| July 22, 2005 #409 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) UK: DRUNKEN YOBS BLAMED FOR RECORD VIOLENT CRIMES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
For the first time in criminal history, more than a million people have suffered the pain and fear of a violent attack in just one year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Official figures published today reveal 1,035,046 cases of violence
against the person last year - four times higher than when Labour came
to power. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sex crimes and violent robberies added almost 150,000 more to the
total. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Half the attacks were blamed on drunken yobs, despite Tony Blair's
repeated promises to crack down on binge drinking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Half of all people caught smoking cannabis have escaped with only a verbal warning since the Government softened the law on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Yesterday's crime figures revealed 85,500 were caught in possession of
the drug last year. But 43,000 of them were let off with a formal
warning. In the past, they would have faced a possible court appearance
and criminal record. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) FIVE MEXICAN POLICE OFFICERS GUNNED DOWN IN FOUR DAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two police officers were gunned down Wednesday while on their way to
work, bringing to five the number of authorities that have been slain
in this violent border city in four days. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ricardo Uvalle Escobedo and Jose de Jesus Morin Salinas were killed by
unidentified assailants in separate incidents while en route from their
homes to the Nuevo Laredo police station, said investigator Oscar
Sepulveda. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Numerous spent Kalashnikov rifle shells were found near the vehicles of
both officers, who were killed in different parts of the city,
Sepulveda said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The shootings came just hours after two men with machine guns opened
fire with more than 50 rounds Tuesday night, killing a pair of police
officers not far from city hall. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cmdr. Daniel Juarez and Inspector Carlos Manuel Alvarez were riding in
an unmarked car in an area between the municipal building and a crowded
federal consumer protection office when they were ambushed, Sepulveda
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Juarez was killed instantly, while Alvarez died about an hour later at
a hospital. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The back-to-back slayings brought to 13 the number of police officers
killed since January in Nuevo Laredo, home to 330,000 across the border
from Laredo, Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) DEA NETS MILLIONS IN DRUG INITIATIVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has seized more than $28 million in illicit drug profits, made 230 arrests and confiscated more than 3,300 pounds of cocaine and 37,000 pounds of marijuana in an investigation targeting drug-related proceeds and assets. | ||||||||||||||||||||
DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy said yesterday that undercover agents,
during an operation dubbed "Money Trail Initiative," disrupted major
drug organizations by identifying and attacking the financial
structures critical to supporting the illegal trade. The investigation
began last year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"While money is the main motivation for drug traffickers, it is also
their No. 1 vulnerability," Mrs. Tandy said. "In this initiative, we
followed the money trail from several cash seizures in the U.S. around
the Western Hemisphere, and it led us to identifying and indicting two
drug trafficking brothers, one of whom is on the most wanted drug
traffickers list." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mrs. Tandy said the initiative was the culmination of three nationally
coordinated undercover operations -- Choque, Denali and Falling Star -
-- that successfully targeted several drug operations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The initiative involved DEA agents in 33 U.S. cities from New York to
Los Angeles and agents in Ciudad Juarez and Guadalajara, Mexico;
Guatemala City; and Bogota, Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) POLICE RAID BORDER TUNNEL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- A large and sophisticated secret tunnel between the United
States and Canada that may have been used to transport drugs has been
discovered by cross-border law enforcement officers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The well-maintained tunnel runs about a hundred metres from a house in
Lynden, Wash., and under a road to a greenhouse in the area of 264th
Street and Zero Avenue in Langley, B.C. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A federal source told a U.S. television station the tunnel was likely
used to smuggle illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers observed the tunnel being built
before they launched the raid yesterday with the assistance of the
RCMP, CTV News reported. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Are U.S. and Dutch drug warriors closer to seeing eye to eye? A
story out of the Washington Post would have us believe so. The Dutch
might not want to follow too many American trends, however,
particularly the one in which needle exchanges are actually becoming
less common in the U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, editorialists in Iowa are wondering why tax dollars
are going to another proven failure in the drug war effort. This one
involves distributing rock CDs with anti-drug messages to school
children. The question should be, why are any tax dollars going to
any failed drug war effort? And activists in Montana and Alaska want
to see how federal tax dollars were spent to oppose ballot
initiatives involving marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) U.S. AND NETHERLANDS REACH ACCORD ON CUTTING DRUG USE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
On July 9, 1998, Barry R. McCaffrey, then the White House drug
policy director, fired an opening salvo against the Dutch, declaring
that drug-fighting policies in the Netherlands were "an unmitigated
disaster." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Eleven days later, after a maelstrom of criticism in the Netherlands, McCaffrey acknowledged he may have overstepped. On reflection, he said, the policy was a "mitigated disaster." | ||||||||||||||||||||
But the flood gates had opened, and the Bush administration has been
waging a public battle with Dutch authorities over their permissive
approach to drugs, criticizing cannabis cafes that target foreigners
