Table of Contents

* Breaking News (12/21/24)

* This Just In

(1) Nimbin Smokers To Rally Against Police 'Harassment'
(2) Story Generates Interest, Responses
(3) Grandmother Ran Cannabis Cookery Club For Neighbours
(4) Metro Must Accept Pro-marijuana Ads

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Justices Uphold Use of Drug-Sniffing Dogs in Traffic Stops
(6) U.S. Senators Push Meth Bill
(7) Pfizer's Slow Release Of Sudafed PE Questioned
(8) Creating Drug Czar Post Wins Support

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-12)
(9) Woman Seriously Burned By Device During Drug Raid
(10) Bumper Crop For Cops
(11) Nappy Examined In Marijuana Raid
(12) DA Dismisses Drug Charges

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (13-17)
(13) Fee Assistance Offered By Medical Marijuana Group
(14) Legislator Wants To Legalize Medical Marijuana
(15) Medical Marijuana Cards Abound
(16) Grow Home-Free Subdivisions Hit In B.C.
(17) Around The Bong With Tommy Chong

International News-

COMMENT: (18-21)
(18) Father Appeals To Killers: Tell Me My Son's Crime
(19) Drugs 'Likely Motive' For Killing Ex-Pusher
(20) Justice Ministers Want Tougher Laws
(21) Elderly Man Says Cops Roughed Him Up Over Painkillers

* Hot Off The 'Net

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* Letter Of The Week

     Look At 'Drug War' / By Suzanne Wills

* Feature Article

     New MAP/DrugSense Staff Member Draws Activists Closer To The Media

* Quote of the Week

     Upton Sinclair

A rally will be held this afternoon in Nimbin, in northern NSW, protesting against what some people say is a new wave of police harassment.

The rally has been organised by the Hemp Embassy, which wants cannabis legalised.

The police presence in Nimbin has strengthened and recently two tourist buses were pulled over and searched by a sniffer dog, and cannabis cautions were given to overseas tourists.

Hemp spokesman Michael Balderstone says he wants better communication between the police and the community.

"There's so much frustration in town and there's so much...injustice people feel because of the way we're harassed because we're cannabis users, so at least it gives people a chance to express themselves," he said.

"Some discussion might happen, let's see.  I mean it is stupid...I've watched this for years, year after year the same thing happens, it's a lot of money spent and it makes no impact."

Police have accepted an invitation to speak at the rally.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 27 Jan 2005

Source:	Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)

Copyright:	2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Website:	http://www.abc.net.au/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n148.a04.html

Last week after running the story, Parents to push for solutions, a story that reported on the possibility of establishing drug-free zones around local schools, the Castlegar News received the following e-mail from :

That might have happened, once or twice where it was traded in pound-for-pound (mistakenly), but there is no way anyone would be dumb enough to do that.  A pound of pot in LA goes for roughly about $3,000 to $3,300 USD.  And a pound of coke would go for around $7,000+ USD. Now you tell me, is that a good trade? Why would anyone want to lose over $3,500 USD? Does that make any sense whatsoever? I'm sorry, but I think you need to check your facts.  The media needs to stop spreading these fake rumors.

Several URLs where included with this message, with links to a website called the The Media Awareness Project.  Our sidebar story, Trip south turns pot to coke, which related RCMP Const.  Fran Bethell's take on the local drug scene, had been posted to this site - and was obviously the cause of concern for the e-mail sender.  The main story, however, was not posted to the site for the information of site visitors.  Nor was a background piece outlining the success and failure of drug-free zones elsewhere posted to the site.

Coincidently, at the same time as this e-mail was received by the News, responses to the News website Question of the Week began to come at an unusually high rate (we normally get less than a dozen per week, in two days we received about three dozen responses).  The question attracting this attention was "Would drug-free zones around schools help curb the drug problem?" and response was overwhelmingly against the idea (at press time: Yes, 2; No, 38).

Pubdate:	Wed, 26 Jan 2005

Source:	Castlegar News (CN BC)

Section:	letters

Copyright:	2005 Castlegar News

Website:	http://www.castlegarnews.com/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/3613

Author:	Dale West, (Editor)

Cited:	The Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/

Referenced:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n116/a02.html

Referenced:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n116/a04.html

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n148.a08.html

A retired restaurateur has admitted raising a kitty with other pensioners to buy cannabis which she used in her recipes for "medicinal purposes".

