| Dec. 10, 2004 #379 | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) HIP-HOP SHAKES ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NEW YORK'S notoriously tough "Rockefeller" drug laws are to be relaxed
after a grassroots campaign led by the rap mogul known as the
"Godfather of hip-hop". State legislators voted on Tuesday to scale
back mandatory sentences under the stringent drug laws passed during
the crime wave of the early 1970s, which could send a person to jail
for life for possessing just 4oz of heroin or cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||
The reform cut sentences for first-time non-violent offenders from
fifteen years' minimum to eight, with the possibility of more than a
year off for good behaviour. At the same time, the amount of heroin or
cocaine required to make possession a Class A-1 felony is doubled from
4oz to 8oz. | ||||||||||||||||||
The harsh drug laws -- among the toughest in the United States -- were
introduced by Nelson Rockefeller, the Governor of New York, in
1973-74, as the state lost control of its inner cities to an epidemic
of heroin addiction. | ||||||||||||||||||
Critics said that the Rockefeller laws threw too many low-level offenders in jail and hit ethnic minorities disproportionately hard, but Republicans fought hard over the years to keep the laws in place. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(2) FEDS VS. MEDS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A little-known law may finally challenge the feds' 30-year stall in
recognizing medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
But it also raises a big question: Who decides what is medicine? | ||||||||||||||||||
By now, America has heard a lot about Oakland, California medical
marijuana patient Angel McClary Raich. In arguments November 29 before
the U.S. Supreme Court, Raich -- possibly the most sympathetic party
to ever come before the High Court, a 38-year-old mother of two with a
list of ailments including an inoperable brain tumor, wasting
syndrome, uterine fibroid tumors, scoliosis, paralysis, endometriosis,
and more -- got her chance to nail outgoing U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft et al. for trying to take away the only medicine that has
helped her. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The case is a mighty test of states' rights, which this court has
previously favored. | ||||||||||||||||||
But the barrage of questions the justices fired at Raich's lawyer, Boston University professor Randy Barnett, revealed more than the possible end of their so-called "federalist revolution." They revealed the interior machinations of a kind of regulatory fever dream in which no government agency will confront the increasingly embarrassing mass of scientific evidence in favor of pot's accepted use as medicine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(3) STUDY TO PROBE SAFETY OF USING POT FOR PAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Pain patients in London will be able to join a national study to test medicinal pot's safety. It's believed to be the first scientific look at how medical marijuana interacts or interferes with health problems and conventional medicines, said pain specialist Dr. Mark Ware, leading the study from McGill University Health Centre. | ||||||||||||||||||
"As far as I know, nowhere else in the world" has this been done, he
said yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Other studies test how well cannabis relieves pain, which isn't the
intent of this work. | ||||||||||||||||||
Pain researcher Dr. Dwight Moulin of London Health Sciences Centre and Lawson Health Research Institute is heading the London study. | ||||||||||||||||||
He will work with 50 people who use medicinal marijuana against pain
and 150 pain sufferers who don't use pot. | ||||||||||||||||||
All told, 1,400 chronic-pain patients will be studied at seven pain
clinics nationwide. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(4) MISTRUST HAMPERS AFGHAN OPIUM BATTLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Like the walls of a giant fortress, the snow-covered peaks of the Spin
Ghar, or White Mountains, rise from the haze as you drive south from
Jalalabad. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is a spectacular landscape, but one swirling in rumour and tension
these days. | ||||||||||||||||||
Buttressing these peaks are the wooded hills of Tora Bora, famous now
as the last known hiding place of Osama Bin Laden. | ||||||||||||||||||
But today it is the setting for another battle, one arguably far more
important to Afghanistan's future. | ||||||||||||||||||
This is one of the main areas for growing opium poppy - source for
most of the world's heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
With a recent UN report showing a two-thirds rise in poppy cultivation
this year, Afghan and international efforts to curb the illegal trade
are intensifying. | ||||||||||||||||||
Grey Pellets
| ||||||||||||||||||
Yet there are signs such efforts could already be failing. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the villages abutting Tora Bora's slopes, people are angry. | ||||||||||||||||||
They believe unidentified aircraft have been secretly spraying
herbicide on their opium fields, which they say they depend on for
survival. | ||||||||||||||||||
Most people here point the finger at the Americans or the British, the
lead players in international efforts to combat the Afghan drugs
trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
| ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Rockefeller drug laws in New York were modified last week, not with a bang, but with a whimper. The reforms are minor at best. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police in Florida will be on the watch for "Euphoria" after an alleged lab was busted last week, while officers in Oklahoma can now protect citizens from the dangers of jimsonweed. Speaking of demonized drugs, it's not your grandpa's meth! If you took methamphetamine in the 1960s and thought it was tame, today's stuff packs a much bigger punch, according to a Canadian news story. | ||||||||||||||||||
And finally, while we're locking up hundreds of thousands to create a drug-free America, Americans are using more drugs than ever. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(5) LEGISLATORS EASE DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
New York State will go easier on drug criminals, and New York City
will get an expanded convention center under separate bills approved
by the state Legislature yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a burst of lawmaking after months of gridlock, the Assembly and
Senate found a way to compromise on two of the major issues that had
stymied them all year. | ||||||||||||||||||
One bill lessens New York's harsh penalties for narcotics felonies,
under which the possession of 4 ounces of cocaine can theoretically
lead to lifelong imprisonment. | ||||||||||||||||||
The other authorizes a $1.2 billion expansion of the Javits
Convention Center, a key part of Mayor Bloomberg's plans for
revitalizing the West Side of Manhattan. Officials said the
legislation neither advances nor impedes the most controversial part
of that plan, which calls for building a government-subsidized
football stadium next to the Javits Center. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(6) EUPHORIA LAB RAIDED AT HOME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Broward County engineer who Fort Lauderdale police said ran a drug
lab in his home was arrested. | ||||||||||||||||||
Fort Lauderdale police and federal agents raided a drug lab late
Thursday, where they said a Broward County employee was
manufacturing ''pounds'' of a drug called euphoria. | ||||||||||||||||||
It was ''one of the largest clandestine labs ever located in the
city of Fort Lauderdale and the southeast part of the state,'' Fort
Lauderdale police spokesman Andy Pallen said. | ||||||||||||||||||
William Hahne, 46, was arrested at his home at 720 NE 17th Ct. in
Fort Lauderdale, where police and agents from the Drug Enforcement
Administration seized more than a kilogram of euphoria, chemicals
and other equipment. | ||||||||||||||||||
''The value is well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars,''
Pallen said Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Pallen said the DEA hasn't seen the drug in their labs in more than
a decade. Euphoria can be injected, inhaled or taken orally. It
shares chemical properties with amphetamines and ecstasy, but lasts
longer, officials said. | ||||||||||||||||||
It is used for intellectual enhancement for activities such as
writing, said Rick Doblin of the Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies. The drug reduces appetite and keeps people
awake for as long as 36 hours, but does not create the jitters as
methamphetamine does, he said. Doblin agreed that it is not widely
used or known. | ||||||||||||||||||
''I don't know anybody that can find it,'' he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(7) JIMSONWEED HITS BOOKS AS ILLEGAL DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
MUSTANG - About a year after 10 Mustang High School students became
ill after ingesting jimsonweed, a state law has taken effect making
it illegal to use or cultivate that plant or other dangerous
substances for mind-altering purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The law covers a number of natural or synthetic substances that a
person could use to get high or intoxicated. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mustang schools Superintendent Karl Springer said he approached
lawmakers after police were unable to recommend charges against any
of the students involved in distributing jimsonweed to other
students. "When this incident happened, our police department wasn't
able to do anything because there were no laws on the books
regarding jimsonweed," Springer said. | ||||||||||||||||||
With the help of Rep. Ray Young, R-Yukon, and Sen. Kathleen
Wilcoxson, R-Oklahoma City, Springer said he was able to ask
lawmakers to close the loophole. "We want to have a system that's
seamless when it comes to our schools and the law being in sync,"
Springer said. | ||||||||||||||||||
State Bureau of Narcotics spokesman Mark Woodward said law
enforcement will now treat jimsonweed the same as other naturally
occurring substances. The law went into effect Nov. 1.
| ||||||||||||||||||
For instance, poppies occur naturally. However, it is illegal to use
poppies to make opium, which is illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We won't be going out and eradicating jimsonweed, but we will work
with schools and police departments on specific cases," he said. The
new law will help prosecutors file charges in unusual cases like the
incident at Mustang High School, Woodward said. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(8) IT'S MORE POTENT THAN IN THE '60S (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WEST SHORE - While methamphetamines have been around since the
1960s, the new wave of high-powered crystal meth is much purer and
more potent than what was available in the past, says the
prevention/treatment manager for the Northwest High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area in Washington State. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's like comparing French's mustard to imported Dijon," Dr. Steve
Freng said. "It's the most seductive, insidious drug I've
encountered in 30 years in the field."
