| Nov. 25, 2005 #426 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) LEGAL BATTLE FOR POT RENEWED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Woman Seeking Medicinal Use
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An Oakland woman whose landmark medicinal marijuana case was rebuffed
five months ago by the U.S. Supreme Court renewed her legal fight
Wednesday by filing papers in a federal appeals court. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lawyers for Angel Raich, 40, filed a brief in the federal 9th Circuit
Court of Appeals arguing that federal efforts to restrict medicinal
marijuana violate her rights to take the only medication that allows
her to avoid intolerable pain and death. | ||||||||||||||||||
The brief thus marks a new legal strategy for Raich, who previously had
argued that federal drug laws traditionally focus on interstate
commerce and thus did not apply to Raich's use of locally grown
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
That argument was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 ruling in
June. The latest legal salvo by Raich also argues that prohibiting her
from taking medically necessary cannabis would violate her due process
rights, and that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not allow
the federal government to prohibit medicinal use within a state that
authorizes it. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) EARLY ACTION 'MIGHT HAVE SAVED VAN' (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE lawyer for a German woman freed after facing execution in Singapore
on drug charges has criticised Australia's last-ditch bid to save
condemned Nguyen Tuong Van as too late. | ||||||||||||||||||
Subhas Anandan, who represented Julia Suzanne Bohl - released earlier
this year despite originally being charged with possession of a
quantity of marijuana that would have brought the death penalty - said
the flurry of activity by Australian authorities was "like visiting a
dead person in hospital". | ||||||||||||||||||
And he questioned why the Australian and Victorian governments would mount "such a diplomatic effort" on behalf of Van after he was convicted of heroin trafficking, rather than when he was first charged. | ||||||||||||||||||
Van was arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport in December 2002
carrying 396g of heroin. The death penalty is mandatory for more than
15g. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr Anandan's comments came as Bob Hawke made an appeal to Singaporean
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, seeking his personal intervention to
stop Van's execution next Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||
The former Labor prime minister confirmed he had sought clemency for
Van in a private letter to Mr Lee. | ||||||||||||||||||
Mr Hawke was at the centre of the controversial capital punishment case in 1986 in which the Australian drug traffickers Kevin Barlow and Brian Chambers were sentenced to death in Malaysia. They were hanged anyway. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Singapore, Van's Australian lawyers applied yesterday to authorities
to witness his execution next week. "We owe it to him," said senior
lawyer Lex Lasry QC. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) GOING TO POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Greetings from the Mile High City. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Mind if I smoke?" asks Frank Rich, Denver's drunken ambassador. | ||||||||||||||||||
Who could mind?
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We're sitting in Club 404, a 53-year-old bar in the heart of Denver, a town that's suddenly turned into America's new-age sin city, a place where vice is very nice -- if, in fact, it qualifies as vice at all. Last fall, Denver was toasted as "The Drunkest Big City in America" by Men's Health magazine, and while the stated reasons for that honor did not cite Rich, who founded Modern Drunkard magazine here in 1996, they certainly should have. He's about to crisscross the country on a book tour, touting this town's liquid assets as he talks up The Modern
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And just three weeks ago, Denver voters stunned poll watchers and
pundits by passing Initiative 100, which legalizes the possession of
less than an ounce of marijuana in this city. The Make Denver SAFER
campaign was led by Mason Tvert, a 23-year-old from Phoenix who
graduated from the University of Richmond in May 2004, moved to Boulder
in January and pulled off the upset of the election season, taking this
town one toke over the line. He, too, is crisscrossing the country,
talking about his victory and helping other groups strategize similar
campaigns. | ||||||||||||||||||
But right now, Denver's viceroys of vice, these two sultans of sin, are
meeting for the first time. | ||||||||||||||||||
Round One
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"You didn't have to attack alcohol," Rich says, hoisting a glass of
PBR. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The logic behind the campaign," Tvert explains, "was simply a method
for pointing out the hypocrisy of many people within our system and the
irrationality of many laws. I wholeheartedly do not have a problem with
alcohol."
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"You obviously do," Rich fires back. "Have you ever read your website?" | ||||||||||||||||||
"I wrote it."
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[snip]
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(4) A METH DEALER'S STORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Mike's an addict from way back. He's been addicted to some drug or
another for decades, but he said none has ever done to him what meth
has. Mike's name has been changed to protect his identity, and from an
interview in the Walker County Jail on Monday, he said meth is a drug
no one should touch. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I started meth a couple of years ago," the 30-something-year-old man
said. "I had always done marijuana." Marijuana is the drug of choice
for many, but expedience is key, according to Mike, and the timing
issue led him to meth. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I was on probation for marijuana," he said. "Marijuana stays in your
system longer than meth. Meth gets out of your system in three days and
you can pass a piss test." While many addicts report a need to "tweak"
or disassemble anything within reach, Mike said the drug had the
opposite effect on him. | ||||||||||||||||||
"A lot of people take things apart and don't put them back together,
but I build toys," he said. "It kept me awake. It motivated me. "It was
like drinking pots and pots of coffee," he added. "I wasn't hungry. You
just want to be doing something. I lost probably 50 or 60 pounds once I
started using, because I wasn't eating."
