| July 30, 2004 #360 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(1) MARIJUANA SMOKERS BUYING POISONED DOPE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana users are being warned about poisoned cannabis being sold on
the Coromandel Peninsula. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A pro-marijuana group says the cannabis has been sprayed by police
with a herbicide, a process which turns the drug blue. Unscrupulous
growers are disguising the poisoned cannabis with yellow food
colouring to make it look green. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
said the affected marijuana could cause people to cough up blood and
suffer nausea and headaches. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police confirmed that when they found marijuana plots they sprayed
them with herbicide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Waikato police spokeswoman Kris McGehan said the police would not
disclose any operational information such as when or how the plants
were sprayed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Ms McGehan said she had not heard of people getting sick from smoking poisoned drugs "but we are probably unlikely to for obvious reasons". | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"If you are going to buy or consume illegal drugs that is the risk
you take. Obviously it is a criminal activity that we have no control
over." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) DRUG AGENT TO BE TRIED IN DEATH OF S.J. MAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
1st State Justice Officer Indicted For Killing In The Line Of Duty | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For the first time in California history, a state Department of
Justice agent has been indicted for killing someone in the line of
duty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement agent Michael Walker will stand trial
in the Feb. 17 death of Rodolfo ``Rudy'' Cardenas, whom Walker shot in
the back during a botched pursuit in downtown San Jose, a Santa Clara
County criminal grand jury decided Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The grand jury's decision came after less than a day and a half of
deliberations, pleasing relatives of the slain San Jose man and
community members who say law enforcement officials are rarely held
accountable for their actions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Victoria!" shouted one of Cardenas' relatives as the family gathered
to celebrate on the courthouse steps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) ACLU TRIES TO SAVE MARIJUANA INITIATIVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and supporters of a
failed proposal to ease the state's marijuana laws have filed a
federal lawsuit that seeks to revive the measure in time for this
year's general election. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Accompanying the lawsuit was an emergency motion for a court order
that would force Secretary of State Dean Heller to place the
initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The motion says more than 66,000 registered voters signed petitions
for the initiative, but officials barred the measure from the ballot
"based on a raft of unreasonable, purposeless and unconstitutional
restrictions." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
When election officials finished deleting what they considered invalid
signatures, the proposal fell short -- by just 1,249 signatures -- of
the minimum 51,337 needed to qualify for the ballot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Steve George, Heller's spokesman, said officials at the secretary of state's office needed more time to review the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, before commenting on it. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) POT-POSSESSION CHARGES DOWN BY 30 PER CENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police Looking Other Way Due To Confusion Over Canada's Marijuana
Laws, Report Says | ||||||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA -- The number of people charged with possession of cannabis
fell by 30 per cent last year as police appeared to turn a blind eye
to dope smokers due to uncertainty over Canada's pot laws, Statistics
Canada reported yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"This drop may have been, in part, a result of a climate of
uncertainty among police, given recent court rulings questioning the
constitutionality of current laws regarding cannabis possession," the
study said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The drop in cannabis charges in 2003 contributed to an overall
8-per-cent drop in drug prosecutions in Canada, the first such decline
since 1993. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last week, Prime Minister Paul Martin said he plans to reintroduce
legislation this fall that would decriminalize possession of small
quantities of marijuana -- 15 grams or less. A bill to that effect
died when the last election was called. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
More of the same in the drug war last week. More secrecy over public
information; more law enforcement resources used; more dangerous
drug use, and more desperate efforts to save the DARE program as it
slowly wastes away. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) LIBRARIES ORDERED TO DESTROY U.S. PAMPHLETS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The federal Government Printing Office has ordered libraries across the country to destroy five U.S. Department of Justice pamphlets that provide how-to instructions on prosecuting asset forfeiture cases, invoking a rarely-used authority to order the removal of items the government routinely sends to hundreds of libraries. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The pamphlets are among the material the office sends each year to
about 1,300 depository libraries. Those facilities, at least two in
each congressional district, are designated by Congress to receive
and make available copies of virtually all documents the federal
government publishes. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Representatives of the 65,000-member American Library Association
said they did not know why the pamphlets were ordered destroyed, and
they pledged yesterday to challenge the order as an infringement on
a century-old guarantee of public access to unclassified documents
