| April 8, 2005 #394 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) POLICE: TEEN TURNS IN PARENTS FOR GROWING POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
CAMBRIDGE, N.Y. -- Two Jackson residents were caught growing 19 small marijuana plants in their bedroom closet Monday after their daughter, a Cambridge Central School student, turned them in, said police. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 15-year-old girl, one of the couple's three children, went to
school officials on Monday. Officials then called the village police
department, who subsequently turned it over to state police
investigators. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
New York State Police Investigator Richard Painter said the teenager
was concerned for her two younger siblings' welfare, causing her to
report her parents. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tammy Reynolds, 34, is said to have hit and pushed her oldest daughter into a bedroom wall during an argument last week in their State Route 22 home, leaving a hole in the wall, the daughter told police. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Both Reynolds and her husband, Harry J. Reynolds, 35, were arrested by state police officers on a number of charges Monday, including the combined charges of unlawfully growing cannabis, two counts of harassment and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) DRUG-DEALING GRANNY SPARED JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A 66-year-old grandmother from Northumberland has been spared jail by
a judge for drug dealing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Judge David Hodson said he would not make a martyr of Patricia Tabram,
who had admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply from her
home. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The former chef appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on Friday after making cannabis-laced soups and casseroles for herself and friends. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tabram was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
She was arrested at her home at Humshaugh near Hexham, after police
seized 31 cannabis plants growing in her loft and another from her
hallway table. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Judge Hodson, the Recorder of Newcastle, said the offence was so
serious only a jail sentence was appropriate, however he would not be
making her a martyr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
He said: "People in this part of the world cannot fail to have noticed that you have been caught up in a media circus. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) NO SECOND CHANCES? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Researcher Finds Flaws In Public Housing's One-Strike Rule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Over and over, the same story: "They denied me ... They said I had a
criminal background ... I didn't do any time, I spent one year on a
stat [a period of time where the court file remains open, but charges
are dismissed if no further arrests occur]. They told me I could get a
hearing, but I didn't want to bother. What good would it have done? I
got three kids -- one boy and two girls. I just keep moving around,
living here and living there."
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"They" are officials at a housing authority in Baltimore, and what they denied the single mother of three was access to public housing, the housing of last resort for many of the nation's poorest citizens. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corinne Carey, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, a non-profit organization dedicated to upholding human rights laws around the world, interviewed employees and tenants at 17 local housing authorities around the country for her report, "No Second Chances," which was released last year. Carey will be in Louisville on April 13 to talk about her findings, at a forum hosted by the Metropolitan Housing Coalition in observance of national Affordable Housing Month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carey spent about 9 months looking at the so-called one-strike rules
instituted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in the
mid-1990s. The idea was to reduce crime in housing projects around the
country by limiting the number of troublemakers living in public
housing projects. Toward that end, the federal agency declared that
sex offenders and anyone convicted of, or even arrested for, the
manufacture of crystal meth are banned from public housing for life.
Others can be, and are, barred from entry because of arrests that
happened as many as 20 years prior to applying for public housing;
suspicion of alcohol or drug abuse; the behavior of a relative on
public housing grounds (even if the resident doesn't live with you and
isn't on the lease); or really just about anything else the housing
authority can think of. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) CROP REPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Paranoid Growers, Outnumbered Cops, Guardsnakes: Dispatches From
The Pot Belt
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THE OLD MAN'S STORY begins in a cabin in the deepest hills of
Eastern Kentucky. "The state police," he says, emphasizing the
pole, "come up the road on his four-wheeler. I could hear him
coming from a long, long way. He comes up and I'm sitting on
the porch and he says to me, 'Could I buy a glass of water?'
He was so thirsty, said he was 'terrified' driving up these
hollers, looking for pot."
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The storyteller is a Bear Cat of a man, with beady and watchful
blue eyes and clad in denim overalls and a leather biker vest
and cap. It's in the wee hours of the night, and he's drunk and
flying on exotic painkillers. "I said, 'I got water and I got
ice cold beer.'"
