| Oct. 1, 2004 #369 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) US: MANDATORY SENTENCES LOOM AS ISSUE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ahead of Supreme Court Session, All 3 Branches of Government Jockey
Over Control of System
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The three branches of government are jockeying to gain control over
criminal sentencing should the Supreme Court change or even strike
down the current system of federal guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Monday in two cases that the Justice Department maintains show that federal sentencing guidelines are constitutional. Enacted in 1987, the guidelines designate factors judges must consider in sentencing defendants. They have served as a model for criminal sentences ever since. | ||||||||||||||||||
The high court threw the sentencing system into turmoil in June. In a
case from Washington state, it ruled that any factor that increases a
criminal sentence under the guidelines -- other than a prior
conviction -- must be admitted by a defendant in a plea bargain or
proved to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. | ||||||||||||||||||
That ruling has left lawyers, judges and legislators uncertain about
the validity of federal sentencing guidelines. It also has prompted
speculation that Congress will impose mandatory sentences for a raft
of crimes, from minor offenses to major felonies, leaving judges no
latitude to allow for individual circumstances. The Supreme Court in
2002 affirmed the legality of mandatory minimum laws enacted by
Congress. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) CN QU: JUDGE BLAMES POT IN FATAL STABBING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MONTREAL -- Marijuana, a drug viewed as so harmless that Canada is moving to decriminalize possessing it, is being blamed for driving a Quebec man to stab his roommate to death in a paranoid rage. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Quebec Superior Court judge imposed an eight-year prison sentence
yesterday on Martin Veilleux for an unhinged and unprovoked attack on
his friend last March. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think it's useful to emphasize that in this specific case, the marijuana consumed by Veilleux on March 4 and 5, 2003, was at the very least the catalyst that led him to commit a thoughtless and devastating act," Mr. Justice Gilles Hebert said in his ruling. | ||||||||||||||||||
Usually described in terms such as mellow and laid back, marijuana
received a contrasting assessment from medical experts cited in the
case. They said pot bought on the streets these days is often
sprinkled with the psychedelic drug phencyclidine, or PCP. Further,
the pot that Mr. Veilleux ingested may have also had a high
concentration of THC, marijuana's active ingredient. | ||||||||||||||||||
Whatever was in it, the drug made Mr. Veilleux paranoid, aggressive
and irritable, psychiatrist Louis Morissette concluded in a report
submitted to the court. The questionable composition prompted a
withering critique by Judge Hebert. | ||||||||||||||||||
"What terms, what words, what vocabulary must we use to sensitize the
public to the sometimes unpredictable consequences of the consumption
of marijuana or other drugs whose contents, composition and THC
content are completely unknown?"
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[snip]
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(3) US TX: DA: DOCTORS MUST TURN IN PREGNANT WOMEN FOR DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
AMARILLO, Texas - Health care providers and several women's groups say
a West Texas district attorney's interpretation of a new state law
violates doctor-patient confidentiality and could cause expectant
mothers to avoid prenatal care. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rebecca King, district attorney of Potter and Armstrong counties, argues that obstetricians must tell authorities about illegal drug use by pregnant women under a law designed to protect unborn children. She says she will prosecute physicians if they persistently fail to report such drug use. She has gotten convictions against two expectant mothers and plans to prosecute more, citing the law passed last year that classifies unborn babies as individuals. The law permits criminal prosecution of adults who harm unborn children through illegal acts. | ||||||||||||||||||
But many health care professionals - and the sponsor of the law - say
King is wrong. State Rep. Ray Allen, R-Grand Prairie, has July asked
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to clarify the law, and an opinion
expected to rule in January. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) D.C. JAIL STAY ENDS IN DEATH FOR QUADRIPLEGIC MD. MAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Care Provided by Hospital, Corrections Dept. in Question | ||||||||||||||||||
Jonathan Magbie, a 27-year-old Mitchellville man, was sent to jail in the District last week for 10 days for marijuana possession. | ||||||||||||||||||
He never made it home. | ||||||||||||||||||
Paralyzed as a child and unable to even breathe on his own, Magbie
died last Friday after being shuttled between the D.C. jail complex
and Greater Southeast Community Hospital. | ||||||||||||||||||
At the center of the many questions surrounding his death is whether
D.C. Superior Court and the D.C. Department of Corrections did enough
to ensure adequate care for the quadriplegic inmate. | ||||||||||||||||||
An investigation is underway, but that is little solace to his family,
which marched on the courthouse this week with signs accusing the
judge of killing Magbie. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I'm not saying that he shouldn't have been punished, because he did
smoke the marijuana," his mother, Mary Scott, said yesterday, a day
after burying her son. "I just don't think it should have cost him his
life."
