to
provide notice to workers that if they are injured at work, they may
have to take a drug or alcohol test and if they fail it, they may not
receive workers' compensation benefits. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Also if they refuse or fail the test, they would have to prove that
drugs or alcohol did not cause their injury, said the bill's sponsor,
state Rep. Bob Gibbs (R., Lakeville). | ||||||||||||||||||||
A 4-3 Ohio Supreme Court decision struck down a 2001 law that said injured workers seeking workers' compensation benefits must prove that alcohol or drugs found in their system did not cause their injury. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The high court in 2002 said the law - which also said injured workers
who refuse to take drug or alcohol tests are presumed to have tested
positive in the eyes of the state and their employer - violates
protections against "unreasonable searches" in the federal and Ohio
constitutions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) INJECTING REASON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Morbidity and mortality associated with drug dependence, especially drug injecting, constitute major problems for public health. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the USA intravenous drug use accounts for about one third of all
AIDS and one half of hepatitis C cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||
On page 301 of this issue, Evan Wood and colleagues describe the rationale behind North America's first medically supervised safer-injecting facility (SIF), which opened in September 2003, in Vancouver, Canada. SIFs are professionally supervised health-care facilities, where high-risk drug users can use drugs in safe, hygienic conditions. They have been around in Europe for nearly 20 years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But in North America, where public-health interventions for intravenous drug users (IDUs) have been controversial and are heavily politicised, opening of this SIF signifies a radical step forward. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's official: Methamphetamine has now been demonized to the same
degree that crack was demonized in the 1980s. In Tennessee,
lawmakers seem poised to raise the penalties for methamphetamine
sales to make them even with penalties for crack. Apparently the
current law, which allows for 3 to 8 years in prison for the sale of
a half-gram of meth, is far too soft. Under the new law, the
coddling will stop. That half-gram of meth could soon get the seller
8 to 30 years in prison. Meth madness continues in Oklahoma, where
police are planning to raid convenience stores and gas stations that
sell pseudoephedrine tablets, even though the tablets are perfectly
legal to possess. A key ingredient for manufacturing meth, the
tablets may only be legally sold at Oklahoma stores where a
pharmacist is on hand. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Next on the hit parade of demonized drugs, a relative newcomer.
Officials in Kentucky are sounding the alarm over methadone, which
has been linked to hundreds of deaths in the state in the past 17
months. Also this week, a Louisiana coroner wants to use funds from
his office to fight the drug war, touting the unbelievable claim
that 95 percent of local autopsies performed on people under 40 show
that their deaths were drug-related. If the figure is correct, it's
a clear argument for drug policy reform, not a crack down. And
finally, a federal official wants to combine the war on drugs with
treatment for mental illness, though it would make more sense to
investigate support for the war on drugs as a form of mental
illness. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) HOUSE COMMITTEE RAISES METH PENALTIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
NASHVILLE - People convicted of making or dealing methamphetamine would face penalties equal to those who manufacture cocaine or crack under legislation approved Wednesday by a House committee. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The bill that passed in the House Judiciary Committee is part of
Gov. Phil Bredesen's plan to use $4.3 million in recurring funds to
fund prosecution of meth crimes. The legislation was sent for
consideration by the House Finance Committee. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Currently those convicted of making or selling half a gram of meth
are charged with a Class C felony, which carries a penalty of three
to 15 years in jail and a fine. This bill, sponsored by Rep. Les
Winningham, would make the crime a Class B felony with a jail
sentence of eight to 30 years - a punishment equal to that given for
making or dealing cocaine or crack. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bredesen proposed allocating state money for the increased penalty
earlier this week when he announced what he wants to do with next
year's excess tax revenues, which could total more than $100
million. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) SWEEPS PLANNED TO FIND BANNED METH INGREDIENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Time is up for non-pharmacies to legally dispose of pseudoephedrine
tablets, law enforcement officials said Friday as they announced
undercover sweeps to identify offenders and find black-market
providers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"No more Mr. Nice Guy," said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the
Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. "We will be doing
undercover sweeps around the state to identify stores that continue
to possess and sell pseudoephedrine tablets and they risk jail
time." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug investigators also are preparing for the possibly expanding black market for the methamphetamine ingredient, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We do expect it," he said. "We'll deal with it." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gov. Brad Henry signed legislation April 6 that banned the sale of
pseudoephedrine tablets in stores without a licensed pharmacist. The
law does not affect the sale of pseudoephedrine in capsule and
liquid forms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Businesses other than pharmacies were to remove the tablets
immediately from public access. However, law enforcement gave the
businesses a 30-day grace period to arrange buybacks or have
investigators take possession of the tablets. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) METHADONE ABUSE HITS STATE HARD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
345 Deaths In 17 Months Tied To Drug | ||||||||||||||||||||
Methadone Has Become Kentucky's Deadly Drug Of Choice, Investigators
And Many Coroners Say. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than 340 Kentuckians have died from overdoses related to the
synthetic narcotic since January 2003, according to a survey by The
Courier-Journal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A top Eastern Kentucky drug investigator said methadone is replacing OxyContin as the region's most abused prescription drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Methadone, invented in Germany during World War II as a substitute
for morphine and used now as a painkiller and to treat heroin
addiction, has found new popularity because of tighter controls on
OxyContin, authorities said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Most of your big pain treatment centers and doctors quit
prescribing as much OxyContin and started prescribing methadone,"
said Dan Smoot, a former state police detective who is head of law
enforcement for the federally funded anti-drug task force Operation
UNITE in Hazard. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) TACKLING OUR DRUG PROBLEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
BOGALUSA - At least 95 percent of the autopsies performed on
Washington Parish residents who are under 40 years of age show that
the deaths were drug-related, Coroner Roger Casama told the many
dignitaries, parents and other concerned citizens in attendance at a
Coroner's Town Meeting last night. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Casama vowed to reinvigorate his own efforts to help stem the
substance abuse problem through education, awareness and prevention
programs. He praised law enforcement and other local efforts. And he
asked for total community support. As the old adage goes, he said,
"it takes a village" to raise a child. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Several officials and organizations promised support. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And Casama laid out some of his plans. One involves the | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) AVENUES FOR TREATING ADDICTIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Substance Abuse Often Goes Hand-In-Hand With Mental Illness,
Psychiatrists Say | ||||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK - Doctors treating substance abuse are looking to expand
their impact. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Abuse of opiate painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, has
risen substantially in the past five years, making this the nation's
highest-priority drug problem, says Dr. Nora Volkow. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and
other experts hope that they can better tackle substance abuse by
integrating the latest research on addiction into psychiatric
practice. To that end, addiction-related topics were featured last
week at the American Psychiatric Association's national meeting in
New York City. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"To me it is very straightforward," Dr. Volkow said during a news briefing at the meeting. "I'm a psychiatrist, and one of the things that was very frustrating to me ... was the realization that most of psychiatric patients have substance abuse problems. And yet we were not really properly trained to actually solve these problems." | ||||||||||||||||||||
People might first develop a mental disorder, then an addiction -
perhaps as an attempt to self-medicate, she said. Or kids may first
take drugs and then develop a mental illness. "Could the substance
abuse in any way have made that kid more vulnerable?" she asked,
adding that it's a question for which researchers don't yet know the
answer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
While prison abuse photos coming out of Iraq shocked the world last
week, authorities who follow the state of American prisons were not
surprised. Mistreatment of U.S. prison inmates was called "routine"
in a story by the New York Times. Of course part of the problem in
the U.S. is prison overcrowding, and that's not going to go away as
prison populations swell. In California, the number of inmates
convicted for drug crimes and other infractions continues to
increase, despite attempts to address the problem. | ||||||||||||||||||||
How many of those new prisoners are coming from the ranks of the elderly? Arrests of geriatric drug suspects seems to become more frequent by the month. This week in Georgia, an 83-year-old man and his 77 year-old wife were arrested in a drug sting at their residence. Also last week, the governor of Maryland signed legislation that would put more drug offenders into treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) MISTREATMENT OF PRISONERS IS CALLED ROUTINE IN U.S. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Physical and sexual abuse of prisoners, similar to what has been
