| Dec. 17, 2004 #380 | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
NOTE TO READERS: DrugSense Weekly will mark the festive season by
taking next week off, but we will return with a new edition Dec. 31.
The DrugSense staff wishes holiday happiness for all our readers as
well as the generous volunteers and contributors who make this work
possible. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) DA ASKS JUDGE TO LOOK AGAIN AT ISSUE OF MARIJUANA POSSESSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Appeals court willing to reconsider Ravin conclusion if new evidence
is compelling enough | ||||||||||||||||
The state is going after the 1975 Alaska Supreme Court decision that
says adults can possess up to 4 ounces of marijuana for personal use
in their own homes. | ||||||||||||||||
In an action supported by Gov. Frank Murkowski, the Anchorage district
attorney has asked a judge to re-examine the 1975 Ravin v. state
conclusion that marijuana in small amounts is essentially harmless to
adults and not dangerous enough to override Alaska's constitutional
right to privacy at home. | ||||||||||||||||
"The idea that marijuana is a harmless substance is contrary to all the
scientific studies that exist today," said John Novak, chief assistant
district attorney and one of the prosecutors who filed a motion Tuesday
in Anchorage Superior Court. | ||||||||||||||||
If the state gets its wish, Novak envisions a full-blown hearing about
the nature and effects of current marijuana use featuring experts on
both sides. | ||||||||||||||||
The state appeals courts have already said they would be willing to
reconsider Ravin if presented with compelling new evidence that small
amounts of marijuana are harmful. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(2) SURVEY - FDA SCIENTISTS QUESTION SAFETY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two-thirds of Food and Drug Administration scientists surveyed two years ago lacked confidence that the FDA adequately monitors the safety of prescription drugs, a report released Thursday shows. | ||||||||||||||||
And 18% of the almost 400 respondents said they had been pressured
to approve or recommend a drug despite reservations about its
safety, effectiveness or quality. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey, conducted by the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General, was partially released
last year. An advocacy group released the full report, acquired
via the Freedom of Information Act. | ||||||||||||||||
The survey's details come amid rising criticism that the FDA puts
too much emphasis on getting drugs to market and too little on
protecting consumers from unsafe or ineffective drugs. Sen.
Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told a Senate hearing last month he
feared "that the FDA has a relationship with drug companies that
is too cozy." | ||||||||||||||||
The survey results also lend credence to surprising congressional
testimony last month by FDA scientist David Graham. The associate
director of science and medicine in the FDA's drug safety office
said the agency didn't adequately weigh safety concerns of drugs
on the market and was incapable of preventing another Vioxx-type
incident. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(3) ROADSIDE DRUG TESTS STRIKE EARLY IN MELBOURNE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MELBOURNE - The world's first roadside random drug testing facility
took just 15 minutes to detect its first alleged drugged driver in
Melbourne yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
But he was the only person to test positive out of 32 people stopped
by police. | ||||||||||||||||
Assistant Commissioner Bob Hastings yesterday said that police did not
know what to expect when they began testing in Yarraville, in
Melbourne's inner-west. | ||||||||||||||||
"We turned out here this morning with the expectation of not quite knowing what to expect really, and it was surprising that so early we got some driver who tested positive," he told reporters. | ||||||||||||||||
"We will crank this up as we move towards Christmas and focus on those areas where we believe there's high usage of illicit drugs." | ||||||||||||||||
The test detects THC, -- the active component in marijuana -- and
methamphetamines, or speed, in saliva. | ||||||||||||||||
Drivers give a sample by touching their tongue on an absorbent
collector and results develop in five minutes. | ||||||||||||||||
Police plan to test 9,000 Victorian motorists in the next 12 months
and will target truck routes and rave party precincts. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(4) MAN DRESSED AS SANTA AT MIDDLE SCHOOL CITED FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (AP) -- A man who visited a middle school dressed
as Santa Claus on Thursday left with a citation for misdemeanor
marijuana possession. | ||||||||||||||||
The 40-year-old Detroit man faces up to 90 days in jail and a $500
fine after a small plastic bag of marijuana was found in the pocket of
his street coat, which he left in a school restroom, Wayne County
Sheriff's Department officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
A deputy who works at the school found the marijuana while searching
the coat for identification after a teacher found it in the bathroom.
