| Sept. 30, 2005 #419 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) COLOMBIA SUSPENDS RIGHT-WING WARLORD'S EXTRADITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
BOGOTA, Colombia - One of the bloodiest leaders of Colombia's right-
wing paramilitaries conditionally won his battle to avoid extradition
to the United States on Thursday when the government said he could stay
in the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Diego Fernando Murillo, known as Don Berna, who oversaw a vast criminal
network from his Medellin base in the 1990s, will not be sent north to
face drug smuggling charges as long as he cooperates with Colombia's
demobilization of illegal armed groups. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. Embassy in Bogota said in a statement it was disappointed at the decision to suspend the extradition. It pointed out that Colombia had said extradition would not be negotiated in the demobilization. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Under the demobilization, Murillo is required to cooperate with investigators in an effort to provide reparations to those victimized by the paramilitaries over the past 20 years during which they terrorized the Andean country in the name of fighting left-wing rebels. More than 10,000 militia members have turned in their guns. | ||||||||||||||||||||
While the United States backs President Alvaro Uribe, elected in 2002
on promises of smashing Colombia's Marxist insurgency, his peace plan
threatens to put cases against major drug offenders like Murillo on the
back burner. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"What happened today is further evidence that top drug lords are
calling the shots in this so-called peace process with the government,"
said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director for New York-based Human
Rights Watch. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) MEXICO FEARS ITS DRUG TRAFFICKERS GET HELP FROM GUATEMALANS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
MEXICO CITY - The Ministry of Defense reported this week that a feared organization of hit men that was started by corrupt officers of the Mexican military had forged an alliance with deserters from an elite Guatemalan military unit to help the Mexicans fight for control of drug-trafficking routes across the United States border. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The ministry's report confirmed a warning in July by the United States Department of Homeland Security that said "unsubstantiated reports" had indicated that some Guatemalan military officers were training the Mexicans on a ranch just south of the border from McAllen, Tex. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Mexicans call themselves the Zetas, Spanish for the Z's. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The defense minister, Clemente Vega Garcia, described the alliance
between the Zetas and the Guatemalan officers, deserters of a special
forces unit called the Kaibiles, during an appearance on Tuesday before
a Senate committee. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He said soldiers had detained seven former members of the elite Guatemalan unit earlier this month along Mexico's southern border. The men who were captured had six automatic machine guns and the equivalent of about $100,000 in Mexican and Guatemalan currencies. | ||||||||||||||||||||
On Wednesday, the Guatemalan Defense Ministry reported that four of the men in custody were deserters from the Guatemalan military. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Col. Jorge Antonio Ortega Gaytan, a spokesman for the Guatemalan
ministry, said in an interview on Thursday that an explosives expert, a
driver trained in defense tactics and a squad leader were among the
deserters. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) CAUCUS FRUSTRATED OVER METH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - House members on both sides of the political aisle are
frustrated and angry with the White House. But it has nothing to do
with the war in Iraq or the administration's response to Hurricane
Katrina. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rather, a caucus of 127 representatives - more than one-fourth the entire House - is demanding the Bush administration pay more than lip service to the nation's growing methamphetamine epidemic. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It is frustrating we are not getting the reaction (from the White
House), that it is not being dealt with as seriously by the
administration as we intended as a caucus," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-
Utah and co-chairman of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control
Methamphetamine. He said they "want to see the administration serious
about getting something done."
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Members of the caucus spilled out their frustration Wednesday after
meeting with administration officials from the Environmental Protection
Agency, the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the State Department, Homeland Security and
the National Institute of Drug Abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., chairman of the Government Reform
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Drug Policy, was livid, saying
administration officials did not answer their questions and were
"pathetic" in their defense of "what they call a national strategy."