uncovered in Iraq, takes place in American prisons with little
public knowledge or concern, according to corrections officials,
inmates and human rights advocates. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Pennsylvania and some other states, inmates are routinely
stripped in front of other inmates before being moved to a new
prison or a new unit within their prison. In Arizona, male inmates
at the Maricopa County jail in Phoenix are made to wear women's pink
underwear as a form of humiliation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
At Virginia's Wallens Ridge maximum security prison, new inmates
have reported being forced to wear black hoods, in theory to keep
them from spitting on guards, and said they were often beaten and
cursed at by guards and made to crawl. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The corrections experts say that some of the worst abuses have
occurred in Texas, whose prisons were under a federal consent decree
during much of the time President Bush was governor because of
crowding and violence by guards against inmates. Judge William Wayne
Justice of Federal District Court imposed the decree after finding
that guards were allowing inmate gang leaders to buy and sell other
inmates as slaves for sex. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF INMATE INCREASES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parole Violators, New Convicts Among Reasons | ||||||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO - While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hopes to trim $400
million from the state's prison budget, the Department of
Corrections on Thursday said the prison population has reached an
all-time high. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As of April 30, the nation's largest correctional system swelled to
162,858 inmates, 355 above the previous record set in September
2000. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wendy Still, the department's chief financial officer, said the
profile of new inmates shows they were imprisoned predominantly for
crimes related to drugs, violence and theft. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Violent crime in the state's largest jurisdictions last year
actually dipped 3.1 percent, while property crimes went up 2.8
percent, according to recent figures from Attorney General Bill
Lockyer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Still noted that incarceration rates typically swing up during
economic downturns. She also said the department is seeking to
determine whether some of the prison population increase is due to
people flunking out of Proposition 36 drug-diversion programs and
being sent to prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Proposition 36, a 2000 ballot initiative, removed a judge's option
to jail first- and second-time drug offenders who are deemed
non-violent and aren't drug dealers. They are automatically ordered
into treatment and remain free. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Elderly Couple Hit With Drug Charges | ||||||||||||||||||||
She waited tables during the bygone era of meat-and-potatoes menus. He's a former welder who has never been in trouble with the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Recently Juanita F. Edwards, 77, suffered a stroke. And her husband,
Harry Edwards, 83, has a pacemaker, uses a wheelchair, and takes
medication to dull the pain that five back operations have failed to
alleviate. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It might seem unlikely, then, that the two would be arrested on drug
charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But police say undercover informants posing as drug users paid $1,600 for hundreds of prescription pills in March and April at the Edwardses' home in a pleasant Henry County subdivision. Later this month, the elderly couple could find themselves before a grand jury. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) EHRLICH SET TO SIGN BILL TO EXPAND PRISONER DRUG TREATMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Key Part Of Justice Package Is 1 Of About 190 Measures Due
Governor'S Ok Today | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. plans to sign legislation today aimed at
reducing the state's prison population by expanding drug treatment
options, but is still pondering whether to veto a major tax policy
shift he first proposed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
At a morning ceremony, Ehrlich is expected to sign into law a key plank in his criminal justice package. The measure, approved by the General Assembly last month, is designed to divert nonviolent criminals into drug treatment programs. The governor's Web site listed the bill as one of about 190 that would be approved today. | ||||||||||||||||||||
State public safety and corrections chief Mary Ann Saar called the
initiative, to be launched with a $3 million down payment for more
treatment slots, a "better way of doing business." | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It will help those coming out of prison," Saar said. "It will help
those who don't really need to go to prison. And it will help those
under supervision -- 70,000 of them in the state -- by hooking them
up with treatment." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis decriminalization in Canada won't happen any time soon,
according to the Globe and Mail newspaper. The proposed bill, which