| ||||||||||||||||||
One reason for the drug's rapid proliferation in the past 10 years
is that anyone who knows what he's doing can cook it up, using a
scary mix of chemicals and ingredients that are readily available,
and with as little equipment as what would easily fit into the trunk
of a car. "We're not talking about rocket scientists here," Freng
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Birch, or Nazi method, which doesn't involve heat, was developed
during the Second World War to give troops a boost on the
battlefield. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(9) STUDY SHOWS TREND OF MORE AMERICANS TAKING MEDICATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - More than 40 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, and 17 percent take three or more, the government said Thursday in a comprehensive report on the nation's health. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report documented the growing use of medications in the past decade, a trend that it attributed to the growth of insurance coverage for drugs, the discovery and marketing of new products, and clinical guidelines that recommend greater use of drugs to treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and other disorders. | ||||||||||||||||||
Health spending shot up 9.3 percent in 2002, to $1.6 trillion, but
Americans seem to be getting some benefits from it, the report said.
Life expectancy at birth increased to 77.3 years in 2002, a record,
and deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke -- the nation's
leading killers -- declined. | ||||||||||||||||||
But, the government noted, ``men and women have longer life
expectancies in many other countries,'' including Japan, Italy and
Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons
| ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A new survey indicates many police chiefs aren't impressed with the
drug war. Prosecutors, however, appear happy that police will have
more discretion in drug cases in South Carolina after a recent
ruling. In Missouri, an investigation into how money from an
anti-drug tax is being used now involves a prosecutor. And in
Oklahoma, despite earlier reports that meth labs were disappearing
from the state thanks to new laws restricting sales on cold pills,
there are still plenty of labs, and the number may be growing in
border areas.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(10) POLICE CHIEFS HAVE DARK VIEW OF WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
If you really want to know how a war is going, don't ask the
politicians or the agency spin-doctors. Ask the front-line grunts
and field commanders. | ||||||||||||||||||
And nearly to a man, those in charge of deploying the troops at the ground level believe our efforts largely have been a bust - pun intended - and that it's time for major policy reform or overhaul. | ||||||||||||||||||
No, it's not the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. That's another issue
for another time. It's the so-called war on drugs, a much longer and
perhaps thornier and more perplexing conflict that notably erupted
in response to the devastating crack cocaine epidemic that swept
through the nation in the 1980s. | ||||||||||||||||||
Nearly 300 police chiefs, from the nation's largest metropolitan
areas to the smallest towns, agree they lack the right resources or
assistance on related fronts to turn the corner on drug abuse and
related crimes in this country, according to a national survey
released this week. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(11) RULING PLEASES PROSECUTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
S.C. Supreme Court Decision Affects How Juries Can Consider
Circumstantial Evidence
| ||||||||||||||||||
ROCK HILL - Prosecutors are lauding the S.C. Supreme Court's
decision in a York County drug case that will affect how juries can
consider circumstantial evidence in all criminal trials across the
state. | ||||||||||||||||||
Judges no longer will be allowed to tell juries that "circumstantial
evidence must be so strong as to exclude every reasonable hypothesis
other than guilt."
