| Dec. 9, 2005 #428 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) GOVERNOR SET TO PUSH ANTI-MARIJUANA LEGISLATION AGAIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Murkowski administration will "hit the ground running" next session on a bill proposed last year to overturn a court decision on marijuana use, said Alaska Department of Law spokesman Mark Morones. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alaskans are allowed to possess up to 4 ounces of marijuana in their
homes for personal use but the bill could lower that amount to less
than 1 ounce if it passes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Senate Health, Education and Social Services Committee heard from
experts last session on both sides of the issue - some arguing
marijuana is a threat to society and others saying pot is less harmful
than a pack of cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The bill is awaiting action in the Senate Finance Committee before it reaches the floor. Then it would head over to the House for review. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alaska Assistant Attorney General Dean Guaneli said some of the state's
arguments were misunderstood last session. The purpose of the bill is
not to bust college students smoking pot in their dorms, but to go
after commercial growers, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The police are not getting effective search warrants for marijuana
growing operations," Guaneli said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Even though officers can smell marijuana coming from a residence, it is
not enough evidence to prove there is more than the 4 ounces needed to
get a search warrant, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) CASE OF KILLING IN LINE OF DUTY SENT TO JURY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In the moments after a wild, high-speed chase, narcotics agent Mike
Walker believed he saw a fugitive parolee flash a weapon and had no
choice but to shoot, his defense attorney said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The only problem with that, argued a prosecutor, is that the victim was
the wrong man, was unarmed and was shot in the back -- something he
called reminiscent of "the Old West." | ||||||||||||||||||
The historic case against Walker, California's first drug enforcement agent charged with killing in the line of duty, ended on Wednesday as dramatically as it began. Spending a total of eight hours with closing arguments, the two sides urged jurors to rely on the law, the evidence and their internal sense of justice to return a just verdict. | ||||||||||||||||||
And with that, deliberations in the high-stakes trial began. | ||||||||||||||||||
Walker, an agent with the elite Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, is
charged with voluntary manslaughter for firing on Rodolfo "Rudy"
Cardenas, a father of five and small-time drug dealer whom Walker
pursued and then shot in what amounts to a tragic case of mistaken
identity. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) SAFER PUSHING COORS BOYCOTT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The group that persuaded voters to legalize small amounts of marijuana in Denver has set its sights on the University of Colorado at Boulder. | ||||||||||||||||||
SAFER (Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation) was slated to ask CU
students Wednesday to boycott Coors products until the Board of Regents
agrees to reduce penalties for students caught on campus with pot,
executive director Mason Tvert said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The Coors family and Molson Coors Brewing Co. have been longtime supporters of CU. This year, for example, Molson Coors is paying $392,000 to sponsor CU football and basketball. The agreement allows the company to advertise in CU stadiums and on TV and radio broadcasts. | ||||||||||||||||||
SAFER argues that alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana and that if
CU wants to reduce alcohol-related problems on campus, it should lessen
pot penalties and cut ties with Coors. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Given the cozy relationship between CU and Coors, we see this boycott
as the best way to attack the university's pro-alcohol policies," Tvert
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) CLANDESTINE NETWORK CONTROLS DRUG PASSAGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Detective Robert Alvarez, who heads a two-man gang intelligence unit at
the Edinburg Police Department, says Mexican drug cartels use local
gangs, which are heavily made up of male juveniles and young adults, to
move their drugs. But a number of people -- businessmen, teachers,
truck drivers -- also peddle illegal substances to supplement their
incomes. | ||||||||||||||||||
The cartels are designed so local drug traffickers don't know who the people in the supply chain are, Alvarez said. That way, if one group of runners is busted by the police, they can't rat out the rest. | ||||||||||||||||||