Patricia Tabram, a grey-haired grandmother, turned to the drug in an attempt to offset the effects of tinnitus, mild depression and pains after a car crash.

She began using it in soups, cakes and hot pots in her country kitchen and introduced others to the secret ingredient.  Police raided her stone-built cottage in the village of Humshaugh, near Hexham, Northumberland, after a tip-off.

Tabram, 66, was formally cautioned in May last year for possession and cultivation of cannabis after 10in high plants were found growing in her loft.  A month later she was caught with 242gms of the drug worth around ukp850 and self-seal bags for distribution to other people who she declined to name.

She told police that she had clubbed together with a group of elderly people to obtain cannabis for various medicinal reasons.  Carl Gumsley, her defence counsel, told Newcastle Crown Court: "She had purchased it on their behalf."

Tabram admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply and sentence was adjourned until March 11 to await reports from a probation officer and psychologist.  She appeared in court in spectacles and a black cardigan and was remanded on bail with a condition of residence.

Wearing a woollen shawl in her well-stocked kitchen after the hearing, she said that she was writing a book entitled Grandma Eats Cannabis.

She said: "If they send me to jail I can finish writing my book about the merits of medicinal, herbal cannabis.  I want people to know NHS medicines are poisoning them instead of treating their illness.  If Jeffrey Archer can write a book in prison, so can I."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 27 Jan 2005

Source:	Daily Telegraph (UK)

Copyright:	2005 Telegraph Group Limited

Website:	http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/114

Author:	Paul Stokes

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n152.a02.html

Metro officials must accept advertising that promotes the legalization of marijuana now that the Justice Department has opted not to defend the transit agency's ban on such ads.

Justice officials had until Wednesday to appeal a federal court decision that struck down a law recently passed in Congress stating that transit agencies would lose federal funding if they accepted ads advocating the legalization or medical use of such illicit drugs.

Metro has yet to receive pro-marijuana ads since the Justice Department's decision, but a spokesman said the agency would not reject such ads unless they "showcased profanity."

"The transit agency is not in the business of picking and choosing what can and cannot go up," Metro spokesman Steven Taubenkibel said.

The government "does not have a viable argument to advance in the statute's defense," acting Solicitor General Paul D.  Clement said in a letter to Senate attorneys last month that explained his decision.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 28 Jan 2005

Source:	Washington Times (DC)

Copyright:	2005 News World Communications, Inc.

Website:	http://www.washingtontimes.com/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/492

Author:	Jim McElhatton, The Washington Times

Cited:	Change the Climate http://www.changetheclimate.org/

Cited:	ACLU drug law reform project http://www.aclu.org/DrugPolicy/

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Change+the+Climate

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n153.a10.html

Domestic News- Policy

See that dog coming with police after a minor traffic violation? The U.S.  Supreme Court let the dogs out, and they're ready to sniff anyone who violates a traffic law.  Will the dogs start sniffing for large batches of pseudoephedrine as it becomes harder to get? Not satisfied with tighter restrictions in many states, some U.S. senators from Iowa want national laws.  In Tennessee, the governor's office is criticizing a company that markets a brand name version of pseudoephedrine for not coming out with a variation on the product that can't be turned into meth.  And, finally, some leaders in Montana think the state needs its own drug czar.

WASHINGTON, Jan.  24 - The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that in making a routine traffic stop, the police can permit a trained dog to sniff the car for drugs without the need for any particular reason to suspect the driver of a narcotics violation.

The 6-to-2 decision set aside a ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court, which held in 2003 that a state trooper who had stopped a man for speeding had broadened the scope of the encounter beyond constitutional limits by having the dog sniff the car.  The dog alerted the police to the trunk, which contained $250,000 worth of marijuana. The addition of the dog impermissibly turned a traffic stop into a drug investigation, the Illinois court said.

In the majority opinion on Monday, Justice John Paul Stevens said the dog's sniff did not amount to an unconstitutional search because it did not prolong the 10-minute traffic stop and did not violate any "legitimate interest in privacy" a driver could have in carrying contraband.