was widely criticized by both opponents and supporters of cannabis
policy reform, is set to die in parliament. But at least one
Canadian politician "gets it." Larry Campbell, the mayor of
Vancouver, suggested that marijuana sales be legalized and taxed
while speaking before a civil liberties group. Also in Canada, a
pharmaceutical company has applied to market a therapeutic
cannabis-based spray in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the U.S., the latest marijuana scare story making the rounds is
an allegedly dramatic increase in teens seeking treatment for
marijuana addiction. In most reports, dubious claims about new "high
potency" pot are promoted by drug warriors as a crucial reason
behind the increase, despite the fact that the modern superweed
fallacy has been debunked again and again. Buried deep within those
same reports were acknowledgements that teen drug offenders are
opting for treatment as a way to reduce criminal penalties, whether
they need treatment or not. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Finally in Israel, local police stopped a Tel Aviv marijuana legalization rally that had run without incident for the past six years. This year's event was different because a member of the Knesset planned to speak to the crowd, but didn't have the opportunity after several participants at the rally were arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) POT DECRIMINALIZATION BILL IS ABOUT TO GO UP IN SMOKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- The federal election will kill the bill to decriminalize
marijuana, leaving one of Jean Chretien's legacy issues out in the
cold and pot smokers still facing potential jail terms, government
insiders say. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The controversial legislation, which is awaiting a final vote in the House of Commons, will not make it through Parliament in the one week left in the session before Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to drop the writ to begin an election campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The proposed law, Bill C-10, would have removed jail terms for the
simple possession of less than 15 grams of marijuana. Those caught
with pot in that quantity would have faced the equivalent of a
traffic ticket, costing $100 to $500. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The opposition Conservatives, who opposed the bill, insisted that
the Liberals effectively killed the bill by treating it with
deliberate neglect. It was repeatedly placed at or near the bottom
of the list of bills to be debated, dragging out its progress
through the Commons. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) MARIJUANA TAX PITCHED BY MAYOR OF VANCOUVER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell says marijuana sales
should be taxed and the revenue used to fund treatment for the
effects of more serious drugs. Campbell made the suggestion Saturday
in a speech to the annual meeting of the British Columbia Civil
Liberties Association. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Taxes levied on marijuana sales could add to the resources for
treatment. Remember, the B.C. marijuana trade is estimated at $6
billion annually -- larger than construction or forestry," Campbell
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The former Mountie and coroner also noted that enforcement money
freed up from legalizing pot could support treatment and better
policing of other crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Campbell said he was calling for the regulated sale of marijuana
along the lines of the way that sales are managed for tobacco,
alcohol and other drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) APPROVAL FOR CANNABIS SPRAY SOUGHT IN CANADA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The world's first proposed cannabis-laced prescription drug to
relieve pain may get its start in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pharmaceutical giant Bayer announced yesterday that it has applied to Health Canada for permission to market the drug Sativex to those who suffer from multiple sclerosis and severe neuropathic pain. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The application was made in conjunction with the developers of the
drug, the pioneering British firm GW Pharmaceuticals, which has been
growing about 40,000 pot plants a year at a secret location in a
government-approved research project. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sativex is a medicinal mouth spray developed from the major
components of marijuana, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and
cannabidiol (CBD). | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) MARIJUANA MAY BE PUTTING TEENS INTO TREATMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Government Data Shows Drug's Potency Higher Than In Past | ||||||||||||||||||||
The high-potency marijuana now widely available in cities and some
small towns is causing an increasing number of teenagers -- and some
preteens -- to land in drug treatment centers or emergency rooms,
recent government statistics suggest. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The numbers are not conclusive, experts say, but have renewed scientific interest in and debate about the risks of marijuana use. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The stereotypes of marijuana smoking are way out of date," said
Michael Dennis, a research psychologist in Bloomington, Ill. "The
kids we see are not only smoking stronger stuff at a younger age but
their pattern of use might be three to six blunts -- the equivalent
of three or four joints each -- just for themselves, in a day.