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By the standards of D.C. Superior Court, the 10-day sentence rendered
by Judge Judith E. Retchin was unusually punitive for a first-time
offender such as Magbie. Along with his defense attorney, Boniface
Cobbina, a pre-sentence report had recommended probation, and the U.S.
attorney's office had not objected. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Retchin rejected probation alone. A former federal prosecutor who
became a Superior Court judge in 1992, Retchin is known to dispense
stiff sentences. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police, she pointed out, found a gun and cocaine in the vehicle in which Magbie was stopped in April 2003. And, despite pleading guilty to the marijuana charge, Magbie told pre-sentence investigators that he would continue using the drug, which he said made him feel better. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The prohibitionists in Albany County, New York are apparently a little nervous about all the criticism that's being leveled at the drug war during a race for district attorney. Republicans there are suing to stop a Democrat, who upset an incumbent in the primary race while criticizing the state's Rockefeller drug laws, from accepting money from the Drug Policy Alliance. The Democratic candidate says the lawsuit is ridiculous, but regardless of the outcome, it's not going to stop the drug war from being wasteful, corrupt mess. | ||||||||||||||||||
California's Prop. 36, which allows non-violent drug offenders to be
diverted to treatment instead of incarceration, was evaluated three
years after its adoption. The evaluation says the program has rates
of success similar to other drug treatment programs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Purdue Pharma, the maker of demonized painkiller OxyContin, is
releasing a new, reportedly stronger, pain medication. A careful
public relations campaign accompanies the new marketing campaign.
Also this week, a representative from the ONDCP says that drug
overdoses kill more people in New Hampshire the automobile
accidents. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) GOP SUES TO CHASE $OROS AWAY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ALBANY - Albany County Republicans are suing to stop a drug-law
reform group bankrolled by billionaire George Soros from pouring
more money into the campaign of a local Democratic candidate for
district attorney. | ||||||||||||||||||
The GOP also says Democratic candidate David Soares should be barred
from spending any more money on his race until he returns $50,000 he
already received indirectly from Soros' Drug Policy Alliance
Network. The network donated $81,000 during the primary season to
the Working Families Party, which spent more than $50,000 on behalf
of Soares, who defeated incumbent Democratic DA Paul Clyne in the
Sept. 14 primary.
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Soares campaign spokeswoman Karen Scharff called the suit "totally
ridiculous." A Drug Policy Alliance Network spokesman declined
comment. A hearing on the suit is set for today.
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(6) REPORT SAYS 1 OF 3 FINISH DRUG REHAB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Evaluation Of Prop. 36 Finds Results In Line With Other
Court-Mandated Recovery Programs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nearly two-thirds of California drug offenders who began
rehabilitation programs between July 2001 and June 2002 did not
finish them, according to UCLA researchers who evaluated a
California law that sends defendants to treatment rather than
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
Researchers said the report, which is being released today, was the first to show statewide results since Proposition 36 took effect three years ago. The results could be crucial as legislators consider whether to continue the annual $120 million for treatment programs, probation and other costs. The funding ends in 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||
The law, which was passed by 61% of voters, represented a dramatic
shift in how the courts deal with drug users. According to the
148-page report, which evaluated the program through June 30, 2003,
the rates at which drug abusers completed programs were typical of
drug users in other court-mandated programs. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Considering the scale of it, what's happened with Proposition 36 is
about what you would have expected," said Douglas Longshore, the
lead researcher. "It is not an easy thing to stick with a program to
the finish."