that the government publishes each year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Patrice McDermott, the association's deputy director of governmental affairs, said 20 to 30 instances have occurred since the middle of the 19th century in which the printing office, acting on behalf of a federal department or agency, has asked for documents to be returned or destroyed. Most previous recalls were for materials found to contain a factual error or determined to be out-of-date, she said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) DEA ARRESTS MAN IN WEB DRUG STING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A man arrested in a nationwide crackdown on illegal Internet drug
sales has been linked to one overdose death, a near fatality in
Norfolk and numerous sales to Hampton Roads Navy personnel, federal
agents announced Thursday. The Drug Enforcement Administration
released the results of "Operation Web Tryp," an investigation that
targeted Internet sites selling "research chemicals" that were
actually generic equivalents of hallucinogenic drugs such as Ecstasy
and Foxy Moxy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Part of the dragnet was the result of an investigation launched more
than two years ago by Navy investigators in Norfolk into the sale of
so-called designer drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Three men, including two sailors, were convicted and are in prison
as a result of the investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal agents and prosecutors in Norfolk declined to comment on the
case, but a DEA official in Washington said Operation Web Tryp
should signal to other Internet drug pushers that they could be put
out of business as well. "The Internet has become the street corner
for many users and traffickers," DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy
said in a statement Thursday. "Today's action will hopefully prevent
future deaths and overdoses." Besides Linder, eight other suspects
were arrested this week in New York, Georgia and California. Six Web
sites have been shut down, and agents are tracing customer e-mails
to those who purchased chemicals from those sites. Linder is accused
of supplying chemicals to Richard L. Klecker, a former sailor who
told Navy investigators that he purchased the drugs through Linder's
Web site, court records say. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) METH PRESENCE SURGES 68% IN WORKPLACE DRUG TESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
As states try to restrict sales of over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine to keep it from being cooked into methamphetamine, there is evidence meth is becoming the workplace's latest drug headache. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Meth use by workers and job applicants soared 68% last year,
according to data that will be released today by Quest Diagnostics
from the 7.1 million drug tests it administered for employers in
2003. If use continues to rise at this pace, meth will pass cocaine | ||||||||||||||||||||||
No end is in sight. Meth labs are migrating east and churning out
increasingly pure and addictive drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the past, meth recipes were passed by word of mouth between drug
lab operators, said Ed Childress, special agent with the Drug
Enforcement Administration. But the Internet has put meth recipes
within anyone's reach. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The number of DEA meth lab seizures has risen from fewer than 8,000
in 1999 to 10,000 last year. "It's pushed its way like a firestorm
across the United States," Childress said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The trend is ominous in light of fresh research by UCLA brain
mapping expert Paul Thompson. He found that regular meth users lose
about 1% of their brain cells each year, a loss comparable to that
associated with Alzheimer's. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) LOYALTY TO DARE PROGRAM TO BE TESTED AT BALLOT BOX (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Back in January, parents and students staged a public uproar over
the demise of a popular school police program. But on Aug. 3, will
they step up to the ballot box to pay for it? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
That's the question voters will answer as the city seeks 0.5 mills
to continue the school district's Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
The program was phased out this year due to the loss of state DARE
funding and the expiration of the city's federal COPS in Schools
grant. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Funding the program would cost the owner of a $100,000 house $25
more a year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's absolutely worth it," said Diane Rau, whose son Kyle, 8, will
enter third grade this fall at Central Elementary. "He's young yet,
so we're still teaching him all the values in life he'll need. But
those values also have to be projected at the schools." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Another 130,700 Americans came under control of the criminal justice
system last year. Experts aren't sure why, but there certainly are a
lot of drug-related arrests every year. The increasing corrections
population also had something to do with "get tough" laws, but some
states are finding that there is a more effective and less expensive
way. A report out of Alabama showed how crime is dropping as parole
is increasing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
We look outside the U.S. for our other stories this week. In Canada,
a judge ruled that police may not search the pockets of people while
detaining them temporarily. And in the U.K., a drug prisoner is
going on a hunger strike because he thinks a jailhouse drug test
revealed a false positive result. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) U.S. 'CORRECTIONAL POPULATION' HITS NEW HIGH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The number of Americans under the control of the criminal justice system grew by 130,700 last year to reach a new high of nearly 6.9 million, according to a Justice Department report released today. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The total includes people in jail and prison as well as those on
probation and parole. This is about 3.2 percent of the adult
population in the United States, the report said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The growth in what the report termed the "correctional population"
comes at a time when the crime rate nationwide has been relatively
stable for several years. It also comes when many states, faced with
budget deficits, have passed new, less strict sentencing laws in an
attempt to reduce the number of inmates. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The report does not address why the number of men and women in jail
and prison and on probation and parole has continued to increase.