That's got nothing to do with what mom or dad did in high school. It
might as well be a different drug." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Although overall marijuana use in minors has declined slightly since
the mid-1990s, recently released statistics from hospitals and
treatment centers suggest that the drug is causing many young users
serious problems. Late last year, federal health officials reported
that the number of marijuana-related emergency room visits for ages
12 to 17 had more than tripled since 1994, to 7,535 in 2001, the
latest year for which figures were available. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is too early to tell whether these statistics truly represent a
surge in habitual use, experts said. Admission figures could be
skewed by changes in the way some states collect data and report it
to the federal government. Forced treatment is also a way many teens
avoid juvenile detention after a drug arrest. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) POLICE SNUFF OUT "MARIJUANA DAY" IN TEL AVIV (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Uniformed and undercover police officers on Saturday shut down the
International Marijuana Day event at HaYarkon Park in Tel Aviv after
detaining 30 participants, including three minors, for suspected use
and possession of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The event, which has been held without disruption for the past six
years, had a substantial higher profile this year due to the first
time participation of a member of the Knesset. But police shut down
the event just 15 minutes before MK Roman Bronfman (Meretz) was
scheduled to deliver a speech. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"From my standpoint, today's event is legal, after the high court
rejected a petition (to ban the event) and after the city of Tel
Aviv gave authorization for the event to be held," Bronfman told
reporters at the event. "I think the police were the ones who
disturbed the peace. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
As the U.S. throws increasing treasure and human lives at the
simmering civil war in Colombia in the name of "drugs", the
Colombian people suffer under "the worst humanitarian crisis in the
Western hemisphere," Jan Egeland, U.N. Undersecretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs reported this week. More than two million
people have been displaced: about one million in the past four years
alone. Whole tribes of native people "are in acute danger of
becoming extinct," admitted the U.N. A corrupt "coca mafia" and
devious "drug gangs" were duly pinpointed as the enemy. Predictably,
drug prohibition (which creates lucrative black markets for
prohibited drugs in the first place), was not seen as a problem,
according to the U.N. report. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The heroin business in the Asian nation of Afghanistan is booming, with traffickers becoming increasingly bold, the San Jose Mercury News reported this week. Afghan "narco-barons" are now stamping brand names on kilos of smuggled heroin. Some packages of heroin were even found to include the address of the heroin refining laboratory where it originated. Officials in Tajikistan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, are concerned. While salaries in Tajikistan are among the lowest in Asia, prohibition-created drug markets are flush with money, causing corruption on a large scale. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Canadians, as a whole, don't fall for U.S-style moral panics over
drugs. Compared to police in the U.S, police in Canada are fewer in
number, more restrained, and somewhat more respectful of individual
rights. Drug users are not persecuted as witches and evil deviants,
as they are in the states. This doesn't sit well with many Canadian
police, who look with envy at the bloated police forces and fat
paychecks of U.S. police. Might Canadian police hype their drug
problem and get the goodies police do in the U.S.? Apparently
British Columbia Solicitor General Rich Coleman thinks it is worth a
try. "In Washington state," rued Coleman, "they've raised the bar.
Have a grow-op with more than 100 plants, it's an automatic five
years in jail." And, for the first offence, drooled B.C's top cop,
police "seize your assets ... your house, your car and your bank
account." Police need only accuse someone. The "suspected drug
dealers," according to new laws the top cop Rich Coleman is now
penning, "have to prove" their innocence before money or property
may be returned. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And in Vancouver, Canada, police are fuming over a report showing a
much-ballyhooed police crackdown for the past year hasn't dented
drug use at all. Researchers report the numbers of people using
heroin or cocaine are unchanged since before the police poured
resources into the crackdown, which was supposed to choke off drug
dealing in the Downtown Eastside. The report, published this week in
the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found adding some 40
police officers in Vancouver's worst neighborhoods made no "direct,
measurable" effect on the availability or cost of drugs. Vancouver
police Deputy Chief Bob Rich denounced the report, saying some
residents might feel safer. Besides, explained the police honcho,
the goal of police was merely to "restore order to a community."
