| Aug 06, 2004 #361 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) REMEMBER THE WAR ON DRUGS? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Long before the War on Terror started driving U.S. foreign policy,
Washington set out to win the War on Drugs, with a particular focus on
nations like Colombia, which exports up to 90 percent of America's
cocaine. But, as recent developments there illustrate, victory is
still proving elusive. | ||||||||||||||||
On Monday, Colombian president Alvaro Uribe offered more concessions to rightist paramilitary groups, promising to create additional "haven" areas where two warring organizations can negotiate with the government. In such havens, paramilitary leaders and troops can speak with government representatives without fear of arrest or extradition to the United States on drug-trafficking charges. In exchange, Uribe wants the groups to declare a cease-fire and begin disarming. | ||||||||||||||||
The trouble is that the paramilitaries hold the power in this
relationship. As the New York Times noted, "the groups have not
stopped assassinating labor leaders and human rights workers, killing
peasants and trafficking in cocaine," and have said they will not
demobilize unless the government agrees to a lenient stand on previous
murders and trafficking. As former Colombian peace commissioner Daniel
Garcia-Pena said: | ||||||||||||||||
"This process is in a crisis of credibility. The president has time to
rescue the process if the conditions are well established and they
make them comply. But the government has hard rhetoric one day, and
they make concessions the next." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) LINKS BETWEEN PRISON AND AIDS AFFECTING BLACKS INSIDE AND OUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
RALEIGH, N.C. - Fiddling with a cigarette, Louise, a straight-talking
23-year-old who has been living with H.I.V. for four years, grimaced
as she discussed life in the black neighborhood of her small town, a
sleepy outpost east of the state capital. | ||||||||||||||||
The only jobs, she said, were generally at fast-food places, farms or
factories. Entertainment consisted of hanging out on the street corner
or at the strip mall. And as for men, she said, with an air of
resignation, "They've either been in prison, they're married or
they're gay." | ||||||||||||||||
It never seemed unusual, said Louise, who asked that her last name be withheld because some people close to her are unaware of her H.I.V. status, that nearly all the men she had been involved with - including the one who passed the virus on to her - had been in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) 'NO LAW' AGAINST IT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Las Vegas Grants First Marijuana-Related Business License | ||||||||||||||||
Bill Kosinksi, whose back was injured in a car accident, uses
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
It's legal for medical purposes in Nevada, though the federal government -- ignoring the 10th Amendment -- does not approve. | ||||||||||||||||
Nor is it easy to get the state's registration card, which costs $200,
all told. Mr. Kosinski says his took a year. He even had to get
fingerprinted. | ||||||||||||||||
In order to get registered. To legally use a naturally occurring plant
with few known toxic effects. For medical purposes. | ||||||||||||||||
So onerous is the registration procedure that five of six people who
are mailed state applications never return them. So, it occurred to
Mr. Kosinski there might be a business opportunity there, helping
patients navigate the regulatory hurdles. | ||||||||||||||||
He applied for a city business license for his proposed Medical
Marijuana Consultants of Nevada -- and was promptly turned down, in
June. | ||||||||||||||||
There was a concern that Mr. Kosinski might be planning to grow or
distribute marijuana, which would be illegal under federal law,
explains Jim DiFiore, manager of the city's Business Services
Division. But as it turns out, "He's simply going to assist someone
with an ailment who needs to see a doctor who would prescribe medical
marijuana," Mr. DiFiore says. "We have no law that denies an
opportunity to do that." | ||||||||||||||||
So, on Monday, the city of Las Vegas finally gave Mr. Kosinski his
license. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) VACCINATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Since the War on Drugs has failed so miserably, the government is
considering a new approach: a vaccine against drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
The shot works by blocking receptors in the brain responsible for the rush drug users yearn for. The vaccinated simply cannot get the same amount of pleasure from heroine, cocaine or nicotine as they normally would, so the hope is that the number of drug addicts will plummet. | ||||||||||||||||
Or, people will start taking these drugs in ever-increasing doses,
desperate to get high even if it kills them. This new policy obviously
has kinks in it. | ||||||||||||||||
To make things scarier, the government's plan is not to head into
addiction/recovery centers with these latest mind-controlling
substances, but instead to go into the school system and experiment on
"at-risk" youth. | ||||||||||||||||
This is not a late-night sci-fi flick, folks. The program is to
operate incognito alongside other routine childhood vaccinations like
mumps and rubella and will be up and running in the United Kingdom as
early as 2006 (bankrolled, of course, by the U.S.). | ||||||||||||||||
Human-rights advocates responded to the news with alarm, calling it