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Because bootlegging is a common crime in Eastern Kentucky, the
old man said he couldn't sell the beer to the man but he'd
gladly give him one. The old criminal and the state trooper
spend the next hour chugging beers and telling tales. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"He drank two beers and asked where he could piss at. I told him around the back and he went on the other side where I had my pot plants, four of them, every bit of six feet tall. He went over there and pissed on my purdiest pot plant, 'n' either he didn't know what he was looking for, or he was scared." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The federal government is quick to threaten and persecute anyone
accused of drug-related impropriety, yet when its own
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Also this week, an Ohio school district hired a private agency to
befriend students before setting them up for drug stings, and
firefighters in Arizona are fighting more intrusive drug testing
policies. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) DRUG BUILDING IS GOV'T-OWNED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HUD: No Idea Of Goings-On
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A Bushwick appartment building where neighborhood activists charge
drug dealing was so rampant residents "live in hell" is owned by the
federal government, the Daily News has learned. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A nearby apartment building where drugs also are being sold is
subsidized with city funds. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Gimme a break," fumed the Rev. Mgsr. John Powis, who has been
leading a crusade to stop local drug dealers. The tenants "live
through hell day in and day out," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"If it was another type of neighborhood - a high-class neighborhood
- everybody knows they wouldn't allow good families to live in those
conditions."
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The building at 135 Bleecker St., across the street from Powis'
church, St. Barbara's, is owned by the federal Department of Housing
and Urban Development. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Drug dealers operated out of the three-story building for more than five years until a fire ripped through the third floor last month. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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"We have not heard from any sources that there may be any type of
drug activity taking place at the building," HUD spokesman Adam
Glantz said. "This is an active tenants group, and I'm sure they
would have contacted us if there was a problem."
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But police have long known about drugs there. Every month, Powis and
local leaders hand over a list to local cops of a dozen drug dealers
and locations. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) NATIONAL DRUG OFFICE CLAIMS IMMUNITY IN CAMPAIGN FINANCE CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HELENA -- The national drug czar's office has claimed immunity from
a complaint asserting the agency and one of its officials violated
Montana's campaign finance laws last year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Marijuana Policy Project claimed the czar's office should have
reported how much it spent to fight a Montana ballot measure
legalizing marijuana for medical use. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In a letter to state Political Practices Commissioner Gordon Higgins, a lawyer for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy said the deputy director's visit to Montana last year and his comments against the initiative were part of his official duties, and he does not have to obey state campaign laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"As a result, Deputy Director (Scott) Burns and the Office of National Drug Control Policy respectfully decline to respond to the complaint .," wrote Edward Jurith, general counsel for the agency. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Higgins could not be reached for comment Monday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) 5 U.S. SOLDIERS ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING COCAINE FROM COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - Five U.S Army soldiers are under investigation
for allegedly trying to smuggle some 32 pounds of cocaine from
Colombia aboard a U.S. military aircraft, U.S. and Colombian
officials said Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The soldiers were detained Tuesday as a result of the investigation,
said Lt. Col. Eduardo Villavicencio, a spokesman for the Miami-based
U.S. Southern Command.
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He would not disclose where the five are being held, other than "in
the United States."
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[snip]
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It was the second major scandal to hit the U.S. military in
Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 1999, the wife of the former commander of U.S. anti-drug
operations in Colombia, Laurie Hiett, pleaded guilty to shipping
$700,000 in cocaine and heroin to New York City in diplomatic
parcels. She was sentenced to five years in prison.