While the Vancouver Sun noted the police chief "offered no new facts
to substantiate that assertion," the chief did say a study of their
own would be released in late May. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(19) U.N.: COLOMBIA IS HUMANITARIAN CATASTROPHE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
UNITED NATIONS -- The drug-fueled war in Colombia has created the
worst humanitarian crisis in the Western hemisphere, with more than
2 million people displaced and Indian tribes threatened with
extinction, the U.N. humanitarian chief said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the last four years, the number of people forced to flee their
homes has increased by about 1 million, Undersecretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland said. Colombia now has the
third-largest number of displaced people in the world - behind Congo
and Sudan, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Colombia's war pits two leftist guerrilla groups against government
forces and right-wing paramilitaries. At least 3,500 people, mainly
civilians, die in the fighting every year. Egeland, a former U.N.
special adviser in Colombia, recently spent four days visiting
displaced people living in shantytowns outside Cartagena on the
Atlantic coast and near Bogota. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the last year, the number of kidnappings and assassinations have
gone down, but the "humanitarian situation is worsening" because
poor Colombians are being attacked by armed groups and are forced to
flee their homes, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The humanitarian crisis and the war feed into a vicious cycle,
Egeland said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The young among the millions displaced have "no hope, no education,
no feeling of having a future" and become recruits for guerrillas,
paramilitary forces and drug gangs, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In 10 "besieged and blocked areas of the country," the fighting has
trapped several hundred thousand Indian tribes and peasant
communities, preventing them from receiving international
assistance, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Several Indian tribes "are in acute danger of becoming extinct" because of persecution, forced recruitment by armed groups, and being forced from their land by "the coca mafia," Egeland said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(20) HEROIN TRADE BOOMS IN AFGHANISTAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
New Wealth Helps Terrorists Rebuild, Threatens | ||||||||||||||||||||
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - Heroin producers in Afghanistan, some of the
principal financiers of Al-Qaida and other terrorists, have never
before been so brazen or so wealthy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
With a bumper crop of opium poppies under cultivation, Afghan
narco-barons have begun stamping their brand names on the 2.2-pound
bags of heroin they smuggle out of Central Asia to buyers in Moscow,
Amsterdam, London and New York. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sacks of high-quality Afghan heroin seized this month in Tajikistan
carried the trademarks "Super Power" and "555." Some of the sacks,
which were hidden inside foil-lined containers of instant cappuccino
mix, even included the addresses of the labs in Afghanistan where
the heroin had been refined. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A Western-led campaign against opium growing and heroin laboratories has been a wholesale failure, and drug-control experts say the number of processing facilities in Afghanistan has exploded over the past year. The trade and huge sums of money involved threaten to undermine vulnerable bordering states such as Tajikistan. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"There's absolutely no threat to the labs inside Afghanistan," said
Maj. Avaz Yuldashov of the Tajikistan Drug Control Agency. "Our
intelligence shows there are 400 labs making heroin there, and 80 of
them are situated right along our border." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tajikistan, isolated and landlocked, has almost no industrial
economy other than a state-controlled aluminum smelter. Foreign
investment is minuscule; not a single American firm is operating in
the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The national budget is barely $300 million a year, a pittance
compared with the size of the drug economy. The heroin trade alone,
Yuldashov said, is 10 times as big. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That kind of disparity leaves many Tajiks vulnerable to corruption
and compromise by wealthy drug mafiosi, especially when the average
salary is $10 a month and 80 percent of the population lives below
the poverty line. A single trip as a drug courier can feed a Tajik
family for a month. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(21) TOP COP CALLS FOR FED HELP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The province's police forces and other law enforcement agencies are
doing what they can to fight crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But the help they need isn't coming from Ottawa, says frustrated
B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"You need to tell (the federal) judiciary, 'you're letting us down'"
Coleman said during an address to 125 members of the Surrey Chamber