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More than half of those who entered treatment programs received at
least 90 days of services, the study said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) FDA WILL RESTRICT A NEW PAINKILLER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Stronger Than OxyContin, Purdue's Opioid Palladone Has a Potential
for Abuse
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The Food and Drug Administration approved a powerful long-acting
painkiller called Palladone, but the decision came with restrictions
designed to avoid the abuse and addiction problems that have arisen
with similar drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The new drug is similar to OxyContin, a controversial medicine made
by the same company, closely held Purdue Pharma LP, and it has an
active ingredient that is even more potent. That has raised concerns
about the potential for abuse at a time when misuse of prescription
drugs -- particularly painkillers -- is rising. | ||||||||||||||||||
Purdue says Palladone has a different formulation from OxyContin, which is available generically. It is a capsule, not a tablet, and has a time-release function that should make it more difficult, though not impossible, to misuse. Approved by the FDA in 1995, OxyContin became widely abused partly because it could be crushed, unlocking the time-release mechanism and delivering a potent high. | ||||||||||||||||||
To reduce the risk of misuse, Palladone will have a phased rollout
in which Purdue will limit its promotion of the drug for the first
18 months, focusing initially on doctors who are highly experienced
in prescribing similar painkillers. "The goal is to ensure safe use
of the medication," said J. David Haddox, vice president for health
policy at Purdue. "We're trying to optimize the benefit-risk ratio
for this drug."
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[snip]
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(8) OD DEATHS EXCEED TRAFFIC FATALITIES IN NH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
CONCORD -- More people in New Hampshire die from illegal drug
overdoses than are killed in traffic accidents, said Scott Burns,
deputy to national Drug Czar John Walters. | ||||||||||||||||||
"One thing that struck me in coming here is that you have serious problems with heroin and opium," Burns said during a press conference in the office of N.H. U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono. | ||||||||||||||||||
Illegal drugs of choice in New Hampshire are heroin, opium, cocaine
and crack cocaine, Burns said. Other statistics indicate that the
use marijuana is spreading among 10, 11 and 12 year olds nationally,
Burns said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Coast Guard was busy last year, almost doubling the amount
of cocaine it seized over the previous year. And the previous year's
seizure numbers were so high they set their own record. They could
double again next year and it would stop the flow. | ||||||||||||||||||
More drug-related corruption this week, as the Dallas Morning News
is looking into drug informant who may have been allowed to
participate in multiple murders while he was on the job. Also in
Texas, while drug-sniffing dogs can be used as good PR tools (even
if they're not all that good at doing their jobs), the Smith County
Sheriff's office used them in a novel way: to create an unaudited
slush fund. | ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, what exactly constitutes a meth lab? In West Virginia,
prosecutors want it to be whatever they say it is. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) COAST GUARD SETS DRUG ARREST RECORD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
With improved intelligence and equipment, the Coast Guard has set a
record for the amount of cocaine seized in one year. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the last year the U.S. Coast Guard seized more than 240,518
pounds of cocaine headed for the United States, shattering the
agency's record for at-sea seizures in a single year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although the largest amount of drugs was confiscated in the Pacific
Ocean, the Caribbean region also saw a big jump and accounted for
more than half of the boats seized this year, said Lt. Anthony
Russell , a Coast Guard spokesman. | ||||||||||||||||||
Coast Guard officials attribute the record-breaking numbers to
better intelligence and better equipment. The record, set last year,
was 138,393 pounds of cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) EDITORIAL: WE CAN'T TOLERATE THIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Cornyn Should Push Probe of Juarez Informant
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In the 1970s and 1980s, the Boston FBI was more mobbed up than the
mob. Leading agents knew that their informants were racketeers,
druggies and the subject of rumors about gangland murders. That
didn't matter. They tipped informants off about sting operations and
even exchanged Christmas presents with them. | ||||||||||||||||||
As hard as it is to imagine, history may be repeating itself in El
Paso, where the office of a federal border agency is facing its own
version of informants gone bad. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Dallas Morning News' Alfredo Corchado reported twice this week
on the situation. First, files from the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agency show that U.S. agents knew the Juarez informant
helping them crack a Mexican drug cartel was more than a bystander
to a border murder. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to ICE documents, Mr. Corchado reported, the informant,
known as Lalo, assigned people their roles in slayings. He suggested
how they knock off a victim. And he paid the killers. Lalo even
sometimes alerted U.S. agents when the deed was done.