The man dressed as Santa approached the deputy a short time later and
identified the coat. | ||||||||||||||||
The man denied the pot was his. His wife, who was at the school to
take pictures of Santa with the students, apparently did not know the
marijuana was in her husband's coat, officials said. | ||||||||||||||||
"She was not happy," Lt. Paul Jones said. "It's going to be a long
ride back to the North Pole." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The drug war may be getting nastier in Kentucky, where legislators
are envisioning a law to criminalize drug use during pregnancy. In
New Jersey,= some legislators are still battling the long-accepted
idea of needle-exchange programs. In California, some heroin have
contracted botulism from their drugs, another signs of the
unnecessary dangers of prohibition. In Colorado, the governor has
proposed a new scholarship for those who are both needy and
drug-free, while a church in New Mexico will be allowed to use a
psychedelic sacrament in time for the the holidays. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(5) BILL WOULD TARGET DRUG ABUSE IN PREGNANCY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Lawmakers Note Harm To Infants | ||||||||||||||||
LEBANON, Ind. - Two state lawmakers said they would sponsor a bill that would target women who use illegal drugs while giving birth. | ||||||||||||||||
State Rep. Jeff Thompson, R-Lizton, and State Sen. Jeff Drozda,
R-Westfield, have agreed to try to push the bill through the General
Assembly. | ||||||||||||||||
Thompson said he and others were surprised to learn there was no law
against drug use during pregnancy. | ||||||||||||||||
"Obviously it harms the infant, in a long-term way, it harms the
mother, it harms society in terms of the extreme cost," Thompson
said. | ||||||||||||||||
The only remedy now available is for the Department of Family and Children to file a petition to have the mother's parental rights suspended or terminated, said Boone County Prosecutor Todd Meyer. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(6) LEGISLATORS SUE TO STOP NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROJECT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Saying former Gov. James E. McGreevey exceeded his authority when he
issued an executive order permitting three cities to provide drug
addicts with syringes, four state lawmakers went to court yesterday
seeking to stop the experimental programs from getting off the
ground. | ||||||||||||||||
With needle-exchange programs banned by law and an effort to
decriminalize them stalled in the Senate, McGreevey issued the
executive order in October, citing a public health emergency. The
bills would have decriminalized syringe possession and allowed
communities to operate their own needle swaps to prevent the spread
of AIDS. | ||||||||||||||||
By issuing the order, McGreevey "overstepped his responsibilities
and constitutional powers," Sen. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-Union) said
during a news conference in Trenton with the other lawmakers who
filed the lawsuit: Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Essex) and Assemblymen Joseph
Pennacchio (R-Morris) and Eric Munoz (R-Union). | ||||||||||||||||
"We understand that needle-exchange programs are by their very
nature controversial," Kean said. "That is exactly the kind of issue
best left to the living democracy of the Senate and the Assembly.
... It is too important for one man's opinion to prevail without the | ||||||||||||||||
According to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Mercer County, a
governor does not have the power to permit communities to violate
state laws. And while the spread of HIV among addicts is a serious
concern, it does not meet the legal definition of an emergency, the
lawsuit said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(7) OUTBREAK! (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A Rare Heroin-Related Disease Strikes The Bay Area | ||||||||||||||||
On November 29, the first of several disoriented, apparently drowsy
people wandered into Bay Area county hospitals with slurred speech,
drooping eyelids, and difficulty swallowing. By December 2, at least
three patients were paralyzed above the waist and required
mechanical ventilation. | ||||||||||||||||
The mysterious, rapidly progressing illness turned out to be wound
botulism -- a rare disease caused by a toxin in C. botulinum
bacteria. Alameda and San Francisco county public health officials
immediately notified the California Department of Health Services of
the outbreak, which later alerted the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. | ||||||||||||||||
Like most recent victims of wound botulism, these six patients have one characteristic in common: They are all black-tar heroin users who contracted the toxin-releasing bacteria from a dirty drug batch. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(8) COLLEGE AID FOR VICE-FREE STUDENTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Scholarships Would Go to Deserving Low-Income Students WHO Eschew
Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco. | ||||||||||||||||
Gov. Bill Owens on Tuesday proposed a new scholarship program to
allow deserving low-income students to get financial help for
college. | ||||||||||||||||
But they have to stay away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco to
qualify. | ||||||||||||||||
Called the Colorado Achievement Scholarship, the proposal will
require approval by the state legislature. | ||||||||||||||||
To qualify, students would have to pass a precollegiate high school
curriculum, maintain a 2.5 high school grade-point average and not
use drugs, alcohol or tobacco, Owens said. | ||||||||||||||||
Student performance and behavior would be monitored by their schools
and counselors and an oversight program, Owens said. | ||||||||||||||||