| ||||||||||||||||||
In a 3-2 ruling, the high court said the new version omits the
reasonable theory language. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This changes the way judges can explain circumstantial evidence in
every criminal case," said Kevin Brackett, 16th Circuit deputy
prosecutor. | ||||||||||||||||||
But defense lawyers are concerned the burden of proof on prosecutors
has been lowered by the ruling, and they already are discussing how
to talk to juries since the ruling was made. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Anytime a law makes it easier to convict the guilty, it also makes
it easier to convict the innocent," said Rauch Wise, a Greenwood
defense lawyer who is part of the S.C. Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(12) PROSECUTOR, DRUG TAX AUDITOR WILL SPEAK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Jackson County Legislature will allow the auditor examining the
county's anti-drug tax to be interviewed by county Prosecutor Mike
Sanders. | ||||||||||||||||||
Auditor David Cochran of Cochran, Head and Co. said Sanders had asked to talk to him about allegations that records were destroyed. Cochran said he did not know what information Sanders was seeking. But he said he needed the Legislature, which hired him, to waive a confidentiality agreement with him before an interview with Sanders. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I have no problem speaking with the prosecutor, but I can't reveal
my clients' information to anyone without their permission," Cochran
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cochran said he expected to be subpoenaed by a county grand jury if
legislators withheld permission. | ||||||||||||||||||
Last week the grand jury issued several subpoenas to county officials for documents and testimony about records destruction. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(13) NEW LAW HELPS, BUT LABS STILL PREVALENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A state law clamping down on sales of pseudoephedrine has brought a
sharp decline in the number of methamphetamine lab seizures in
Oklahoma. | ||||||||||||||||||
But it did not eradicate the problem, especially in counties close
to the state line, law enforcement officers say. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If they cannot buy pseudoephedrine in Tahlequah, they're going to
go 30 miles to Arkansas to load up," Cherokee County Sheriff Delena
Goss said. Two men and two children were killed early Thursday in
what prosecutors believe was a meth lab explosion. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, Goss said Thursday afternoon that she still had no confirmation that the explosion was related to a meth lab. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp-
| ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
This week's hemp and cannabis section begins with a comprehensive
article by Foster's Daily Democrat examining the continued
controversy over medicinal cannabis in the U.S., including a helpful
look at the history of the misguided governmental resistance to this
safe and effective medicine. This is followed by a must-read
overview of our endogenous cannabinoid system by Scientific American
- if you don't know what the previous sentence means, please don't
miss this story; there is so much to be learned from this great
(albeit somewhat technical) article. Our third story looks at the
recent problems plaguing England's GW Pharmaceuticals in their
ongoing attempt to get a license to distribute the world's first
whole-plant cannabis-based pharmaceutical in the U.K. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story this week comes to us from Canada, where seven low-level workers associated with the massive grow-op found in an old Molson beer plant in Barrie, Ontario last spring have now been given sentences ranging from house arrest to 5 years in prison. The police have stated that the supposed kingpins behind the operation have yet to be charged due to a lack of evidence. And lastly, with an ever-increasing amount of Canadians supporting the legalization of cannabis, Ontario police are beginning to question why they keep spending so much of their time and resources enforcing its prohibition. And it's about freakin' time, if you ask me! | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(14) MARIJUANA: MEDICAL HOPE OR ILLEGAL DRUG? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Her eyes swollen and reddened following another sleepless night,
Linda Macia wearily named off her multiple illnesses as tears slowly
began trickling down her face. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I have nerve damage, fibromyalgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy and
degenerative arthritis," said the 51-year-old Manchester resident,
as she pulled out a copy of an X-ray of the twisted, mangled nerve
endings near her spine. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I've tried every prescription drug you can think of -- OxyContin,
Demerol, methadone, codeine, Percocet -- but my body either can't
tolerate them or I'm allergic. I'm in constant agony except briefly
when I go for treatments every fifth week. Marijuana is the only
thing that provides any significant relief, but the federal
government won't show compassion and allow it to be used for medical
purposes."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(15) THE BRAIN'S OWN MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Research into Natural Chemicals That Mimic Marijuana's Effects in The Brain Could Help to Explain--and Suggest Treatments For--Pain, Anxiety, Eating Disorders, Phobias and Other Conditions | ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana is a drug with a mixed history. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mention it to one person, and it will conjure images of potheads
lost in a spaced-out stupor. To another, it may represent
relaxation, a slowing down of modern madness. To yet another,
marijuana means hope for cancer patients suffering from the
debilitating nausea of chemotherapy, or it is the promise of relief
from chronic pain. The drug is all these things and more, for its
history is a long one, spanning millennia and continents. It is also
something everyone is familiar with, whether they know it or not.