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[snip]
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(11) HALF A MILLION DOLLARS FLOWED INTO K-9 FUND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[Telegraph] Editor's Note: First in a two-part series examining
transactions found within Sheriff J.B. Smith's unaudited K-9 and
Livestock Fund. | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the past 10 years, Smith County sheriff's officials have
deposited more than a half-million dollars into the K-9 and
Livestock Fund, including $46,900 from the county's longtime and
current jail commissary vendors, bank records show. | ||||||||||||||||||
For months, the newspaper has studied account records after
obtaining the documents through the Open Records Act. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff J.B. Smith has said the K-9 and Livestock bank account has
been a fund used primarily to support horses and bloodhounds for
search and rescue operations, but a review of account activity by
the Tyler Courier-Times--Telegraph shows money went for more than
feed, vet bills, horseshoes and saddles. | ||||||||||||||||||
Money from the drug forfeiture account and other audited county
funds has been deposited into this account, records show and
officials confirmed. By law, drug forfeiture money must remain in a
separate audited account. | ||||||||||||||||||
Other money generated from the sale and upkeep of stray livestock
was moved from an audited county account into this unaudited
sheriff's fund. | ||||||||||||||||||
Beginning in October, the sheriff said this account will be closed
and its functions routed through the county's regular, audited
ledgers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) LAW LEAVES QUESTIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
What Exactly Constitutes A Meth Lab? Jurors Stumped
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When police found methamphetamine, more than 150 cold pills, a glass flask and a butane torch in Robert E. Dickerson's truck in December, they declared that they had uncovered a budding drug lab. | ||||||||||||||||||
That was news to Dickerson, a 48-year-old methamphetamine user from Nitro who says he was just carrying around his drug paraphernalia. | ||||||||||||||||||
And thanks to the vagaries of the state's year-old meth lab law,
even the courts aren't sure whether Dickerson was carrying around a
drug factory. The problem: State law doesn't say what constitutes a
meth lab. | ||||||||||||||||||
So at Dickerson's trial this week in Kanawha Circuit Court, jurors were asked to decide for themselves. Prosecutors claimed that he violated the law because he had enough cold pills to make meth, while Dickerson's lawyer argued that the law didn't apply to his client because he didn't have everything he needed to make the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||
The debate left the 12-person jury split, forcing Judge Irene Berger
to declare a mistrial Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The good news of the week is that the three year battle to keep hemp products available on store shelves is finally over and common sense is the winner. The Feds had until Monday night to pursue their argument that the DEA had regulatory authority over hemp products, despite an Appeals court ruling it only pertained to marijuana and synthetically-derived THC. Isn't it nice to know that you can continue to indulge in your favorite hemp products, hemp ale, or other nutritious hemp snack without the fear of being arrested? | ||||||||||||||||||
What does legal marijuana look like? If some bold Nevada citizens
have their way, people in that state may find out. Signatures are
being collected for a ballot initiative that states, "Rather than
spending millions of taxpayer dollars arresting marijuana users, the
state of Nevada should instead generate millions of dollars by
taxing and regulating marijuana, and earmark part of these revenues
to prevent and treat the abuse of marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and
other drugs."
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A majority of Montana voters polled may be against gay marriage, but
they are decidedly for medical marijuana and that is good news for
those behind Initiative I-148. If passed by a simple majority in
November's general election, I-148 would protect patients using
marijuana for medical purposes, their doctors and their caregivers
from arrest and prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||
While new California law, Senate Bill 420, adds new rules about
medical marijuana, cannabis clinics are still snared in the
perpetual state/federal conflict, as East Bay cities move to shut
down the medical marijuana shops. Although they cite concerns about
the crime and undesirables they attract, the real concern is
usurping federal statutes and the consequences of doing so. Some
cities such as Fremont, are proposing a 45-day emergency ban on the
dispensaries, in a preemptive move to ward off the reality of Prop
215. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) HEMP, HEMP, HOORAY! (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Santa Cruz retailers Monday hailed the federal government's decision
not to pursue a ban on food made with or from the controversial hemp
plant. | ||||||||||||||||||
The decision comes three years after the Bush administration tried