A new state board would help manage the program. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(9) CHURCH SPARS WITH AUTHORITIES OVER DRUG TEA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Supreme Court sided Friday with a New
Mexico church that wants to use hallucinogenic tea as part of its
services this Christmas by lifting a temporary stay the government
had won last week. | ||||||||||||||||
The U.S. administration contends the hoasca tea is illegal and
dangerous. | ||||||||||||||||
Nancy Hollander, the lawyer for the Brazil-based O Centro Espirita
Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal, told justices in a filing that hoasca
is not only safe, but to members it "is sacred and their sacramental
use of hoasca connects them to God." | ||||||||||||||||
The government and the church have been tied up in a legal fight
since federal agents raided a church leader's office in Santa Fe in
1999 and seized more than 100 litres of the tea, which contains DMT,
a controlled substance.Hollander told justices that members have
since not been able to receive communion to commemorate Jesus's
birth during the church's Holy Days. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The drug war, even when it's aggressively enforced, cannot stop the
violence and mayhem of the black market, as a story out of New
Orleans shows again. A big drug sweep there has not ended the
problems it was designed to end. Indeed, the drug war is more
dangerous than drugs, as the family of Kenneth Walker learned after
a fruitless but lethal drug search one year ago. No police were
indicted over the incident, but now the family has filed a $100
million lawsuit. | ||||||||||||||||
A Canadian trucker saw the drug war take 8 months of his life in an
American prison, where he was held after bags of marijuana were
found in a load of grain he was carrying. He denied knowing anything
about the marijuana, and unlike many in the same position, was
acquitted. And in New Mexico a high-profile state government
official is arrested for marijuana at the airport. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(10) DRUG SWEEP FAILS TO HINDER CRIME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bail Deals Return Offenders To Streets | ||||||||||||||||
"All we can do on our end is make good cases and good arrests." -
officer involved in 'Playin' with the Fellas' | ||||||||||||||||
When the New Orleans Police Department unleashed "Playin' with the
Fellas" in September, the operation was touted as a head-on blitz
against violent crime, designed to sweep the streets clean of the
low-level drug dealers who make up a disproportionate share of the
city's murderers and victims. | ||||||||||||||||
The narcotics squad left little maneuvering room for suspects,
videotaping hand-to-hand drug sales involving undercover officers
cruising around in inconspicuous "cool" cars. Nearly 200 suspects
were caught in the sting, the vast majority accused of selling one
or two rocks of crack cocaine. District Attorney Eddie Jordan
applauded the cases as "high-quality," an assessment backed by a
nearly 95 percent acceptance rate. | ||||||||||||||||
More than two months later, however, the operation has shown no
signs of making a dent in violent crime or curbing street-level drug
activity. Of 198 cases that led to arrests or arrest warrants, at
least 47 percent of the suspects remain free, and the pace of
shootings and killings has remained stubbornly high. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(11) $100 MILLION SUIT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Walkers Refile in Superior Court, Add Muscogee County to Lawsuit | ||||||||||||||||
Kenneth Walker's family attorneys refiled a civil lawsuit seeking $100 million from Muscogee County Sheriff Ralph Johnson, former deputy sheriff David Glisson and Muscogee County. This time, the suit was filed in Superior Court and not federal court. "We believe that in Superior Court, a true jury of Walker's peers will hear the case," attorney Bill Campbell said of the previous Feb. 24 suit that was later withdrawn. "Citizens on the jury will only come from Muscogee County and we believe that is a better forum to deal with matters involving the Muscogee County Sheriff's Department." | ||||||||||||||||
Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Walker's fatal shooting by
then-deputy sheriff Glisson during a traffic stop on Interstate 185
that was part of a drug investigation. The Walker family's lead
attorney, Willie Gary of Stuart, Fla., said on the steps of the
Government Center Friday that it was a sad but historic day. "This
is the day Kenneth Walker was executed, shot and killed by a deputy
of this county for absolutely no reason that can be justified," Gary
said. "While we cannot bring Kenneth back, we can continue the
commitment and effort to make sure this young man's life was not in
vain." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(12) TRUCKER FREE AFTER 8 MONTHS IN DETROIT PRISON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Planted In Canadian Vehicle | ||||||||||||||||
A Windsor trucker who was been jailed in Michigan almost eight
months, charged with attempting to smuggle more than a million
dollars worth of high-grade marijuana across the border, is back
home after being acquitted by an American jury. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's lovely, lovely to be home," Daniel Bartos said from his home
Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
On Monday, following a five-day trial in U.S. Eastern District of
Michigan court, the 31-year-old was found not guilty on smuggling
and trafficking charges. | ||||||||||||||||
He faced a mandatory minimum five-year prison term upon | ||||||||||||||||
"I worried a lot in jail," said Bartos. He said he spent his
mornings reading, in particular the Bible, and his afternoons were
filled working as a janitor in a prison kitchen for 12 cents U.S.