unethical to use pharmaceuticals to enforce government policy. This is
your brain on approved drugs that inhibit the uptake of other,
non-approved drugs. Any questions? | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Extra, Extra - we CAN read all about forfeiture! Although our
government officials refuse to comment, they have rescinded the
demand to destroy documents and "realized that information that is
legally available to the public should remain so." | ||||||||||||||||
Ex-Dolphin Ricky Williams' choice of forced retirement by failing a drug test received much hard copy play this week revealing not only that drug tests can easily be beat but also a hidden medical marijuana story. McCaffrey still has his big foot in the WOD door as he continues to claim the importance of early prevention and treatment even though this portion of his ONDCP budgets was always below 20%. The disingenuous claim that our WOD is 'saving the children' continues as an amendment to give young adults a second chance at college funds will gather dust until after the fall. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) ORDER TO DESTROY PAMPHLETS CANCELED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
US Alters Demand to Its Libraries | ||||||||||||||||
The Government Printing Office has rescinded a week-old order that
libraries nationwide destroy five U.S. Department of Justice
pamphlets. | ||||||||||||||||
The office announced the decision in a letter sent yesterday to
about 1,300 libraries across the country. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, the printing office invoked its authority to order the
removal of the pamphlets, which provide instructions about
prosecuting asset forfeiture cases. A Justice Department spokesman
said in an interview that the material was meant for internal use
and not for public distribution. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, the American Library Association wrote to members of the
US Senate and U.S. House Judiciary Committees, saying, "We are
gratified that [the government] has realized that information that
is legally available to the public should remain so." | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) WILLIAMS' DRUG USE HAD ROLE IN DECISION TO RETIRE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Williams failed his first drug test soon after arriving in Miami in
2002. He spent much of his two seasons with the Dolphins in the | ||||||||||||||||
Williams said he continued smoking throughout his time with the
Dolphins, stopping only for a month here and there, but passed
random tests by drinking 32 ounces of a masking agent called Extra
Clean and chasing it quickly with 32 ounces of water. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Williams, who suffers from social-anxiety disorder and was a
spokesman for the anti-depressant Paxil, said marijuana helped him
once he had to stop using Paxil because it didn't agree with his
diet. "Marijuana is 10 times better for me than Paxil," he said.
Williams said he doesn't see anything wrong with marijuana because
it is "just a plant" and his hero, Bob Marley, admitted to smoking
it daily. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) EX-DRUG CZAR EMPHASIZES PREVENTION, TREATMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Effective youth drug-prevention programs and cost-effective
treatment services need to be the focus of the ongoing war on drugs,
a former U.S. drug czar said Monday. | ||||||||||||||||
Barry McCaffrey said community anti-drug programs are especially
important and called for more emphasis on prevention and treatment,
instead of enforcement, in front of roughly 1,000 substance-abuse
service professionals at the annual Texas Commission on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse's drug policy conference. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) DRUG WAR POLITICS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Murderers And Rapists Can Get Financial Aid, But Drug Offenders -
Forget It | ||||||||||||||||
On Friday, July 22, Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) rescinded his support of
"The Second Chance Act" (on the last working day, before the 108th
Congress adjourned for August recess), and now the bill must be put
on hold until at least September. | ||||||||||||||||
The delay, according to Ross Wilson of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), will keep thousands of college students at risk of losing federal financial aid because of a "counterproductive and unfair" drug provision in the federal Higher Education Act. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-11) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Last week the Supreme Court of Canada reminded police that a bag of Cannabis could not be considered a possible weapon or burglary tool. This week, in the "Land of the Free", the U.S. Supreme Court accepted, and will probably reverse, a lower court's decision preventing fishing expeditions by drug sniffing dogs. A methamphetamine story shows that law enforcement personnel continue to struggle against the basic law that supply will meet demand and a former Baltimore police officer confirms this in his OPED. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) SNIFFING OUT OUR RIGHTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
In 1998, Roy Caballes was stopped by police in Illinois for going 71
mph when the speed limit was 65. He refused to let the trooper search
his car and soon thereafter another officer and a drug-sniffing dog
appeared. The dog alerted and marijuana was found in Caballes' trunk.