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Her husband, Col. James C. Hiett, later pleaded guilty to helping
his wife launder US$25,000 in illicit profits and was given a
five-month prison term and a dishonorable discharge. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) 16 STUDENTS LED AWAY IN HANDCUFFS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Undercover Drug Investigation Led To Arrests At Milford High | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MIAMI TWP. - Milford High School took a high-profile step in an attempt to curb a drug problem, paying an undercover private investigator to conduct a seven-month investigation that ended Friday with 16 students arrested on charges of selling drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The students - four of them 18 years old - were accused of selling
marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, the stimulant Extacy and the
prescription anti-seizure medication Klonopin to the female
investigator who posed as a student. The drug sales took place
inside the school, on school grounds and at a business nearby, but
all of the transactions started as conversations at the school, said
Valerie Miller, spokeswoman for the Milford Exempted Village School
District. And some of the money changed hands at the school, she
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The district paid the investigator's firm $60,000. School officials
wondered whether anyone would question the expenditure, Miller said,
but decided soon after the Friday morning bust that it was worth the
money. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The undercover investigator, from a firm in Dayton, had posed as a student since August. She befriended students and attended their parties, but police emphasized she did not use the drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(9) FLAG FIREFIGHTERS CONTEST CITY'S DRUG-TESTING POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Flagstaff firefighters absolutely refuse to submit to random drug
and alcohol testing. It's a violation, they say, of their
constitutional rights. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
City officials say they have the right to not only require firefighters to submit to the tests but fire those who don't. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Further, if firefighters test positive for illegal substances, they
will be fired. If they test positive for alcohol on duty, they will
undergo a rehabilitation period and more testing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Now, a judge will decide. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Attorneys for the city and the Flagstaff firefighters' union will
square off Friday in Coconino County Superior Court to present their
cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (10-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Like the policy section above, this week's police and prison section
is filled with anti-drug authorities being caught red-handed, and
then denying that it's a big deal. At least the Las Vegas
Journal-Review is asking hard questions about an officer who planted
drugs on a suspect. In Oregon, an anti-drug task force is disbanding
due to apparent incompetence, though some signs point to more
nefarious problems. An Indiana drug court program is handing out
checks from funds it doesn't have. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In Dallas, finally a guilty verdict in the city's fake drug scandal.
And, if there was any doubt left that tough laws for minor drug
offenders is driving the prison crisis in Alabama, a new report will
lay those questions to rest. The report says that the state's system
is jammed at twice its official capacity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: METRO COP PLANTED DRUGS IN SUSPECT'S CAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Says Suspensions Will Suffice
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There have long been rumors that police canine officers carry around
small quantities of contraband drugs which they can use to
contaminate a motorist's car, causing their dogs to "alert" on the
vehicle and thus justifying an otherwise illegal search of the
interior and its occupants. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Many have dismissed such stories as an urban legend. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
But what would happen if a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan police
officers were actually found to have participated in such an
activity? Would all be forgiven with a wrist-slap, if they merely
said it was "a mistake"?
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While officers were in the process of arresting local resident Mark
Lilly last July on suspicion of selling harmless legal substances
and claiming they were narcotics, an official police spokesman now
admits, canine officer David Newton placed real controlled drugs in
Mr. Lilly's vehicle. He has since contended he did so "as a training
exercise" for his dog. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
It seems pointless to ask whether contaminating active crime scenes
is an accepted time, method, or location for a canine "training
exercise." A better question might be what Officer Newton was doing
carrying narcotics to an active crime scene in the first place. Has
he been charged with possession of those narcotics? Were they of a
quantity that would get anyone else automatically charged with
"possession with intent to sell"?