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After beginning use, an addict can enjoy the effect the drug has on their system, while the drug is busy tearing apart various components of their body. "I have dentures on the top," Mike said, pulling back his lips, revealing the dentures and about four blackened teeth lining his bottom jaw. "My muscles and joints cramp. My whole body hurts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors, police and other officials still aren't too happy about
voter-mandated drug policy reform in many places, apparently. If
they are happy about it, they aren't implementing it for other
reasons. It's not too much of a surprise in Traverse City, Michigan,
but one would have thought the culture in Oakland, California is a
bit different. While public officials have failed to do their job,
the press isn't hounding them the way it sometimes hounds people
such initiatives were designed to help. | ||||||||||||||||||
Also last week, New York opiate users are getting a tool to fight
overdose; and meth is out while Dilaudid is in, at least in one
Tennessee county. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) OFFICIALS SAY POT'S STILL A PRIORITY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TRAVERSE CITY - Sixty-three percent of the voters in the last city election think medical marijuana use should be Traverse City's "lowest law enforcement priority," but no one should light up soon. | ||||||||||||||||||
City police and Grand Traverse County's prosecutor said charges will
continue to be brought against those who use the drug for medical
purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
On Nov. 8, city voters passed a proposal 1,594 to 925 that didn't
legalize marijuana but called for its medical use to be the "lowest
law enforcement priority."
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"We will continue to charge according to state law...," Prosecutor
Alan Schneider said. "I have to, I have no choice."
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[snip]
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(6) Column: Z IS FOR LAZY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Oakland Pols Still Haven't Implemented Last Year's Measure Z -- Are
They Stoned
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One year ago, Oakland voters overwhelmingly passed Measure Z, a
ballot initiative that all but decriminalized marijuana use, making
the arrest of pot smokers local law enforcement's lowest priority. A
year later, it seems that Oakland city officials have made
implementing Measure Z their lowest priority. | ||||||||||||||||||
There has yet to be a meeting of the eleven-member oversight
committee called for by the measure to oversee its implementation.
That's because neither Mayor Jerry Brown nor most city council
members -- each of whom gets to name one person to the committee --
has bothered to appoint anyone. These pols, in other words, have
displayed all the motivation of an unemployed stoner living in his
mom's basement. To date, only Councilwomen Desley Brooks, Jane
Brunner, and Nancy Nadel and auditor Roland Smith have made their
appointments, leaving the committee two short of the six-member
quorum required to convene a session. | ||||||||||||||||||
Leaders of the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, which sponsored
Measure Z, are now consulting attorneys to see if they can sue the
city to force officials to comply with the voters' mandate. Susan
Stephenson, a lobbyist for the group, says the main role of the
oversight committee would be to verify that Oakland police have cut
back on marijuana-related arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) COLUMN: THE PSEUDO-EXPOSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"all he believes are his eyes, And his eyes just tell him lies..."
-Bob Dylan
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The corporate media has created a totally false impression about the
extent to which California's medical marijuana law has been
implemented. They use a simple trick: show "how easy it is to get a
card" and ignore the fact that relatively few people have done so,
due to countervailing pressures. This Spring, Oakland's KTVU did a
pseudo-expose along these lines, and in the ensuing months a
reporter from every other station in the Bay Area has gone
"undercover" into a doctor's office, described a medical problem (
real or faked ), gotten a letter of approval and then a card, taken
it to a dispensary, and obtained marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
This week the assignment fell to Mike Sugerman of KCBS "Eyewitness
News."
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An Anchor Person provided the intro: "We have repeatedly heard about
the debate about medical marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under state law it is legal, but only sick people, under a doctor's supervision, are supposed to be able to get it. So you'd think getting a medical marijuana card would be rather difficult..." Cut to Sugerman, who is middle-aged, wiry, balding, wears glasses, getting out of bed and being droll: 3Back aches, joints hurt, I don't know why. Maybe it's my bed. I could buy a new mattress. | ||||||||||||||||||
Maybe it's my shoes. | ||||||||||||||||||
I could get a new insole. | ||||||||||||||||||
I could smoke some pot... ( walking into an office building ) I went to one of those places in Oakland. Paid a hundred and fifty dollars. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) OVERDOSE REMEDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
New City Program Aims At Reducing Heroin Deaths By Prescribing
Preventive Drug
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The city has quietly begun funding a cutting-edge program aimed at
reducing heroin overdose deaths by distributing an antidote drug to
users at needle exchanges. | ||||||||||||||||||
Experts say naloxone, known by its trade name, Narcan, may have
already saved dozens of lives in the city since the Harm Reduction
Coalition, an advocacy group that seeks to reduce the harms of drug
use, began prescribing it about seven months ago. | ||||||||||||||||||
Under the program, users are prescribed syringes of Narcan, which can be injected into a muscle of a person who is overdosing. Doctors say the drug's only effect is to reverse heroin and other opiate overdoses. It is not dangerous, they say, and can't be misused. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's sort of a revolutionary idea, in a way, to put a medicine in
the hands of anybody," said Dr. Sharon Stancliff, the program's
medical director. "Overdose is really preventable in many, many
cases."