Caballes received 12 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
The Illinois Supreme Court set aside Caballes' conviction, saying that
without an objective reason to suspect a car is carrying drugs, police
cannot transform a simple traffic stop into a drug investigation by
bringing in a drug-sniffing dog. | ||||||||||||||||
While in my view this limit would bring policing back within the
intent of the Constitution, every indication is that the U.S. Supreme
Court took this case to change the result. The nation's police chiefs
urged the court to intervene; and the Rehnquist court has not been
generally friendly to the Fourth Amendment. But in truth, the use of
dogs has rendered our right to be let along virtually meaningless. If
the police want to get into our cars, as Gheith discovered, it's just
a matter of calling out the dogs. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) LAW ENFORCEMENT MAY HAVE TO CHANGE APPROACH TO STEM METH TIDE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Oklahoma law restricting the sale of cold medicines used in making
methamphetamine could make the state a prime target for drug
smugglers, officials at a narcotics conference said Wednesday. The
law, passed by the Legislature this spring, bans the sale of cold
medicines with pseudoephedrine in supermarkets and convenience stores.
Instead, customers must present a photo ID to a pharmacist and sign
for the medicine. | ||||||||||||||||
Authorities say the law has been effective in reducing the number of
meth labs in the state. Now the concern is that Mexican drug cartels
may step in to fill the void, said John Coonce, a field program
specialist for the National Drug Intelligence Center. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) TAKE THE VIOLENCE OUT OF THE DRUG TRADE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Prohibition prevents regulation. We as a society can choose the way
in which addicts obtain drugs. Most of the violence in Baltimore is
caused not by drugs alone but rather the criminal way in which drugs
are sold. Drug prohibition is a bad choice because it leads to armed
thugs hawking their wares on the corner. | ||||||||||||||||
The only way to disarm the drug culture is to take the profit out of
street-level drug-dealing. Drug legalization and regulation are the
answer. Why leave the profits to those who perpetuate violent
culture? | ||||||||||||||||
Drug manufacturing and distribution shouldn't be in the hands of the
North Avenue Boys, or any other group of criminals. As with alcohol,
tobacco or prescription medication, selling drugs should be the
combined responsibility of doctors, the government and the legal
free market. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (12-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
News of the demise of the Nevada cannabis initiative may have been
greatly premature: U.S. District Judge James Mahan issued an order
blocking the state from disqualifying the ballot initiative until a
suit by the ACLU, MPP, and the Committee to Regulate and Control
Marijuana can be heard. Second this week, a very good story about
the upcoming Montana medicinal cannabis ballot initiative, with
extensive quotes from Bruce Mirken, MPP's always well-spoken
Communications Director. More good news for U.S. medical users this
week: 59% of Detroit voters have just approved a change in the city
code to make a legal exception for the medicinal use of cannabis.