and ecstasy factories supplying drugs to Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In 2000, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called the
Netherlands "perhaps the most important drug trafficking and
transiting area in Europe," and last year McCaffrey's successor,
John P. Walters, called the country's policies "fundamentally
irrational." | ||||||||||||||||||||
But last Thursday there was a limited rapprochement. Standing together at the National Press Club, Walters and Hans Hoogervorst, the Netherlands' health secretary, announced they had signed an agreement for reducing drug use. In an instant, seven years of acrimony was history amid handshakes, smiles and warm words. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) U.S. NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PROGRAMS DECLINING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A recently released report showed a decline in needle-exchange
programs in the United States and a diminution of public funding for
such programs. In 2003, Dr. C.A. McKnight of New York's Beth Israel
Medical Center and colleagues conducted surveys of 148 | ||||||||||||||||||||
"In 2002, for the first time in 8 years, the number of exchange
programs, the number of localities with exchange programs, and the
amount of public funding for exchange programs in the United States
decreased," the authors noted in the July 15 issue of CDC's
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The number of needle-exchange programs declined from 154 in 2000 to
148 in 2002, the researchers found, primarily through loss of small
programs. The number of states and territories with exchange
programs fell from 35 to 32; public funding decreased 18 percent. At
the same time, the number of syringes exchanged increased 20.2
percent and total budgets grew 7.4 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) EDITORIAL: WRONG TO BEND RULES TO FUND ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Legislature Skirted Bidding Process, Abused Taxpayers | ||||||||||||||||||||
In 2001, the federal government stopped funding Rock In Prevention.
The feds decided the anti-drug charity didn't meet standards for
effective drug-prevention programs. That should have been a clue to
Iowa lawmakers to question giving other public dollars to the
organization. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Apparently state legislators are clueless. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They agreed to give the group $600,000, courtesy of the taxpayers.
Iowans are paying for rock 'n' roll concerts for schoolchildren and
for the group's compact discs. And there's no evidence the program
reduces drug use by the children who bring the CDs home in their
backpacks. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sound questionable? Well, there's more. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rock In Prevention bypassed the normal bidding process for publicly
funded programs. Instead, lawmakers specifically appropriated money
for a non-specific drug-prevention program that uses music -
language crafted to funnel money to Rock In Prevention. When the
Iowa Department of Public Health tried to allow other programs to
compete for the money, lawmakers put a stop to it by writing a
letter to the department. They also objected to the department's
request for research on the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rock In Prevention held out its hand. Friends in the Statehouse
opened the public's checkbook and delivered the bucks. No
requirement for proof the program works. No other groups to compete
with for the money. And no questions asked. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) I-148 GROUP SEEKS PROBE OF DRUG CZAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HELENA - The group behind Montana's medical marijuana law wants the
state to investigate why a commander of the nation's war on drugs
didn't disclose the cost of his tax-funded Montana trip last year
when he campaigned against the ballot measure. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Marijuana Policy Project filed a complaint in Helena District
Court on Thursday asking Judge Jeffrey Sherlock to force the state's
commissioner of political practices to investigate why Scott Burns,
deputy director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, didn't make public the cost of his trip to Montana last
October. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Burns visited several cities in the state speaking out against
Initiative 148, which passed by a 62 percent to 38 percent margin
and legalized the use of medical marijuana in Montana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
With all the new state controls on the sale of pseudophedrine, one
would think the meth problem is falling under control. But some law
enforcement officials recognize that the time is right for foreign
suppliers to replace domestic ones. While there has been lots of
talk of a meth epidemic, one local official in Washington State
wants to see hard proof that its really happening before endorsing a
tax hike to fight meth. Police say that proof will be hard to
obtain. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, a Florida sheriff predictably criticized a report
that said some prison inmates had been given control over other
inmates by prison staff; Iowa felons don't appear to be lining up to
regain their voting rights; and racial profiling is confirmed by a
study in Illinois. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) POLICE BRACE FOR METH MARKET CHANGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mexican drug cartels might move quickly to fill the demand for methamphetamine as Missouri on Friday joins a growing list of states that are restricting the sale of cold pills that are used to make the powerful drug. And some police fear that Missouri's meth cooks, desperate to stay in business, might turn to the Metro East area. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Missouri's new law prohibits most Missouri retailers from selling
hundreds of over-the-counter medications containing pseudoephedrine,
the essential ingredient in most recipes for meth. | ||||||||||||||||||||
While supporters of the law say it won't stop most addicts from
getting their fix, they're hoping it will make a dent in the
thousands of makeshift meth labs that have sprung up across
Missouri's rural landscape. In recent years, the state has led the
nation in the number of meth lab seizures. The labs can blow up, and
breathing the toxic chemicals used to make meth can shave years off
the lives of drug cooks, their families and even the police who try
to shut the labs down. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Starting as early as this weekend, meth experts predict, some
Missouri meth cooks will head to Illinois, the only state bordering
Missouri that hasn't adopted similar pseudoephedrine restrictions.