per hour. | ||||||||||||||||
Bartos, an independent trucker hired by a Leamington firm, was
delivering a tractor-trailer load of seed corn for the Pioneer grain
company from its Chatham-Kent facility to Iowa when he was pulled
over at the Ambassador Bridge last April 25. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. border agents arrested the trucker after discovering three
duffle bags containing more than 100 kg of high-grade marijuana
hidden inside the trailer. The street value was estimated at $1.2
million US. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(13) NEW MEXICO PRC COMMISSIONER ARRESTED FOR MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- A member of the powerful state Public Regulation Commission who advocated zero tolerance on drugs and alcohol in the PRC workplace has been arrested on drug charges. | ||||||||||||||||
E. Shirley Baca, 53, of Las Cruces, was taken into custody shortly after 7 a.m. Wednesday at Albuquerque's international airport. | ||||||||||||||||
A container with a glass pipe and green, leafy substance that tested
positive as marijuana was found in Baca's suitcase, according to a
Metropolitan Court criminal complaint. | ||||||||||||||||
The suitcase was checked in with the airline to be loaded onto the
airplane, said John Roberts, deputy chief of Albuquerque Aviation
Police. An alarm used to detect explosives alerted federal security
screeners to the bag. | ||||||||||||||||
A search revealed less than an ounce of marijuana, Roberts said. | ||||||||||||||||
Baca, who had already passed through security, was paged over the intercom system, located at a Delta Airlines gate and arrested. | ||||||||||||||||
When questioned, Baca allegedly told the officer that she smoked
marijuana occasionally, according to the complaint. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
We begin this week with disappointing news from the DEA's office,
which has issued a preliminary denial for a bid by UMass Amherst
professor Lyle Cracker to grow a supply of high-potency,
research-grade cannabis. The announcement came after the
Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies, which is
co-sponsoring the project, sued the DEA for "unreasonable delay" in
reviewing the application, which was initiated over 3 years ago.
MAPS and professor Cracker may appeal the decision. | ||||||||||||||||
Our second story focuses on a drug war injustice of the highest
order, the death of quadriplegic Jonathan Magbie while serving a
10-day prison sentence for cannabis possession. After week's of
pressure from Magbie's family, the D.C. Inspector General's office
announced the launch of an inquiry into this totally avoidable
tragedy. In our third story this week, police along the Mexican
border have reasoned that smuggling through the U.S.'s southern
border has gotten significantly more sophisticated in recent years.
In other words, seizures following the harvest season in Mexico are
down, and they don't have a clue why. | ||||||||||||||||
And lastly this week a story of Olympic hope and inspiration from
the snowy peaks of Canada. Ross Rebagliati, famed for being stripped
of his gold medal in snowboarding after testing positive for
cannabis during the Nagano Olympics, has been inducted into the B.C.
Sports Hall of Fame. Rebagliati, who denied using cannabis in the
months preceding the event, had his medal reinstated by the IOC the
next day. This follows a long list of honors for the young
snowboarder, who gave Canada's first gold medal for snowboarding,
including having a park, a ski run, and a variety of cannabis named
after him. Go team! | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(14) DEA REJECTS UMASS PROFESSOR'S BID TO GROW MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A University of Massachusetts at Amherst professor hoping to grow
marijuana for research purposes got a preliminary denial from the US
Drug Enforcement Administration last week. | ||||||||||||||||
Lyle Craker, a horticulturist who specializes in medicinal plants,
had won support from both Senators Edward M. Kennedy and John F.
Kerry in his quest to grow marijuana legally. Only one American lab,
at the University of Mississippi, currently has the legal right to
grow marijuana for research, and Craker argued that the Mississippi
marijuana is not strong enough and not readily available to
researchers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(15) INSPECTOR GENERAL TO PROBE D.C. INMATE DEATH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The D.C. inspector general's office has launched an inquiry into the
death of Jonathan Magbie, the quadriplegic inmate who died in
September after suffering breathing problems. | ||||||||||||||||
Magbie's family began pressing for an investigation soon after his
death, raising questions about his treatment by the courts, the D.C.