Unfortunately the municipal initiative does not affect either state
or federal laws against the personal use of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
Sadly, even patients in states that have passed medical cannabis
laws are not immune from harassment or prosecution: our fourth story
this week tells the tale of Dana May, a legal medical user from
Colorado whose home was raided by the DEA. Although the feds chose
not to prosecute May, they have refused to return his dried
medicine, plants or equipment. | ||||||||||||||||
And lastly this week, a book review of Martin Booth's Cannabis: A History by attorney and hemp-activist Gatewood Galbraith. If you were ever wondering how we ever got into the mess of cannabis prohibition in which we currently find ourselves, this is a good place to start. I'd now like to take this opportunity to bid a fond farewell to Chad Thavenot of MPP, and Hilary McQuie of Americans for Safe Access: cannabis reform will miss you both more than we can say; keep up the good work and good luck in your future endeavors! | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) RESTRAINING ORDER ISSUED IN NEVADA POT PETITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge James Mahan has issued a temporary restraining
order blocking the state from further action on a marijuana
initiative petition that lacks the necessary signatures to qualify
for the Nevada ballot. | ||||||||||||||||
Mahan has set Aug. 13 for oral arguments on a lawsuit by the Nevada
chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and groups supporting
the petition to allow adults to possess and use one ounce of
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Allen Lichtenstein, the Las Vegas lawyer for the ACLU, said the
temporary restraining order issued Friday prevents any more action
by Secretary of State Dean Heller that might disqualify the
petition. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) MONTANANS TO DECIDE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN NOVEMBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Come November, Montana voters will have a chance to change this
state's marijuana laws. Activists from the Marijuana Policy Project
of Montana raised more than enough signatures -- some 25,000 -- to
get their medical marijuana initiative placed on the general
election ballot. | ||||||||||||||||
Voters will be asked to cast their ballot for or against Initiative
148, a proposed new law that would protect medical marijuana
patients, their doctors and their caregivers from arrest and
prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Proponents of medical marijuana say smoking the plant relieves
nausea, increases appetite, reduces muscle spasms, relieves chronic
pain and reduces pressure in the eyes. It can be used to treat the
symptoms of AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, among
other diseases, they say. | ||||||||||||||||
But opponents of the law say medical marijuana laws are the first
step on the road to drug deregulation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) DETROIT VOTERS APPROVE ALLOWING MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Residents approved a proposal Tuesday to legalize medical marijuana
use in a largely symbolic victory for those who hope to rewrite the
state's drug laws. | ||||||||||||||||
With 98 percent of precincts reporting, 59 percent, or 38,604 votes,
were in favor of Proposal M, while 41 percent, or 26,497 votes, were
against. | ||||||||||||||||
The vote changes the city code, creating an exception to the
marijuana ban for people who use the drug for medical purposes under
a doctor's direction. But the change has no effect on federal and
state laws that allow prosecution of those possessing or using
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) AILING MAN TO FEDS: GIVE BACK MY POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Dana May is an imposing figure, but a severe nerve ailment and federal
authorities are bringing him to his knees. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly two years ago May learned of Colorado's new medical marijuana
law that voters approved in 2000. He met with his neurologist, Lynn
Parry, to discuss trying marijuana to relieve the pain caused by his
condition, reflex sympathetic dystrophy. May's doctor gave him her
blessings, signing the legal forms that allowed May to grow and
smoke marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But someone told federal and local authorities about the marijuana
plants inside May's Aurora home. | ||||||||||||||||
While May was preparing to pick up his children from school May 27,
he noticed a couple of Aurora police cars speeding to his home,
which is at the end of a cul-de-sac. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) THE LONG AND VARIED HISTORY OF MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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The book puts to shame any purported basis of the government for
criminalizing the plant and everyone associated with it and does so
in an entertaining and educational fashion. Most important, it does
so by simply reporting the facts. From mankind's earliest discovery
and primitive use of cannabis to the present-day effort to vilify
the plant and everyone utilizing it, this handsome books covers it
all in digestible detail. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. authorities tasked with fighting terror called Britain's war on
drugs "a little naive" last week, as the nations clashed on drug
policy in Afghanistan. After British Foreign Office minister Bill
Rammell suggested that drug traffickers be jailed before October's
presidential election, U.S. officials denounced the comments as
"naive," according to The Observer newspaper. U.S. authorities are
unwilling to arrest Afghan government officials, even as they
acknowledge that many Afghan government ministers are "up to their
necks" in drug money. Afghanistan is expected to have record
harvests of opium again this year. | ||||||||||||||||
Washington's man in Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe, was revealed
last week to be an ally of the notorious narco-trafficker, Pablo
Escobar. According to recently declassified U.S. intelligence
reports from 1991, Uribe was "dedicated to collaboration with the
Medellin cartel at high government levels." Saying President Uribe
was a "close personal friend" of Pablo Escobar, the report also
linked Uribe to drug business in the United States. Spokesmen for
Uribe denied allegations contained in the report. | ||||||||||||||||
Gung-ho Philippine police rage again this week. Seven cops in Manila
were caught attempting to extort money from marijuana users. The
policemen are accused of demanding 500,000 pesos in exchange for
releasing a group of pot smokers. In Davao City, where death squads
(believed to be the police themselves) have summarily executed
scores of suspected drug users so far this year, city councilors
have threatened to cut off benefits to police, if the killings don't
stop. In a tacit admission that police are responsible for the
killings, one councilor stated, if police "cannot stop summary
killings in two months time, I may recommend to the council and to
the city mayor the abolition of all benefits given by the City
Government to the police." Death squads in Davao City have killed 56
people in 2004. Meanwhile, Philippine National Police deputy
director general for Operations, Edgardo Aglipay, in an address to a
gathering of 60 priests in Koronadal City, told the priests they
could help fight drugs by serving "as informants" to police against
their parishioners. | ||||||||||||||||
In Thailand, American military trainers will participate in a joint
anti-drug military exercise code named 'Baker Torch 04-3 B'. Unfazed
by the summary execution of over 2,000 Thai drug suspects last year,
which is widely believed to be the work of Thai police, some 15 U.S.