Police believe that most meth makers will bring the pills back to
Missouri but that some drug cooks likely will move their operations
to Illinois. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) HARD METH NUMBERS ELUSIVE, SAY OFFICIALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Longview resident Dick Bullock said he supported the Cowlitz County
commissioners' meth tax initiative --- until he asked for proof that
the county has a serious meth problem. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bullock said he wrote to the commissioners April 1 asking for all
911 calls for service by type, area or zone, hour and day for the
sheriff's office and Longview and Kelso police departments for 2003
and 2004. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bullock, who was the Washington State Patrol district commander when
Mount St. Helens erupted and the county's emergency management
director, still is waiting for those statistics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"My intent was to be 100 percent behind this, but the more they
resist releasing the numbers to me, I have more doubts," he said.
"They're using terms like meth epidemic, but we don't have the
numbers." | ||||||||||||||||||||
"If the numbers are there, I want to support this thing," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
County officials say the statistics available do show the county has
a major problem with meth, although it's hard to pin down exact
numbers. They say they're relying on experience when they describe
the county's meth problem as an "epidemic," which they'd like to
combat with a new 0.2 percent meth tax. | ||||||||||||||||||||
County Commissioner George Raiter said that Bullock is asking for
statistics that don't exist. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"He assumes there was an event that led to a decision, but we used
instinct and judgment over the years," Raiter said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) SHERIFF: REPORT ON JAIL FLAWED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A report on a study of the culture of the Alachua County jail
contains erroneous and incomplete observations and information,
Sheriff Steve Oelrich said in a written reply to the County
Commission. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A key finding of the study was that some detention officers choose
certain inmates to enforce rules on other inmates. The enforcers got
special privileges in return. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Oelrich told The Sun Friday that most of the findings in the report
were nitpicking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Oelrich said the study was the waste of money that he had predicted
it would be. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I told them that from the word go and the report confirmed that,"
Oelrich said. "There are things they didn't research well or ask the
right questions about." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The study, which cost about $150,000, was requested and paid for by
the County Commission partly in response to the reported 2003 rape
by an inmate of a University of Florida student serving weekends for
a marijuana conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||
An investigation revealed that the inmate suspected of the assault,
Randolph Jackson, had been given privileges by officers including a
say in who would be placed in his housing pod. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) IOWA FELONS NOT RUSHING TO VOTE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tally Of Registrants Shows Little Interest In Vilsack's Order | ||||||||||||||||||||
DES MOINES - Iowa county auditors say there has been no flurry of
registration for convicted criminals whose voting rights were
automatically restored by the governor's Fourth of July executive
order. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead, the commotion has been isolated to the political front,
with Republican leaders continuing to blast Gov. Tom Vilsack for
signing the order and Democrats praising the move. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Scott County, Auditor Karen Fitzsimmons, a Democrat, has had an
easy time keeping a running tally of new registrants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We've had one person come in," she said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"During the quiet times, we have just a few registrations per day.