"A dog sniff conducted during a concededly lawful traffic stop that reveals no information other than the location of a substance that no individual has any right to possess does not violate the Fourth Amendment," Justice Stevens said.  The Fourth Amendment prohibits "unreasonable" search and seizure.

[snip]

Justices David H.  Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg both issued vigorous dissents on Monday, warning that the latest decision, Illinois v. Caballes, No.  03-923, opened the door to the use of drug-sniffing dogs to patrol parking lots, garages, and even pedestrians on sidewalks.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 25 Jun 2005

Source:	New York Times (NY)

Copyright:	2005 The New York Times Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/298

Author:	Linda Greenhouse

Note:	The 27 page decision is on line here

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-923.pdf

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n140/a08.html?239840

Proposal Restricts Sales Of Decongestants Nationwide

Iowa's two U.S.  senators and eight other senators have joined forces behind a proposal that would place hundreds of popular decongestant medicines behind pharmacy counters to discourage domestic methamphetamine production.

The bipartisan group is supporting the tighter restrictions on pseudoephedrine sales to control the spread of small, toxic meth-making labs, which have become a major and costly problem throughout Iowa and much of the country.  Pseudoephedrine is a key ingredient in the manufacture of meth.

"This critical legislation will help provide law enforcement officers with the tools they need to fight meth across the state and keep Iowans drug-free," Sen.  Tom Harkin said Monday in a prepared statement.

Calling meth "the most deadly, fiercely addictive and rapidly spreading drug the United States has known," the federal Combat Meth Act would provide $30 million in additional funding to fight the drug. But its most controversial feature will likely be the provision making pseudoephedrine a controlled substance nationwide.

That measure - which mirrors a state bill supported by Iowa Gov.  Tom Vilsack and roughly 150 other groups - has met strong resistance from retail groups who fear the restrictions will inconvenience consumers and harm sales.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 25 Jan 2005

Source:	Des Moines Register (IA)

Copyright:	2005 The Des Moines Register.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/123

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n144/a02.html?239841

CHATTANOOGA - Tennessee officials are asking why it took so long for Pfizer Inc.  to release an alternative decongestant without the ingredient used to make meth.

Pseudoephedrine is an active ingredient in Pfizer's Sudafed and Actifed, Schering Plough's Claritin-D and other remedies, but it can also be used to make methamphetamine in homemade labs.

Pfizer's alternative decongestant, Sudafed PE, contains phenylephrine, which can't be converted into meth.  It's been in some Pfizer products sold in Europe since 2003, said company spokeswoman Erica Johnson.

Sudafed PE goes on sale in the United States in February, and the company will promote it as an alternative to pseudoephedrine products associated with illegal meth-making, Johnson said.

"Original Sudafed will still be available, but where sales of pseudoephedrine are restricted or placed 'behind the counter,' Sudafed PE will provide consumers with a convenient 'on-the-shelf' decongestant," Pfizer Vice President Jay Kominsky wrote in a letter to some government and law enforcement officials.

In Tennessee - where meth abuse has taken root and ravaged rural communities - officials are asking why it took so long.

"We have a lot of questions about why this product was not introduced sooner in Tennessee and look forward to hearing the reasons why," said Will Pinkston, an aide to Gov.  Phil Bredesen.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005

Source:	Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)

Copyright:	2005 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/226

Author:	Bill Poovey, Associated Press

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n142/a08.html?239842

HELENA - Montana needs a drug czar to bring together the far-flung efforts to combat addiction in the state, particularly the scourge of methamphetamine, supporters of the new post told a House panel Friday.

At issue was House Bill 31, sponsored by Rep.  Don Roberts, R-Billings, which would create a Cabinet-level drug czar in Montana appointed by the governor.

A host of drug and alcohol prevention and treatment programs are up and running in Montana, Roberts told the House Human Services Committee.  But they are scattered across state and local agencies with no coordinating hand over the whole machine.  The drug czar would organize those programs, eliminate duplications and make the state's response to drugs, particularly methamphetamine, more visible and more efficient.

"It's important, through the drug czar, to bring a lot of different resources together," Roberts said, adding that he envisioned an office that was not solely focused on prosecuting drug addicts, but preventing and treating them, too.

