| August 19, 2005 #413 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) WHERE THERE'S SMOKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Hempfest Is Serious Business | ||||||||||||||||
For the majority of folks--non-pot smokers and non-hippies--Hempfest
may not seem to matter. It's like, "I'm not a buttrocker, so I'm not
going to Ozzfest. Likewise, I'm not a stoner, so I'm not going to
Hempfest." | ||||||||||||||||
Fair enough. But are you a civil libertarian? The drug war is one of America's most onerous campaigns, encroaching on personal freedom and filling prisons. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, over 80 percent of the increase in the federal prison population from 1985 to 1995 was due to drug convictions, and in 2001, 56.7 percent of the state prisoners for drug offenses were African American. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite these startling stats, our region has made significant headway in opposing the drug war. In 1998, with the overwhelming support of Seattle voters, Washington State passed Initiative 692, which protects patients who need medical marijuana (still in effect, despite the feds' best efforts). The ACLU of Washington and the King County Bar Association started their own drug-policy offices. Local elected officials made drug-policy reform tenets part of their platforms. | ||||||||||||||||
And in 2003 Seattle voters overwhelmingly passed Initiative 75, which made marijuana possession the city's lowest law-enforcement priority. | ||||||||||||||||
In short, Seattle has become the gold standard by which drug-reform
efforts are measured around the country, and Hempfest is the local
movement's signature event. Hempfest has evolved from a balls-to-the
wall civil disobedience event to one of the largest political actions
in the city. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) WHITE HOUSE SEARCHES FOR BALANCE IN DRUG FIGHT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
NASHVILLE - Seeking to defuse a growing confrontation with members of
Congress and local officials over drug policy, the Bush administration
dispatched the attorney general and two other top officials here on
Thursday to promise that the government was committed to battling
methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||
"You can tell President Bush considers it a serious threat that he had
three of his cabinet members here today," Attorney General Alberto R.
Gonzales said in a speech to judges, antidrug advocates and graduates
of a treatment program at Davidson County Drug Court, adding, "I can
tell you, as a father, I care about this." | ||||||||||||||||
The administration also vowed to make $16.2 million available in grants
for treatment. | ||||||||||||||||
For several years the White House has focused the national antidrug
strategy on marijuana, arguing that it is the most widely used drug,
particularly among high school students, and can be a gateway to more
serious drug use. Officials have continued to emphasize that in recent
months, even as law enforcement officials across the country pleaded
for more help fighting meth, a drug made using chemicals commonly found
in cold medicine or on farms. | ||||||||||||||||
But local officials and members of Congress from both parties have
argued increasingly loudly that meth, which is highly addictive, is the
real problem. They say the administration has virtually ignored the
problem despite the devastation it has caused in many parts of the
middle of the country - increasing crime, crowding jails and leaving
more children neglected or abandoned. | ||||||||||||||||
The federal officials here Thursday insisted that no drug took
precedence. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) TEENS SAY MORE DRUGS AVAILABLE AT SCHOOLS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Chances To Use Rise As Access Increases | ||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- More teens are saying there are drugs in their schools, and those who have access to them are more likely to try them, according to a Columbia University survey released yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
Twenty-eight percent of responding middle school students reported that drugs are used, kept, or sold at their schools, a 47 percent jump since 2002, according to the 10th annual teen survey by Columbia's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. | ||||||||||||||||
The number of high schoolers saying drugs are at their schools rose 41
percent in the past three years, to 62 percent, the survey said.