to stop sales of food made with hemp, which contains trace amounts
of tetrahydrocannobinol, or THC, the mind-altering chemical in
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Patrick Goggin, a San Francisco lawyer representing the Hemp Industries Association, said the government informed the group's legal team that it would let Monday's deadline to appeal expire. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think they're choosing their battles. They don't see this as a
battle they can win," Goggin said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) MARIJUANA MARKET INITIATIVE PLANNED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
CARSON CITY -- Backers of pot decriminalization are pushing a plan
that would establish marijuana markets, stores licensed to sell pot
and taxed by the state. | ||||||||||||||||||
If the signature-gathering effort succeeds, the marijuana markets proposal would then be considered by the 2005 Legislature. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana filed its petition
Monday with Secretary of State Dean Heller and it has until Nov. 9
to collect 51,337 signatures of registered voters. | ||||||||||||||||||
The new Nevada initiative says, "Rather than spending millions of taxpayer dollars arresting marijuana users, the state of Nevada should instead generate millions of dollars by taxing and regulating marijuana, and earmark part of these revenues to prevent and treat the abuse of marijuana, tobacco, alcohol and other drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) POLL FINDS SUPPORT FOR INITIATIVES, AMENDMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
HELENA - Montana voters are big on traditional marriage, medical marijuana and taxing tobacco, a new Lee Newspapers poll shows. | ||||||||||||||||||
By a 61 to 32 percent margin, voters said they would support
changing the Montana Constitution to define marriage as valid only
if it involves one man and one woman and ban gay marriages. Seven
percent were undecided on this measure, which will be on the
November ballot as Constitutional Initiative 96. | ||||||||||||||||||
A lopsided majority said they would vote for Initiative 148 to legalize marijuana for people with debilitating medical conditions. The poll found 58 percent said they would vote for the measure, while 29 percent were against it and 13 percent were undecided. | ||||||||||||||||||
I-148 would protect patients using marijuana for medical purposes, their doctors and their caregivers from arrest and prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) FREMONT NIPS POT SHOPS IN THE BUD (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
FREMONT -- As several East Bay cities move to shut down medical
marijuana shops due to concerns they are magnets for crime,
distributors have been turning to places such as Fremont to keep
cannabis flowing to their patients. | ||||||||||||||||||
But Fremont officials, initially caught off guard, are proposing a
45-day emergency ban on the dispensaries to "protect the public
health, safety and welfare."
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"This is an inherent conflict between state statute and federal
statute," Steckler said. "We should not be put in a position to turn
a blind eye to federal law."
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[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. drug warriors once touted Bolivia's coca eradication as a model
of Latin American obedience to U.S. dictates. Now we learn coca
production in Bolivia is rising as farmers in the rugged Andean
nation insist that only coca is profitable for them. A graveyard of
failed Bolivian crop-substitution and eradication programs pushed by
central planners in the U.S. seems to support the view of the coca
farmers there, as well, according to a Knight-Ridder piece this week.
Increasingly, coca farmers demand non-cocaine coca products be sold
legally. "When you talk of eradication, whether it is forced or
voluntary, it raises doubts," noted one co-op leader. "Why not
instead commercialize coca?"
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After the Thai police showed they were going to "get tough" on "drugs", after the summary executions of more than 2,000 suspected Thai drug offenders in past year or so, did those "tough" measures cause drugs to go away from Thai society? Of course not. Meth, a recent U.S. State Department report verified, is still flowing to Thailand, just as before. Other sources say Chinese are honing in on the profitable market, displacing Burmese meth sellers. "Thailand is a large and profitable market for ya ba, and therefore, targeted by the producers and smugglers," noted police sources. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ironically, as some observe meth pills (known as "shabu" or "ya ba")
pouring into Thailand as never before, others (government officials)
still keep a straight face as they claim Thailand will be drug-free
in "6 to 7 years." This latest Thai drug warrior fantasy was mouthed
at a workshop by the director of Thailand's Northern Narcotics
Control Centre, Pitthaya Jinawat. Jinawat revealed "he was certain
Thailand would be free of illegal drugs by 2010 or 2011," according
to the Bangkok Post. Such drug-free proclamations always meet with
failure; the U.S. Congress declared in 1988 that America would be
drug-free by 1995. The U.N. declared in 1998 that by 2008 "a
drug-free world" will be reality. | ||||||||||||||||||