Department of Corrections and Greater Southeast Community Hospital,
where he died Sept. 24. The central issue is whether authorities
were equipped to handle a patient with Magbie's health problems
while he served a 10-day sentence on a drug charge. | ||||||||||||||||
Interim Inspector General Austin A. Andersen said yesterday that the inquiry will review probes that have been done by other D.C. agencies, evaluate policies and procedures and determine whether they were properly followed. The various reviews include one that was recently completed by the D.C. Department of Health, which found that the hospital had failed to provide Magbie with adequate care. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(16) CHANGES IN MARIJUANA INDUSTRY CHALLENGING AUTHORITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
With stash houses only half filled, and fewer cars crossing the
border with their rear bumpers dragging asphalt, the marijuana
harvest season isn't what it used to be. | ||||||||||||||||
Early December marks the traditional end of the harvest in Mexico, a
time when farmers and cartels would package their crop for transport
north. | ||||||||||||||||
And U.S. law enforcement officers would be waiting on them. | ||||||||||||||||
Police used to be able to anticipate large quantities of the drug
moving through the Rio Grande Valley, says a 15-year veteran of
Mission Police Department's narcotics division, who works undercover
and requested his name not be used. | ||||||||||||||||
"You'd run into tons of it. The stash houses were just packed. It
was piled up to the ceiling. We'd try to get our informants to tell
us when the shipments were coming and where the new crossing points
are, so we could be ready," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
"You don't see that as much anymore." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(17) REBAGLIATI INDUCTED INTO B.C. SPORTS HALL OF FAME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Snowboarder To Join Hockey Legends, Other Olympians In Induction
Ceremony | ||||||||||||||||
It was Feb.8, 1998, at the Olympic Games in Nagano, where Whistler's
own Ross Rebagliati claimed the first gold medal ever awarded for
snowboarding. | ||||||||||||||||
It was an exciting giant slalom race, with Quebec's Jaysey Jay
Anderson in front of the pack after the first run, and Rebagliati
securely in eighth place. Mark Fawcett, the favourite to win the
medal, blew out a binding on his snowboard on his first run, and
would have to watch the race from the sidelines. | ||||||||||||||||
With fog closing in and the first wave of riders scraping all the
snow off the course, Rebagliati had the run of his life. He nearly
lost control a couple of times, and swept wide on two of the gates
in a steep middle section, but never slowed down and stayed on his
edge. | ||||||||||||||||
The run was good enough to launch him to the top of the leader board, where he stayed as the remaining snowboarders tried to close the gap. A few came close, but in the end it was Ross Rebagliati in first, just two one-hundredths of a second ahead of Thomas Prugger of Italy and 0.12 seconds ahead of Ueli Kestenholz of Switzerland. | ||||||||||||||||
While the race was as close and exciting as it gets, it was the events that followed that truly made Rebagliati a world phenomenon. | ||||||||||||||||
On Feb. 10, the International Olympic Committee stripped Rebagliati of his gold medal after they discovered that he had tested positive for a small amount of marijuana. The Olympic Court for Arbitration of Sport, after strenuous protests were made by the Canadian team, voted unanimously to return the gold medal to Rebagliati. They ruled that while marijuana is a banned IOC substance, the International Snowboard Federation, which regulated snowboarding at the time, did not test for marijuana as a performance enhancing substance. | ||||||||||||||||
The medal was returned to Rebagliati the following day. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
As prohibitionists in the U.S. continue to battle on in their
crusade for ever more harsh punishments for drug users, it is
helpful to see where other such governments tend to go. The Persian
Gulf is an example; it is full of zealous prohibitionist regimes
thirsty for the blood of drug-infidels. Last week, in the United
Arab Emirates city of Fujairah, officials condemned a foreign woman
to death for selling 149 grams of "narcotics" (most likely
cannabis). Islamic nations frequently make public examples of
foreign drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||
An article from the Taipei Times this week, a book review,
enlightens readers with a blasphemous perspective for a large,
established paper. The heresy? Opium use wasn't the widespread
demonic bane for the Chinese as communist and prohibitionist
propaganda claims it was. "The myth [was that opium was] forced onto
a gullible people," causing national decline. But this is wrong;
"Opium was almost invariably smoked in moderation." The book
reviewed by the Taipei Times is 'Narcotic Culture', by Frank
Dikotter. | ||||||||||||||||
And finally, two items from the U.K. this week show a government in
confusion over magic mushroom laws. The government, intent on
prosecuting small-shop owners for breaking labyrinthine laws
governing hallucinogenic 'shrooms, was stymied this week in attempts
to jail magic mushroom merchants. The mushrooms, which can grow
unbidden in lawns and pastures worldwide, are (arguably) legal if
not dried and packaged for sale. A judge in Gloucester this week
stayed the prosecution of two men for selling what they thought were
legal 'shrooms, when the law was revealed to be so confusing as to
be an "abuse of process". Confusion was heightened when the British
Customs and Excise Office wrote that, yes indeed, retailers do need
to charge taxes on the trippy fungi. While the Blair government
appears to be waiting for courts to craft psychedelic mushroom
policy, the judge in this week's stayed prosecution recommended
parliament sort it all out. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
() ASIAN WOMAN GETS DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG PEDDLING | ||||||||||||||||
FUJAIRAH -- Fujairah Criminal court has awarded death sentence to an
Asian woman, Lisa Tray, in a case considered to be the first of its
kind in the Eastern region. The woman was dealing in narcotics and
the police had employed a decoy agent to pose as a customer for her
at a certain meeting spot. Tray was caught while handing over 149
grams of narcotics to the decoy customer. | ||||||||||||||||
Tray, however, said the plastic narcotics parcel was given to her by
her step-father and that she was not aware of its contents at the
time of delivering it. Tray's lawyers have appealed against the
verdict. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
() A WAR ON DRUGS OR A WAR ON TRADITION? | ||||||||||||||||
'Narcotic Culture' By Frank Dikotter Takes A Fresh Look At The Usual
Take On History That Suggests The Use Of Opium By The Chinese Was
Entirely Negative | ||||||||||||||||
Opium has always been associated, for better or worse, with China.