Twelve-to 17-year-olds who report that there are drugs in their
schools are three times as likely to try marijuana and twice as likely
to drink alcohol than teens who say their schools are drug-free, the
survey showed. "Availability is the mother of use," said Joseph
Califano Jr., the center's president. "We really are putting an
enormous number of 12- to 17-year-olds at great risk." | ||||||||||||||||
Most of the teens surveyed, 58 percent, said the legality of
cigarettes has no effect on their decision to smoke or abstain, and 48
percent said the fact that marijuana is illegal doesn't affect whether
they use the drug. The survey found that teens who viewed drugs as
morally wrong were significantly less likely to try them, as were
those who thought their parents would be "extremely upset" to discover
drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) WITH SANCTIONS, WE LOSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Other than oil, the one area of reason and cooperation in U.S.-
Venezuelan relations has been in fighting illicit drugs. Since 2002
Venezuelan officials have seized record amounts of cocaine, at levels
comparable only to those of Mexico. Just last year Washington praised
the "excellent" Venezuelan cooperation in disrupting drug trafficking
organizations that take advantage of that country's porous 1,300-mile
border with Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, however, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez ended cooperation
with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; he accused its agents of
spying and later suspended their diplomatic immunity. Washington in
turn revoked the U.S. visas of three Venezuelan military officers,
including a top anti-drug commander, and reminded Caracas that under
U.S. law, President Bush will have to decide next month whether
Venezuela can be certified as "fully cooperating" in the fight against
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Unless the meaning of full cooperation has changed, Bush is likely to
decertify Venezuela in accordance with the International Narcotics
Control Act of 1992. This means that Washington will deem Venezuela
uncooperative and, save for some argument to waive sanctions, will
suspend all but anti-drug and humanitarian aid and end support for
loans to Venezuela from multilateral lending institutions. But while
U.S. law and Venezuelan deeds would justify decertification, such a
move would be largely counterproductive. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two writers squeezed under the current Meth hysteria headlines as
they patiently attempt to examine the situation with some logic.
Additional words of wisdom were shared with the Canadian Bar
Association by long-time drug policy reformer Judge Gray. One fact
that can not be denied is at least 13 deaths might have been
prevented in a regulated drug market. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) MANUFACTURING A DRUG PANIC (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
This is the way the world ends -- not with a bang, or even a
whimper, but to the clamorous din of the moral panic. Somewhere
along the line, Western civilization stopped believing in the devil
and proceeded to look for him in tobacco, Halloween candy, snuff
films, school shootings and, above all, recreational drugs. Today's
demon is street methamphetamine, the cheap nervous-system accelerant
favoured by long-haul truckers and the gay demimonde. This year meth
has become the subject of a pack-journalism craze in the U.S.;
Newsweek, which is basically a sort of certifying agency for moral
panics, describes meth as "America's Most Dangerous Drug" in a
recent cover story. "Tweakers" sobbing about the ineffable
irresistibility of their favourite pick-me-up have since become the
domestic flavour of the month in Canada too, and the federal
government has moved fast to capitalize, announcing a meth
"crackdown" on Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||
Amphetamines are not new, nor is methamphetamine, a chemical variant
that is absorbed easily in the body. Even the crystalline form,
which turns meth's proverbial powers of concentration and endurance
into a feeling of godlike euphoria and cognitive overdrive, is not
especially novel. On Friday, the Globe and Mail's Jane Armstrong
dated crystal meth's arrival in Canada to the year 2000 ("the drug
arrived about five years ago on the West Coast"); and when I say
this must surely have provoked some snickers, I ain't talking
chocolate. Crystal meth stands in the same approximate relationship
to ordinary methamphetamine as crack does to cocaine; the high from
the initial hit is quicker and purer, but it's essentially the same
animal. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) AND PRESUMED GUILTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The latest insanity in the war on drugs comes to you from Georgia.