And if they continue in that defense, "it's time for top people to
resign," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) POLICE SEIZE SICK WIFE'S CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A HUSBAND who grows cannabis to treat his sick wife is waiting to hear
whether he will be prosecuted for drug dealing following a police raid
on his home. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sixty-year-old Alan Blythe opened his door on Friday morning to find
six uniformed police officers on the step with a warrant to search his
home. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The police were acting on a tipoff that Mr Blythe was growing cannabis
at his bungalow in Badger Close, Palacefields, but the warrant was
unnecessary as the taxi driver immediately handed over his stash of
cannabis plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The raid was the fourth time in a decade that Mr Blythe has been
arrested for growing the drug which he says is the only thing to
provide relief from terrible symptoms from the multiple sclerosis his
wife, Judith, 57, has suffered for more than 20 years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He said: 'The police were very decent about everything. I saw them on
the step and immediately handed over the plants and they arrested me
and took me down the station. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is there ever a good time to offer a hit of crystal meth to a
violent murderer? Can an illegal drug user do the right thing and
help someone else and society? Yes is the answer to both questions
according to new details revealed about a deadly hostage drama in
Atlanta. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There seems to be change in the air over a Readers' Digests, which
had been a staunch drug war supporter for years. The most recent
issue contains an article critical of "three-strikes" laws. Another
media outlet found itself in a role reversal as it listened to why
drug dealers do what they do, instead of just denouncing them as
evil. The results, summarized in a Baltimore Sun editorial, are
revealing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) HOSTAGE GAVE GUNMAN METH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
ATLANTA - Ashley Smith, the woman held hostage for hours after the
Atlanta courthouse shootings, reveals in a just-released book that
she gave alleged gunman Brian Nichols drugs the night he held her
captive. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Smith, 27, was thrust into a national media spotlight after talking her way out of Nichols' captivity and then calling police. In "Unlikely Angel: The Untold Story of the Atlanta Hostage Hero," Smith shares details of her seven-hour ordeal as a hostage in her apartment, and for the first time tells of giving Nichols drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nichols took Smith hostage after a spree at the Fulton County
Courthouse, where he shot to death a judge, a court reporter, a
deputy and a federal agent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nichols asked Smith for marijuana, she writes, but she had only a
small amount of crystal methamphetamine. She thought offering him
the drug might curry favor, but she says she refused to take the
drug with him. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I was not going to die tonight and stand before God, having done a
bunch of ice up my nose," she writes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) PETTY CRIME, OUTRAGEOUS PUNISHMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Why the Three-Strikes Law Doesn't Work
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There was nothing honorable about it, nothing particularly heinous, either, when Leandro Andrade, a 37-year-old Army veteran with three kids and a drug habit, walked into a Kmart store in Ontario, California stuffed five videos into his waistband and tried to leave without paying. Security guards stopped him, but two weeks later, Andrade went to another Kmart and tried to steal four more videos. The police were called, and he was tried and convicted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That was ten years ago, and Leandro Andrade is still behind bars. He
figures to be there a lot longer: He came out of the courtroom with
a sentence of 50 years to life. | ||||||||||||||||||||
If you find that stunningly harsh, you're in good company. The
Andrade case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where
Justice David Souter wrote that the punishment was "grossly
disproportionate" to the crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So why is Andrade still serving a virtual life sentence? For the
same reason that, across the country, thousands of others are behind
bars serving extraordinarily long terms for a variety of low-level,
nonviolent crimes. It's the result of well-intentioned anti-crime
laws that have gone terribly wrong. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) EDITORIAL: DEAR BALTIMORE DRUG DEALERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
With that salutation began an appeal in this newspaper for the men
and women selling cocaine, heroin and marijuana in Baltimore to ease
up for the summer. Quit the guns, give them a rest. Peddle the
powder and weed, if you must. But don't re-up the inventory. Chill
in the season of steamed crabs and beer, cold watermelon and shaved
ice. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sun columnist Dan Rodricks' open letter June 9 to the salesmen in
this vast, lucrative, illicit industry was a pitch for a little
peace and quiet in Baltimore neighborhoods, a plea to stop the turf
battles that too often end up with blood in the streets. His crazy,
ridiculous - those are his words - proposition offered dealers a
prescription for a civic duty that could possibly save a few lives.
Theirs and others. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Aren't you tired of it too?
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Since Mr. Rodricks asked that question three months ago, more than
250 people have contacted him: drug users and dealers, mostly men,
their grandmothers and relatives, recovering addicts and other
citizens willing to help. Rather than push dope for $50 a day, most
involved in the drug trade said they wanted a real job. They wanted
out of a dead-end life because they were too old for the pace, too
weary for another prison stay, too fearful of the competition, too
embarrassed to face their kids. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What began as one writer's appeal for a summer moratorium on
drug-turf shootings has evolved into a campaign to rally support and
jobs for ex-offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In one telephone conversation after another, enough to fill a stack of legal pads, Dan Rodricks heard from guys looking for a way out. The more who talked to him, the more columns he wrote, offering his readers a stark yet poignant view of his callers and insights on how they could be helped, one step at a time, one man at a time: | ||||||||||||||||||||
"People think we [sell drugs] to just come outside and be tough or
hard. We do it to survive. Right now, there isn't much food in my
mother's house."