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Narcan is one of the city's latest efforts to combat heroin, which
experts believe causes more deaths in New York than homicides. The
high-profile deaths this summer of two college students who
overdosed on a mixture of heroin and cocaine cast a spotlight on the
rate of drug fatalities. According to city Department of Health
statistics, drugs kill about 900 people each year - nearly 700 of
them from opiates, which include heroin and other drugs like
oxycontin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(9) DILAUDID PASSES METH AS RURAL DRUG PROBLEM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The biggest drug problem in rural Tennessee may not be methamphetamine
-- now the focus of a statewide campaign --but Dilaudid, a common
painkiller drug addicts have learned to abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
And Nashville plays a big part in the problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dilaudid is an opium-based painkiller, which is usually prescribed
for post-surgical pain relief, management of acute or chronic pain,
and relief of cough and diarrhea. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, drug addicts have learned to crush Dilaudid pills, liquefy them and inject them into their bloodstream much like heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Lloyd Emmons, who organized a large drug round up in DeKalb
County Tuesday involving several local, state and federal law
enforcement agencies, said Dilaudid is the number one problem in his
area. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Dilaudid is a prescription drug... it's extremely addictive, it's a
Schedule II narcotics, and we have a large Dilaudid trade here in
DeKalb County. It is probably the largest drug problem as far as
intravenous drug use goes," Emmons said. "Methamphetamine runs a
close second and then, of course, we're awash in all these TennCare
medications."
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DeKalb County is a rural area about one hour from Nashville covering 305 square miles with a population of roughly 18,000 people. | ||||||||||||||||||
Emmons started an intense drug investigation examining what kind of drugs come into DeKalb County in October 2004 and asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for support in spring of 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||
What Emmons found was that methamphetamine started coming into
DeKalb County in the mid-1990s. By the late 1990s and early 2000s,
people moved into the area who taught others how to cook
methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||
Because meth consumers in rural counties generally cook their own meth, they cannot really make money from it, Emmons said. | ||||||||||||||||||
But he found the big money in illegal drugs in his county was in
Dilaudid. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Dilaudid you can make money in," he said. "They sell it for about
$13 a pill in Nashville that sells for $25 to $30 here. So that's a
problem."
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[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug prohibition leads to the death of an Eagle Scout in North
Carolina this week. Meanwhile, a newspaper investigation shows just
how ineffective new laws governing the purchase of pseudoephedrine
can be. Still it's not letting up in North Carolina, where some
prohibitionists want evictions before convictions, or in New York,
where walking more than 1,000 feet from a school still doesn't
prevent one from being charged with selling drugs within 1,000 feet
of a school. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) DRUGS ENSNARED MURDER VICTIM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In high school, Stephen William Harrington of Raleigh was the Eagle
Scout who clowned in class, co-captained the swim team and
surrounded himself with friends. In college, little changed.
Harrington was popular and outgoing, rarely alone as he walked
across campus. He was taken with the trails and mountains that
surrounded Appalachian State University in Boone. But Harrington
also got caught up in the cocaine trade, according to documents from
Watauga County sheriff's deputies. Nearly two weeks ago, the
19-year-old accounting major made a late-night drive to the house of
a guy who, some say, owed him money. | ||||||||||||||||||
The next morning, Harrington's partially burned body was found in
the smoldering trunk of his red Subaru. | ||||||||||||||||||
Three young men have been charged with first-degree murder in the
Nov. 8 death. The homicide refocused interest on the drug culture
around the college town, and it shocked friends who couldn't figure
out how a personable teenager could become the victim of such a
gruesome crime. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) HIDDEN CAMERA SHOWED HOW PURCHASES MADE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Evansville Courier & Press and its news-gathering partner,
WEHT-News25, conducted a hidden-camera investigation at Evansville
pharmacies to test whether Indiana's new meth law is working. The
new law limits customers to buying no more than three grams of
pseudoephedrine from one pharmacy per week, which works out to about
100 pills of 30 mg Sudafed or similar cold remedies. Pseudoephedrine
pills also are used illicitly to make methamphetamine. Purchasing
Sudafed boxes for the experiment was a volunteer, Shannon Dilbeck,
who is not a newsroom employee but works in the Courier & Press
marketing department. A Channel 25 photographer, Neil Kellen,
wearing a button-sized hidden camera, accompanied Dilbeck into the
stores and videotaped each transaction. | ||||||||||||||||||
Over the course of Oct. 10, 12 and 14, Dilbeck entered stores 21 times, visiting 10 different pharmacies, including two locations each from the Walgreen, Wal-Mart and Schnucks chains, three CVS locations, plus one local independent, Oak Hill Pharmacy. | ||||||||||||||||||
Each time, she tried to purchase 30 mg Sudafed. If a box of 24 pills
was not available, she asked for a box of 48. If Sudafed was sold
out, she requested a generic equivalent containing the same active
ingredient, pseudoephedrine. | ||||||||||||||||||