And we haven't seen any boost to that," said Cerro Gordo County
Auditor Ken Kline, a Republican. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) STUDY: POLICE TARGET MINORITIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SPRINGFIELD - Black and Hispanic drivers in large downstate cities
are pulled over by police at a rate that far exceeds their share of
the local population, according to an analysis of data from more
than 2 million traffic stops last year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Springfield had the biggest gap: 42 percent of its traffic stops
involved minorities even though its minority population is only 16
percent. It was followed by cities such as Peoria, Rockford and
Joliet. | ||||||||||||||||||||
An Associated Press analysis of the traffic study also found that
after being pulled over, minorities were more likely to be ticketed
than white drivers. And minority drivers were more likely to have
their cars searched and to be found with drugs and weapons, the
numbers show. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some police departments contend the data is flawed and doesn't paint
an accurate picture of their work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But minority leaders say the results show police sometimes target
minorities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
After a few very tense days, the State of California has decided to
continue a medical cannabis patient ID program which was suspended
two weeks ago for fear that it might put state officials at risk of
arrest by the feds for aiding and abetting drug use. Following a
finding by State AG Bill Lockyer, the pilot program has been
re-instated, and is scheduled to be expanded statewide by August
1st. Unfortunately, Lockyer also found that federal authorities
could access the personal information of participants to prosecute
medical cannabis users, which may reduce the anticipated levels of
participation in the program. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile in Santa Cruz over 700 protesters showed up in support of
WAMM, one of California's most respected compassion societies,
including 5 out of 7 of the city's councilors and County Supervisor
Mardi Wormhoudt. The rally was held to re-enforce public support for
California's medical cannabis law. Our third story gives us an
Eastern perspective of many of California's recent medical cannabis
controversies. This comprehensive Boston Globe article focuses on
San Francisco's recent moves to increase the level of transparency
and accountability of medical cannabis distribution by regulating
medical dispensaries. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story is a fascinating look inside the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, one of California's oldest and best-established compassion clubs, in light of recent DEA raids on dispensaries, moratoriums, and poorly considered Supreme Court decisions. For our last story, we leave California and head all the way to New Zealand, where Green MP Nador Tanczos has drafted a bill that would make possession of less than one ounce and cultivation of 5 plants or less punishable by an instant $100 fine. Tanczos hopes to get the support of the Labour party, which has a ruling minority in New Zealand's parliament, to pass this decriminalization legislation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) MEDICAL POT ID PROGRAM RESUMES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Suspension Ordered After High Court Ruling | ||||||||||||||||||||
California's medical marijuana identification card program was reinstated Monday, according to state Health Director Sandra Shewry. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shewry on July 8 had ordered the program -- created by a 2003 state law -- suspended until Attorney General Bill Lockyer could give an opinion on whether it put state workers at risk of federal prosecution. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Lockyer repeatedly has said last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling,
which upheld enforcement of the federal marijuana ban even in states
with medical marijuana laws, should not impact enforcement of
California's law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shewry issued a statement Monday saying Lockyer reviewed the concern
and said that California can issue ID cards to medical marijuana users
without state employees facing prosecution for assisting in the
commission of a federal crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Her statement also said Lockyer noted that federal agencies could
seize information received from applicants for the voluntary medical
marijuana ID cards. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The state will modify the application form to inform people that
possession of the drug remains a federal crime, and the information
they provide could be used against them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) 700 PROTESTERS IN SANTA CRUZ RALLY FOR MEDICINAL MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Even in Santa Cruz, it's not every day that you see a couple of
dozen marijuana plants flapping in the breeze as they're carried
down the town's main street. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But that was the scene Saturday as Santa Cruz activists held a
protest march and rally that drew about 700 people who believe the
U.S. government has no right to tell sick and dying people they
can't use medicinal marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Members and supporters of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical
Marijuana, better known as WAMM, held their largest demonstration
since the city council watched alliance members pass out medicinal
pot on the steps of City Hall in September 2002. Protesters, many in
wheelchairs, hoisted live marijuana plants and held up the pictures