As the New York Times reported last week, the feds arrested 49
convenience store clerks and owners -- essentially for selling legal
cold and allergy pills. | ||||||||||||||||
"Operation Meth Merchant" is the government's way of making store
clerks act as drug-enforcement agents -- or if they don't, they
could face jail time. The feds enticed informers to tell the clerks
they were buying cold pills or other products so they could "cook
up" methamphetamines. That would make the store clerks guilty of a
crime, if they knowingly sold to would-be meth-makers. | ||||||||||||||||
Most of the defendants are Indian immigrants who don't understand
English particularly well -- and certainly don't know American
slang. They're not drug dealers. They're working stiffs -- yet they
face sentences of up to 20 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) JUDGE SLAMS U.S. DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The United States' war on drugs is based around hypocrisy, ignorance and greed, says a Californian judge who was in Vancouver yesterday at the Canadian Bar Association's annual legal conference. | ||||||||||||||||
"We couldn't do it worse if we tried," said Superior Court Judge
James Gray, a vocal critic of his country's policy on combating
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Gray noted that Americans understand that the war on drugs is not working; and that it is time to start focusing on what works -- education, treatment and prevention, and individual responsibility. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) 7 SICKENED BY ALLEGED FREE HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
At least seven people fell ill today from apparent drug overdoses
near a West Side public housing project, and police are seeking a
man who allegedly was passing out free heroin samples in the area
this morning. | ||||||||||||||||
Residents living near the Chicago Housing Authority's ABLA Homes, 1440 W. Hastings St., called police at 9:30 a.m. to report four people who had passed out on the sidewalk, authorities said. | ||||||||||||||||
Three men and one woman in their late 30s and 40s had just used
heroin given to them free by a man in the area, police spokesman
David Bayless said. | ||||||||||||||||
Police found at least three additional overdose victims in the area,
and were investigating whether there were any others who became ill
after using the drug, Bayless said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) FOR ADDICTS, KILLER DOPE MUST BE GOOD DOPE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The police and health officials are trying to determine whether a
lethal batch of opiates or cocaine caused the deaths of at least six
people who apparently overdosed on heroin or a combination of heroin
and cocaine in Lower Manhattan in the last week. They include a
homeless man who was discovered in a storage center in SoHo and
another man found dead on the floor of a portable toilet near Pier
54 on the West Side. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two former Law Enforcement officers disagree about our war on drugs.
One rides the "increased incarceration" mule while the other rides
his horse, Misty, across the country. Is it possible that the mule
rider has not kicked his Meth Crusade addiction as claimed by writer
John Tierney?! | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) LEGALIZING DRUGS NO SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM | ||||||||||||||||
Re: "Here's a way to hit drug lords in the wallet," Kevin Brooker,
Opinion, Aug. 8. | ||||||||||||||||
Last week, freelance writer Kevin Brooker argued in this space for
the legalization of drugs after his car was broken into by a crack
addict. | ||||||||||||||||
Listening to his arguments, you would think legalization and free
drugs are a panacea for the drug-related problems we face. They are
not. As a lawmaker and former Calgary police officer, I would like
to use this space to dispel some of the myths about drug
legalization. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Domestically, our country needs to employ a drug-free prison
strategy and then crack down on drug pushers so they never see the
light of day. Sorry, Mr. Brooker, I don't buy the legalization
argument. What our country needs is a reality check. Drugs hurt our
kids and I won't be a part of anything that further promotes the
destructive influence of illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) EX-COP RIDING ACROSS NATION TO STAMP OUT DRUG LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PAW PAW - "Cops say legalize drugs. Ask me why," reads the message
on a T-shirt being worn by an unlikely advocate for drug law reform,
former Bath and DeWitt Township, MI, police officer, Howard
Wooldridge. | ||||||||||||||||
Wooldridge, a member of the organization, Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition, is riding his horse, Misty, across the country this
summer spreading the group's message that drug abuse is bad, but
prohibition makes the problem worse. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) LAW ENFORCEMENT, NOT PUBLIC, HOOKED ON METH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
National Crusade Against Amphetamines Risks More Damage Than The
Drug Itself | ||||||||||||||||