Everyone grows a form of the drug, regardless of their political
leanings or recreational proclivities. That is because the brain
makes its own marijuana, natural compounds called endocannabinoids
(after the plant's formal name, Cannabis sativa). | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(16) ANGER AS CANNABIS DRUG FAILS MS TRIAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A multiple sclerosis treatment made from cannabis has been rejected
by UK regulators, outraging patient groups who say it has benefits
for sufferers. | ||||||||||||||||||
The news that Sativex cannot go on sale sent the shares of GW
Pharmaceuticals, the company developing the drug, down 25% to close
at 106.5p. The news precedes a meeting between Home Office and
Department of Health ministers next week. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The committee on safety of medicines told the firm that it will have
to conduct another clinical trial before the spray can be licensed
for sale because it is not sure of its benefits. The firm already
has a trial under way which it intends to model to the regulator's
requirements but it will not be completed by the end of next year at
the earliest. | ||||||||||||||||||
The firm also intends to appeal the decision to the Medicines Commission, a separate body. This will take six months. It will also try to get approval from the Home Office to sell it unlicensed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) FARMERS WHO RAN HUGE GROW-OP SENTENCED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Seven men who were described as the farmers who ran the largest
marijuana operation ever found by police in Canada were given
sentences ranging from two to five years yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I see no heroism or merit in jail sentences to federal or provincial reformatory or even house arrest," Ontario Court Judge James Crawford said as he imposed the sentences that had been negotiated between federal prosecutor Karen Jokinen and defence lawyer Randall Barrs, who represented all of the accused. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) COPS' WORK UP IN SMOKE? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
With increasingly liberal attitudes on marijuana use, some police
officers question if enforcing drug laws is worth the time and
effort
| ||||||||||||||||||
There's a lot going through the mind of drug cop Det. Don Cardwell
when he kicks down the door of an otherwise normal suburban home
suspected of housing a marijuana grow operation. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Everyone talks about this intensity. If you're not like that, then
there's a problem. If you're not on edge and expecting something on
the other side of that door, then you're not prepared for it," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The York Regional Police drug squad kicked down 173 of those doors
in 2003 and are on pace for more this year. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
International News
| ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The topsy-turvy debate on legalizing (medical) marijuana in the
Philippines continued this week, as Philippine Congressional
Representative Solomon Chungalao identified "marijuana plantations"
that were owned by none other than the government. The government's
cannabis, which has been there "for centuries", is apparently
growing wild. Allowing poor farmers in the area to harvest the feral
pot would be doing people a "big favor," insisted Chungalao.
Philippine church and government officials have roundly denounced
Chungalao's modest medical marijuana proposal. Elsewhere in the
Philippine archipelago, it is business as usual. In Davao City,
vigilantes again run amok mowed down two people "suspected" of drug
offenses this week. Such summary executions are believed to be the
work of police, who maintain blacklists of suspected drug offenders.
The Mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte, earlier this year boasted
of his approval for the "Davao Death Squad" (DDS), as the vigilante
killers are called. | ||||||||||||||||||
Aerial spraying of opium poppies has begin in Afghanistan, after
several years of bumper crops there. But the Afghan government
claims the spraying is a "mystery", and denies involvement.
President Hamid Karzai insists he knows nothing of the spraying, and
asked the U.S. and U.K. last week to explain the spraying of plant
poisons in the country. Farmers confirmed spraying operations
started in Nangarhar province, which was a former Taliban
stronghold. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Nora Volkow, the director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse last week went on a press tour of Canada to denounce the idea of legalizing pot. But this isn't politics, claims the Bush-administration appointee who, ironically, is descended from the Russian communist revolutionary, Leon Trotsky. "I've seen [cannabis users] become psychotic," asserted Volkow, who also railed against safe-injection centers while in Canada. The non-political Bush apointee's sortie into Canada was paid for "by the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver," according to The Province newspaper in B.C. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) GOVT OWNS MARIJUANA PLANTATIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
On a "high" from scoring big in debates on the marijuana issue,
Ifugao Rep. Solomon Chungalao yesterday identified 100 hectares of
existing marijuana plantations in the Cordilleras that are ready for
"legalization."