Secret police and prohibitionists have enjoyed a long and endearing love affair. The detection of victimless crimes such as using or selling cannabis requires secretive and underhanded methods; secret police specialize in such methods. An article from Russia this week underlines the tendency again, as Russians have second thoughts about a new drug agency that has risen from the ashes of the KGB. Formed from ex-KGB and tax police, the Federal Drug Control Agency has become a "reincarnated KGB" using the same secret police tactics. While failing to reel in any big drug traffickers, the agency has proven efficient at busting books on cannabis (as illegal pro-drug "advertising"), at closing clean-needle exchanges, and at handing out fines to vendors of t-shirts depicting cannabis leaves. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) COCA PRODUCTION, ONCE LARGELY CURBED IN BOLIVIA, IS RISING (Top)AGAIN | ||||||||||||||||||
LA ASUNTA, Bolivia - (KRT) - The Shangri-La of coca growing lies in
Bolivia's remote and mountainous Yungas region east of La Paz, where
lush, bright green coca plants spill down mountainside terraces
unchanged since the Incas ruled. | ||||||||||||||||||
Farmers and impenetrably rugged terrain keep outsiders and government coca eradicators from the terraces and tiny villages carpeted in the drying coca leaves from which cocaine is made. | ||||||||||||||||||
Elsewhere in Bolivia, nearly 300,000 acres of coca have been uprooted since the late 1980s. But the country's 15 percent share of world production is expected to soar due to new plantings and a protracted domestic political crisis that's weakened drug enforcement efforts. By next year, Bolivia is expected to pass Peru as the world's second-biggest coca grower after Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Bolivian and U.S. authorities, along with U.N. monitors, estimate
that more than 58,000 acres of coca were grown in Yungas last year,
twice the legal limit. Much of the coca is new planting, not yet at
maximum yields. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cocalero leaders don't dispute the growth, but they say it's because
the new plantings simply offset lower yields. | ||||||||||||||||||
"They don't have the production of the past," said Dionicio Nunez, a
first-term congressman from La Asunta and a leader of coca-growing
federation. "This just supports falling production."
| ||||||||||||||||||
A U.S. official involved in the Andean drug war, speaking on the
condition of anonymity, disagreed. The official attributed much of
the growth to "growing demand from drug traffickers."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Earlier this month, Bolivian President Carlos Mesa outlined a new
anti-drug strategy, the first in Bolivia to favor development of
alternative crops rather than forced eradication of coca by
soldiers. The shift concedes that forced eradication won't work in
the Yungas. | ||||||||||||||||||
One problem is that the region is too high for helicopters to
deliver and re-supply troops. Also, its roads are perilous and easy
to sabotage. | ||||||||||||||||||
Coffee is the logical substitute crop, but local experts aren't
optimistic. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If the government tries forced eradication or something that
directly affects the producers, who knows what will happen," said
Federico Magueno, a leader of the Cencoop coffee cooperative in
Coroico. | ||||||||||||||||||
"When you talk of eradication, whether it is forced or voluntary, it
raises doubts. Why not instead commercialize coca?"
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) METH STILL POURING IN TO THAILAND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A recent U.S. State Department report salutes Thailand's progress in
shutting down international drug traffickers, but much remains to be
done on the home front. | ||||||||||||||||||
Despite stepped up efforts at suppression by Burmese authorities, huge quantities of methamphetamines _ known in Thailand as ya ba (crazy drug) _ are still made in clandestine labs in Burma and smuggled into Thailand via the common border and through neighbouring countries. Intelligence sources say that most of the estimated 800 million ya ba tablets produced annually in Burma enter into Thailand. | ||||||||||||||||||
According to Sai Kam (not his real name), who works for an
anti-narcotics group in Nam Hkam township of northern Shan State in
Burma, it's actually the Chinese in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand
who control the production, smuggling and distribution of ya ba, and
they are well organised and have a very efficient communications
system. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"Northern and especially southern regions of Shan State, near to
Thailand, are the prime ya ba production areas. They are run and
financed by Chinese, Lahu, Pa-O and Shan gangs as well as various
militias. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic
Alliance Army (NDAA) have shares in the business as well. Both are
among the 17 armed groups which have made ceasefire agreements with
the Burmese military government. Most of the groups are involved in
the drug business," Sai Kam said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"Thailand is a large and profitable market for ya ba, and therefore,
targetted by the producers and smugglers in neighbouring countries.