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[snip]
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(11) MID-VALLEY DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO DISBAND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
ALBANY, Ore. - Mishandled evidence in more than 1,300 cases has led to the disbanding of VALIENT, the Valley Interagency Narcotics Team. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Auditors found that 345 firearms, $10,423 in cash, and drugs in
various quantities were unaccounted for and that many records had
been destroyed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Oregon Department of Justice submitted the cases to a Linn
County grand jury, which did not return indictments. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albany Police Chief Joe Simon, chairman of VALIANT's governing board, said the investigation showed nothing criminal occurred. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) CONSULTING DEALS RAISE QUESTIONS FOR FUTURE DRUG COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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HAMMOND - Without contracts or detailed invoices, two local
attorneys have drawn checks for at least $15,000 each to work as
consultants helping to set up a program that has yet to receive
funding to operate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The attorneys met regularly as part of a planning group for a future drug court program, but it's not clear what work was performed for their $1,458 monthly payments. Their invoices don't say, and contracts referenced in the bills don't appear to exist. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
City Judge Jeffrey Harkin paid Hammond attorney John Cantrell to plan for his role as defender in the drug court. Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Emory Christian was paid to plan her role as prosecutor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christian defended her role in the program, saying she had
volunteered hundreds of hours before she began getting paid in
April. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Christian said the group has produced several detailed documents
that are needed to secure federal money to run the program,
including local court procedures and lists of resources for housing,
employment and drug counseling. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's absolutely a prerequisite that if you're going to start a drug court, all your volunteers have to be trained," Christian said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The consulting deals were paid for with a $35,000 payment last March
from the discretionary spending account of riverboat casino tax
revenue controlled by Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(13) EX-POLICEMAN FOUND GUILTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DALLAS -- The former police officer most closely involved in the
city's fake-drug scandal has been convicted of lying to his
superiors and a judge after a three-week trial. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Former Cpl. Mark Delapaz was stunned as the jury returned in only an
hour Thursday with the guilty verdict. The sentencing phase of the
trial began Friday. Delapaz could get probation to 10 years in
prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
More than two dozen people -- most of them Mexican-Americans -- were falsely accused by Delapaz and his narcotics crew and spent months in jail before it was established that the purported cocaine confiscated in the raids was actually gypsum or billiard chalk. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Special prosecutor Dan Hagood convinced jurors that Delapaz knew that his chief informant, Enrique Alonso, was crooked long before he stopped working with him and that he lied to a judge to obtain a questionable arrest warrant in order to continue the drug stings. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(14) STUDY SAYS SENTENCING CROWDS PRISONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
MONTGOMERY -- Alabama's sentences for minor drug offenders are among
the harshest in the nation, and some researchers say the stiff
punishments create racial disparities among offenders and continue
to fill state prisons beyond capacity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A study by the Equal Justice Initiative points out that more than
half of prisoners locked up for first-degree marijuana possession
are black men, while nearly three-fourths of felony DUI offenders
are white men. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
But driving while drunk doesn't even become a felony until the
driver has been convicted on DUI four times, and the average
sentence is nearly half that for first-degree marijuana possession
-- creating a racial disparity, the study says. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Even though penalties for drunk driving have become more severe,
they are still very modest compared to the punishments for drug
offenses," said Mark Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing
Project, a Washington-based consulting firm for criminal justice
research. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"And you think about the people who are affected by this: Drunk
drivers are predominantly white and the majority of drug offenders
are African-American. There's two forms of substance abuse and two
very different approaches, but both of them can be harmful in a
different way."