America has a serious drug problem, but it's not the "meth epidemic"
getting so much publicity. It's the problem identified by William
Bennett, the former national drug czar and gambler. | ||||||||||||||||
"Using drugs," he wrote, "is wrong not simply because drugs create
medical problems; it is wrong because drugs destroy one's moral
sense. People addicted to drugs neglect their duties." | ||||||||||||||||
This problem afflicts a small minority of the people who have tried
methamphetamines, but most of the law enforcement officials and
politicians who lead the war against drugs. They're so consumed with
drugs that they've lost sense of their duties. | ||||||||||||||||
Like addicts desperate for a high, they've declared meth the new
crack, which was once called the new heroin (that title now belongs
to OxyContin). With the help of the media, they're once again
frightening the public with tales of a drug so seductive it
instantly turns masses of upstanding citizens into addicts who ruin
their health, lives and families. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
This week's cannabis news is once again dominated by the Marc Emery
arrest, with the New York Times kicking off our coverage with a
comprehensive article on Emery's past, present, and the extradition
hearing that clouds his once bright future. In a related story, the
Globe and Mail reports that 58% of Canadians want the federal
government to reject the DEA's extradition request. The CTV and
Globe and Mail poll suggests that this bust is quickly evolving into
a rallying cry for greater Canadian sovereignty. In an interesting
and odious addendum to DEA raid on Marc Emery Seeds, our third
article reports on allegations that the DEA is using seed customer
invoices to contact present and former customers in attempts to
entrap them to order more seeds. A recent posting by Emery's
organization urges all to ignore any mailing purporting to come from
his seed shop, which has been closed since late July. | ||||||||||||||||
Our fourth story reminds us that despite the publicity surrounding the DEA's actions in Canada, their main target remains Americans. The DEA has now laid federal charges on Dustin Costa, the 58-year old director of the Merced Patients Group. The charges stem from a cultivation arrest by local Merced police in early 2004, and set a nasty precedent for local police to contravene and supercede state law by soliciting federal intervention in med-cannabis cases. | ||||||||||||||||
Our last story this week is a must read New York Times op-ed by
Sally Satel, a psychiatrist and resident scholar at the American
Enterprise Institute. The article is a brilliant rejection of the
gateway argument that forms the basis of U.S. cannabis enforcement,
both here and abroad. Finally, I'd like to invite anyone who might
be in the greater Seattle area this weekend to drop into the
nation's largest cannabis festival, the Seattle Hempfest, where this
editor will proudly join dozens of great bands and speakers on stage
for the fourth consecutive year. For more info on the Hempfest,
please visit: www.seattlehempfest.com. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) THIS JOHNNY APPLESEED IS WANTED BY THE LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FRESHLY released on bail, Marc Emery faced the camera of his Pot-TV.net Web site the other day to make an urgent appeal for money to finance his legal struggle to avert extradition to the United States for trafficking marijuana seeds south of the border. | ||||||||||||||||
"Let me be the light that shines on the American gulag," he said,
stern-eyed, pointing into the camera. Without notes, Mr. Emery
sermonized for a half-hour about everything from the marvellous
medicinal and spiritual qualities of pot to the greatness of Thomas
Jefferson, "who gave America on hemp paper the Declaration of
Independence." | ||||||||||||||||
"Marijuana made me a better parent, a better lover, a better
businessman," he solemnly told his supporters. Immediately after the
broadcast, he was quick to add, "a better driver, too." | ||||||||||||||||
At 47, Mr. Emery is known as the Prince of Pot, even in his recent
federal indictment in Seattle for charges of conspiring to
manufacture marijuana, launder money and traffic millions of
marijuana seeds into the United States. At the time of his arrest,
on July 29, he and his business were on a United States attorney
general list of the 46 most wanted international drug traffickers,
and the only one in Canada. But his clownish nickname provides a
clue that Mr. Emery is not your typical drug kingpin from the movies
who deals in the shadows. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) A SOVEREIGNTY ISSUE? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Most Canadians want their government to reject efforts by U.S. authorities to have marijuana-seed seller Marc Emery extradited for a crime that is not prosecuted in Canada, a new poll found. | ||||||||||||||||
The poll conducted by The Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail
and CTV found that 58 per cent of Canadians oppose the extradition
of Mr. Emery. | ||||||||||||||||
The results suggest that Canadians do not view the Emery case as a
simple matter of surrendering a criminal to the United States. "It
has become almost a sovereignty issue," said Allan Gregg, chairman