But experts say the most likely reason is the cumulative effect of
the tougher sentencing laws passed in the 1990's, which led to more
people's being sent to prison and being required to serve longer
terms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Of those people discharged from parole in 2003, 38 percent were
returned to prison, either because of a technical violation like
failing a drug urine test or because they were charged with
committing a new crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) PAROLE RISE, CRIME DROP COINCIDE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Some Experts Credit Transitional Housing With Parolee Success | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Birmingham's dip in serious crime has come at a time when Alabama
prisons more than doubled the numbers of convicts streaming into
Jefferson County. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Last year, 552 parolees arrived in the area, up from 261 in 2002,
said Cynthia Dillard, assistant executive director of the Alabama
Board of Pardons and Paroles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
That the parolees, many freed early, have not spawned a crime wave is welcome news but no surprise to people who work with them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"The word was: `Man, if we let all these people go, the crime rate
is going to go sky high,'" said Earl Johnson, house parent at
Shepherd's Fold, a halfway house in West End. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"If a man has a support group when he's released from prison and has a place where he can be cushioned from the everyday stresses we are faced with, he is more likely to be successful," Johnson said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) COPS CANNOT FISH FOR EVIDENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
OTTAWA (CP) -- Police with reasonable suspicions have the power to
detain people temporarily but can't go on "fishing expeditions" in
their pockets for evidence, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled
Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It was the first time the high court had examined an everyday police practice that many law officers and prosecutors take for granted. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The decision upholds a ruling by a trial judge in Winnipeg, who
acquitted Phillip Henry Mann of trafficking after police stopped him
on the street in relation to a nearby break-and-enter and found
almost an ounce of pot in his sweatshirt pouch. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their
pockets," Justice Frank Iacobucci wrote in a majority decision that
divided the high court 5-2. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) PRISONER'S PROTEST AFTER FAILING TEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A Prisoner convicted as part of the Operation Hatch drugs clamp-down
has gone on hunger strike. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Wayne Holmes has refused food and water since July 10 and has been
moved to Hull Royal Infirmary. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison on March 2 for three counts
of supplying class A drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It was part of Humberside Police's biggest drugs operation yet. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 26-year-old was released into the community with an electronic
tag last month, but taken back into prison after failing a cannabis
test. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He insisted he was innocent, and began his hunger strike in protest, saying he is determined to continue with it until he is set free. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
But the Prison Service has stood its ground and he has agreed to be
put on a drip after an appeal by his mother, Karen. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This week we have a truly international hemp and cannabis section,
with stories from Canada, the U.K., Australia, and of course the
U.S. First up, an article about the Bush administration's plans to
increase enforcement efforts against cannabis users, which was
prompted by reports that pot is now twice as potent as it was in the
eighties. With over 700,000 arrests annually for cannabis
possession, one has to wonder how much time and money could be saved
by simply legalizing cannabis. Which is the central topic of our
next story, a sobering view of the failures of cannabis prohibition
in Canada magnified through the lens of America's unwinnable drug
war. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Also from Canada this week, indications that a crackdown on the
border between Canada and the U.S. post 9-11 has lead to glut of
cannabis in B.C., resulting in a reported drop in prices. And from
Australia, Health Minister Tony Abbott has admitted to using
cannabis in his youth. Lastly, news from the U.K. that an upcoming
Home Office report will show a 30% decrease in arrests for cannabis
possession as a result of last year's reclassification, allowing
police an extra 200,000 hours a year to address more serious crime.
Sadly, it is becoming ever so evident that while the rest of the
world explores progressive cannabis policy reform, the U.S.