of 154 WAMM members who have died since the group was formed in
1993. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The protesters were joined at City Call by five of seven city
council members and Santa Cruz County Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt,
who urged the crowd not to give up the cause despite the major blow
recently dealt by the U.S. Supreme Court. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) SAN FRANCISCO OFFICIALS TARGET PROLIFERATION OF 'POT CLUBS' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
When California considered becoming one of the first states to allow
the sale of medicinal marijuana a decade ago, nearly three-fourths
of this city's voters embraced the idea. Elected officials,
including the district attorney, the city's top law enforcer, openly
campaigned for passage of the statewide measure. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But now nearly as ubiquitous as coffee shops in some San Francisco
neighborhoods, marijuana dispensaries are the subject of increasing
scrutiny by city officials who say the proliferation of so-called
pot clubs has gone unabated for too long. In April, the city imposed
a moratorium on new pot clubs. "We have more medicinal cannabis
clubs than Burger Kings and McDonald's combined," said Sean
Elsbernd, a member of the city's Board of Supervisors who has called
for a cap on the number of such clubs -- to as few as eight, far
less than the dozens currently operating. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"There's nothing intrinsically wrong with allowing [pot clubs] to
supply medicinal cannabis. In fact, just the opposite," Sandoval
said. "For the ill who need it, we should be making it easier and
just as convenient for them to get it as it is to get drugs from a
pharmacy." | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) INSIDE MARIN'S POT CLUB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE Rev. Lynnette Shaw, Marin's mother superior of medical
marijuana, has been doing a lot of praying lately. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Since last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding federal authority over marijuana, she's been on edge, uncertain if U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents will feel inclined to crack down on her little operation in Fairfax, Marin's one and only pot club. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's been more than two years since anyone involved with the club
has been busted for pot, so trouble now seems unlikely. But you
never know. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I'm so worried about my babies," she said one recent afternoon,
speaking of the members of her club. "Two weeks ago, we thought the
feds were coming. No one should have to be that worried and afraid.
You can't get well when you're in constant fear." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(18) NATS AND UNITED FUTURE AGAINST CANNABIS LAW CHANGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Greens launched a bill today to partially legalise cannabis
saying they were confident it would get support - but National and
United Future won't be backing it. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Green MP Nandor Tanczos says his member's bill would allow users and
growers of small amounts of cannabis to be fined rather than face
criminal conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It doesn't go as far as I personally would like but it deals to the
greatest problem which is the criminalisation of huge numbers of New
Zealanders for something that around 80 per cent of | ||||||||||||||||||||
The key features of the Greens' bill include: | ||||||||||||||||||||
people aged over 18 with up to 28g of cannabis or 5g of cannabis
preparation would get a $100 instant fine, rather than a criminal
record; and adults growing up to five small plants at home would get
a $100 instant fine, rather than a criminal record, unless there was
evidence of selling. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the politics of the drug war, the poor get poorer, but the rich don't get any closer to being drug-free. This is proved by our first three stories. In the first, a drug crack-down in Laos has displaced thousands of people, and caused them great suffering, without really impacting the international drug market. Our second story shows a similar pattern in India, where poor people can't get adequate medicine to relieve pain, though poppy crops abound in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is often claimed that these harsh efforts in poor countries are
necessary to keep drugs out of rich countries, but it's not working
at the European Parliament building, where traces of cocaine have
been found just about everywhere. Finally, we close with a couple
items from the U.K. In Britain, magic mushrooms will no longer be
available at the local tobacco shop, and in Scotland, 5-year-olds
will now be conditioned with anti-drug "education." | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) LAO TRIBES SUFFER FROM DRUG CRACKDOWN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The opium poppy that has long bloomed across the mountains of
northern Laos has almost been wiped out by the government's drastic
eradication campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But what is being hailed as a victory by the international
anti-narcotics agencies has also spawned a humanitarian crisis, due
to the massive displacement of hill tribes and their loss of
economic livelihood. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The campaign was spearheaded by the U.S. government, with support
from the European Union. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Such was its success that the authorities in Laos claim the country
has achieved its 2005 deadline to become an opium-free country. The