At each visit, Dilbeck presented her own identification and signed her real name to the pharmacy's log book, as required by the law. Separate stores within the same chain did not question her multiple purchases. During repeat visits, however, three stores recognized her name in their logs and did not let her buy the medication. | ||||||||||||||||||
By visiting 10 pharmacies two or three times each, Dilbeck was able
to obtain 19 boxes of Sudafed containing a 528 pills. That works out
to 15.84 grams of pseudoephedrine. That would be more than enough to
brew two batches of methamphetamine. ( Other ingredients essential
to meth manufacturing were not purchased. )
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Violating the law is a misdemeanor. Though more than a month has
passed since the undercover purchases, Dilbeck said no one from law
enforcement has contacted her or questioned why she bought such
amounts of pseudoephedrine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) DRUG EVICTION EFFORTS GET PUSH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DURHAM -- Elected officials are urging Durham's Partners Against
Crime groups to expand their attempts to get people accused of drug
dealing evicted from rental units. | ||||||||||||||||||
The effort, which involves civil-court proceedings and pressure on landlords, is being pioneered by the PAC movement's District 2. During a meeting Friday of the Durham Crime Cabinet, officials said the city's other four PAC districts should get involved. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's exciting that PAC 2 is taking some ownership of this issue and
looking for a solution," said County Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, who
co-chairs the intergovernmental crime cabinet with City Councilman
Howard Clement. Clement was just as enthusiastic. "I'd like the
other PACs to share in this model," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The encouraging words from Reckhow and Clement came after District 2 leaders Richard Mullinax and Ken Gasch briefed officials on what their group has been up to over the past couple of months. | ||||||||||||||||||
In that time, District 2 activists have followed up on nine Police
Department drug raids by checking whether the people arrested rented
or owned the targeted homes. | ||||||||||||||||||
Seven of the raids targeted rentals, and each time the group
contacted the home's landlord to encourage an eviction. The group
contends that landlords and the community have the right to expect
tenants to honor leases that bar illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
Tenants got the boot in five of the cases, and are on their way out in the other two, according to a report Mullinax and Gasch presented to the group. District 2 leaders say the use of civil eviction proceedings -- which don't require the same burden of proof as a criminal case -- is a faster way of closing down drug houses. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The nine [cases] here are the serious dealers in the community,"
Mullinax said. "PAC 2 is not going to wait on a criminal conviction.
There's no reason to wait on a criminal conviction to bring evidence
to a judge for summary eviction."
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[snip]
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(13) COURT RULES AGAINST DEALER IN SCHOOL DRUG CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ALBANY - The state's highest court Tuesday rejected a convicted drug dealer' s argument that he should get a lighter sentence because, by his calculation, he was a bit more than 1,000 feet from a school. | ||||||||||||||||||
Defendant James Robbins said he was more than 1,000 feet walking
distance from a Manhattan school when he was arrested, but the Court
of Appeals says the distance is calculated in a straight line, or
"as the crow flies". | ||||||||||||||||||
At issue is a criminal charge with harsher penalties for selling
drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. | ||||||||||||||||||
The decision was one of several rulings by the Court of Appeals on
Tuesday including the case of a drug defendant snared by a telephone
line and an alum's donation after death. | ||||||||||||||||||
Robbins, 40, was arrested in March 2002 after selling crack cocaine
to an undercover officer in Manhattan about three blocks from a
grade school on West 43rd Street. He's now serving a six-to 12-year
prison sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||
Robbins' lawyer, Martin Lucente, argued lower courts erred when they ruled the distance from the school should be determined by the "'as the crow flies ' method," according to court documents. | ||||||||||||||||||
He said the distance in his client's case should have been
determined by how far one would have to walk from the school to get
to the site of the drug sale. Detectives measured two walking routes
and found the distance to be 1,294 feet and 1,091 feet. By using the
Pythagorean theorem, the judge hearing the case determined the
straight-line distance from the school was 908 feet and said the law
applied to Robbins' case. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
We begin this week with good news from San Francisco, where Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has overseen the successful passage of new cannabis dispensary regulations. Although some argue that the new regulations will force a few clubs to shut down, 31 dispensaries will be continue to operate at their present locations. The regulations - which limit daily purchases to one ounce of cannabis and restrict clubs that allow smoking on-site from operating within 1000 feet of schools - will mostly affect new dispensaries, since well-established compassion clubs will be exempt from many of the new regs. Also from California this week, the sad news of the murder/robbery of Les Crane, a 39 year old Laytonville man who operated a number of nearby cannabis dispensaries in Mendocino County. Mr. Crane was shot five times during a robbery at his home, with the assailants taking money and cannabis from his safe. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our second story is a look at a Wisconsin medical cannabis bill
currently making its way through the state Legislature. Federal
cannabis patient Irv Rosenfeld testified in support of the bill,