of The Strategic Counsel. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(15) EMERY SAYS SEED CLIENTS BEING SET UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
B.C. pot activist and former Londoner Marc Emery yesterday warned
his marijuana seed customers their orders may have been intercepted
by U.S. justice officials. | ||||||||||||||||
He also alleged those people are now being sent letters by drug
enforcement authorities to entrap them. | ||||||||||||||||
"These people are being set up to be busted in their own homes,"
Emery said. "They should be very alarmed." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(16) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BACKER ON HUNGER STRIKE IN JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Supporters Rap Decision To Move Case To Federal Court | ||||||||||||||||
Supporters of a jailed medical marijuana activist say the
58-year-old Merced man detained on federal drug charges is on a
hunger strike. | ||||||||||||||||
Since his arrest on Thursday, Dustin Costa has become the county's focal point in a philosophical debate about medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
Costa's backers are placing him on a pedestal, describing him as an effective political organizer, while prosecutors are dismissing him as a drug dealer hiding behind the state's medical marijuana laws. | ||||||||||||||||
Underscoring the issue are lingering contradictions between federal
drug laws and voter-approved state measures legalizing the use of
medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(17) A WHIFF OF 'REEFER MADNESS' IN U.S. DRUG POLICY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Why is marijuana, of all drugs, the main target of the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy? | ||||||||||||||||
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To me, the "gateway" assumption, which took root in the 1950's, has
a nostalgic, "Reefer Madness" feel. But it is still driving federal
policy. The drug czar's office made that clear last month in
response to a call from the National Association of Counties "to put
the same kind of emphasis on methamphetamine abuse as they have on
marijuana." The association had just announced that its 500 members
were reeling from methamphetamine-related crime, incarceration and
child-neglect. | ||||||||||||||||
The Office of National Drug Control Policy defended its | ||||||||||||||||
Is this true? Is the gateway argument a valid justification for
marijuana policy? | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
In the U.S., "tough" lawmakers "tightened up" cold-medicine laws,
making it harder to get decongestant tablets. As they wept over the
children and thumped their chests, showboating U.S. politicians
crowed they were saving America from the scourge and epidemic of
meth. But in Mexico, this was nothing but good news for smugglers.
Gringos can't make meth in bathtub any more? No problem! Traffickers
from Mexico predictably stepped in to fill the demand, as a spate of
articles this week illustrated. "Methamphetamines production has
moved south," admitted surprised DEA officials. Nothing more laws
and government force won't won't cure, right? | ||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile in Mexico, President Fox spouts much lofty rhetoric.
"[O]ur situation derives from narco-trafficking, production and
consumption," complained the Mexican head of state. "Why are we
having all these homicides and all these crimes on the streets?
Why?" pondered the president. Maybe is it because prohibition is
handing criminals markets they must claim by turf battles, as did Al
Capone? No. Instead, pretended El Presidente, it is "Because we've
been winning this campaign." And prohibitionists claim drug users
are delusional! | ||||||||||||||||
In Canada, America's neighbor to the north, a moral panic over
methamphetamines is sweeping the land. The federal government in
Ottawa just increased meth manufacturing penalties to life in
prison, though the minority Tories continually scream that no
punishment is harsh enough. Newspaper reports try to outdo one
another with lurid accounts of the insidious evils of demon meth.
This "chemical monster at our doorstep," "the latest narcotic
scourge of our era, is a devastatingly addictive drug," trembled one
report from Ontario, entirely typical. Reports left off mentioning
the "chemical monster at our doorstep," (methamphetamines) has long
been prescribed for attention deficit disorder, among other medical
uses. | ||||||||||||||||
And in Victoria, Canada, Mayor Alan Lowe has decided against a
Vancouver-style supervised injection center for his city, citing
lack of political support. While a majority of people in the city
support such a facility, popular support wouldn't cut much ice with
provincial and federal officials. Noted the Mayor, "We need a
stronger front." | ||||||||||||||||
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(18) WAR ON DRUGS PUSHING METH LABS SOUTH OF THE BORDER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY -- The shutdown of thousands of methamphetamines labs in
the United States along with stricter laws regulating household
items that can be used to make the narcotic have pushed production
south of the border. | ||||||||||||||||
The synthetic drug, which produces a strong euphoria and addiction