And almost invariably it's been for the worse. | ||||||||||||||||
The myth, in both the Christian West and the communist East, has been that this pernicious substance was brought to the Celestial Empire by the perfidious British, forced onto a gullible people, and as a result accelerated the decline of a once-great nation. | ||||||||||||||||
This is simply untrue, says Frank Dikotter (supported by his two
research assistants) in his controversial new book 'Narcotic
Culture'. Opium was consumed at all levels of Chinese society, he
argues, both as a highly effective medication and for relaxation and
civilized pleasure. The British certainly cornered the trade of
importing opium into China in the early 19th century, but they were
in no sense imposing a substance they knew to be harmful on a
passive market. | ||||||||||||||||
Not only was opium already well-known and well-loved in China, it
was also used throughout Europe in a far stronger form and without
any legal controls, as a cure-all and the only reliable pain killer
available. | ||||||||||||||||
If opium was so harmful to the Chinese, Dikotter asks, why was it so
harmless when administered to the English? The reality was, he
claims, that towards the end of the Victorian era a movement arose
among evangelical Christians in the UK urging the abolition of the
opium trade in Asia. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
This is a brave and powerful book, not least because it questions
readings of China's history that up to now have gained almost
universal acceptance: The opium trade was a crime as great as
slavery, the present trade in cigarettes (typically by American
companies operating in Asia) is "a modern opium trade," opium
symbolizes every kind of exploitation of poor nations by richer
ones. How often have such scenarios been given unquestionable
authority? | ||||||||||||||||
They're all wrong, says Dikotter. Opium was almost invariably smoked
in moderation, and the "opium den" of legend was in reality a neat
and well-ordered house offering tea, fine food and a refined and
congenial atmosphere. What came in the wake of prohibition when it
finally arrived were genuinely harmful intoxicants: heroin,
morphine, hard liquor and tobacco. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The current "war on drugs," for example, attains an entirely new
look. It's nothing more than the modern continuation, he argues, of
a wrong-headed 19th century assault on the traditional and, in the
main, harmless Asian use of narcotics (backed even then by
evangelical Christians in the U.S. with astute business motives
behind their rhetoric). | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
() MAGIC MUSHROOM CASE JUDGE TELLS PROSECUTOR - CHILL OUT | ||||||||||||||||
The law on the distribution and sale of magic mushrooms was thrown
into disarray yesterday after a court decision to stay the
prosecution of two men accused of illegally selling the | ||||||||||||||||
Arguing that Home Office advice to importers and distributors was "fudged", the crown court recorder Claire Miskin told Dennis Mardle and Colin Evans that the law was so ambiguous that to put them on trial amounted to an "abuse of process". She recommended that parliament consider new legislation to clarify the legal position. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
() TRIP OVER? | ||||||||||||||||
Magic Mushrooms Have Never Been More Popular. More Than 400
Apparently Legal 'shroom' Shops Have Sprung Up In The Past Two
Years, And Growing Kits Have Become A Must-have Christmas Present.