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A first-degree marijuana possession can result if a person has a
prior misdemeanor conviction or if it's a first offense with 2.2
pounds of marijuana or more. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The average sentence for first-degree marijuana possession is 8.4
years, while the average felony DUI sentence is 4.8 years, according
to the Alabama Department of Corrections. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jefferson County Drug Court Judge Pete Johnson said blacks are not the only ones getting harsh sentences for drug-related offenses under Alabama's law -- it's a problem for all drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"We have overreacted totally with zero tolerance and a lot of people are getting swept up for minor things and they have a little bit of drugs," said Johnson, a former member of the sentencing commission. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
There has been an impact on the prison system: Drug-related offenses
made up 3,202 of the 10,267 prison admissions in 2004 -- nearly
twice the number of robbery, murder, rape and manslaughter entries
combined, according to the Alabama Sentencing Commission's 2005
report. Despite a second parole board to speed up paroles for
nonviolent offenders, the new inmates have pushed Alabama's prison
population to more than twice its designed capacity. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Well, with yet another great NORML conference behind us, it was
obvious upon returning from San Francisco that cannabis news stops
for no man. Leading the list this week is an exciting new study from
Switzerland showing that THC appears to prevent the build up of
immune cells that can lead to atherosclerosis - or heart disease -
in mice. The study, which will appear in the next issue of Nature,
was conducted by a team of researchers lead by prof. Francois Mach,
and could point to an important new tool in addressing this severe
and hard to treat condition. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In other West Coast news, San Francisco Mayor Newsom and the Board of Supervisors have imposed a 45-day moratorium on the opening of new compassion clubs in the city so that appropriate regulations can be developed and implemented. A recent crackdown on the number of clubs in Oakland has apparently led to the relocation of some to San Francisco, which now boasts nearly 40 medical dispensaries. Nine clubs are currently working with city Representative Mirkarimi to develop suitable business standards for these unique organizations. This week we also offer an outsiders perspective of this medical marijuana mecca from the Vancouver Sun's own Ian Mulgrew, who had a chance to visit and write a great article about "Oakland's noble pot experiment" while he was in town for the NORML conference. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sad news from Indonesia, where Australian Schapelle Corby's lawyers expressed pessimism in regards to her court case. Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison has assured her supporters that his government would do all that it could to prevent her execution and to repatriate her should she be found guilty of smuggling 4.1kg of cannabis into Indonesia. And lastly this week, a great interview with Allen St.Pierre from the Eureka Times-Standards in which the new Executive Director of NORML USA discusses the future of the organization and of cannabis policy reform in America. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense would like to thank NORML for yet another fabulous
gathering of activists, researchers, doctors, and politicians who
once again came together under one freaky, tie-dyed, pot-leaf laden
flag with the hope of replacing cannabis prohibition with a system
based on social justice, common sense and compassion. See you all
there next year!
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(15) CANNABIS MAY STOP HEART DISEASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The active ingredient of cannabis can prevent blood vessels from
becoming blocked by atherosclerosis, the inflammation that is the
primary cause of heart disease and stroke. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The disease is halted when mice are given low doses of the
substance, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, according to a study
published today in the journal Nature by Prof Francois Mach and
colleagues at the Geneva University Hospital. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Atherosclerosis occurs when the build-up of immune cells in blood vessels causes narrowing of the arteries. THC, seems to prevents the recruitment of immune cells called leukocytes by binding to proteins called CB2 receptors on the surface of cells in the vessels. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) GREEN RUSH: S.F. CRACKS DOWN ON THE PROLIFERATION OF MARIJUANA CLUBS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
A boom in San Francisco marijuana dispensaries has triggered a round
of high-profile recriminations that has split city hall and roiled
the medical cannabis community. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sup. Ross Mirkarimi was already quietly working with dispensary
owners to develop regulations when Mayor Gavin Newsom seized the
media spotlight with reactionary concerns that sent all sides
jockeying for position before the hammer comes down. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Board of Supervisors was set to approve a 45-day moratorium on
new clubs March 29 (after the Bay Guardian's press time). The night
before, a police community relations forum in the South of Market
district attracted almost 100 people who heard complaints from
neighbors about the Mendohealing Clinic dispensary on Lafayette
Street. San Francisco police captain Tim Hettrich, who heads the
narcotics unit, told the crowd that medical cannabis use was a
"great lie" because people with minor afflictions were allegedly
able to secure doctors' recommendations for marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) OAKLAND'S NOBLE POT EXPERIMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
I emerged from the BART subway station squinting into the sunlight
glinting off a red Ferrari ostentatiously parked outside the
Cannabis Buyer's Co-op. The licence plate read: "Growhydroponics
com."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inside the co-op there was the usual head-shop collection of
vapourizers, rolling papers, lighters, paraphernalia and hemp
products. Those with a doctor's recommendation or a recognized
cannabis-patient card -- good across the state -- can also buy from