among its users, has exploded in the last five years as its use
popularity moves from California, Texas and the Midwest to the East
Coast. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) figures show that American law enforcement officials have shut down or identified more than 73,000 labs and chemical dump sites in the United States since 2000. | ||||||||||||||||
At the same time, more than 20 states have passed laws that regulate
the sale of over-the-counter medication that contains | ||||||||||||||||
Texas joined those states on Aug. 1 requiring pharmacists and
retailers to keep products containing the chemical secure in
addition to keeping logs of each purchase. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite frequent seizures and stronger legislation, DEA reports show that consumption of methamphetamines has not subsided, pushing an ever-growing percentage of production into Mexico where it can be made cheaply and smuggled easily into the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
"Methamphetamines production has moved south," said Ray D'Alessio
with the DEA's Houston Regional Office. "Mexican drug traffickers
already have established transportation routes and markets for
cocaine and marijuana." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(19) FOX SAYS MEXICO WILL PREVAIL IN WAR AGAINST DRUG CARTELS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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ABOARD MEXICO'S PRESIDENTIAL PLANE - President Vicente Fox on
Tuesday rejected suggestions that he has lost the upper hand in the
fight against organized crime and vigorously defended his almost
5-year-old administration, saying it has brought "a plenitude of
freedom" to Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He said that crime driven by drug trafficking is "a great challenge"
for Mexico and the United States and that it could get worse before
it gets better. "Most of our situation derives from | ||||||||||||||||
But that situation only "describes this moment," he said, and he
expects his government to prevail in its continuing faceoff with
drug cartels, which have been terrorizing parts of the country,
notably Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Texas. | ||||||||||||||||
"Why are we having all these homicides and all these crimes on the
streets?" he asked. "Why? Because we've been winning this campaign.
The more we destroy the production of drugs, the more we catch drugs
in transit . the more they are desperate and challenging the
authorities. "Now that this is happening, we are doubling our
efforts. We are in a very strong strategic drive. We will accomplish
our objectives." He said the drugs and violence issue was a shared
burden for the U.S. and Mexico and noted, "I think we have a very
strong, good relationship with President Bush's government. We have
a great relationship based on trust." Mr. Fox acknowledged that a
chorus of critics has attacked his government, charging that it has
gotten little done. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(20) TACKLING THE MONSTER'S LAB (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Crystal meth, the latest narcotic scourge of our era, is a
devastatingly addictive drug that has laid a path of destruction in
the United States and Western Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
Now it is at our door. | ||||||||||||||||
Actually, it's already here in Ontario but hasn't completely cinched
its claws into the eastern part of the province. | ||||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, it is only a matter of time until it does. | ||||||||||||||||
Going by history, when it does arrive in full force it will have
more devastating results than heroin, cocaine or even crack. It is
more addictive than all of these and is easily produced with
household chemicals and over-the-counter decongestants. | ||||||||||||||||
With this chemical monster at our doorstep it comes as good news
that the federal government has taken a first step in combating its
spread. On Thursday, the feds announced they were raising the
maximum sentence for trafficking or manufacturing crystal meth to 10
years to act as a deterrent. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(21) STRONGER SUPPORT NEEDED BEFORE SAFE INJECTION SITE WILL BE (Top)CONSIDERED | ||||||||||||||||
VICTORIA - Most Victorians support the city's new ideas in dealing
with a growing drug and homelessness problem, according to a
recently-released report. | ||||||||||||||||
But that support is not strong enough to prove to the province and
federal governments that Victoria is ready to back a supervised
injection site, or any number of new solutions, Mayor Alan Lowe
said. | ||||||||||||||||
"We need a stronger front," Lowe said. "Yes, it is time to make
decisions, but the more people who are aware of the strategy, the
more support it'll have." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The concept has met some opposition here and abroad because some say it condones drug use, such as through a supervised injection site. | ||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WHERE'S PLAN B? | ||||||||||||||||
In 2004 the Syracuse Common Council's Finance Committee held hearings
to see if the city's drug law enforcement budget was money well-spent.