Anna Whiting-Sorrell, family policy adviser for Gov.  Brian Schweitzer, told the committee that the governor is behind the idea and would use his position to make the post effective.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 22 Jan 2005

Source:	Billings Gazette, The (MT)

Copyright:	2005 The Billings Gazette

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/515

Author:	Jennifer Mckee

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n123/a10.html?239843

Law Enforcement & Prisons

Another innocent bystander has sustained serious injuries thanks to a "flash-bang" device used during a drug raid.  Also in New York, a judge has given the okay for police to attach global tracking devices to the cars of drug suspects.  In Australia, not even a
seven-month-old baby is above suspicion.  Such a child had his diaper searched for drugs during a raid.  No drugs were found in the diaper or elsewhere.  And, in Texas, another supposedly big drug case falls apart because an informant was making stuff up.

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.  -- An 18-year-old woman was in a hospital burn unit after being injured by an explosive device police tossed during a drug raid.  Authorities said the woman was not the target of the investigation and described the incident as an unfortunate mishap.

Rhiannon Kephart suffered second- and third-degree burns on her chest and stomach when the device, known as a flash-bang, landed in an apartment where she apparently was in bed or just getting up.

A resident of the apartment was arrested.

The explosion set off a small fire, police said.

"We feel terrible about this.  It's very unfortunate," Niagara Falls Police Superintendent John Chella said.  "The intended use of a device like this is to stun people or to divert their attention ...  not to hurt anyone."

He defended the officers' actions, saying there was concern that loaded assault weapons were inside the apartment.  A loaded gun was recovered, he said.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005

Source:	Newsday (NY)

Copyright:	2005 Newsday Inc.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/308

Author:	Associated Press

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n141/a04.html?239845

Can Secretly Attach GPS: Judge

Cops without a warrant can secretly attach Global Positioning System devices to a suspect's vehicle, according to a federal judge - who said using the gadgets is virtually the same thing as following a car along a road.  The decision handed down by U.S. Judge David Hurd in upstate Utica last week could give law enforcement officials another high-tech weapon to catch criminals, but is troubling to privacy advocates.

Hurd ruled that Robert (Bugsy) Moran, a Hells Angel member and defense attorney accused of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, had "no expectation of privacy in the whereabouts of his vehicle on a public roadway."

"Law enforcement personnel could have conducted a visual surveillance of the vehicle as it traveled on the public highways," Hurd wrote.

Assistant U.S.  Attorney David Grable, who is prosecuting Moran, strongly backed the ruling.

"Your movements on a highway aren't private," he said.  "You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is a Fourth Amendment test."

But civil liberties advocates said the decision opens the door to increased government surveillance.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005

Source:	New York Daily News (NY)

Copyright:	2005 Daily News, L.P.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/295

Author:	Derek Rose, Staff Writer

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n119/a01.html

Northern Territory police officers searched two tots - one of them a seven-month-old baby - during a drug raid, it was revealed last night.

The children's mother said she will lodge an official complaint with the Ombudsman over the incident.

Tracy Castine told the Northern Territory News last night that police had examined the two tots' nappies explaining they were looking for drugs.

The complaint surrounds the actions of five uniformed police and three detectives during the search of a Katherine residence.

"They didn't even ask my permission to search the nappies and that's what upset me the most," Tracy, 17, said.

Tracy, who did not live at the address, was visiting with her two sons - 17-month-old Hayden and seven-month-old Travis - and only arrived minutes before police executed the raid late last Friday night.

"I thought it was just ridiculous that they would open up the nappies like that looking for drugs," she said.

"It's a seven-month-old baby for Christ's sake, I'm not that stupid as a mother.  What do they take people for these days?"

"They looked like idiots going through my kids' nappies like that."

Police searched the entire house but turned up no drugs.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 25 Jan 2005

Source:	Advertiser, The (Australia)

Copyright:	2005 Advertiser Newspapers Ltd

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1

Author:	Greg McLean

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n144/a12.html?239848

The 32nd Judicial District Attorney's office announced the dismissal of drug charges against 16 individuals who were arrested in Fisher County as a result of a year-long undercover investigation.

The dismissal, according to a statement from District Attorney Mark Edwards, was done after the discovery of a confidential informant allegedly fabricating information to authorities, which led to the arrest of one of the defendants.