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[snip]
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(8) JUDGE DROPS CHARGE AGAINST WOMAN WHO USED METH WHILE PREGNANT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
LANDER, Wyo. ( AP ) -- Ruling state law does not protect unborn
children from drugs taken by expectant mothers, a judge dismissed a
child endangerment case against a woman whose newborn child tested
positive for methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In a written Sept. 20 decision, District Court Judge Norman Young
said Michelle Ann Foust, 31, of Lander could not be charged with
endangering her child by using meth during pregnancy because the
state law does not apply to fetuses. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Foust could have been imprisoned for up to five years and fined up
to $5,000 if she had been convicted under a new state law to punish
women who endanger their children by taking drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The law, which took effect July 2004, states: "No person shall
knowingly and willingly cause or permit any child to absorb, inhale
or otherwise ingest any amount of methamphetamine."
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According to Lander police reports, Foust gave birth to a son on
Oct. 31, 2004, at Lander Valley Medical Center, and police,
responding to an anonymous tip that Foust had been using meth during
her pregnancy, immediately tested her and her newborn son for the
drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police say both tested positive. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
While the tragic results of one drug bust are obvious in California,
leaders in another community just aren't sure if it was a bad thing
that the local police chief raided a private residence because his
officers mistook sunflowers for marijuana. The mayor of Bel Aire,
Kansas plans to investigate whether it was a bad mistake, or just a
mistake. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, a young man was acquitted on drug-selling charges
after many supporters said he was lured into selling marijuana in a
school zone, while the former head of a drug task force hopes to
become a sheriff in Indiana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) GIRL, 17, WOUNDED IN DRUG BUST DIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Boyfriend Is In Critical Condition At UMC
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Katrina Campos, 17, was an outgoing tomboy who helped homeless
people, but she also was dealing drugs, police say, and that's how
she was fatally wounded Tuesday night. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Katrina was shot by police during a drug bust Tuesday and died
Wednesday night. The bullet pierced her brain above her ear, family
members said. Her boyfriend, John Ibarra, 29, remained in critical
condition Thursday at University Medical Center. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ibarra now faces a count of murder because Katrina died while he was
committing a felony. Police say she was in his car when he tried to
ram police officers while trying to escape as officers moved in on a
drug transaction on Jensen Avenue near Highway99. | ||||||||||||||||||||
About the same time as Katrina's death, about 10 to 15 distraught
family members were at UMC saying they would seek revenge on Ibarra.
It prompted a call to Fresno County Jail's special emergency
response team. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Additional sheriff's staffing remains on duty at UMC, said Lt.
Fernando Lopez. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(10) DRUG RAID FALLOUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A longtime Bel Aire resident has presented a petition calling for
the police chief's dismissal, and the mayor has launched an
investigation of what went wrong when police raided a couple's home
searching for marijuana and instead found sunflowers growing in the
back yard. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mayor Brian Withrow announced during Tuesday's Bel Aire City Council meeting that he received phone calls and e-mails following 10 police officers' search of Harold and Carolyn Smith's Bel Aire home. Police obtained a search warrant Sept. 6 after an officer saw tall plants in the Smiths' back yard and suspected they were growing marijuana. Instead, authorities found Maximilian sunflower plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Withrow said Tuesday that someone on KSN Channel 3 news questioned if Bel Aire police could recognize the state flower. Withrow said the state sunflower is a different variety than the Maximilian, and he pointed out that the yellow flowers weren't blooming Sept. 6. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Withrow added that a radio station incorrectly reported that police
had searched his home. He said he appreciated the accuracy of The
Ark Valley News article about the raid. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The mayor, an associate professor of criminal justice at Wichita
State University, announced that he asked a colleague "to take a
comprehensive look" at the situation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Vern Slaby, a 35-year resident of Bel Aire, also spoke about the
matter. He acknowledged that an outside consultant would look into
the incident, and he said Berzer may notice a pattern of police
behavior. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As a group circulated a petition in Bel Aire, Slaby said, some
residents told stories of negative experiences with the police
department. The petition asks, "Do we need protection from our
police chief?"
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It refers to the Sept. 6 raid, and it states that Bel Aire needs a
police chief with more experience, common sense and discretion.