which was authored by Republican State Rep. Gregg Underheim. Despite
bi-partisan support, the bill is not expected to pass in the
Republican-controlled state Legislature. | ||||||||||||||||||
From Canada this week, news that the Canadian Public Health Association has launched a campaign on "Pot and Driving". The Globe and Mail reports that the campaign will be mostly poster-based, with some educational materials available to teachers and parents. You can view the new campaign at: http://www.potanddriving.cpha.ca/ | ||||||||||||||||||
Lastly, news from Britain that despite recent suggestions that
cannabis may be linked to mental illness, the U.K.'s Advisory
Committee on the Misuse of Drugs found no evidence to support
raising its official classification (and the associated legal
penalties) once again. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) SMOKING COMPETITORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
How Mirkarimi Balanced 'Big Pot' And the Concerned Neighbors Around
SF Medical Marijuana Clubs
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San Francisco's groundbreaking medical cannabis dispensary
regulations have spared most of the city's existing clubs but have
limited sales to smaller quantities and made it much more difficult
for new dispensaries to open, thus striking a political balance that
assured passage of the legislation. | ||||||||||||||||||
The ordinance, which was approved unanimously by the Board of
Supervisors Nov. 15 and was expected to win final approval Nov. 22,
after Bay Guardian press time, pitted dispensary supporters against
neighborhood groups that argued for tighter zoning restrictions and
a cap on the number of dispensaries. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The compromise deal allows all but two of the city's 33 dispensaries
to remain in their current locations and grandfathers in medical
cannabis clubs in the South of Market neighborhood. But in return,
restrictions on new dispensaries were strengthened, requiring they
be 1,000 feet from schools rather than 500 feet as originally
proposed. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) POT ACTIVIST LIKELY KNEW KILLERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Medical marijuana activist Les Crane probably knew the masked gunmen
who kicked in the door to his secluded Laytonville home in the
middle of the night, raided his safe of pot and cash and beat two
other people with bats before shooting Crane multiple times, killing
him, authorities said Saturday. | ||||||||||||||||||
"From all indications, they were familiar with the interior of the residence," said Mendocino County Sheriff's Lt. D.J. Miller. | ||||||||||||||||||
Crane, 39, suffered as many as five bullet wounds when he was gunned
down in his bedroom about 2:30 a.m. Friday.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Crane's girlfriend, Jennifer Drewry, was sleeping in a separate
bedroom and suffered a broken arm when she was attacked. A friend,
Sean Dirlam, was in a third bedroom and suffered facial injuries as
the three, possibly four assailants cleaned out the large safe,
Miller said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Authorities said they have identified possible suspects, but no
arrests have been made. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(16) MEDICAL POT BILL WILL GET HEARING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Every day for the past 23 years, Irv Rosenfeld has smoked up to a
dozen marijuana cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||
On probably every one of those days, someone, somewhere, was arrested for doing the same thing. But the government not only doesn't care about Rosenfeld's drug use; it's been his supplier. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of just seven remaining patients in the federal government's
"compassionate use" program, which provides marijuana for medical
uses, Rosenfeld said the drug helps him cope with the excruciating
pain caused by an estimated 200 benign bone tumors that daily poke
at his muscles and veins. | ||||||||||||||||||
Rosenfeld, 52, a stock broker from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is the
star witness in a planned hearing today on legislation to exempt
patients with debilitating medical conditions from prosecution for
using marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(17) THE STRAIGHT DOPE ON DRUGGED DRIVING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Public Health Campaign Aims To Educate Teens On The Perils Of Pot
Behind The Wheel
| ||||||||||||||||||
Canadians between the ages of 14 and 25 have one of the highest
rates of pot use in the world. Young people are also more likely to
drive a car while stoned than while drunk. | ||||||||||||||||||
Given those startling facts, public-health groups have launched a new pot and driving campaign to get young people, and teenagers in particular, to consider the consequences of drugged driving. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The message has sunk in that drinking and driving is dangerous, but we can't say the same for pot smoking and driving," said Christiane Poulin, the Canada Research Chair in Population Health and Addictions and a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(18) CANNABIS TO REMAIN ON LOW-RISK LIST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
CANNABIS is to keep its listing as a low-risk drug. The Home Office
downgraded the drug to class C in 2004, meaning it has a low risk of
addiction and few long-term health hazards. The government's
Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs found that although there
was evidence linking cannabis and mental illness, it was not strong
enough to justify raising its classification. | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News
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COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The U.N. reported Afghanistan had a smaller area under opium
production last year than the year before, due to government
eradication and crop substitution programs. But because of "favorable
weather" actual opium production dipped only a scant two percent.
According to the U.N., Afghanistan is responsible for 87% of the
world's illicit opium, a market worth some $2.7 billion dollars.