Fisher County Sheriff Mickey Counts identified the informant as 35-year-old Tommy Lamont Williams, originally of Sweetwater.  Counts said Williams currently lives in Rotan.

Williams was arrested and indicted on charges of fabricating physical evidence and possession of cocaine with the intent to deliver.  He is free on a $10,000 bond.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005

Source:	Sweetwater Reporter (TX)

Copyright:	2005 Sweetwater Reporter

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/3068

Author:	John Mangalonzo/Reporter

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n121/a06.html?239846

Cannabis & Hemp-

We begin this week with great news for Vermont medicinal cannabis users: the Marijuana Policy Project has offered to pay the $100 registration fee to the state-run medical cannabis program for those who can't afford it.  Since many medical users are either on fixed incomes or dependent on disability payments, this should offer real assistance to some of Vermont's neediest patients.

Our second story this week is about New Jersey Senator Nicholas P. Scutari (D-Union), who has just introduced a bill that would allow therapeutic users to grow up to 6 plants or to possess up to one ounce of cannabis.  Scutari, who is a Linden city prosecutor, has argued that legitimate medical users need to be protected from state and federal drug laws targeting recreational use.

Our third story this week highlights the recent success of the Oregon state medicinal cannabis program.  There are now nearly 10,000 registered medical users in the state, which has resulted in a $1 million surplus in the program last year.  The extra funds have allowed the state to reduce the annual registration fee on medical users from $155 to $50.  Fourth this week is a story on a gated housing development in Chilliwack, B.C.  which promises to be Canada's first grow-op free zone.  Developer Bill Coughlin insists that by making owners sign a contract that they will surrender their home if it is used to produce drugs, placing cameras at the entrance, and installing hydro meters in a centralized location, he will deter growers from moving into the neighbourhood.  However alcoholics, child-molesters, wife beaters, chronic masturbators, and intolerant, misinformed fear-mongers will apparently be more than welcome.  And lastly, a great interview with cannabis icon Tommy Chong, which includes reflections on his time in prison, and news of a new movie with long-time partner in crime Cheech Marin called "Grumpy Old Stoners." As your non-elected representative from stoner-nation, let me just say that it's about freaking time!

A marijuana advocacy group on Monday began offering financial assistance to low-income Vermonters who cannot afford to register for the state's new medical-marijuana program.

The Vermont Marijuana Policy Project will pay the $100 registration fee for anyone within 150 percent of the federal poverty level who qualifies for the new state program.

Vermont in November became the ninth state to decriminalize the possession and use of marijuana for chronically ill people suffering from certain diseases.  In Vermont, people suffering from AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis can possess, grow and consume marijuana with permission from the Department of Public Safety.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 25 Jan 2005

Source:	Times Argus (Barre, VT)

Copyright:	2005 Times Argus

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/893

Author:	John Zicconi Vermont Press Bureau

Cited:	Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n145.a04.html

A state senator who prosecutes drug abusers wants to legalize the "compassionate medical use" of marijuana to treat pain and other symptoms in seriously ill patients.

Sen.  Nicholas P. Scutari, D-Union, the Linden city prosecutor, has proposed legislation to protect people with debilitating medical conditions from arrest and prosecution for the use of medical marijuana.

New Jersey needs a law, similar to those in 11 other states, to attempt to preempt the federal ban on using medical marijuana, Scutari said Thursday.

"As a prosecutor, I see the detrimental effects of recreational marijuana," Scutari said.  "However, marijuana has been shown in many cases to give people with debilitating medical conditions a chance to lead normal lives."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 21 Jan 2005

Source:	Record, The (Hackensack, NJ)

Copyright:	2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/44

Author:	Bob Groves, Staff Writer

Cited:	Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey ( www.cmmnj.org )

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n140.a04.html

The Number of Oregon Patients Allowed to Use the Drug Soars to Nearly 10,000, Which Some See As a Success and Others a Problem

Nearly 10,000 Oregonians carry medical marijuana cards, about 20 times more than officials predicted when the program started six years ago.

The fee-based program, which gets no money from the state general fund, has grown so fast that it built up a cash surplus of nearly $1 million last year.