They figure out that instead of smuggling expensive heroin to the
West, it will be much safer to dump the ya ba pills on the Thai
market. Of course, there must also be a huge distribution network in
the country," Sai Kam said without elaborating. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) THAILAND COULD BE 'CLEAN IN 6 TO 7 YEARS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Chiang Mai _ The director of the Northern Narcotics Control Centre
is confident Thailand will be free of illegal drugs in six or seven
years. | ||||||||||||||||||
Thailand will also support drug suppression in neighbouring countries
through intelligence sharing and technical assistance. | ||||||||||||||||||
Pitthaya Jinawat told a workshop he was certain Thailand would be free of illegal drugs by 2010 or 2011, well before 2015, the year set by the United Nations for Asian nations to become drug free. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) RUSSIANS WORRY ABOUT DRUG AGENCY'S POWER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Veterinarians, Booksellers Have Been Raid Targets
| ||||||||||||||||||
MOSCOW - When an urgent telephone summons came in to the Bon-Pet
clinic last October, Alexander Duka responded as always: He loaded
his medical bag and set off in his car, prepared to operate on an
injured dog. | ||||||||||||||||||
But when he arrived at the address and prepared a syringe with the
anesthetic ketamine, Duka found himself under arrest in a sting
operation conducted by undercover agents of Russia's powerful new
drug-fighting agency. | ||||||||||||||||||
Formed a year ago to bring the full force of the country's law
enforcement to bear against a growing drug crisis, the agency --
headed by a close friend of President Vladimir Putin from the KGB --
has an army of 40,000, four times larger than the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration. | ||||||||||||||||||
But at a time when Russia is reeling from terror attacks that have killed 1,000 people in the past two years, critics point to the new agency as a study in misplaced priorities and questionable tactics. | ||||||||||||||||||
Resources that could have been devoted to fighting big-time drug traffickers or cracking down on Chechen guerrillas have gone instead to campaigns against veterinarians, physicians and dentists; vendors of popular T-shirts bearing images of marijuana leaves; and bookstores selling tomes on the medicinal uses of illegal narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's classic Russian bureaucracy: to search not where something is
lost but where the light is hanging," said Vladimir Pribylovsky, a
political analyst who runs the Panorama research organization in
Moscow. "It's easier to fight against books than heroin or
terrorists."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
To many critics, the Federal Drug Control Agency has become a sort
of reincarnated KGB, employing Soviet-era tactics to suppress
alternative points of view and running symbolic campaigns while
failing to tackle the sources of the Russian drug business. Many of
its top officials spent much of their careers in the KGB. Its
director, Viktor Cherkesov, investigated Soviet dissidents as a top
official in the spy agency's infamous 5th Directorate. | ||||||||||||||||||
Many of its victories have been symbolic, such as persuading a court
to declare that leaflets urging a change in Russian policy were
illegal pro-drug "advertising" and seeking the closure of
clean-needle programs aimed at fighting the country's growing AIDS
epidemic. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DECRIMWATCH.COM
| ||||||||||||||||||
A new weblog following news about marijuana decriminalization,
particularly in Chicago
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
TONY CANNAVINO VS JODY PRESSMAN
| ||||||||||||||||||
This debate with live callers gets an overwhelming legalization message
from very educated Canadians. Pierre Berton, Chuck Beyer, and Alison
Myrden call in with their messages on legalization. Jody Pressman of
NORML Canada does an excellent job. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CANADA TO MAKE A DECISION ON BOJE "REEFER REFUGEE" CASE
| ||||||||||||||||||
The Canadian Justice Department has just released Disclosure on the US
Extradition case against Renee Boje, meaning Justice Minister Irwin
Cotler is eager to make a decision on the 5 yr old case in the next few
months. Renee faces a Federal ten year mandatory minimum for allegedly
watering plants at a California medical grow.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
POT TV NEWS WITH LORETTA NALL SEPT 27 2004
| ||||||||||||||||||
Lift up your hands and Shout AMEN! On September 25 2004 Loretta Nall
of the Alabama Marijuana Party, Roberta Franklin (director of Family
Members of Inmates), Michael Blain (public policy director for The
Drug Policy Alliance), and concerned loved ones of the incarcerated
descended upon Montgomery, Alabama to march in protest against the
Habitual Offender Law, draconian drug laws, and the prison crisis
in the state of Alabama. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
DRUG CONNECTIONS
| ||||||||||||||||||
Dennis Hastert steals a move from John Kerry
| ||||||||||||||||||
by Jacob Sullum
| ||||||||||||||||||
When House Speaker Dennis Hastert insinuated that billionaire Bush
basher George Soros is on the payroll of drug traffickers, Democrats
cried foul. Yet their presidential candidate once perpetrated the
same sort of smear against another prominent critic of the war on
drugs. The ad hominem rhetorical strategy deployed by both Hastert