ReconsiDer put together a slate of experts to testify. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
For more information on "Plan B for Syracuse" and other local
initiatives, see the DrugSense Community Audits and Initiatives
Project, http://drugsense.org/caip/ | ||||||||||||||||
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MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND THE SUPREME COURT | ||||||||||||||||
By Susan Okie, M.D. | ||||||||||||||||
The New England Journal of Medicine Volume 353:648-651, August 18, 2005
Number 7 | ||||||||||||||||
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I WENT TO NUEVO LAREDO, AND I SURVIVED | ||||||||||||||||
From Mexico's Most Hyped Drug War Battleground, an Interview with Raymundo Ramos, President of the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee | ||||||||||||||||
By Ricardo Sala, Special to The Narco News Bulletin | ||||||||||||||||
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CANNABIS WARRIORS | ||||||||||||||||
www.danieltv.com brings us an inside look at the people involved with
the recent U.S. based raid on Emery Seeds. Footage and interviews
with key individuals. | ||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
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SEATTLE WEEKLY - THE DRUG ISSUE | ||||||||||||||||
* Jimi's First Experience: A book excerpt by Charles R. Cross * A Drug War Peace Plan * The Pot Granny and Sea-Tac Airport * When In Prison, Just Say Om ... | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0533/050817_drugs_hendrix.php | ||||||||||||||||
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FLICK ASHES | ||||||||||||||||
Do movies cause smoking? | ||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||
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WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FEDS ESCALATE WAR ON ACTIVISTS | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #315 - Tue, 16 August 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
It is becoming increasingly clear that the federal government is
seeking to silence marijuana activists in every way possible. When it
appears that a medical marijuana activist may walk under state laws,
the feds step in. | ||||||||||||||||
Fred Gardner's column "Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa"
discusses a good example. You would not know the full story without
reading Mr. Gardner's column. Please send a letter-to-the-editor to
the Sun-Star focusing on the full story. | ||||||||||||||||
Also please consider writing about this issue to the other newspapers
in the valley from Bakersfield to Sacramento. | ||||||||||||||||
For more information see: http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0315.html | ||||||||||||||||
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JOIN US FOR "HOW TO INCREASE DPR MEDIA IN YOUR AREA" | ||||||||||||||||
Sun. August 21 /05, 09:00 p.m. ET | ||||||||||||||||
MAP's Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath will be joined by some of
our most prominent and prolific letter and opinion writers from around
the U.S. and Canada. Included in the discussions will be quick and easy
tips and directions for how to increase printed Letters to the Editor,
OPED columns and newspaper Editorials on any of several current hot
topics related to national and state drug policies. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
RAPS MILES | ||||||||||||||||
By Larry Seguin | ||||||||||||||||
To The Editor: | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Ed Sheffied makes a good point in his letter Sunday Aug. 7
"Upset with Miles", but he misses the issue. It is unfair to lay the
blame solely on acting District Attorney Gary Miles. All District
Attorneys run on 'tough on crime' platform. Crimes committed against
our properties or us are not the priority. The crime of prohibition
is the priority. | ||||||||||||||||
The proof is in the past month. | ||||||||||||||||
Aug 6 drug raid. Less than $5,000 found. Bail $25,000 cash, $50,000
bond. | ||||||||||||||||
July 21, Man picked up for 'sexual abuse, sexual act with
8-year-old. Bail $10,000. | ||||||||||||||||
July 22 drug bust. Two Canadians driving through St. Lawrence
County. Bail $100,000 cash, $150,000 bond. | ||||||||||||||||
Aug 2, Man runs over and kills girl delivering Girl Scout cookies (
Syracuse ). Sentence 1-3 years. | ||||||||||||||||
July 20, Man has $2,500 of meth sentenced to 10 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||||
July 20, Man pleads guilty to sex act with fourteen-year-old. His
deal, no jail time! | ||||||||||||||||
July 27, Malone man sentenced to prison for 8 years. Less than
$7,000 drugs found. | ||||||||||||||||
July 22, another charge of rape with only $2,500 bail. | ||||||||||||||||
Officer of the law molests young boys, $10,000 bail. | ||||||||||||||||
The rape charges took couple of officers to handle. The drug charges
took several agencies. | ||||||||||||||||
Prohibition crimes are favored because it will take forever to jail
everyone and every dealer is replaced. | ||||||||||||||||
Have we accepted rape of our daughters so we can cage marijuana
users? The bails on the crimes indicate that. | ||||||||||||||||
Larry Seguin | ||||||||||||||||
Lisbon | ||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
DRUG WAR HARMS MORE THAN IT HELPS | ||||||||||||||||
By Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr. | ||||||||||||||||