| ||||||||||||||||||
Ironically, the owner of these huge "Mary Jane plantations" is none
other than "the government," Chungalao told Manila Standard in an
exclusive interview. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chungalao, who is lobbying for a bill legalizing marijuana for
medical use, said that in his district of Ifugao alone, two
marijuana sites have been identified in the farflung and mountainous
barangays of Tinoc and Hungduan. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"See, we don't need to convert the Banawe rice terraces, vegetable
and flower farms into marijuana plantations because these have been
in existence for centuries." Chungalao pointed out. | ||||||||||||||||||
Chungalao ran into a maelstrom of controversy last week for pushing
the bill and suggesting that the Banawe rice terraces be converted
to marijuana plantations. He said legalizing the mind-altering hemp,
which he described as a "high value crop," could bring progress to
the depressed Cordillera provinces. | ||||||||||||||||||
His suggestions triggered violent opposition from political and
religious leaders. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Attention-Getting
| ||||||||||||||||||
By legalizing these plantations, the government would be doing the depressed Cordillera provinces and the police a "big favor." | ||||||||||||||||||
He said marijuana requires little maintenance and manpower, yet its
yield would raise "more than enough" revenue to make the Cordilleras
self-sufficient. | ||||||||||||||||||
Asked why he suggested the rice terraces, vegetable and flower farms
in depressed areas for conversion in the first place, Chungalao said
nobody would have paid attention if he did not. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) 2 SUSPECTED PUSHERS KILLED VIGILANTE STYLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TWO men allegedly involved in illegal drug activities were gunned
down by unidentified suspects on St. Theresa Street, Barangay Centro
in Agdao, Davao City, Saturday morning. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Reboquio added they were not certain whether the victims were
included on the police watchlist. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) AFGHAN POPPY FARMERS SAY MYSTERY SPRAYING KILLED CROPS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
NIMLA, Afghanistan - Farmers and tribal leaders in this picturesque
farming village in eastern Afghanistan have confirmed statements by
the Afghan government that unidentified planes have been spraying
opium poppy fields with a toxic chemical. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The spraying is something of a mystery, apparently even to the Afghan government. This week, President Hamid Karzai called in the ambassadors of Britain and the United States, the two main donors involved in efforts to combat narcotics in Afghanistan, to explain the aerial spraying in several districts of Nangarhar Province. | ||||||||||||||||||
Both countries have denied any involvement, according to Mr.
Karzai's spokesman, Jawed Ludin. But an Afghan government delegation
sent to investigate returned with samples of the tiny gray pellets,
the size of grains of sugar, that were sprayed on the crops, as well
as soil for analysis. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(22) TROTSKY'S GREAT-GRANDDAUGHTER SAYS NO TO POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Volkow Says Cannabis Should Not Be Legalized
| ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana is an addictive drug that can blunt people's memory,
damage their lungs and even cause them to become psychotic. And it
should not be legalized. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's an uncompromising American assessment. And, coming from anyone but Dr. Nora Volkow, you might suspect he or she had been smoking something, especially here in the pot capital of socialist Canada. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Last year, she was appointed director of the U.S. National Institute
on Drug Abuse, which funds most of the world's research into the
health aspects of drug use and addiction. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"I've seen them become psychotic," she told me yesterday during a
working visit to Vancouver. | ||||||||||||||||||
Volkow is equally insistent marijuana harms a person's ability to drive an auto, despite what diehard Vancouver pot activists claim. "Of course, you can be marijuana-impaired," she stressed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"Ultimately, you are really disrupting the chances that you will succeed in your life," she said. Also, smoking pot increases the likelihood of a wide range of lung diseases. And so on. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
As for heroin addicts, she says, it's much better to give them treatment rather than simply a "safe" place in which to shoot up. | ||||||||||||||||||
Volkow insists she's not a political person. After all, her own
family's experience with politics has been far from pleasant. Her
father, an engineer, wound up with Trotsky in Mexico in 1938 because
"no one else in her family was alive."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Volkow's visit, for example, was co-sponsored by the U.S. Consulate
General in Vancouver, which can hardly be considered politically
neutral -- at least on drug issues. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
BYRNE GRANT PAYS TO PROSECUTE TOM COLEMAN
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Scott Henson at Grits For Breakfast -
| ||||||||||||||||||
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2004/12/byrne-grant-pays-to-prosecute-tom.html | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
ROB KAMPIA ON CSPAN
| ||||||||||||||||||
Rob kampia, Executive Director of the Marijuana Policy Project and
David Evans, Executive Director Drug-free Schools Coalition,
discuss Raich v. Ashcroft.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MPP APPLAUDS REP. SOUDER'S SEARCH FOR TRUTH ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA
| ||||||||||||||||||
Proposal's Fine Print Raises Questions About Objectivity | ||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) today
reaffirmed its longstanding support for dissemination of accurate
scientific information about marijuana's medical benefits and
expressed the hope that the "Safe and Effective Drug Act"
introduced yesterday by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) can be a
part of that process.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE WEBCAST
| ||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, December 8, 2005
| ||||||||||||||||||
With your help 2005 will be a watershed year for medical marijuana, sentencing reform and a host of other critical drug-policy-reform issues. Listen to the archive of our live web chat wrap-up on the year in drug policy reform -- and a discussion of the opportunities and challenges the drug-policy-reform movement will face in 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MARC EMERY SMOKES OUT GEORGE BUSH!