To reduce the surplus, officials slashed the annual fee for a medical marijuana card from $150 to $55 this month.  For Oregon Health Plan patients, the fee dropped to $20.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005

Source:	Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)

Copyright:	2005 The Oregonian

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/324

Author:	Don Colburn

Cited:	Voter Power ( www.voterpower.org )

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n139.a02.html

A British Columbia developer is building Canada's first guaranteed marijuana grow op-free subdivision, but it's unlikely the idea will catch on in York Region.

Bill Coughlin of ReMax Little Oak Realty in B.C.'s Fraser Valley said he's three weeks away from beginning sales on the 15-home gated community in Chilliwack, which will require owners to sign an agreement to give up their homes if a marijuana grow operation is found inside.

"Owners will have to sign a covenant.  If you do have a marijuana grow op, you will be punished.  You'll have to sell your home back at appraisal prices within 30 days, minus all the fines imposed for having the grow op," he said.

In addition to the covenant, there will be a central hydro meter to prevent growers from stealing hydro and chemical testing of the sewer lines to look for signs of other kinds of drug labs.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005

Source:	Liberal, The (CN ON)

Copyright:	2005, Metroland Printing, Publishing and Distributing

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/2347

Author:	Martin Derbyshire, Staff Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n138.a05.html

"We're in the midst of a flux in time and space," says Tommy Chong, on the phone from his home in L.A.

"There's things changing constantly and it's going to be interesting to see what the final outcome is going to be."

Tommy Chong, originally from Alberta and having just turned 66, his once brown beard gone white, knows a little bit about change.  His days as a carefree stoner were abruptly halted recently, when The Man caught him selling drug paraphernalia over state lines, apparently a crime deserving nine months in prison.

"They busted me for selling bongs with my picture on them.  They totally targeted me because I'm recognized as an icon and a big supporter of marijuana," says Chong.  "I think they were waiting for their chance.  I mean, if you want to scare stoners, it's a pretty effective way of doing it."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005

Source:	View Magazine (Hamilton, CN ON)

Copyright:	2005 View Magazine

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/2393

Author:	Peter Klaassen

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n134.a04.html

International News

With murderous regularity, the vigilante killings of suspected drug users continue across the Philippines.  Davao City seems to exceed other parts of the country in the numbers of the brutal executions of former drug users, which are believed to be the work of police.  The pattern, similar to that of the bloody Thai campaigns against drug users there, is that people who have (years old) prior arrests for petty drug crimes are blacklisted by police.  Then they are shot, often in broad daylight, near their homes or work.  Police release information from files on the victim, explaining the victim was involved with drugs, and the case is closed.  As in Thailand, police then claim it is all the work of rival gangs.

Canadian Justice ministers, long accustomed to watching their counterparts in the staunchly prohibitionist U.S.  enjoy huge budgets to fight the drug war, want "tougher" laws for Canadians, too. Abolition of conditional sentencing like house arrest topped the ministers' wish list.  Papers stressed the ministers' concern over glue-sniffing youngsters.

And finally this week, a 71-year-old Vancouver man had the misfortune of happening to pop some pills in front of the drug-recognition experts on the Vancouver police force.  They roughed up the would-be drug abuser, as surely they have seen U.S.  cops do so many times before, on TV.  There was just one little problem. The pill-swallowing senior, whose back had been injured years before, had a prescription for his painkillers.  Who would have guessed? The cops, who told the old man their names and badge numbers were none of his business, were eventually identified by a legal aid society that has taken the case on the man's behalf.

THE father of the latest victim killed vigilante-style on Villamor Street in Obrero is asking his son's assassin to inform him in any way why his son was killed.

"I have no idea what my son did to them.  I just hope they will call me up or send me letter so I will know why they did this," said Hermogenes Dumbrique Sr.  in the vernacular during a radio interview, Tuesday night.

Dumbrique Sr.  admitted his son was charged for violation of Republic Act 6425 or the Dangerous Drug Act some four years ago.

But he said the case was dismissed.

[snip]

Dumbrique is the 37th victim "salvaged" by vigilantes in the continuous unsolved killings in the city.

[snip]

The Talomo police still have to check whether the victim was involved in any illegal activity.