continues to be mired in an unwinnable, unscientific war against the
personal rights and freedoms of its own people; will November's
election mark an end to this self-destructive cycle? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) BUSH TARGETS MARIJUANA SMOKERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
New super-strength marijuana readily available on U.S. streets is
prompting the White House to change direction in its war against
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Research from the government-sponsored Marijuana Potency Project
claims today's cannabis is more than twice as strong as in the
mid-Eighties, leading to greater health risks for those smoking it
at increasingly younger ages. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now President George Bush, who had already promised a more aggressive campaign against substance abuse, has ordered that resources be allocated to fighting so-called 'soft' drugs instead of concentrating on harder forms, such as heroin and cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) READ BETWEEN THE LINES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Claims by politicians and police that we need tougher drug-law enforcement to stop Canadian marijuana flooding the United States have become pretty much conventional wisdom. It's time that changed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Because of this conventional wisdom, we can expect the | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Exports of what is described in Canadian law as "marihuana" -- the
law's spelling, like its thinking, is still stuck in the 1930s --
are indeed a "thriving industry," the RCMP notes in The Drug
Situation in Canada, 2003. But for the first time, the Mounties put
that industry in perspective. "Most of the marihuana available on
the American illicit market still originates primarily in the U.S.
and in Mexico. Canada ranks far below Mexico as a source for the
U.S." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) TIGHT BORDER A LOW NOTE FOR THE HIGH TRADE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The price of B.C. bud is plunging as the United States tightens its border and more growers try to cash in on the green gold. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana supplies in B.C. are outstripping demand, forcing the
price of bulk sales down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A pound of pot grown in the province fetched $2,200 to $2,600 two
years ago, says RCMP Corporal Ray Patelle of the E Division's drug
section. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, the price has dropped to as low as $1,500. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"There's a glut in the B.C. market," Cpl. Patelle said. "There's
still just as much demand in the U.S. for this product, but there's
so much pot in B.C., the price is down." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) SLOW ON THE DRAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the wake of Mark Latham's admission that he tried marijuana in
his youth, the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, and the NSW Premier,
Bob Carr, have been sucked into the dope debate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Latham made headlines at the weekend by telling journalists he used
cannabis in his youth. "Yes, I did, and I have got to own up I did
inhale. So there you go. How about that?" Latham said, refusing to
elaborate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) PLUNGE IN CANNABIS ARRESTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
ARRESTS for cannabis possession have dropped by a third after the
drug was reclassified from Class B to the less serious Class C last
January, new figures will reveal this week. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Home Office insiders said police can now spend 200,000 extra hours
every year fighting hard drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A Whitehall source added: "Their time is much better spent tackling
those peddling Class A drugs like heroin." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In the Philippines, Urdaneta City police chief Manuel Obrera hasn't
done much to bring the killers of alleged drug offenders to justice,
but he does know this: they aren't summary executions. While not
letting on how police were able to rule out summary executions (such
killings by death squads are called "salvaging"), the chief
explained that drug gangs were merely fighting amongst themselves.
Meanwhile in Manila, a "vigilante" denouncing the "drug user" shot
an "addict" in broad daylight and in front of numerous witnesses,
according to the People's Journal. The newspaper did not explain how
they knew the victim was an addict. In nearby Thailand, similar
killings of Thai drug suspects in 2003 are believed to be the work
of police. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A survey of youth in Thailand showed that there are more drug users
now, after the government's blood-soaked war on drugs, than there
were before the pogrom was started. According to data compiled by
Assumption University, the number of drug users aged 11 to 26 more
than doubled from 2003 to 2004. Thai officials declared "victory" in
the war on drugs last December, after more than 2,000 drug suspects
were summarily executed by death squads. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
While Canadians like to think of themselves as a friendly, peaceful
people, Canadian prisons are anything but friendly or peaceful. An
article from the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal this week exposed
the epidemic of hepatitis C and HIV infections that are incubating
behind Canadian bars and razor wire. Punitive government officials,
as usual, seem more concerned about properly punishing petty drug
offenders, than about giving them Hep C and HIV in prison. While
abuse of prisoners is apparently now "The American Way," it remains
to be seen if the Canadian people truly want to follow those
footsteps. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, we learn that New Zealand police care for the
children. How do they show their care? Police in New Zealand show
concern for the kids by making sure cannabis has poison in it. After
the alarm was raised by NORML activists, police last week confirmed
they are spraying cannabis with herbicide that turns out to be
poisonous to people, too. The tainted pot (which may appear bluish)
is then left by police to be harvested. Nausea, headaches and
coughing up blood were some of the symptoms one may experience after
smoking the police-poisoned pot. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) DRUG PUSHERS' DEATH NOT SALVAGING: OBRERA FPM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