military trainers will train over 100 Thai soldiers in drug
eradication techniques. | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) BRITAIN'S WAR ON DRUGS IS NAIVE, SAYS U.S. (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Policy Clashes Undermine Blair's Pledge to End Afghanistan Opium
Production | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. has blamed Britain's 'lack of urgency' for its failure to arrest the booming opium trade in Afghanistan, exposing a schism between the allies as the country trembles on the brink of anarchy. | ||||||||||||||||
As a record opium harvest fuels the supply of heroin to Britain's streets, the U.S. embassy in Kabul has revealed policy clashes which undermined Tony Blair's pledge to end Afghan poppy cultivation. | ||||||||||||||||
'You guys are here because you have a war on drugs,' one U.S.
official told The Observer. 'Less than 5 per cent of all opiates in
North America come from Afghanistan; I'm here because we have a war
on terror. It does produce slightly different emphases. Britain will
achieve the results they want in 10 years and that's fast enough for
them. We will achieve the result we want only if we do it more
quickly.' | ||||||||||||||||
Responding to Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell's wish that drugs
barons and traffickers be jailed before October's presidential
election, the official said: 'Britain's attitude is a little naive.
I can name several Afghan government ministers and regional warlords
absolutely up to their necks in drugs money. I would not bet on any
high profile arrests before the election.' | ||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs is seen as key to the allies' attempt to halt
Afghanistan's violent disintegration and ensure the election goes
ahead after two postponements. The effort suffered another blow last
week when Medecins Sans Frontieres - whose aid workers have
weathered 24 years of Soviet invasion, civil war, Taliban tyranny
and American bombing - announced it was pulling out because the
country was too dangerous. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) COLOMBIAN LEADER LINKED TO COCAINE TRAFFICKERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA A recently declassified U.S. intelligence report from 1991 says that President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia, now a staunch supporter of Washington's war against drug trafficking, was at that time a close associate of Colombia's most powerful drug lord and an ardent ally of the cocaine traffickers then engulfing this country. | ||||||||||||||||
A spokesman for Uribe denounced the findings in the Defense
Intelligence Agency's 13-year-old report on Colombia's biggest drug
traffickers as "the same information" presented in a campaign by
political opponents in the 2002 presidential election. And senior
U.S. intelligence officials and diplomats cautioned that such
reports might not be accurate. However, the statement issued by the
presidential spokesman did not directly address the report's most
damaging assertion: that Uribe had been linked to the top drug
trafficker of the era, Pablo Escobar. | ||||||||||||||||
The report, dated Sept. 23, 1991, and obtained through the U.S.