a menu of cannabis products -- kif, several strains of marijuana,
hashish and selection of edibles. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Next door, the hydroponic shop offers equipment and advice on
growing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Two doors down is the Bulldog Cafe -- named after one of the legendary coffeeshops in Amsterdam that successfully challenged the Netherlands' pot prohibition policies in the mid-1970s. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Here, recreational users can order from a menu of cannabis products,
sit and enjoy a cappuccino and a smoke. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) PM WOULD OPPOSE CORBY'S EXECUTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Federal Government will "go into overdrive" to stop accused Gold Coast drug smuggler Schapelle Corby being executed should an Indonesian court find her guilty and impose the death penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Justice Minister Chris Ellison yesterday said everything possible
would be done to keep Corby alive, including personal
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"I am not going to pre-empt any outcomes, but I can tell you what
the Government's policy is . . . relating to the death penalty and
that is we go into overdrive in making representations to avoid that
being carried out," he told the Ten Network. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) NEW NORML EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TALKS OF THE GROUPS LONGEVITY, (Top)FUTURE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Allen St. Pierre has been with the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws since 1991, when he was hired on as the
communications director. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In January he was named as the organization's new executive
director, taking the reigns from NORML's founder Keith Stroup and
guiding a movement that after three decades has its most momentum to
date. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"NORML is essentially an institution at this point," St. Pierre
said. "It's a brand, people know what it is, they know what we do
and yet they don't see it on TV, they don't hear it on the radio and
they don't pick it up and see it in the newspaper."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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International News
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Never mind that cocaine prices have fallen to new lows in the U.S.,
pay no attention to the unchanging acreage devoted to coca crops.
Colombian Presidente Alvaro Uribe swears more of the same
U.S.-funded coca crop spraying is just what he wants. While the cold
logic of supply and demand tells the real story -- cocaine
prohibition isn't working -- don't expect prohibitionists in
Washington D.C. and their faithful Colombian drug war camp-followers
to change course. The drug war gravy train has been good to them.
"The inescapable conclusion we can draw from this data is that our
fumigation program is not discouraging Colombian peasants from
growing coca," noted one policy expert. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
North America's first safe-injection center site in Vancouver, Canada has been a success, saving lives from overdose and halting spread of HIV from dirty needles. Now, officials in Toronto should open a safe injection site in that city as well, says Toronto Medical Officer of Health, Dr.David McKeown. Toronto city councillor Kyle Rae, agrees. Safe injection sites, argues the councillor, can improve communities because they take users off the streets. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
In Ottawa, Canada, a needle exchange program began in April to distribute pipes for crack cocaine, in order to help reduce the spread of Hepatitis C. Makeshift crack pipes (the only type available under prohibition) cause sores which can spread disease when the pipes are shared. Safe crack-pipe distribution programs in Toronto have been successfully in operation for ten years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, an article from the Philippine newspaper The Freeman pointing out some disturbing facts about summary executions of drug suspects there. Many of the victims were former arrestees, petty drug users and sellers. Police don't solve such cases, and witnesses refuse to testify. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines has requested President Gloria Arroyo to intervene due to lack of police interest. Don't expect much to change: Arroyo has winked at summary killings in the recent past, and heaped praise on outspoken death squad proponents such as Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(20) CRITICS SAY COLOMBIA DATA SHOW DRUG WAR FAILING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country's Leader Vows To Continue With Fumigation
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - President Alvaro Uribe vowed Friday to press
ahead with U.S.-financed fumigation of cocaine-producing crops, even
as a new White House report found that a massive aerial spraying
offensive last year failed to make a dent in the area of coca
cultivation in Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Critics of Washington's effort to crush drug production in Colombia,
the world's main cocaine-producing country and a major supplier of
heroin, say the report indicates the Colombian and U.S. governments
are losing the war on drugs, which has cost more than $3 billion in
U.S. aid here since 2000.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"The U.S. government's own data provides stark evidence that the
drug war is failing to achieve its most basic objectives," said John
Walsh of the Washington Office on Latin America, a think tank
critical of U.S. drug policies in Colombia.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy
said that despite a record-setting aerial eradication offensive,
281,694 acres of coca remained in Colombia at the end of 2004,
slightly more than the 281,323 acres that were left over in 2003
after spraying. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Walsh also pointed out that prices of cocaine and heroin have been
steadily dropping over the years on U.S. streets, indicating
availability of the drugs has not diminished. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adam Isacson, a Colombia expert with the Center for International Policy in Washington, said the White House report released on Good Friday demonstrates that the peasants, most of whom live in poverty and who have few alternate means of employment, are constantly replanting coca after their crops are sprayed by the crop dusters. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"The inescapable conclusion we can draw from this data is that our