Cartels do not call themselves cartels, said Rosalva Resendiz, a
criminal justice professor at the University of Texas-Pan American who
informally studies the drug trafficking culture. It's a label given to
them by the media and law enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||||
Basically, a "cartel" is a loose organization of people, she said. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You know you are part of it, but you don't really think about it," she
said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The heavy drug-related violence occurring in Hidalgo County, for the
most part, is not the result of turf battles, unlike in other parts of
the country. | ||||||||||||||||||
"How can you fight for turf in Hidalgo County? Hidalgo County is a
transshipment point," Trevino said. "How do you fight for turf? The
dope just runs right through here." | ||||||||||||||||||
He and Cisneros agree violence occurs when a trafficker on the shipping
chain loses a load to law enforcement or another gang, or if that
person owes money or drugs to someone. Retaliation for backstabbing
also can be a reason for violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's all because of a bad business practice," Trevino said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A spate of cases involving middle schoolers who are selling illegal
drugs is in shocking Boston, but the city's got nothing on
Philadelphia, where pre-schoolers have been bringing packets of
crack and heroin to school. The drug war can't keep drugs out of
schools (or pre-schools), but now there appears to be a crackdown on
drugs in the world of professional wrestling through proposed tough
drug-testing rules. Will the results be scripted and pre-determined
before the actual event? | ||||||||||||||||||
In other news, a common prescription drug may help methamphetamine
abusers; and the Washington State Supreme Court limited how much
permission a roommate can give police to search the space of another
roommate. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) SHOWS KIDS LEARN TO WEED IN MIDDLE SCHOOL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In another sign that kids are knee-high in the drug trade, two
Framingham middle-schoolers were busted by police after a
13-year-old was caught allegedly peddling pot to a younger boy.
"It's probably more common than most of us realize," said Kevin
Norton, head of CAB Health and Recovery Services in Boston. "And the
fact that they caught kids who are selling that means they must have
a market to sell to." The alarming arrest is one of several recent
Bay State cases in which children have become tangled in the drug
trade. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Norwood, an 11-year-old graduate of a middle school DARE program
was caught last month with pot in her locker. Two weeks earlier, a
14-year-old boy at the school was also busted with pot. In Lawrence,
a middle-schooler from New York was found with a quantity of heroin
large enough for him to be charged with drug trafficking, police
said. Police say the boy was likely an unwitting mule. In the
Framingham case, two boys, ages 12 and 13, were arrested at the
Cameron Middle School on Wednesday after officials found marijuana
on the younger boy. The 12-year-old boy told police he bought the
drug from a 13-year-old off school property, said Framingham police
Lt. Vincent Alfano. Both students were charged with possession of
marijuana and released to their parents, police said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) DAY-CARE WORKERS ARE ALSO ON THE FRONTLINE IN DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A 2-YEAR-OLD boy is clutching two packets of crack cocaine when an alert child-care worker notices that something is wrong. | ||||||||||||||||||
A teacher at Richmond Elementary School at Belgrade near Ann in Port Richmond sees or senses something in the demeanor of a 5-year-old boy who, it turns out, is carrying eight bags of heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
Police say that neither the toddler who brought crack cocaine to the
Porter Day Care Center at Broad and Belfield streets Friday nor the
5-year-old in the Port Richmond incident in October had ingested any
of the drugs that were found on them. | ||||||||||||||||||
The day-care center and the school district have not released the
names of the workers who intervened. | ||||||||||||||||||
But this would have been a very different story if those workers had
not been on the alert. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DRUG TESTING COMING TO TELEVISION'S POPULAR PRO WRESTLING (Top)CIRCUIT | ||||||||||||||||||
STAMFORD, Conn. -- World Wrestling Entertainment is developing a new
program to randomly test wrestlers for steroids, recreational and
prescription drugs, company officials said. | ||||||||||||||||||
The move follows the death of one of the WWE's biggest stars,
38-year-old Eddie Guerrero, whose death in a Minnesota hotel room