Freedom of Information Act by the National Security Archive, a
private, nonpartisan research group based in Washington, says that
Uribe, at the time a senator from the northern state of Antioquia,
was "dedicated to collaboration with the Medellin cartel at high
government levels." | ||||||||||||||||
The report, which the archive made public on Monday, calls Uribe a
"close personal friend" of Escobar, who led the cartel, and says
Uribe took part in the drug lord's successful efforts to secure a
seat as an auxiliary congressman. It says that Uribe was linked to
an unidentified business involved in narcotics activities in the
United States, that as a senator he opposed extraditing traffickers
to the United States and that his father, Alberto Uribe, was killed
because of his drug ties. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) 7 COPS IN EXTORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region Police Office yesterday
presented one of seven policemen accused of extorting from three
suspected drug users in Sampaloc, Manila. | ||||||||||||||||
NCRPO commander Ricardo de Leon presented at Western Police District
Station 4 Insp. Alfredo David and his accusers: Edward Batac, 34;
Sonny Saguse, 28; and Niel Guiyang, 27. | ||||||||||||||||
The accusers, reportedly caught during a pot session, said David and his men demanded P500,000 in exchange for their freedom. | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) POLICE WARNED: STOP SLAYS OR AID CANCELLED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DAVAO CITY -- Two councilors warned police Tuesday they have two
months to put an end to the spate of vigilante-style killings in the
city or risk losing the benefits the local government is extending
to them. | ||||||||||||||||
"If they (referring to the police) cannot stop summary killings in
two months time, I may recommend to the council and to the city
mayor the abolition of all benefits given by the City Government to
the police," Councilor Bonifacio E. Militar said. | ||||||||||||||||
He criticized the Davao City Police Office for its failure to
address the crimes perpetuated by the so-called "death squad", which
have already killed 56 persons this year. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Councilor Peter T. Lavina agreed with Militar, saying the killing of
petty criminals is not the answer, as it has not discouraged the
commission of crimes in the city. | ||||||||||||||||
"We are, in fact, abetting criminality because summary killing is a
crime. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) CLERGY VS DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Priests Eyed As Busters | ||||||||||||||||
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews) - From gospel preachers to drug busters Edgardo Aglipay, the Philippine National Police deputy director general for Operations, is hoping to tap the Diocese of Marbel's 60 priests as partners in the campaign against illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Aglipay said the priests could help in the government's anti-illegal
drugs campaign by counseling their parishioners who are into drugs
and recommending their rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||
He also said the religious leaders could serve as informants to the
police about drug syndicates or street peddlers operating in their
respective parishes. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(22) AMERICANS TRAIN THAI TROOPS TO COMBAT DRUG TRADE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Thai-American joint military exercise codenamed 'Baker Torch 04-3 B'
kicked off on July 26 at 3rd Development Battalion to improve the
ability of Thai troops in drug suppression. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A total of 75 Thai soldiers are taking part with 28 from the 4th
Infantry Division, 28 from the 1st Cavalry Division, four from the
Commanding Unit of Special Warfare and 15 from of 3rd Region Border
Patrol Police Headquarters. There are 15 trainers from the United
States. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
US Anti-Drug Campaign 'Failing' - US Drugs Tsar John Walters | ||||||||||||||||
Walters praised Mexico's efforts to combat the drugs trade | ||||||||||||||||
US drugs tsar John Walters has admitted that Washington's anti-narcotics
policy in Latin America has so far failed. | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (FEAR) wins two battles in a row
in a week - thanks to your grass roots support! | ||||||||||||||||
In the last couple of weeks, FEAR has been fighting two battles in
which we have successfully mobilized grass roots support, and the
support of other nonprofit organizations, beginning with bulletins
we sent out over FEAR-List. Amazingly, we have won both battles
already! | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