What's the outlook for effectively prohibiting opium in Afghanistan?
"The future doesn't look so good," according to Antonio Maria Costa
director of the U.N. Drugs and Crime office. The same U.N. report
noted a quarter of the Afghan Parliament members were "involved in
drugs."
| ||||||||||||||||||
In Bolivia, opinion polls slightly favor Evo Morales in the upcoming
presidential elections to be held December second. Morales, a coca
farmer from the coca-growing Chapare region of Bolivia, promises to
decriminalize all coca farming, a prospect which riles the
prohibitionist Americans. "Thanks to coca, we've made it through the
endless suffering caused by the white man's infamous war on drugs,"
said Morales. | ||||||||||||||||||
We leave you this week with two reviews of Empire of Juramidam, a
new documentary by film-maker Colum Stapleton. The film's focus is
on a religion called Santo Daime, the followers of which take an
hallucinogenic potion called ayahuasca. As this religion spreads
from the jungles of the Amazon to the rest of the world, societies
claiming to enjoy freedom of religion find themselves in a dilemma.
How can they let members of this religion use hallucinogens while
condemning their use elsewhere? The U.S. Supreme Court heard the
case for criminalizing ayahuasca (which would effectively ban
ayahuasca-based religions such as Uniao do Vegetal) early this month
with a decision expected early in 2006. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) U.N. REPORTS SOME REDUCTION IN AFGHANISTAN'S OPIUM OUTPUT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
UNITED NATIONS - Afghanistan made some progress in cutting back
opium poppy cultivation in the past year but is still in danger of
becoming a "narco-state," the director of an annual United Nations
survey said Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||
Afghanistan produces 87 percent of the world's opium, and the income
from production and trafficking in 2005 was estimated at $2.7
billion, equivalent to 52 percent of Afghanistan's legal gross
domestic product. | ||||||||||||||||||
The report said eradication and the development of alternative uses for the land of farmers who abandoned growing poppies had cut cultivation acreage by 21 percent, but overall production declined only 2 percent because favorable weather had increased yields. | ||||||||||||||||||
In concrete terms, the report said, 50,000 heads of household made a
decision not to plant their fields with opium poppy, and one field
out of five planted with an illicit crop in 2004 was planted with a
legal crop in 2005. | ||||||||||||||||||
Antonio Maria Costa, director of the United Nations Office of Drugs
and Crime, said that despite advances, "the future doesn't look so
good."
| ||||||||||||||||||
"The threat is definitely there that the country will become a
narco-state," he said in an interview. "We need a stronger
commitment to eradication and stronger support for farmers so that
not only are they won over to the reality that law enforcement
works, but that the alternative for them is not humanitarian
disaster but jobs and income."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
According to the report, up to 25 percent of the newly elected
members of Parliament were "involved in drugs."
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) RUNNING ON THE COCA TICKET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Indian Farmer Campaigns For Presidency
| ||||||||||||||||||
La ASUNTA - The coca farmers on these steep mountain slopes have
long felt their livelihood and Indian identity threatened by
U.S.-backed efforts to uproot the crop that makes cocaine. Now they
are pinning their hopes on one of their own: an Indian coca farmer
who is the front-runner for Bolivia's presidency. | ||||||||||||||||||
Evo Morales promises that if elected Dec. 4, he will decriminalize
all coca farming. That would mean an end to a decade-old crop
eradication program that has led to clashes between farmers and
soldiers in which dozens have died. | ||||||||||||||||||
He would also be Bolivia's first Indian president, and his leftist politics -- he's a close friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- would move yet another Latin American government leftward, following the paths of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Morales victory may worry Washington, as well as many governments in Europe, the chief market for Bolivian cocaine. But the cocaleros, as coca farmers are known, are delighted at the prospect. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Opinion polls give him a slight edge over conservative former
President Jorge Quiroga Ramirez. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Thanks to coca, we've made it through the endless suffering caused
by the white man's infamous war on drugs," Morales wrote on his Web
site. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
Farmers say alternative crops such as coffee and bananas are harder
to grow and transport, and fetch a lower price. They are staking
their hopes on Morales -- and their future on coca. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(21) HALLUCINOGENIC 'SACRAMENT' SPARKS DEBATE ON RELIGION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Followers Of Amazonian Faith Believe Potion-Induced Visions Are
Divine
| ||||||||||||||||||
An Irish filmmaker's investigation into an Amazonian religion that
treats consuming a hallucinogenic potion as a "sacrament" has
focused attention on how an obscure religion has slowly moved from
the jungles of Brazil to Europe and North America. | ||||||||||||||||||
For Empire of Juramidam, Colum Stapleton was initiated into Santo
Daime and imbibed the religion's sacred tea, concocted by boiling a
vine and leaf native to the Amazon rain jungles. Called ayahuasca or
daime, the potion causes hallucinations and visions that the
faithful believe can connect them to the divine. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
In 1999, a group led by Jeffrey Bronfman, a distant relative of
Canada's Seagram whisky dynasty, went to court in New Mexico after
U.S. Customs seized a barrel of ayahuasca tea from the group's
offices. | ||||||||||||||||||
In 2002, a judge agreed that the church had met the requirements
under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which limits government
intrusion on legitimate religious practices and issued a preliminary
injunction that required authorities to let the group import the
tea. | ||||||||||||||||||
The group, which calls itself O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal or UDV, is still battling the courts. The U.S. government, which argues that ayahuasca is a dangerous mind-altering substance, appealed the previous decision to the U.S. Supreme Court and the case was heard Nov. 1. A decision is expected early in the new year. | ||||||||||||||||||
Yesterday, Mr. Bronfman said UDV has about 145 members in North
America, including a handful in Canada, who take part in ceremonies
in the U.S. There are about 50 more members in Spain.