UNODC (the UN Office for Drugs and Crime) has confirmed that Laos
had achieved a poppy reduction of 73% since 2000. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But unlike the major opium producers such as Afghanistan and Burma,
Laos was only ever a marginal player in the international drugs
trade. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And in order to eradicate production, an estimated 65,000 hill tribe
people have been displaced from the mountains of northern Laos where
the opium poppy thrives. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A survey by UN development consultant Charles Alton found that "hill
tribe people moving to new villages not only lack sufficient rice,
but they face fresh diseases - malaria, gastro-intestinal problems
and parasites". | ||||||||||||||||||||
Many are said to be dying of malaria and dysentery, and mortality
rates as high as 4% have been recorded - rates normally found only
in war zones and areas of refugee resettlement. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) CRIME AND POLITICS OF OPIUM TRADE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
KOLKATA, India - Cancer was slowly killing an old man in his
fourth-floor apartment, and as the disease spread from organ to
bone, sharp pains stabbed at his very core. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A clear, oblong patch was stuck to Shyam Sundar Nevatia's chest,
just above his weakening heart, gradually releasing a 25-milligram
dose of opium-based narcotic over three days. The medication was no
match for the relentless pain as death drew near. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nevatia's doctor had prescribed more powerful morphine pills, but the 74-year-old businessman's family checked at hospitals and pharmacies, and even on the black market, without finding any. | ||||||||||||||||||||
India is the world's largest producer of legal opium, the raw
material for codeine, morphine and other painkillers. But corruption
and red tape have left thousands of Indians such as Nevatia to die
in agony. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And strict licensing hasn't stopped drug gangs from diverting opium
meant for medicines to smuggling routes shared by heroin and
morphine traffickers, gun-runners and Islamist militants, police
say. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Organized crime and politics join together in this to make life
miserable," said A. Shankar Rao, zonal director of the Narcotics
Control Bureau, a national police unit. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) COCAINE TRACES FOUND AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Conclusive Evidence Of Drug Use | ||||||||||||||||||||
BRUSSELS - A television station has found traces of cocaine in 41 of 46 washrooms tested at the European parliament in Brussels. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Researchers for the German Sat-1 channel were sent to the palatial
glass and steel complex to take swab samples. They apparently found
conclusive evidence of drug use. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parliamentary officials said they were not aware of any problem of
cocaine abuse among staff. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in
Nuremberg, which analysed the swab samples, found the amounts were
sufficiently large that they could not have been carried in
unwittingly by people who had picked up minute traces on their
clothing, for example. They had to have been taken in by officials,
staff or visitors, experts said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Professor Fritz Sorgel, of the laboratory, told Spiegel Online, a German Internet news site, that tests on almost any public building would reveal cocaine traces. "Therefore I am not at all surprised that cocaine has been found in the European parliament,'' he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(22) SCOTS INFANTS SOON TO BE SCHOOLED IN DANGERS OF ILLEGAL DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
CHILDREN under five are to be schooled in the dangers of drugs in a
bid to "drug-proof" Scotland's youngest generation, The Scotsman can
reveal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Infants will be introduced to the issue of illegal drugs while at
nursery schools, and day centres for the first time. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nursery teachers will begin training on the use of educational
packages for children early next year, under an initiative led by
Scotland Against Drugs (SAD). | ||||||||||||||||||||
The move follows the successful introduction of drugs education in
primary schools in recent years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Specific educational packages are likely to include concepts of
"good" and "bad" medicine and also from whom it is safe to take
medicine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Details about specific controlled drugs will not be taught. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Childcare staff will be taught how to deal with children whose
parents are drug users. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(23) TRIP IS OVER FOR MAGIC MUSHROOMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
FOR a tobacconist, Alan Myerthall sells an awful lot of mushrooms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But no longer. From today, his particular brand of fungi is deemed
illegal. Were he to continue trading then he could -- and very
possibly would -- be jailed as a drug pusher. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So it is back to baccy, fags and cigars for the owner of the Pipe Shop in Edinburgh. For the magic mushroom, the trip is finally over. | ||||||||||||||||||||
From today, the government has reclassified the psilocybin mushroom
as a class A drug, putting it alongside heroin, crack and cocaine.