The Hilary Black Show - Smoke Shop Tour | ||||||||||||||||
Hilary visits two exclusive glass and smoking shops in Vancouver. She tries on hemp fashions and smokes a bubbler with the gang at High End in Kitsalano, and goes to Ink Bomb Tattoos at Puff on Main. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Stressed Israeli Soldiers To Be Treated With Cannabis: Army | ||||||||||||||||
JERUSALEM (AFP) Aug 04, 2004 - Israeli soldiers suffering from combat
stress after tours of duty in the Palestinian territories could soon
be treated with cannabis to relieve their symptoms, the Israeli army
said late Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
State Estimates of Substance Use from the 2002 National Survey on Drug
Use and Health | ||||||||||||||||
by Douglas Wright, Department of Health and Human Services, Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied
Studies | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Cultural Baggage Radio Show | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Citing evidence that shows zero deaths for patients properly using
opioid medicines last year and 17,00 deaths from aspirin and Tylenol,
these doctors proclaim the drug war to be "mythology". | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Emily Reilly, Santa Cruz City Council member. She is coming to Houston
in support of "Project Housterdam" and will speak to our city council
about the need for medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ASKING FOR DISCLOSURE | ||||||||||||||||
By Mett B. Ausley Jr. | ||||||||||||||||
To the Editor: | ||||||||||||||||
If DeWayne Wickham's opposition to "mandatory minimum" drug penalties
indicates "idiocy" as you allege ( in Editor Tom Mayer's July 23
column ), this ordinary shortcoming pales beside your editorial's
wanton liberties with truthfulness and reasoning. | ||||||||||||||||
Give Wickham credit for forthrightly admitting his interest in helping
a "jailhouse scribe" inmate acquaintance. Absent your own disclosure,
I'm left wondering what of your overstated outrage is sincere, and
what merely reflects an eagerness to sell advertisements and
subscriptions by pandering to your readers' familiar prejudices;
toadying to justice functionaries vending the "news" you stream before
your audience in voyeuristic fashion. | ||||||||||||||||
Our rotting "War on Drugs" generates much of this titillation, so wouldn't it be a shame if allowing judges discretion to sentence slowed the gravy train down a bit? Of course, your self-interest can be waved aside with the profundity that "drugs are bad." | ||||||||||||||||
When this facile excuse for exploiting human weakness and misery wears
thin, there's always refuge in the First Amendment. Following your
example, pimps and drug dealers might do well to elude "mandatory
minimums" by calling themselves "journalists." | ||||||||||||||||
Mett B. Ausley Jr. | ||||||||||||||||
Lake Waccamaw, N.C. | ||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DEMAGOGUERY AND THE ADVOCACY OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA REFORM | ||||||||||||||||
By Jon Gettman | ||||||||||||||||
The drug policy reform community is woefully ignorant about the federal rescheduling process. As a result patients, the public, and activists have all been misled about the actual mechanisms by which medical marijuana must be approved by the federal government. | ||||||||||||||||
Advocates have a responsibility to know what they are talking about. In this area it is a responsibility to know about the legal mechanisms of the scheduling process, and to educate the public about them. (Details of the federal rescheduling process can be found in the U.S. Code - the legal citation is 21 USC 811.) | ||||||||||||||||
It is true that state initiatives can put pressure on the federal
government to take steps to expedite the availability of medical
marijuana. It is misleading, though, to talk about legalizing
medical marijuana by way of state initiatives, as many advocates do.
It is one thing for states to decide, by legislative process,
initiative, or prosecutorial discretion, not to subject patients who
use medical marijuana to criminal sanctions. Such action is
justified on several grounds - most particularly recognition that
patients who use cannabis medically do not do so with criminal
intent. However such action at the state level does not in any way
legalize medical marijuana use, and until the Supreme Court rules
otherwise state laws of this kind in no way over-ride the federal
laws about the manufacture, distribution, sale and use of cannabis
as a controlled substance. | ||||||||||||||||
It is also misleading to imply, as many advocates do, that the
federal government can reschedule marijuana by way of a presidential
order. Indeed that sort of arbitrary use of power is exactly what
the rescheduling process is designed to prevent and protect against.