URDANETA -- City Police Director Manuel Obrera brushed aside
speculation that the killings of some drug pushers in the city the
past days were summary executions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He said there is now scarcity in the supply of shabu causing an
internal squabble among members of drug groups because they try to
outsmart each other. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Obrera said there is no intelligence report indicating that the
killed drug personalities were summarily executed so that they would
no longer testify in court. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A man believed to be involved in illegal drugs was shot dead while
walking on a street at the Dona Loling Subdivision in Barangay
Nancayasan here Tuesday night. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) TONDO VIGILANTE PUMPS 2 SLUGS ON ADDICT IN PUBLIC (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
RENATO G. QUILICOL[NL]People's Tonight [PARA]A SUSPECTED vigilante
shot an alleged drug addict in broad daylight yesterday in Tondo,
Manila. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Killed was Ruben Castro, 41, of 803 Area-A, Gate 3, Parola Cpd.,
Tondo. He died on the spot due to two gunshot wounds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WPD homicide detective Edmundo Cabal said Castro was buying a
cigarette when the suspect shot him with a .38-cal. revolver at
12:15 a.m. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Witnesses quoted the suspect as saying: "'Yan ang dapat sa mga drug
user, ang mawala na sa mundong ito." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) MORE DRUG USERS, DELINQUENTS AMONG THAI YOUTH, SAYS SURVEY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
BANGKOK - A recent survey suggested not only that the government's
controversial war on drugs last year was a hollow victory, but also
painted a picture of Thai youth increasingly adrift from traditional
values and family ties. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Data extrapolated from the survey by Assumption University, which
covered more than 14,000 youngsters aged 11 to 26 years in 29
provinces, found the number of drug abusers more than doubled from
444,307 in February last year to 955,764 this February. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
In December last year, the government declared victory in its war on
drugs that left more than 2,000 people dead. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Methamphetamines and marijuana were the drugs of | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The findings came as no surprise to social workers and those
involved in issues related to drugs, who have long maintained that
the war on drugs may have driven prices up and dealers underground,
but only temporarily. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs concentrated on methamphetamine pills known locally
as yaba. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) PRISON BREAKOUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
THE RATES OF DISEASE AMONG INMATES IS ROCKETING UPWARDS | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Six weeks into his prison term at the Springhill Institution for
conspiring to traffic marijuana, Michael Patriquen suddenly became
very ill. His joints and muscles began to burn. His cognitive skills
began to dim as insomnia took over. Extreme flu-like symptoms and
fatigue meant even walking became a painful ordeal. It took two fellow
inmates to carry the Nova Scotia man from his cell to the prison
cafeteria just to fetch a coffee. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Patriquen, whose federal licence to grow and use marjuana helps him stem the chronic neck pain from a 1999 car accident, was at a loss to explain his deteriorating health. With his weight dropping quickly, the 50-year-old husband and father of two was transferred to Westmorland Institution, a minimum security prison in Dorchester, N.B. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
It was there blood tests informed him he had been infected with Hepatitis C, a fatal disease with no cure, that attacks the liver. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
According to Carolyn Ploem, rates of Hep C infection among inmates
at New Brunswick's three federal prisons are between 28 and 40 per
cent. The total spread of the disease is not known because testing
is voluntary and is not tracked by corrections officials, says
Ploem. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Hepatitis C is rampant in both provincial and federal | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Patriquen, for his part, says he was infected with the virus after cutting himself while cleaning a blood-splashed reception cell during his first day at the Springhill Institution in Springhill, N.S. The room, he later learned, had been occupied by a Hep C-positive inmate only hours earlier, and Patriquen claims he found blackened needles and burnt aluminum pop cans used to ingest drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"They've got a raging epidemic going on inside. It's something
(corrections officials) find very embarrassing. They're given
control of people and expected to guard their health and they just
can't do it," Patriquen says. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hep C is only one concern. Infection rates of HIV among inmates,
already 10 times the level of the Canadian population, are also on
the rise. At some prisons, as many as 12 per cent of inmates have
HIV. Nearly two per cent system-wide are infected and the rate among
female prisoners is more than double that. The number of AIDS cases
jumped from 14 in 1990 to 235 out of a federal inmate population of
about 12,815 in 2002. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
For the John Howard Society, Patriquen is a walking example of the
more than 97 per cent of all offenders in Canadian prisons who are
eventually released back into the general public, and indicative of
the increasingly sick correctional system. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Stewart looks at the numbers and grows frustrated. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"If you don't do something other than just incarcerate people or put
in place measures that are intended to punish people for drug use as
opposed to keeping people healthy, we're going to have an enormous
problem in our communities and jails are going to be the incubators
of the that problem." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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(22) MARIJUANA SMOKERS BUYING POISONED DOPE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana users are being warned about poisoned cannabis being sold