Pubdate:	Wed, 26 Jan 2005

Source:	Sunstar Davao (Philippines)

Copyright:	2005 Sunstar

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1991

Note:	also listed for feedback

Author:	Joy G.  Romares

Bookmark http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Summary+Executions

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n147.a04.html

Investigators are giving more weight to illegal drugs as reason behind the killing last Monday of a former drug pusher in Barangay Lorega, Cebu City.

[snip]

Iliga, who used to be involved in the illegal drug trade, was gunned down by two masked men on a Honda XRM motorcycle Monday afternoon in front of his tire supply store along M.J.  Cuenco Ave.

[snip]

Iliga was the 20th man killed by unidentified persons in Cebu City since Dec.  22. Most of those killed had criminal records, raising suspicions that a group has taken the law into their own hands.

Inspiration

Mayor Tomas Osmena has admitted he "inspired" the killings after he announced that he is forming an elite police force to hunt down criminal suspects.

[snip]

Monilar suspected the culprits could have just imitated the style of killing used by a group blamed for the summary execution of suspected criminals in Cebu City since Dec.  22.

Pubdate:	Wed, 26 Jan 2005

Source:	Sun.Star Cebu (Philippines)

Copyright:	2005 Sun.Star

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1690

Author:	JST

Bookmark http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Summary+Executions

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n145.a10.html

[snip]

Manitoba and other western provinces are also lobbying for the creation of new sanctions targeting "inhalant traffickers" -- people who sell common household products such as adhesives or glue remover knowing they will be used as intoxicants.

"We have legislation in Manitoba that allows for the shutting down of drug dens and sniff houses -- 20 per cent of the houses that we have shut down have been sniff houses," explained Mackintosh.

"But merchants of misery are often buying bulk products and then selling them in individualized portions, particularly to youth, and packaging it even with a bag and the intoxicating product," he said. "It's very difficult to prosecute."

[snip]

Topping the list of federal reforms urgently sought by the provinces is the abolition -- or at least the severe restriction -- of the availability of conditional sentencing.  Conditional sentences such as house arrest, curfews, electronic monitoring and other alternatives to incarceration can be imposed by judges for offenders deemed not dangerous who would otherwise be jailed for less than two years.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005

Source:	Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)

Copyright:	2005 The Leader-Post Ltd.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/361

Author:	Cristin Schmitz, CanWest News Service

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n143.a02.html

A senior citizen who spends his days collecting toys to donate to children is accusing two Vancouver police officers of assaulting him for taking prescription painkillers.

Robert "Woody" Woodward, a 71-year-old Surrey resident, will be in Provincial Court tomorrow with lawyer Howard Rubin to set a date for a hearing to determine whether charges of assault causing bodily harm will go forward.

Woodward, a former steel worker whose back was crushed in an industrial accident, claims he was sitting in the passenger seat of his car on Sept.  4 outside the West Hotel and had just put the painkillers in his mouth when he was grabbed by constables Ryley Swanson and J.  Whittaker.

"The next thing I know, I'm against the wall.  I'm spitting the pills out," he said.  Woodward claims the alleged rough treatment cut his shoulder and hands and caused a scar on his stomach to tear and bleed. His watch was also broken.

[snip]

One of the officers apologized, but the other didn't, he said.  Neither gave him their name or badge number.

"I asked for them, but they said it was none of my business," Woodward said.

[snip]

After trying six times, the Pivot Legal Society finally got the names Jan.  10.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005

Source:	Province, The (CN BC)

Copyright:	2005 The Province

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/476

Author:	Matthew Ramsey

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n135.a01.html

NY TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST REPORTERS SMEAR MISSING TEXANS AS NARCOS

By Al Giordano and Bill Conroy at NarcoNews.com

http://www.narconews.com/Issue35/article1156.html

BUSH PROHIBITS PAYING OF COMMENTATORS

By Anne E.  Kornblut

January 27, 2005

WASHINGTON, Jan.  26 - With his administration under fire for questionable publicity practices, President Bush explicitly forbade his cabinet on Wednesday to pay commentators to promote his policies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/politics/27columnist.html

WAR ON DRUGS IN COLOMBIA

The International Crisis Group has just released a new report on 'War and Drugs in Colombia.' The executive summary and recommendations as well as a link to download the entire report is at:

http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3238

DRUGS OF ABUSE 2005 EDITION IS NOW AVAILABLE

You can access Drugs of Abuse online at:

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/abuse/index.htm

Or download a copy in PDF from:

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/abuse/doa-p.pdf

CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Last:	1/25/05 - Nora Callahan, director of the November Coalition,

publisher of Razorwire

Next:	02/01/05 - Rich Watkins Warden of Texas' Holladay prison.