So Why Has The Government Suddenly Turned Tough On Sellers? Stephen
Moss Investigates. | ||||||||||||||||
Six months ago, when the NME described 2004 as "the third summer of
love", it put the benign mood down to one thing - the return of
magic mushrooms. The drug idolised by cult author and psychologist
Timothy Leary in the 1960s - he said that his first experience of
mushrooms in Mexico in 1960 taught him more than all his years of
study - was back. According to the NME, which produced a "top tips
for top trips" guide, mushrooms were a safe alternative to ecstasy,
and what's more - they were legal. It was time to "turn on, tune in,
drop out" all over again. | ||||||||||||||||
Except that nobody told the Home Office and the police, which have now declared war on magic mushrooms. In Gloucester, two local men have been charged with supplying a class A drug by selling them. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Even Professor Henry, while backing a ban on their cultivation,
believes the law has become hopelessly confused. "They're not a food
- VAT has to be paid on them - so what are they? They're in some
other category, but nobody seems to know what." | ||||||||||||||||
The VAT issue is vexing to mushroom retailers. In February, one
wrote to Customs and Excise to ask whether he should be charging
VAT. It replied that he should and was then embarrassed when the
retailer made the letter public. It appeared that it was levying a
tax on a "product" which the Home Office wanted to ban. Joined-up
government it wasn't. | ||||||||||||||||
"We did state that fresh mushrooms were subject to VAT," says
Customs and Excise spokesman Paul Matthews, "but we are also aware
of the Home Office view that their packaging for sale is illegal. We
are really waiting for case law on this." Mushroom retailers argue
that if VAT is being levied, the product per se cannot be illegal;
it seems this is not the case. "Just because something is illegal
doesn't mean that it can't be taxed," says Matthews. | ||||||||||||||||
Proponents of magic mushrooms are frustrated at what they see as the
Home Office's reluctance to consider changing the law, and are
critical of a policy that appears to be based on nudging the police
and the courts to establish precedent. "If someone was going to make
policy on this, then there would at least be a debate," says
Territt, "but currently there is no debate. The crown prosecution
service is not a relevant authority to be making health and safety
and drugs policy." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TX HOUSE COMMITTEE - END DRUG TASK FORCE SYSTEM! | ||||||||||||||||
By Scott Henson at Grits For Breakfast -= | ||||||||||||||||
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2004/12/tx-house-committee-end-drug-task-force.html | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
GARY WEBB - DO WHAT HE DID | ||||||||||||||||
By Al Giordano at the Narcosphere - http://narcosphere.narconews.com/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DRCNET JOINS THE BLOGOSPHERE | ||||||||||||||||
DRCNet executive director David Borden has joined the blogosphere
with a new "Prohibition and the Media" web log. The purpose of the
blog, which can be accessed at http://stopthedrugwar.org/blog/ online,
is to provide daily critiques of mainstream news media reporting on
drug issues. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
SSDP DESCENDS ON THE DC AREA | ||||||||||||||||
More than 200 students and activists attended SSDP's 6th annual
national conference at the University of Maryland - College Park
on Nov. 18-20. Students were treated to a lobby day on Capitol
Hill, activism trainings, panel discussions, a spoken-word art
performance, a debate, and the first ever DARE Generation Dance
Party. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
12/14/04 - Dr. Richard Evans of the Texas Cancer Center, Frank
Smith 80 year old activist. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
TRUST BUSTERS | ||||||||||||||||
A pain doctor's drug trafficking conviction sets a chilling precedent | ||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
CONTROLLED DRUGS ARE OUT OF CONTROL | ||||||||||||||||
By Nicolas Eyle | ||||||||||||||||
To the Editors, | ||||||||||||||||
With all the recent press about the methamphetamine problem I think
a little background might be helpful in deciding what to do about
it. First of all we should be aware that meth was completely legal
in America, available without prescription, over the counter, at any
pharmacy until 1954. I don't recall hearing of any of these problems
then. Why? What has changed? | ||||||||||||||||
Were there people who abused meth before 1954? Of course. Did those
folks wreak havoc on the environment by dumping the toxic chemicals
they used to make the stuff in our streams? No. Why? Because it was
made by big drug companies who were regulated and controlled by the
government. For the most part they disposed of their waste products
in approved ways. | ||||||||||||||||
Did those early meth users shoot each other over their black market
drug deal disputes? No. Why? Because there was no black market...