and John Kerry illustrates the reluctance of drug prohibitionists
to engage in reasoned debate with their opponents.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
STOP THE FEDERAL WAR ON PATIENTS FOREVER
| ||||||||||||||||||
October 5, 2004, Washington DC
| ||||||||||||||||||
PATIENTS CONVERGE TO DEMAND RESCHEDULING
| ||||||||||||||||||
This rally of medical marijuana patients and medical
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MANY ASPECTS OF THE DRUG WAR ARE 'TOO BAD'
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Robert K. Kirchoff
| ||||||||||||||||||
A portion of your Sept. 18 editorial "Good Decision" left me
disgusted. You wrote "charges against ( X ) were dismissed. That is
to bad". | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad that half of the federal prison spaced is used to jail
nonviolent drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad that some states, like California, have more nonviolent drug
offenders serving 25 years to life without parole than all their
thieves, rapist and murderers combined. | ||||||||||||||||||
And, too bad, to those nonviolent drug offenders who have been raped
in prison and infected with AIDS, in essence sentenced to death for
using marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad that the average prison time served by nonviolent drug
offender exceeds the average time served by a murder. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad innocent citizens have been killed or maimed for life in accidental wrong address raids by agents of the state. Too bad innocent citizens have had money and property confiscated ( stolen | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad the CIA has been involved in bringing narcotics to Americans who are then arrested and jailed for using these same narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad the federal government has openly supported with money and
weapons dictators, who are drug lords so long as these have declared
themselves to be anti-Communist. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad is a shameful nation that drags its rambunctious little boys
to pediatricians to get that much needed Ritalin then jails its men
for smoking pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
Too bad, is a citizenry grown so sheepish that it continues to
convict nonviolent drug offenders instead of defying the law and
demanding a different approach. | ||||||||||||||||||
And, its to bad, a Vermont army guard recognizance aerial unit is
out looking for marijuana plants at a time when the country is
engaged in a perilous struggle against terrorism. | ||||||||||||||||||
Robert K. Kirchoff
| ||||||||||||||||||
Watertown
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Government Must Correct Medical Marijuana Misinformation | ||||||||||||||||||
By Americans For Safe Access
| ||||||||||||||||||
When the government says there is no medical use for marijuana, it's
just plain wrong, according to a petition being filed Monday under
the Data Quality Act, a little-known law that requires federal
agencies to rely on sound science. | ||||||||||||||||||
If the patient-advocacy group filing the claim prevails, the
Department of Health and Human Services will have to change its tune
on medical marijuana and publicly admit that the drug is now
routinely used for medical treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
Americans for Safe Access, the national medical-marijuana advocacy
group responsible for the petition, will hold a noon press
conference at the National Press Club. Reporters will enjoy a light
lunch and hear from leading researchers, medical marijuana patients,
and representatives from a few of the dozens of professional health
organizations that have endorsed changing federal rules on medical
marijuana, including the American Public Health Association and the
American Nurses Association. | ||||||||||||||||||
At issue is the government's insistence that "marijuana has no
currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States."
According to the petition, scientific research, federal reports and
patient experience all show marijuana works for pain, nausea, loss
of appetite, anxiety, and spasticity. | ||||||||||||||||||
Admitting marijuana has medical use would clear the way to allowing
doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients. Currently, nine
states have laws permitting patients to legally use it, but they are
at odds with the federal prohibition that ranks marijuana as more
dangerous than cocaine or amphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||||
Those debunking the government's claim will include Marcus Conant,
M.D., leading HIV/AIDS clinician and researcher whose suit against
the government established the right of physicians to recommend
marijuana to their patients; Denis Petro, M.D., chief of neurology,
Malcolm Grow Medical Center of Andrews Air Force Base, a leading
researcher in treating Multiple Sclerosis with marijuana and its
cannabinoid components; and Robert Melamede, Ph.D., chair of the
biology department, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs,
where he researches and teaches on the role of cannabinoids in
health and disease. | ||||||||||||||||||
For more information about Americans for Safe Access visit
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"The nobility of our calling will always be rooted in two commitments difficult to observe: refusal to lie about what we know, and resistance to oppression." - Albert Camus, on being a writer | ||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
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