was the latest in a string in recent years involving professional
wrestlers who struggled with drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
"This is the first time a superstar of this magnitude has passed
away on a national promotion," Dave Meltzer, editor of Wrestling
Observer, said. "I'm sure they are going to have to do a lot of
thinking." | ||||||||||||||||||
The new policy will involve frequent, random tests of wrestlers, WWE
Chairman Vince McMahon told wrestlers. He said the tests would be
done by an independent agency. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The policy is going to be very fair. No special consideration for
any one," McMahon told the wrestlers last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) ANTI-SMOKING DRUG MAY CUT CRYSTAL METH CRAVING (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Popular Treatment for Nicotine Addiction Can Also Cut Cravings
Among Crystal Meth Addicts, a U.S. Study Suggests. | ||||||||||||||||||
Crystal meth - the commonly used term for methamphetamine - is a
cheap and addictive drug that has become a massive problem in the
U.S. in recent years. It increases alertness and creates sensations
of euphoria in users by stimulating the generation of dopamine and
norepinephrine - neurotransmitters within the regions of the brain
responsible for feelings of pleasure. | ||||||||||||||||||
Bupropion - the active chemical ingredient found in the nicotine
addiction drug, Zyban, as well as the anti-depressant Wellbutrin -
was found to reduce the drug-induced high experienced by
methamphetamine users and also to lessen their urge to take the drug
in response to visual cues, in a study by researchers at the
University of California in Los Angeles ( UCLA ). | ||||||||||||||||||
Twenty methamphetamine users were given either 150 milligrams of
bupropion twice a day for a week, or a placebo. | ||||||||||||||||||
Subjects were then injected with 30 milligrams of methamphetamine
and asked to rate the high they experienced on a scale of 1 to 10,
with 10 being the most intense imaginable. The users given doses of
bupropion reported experiencing a significantly reduced high of, on
average, 3 out of 10, compared to 5 out of 10 prior to the
treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||
"What we found, which was unexpected, was that it significantly
reduced the euphoric effect," Thomas Newton at UCLA, who led the
study, told New Scientist. | ||||||||||||||||||
Video footage Bupropion is thought to reduce cravings for nicotine
by preventing it from getting into receptive parts of the brain.
However, the researchers behind the UCLA study believe it may cut
cravings for crystal meth in a different way. The drug inhibits the
uptake of dopamine and norepinephrine by brain cells so they stay
around longer. This may lessen cravings for crystal meth by
decreasing the withdrawal effects normally experienced by users,
when the neurotransmitters are taken up by neurons. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) COURT STRENGTHENS SAFEGUARDS AGAINST SEARCHES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A unanimous state Supreme Court, buttressing the
state's strict limits on warrantless searches, said Thursday that a
roommate or houseguest can give only limited permission for a
search. | ||||||||||||||||||
The court threw out a methamphetamine possession conviction of an
Everett man, Robert John Morse. The opinion put police on notice
that they must be careful in obtaining permission to do searches
when they don't have a warrant. | ||||||||||||||||||
Both federal and state constitutions generally view warrantless searches as unreasonable and allow only narrow exceptions. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Exceptions to the warrant requirement are jealously and carefully
drawn," Justice Tom Chambers wrote for the court. | ||||||||||||||||||
The high court said a houseguest or roommate can authorize a search
of the common areas, but not the bedroom or other spaces where the
owner or leaseholder expects privacy. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
All this week's stories typify the upside-down effects of the drug war. An informant who was supposed to catch drug criminals apparently framed innocents. A jail not only failed to keep a man from drugs, it apparently made his relationship with drugs more dangerous. Instead of limiting the number of drug sellers, the drug war is increasing that number, even among the ranks of senior citizens. And an assistant prosecutor who'd only heard stories about abusive cops found out the stories can be true, as he was arrested at a sobriety check point even though he wasn't intoxicated. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) SNAGGING A ROGUE SNITCH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Yemeni Immigrant's Activities Cast A Shadow On Federal Agencies'
Use Of Informants. One Man The Felon Fingered Didn't Go Quietly To
Prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO - The black sedans arrived late in the day. Six