MPEG:	http://www.drugtruth.net/MP3/FDBCB_012505.mp3

REAL:	http://www.drugtruth.net/ram2rm/to012505.ram

Archive:	http://www.drugtruth.net/

420 DRUG WAR NEWS

Philippe Lucas of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society on legal heroin in Canada

MPEG:	http://www.drugtruth.net/MP3/420012705.mp3

COURT OVERTURNS ALLIANCE'S INITIATIVE

Friday, January 28, 2005

In a major blow to drug policy reform efforts in the nation's capitol, the DC Court of Appeals has overturned Measure 62, the Drug Policy Alliance's "treatment instead of incarceration" initiative.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/012805measure62.cfm

GOOGLE VIDEO SEARCH

Google is now indexing TV shows based on the closed captioning data in each broadcast.

http://video.google.com/

Check out cannabis stories:

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=marijuana+%7C+pot++%7C+cannabis

MODERATE USE OF CANNABIS "SAFE," STUDY SAYS

January 27, 2005 - Oxford, United Kingdom

Oxford, United Kingdom: Moderate cannabis use, even long-term, is "relatively safe" when compared to the health effects of other recreational intoxicants, according to a scientific review published in the February issue of the journal Current Opinion in Pharmacology.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6415

LOOK AT 'DRUG WAR' / By Suzanne Wills

Re: "A Culture of Murder," Sunday Page One.

Kudos to The Dallas Morning News for correctly identifying the cause of Dallas' obscene murder rate as the "drug trade" instead of Police Chief David Kunkle's more abstruse term, the "drug issue."

In 1900, when one could legally buy cannabis, cocaine and morphine, the national murder rate was 1.2 per 100,000 people.  It soared to 9.7 per 100,000 when alcohol was illegal.  It dropped during the 1950s but soared again after Richard Nixon declared the drug war we fight today.

The harder the drug war is fought, the more lucrative and dangerous the drug trade.  The more kids grow up without hope for a life outside the slums, the more attractive it becomes.

Suzanne Wills
Drug Policy Forum of Texas, Dallas

Pubdate:	Thu, 20 Jan 2005

Source:	Dallas Morning News (TX)

New MAP/DrugSense Staff Member Draws Activists Closer To The Media

By DrugSense

The Media Awareness Project of DrugSense is getting a little more personal.

The organization has established a new staff position designed to help activists make an impact on media coverage by interacting more closely with the media.

Steve Heath, who includes his time as a MAP/DrugSense volunteer since 1999 as just one of a broad range of drug policy reform experiences, has started work as Media Activism Facilitator.

Steve wants to help activists get their points addressed in the media, particularly through radio interviews, as well as letters to the editor in print publications.

For years, MAP offered the basic tools to do just that, but now the Media Activism Facilitator will help to train and coach local activist groups about how to get media attention, and how to use that attention effectively.

Targeting specific areas and groups, he won't be fishing for them, so much as teaching them how to fish.  Over time, with proper training, much of this work will transfer to the groups themselves.

Steve believes his efforts will help to boost the number of letters the editor archived by MAP each year, as well as the number of broadcast interviews documented at MAP's On Air archive.

When Steve started learning about the drug war, he saw the media as big a part of the problem, and MAP as a big part of the remedy.

"I realized early on that the media needed to be moved on this issue," he says.  Steve has been trying to move the media as a volunteer, having at least 126 published letters in the MAP archive, ranking him among MAP's top ten most published authors.

He now brings his knowledge to MAP readers and subscribers.  He say he can help activists to get a letter published in 21 days.  Heath will also guide activists in getting more on-air minutes with local radio and TV to raise awareness of drug policy related topics.

Right now, Steve is focusing his work on Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Texas.

For more information on Steve and his work on facilitating media activism, see http://mapinc.org/resource/maf.htm

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair, "The Jungle"

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