Police Chief Chris Ludiker was appointed in November 2004 to replace
Chief Chuck Quinn, who was asked to resign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Slaby said the petition includes 166 signatures. He remarked that Maximilian sunflowers like the ones in the Smiths' yard also grow east of City Hall on Rock Road, in the right of way and ditch. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) GUN-TOTING DRUG DEALERS DOUBLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police Confiscate 43 Firearms In '04 Drug Busts After 17 In '03 | ||||||||||||||||||||
NOBLESVILLE -- The high stakes involved in drug dealing in Hamilton
County has created more danger than ever before for undercover drug
task-force officers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A person being arrested by the Hamilton/Boone County Drug Task Force
in 2004 was 21/2 times more likely to carry a gun or have one in
their possession than those arrested the previous year, according to
the task force's annual criminal statistics report. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We are seeing more presence of guns in ( drug-related ) transactions than ever before," said Hamilton County Prosecutor Sonia Leerkamp. "That has just escalated tremendously." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 16-member drug task force -- officers from Carmel, Noblesville,
Fishers, Zionsville and the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department --
confiscated 43 firearms in 2004 on arrested persons, in their
vehicles or in their homes, said task force director Randy
Schalburg. In 2003, 17 firearms were seized, and just two were
confiscated in 2002. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Schalburg attributes the increased gun use to the large amounts of
cash involved in buying and selling drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) SAWIN CLEARED OF CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
PITTSFIELD -- Kyle W. Sawin left Berkshire Superior Court a free man
yesterday after a jury cleared him of dealing marijuana to an
undercover officer during a controversial drug probe in Great
Barrington last year. A panel of seven women and five men acquitted
the 18-year-old Otis man of three counts each of distribution of
marijuana and of committing a drug violation in a drug-free school
zone after about nine hours of deliberation. Sawin stood ramrod
straight as his mother, Laurie Sawin, sobbed and shed tears of joy
as each of the six "not guilty" verdicts was read at the conclusion
of his second trial on those offenses. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The defendant had faced a mandatory minimum two-year jail sentence
if convicted of one of the school-zone charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Praise Jesus," the defendant's father, Darryl Sawin, said outside
the courthouse moments after his son was acquitted. "We have our son
back, and we have our lives back."
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Sawin was among 17 people arrested on drug-dealing charges as a result of the undercover operation at the former Taconic Lumber parking lot in the summer of 2004. The lot, which is within 1,000 feet of both the Great Barrington Cooperative Preschool and Searles/Bryant Middle School, was a popular destination for teens and young adults and, according to authorities, was also rife with drug activity. Prosecutors alleged that Sawin, who was 17 at the time, sold marijuana to undercover Berkshire County Task Force member Felix Aguirre three times during the course of the operation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The first of the defendants snared in the sting to go before a jury,
Sawin initially went to trial in July. A mistrial was declared in
that case when the jury deadlocked. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In both cases, Sawin's attorney, Judith C. Knight, contended that
her client, an admitted marijuana user, was the victim of police
entrapment and was pressured by Aguirre into selling him marijuana
from his personal supply on July 6 and Sept. 3, 2004.
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[snip]
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(13) DRUG TASK FORCE HEAD ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Porter County: Robert Taylor Will Seek Sheriff's Office In 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
VALPARAISO -- After putting up signs for other Republican
candidates, Robert Taylor decided it was time for him to start his
own campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
From the day he became a police officer in 1971, Taylor knew he
wanted to be sheriff. On Sunday, at Rogers Lakewood Park, to a damp
but not daunted group of supporters, Taylor announced his candidacy
for Porter County sheriff. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Taylor has spent much of his time enforcing drug abuse laws. Working
up to the position of chief deputy of detectives and administration
for the Valparaiso Police Department, Taylor spent time in the
narcotics and homicide bureaus. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Until he retired from the department in 1992, he continued learning
about the trafficking of narcotics and enforcement of drug laws
through sessions sponsored by federal and state agencies. In 1996,
Taylor was named narcotics division investigator for the Porter
County prosecutor. He also coordinates the Porter County Drug Task
Force. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Taylor told his would-be constituents that he hopes to make them
proud with his experience and professionalism. He said his main goal
is to lessen the impact that drugs have on Porter County. He said 95
percent of the county's prison inmates are there on drug-related
crimes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"There are only three undercover agents in the county," Taylor said.
"I'll find a way to expand the program without increasing the
budget."
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Taylor also said he hopes to see more done in the area of drug
rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Our first story this week comes to us from the U.K., where recent
calls to reverse the downgrading of cannabis have been overshadowed
recommendations from the members of the Advisory Council on Drugs,
who have urged the government to keep cannabis a class C drug. Our
second story takes us to Canada, where the families of four Alberta
Mounties shot by a police-hating madman earlier this year have
called for the ruling Liberal government to abandon efforts to
decriminalize cannabis and to toughen penalties for cultivation.