fumigation program is not discouraging Colombian peasants from
growing coca," Isacson said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Uribe, in an interview with local RCN radio, said he was undeterred
by the report by the White House drug office. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(21) SAFE INJECTION SITE PROPOSED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Takes Addicts Off Street: Health Officer
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Could Be Modelled On Vancouver Idea
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Toronto should consider opening a centre where drug addicts can
openly shoot up heroin and smoke crack, says the city's medical
officer of health. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"It's a new way to try and reduce the harm associated with injecting
drugs . Safer injection sites can reduce the open use of drugs on
the street and drug overdose. I think it's something we have to
seriously look at here in the city of Toronto," said Dr. David
McKeown yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
One idea is a supervised injection site or smoking room, like the
one opened in Vancouver two years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Councillor Kyle Rae, who leads the city team, said supervised
injection sites improve neighbourhoods battling with drug use,
because they take users off the streets and into a safe place where
they can access counselling and medical care. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Users have the opportunity "to be presented with options about moving to another drug, or moving to methadone, using counselling, getting calmness in their lives -- which is something they don't have as they race around the back laneways, avoiding the police ... finding their dealer and then finding a place to shoot up," said Rae (Ward 27, Toronto Centre-Rosedale). "We have to break that cycle." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(22) FREE CRACK KITS HIT CITY STREETS TO CURB SPREAD OF DISEASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ottawa's Site needle exchange program will start distributing crack
equipment to drug users next month in an attempt to curb
skyrocketing rates of Hepatitis C among addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beginning April 1, crack smokers will be able to receive clean glass
stems, mouthpieces, and safe inhalation information from various
locations in Centretown. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The City of Toronto has been distributing crack kits for ten years. Frank Coburn, a harm reduction outreach worker with Street Health in Toronto, says the program has virtually eliminated the use of unsafe crack pipes and has encouraged users to seek medical treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"You hardly ever see any of the old pipes any longer -- everybody comes here and picks up new ones. We can't keep up," says Coburn. "People who come in to access crack pipes in this establishment also find time now to attend to other health needs that they have." | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(23) VIGILANTE KILLINGS: 44 VICTIMS LATER COPS ARE STILL IN THE DARK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The number of victims of so-called "vigilantes" has reached 44 in
the past three months and yet the police have nobody to point to the
killers or anything to jumpstart the investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Nobody showed willingness to cooperate with us on matters of identifying the perpetrators. Information is very important in criminal investigation because it answers who did it," Monilar said. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[smip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The absence of solid development in the wave of killings prompted
the members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to seek for the
intervention of no less then President Gloria Arroyo. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Most of those killed were former detainees of the Bagong Buhay
Rehabilitation Center, either as drug pushers or robbers, while
others were tagged as notorious criminals. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
NORML REPORT ON "DRUGGED DRIVING"
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
NORML's new, comprehensive report on "drugged driving," drug testing, and DUID legislation is now available online at http://www.norml.org | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HTML and PDF versions of the report, "You Are Going Directly To Jail --
DUID Legislation: What It Means, Who's Behind It, and Strategies to
Prevent It," are available here:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
HTML VERSION:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
PDF VERSION:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
REEFER REFUGEES
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
By Martin A. Lee, Razor. Posted April 5, 2005.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
No American has ever been granted Canadian refugee status because of
the war on drugs, but the times they may be changing. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
KIRK TOUSAW IN SAN FRANCISCO
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
BCMP Campaign Manager is joined by Phillipe Lucas at the San Fran
NORML Conference to speak about Canada and it's marijuana sphere
of influence. He visits a medical grow op, and more.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
RICHARD COWAN IN SAN FRANCISCO
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pot TV's anchor gives an inspired speech at the NORML Conference held
last weekend. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
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MEDICAL ALERT FOR POT SMOKERS
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - Health officials in Vancouver have issued a warning about
the danger of sharing marijuana joints, after the practice was linked
to several recent cases of meningococcal disease. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Health Alert (PDF):
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG POLICIES A FAILURE
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
As I read about the first-grader in Chicago Heights who brought
crack cocaine to school [news story, March 21], I was reminded of
the harsh anti-drug legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress in the
mid-1980s. Congress was spurred by a sports-related scandal after
college basketball star Len Bias died in the wake of cocaine use.