As the war on drugs caused an exodus of legitimate business from
inner cities, a vacuum was created. In that vacuum lay fertile
ground to guarantee the proliferation of the illegal drug trade. The
war on drugs has been a self-defeating policy. It is a fraud that
will never end until its insanity is understood. | ||||||||||||||||
The drug war is supported by three major factors: greed; fear; and
racism. All of these results in unequal treatment based either
directly or indirectly on race, class or white privilege. The drug
war opposes two basic principles of life, human nature and
economics. | ||||||||||||||||
We have had almost nine decades of drug prohibition; over three
decades of the so called War On Drugs; we have spent almost a
trillion dollars, and yet we have more illegal drugs at cheaper
prices on our streets than ever before. | ||||||||||||||||
The United States represents five percent of the world's population,
but has an astounding 25 percent of world's prison population. In
total, our country has almost seven million people in our criminal
justice system. That is, they are either on probation, parole, jail,
halfway houses or prison. Almost two thirds are young Black and
Latino males. Ten percent of the African American population is in
the criminal justice system. | ||||||||||||||||
Here in Connecticut we have a population of 3.4 million. Black and
Latino men make up less than 6% of that population but account for
almost 68% of the prison population. Almost 70% are in prison for
drug related charges. This scenario is repeated in state after state
according to the study done by "Human Rights Watch". Are race and
class factors in the enforcement of our drug laws and if not how do
we prove that to sceptics? | ||||||||||||||||
Should drugs remain illegal? Our present drug policies support the
price of illegal drugs which is responsible for the billions of
dollars that flow into our banking, mercantile, and political
systems. This drug money helps maintain much of the value of our
stock market and mutual funds, and gets politicians elected. It also
gives competitive advantage to those who have access to it over
those who have to pay retail for their financing. | ||||||||||||||||
Major players in all these venues, including much of the Fortune 500
companies - via bond and Treasury bill prices - enjoy access. That's
because the so-called "drug lords" (or producers) collect only the
wholesale price, which is a small part of the total. The rest of
those dollars are laundered through businesses patronized by you and
me. As for those who get caught violating these laws; they're just
collateral damage. | ||||||||||||||||
When considering alternatives for the drug war, all conversation has
to start with one question: Do we think that people are going to
stop using illegal drugs? The overwhelming response is NO. Those
that say yes are not of this planet. So the next question becomes:
How are we as society going to create an atmosphere that will cause
the least amount of harm to the people who use these drugs, and just
as important, the least amount of harm to society? Anyone that says
we should not, could not, would not, or that we would be sending the
wrong message to our children by legalizing, medicalizing and
decriminalizing these handful of illegal drugs simply does not have
a clue. Most of the damage done is not by the drugs but by the drug
policies themselves. | ||||||||||||||||
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a
different result. Therefore we can confidently state that the drug
war is the most insane [public policy of the 20th and 21st
centuries. | ||||||||||||||||
Insanity is electing the same people to public offices who created
and sustain this mess. Insanity is believing that the above ground
economy can compete with the underground economy when through the
strategy of drug prohibition and the war on drugs we have made these
drugs worth seven times more than our gold standard. Insanity is
thinking that the war on drugs protects our children when they have
unlimited access to these illegal drugs. Insanity is having more
policemen in our communities who take away so many of our young and
believing the community will some how be better off. | ||||||||||||||||
Until we bring these drugs inside of the law and remove the,
race/class, greed and fear factors from this diabolical mess called
the "war on drugs", we will continue to look like a dog chasing its
tail, as a dog never catches its tail, we will never come to grips
with this problem using the same old tactics. | ||||||||||||||||
Clifford Wallace Thornton, Jr. is co-founder of Efficacy (
http://www.Efficacy-online.org ) and a member of their speakers
bureau. He has recently joined the newly created DrugSense Drug
Policy Writers Group ( http://www.mapinc.org/resource/dpwg/ ) which
connects activists with authors to facilitate increased opinion page
coverage of drug policy reform. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"If you don't reduce the use of marijuana, you can't possibly reduce
illegal drug use because marijuana is far and away the most used
drug." -- Joseph A. Califano Jr, President of the National Center
on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Jo-D Harrison (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection and
analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||||
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