Despite the fact that the murders had nothing to do with cannabis,
the families are calling for mandatory minimum sentences for both
gun-related crimes and grow-ops. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Our third story looks at an upcoming deprioritization initiative
from Telluride, Colorado. The initiative, which would make the
personal possession of less than an ounce of cannabis by adults the
lowest possible police priority, will appear on a November 1st
ballot. Next, the sad news that legal medical cannabis user Irv
Rosenfeld has been banned from racing in the North American
Challenge Cup, which is the top American sailing event for the
disabled. In a strange and ironic twist, the U.S. Anti Doping Agency
is discriminating against Rosenfeld, who is currently working to get
the ban overturned, for using the only medicine that has been shown
to be effective in treating his disability. And lastly this week, an
article about MPP's upcoming campaign to establish a regulated
system for the personal possession of cannabis use by adults in
Arizona. The initiative is one of seven state-based "tax and
regulate" campaigns being funded by the Washington-based
organization. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) EXPERTS SAY CANNABIS SHOULD STAY CLASS C DESPITE MENTAL HEALTH (Top)FEARS | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug experts will advise ministers that there should be no reversal of the downgrading of cannabis from a class B to a class C drug following claims that it is linked with mental illness. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Members of the Advisory Council on Drugs (ACMD) are understood to
have ruled out a change after hearing evidence from cannabis users
as well as police and drugs charities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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A source close to the ACMD said: "The feeling is that the committee has given thorough consideration to all the research on the health risks of cannabis and that reclassification is not necessary." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) DROP POT BILL, FEDS URGED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Families of four Alberta RCMP officers ambushed and murdered last
March want the federal government to formally dump its pot bill and
get tougher on violent crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The families of the murdered Mayerthorpe Mounties also demanded the
feds bring in a national drug strategy and a review of parole and
sentencing criteria while cracking down on marijuana grow
operations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We feel we have paid the price to be heard," said Rev. Don
Schiemann, whose son Peter was one of the four officers shot dead by
James Roszko during a search of his farm March 3. Schiemann and
family of slain officers Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston and Brock
Myrol were in Ottawa yesterday to press their case with the
government. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) LAID-BACK POT POLICY ON BALLOT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nestled in the San Juan Mountains, home to moneyed hippies, artists and nature buffs, Telluride is a live-and-let-live kind of town. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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So perhaps it should come as no surprise that although Telluride
cannot legalize marijuana, it may do the next closest thing:
officially declare possession of pot for personal use to be the
town's "lowest law enforcement priority."
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In August, the Town Council voted 6-0 to put the issue on the Nov. 1
ballot. Residents will be asked whether to instruct town marshals --
the local law enforcement -- to make the investigation, arrest and
prosecution of marijuana possession their lowest priority. The
proposal applies only to the possession of an ounce or less of
marijuana by people 18 or older. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(17) MEDICAL MARIJUANA USER BANNED FROM REGATTA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Irvin Rosenfeld, the South Florida stockbroker who gained national attention for his fight to freely use marijuana as medicine, has run into resistance from one of the nation's top sailing events for the disabled and expects to be barred from next year's event. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The reason: an independent group that monitors use of drugs by
athletes won't exempt the pot Rosenfeld uses to treat tumors that
would otherwise leave him bedridden and in pain. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rosenfeld, who has sailed in three races of the North American
Challenge Cup in 11 years, has asked the race's organizers and the
U.S. Sailing Association to overrule the United States Anti-Doping
Agency and let him sail in the 2006 regatta. He said an event that
celebrates overcoming disabilities is in effect discriminating
against a disabled person. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(18) NATIONAL GROUP PUSHES FOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A pro-marijuana group based in Washington, D.C., is looking for
activists in Arizona to build grass-roots support for legalized
marijuana, with the eventual goal being to get the drug legalized
here for all adults. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The nonprofit Marijuana Policy Project is targeting seven states,
including also Delaware, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and
Oregon. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The effort is in its infancy, and project officials emphasize they
have no master plan for the seven states. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead, the group is looking for local activists whose efforts
would be funded by the project's grant program. The eventual goal is
to put marijuana in the same category as alcohol, with the same kind
of taxes and regulation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (19-23) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
This week we feature three pieces from around the world that all come to the same conclusion: prohibition isn't working this time around, either. The BBC (the U.K. government's mouthpiece), surprised readers this week by running an opinion piece suggesting government might buy opium crops from poor Afghan farmers. While not forsaking the use of jail on drug-sinners, the BBC saw fit to mention such "New Thinking," if, perhaps, only to dismiss it later. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Paris-based Senlis Council think tank report which last week
suggested an opium buyback from Afghan farmers continued to
reverberate in this week's news, also. The U.N. and
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In the South American nation of Bolivia this week, Evo Morales, the
front-runner in the upcoming Bolivian presidential elections in
December, said he rejects Washington's policy to eradicate coca in