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
(22) NOW LET U.S. HALLUCINATE
| ||||||||||||||||||
Colum Stapleton's initiation into an Amazonian religion and its
exotic drugs rituals came in the most unlikely of surroundings - a
community hall in rural Northern Ireland. | ||||||||||||||||||
It was three years ago and the film-maker was invited through friends to take part in a secret ceremony of the Brazilian religion Santo Daime, followers of which drink a hallucinogenic jungle brew. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I opened the door and there were about 60 people all dressed in
white," he remembers. "It felt totally bonkers. The men had white
suits and blue ties, and the women white dresses. In the centre of
the hall was a table covered in a white cloth with pictures of
saints and a cross on top. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
The tea that is the religion's official "sacrament" is
| ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
"You feel the essence of the shortness of life and having to make
use of it. In some ways it is like opening the doors of the asylum
and never shutting them again. Usually I keep my documentaries at a
distance. I couldn't do it with this one."
| ||||||||||||||||||
Santo Daime followers in Europe are reluctant to speak to the press
out of fear that their activities will be curtailed by the law. In
France and Germany, the authorities have already banned the
consumption of ayahuasca. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Britain, while DMT is a Class A drug and therefore illegal,
ayahuasca is not listed as a proscribed substance. Followers of the
bizarre religion can access the hallucinogen only when individual
members bring in a supply from Brazil. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
ANNUAL REPORT FROM THE EU DRUGS AGENCY
| ||||||||||||||||||
Violations of drug law (`drug law offences') have reportedly increased
in the majority of the 25 EU Member States and Norway since the late
1990s, states the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) today in its 2005 Annual
report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe, launched in
Brussels. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
TWO NEW PAPERS FROM GEOPIUM.ORG
| ||||||||||||||||||
Geographer Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy has released two new papers at his
website Geopium.org - http://www.geopium.org/ - which were originally
published in Jane's Intelligence Review
| ||||||||||||||||||
Morrocco said to produce nearly half of the world's hashish supply | ||||||||||||||||||
Morocco's smuggling rackets: hashish, people and contraband | ||||||||||||||||||
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STUPID TV ADS CUT, MANDATORY MINIMUMS STOPPED!
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Drug Policy Alliance
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SPEED BUMPS AT THE PHARMACY
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How someone else's meth habit leaves you with a runny nose | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum
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EDINBURGH LECTURE BY ETHAN NADELMANN, 1ST NOVEMBER
| ||||||||||||||||||
In association with Action on Alcohol and Drugs in Edinburgh, the Edinburgh Lectures series presented international drug policy expert, Ethan Nadelmann, of the Drug Policy Alliance, USA. | ||||||||||||||||||
To hear his lecture, download the Windows Media Player files
from the page below. | ||||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
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MARC EMERY CHATS WITH AUTHOR IAN MULGREW
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Mulgrew is one of Canada's top journalists, (see
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Join A DrugSense Virtual Conference
| ||||||||||||||||||
The staff of DrugSense and The Media Awareness Project are pleased
to announce the following event to be held in our online Virtual
Conference Room. | ||||||||||||||||||
TUESDAY, Nov 30 8pm EST, 7pm CST, 5pm PST - Media Activism | ||||||||||||||||||
Join MAP's Media Activism Facilitator Steve Heath and leading MAP
volunteers and letter writers. Discussion will include How To
Newshawk drug policy clippings from newspapers; how to write Letters
to the Editor which get printed; and how to help the Drug Policy
Writers Group place favorable OPEDs in your local and in-state
newspapers. If you are already versed in these areas, please
consider joining us to share your input and experience with others
who are new. | ||||||||||||||||||
See: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for all details on how
you can participate in this important meeting of leading minds in
reform. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DEA INTIMIDATING DOCTORS IN THE WAR ON DRUGS
| ||||||||||||||||||
By Larry Seguin
| ||||||||||||||||||
Regarding the continued intrusions of law enforcement into the
domain of health care, do You think Dr. James Latimer's case is
political? You're right. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Enforcement Agency instead of stopping cocaine from Colombia, or heroin from Afghanistan, is now precutting and harassing doctors and intimidating sick patients. An article in the Nov. 4 Washington Post tells of the problems arising in the Food and Drug Administration since the DEA has stepped in. The DEA wants the final say over allowing new narcotic medications on the market. | ||||||||||||||||||
Dr. Latimer was forced to surrender his medical license over
allegations involving Oxycontin. A brief Internet search on Dr.