The politicians wanted to protect young people like Bias by locking
up many other young people. The incident in Chicago Heights
demonstrates the success of that effort, while federal prisons bulge
with drug offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While refusing to address their past failures regarding drug policy,
federal lawmakers have instead inserted themselves into another
alleged substance abuse crisis: performance-enhancing drugs in
baseball. If Congress stays involved, and history is any indicator,
steroid use will become widespread in Little Leagues within a
decade. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Review: "Under The Influence"
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviewed by Stephen Young
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Under the Influence: The Disinformation Guide to Drugs" edited by
Preston Peet, Disinformation, 312 pages, $24.95
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While reading my local newspaper one day last month, I found no less
than six stories related to drug prohibition. None of those articles
actually contains the word "prohibition."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mainstream media publications pay attention to different facets of
the drug war, but almost always from the same judgmental angle. Just
as certain words aren't generally used, certain perspectives aren't
generally explored. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Under the Influence: The Disinformation Guide to Drugs," a broad
mix of essays, reflections and reporting about the drug war, offers
a nice counterpoint the predictable voices usually broadcast on the
subject of drugs. The book's editor, veteran drug war correspondent
Preston Peet, gathered a diverse group of contributors who venture
well beyond typical boundaries in terms of subject matter and
experience. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some author names will seem quite familiar to those who follow drug
policy; others won't. Many of the pieces explore personal experience
of different aspects of the drug war: the shoddy science, the
camouflaged motives, the violent disrespect for human rights. But
there are also more positive articles concerned with new ways to
deal with drug policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The book even gives voice to a drug warrior, albeit a clearly
reformed one. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Tales of a Recovering Drug Warrior" by Eric E. Sterling, features a
frank recounting the author's experience in many phases of the drug
war. It includes an startling behind-the-scenes look at the harsh
federal drug legislation of the 1980s, which might seem like parody
if the real results weren't so tragic. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Describing the process of a writing a bill that would introduce
mandatory minimums for drugs into the federal prison system,
Sterling observes:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"For the only time in my experience of over nine years on the staff
of the House Judiciary Committee, we began our process of marking-up
a bill in subcommittee without a hearing, indeed without even having
a bill, or a draft of a bill, that had been printed and circulated
to the public, or to the interested federal agencies. We were racing
the clock and making it up as we went along."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other highlights from "Under the Influence" include a brief but
insightful history of the drug war by Valerie Vande Panne; a
provocative challenge to apathetic pot-heads by Steve Wishnia; and
an exploration of chemical bigotry by my DrugSense colleague Mary
Jane Borden. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
While there are a number of other fine pieces in the book, a couple
inclusions don't stand up to the others. And, as with any collection
of this nature, some points get repeated more than twice across
various articles. But those are small distractions in an otherwise
good compilation. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"Under the Influence" succeeds overall because of its varied and
fresh perspectives. It provides an effective assault on the
deceitful brutality of the drug war - one individual voice at a
time. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly and author of
Maximizing Harm - http://www.maximizingharm.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
"The worst enemy of human hope is not brute facts, but men of brains
who will not face them." - Max Eastman
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
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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 ()
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