Bolivia. Instead, Morales promised to make coca legal again. Last
year, Morales suggested that coca be legally sold for use in
medicine, tea, and toothpaste. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Colombia, farmers are digging deeper in the jungle to escape
anti-coca spraying, and this is destroying the rain forests. While
demon "cocaine" is blamed, drug prohibition laws that make it
lucrative for farmers to grow coca in parks are not mentioned. So
far, the Colombian government has banned spraying in the parks, but
this may change soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao City in the Philippines says he's happy that the Justice Department is investigating summary killings in his district. "It's good, it's good so that the truth will come out," claimed Mayor Duterte. Earlier, Duterte had praised the summary killings of drug suspects in his area by the Davao Death Squad (DDS), while alternately denying the existence of the DDS. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(19) RETHINKING THE WAR ON DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Twenty years before the war on terror, we had a war on
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The Reagan administration came up with the idea, the Thatcher
government backed it. It was, for a time, one of the most important
initiatives the U.S. and UK were involved in.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Suppose, it was suggested, the opiates which cause such trouble in the form of heroin were diverted to medical use instead? | ||||||||||||||||||||
New Thinking
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The Senlis Council carried out a feasibility study with the help of
several universities, and the idea stood up. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The plan would be to buy the produce of the poppy-growers, instead
of allowing it to go to the big drugs middle-men who operate in
Pakistan and Afghanistan itself. | ||||||||||||||||||||
What tends to happen when an idea like this comes along is that
people start to point out how far short of perfection it falls,
instead of accepting that it might present, say, a 60% improvement
on what exists already. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Because it isn't a 100% solution, it gets discarded. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Senlis Council certainly doesn't expect that its big new idea
will solve the problem of the heroin trade, but it might do some
good. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) AFGHANISTAN, UN DISMISS CALL FOR LEGALISING OPIUM CROP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Afghanistan's Government and the United Nations (UN) have rejected a call for the legalisation of the country's opium crops. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Afghanistan produces 87 per cent of the world's opium. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A Paris-based group of experts known as the Senlis Council called
for the urgent legalisation of Afghanistan's opium industry to turn
the impoverished country away from the illegal heroin trade and
towards supplying the legal pain relief industry. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The report cited countries, including Australia, that it said also licences opium production for use in the manufacture of codeine and morphine, which are in critically short supply around the world. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Afghanistan's Government said it rejected the proposal for the time
being, stating that the poor security situation in the country means
that an illicit trade geared towards the heroin market would still
flourish. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(21) LEGAL COCAINE? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
LA PAZ, Bolivia - Indian leader Evo Morales said he would reject
Washington's policy of eradicating much of Bolivia's coca crop if he
is elected president and pledged he would work to legalize the leaf
used to make cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Morales, a front-runner in this Andean nation's Dec. 4 election, is an Aymara Indian who led protest that help oust President Carlos Mesa in June and led to the calling of the December vote. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He rose to power ten years ago as the leader of the coca growers of
the Chapara region, where U.S.-backed eradication efforts are
focused. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(22) WORRIES THE CURE MAY BE AS BAD AS THE DISEASE
| ||||||||||||||||||||
PUERTO ARTURO, Colombia - Cocaine is killing the great nature parks
of Colombia. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Government spraying of coca plant killer is driving growers and traffickers out of their usual territory into national parks where spraying is banned. Here they are burning thousands of acres of virgin rain forest and poisoning rivers with chemicals. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now the government faces a painful dilemma: to spray weedkiller
would be devastating, but the impact of coca-growing is increasingly
destructive. The question is, which is worse?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Colombia is home to about 15 percent of all the world's plant species and one of its most diverse arrays of amphibians, mammals and birds. Dozens of species that populate its jungles and Andes mountains exist nowhere else on the planet. One of the richest is the Sierra Macarena National Park, where monkeys clamber across the jungle canopy and seven species of big cat prowl in its shadows. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But Sierra Macarena is most threatened by cocaine. A recent flight over part of its 1.6 million acres revealed a trail of ugly gashes and charred trunks of trees felled by coca planters. The intruders also have built dozens of makeshift drug labs in the park and in the nearby village of Puerto Arturo, bringing in tons of gasoline, cement, hydrochloric acid and other toxic chemicals to process the coca leaves into cocaine. All of it pollutes the rivers and soil. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The government says it is studying whether to lift the ban on
spraying. If it doesn't, growers are bound to plant more crops in
the reserves. But Indian tribes and environmental advocates contend
that spraying would be harmful to the animals and their
surroundings. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The United States has provided billions of dollars over the past
five years for spraying Colombian drug fields, a move the United
Nations says helped reduced overall cocaine production in Colombia
last year by 13 percent. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Environmentalists insist the solution is for government workers to
destroy the crops with machetes - a method that has worked in
mountainous areas beyond the spray planes' reach. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"Fumigation is not the answer to the drug problem in Colombia," said
Nilson Zurita of the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia.