of Commerce last week. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"In Washington state, they've raised the bar. Have a grow-op with more than 100 plants, it's an automatic five years in jail. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"For your first offence, it's three months in jail and they seize
your assets. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coleman is preparing legislation in this province that would allow
authorities to seize assets of suspected drug dealers. "If you have
a grow-op, the police arrive," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Then the next guys coming in are going to take your house, your car
and your bank account. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Then you have to prove you bought them with legal money. The onus
is on you." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coleman finished the address by again urging communities to speak
out against a lax justice system. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We give all the tools we can to our law enforcement officials. And
we will give them more," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) POLICE: DRUG MARKET DOWN DRAMATICALLY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Deputy Chief Decries Report That Says Crackdown Hasn't Affected Drug | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - A senior Vancouver police officer has defended a
one-year police crackdown on Downtown Eastside drug dealing, saying
it has dramatically reduced the open drug market at Hastings and
Main. | ||||||||||||||||||||
According to researchers at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, interviews with drug addicts before and after the enforcement initiative began in April 2003, showed the percentage of people using heroin or cocaine remained almost unchanged. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Their study, published Tuesday in the Canadian Medical Association
Journal, found that adding 40 officers in the city's poorest
neighbourhood has also had no direct, measurable impact on the price
or availability of the illegal hard drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead, the researchers concluded, the crackdown has dispersed drug
dealing across a much wider area of the Downtown Eastside, which has
the potential to attract new drug users and to increase infection
rates for HIV and other blood-borne diseases that addicts spread
when they share needles. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But Vancouver police Deputy Chief Bob Rich said police have made the streets safer for the 10,000 residents of the Downtown Eastside who don't use drugs but have to live with drug-related violence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"But neither one of those things were our goal. Our goal was to restore order to a community in crisis, and that's what we've done." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rich offered no new facts to substantiate that assertion, but said
police information on the number of violent and disorderly incidents
on the street will form part of another study to be released at the
end of May. He also said fewer "drug tourists" from other cities or
provinces are coming to Vancouver to buy and use drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DOPEY ADS? | ||||||||||||||||||||
National anti-drug ad campaign might pique teens' interest in
illicit drugs, University of Texas researcher says. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
AMERICAN DRUG WAR | ||||||||||||||||||||
To end the "infighting" amongst various legalization groups. | ||||||||||||||||||||
One important first step to ending the drugwar is the legalization
of marijuana; there are many groups such as NORML, MPP, and the
American Alliance for medical marijuana. Many of these groups don't
agree with or recognize each other. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||
05/11/04, Congressman Conyers | ||||||||||||||||||||
Congressman John Conyers discusses the comparison of the
treatment of Iraqi prisoners with that inflicted on US drug
prisoners. | ||||||||||||||||||||
We also hear from Eric Sterling of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation and Noelle Davis of Texans for Medical Marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
BEYOND PROHIBITION - PRE-CONFERENCE RADIO INTERVIEW | ||||||||||||||||||||
Guests include Eugene Oscapella of the Canadian Foundation for Drug Policy, Keith Stroup of NORML, Peter Cohen from the Centre for Drug Research at the Universiteit van Amsterdam and Kirk Tousaw of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.salvagingelectrons.com/drugradio/cknw-good-20040506-bccla.ram | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
NO INCREASED RISK FOR DRIVERS EXPOSED TO CANNABIS, STUDY SAYS | ||||||||||||||||||||
May 13, 2004 - Tilburg, The Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tilburg, The Netherlands: Drivers who test positive for marijuana in their urine do not experience elevated risks for having a motor vehicle accident, according to case-control data to be published in the July issue of the journal Accident Analysis & Prevention. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
VICTORY FOR ALLIANCE AS FEC VOTES AGAINST FREE-SPEECH RESTRICTIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||
May 13, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
In an enormous victory for the Drug Policy Alliance and our members
and supporters, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted 4-2 today
against implementing a damaging proposal that would have effectively
barred the Alliance and other advocacy groups from communicating with