on the Coromandel Peninsula. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A pro-marijuana group says the cannabis has been sprayed by police
with a herbicide, a process which turns the drug blue. Unscrupulous
growers are disguising the poisoned cannabis with yellow food
colouring to make it look green. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml)
said the affected marijuana could cause people to cough up blood and
suffer nausea and headaches. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Police confirmed that when they found marijuana plots they sprayed
them with herbicide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Waikato police spokeswoman Kris McGehan said the police would not
disclose any operational information such as when or how the plants
were sprayed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Ms McGehan said she had not heard of people getting sick from
smoking poisoned drugs "but we are probably unlikely to for obvious
reasons". | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"If you are going to buy or consume illegal drugs that is the risk
you take. Obviously it is a criminal activity that we have no
control over." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"We are getting reports that these kids are buying pot and smoking
it and getting sick or coughing a lot. Coughing up blood in some
instances." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
WHY THE DRUG WAR ISN'T AN ELECTION ISSUE - BUT SHOULD BE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Alan Heymann, AlterNet. Posted July 27, 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Drugs have been an easy target for politicians wanting to appear 'tough on crime,' even though many believe the drug war has failed." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
TOKEN JUSTICE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Steve Kubby, AlterNet. Posted July 26, 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"By continuing to target medical pot patients, the federal government
turns its back on millions of voters, the wishes of the dying and the
authority of the courts." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
DARRYL BEST ADVOCACY VIDEO | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice and Off Center
Productions have released a video highlighting the plight of Darryl
Best, who was convicted of a class A felony under New York's
Rockefeller drug laws. Mandatory minimum sentencing will require
Best to serve 15 years to life in prison. He will not be eligible
for parole until the year 2016. Best's crime? Signing for a
package that was erroneously delivered to his home. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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MARIA FULL OF GRACE | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Maria Full of Grace" sees the drug trade through the eyes of a teenager who transports heroin to the United States in her belly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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THE HILARY BLACK SHOW - DECRIM SPECIAL | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Hilary examines Paul Martin's proposal of bringing some form of
the decriminalization Bill C-10 back. With interviews from East
Vancouver's NDP MP Libby Davies and people around Vansterdam who
share their views on the subject. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG CZAR DISTORTS FACTS ABOUT MARIJUANA | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Robert Sharpe | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Kudos to Randall G. Shelden for exposing the reefer madness lies of
drug czar John Walters in his July 14 op-ed ["Ineffective, Expensive
Drug War Rages On"]. Walters has a history of deliberately distorting
information. Consider the record numbers of U.S. citizens arrested for
marijuana possession and forced into treatment by the criminal justice
system. The resulting impact on treatment statistics is then used by
drug czar John Walters to make the claim that marijuana is
"addictive." Zero-tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between
occasional use and chronic abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis into
taxpayer-funded treatment centers says a lot about U.S. government
priorities, but absolutely nothing about the relative harms of
marijuana. For an objective take on marijuana, look to Canada. In the
words of Sen. Pierre Claude Nolin, "Scientific evidence overwhelmingly
indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and
should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public
health issue." | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Robert Sharpe, MPA, | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
A Great Tool To Find Drug News | ||||||||||||||||||||||
By Doug Snead | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The DrugSense newsbot makes it easier to not miss important articles, and to share them with your fellow activists at DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The newsbot is at: http://drugpolicycentral.com/bot/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
If you don't know about this site already, please take a look. It
sees about 400 drug-related articles a day. New drug related
articles appear every 15 minutes or so. It uses news sites like
Google news for input, so, for example, it sees all the | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The newsbot is made to help newshawks who find articles for
MAPInc/DrugSense ( for more about information about newshawks, what
they do, and how you can be one too, see | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Another newshawk feature greatly speeds up the article | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Registered users can also set up interest profiles and have articles
URLs mailed back to them hourly or daily. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Did I mention that the site will output everything as RSS newsfeeds,
too? (This lets you get breaking drug news in your favorite news
reader, and on hand-helds, cell-phones, etc.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
This tool helps us not miss drug-related articles that might otherwise
get by us. Please take a look at this Mapinc/Drugsense tool and tell
us what you think of it! | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Doug Snead is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of a book
about drug war propaganda. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
"Only the educated are free." - Epictetus | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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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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