"It destroys the environment and sickens animals and people. Another
solution must be found."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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(23) DUTERTE WELCOMES NBI PROBE ON VIGILANTE KILLINGS IN DAVAO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DAVAO CITY (PNA) - Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has welcomed the order of
the Justice Department directing the National Bureau of
Investigation (NBI) to investigate the unsolved series of summary
executions of suspected criminals in the city. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Duterte, who was linked by the U.S. State Department to the
killings, said the directive of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales
could settle the speculations once and for all. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It's good, it's good so that the truth will come out," the mayor
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Duterte reminded the journalists about his announcement earlier that there were groups that kill for a fee operating in the region. | ||||||||||||||||||||
According to the mayor, he himself requested the NBI to conduct the
investigation and that he has directed the Davao City Police Office
to furnish the NBI with the result of their preliminary findings on
the series of killings in the city so that it could help the bureau
to solve the crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As of August this year, more than 100 suspected drug pushers and
thieves had been killed in Davao City by the shadowy group dubbed as
the Davao Death Squad (DDS). | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales directed the NBI to investigate the
unsolved summary killings after the US State Department noted the
unsolved killings in Davao City and even linked Duterte to the Davao
Death Squad. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A NEW BATTLE FOR COCA IN PERU
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Jean Friedsky and Luis A. Gomez at Narco News
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
1ST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON METH, HIV AND HEPATITIS SCIENCE & RESPONSE
| ||||||||||||||||||||
From the 1st National Conference on Meth, HIV and Hepatitis Science
& Response held August 19th and 20th, 2005 in Salt Lake City.
Presentations and Audio of the Conference Sessions are Now On-line
and Available for Download. Video to follow soon!
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
THE FAILED DRUG WAR
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Charles Shaw, AlterNet. Posted September 28, 2005.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
An ex-convict says we cannot address poverty and race in America, nor
can we talk about needless death and expense, without addressing the
drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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LISTEN Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
www.KPFT.org (29:00) (MP3 Avail. Sat AM)
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DRCNET IN AFGHANISTAN
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Drug War Chronicle editor Phil Smith is on the scene... | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DEA MICROGRAM BULLETIN
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Published by the Drug Enforcement Administration Office of Forensic
Sciences Washington, D.C. 20537
| ||||||||||||||||||||
VOL. XXXVIII, NO. 9, September 2005
| ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0905/mg0905.html | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
RCMP FAMILY MEMBERS CALL FOR JUSTICE REFORM
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Don Schiemann speaks in Ottawa on behalf of families of four RCMP
officers who were killed in Mayerthorpe, Alberta. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20050926/rcmp_justic_050926/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS BRIEF BANK
| ||||||||||||||||||||
ASA's brief bank includes a compendium of what ASA is working on with
links to relevant briefs and documents that may provide useful
information for a variety of legal issues. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
| ||||||||||||||||||||
RALLY FOR RESCHEDULING: MARIJUANA IS MEDICINE
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Oct 2, 2005 - Oct 4, 2005, Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HELP SUPPORT DRUGSENSE/MAP FINANCIALLY
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DrugSense services come free of charge, but they are not free to produce. DrugSense and the Media Awareness Project depend on donations to maintain operations. Please give generously! | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
WAR ON DOCS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Darlene Reagan
| ||||||||||||||||||||
To The Editor:
| ||||||||||||||||||||
After learning of the recent accusations concerning over prescribing
of narcotics by Dr. Latimer, I researched this topic on the web. I
was surprised to learn that this is a controversy situation nation
wide. The DEA ( Drug Enforcement Administration ) is feeling
pressure from federal and state officials to combat a spike in drug
abuse. This is escalating a war on drugs that is effecting
legitimate doctors, not unlike Dr Latimer, not to mention the
patients experiencing pain. The reality is that some people suffer
severe pain every day from back injuries, cancer, disabilities,
arthritis, etc. The responsibility of the doctor is to the patient.