Advocates frequently imply that state level medical cannabis reform
will pressure the federal government into rescheduling cannabis
without paying any attention to just how the government would be
able to do so. State level reform in this area does put pressure on
the government to reschedule; however the only way the federal
government is authorized by Congress to reschedule cannabis is
through use of the rescheduling process laid out in the Controlled
Substances Act. Under their strategy we are supposed to spend
several years passing state-level reform, and then wait several more
years in the distant future for the government to conduct
rescheduling proceedings. | ||||||||||||||||
Interestingly the most prominent national advocates of using state level initiatives to pressure the federal government into rescheduling cannabis declined to support the cannabis rescheduling petition filed by this writer and High Times in 1995. Had these advocacy organizations supported the 1995 effort marijuana may have already been rescheduled today. The 1995 petition ran into a roadblock that prevented judicial review by the federal courts. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that petitioners (this writer and High Times) were not sufficiently harmed by DEA's refusal to reschedule to gain access to the federal courts. The involvement of more individuals and organizations would have made a difference in this prior action, and a coalition of patient advocacy groups joined with the prior petitioners to launch a new rescheduling action in 2002. | ||||||||||||||||
Advocacy groups that tell the public that winning the battle over medical marijuana will result in the end of marijuana prohibition are not only misleading but incompetent. They are misleading because the rescheduling of marijuana will only address medical access to cannabis, and for that matter rescheduling only addresses the regulatory framework necessary to expedite the investment, research, and Food and Drug Administration approval required to make cannabis available as medicine. Not only does the rescheduling process take several years at best, the follow-up steps required to gain approval of specific cannabis medical products will take several more years after that. None of these developments will have much affect, if any, on the arrest of individuals for cannabis use. For most cannabis users marijuana prohibition will continue if and after medical cannabis has been approved. Consequently advocating such positions is not only misleading but incompetent, because advocates of public policy positions ought to take the time to know what they are talking about - advocates of reforming the marijuana laws ought to know how those laws can be reformed. Anything else is demagoguery, a blatantly self-serving appeal to public emotion used as a source for political power and personal financial gain. | ||||||||||||||||
State level reform on medical marijuana should be pursued
vigorously; however national groups seeking to exploit these local
efforts to advance their national agendas should be more honest
about the significance of local reform. Misleading rhetoric harms
the movement far beyond the short term gains it provides in media
exposure and fundraising. It detracts from other reform efforts and
priorities, such as working to reduce arrests for marijuana
possession as well as attempts to build support for the rescheduling
at the federal level. It also risks tremendous backlash from
supporters who will eventually realize they have been misled,
manipulated, and exploited. | ||||||||||||||||
However there is a connection between medical marijuana reform and reducing if not ending arrests for marijuana related offenses. The connection is that the scientific basis for both policies is the same. However unlike state level reform the federal rescheduling process provides a mechanism for a thorough review of all the scientific evidence relevant to the cannabis issue. A breakthrough at the federal level will certify formidable scientific evidence that cannabis is not the drug many people fear it is, and can have a tremendous impact on public and political attitudes about the wider cannabis reform. For this reason rescheduling at the federal level, unlike state level medical marijuana reform, provides not only a tremendous opportunity for public education but also will make a significant contribution to ending the wider prohibition on marijuana use. In other words, federal rescheduling can actually deliver what some national advocacy groups can only vaguely promise. | ||||||||||||||||
It is counter productive to imply to patients, activists, and the
public that all that is needed to reschedule cannabis are more
state-level initiatives. In fact it is an outright lie. There are
plenty of reasons to support state-level reform without lying to the
public about how the federal status of marijuana can be changed.
When the federal government decides it wants to reschedule cannabis
they will have to use the rescheduling process of the Controlled
Substances Act. Some advocacy groups are content to press on with
their current strategies and just wait for the federal government to
reschedule cannabis at some distant point in the future. However
many locally based patient advocacy groups, joined by NORML, this
writer, and High Times, are not content to wait for the federal
government to reschedule cannabis at their leisure and seek to
compel rescheduling as soon as possible. That is the purpose of the
current rescheduling petition - to use the actual mechanism provided
by law to both compel rescheduling now, to educate the public on how
current law requires that cannabis be made medically available to
patients in need, and to provide a much needed boost to efforts to
end marijuana prohibition not just for patients in need but for all
Americans. | ||||||||||||||||
Author's Note: The opinions expressed in this column are the solely
the author's and in no way meant to represent the opinions or
positions of High Times, any organization, coalition, or other
individuals. | ||||||||||||||||
Jon Gettman is a long time contributor to HIGH TIMES. A former National Director of NORML, Jon has a Ph.D. in public policy and regional economic development and consults with attorneys, advocates, and non-profits on cannabis related research and public policy issues. On October 8, 2002, along with a coalition of organizations, he filed a new petition to have cannabis rescheduled under federal law. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb." | ||||||||||||||||
-- J. Robert Oppenheimer | ||||||||||||||||
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