William Hurwitz will explain Dr. Latimer's decision. Doctors that
try to fight the DEA lose. They get 25 years in prison. Is the law
equal for everybody?
| ||||||||||||||||||
Let's look at an admitted abuser, used Oxycontin daily. Made $3
million a year while hosting radio while on drugs. In 2002 it is
alleged he was doctor shopping. If the drug war is not political why
has it been three years and Rush Limbaugh still has not been charged
and still makes $3 million a year?
| ||||||||||||||||||
Acting District Attorney Gary Miles is just a victim of the new and
improved drug war. Mr. Miles is pure collateral damage to the DEA.
Your concerns should go to Congressman John McHugh. | ||||||||||||||||||
If Dr. Latimer wanted to be a drug supplier to Northern New York why
only a few patients? He could have had 3,000 dealers working for
him! Dr. Latimer was labeled wrong by the media and unfortunately by
some of his peers. | ||||||||||||||||||
It's not a war on illegal drugs anymore it's a drug war. It's a war
on all of us now!
| ||||||||||||||||||
Larry Seguin
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2005 International Drug Policy Reform Conference - A Superb
Event!
| ||||||||||||||||||
by DrugSense Staff
| ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense www.DrugSense.org and its major projects, the Media
Awareness Project www.mapinc.org and Drug Policy Central
www.drugpolicycentral.com, were well represented at The 2005
International Drug Policy Reform Conference
| ||||||||||||||||||
Philippe Lucas, Director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society
http://thevics.com and Canadians for Safe Access
| ||||||||||||||||||
Steve Heath, the leader of MAP's Media Activism Facilitator project
http://www.mapinc.org/resource from Clearwater, Florida,
participated on a five person panel, "Making the News: How to Get
the Media to Cover your Issue," with the communications staffs of
the Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org and the Drug Policy
Alliance http://www.drugpolicy.org. | ||||||||||||||||||
The DrugSense Key Supporters Breakfast, organized by Mary Jane
Borden, Fundraising Specialist/Business Manager for DrugSense,
recognized DrugSense' 10-year anniversary and welcomed 28 guests.
The continuing tight financial situation for DrugSense was reviewed,
and guests provided valuable suggestions for improving funding. As a
result, the DrugSense Advisory Board has been created to provide
input on fundraising, operations, and strategic planning. We thank
the funder who covered the cost of this breakfast. Please see
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm to make a tax-deductible
donation. | ||||||||||||||||||
As a result of a generous scholarship program provided by Common Sense for Drug Policy http://csdp.org, many people were able to attend this conference who had never been to a similar international event before. MAP volunteers who attended via these scholarships were Greg Francisco, David Michon, Kirk Muse, and Elizabeth Wehrman. | ||||||||||||||||||
MAP archived news clippings about the conference include
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1801/a02.html from the Salt Lake
Tribune announcing that Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson had
received the Richard J. Dennis Drugpeace Award for Outstanding
Achievement in the Field of Drug Policy Reform and
| ||||||||||||||||||
The highlight of the conference for DrugSense/MAP staff and
volunteers was the award ceremony at which the organization received
the Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the Field of Citizen
Action. This award honors citizens who make democracy work in the
difficult area of drug law and policy reform. The award was
presented by Jack Cole of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
http://www.leap.cc. Accepting the award on behalf of everyone at
DrugSense were Executive Director Mark Greer and Webmaster Matt
Elrod, who also leads our Technical Support Team. More information
about the award and a photo of it can be found on
| ||||||||||||||||||
Audio excerpts from our award acceptance speech can be heard at
about 20 minutes into this mp3
| ||||||||||||||||||
Other awards presented at the conference are listed on this webpage:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/events/dpa2005/awards/
| ||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Policy Alliance has a collection of conference pictures on this webpage: http://www.drugpolicy.org/events/dpa2005/pictures/. | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense is organizing it's own collection of conference photos, a
work in progress, which can be viewed by registered DrugSense users
here: http://drugsense.org/dpa2005/
| ||||||||||||||||||
Finally, we at DrugSense would like to express our sincerest thank
you to the funders and supporters who enabled this conference to be
a huge success, who helped so many to attend it, and who voted their
hearts and minds by awarding us the Robert Randall Award. Let's hope
that the next ten years celebrate the institution of sensible and
compassionate drug policies worldwide and that efforts toward these
policies inspired by this conference are well on their way to
fruition by the next Drug Policy Alliance Conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Which is better: to have fun with fungi or to have Idiocy with
ideology, to have wars because of words, to have tomorrow's misdeeds
out of yesterday's miscreeds?" -- Aldous Huxley
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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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Please utilize the following URLs
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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 ()
| ||||||||||||||||||
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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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||
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