The physician is required to treat the patient to the best of their
ability. It is impossible to be sure that the patient is not
diverting any of his medication. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Since when do drug enforcement officers and district attorneys have
the license to practice medicine? They do not have this license or
expertise. Nor do the physicians have the expertise to act as Drug
Enforcement Officers. These are two separate occupations with
different agendas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Latimer has been cast in the middle of a national and political
debate. He does not deserve this. This situation may cause paranoia
amongst local physicians and effect how patients are treated. Please
speak up to protect respected physicians before it effects or
quality of health care in the North County. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Darlene Reagan
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
No Need For Research; Hemp Could Have Weathered The Drought | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The cornstalks I've seen here in northern Illinois aren't pretty. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The plants are scrawny with yellow leaves that started drying out mid-summer. Many of the ears of corn, usually robust green with abundant tassels flowing from the top, have been stunted by a severe lack of rain all summer. This year, some of the ears look more like mutated clumps of cob barely clinging to a few stray kernels. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As the drought became evident during the summer, some area
newspapers researched drought-resistant crops that would be suitable
for the region. The stories I read indicated such crops are in
development. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I did not see any press reports suggesting that such a crop already
exists: Hemp. It's been used over centuries around the globe. There
was even a time when it was grown here in the Land of Lincoln, but
now it's a crime for farmers to grow hemp anywhere in the United
States. | ||||||||||||||||||||
One of hemp's many virtues includes drought-resistance. A quick
Google search shows many references to hemp's ability to thrive with
limited rainfall. Historic evidence indicates at least some farmers
here in Illinois noticed the quality in the past. When the Chicago
Tribune grew experimental crops including hemp in the 1930s, editors
and farm managers were amazed at how the crop seemed unharmed by
harsh drought. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"When we stopped to look at the test plot where the hemp is growing,
we wanted to doff our straw hat and give this plant a little
applause," wrote Tribune reporter Robert Becker at the end of a
scorching August in 1936. "It has grown remarkably in spite of
intense heat and drouth [sic]. In fact, one of the boys was saying
that during the week of the most severe heat the hemp kept pushing
its head to the blazing sun."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
We could know even more about how hemp would fare in Illinois today
if former Gov. George Ryan (whose trial on corruption charges,
incidentally, just got underway last week) hadn't vetoed a bill to
study industrial hemp as a legitimate agricultural crop in Illinois
back in 2001. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Not that the study was needed. Even after the Tribune was forced to
stop growing hemp, other Illinois farmers successfully participated
in the Hemp for Victory program during World War II. And you don't
even need to go back that far. One of the Chicago newspapers told
the story with a photo on the day that I write this. | ||||||||||||||||||||
On Sept. 29, the Chicago Sun-Times published a picture showing a law
enforcement officer burning several marijuana plants. A total of
6,000 plants were burned according to the caption. The caption also
notes that the plants were discovered with the help of "high-tech
electronic gear."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
If those plants grew well enough to be considered a threat by drug agents during the drought, it's reasonable to expect that the non-psychoactive industrial version of the species could fare just as well if they were being cultivated by Illinois farmers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Indeed, we will know eventually when state reports are released next
year whether the drought hurt the industrial hemp crop. Hemp from
those crops sown decades ago still grows wild throughout the state.
Usually, that's what the "high-tech electronic gear" finds:
uncultivated ditchweed lacking psychoactive qualities. The wild hemp
doesn't get anyone high, just like the industrial hemp grown in so
many other nations doesn't get anyone high. To the contrary, smoking
industrial hemp or ditchweed can cause negative effects, like
headache and sore throat. With its own built-in deterrence system,
hemp is a not only beneficial, it's harmless, an imaginary threat
from which no one needs protection. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The absurdity should be difficult to miss. The state government
wants so badly to remain ignorant about the ways hemp can benefit
farmers that it won't even allow research. Yet, it's clear that hemp
has desirable properties; so desirable that every other developed
country in the world grows it. Here we react to that desirability by
spending money on "high-tech electronic gear" to facilitate search
and destroy missions, knowing full-well that we can destroy only a
fraction of what grows, even as Mother Nature challenges the plants
with added adversity. | ||||||||||||||||||||
While the corn in Illinois may be ugly this year, it looks better
from certain perspectives. Compared to a policy that turns cops into
extremely over-equipped lawn service crews and locks American
farmers out of a lucrative global market, the dry and sagging stalks
are beauties. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rain will come back another season, but it's tough to predict when
the drought of government common sense regarding hemp will be
doused. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly. A new edition of his book Maximizing Harm is scheduled for release next year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Any government has as much of a duty to avoid war as a ship's
captain has to avoid a shipwreck." - Guy de Maupassant
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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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