This is bad news for fans of the fungi, many of whom are ageing
hippies who first sampled the hallucinogenic qualities of the
"shroom" back in the 1960s and the Summer of Love. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now the importation, possession or sale of the substance will be
punishable by law. Possession can result in seven years in jail,
while possession with intent to supply could, in extreme cases,
result in a life sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
METHADONE INCLUDED IN NEW WHO ESSENTIAL DRUG LIST | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/CB2E38F0-1580-4011-8383-1F31413F8A45.asp?hp=1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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NORML UNVEILS 2005 "TRUTH REPORT" | ||||||||||||||||||||
Comprehensive Report Refutes White House's Top Marijuana Myths | ||||||||||||||||||||
July 21, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA | ||||||||||||||||||||
Washington, DC: Government claims regarding cannabis are misleading, exaggerated, and undermine the administration's ability to effectively educate the public on the issues of illicit drugs and drug policy, concludes a comprehensive report issued today by The NORML Foundation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WAR ON DRUGS IS NOT DELIVERING PEACE | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Michael Krawitz | ||||||||||||||||||||
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NEW CSDP AD: EXCERPTS FROM A CATO INSTITUTE POLICY ANALYSIS | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The government is waging an aggressive, intemperate, unjustified war
on pain doctors." This ad contains excerpts from a Cato Institute
Policy Analysis No. 545, June 16, 2005, "Treating Doctors as Drug
Dealers," by Ronald T. Libby, Professor of Political Science and Public
Administration at the University of North Florida. The original
publication from Cato is also available for download. This ad available
in camera-ready Portable Document Format (PDF). | ||||||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Next weeks Cultural Baggage will feature the voices of pain doctors, to
include Frank Fisher, Stratton Hill and Joel Hochman. | ||||||||||||||||||||
LISTEN Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
www.KPFT.org | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WOMEN'S RIGHTS: ANOTHER CASUALTY OF THE DRUG WAR | ||||||||||||||||||||
Resolution adopted by The National Organization of Women (NOW),
passed July 3, 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.now.org/organization/conference/resolutions/2005.html#drugs | ||||||||||||||||||||
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SUPERVISED INJECTION SITE ATTRACTS HIGHEST RISK USERS: STUDY | ||||||||||||||||||||
Vancouver, July 19,2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Vancouver's pilot supervised injection site has shown to attract the
highest risk users, reveals a new study authored by the B.C. Centre for
Excellence in HIV/AIDS. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.cfenet.ubc.ca/viewMediaRelease.php?id=29&sid=36&nid=13 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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TANCZOS MOVES ON CANNABIS LAW CHANGES | ||||||||||||||||||||
New Zealand Green Party MP Nandor Tanczos is pushing for instant fines for cannabis use by adults rather than a criminal conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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COALITION FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA - NEW JERSEY - ON THE AIR | ||||||||||||||||||||
Joyce Estee, from New Jersey AM radio station WRNJ interviewed Ken Wolski from the Coalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey for about a half hour on 6/30/05. You can listen to the interview at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK | ||||||||||||||||||||
Write A Letter About The DEA's War On Patients | ||||||||||||||||||||
Use this DrugSense Focus Alert to find out how. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Join A Media Activism Roundtable | ||||||||||||||||||||
The DrugSense Virtual Conference Room will be open twice in the next
several days. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The VC Room will again be open for a couple hours so that drug
policy reform activists from around North America can join an
ongoing roundtable discussion of all things DPR and how to best
increase DPR-related media coverage within your community and
nationwide. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So please consider joining us for one or all of these important and
productive gatherings. The general subject matter of how to get printed
and how to increase radio/TV coverage of drug policy topics can be
covered in 30-40 minutes, so you are welcome to jump in at any time
during the 2+ hours we are open. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The dates are: | ||||||||||||||||||||
WEDNESDAY, JULY 27 9pm EDT | ||||||||||||||||||||
SUNDAY, JULY 31 9pm EDT | ||||||||||||||||||||
See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for all details on how you
can participate in this important meeting of leading minds in reform.
Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and speakers all
that is needed) and also via text messaging. The Paltalk software is
free and easy to download and install. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE WAR ON DRUGS IS HISTORY'S BIGGEST FARCE | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Jim White | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Blade's recent editorial supporting the restoration of funds to
fight "meth" is proof positive that the Blade is not paying
attention. Time and time again a "drug menace" of one form or
another besets our country, and every time we throw more money at
the problem, make tougher laws and imprison more people with the
same results-more drugs and more people using them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement and incarceration is no way to control drugs.