remember, any adult who wanted it could legally go buy it at the
local drugstore. | ||||||||||||||||
With such easy availability was there a big problem with amphetamine
abuse? Not according to the AMA at the time. They objected to the
prohibition of amphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||
So what is the cause of our recent problems with this drug? The
problem is not actually with the drug itself but with the way we
chose to handle the drug. Prohibition creates a violent black
market, does not recognize age restrictions on sales, and does not
address purity or dose controls or environmental concerns. We've
chosen to turn those issues over to the criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
Why we call these illegal drugs "Controlled substances" when we
don't seem able to control them enough to keep them out of our
prisons or out of the hands of our children is beyond me. It's time
to start being smart on crime, not just pretending to be tough on
crime. Legalize, regulate, and control these currently illegal
drugs. It's time to stop pretending we're getting somewhere by
prohibiting them. | ||||||||||||||||
Nicolas Eyle | ||||||||||||||||
Syracuse, NY. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Steven Epstein, Esq. founder and officer of the
Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition of Georgetown, MA for his
six letters published during November, which makes 15 published
letters archived by MAP. | ||||||||||||||||
You can read all of Steven's excellent published letters by clicking
this link: http://www.mapinc.org/writers/Steven+Epstein | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
States Should End the Drug War | ||||||||||||||||
By Sheldon Richman | ||||||||||||||||
"Medicine by regulation is better than medicine by referendum." U.S.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said that during last week's
arguments over the much-watched medical-marijuana case. Breyer, in
other words, prefers that any change in the government's prohibition
of marijuana use be accomplished by an appeal to the federal
drug-enforcement authorities rather than by a public vote in the
states, such as occurred in California. | ||||||||||||||||
But he is really saying that medical oppression by an elite is
better than medical oppression by the mob. Are those our only
choices? Why must we have medical oppression at all? Why not
medicine by free individual choice? That this is not even on the
table shows how far our society has moved from its individualist
foundations. | ||||||||||||||||
The case Ashcroft v. Raich has two dimensions, procedural and
substantive,= and it is important to consider them separately. People
who approve of "medical marijuana" - that is, empowering doctors to
prescribe pot to certain sick people - tend to favor letting the
states partially nullify the federal drug ban. And people who
disapprove of medical marijuana tend to favor having the federal
government veto such state nullification. But a mix and match is
coherent and even sensible. That is, one can oppose the federal
government's effort to stop states from enacting medical-marijuana
laws while also opposing those laws. I shall explain. | ||||||||||||||||
The Founders of the United States understood the threat to liberty
from concentrated political power, so they tried to divide power not
only among the three branches of the national government, but also
between the national and state governments. Back then, people saw
their respective states as sovereign and never would have assented
to a scheme in which the states became mere administrative
subdivisions of the national government.= As a result, the Congress
was delegated a few defined powers (to use James Madison's term) and
the states retained other powers by default. (See the Tenth
Amendment.) | ||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, the eminently sensible division of powers, called
federalism but mislabeled "states' rights," acquired a bad name,
primarily because of the violations of blacks' rights after the War
between the States. (Before the war, the slave states were not
consistent advocates of states' rights;= they self-righteously
objected when northern states passed personal-liberty laws that in
effect nullified the federal fugitive-slave act.) | ||||||||||||||||
Since the New Deal, federalism has essentially been abolished by the
Supreme Court's permissive attitude toward Congress and the
Constitution 's "commerce clause." Until recently, Congress could
get away with passing any law as long as it claimed authority under
that clause. That has begun to change. In recent years the Court has
found two cases in which Congress's resort to the commerce clause
was just too transparent to tolerate. | ||||||||||||||||
Now it has to contend with Raich and state medical marijuana. Here's the rub: most people who say they like federalism want no part of anything that looks like a loosening of the marijuana laws. And those who embrace medical marijuana dislike states' rights in most other cases. It's a topsy-turvy world! The indications at last week's Court session were that federalism will take a hit. | ||||||||||||||||
Here's what ought to happen: The Court should endorse federalism and
stop the Bush administration from interfering with the states on
medical marijuana. It should also recognize that the federal
government has no constitutional authority to regulate drugs. It is
worth recalling that the Constitution had to be amended before the
federal government could prohibit alcohol in the 1920s. Why then has
it been able to ban drugs without an amendment? | ||||||||||||||||
Once the feds are disarmed in the war on drug makers and consumers, the states should repeal their own laws against production, sale, and possession. All prescription laws should also be repealed. Then we will have real individual freedom and self-responsibility. Self-medication is as inalienable a right as self-education. Medical marijuana does not advance liberty. It only empowers doctors. The idea that government should decide whether marijuana is medicine or not and whether doctors should be permitted to give it to sick people ought to be offensive to any self-responsible American. | ||||||||||||||||
Sheldon Richman is senior fellow at The Future of Freedom Foundation -
http://www.fff.org | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"He is not an honest man who burned his tongue on the soup and does
not tell the company that the soup is hot." - Anonymous | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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 |