supporters about the political actions of federal officials up for
re-election. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CONTRA-INTELLIGENCE ON OLIVER L. NORTH | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Celerino "Cele" Castillo, 3rd | ||||||||||||||||||||
Former Federal Drug Agent and Author of: | ||||||||||||||||||||
Posted at DrugWar.com May 12, 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Law Damages Families | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Meril Draper | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dear Editor, | ||||||||||||||||||||
I just read a letter from your paper where the writer complains about pot smokers in a park affected his human rights [Pot use offensive, April 30 Letters to the Editor, Langley Advance News]. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Where did those two ladies smoking pot hurt the writer of that
letter? | ||||||||||||||||||||
The problems from marijuana stem from two things. One is the
prohibition of marijuana, and because of that, the second is the
black market. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The black market has no age limit. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug dealers and crooked cops just love prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana doesn't break up families, but marijuana laws do, and we
can change that. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Meril Draper, | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - APRIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
We recognize Canadian activist and Letter to the Editor writer Chris
Buors of Winnipeg. During April we archived eight published letters
by Chris, bringing his total in our published letter archives to
157. You can review his published letters at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Review: "Drug War Crimes" | ||||||||||||||||||||
Reviewed by Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Drug War Crimes:The Consequences of Prohibition" by Jeffrey Miron,
The Independent Institute, 109 page, $15.95 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Prohibitionists and anti-prohibitionists may not be able to agree on
much, but we can probably all endorse the idea that the war on drugs
creates consequences. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More difficult to reconcile is the question of whether those
consequences are positive or negative. As a fervent | ||||||||||||||||||||
Whether you measure it ruined lives, wasted resources or lost
rights, the cost of the drug war appears extreme with little payout
on the other side. But no, say the prohibitionists. Drug problems
would be magnified manyfold and we would become a drooling,
spaced-out, uncaring society, were it not for the restraining force
of drug prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There's so many ways to respond to the prohibitionists, it's
difficult determining where to start. Economics professor Jeffrey A.
Miron does a service in his new book "Drug War Crimes: The
Consequences of Prohibition," by cutting straight to the heart of
the matter in a slim, readable volume. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the book, Miron tackles two crucial questions: | ||||||||||||||||||||
1.) How much, if at all, does prohibition lower drug use? | ||||||||||||||||||||
2.) How much, if at all, does prohibition increase violence? | ||||||||||||||||||||
As you might expect, the basic answers offered by Miron are 1.) probably very little and 2.) almost certainly a whole lot. | ||||||||||||||||||||
From there, the author weighs the relative benefits of lowered drug
use versus increased violence and other costs. He concludes that
legalization is preferable to prohibition. He then goes a step
further, a step which might make some drug policy reform advocates a
bit uncomfortable. Looking at reform policies that stop short of
outright legalization, like decriminalization, or even selective
legalization for marijuana only, Miron argues that full legalization
represents the best alternative. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This is an interesting contrast to "Drug War Heresies," a book
published a couple of years ago which also claimed to weigh the pros
and cons of prohibition. The authors of that book (which was
reviewed in DrugSense Weekly - see | ||||||||||||||||||||
Miron's "Drug War Crimes" acknowledges that mild reforms are
preferable to strict prohibition, but explains why legalization is
the best option available. The author's libertarian perspective is
clearly stated near the end of the book, even as it bundled in the
language of economics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"American tradition should make legalization - i.e. liberty - the
preferred policy, barring compelling evidence prohibition generates
benefits in excess of its costs," Miron writes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Drug War Crimes" doesn't address the political realities that make
full legalization a huge long-shot at this point in time in the
United States. However, by the end of the book, any consequences of
legalization seem far less radical than the masochistic downward
spiral of damage that is the war on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of
Maximizing Harm - www.maximizingharm.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions
and have a tremendous impact on history." -- Dan Quayle | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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