History has proven that time and again. Wake up! | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is time for us to take an entirely different approach to drug
use, an approach designed to reduce demand, treat addiction and
educate the public. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The "crack epidemic" of the 80's and 90's didn't go away because we
arrested our way out of it, it went away because people finally got
wise to what it was doing and use declined. The same will hold true
for the "meth epidemic." If people want amphetamines, prescribe them
and monitor their use. That alone would eliminate illegal labs and
the inherent dangers associated with them and it provides an
opportunity to help addicts recover. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The war on drugs is the biggest farce in history and the fourth
estate isn't paying attention at all. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Jim White | ||||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - JUNE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
This month we recognize Alan Randell of Victoria, B.C. During June MAP archived ten published letters by Alan which brings his career total, that we know of, to 402. You can review his superb letters | ||||||||||||||||||||
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To understand why Alan and Eleanor Randell dedicate so much time to
their reform efforts please read this article: | ||||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
EVEN THE COPS KNOW DRUG WAR IS ON THE WRONG TRACK | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Bruce Mirken | ||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier this month, a survey from the National Association of
Counties reported that local law enforcement agencies think the
federal government has its anti-drug priorities backwards, putting
too much emphasis on marijuana and not enough on truly lethal drugs
like methamphetamine. Now a new report suggests that even the
federal government's top drug cops -- the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration -- know something is very wrong. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They'll never say it explicitly, of course: Executive branch
agencies don't openly criticize White House policies. But the
message in the DEA's 2005 "National Drug Threat Assessment" --
prepared in February but released with no publicity this month -- is
unmistakable: The war on marijuana is a failure, and cops
overwhelmingly see meth as a much greater threat. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For reasons no one outside Bush administration really understands, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy under director John Walters has been obsessed with marijuana. In November 2002, ONDCP sent a letter to the nation's prosecutors declaring flatly, "Nationwide, no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana." | ||||||||||||||||||||
That emphasis has continued, most visibly in ONDCP's press
conferences, news releases and ad campaigns. Recent efforts have
included highly dubious claims that marijuana causes mental illness
(ONDCP simply ignored the many studies that contradict this
hypothesis and the fact that periods of high marijuana use have
never correlated with increased rates of mental illness) and even
more dubious claims that marijuana causes lung cancer (scientific
data actually suggest precisely the opposite). Of the six press
releases put out by ONDCP from May 1 through this writing (July 18)
that addressed individual drugs, five dealt with marijuana and only
one focused on meth. | ||||||||||||||||||||
America's police have different priorities, the DEA found. Asked to
identify the greatest drug threat in their communities, only 12
percent of local law enforcement agencies named marijuana -- a
figure that has been declining for years. In contrast, 35.6 percent
named cocaine and 39.6 cited methamphetamine as the greatest threat
-- despite the fact that marijuana use is massively more common and
despite what the DEA described as "marijuana's widespread and ready
availability in the United States." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The agency explained, "Such data indicate that, despite the volume of marijuana trafficked and used in this country, for many in law enforcement marijuana is much less an immediate problem than methamphetamine, for example, which is associated with more tangible risks such as violent users and toxic production sites." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Science backs up the cops' impressions. Marijuana can indeed cause
harm, but in terms of toxicity, addictiveness or dangerous effects
on behavior, it is simply not in the same league with cocaine,
methamphetamine, or even alcohol. In a recent scientific review,
Oxford University pharmacologist Dr. Leslie Iversen concluded,
"Overall, by comparison with other drugs used mainly for
'recreational' purposes, cannabis [marijuana] could be rated to be a
relatively safe drug." | ||||||||||||||||||||
While sucking resources away from more serious drug problems, the
government's war on marijuana hasn't even succeeded on its own
terms. Despite the "eradication" of some three and a half million
marijuana plants last year, the DEA could find "no reports of a
trend toward decreased availability" anywhere in the country. And
rates of marijuana use among both adults and teens remain higher
than they were when President Nixon first declared "War on Drugs"
more than three decades ago. "Indeed," the report noted, "reporting
from some areas has suggested that marijuana is easier for youths to
obtain than alcohol or cigarettes." | ||||||||||||||||||||
This is crazy. America desperately needs drug policies based on
science, reason and common sense. If the current regime at ONDCP is
incapable of moving in that direction, the president must replace
director Walters with someone who will let policy be guided by
facts, not ideology. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bruce Mirken, a longtime health journalist, now serves as Director of Communications for the Marijuana Policy Project, www.mpp.org. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"War is delightful to those who have had not experience with it."
-Desiderius Erasmus | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Policy, Law Enforcement/Prison, and International content selection
and analysis by Stephen Young (), Canabis /Hemp
content selection and analysis by Philippe Lucas | ||||||||||||||||||||
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