| ||||||||||||||||||
See and hear the nationwide protest of George W. Bush as he
visited Canada's capitol November 31st.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
RE-THINK POT PROHIBITION
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Russell Barth
| ||||||||||||||||||
An Open Letter To All Members Of Parliament:
| ||||||||||||||||||
It must be obvious to everyone by now prohibition of cannabis is a
colossal failure, and must be repealed in favour of regulation and
taxation at once. Cannabis is never going to go away, the war on
drugs is over, and the police and government lost. More people grow
and use it than ever before, and the police are so vastly
outnumbered they could never catch up. The only people really
winning here are the criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cannabis is far more popular than prohibition. According to recent
NORML poll results, 53 per cent of Canadians said they support
government regulation of cannabis, compared to 37 per cent who are
opposed. When asked about the hundreds of millions of dollars Canada
dedicates to marijuana enforcement each year, 55 per cent of
respondents said that was a poor use of funds. Only 22 per cent said
it was a good use of policing resources. | ||||||||||||||||||
Considering prohibition is a system that spends nearly $2 billion
annually on enforcement, courts, and corrections, fails to achieve
any of its stated goals, ruins tens of thousands of lives every
year, endangers people's lives, makes cannabis easier for teens to
access than alcohol or tobacco, robs Canadians of their civil rights
and civil liberties under the charter, robs sick and dying Canadians
of a valuable source of medicine, robs Canadians of additional
billions in annual potential tax revenue, gives police far too much
power to invade people's privacy, and benefits organized crime to
the tune of untold billions annually. The mild dangers, if any, do
not warrant such extreme measures. Even if cannabis were more
dangerous than alcohol or tobacco, prohibition would still be the
wrong way to go about reducing use, abuse, and harm. | ||||||||||||||||||
On the other hand, regulation and taxation of cannabis would dry up
the black market, reduce violence and prostitution, create jobs,
save billions every year, generate billions more in annual tax
revenue, reduce teen access to cannabis and free up police
resources. | ||||||||||||||||||
Let's face it, if prohibition were going to work it would have
worked by now. | ||||||||||||||||||
Russell Barth
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Canada legalization plot uncovered; drug czar not surprised | ||||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young
| ||||||||||||||||||
There are softball interviews. And there are cream puff interviews.
But those dismissive descriptions don't convey what happened last
week in Detroit. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Detroit Free Press printed an interview with drug czar John
Walters on Wednesday - see
| ||||||||||||||||||
The answers are bad enough, but the questions expose the limited
knowledge base of the reporter. | ||||||||||||||||||
Among the probing queries: "What are your thoughts on Canada's
efforts to legalize marijuana?"
| ||||||||||||||||||
Legalize? Hmm, I must have missed that news, and I try to pay
attention to this stuff. Maybe he was talking about the unfortunate
decrim plan that has been kicked about by the Canadian government
for more than a year. Instead of correcting the record, Walters
carries on with the pot hype spiel unfazed. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I've talked to Canadian officials about this. I think we have
somewhat conveyed some of the ignorance we've had in America about
marijuana -- calling it the soft drug, the drug that everybody uses.
But the increase in potency and the beginning use at a younger age
has contributed to the fact that 23 percent of Americans we have to
treat for dependency or abuse are teenagers and the vast majority is
dependent on marijuana. The biggest concern we have is not to tell
another sovereign country about how to handle their domestic policy.
We're here to share information."
| ||||||||||||||||||
There's a couple funny things here. First, Walters' claim that he's
concerned about telling a sovereign country what to do. Very
concerned, I'm sure. | ||||||||||||||||||
More startling is this phrase: "I think we have somewhat conveyed some of the ignorance we've had in America about marijuana..." | ||||||||||||||||||
It borders on honesty. Of course, the drug czar conveys some of the ignorance we've had in America about marijuana everywhere he goes, and he does it again here. I'm surprised to hear him admit it. | ||||||||||||||||||
But let's give credit where credit is due. He couldn't convey that
ignorance so effectively without his friends in the mainstream
press. | ||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly, author of "Maximizing Harm," and operator of http://www.decrimwatch.com/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"There is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals
that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice." -
Grover Cleveland
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE
| ||||||||||||||||||
-OR-
| ||||||||||||||||||
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to:
| ||||||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||
|
 | current issue | this issue |