federal agents in windbreakers got out, walked into Nabil Ismael's
tobacco store and closed the cuffs around his wrists. | ||||||||||||||||||
He was looking at 20 years for drug conspiracy, one agent said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Ismael felt sick. He'd been helping the government make its case. Didn't they know that? "It was the worst day of my life," said Ismael, 29. "And I figured that Essam was behind the whole thing." | ||||||||||||||||||
Essam Magid, 43, had befriended Ismael, a fellow Yemeni, the year before. He said he worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration. If Ismael could help locate some cocaine connections, Magid said, Ismael would be in line for a federal job and a better life. | ||||||||||||||||||
The idea of working for America stirred the young immigrant's
patriotism, he says. So he agreed. | ||||||||||||||||||
By the time he suspected he was being framed, it was too late. | ||||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors eventually offered Ismael a deal of four years in prison. If he had accepted the offer and pleaded guilty, he would have become the latest of at least a dozen defendants locked away because of one of the DEA's more controversial informants. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) ACCESS TO DRUGS IN JAIL WAS A DEATH SENTENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
There's no question that Michael Rabuck should have been institutionalized. People and their property in the city and Baltimore County were safer with him off the street. But this drug-addicted man ended up in a maximum-security prison, the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, where other inmates were eager to give him heroin - and willing to kill him if he did not get his family to pay for it. | ||||||||||||||||||
So his family paid for it. | ||||||||||||||||||
Money his parents could have spent for something worthwhile - say,
their son's drug rehabilitation - went instead to associates of
Jessup prisoners who kept Rabuck, 29, supplied with the heroin that
ultimately killed him. | ||||||||||||||||||
Michael Rabuck was no innocent. But he belonged in a different kind
of institution, something like a hospital behind bars - not a prison
housing drug dealers and murderers. The sentencing of Rabuck to "The
Cut," as the Jessup prison is known, for 25 years "might as well
have been a death sentence," says his father, Larry Rabuck of
Dundalk. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) APPALACHIAN SENIOR CITIZENS CHARGED WITH SELLING THEIR (Top)PRESCRIPTION DRUGS | ||||||||||||||||||
PRESTONSBURG - After being fingerprinted and photographed,
87-year-old Dottie Neeley sat quietly in the local jail, imprisoned
as much by the tubing from her oxygen tank as the concrete and steel
surrounding her. | ||||||||||||||||||
The elderly woman who sometimes uses a wheelchair is among a growing
number of senior citizens charged in a crackdown on the illegal
trade of prescription drugs, a crime that authorities say is rampant
in the mountains of central Appalachia. | ||||||||||||||||||
Floyd County jailer Roger Webb said seniors have a ready market for
their prescription pills, especially painkillers, and some may be
succumbing to the temptation of illegally selling their medications.
"When a person is on Social Security, drawing $500 a month, and they
can sell their pain pills for $10 apiece, they'll take half of them
for themselves and sell the other half to pay their electric bills
or buy groceries," Webb said. | ||||||||||||||||||
Since April 2004, the anti-drug task force Operation UNITE has
charged more than 40 people 60 or older with selling drugs in the
mountains of eastern Kentucky. It's a recent trend that Webb said
has been growing over the past five years, since police began their
crackdown on illegal sales of prescription drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) ASSISTANT PROSECUTOR UPSET WITH ARREST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Blake Wolf has acknowledged that he was taking prescription
Oxycodone for pain at the time of the traffic stop on Nov. 19 when
he was arrested for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He said
he had taken only one 40 milligram tablet that day. | ||||||||||||||||||
His prescription bottle warns that the drug may cause drowsiness and that one should be careful driving while on the drug. But the warning label does not state that the user should not drive. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The officer turns on his lights and pulls him over. | ||||||||||||||||||
So began the Nov. 19 traffic stop of Blake Wolf, 50, an assistant
county prosecutor, head of the criminal justice department at
Missouri Southern State University and trainer of many of the
officers serving in local law-enforcement agencies. | ||||||||||||||||||
About 45 minutes later, Wolf would be taken, handcuffed, to the
Jasper County Jail under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. At
the jail, he'd blow a 0.00 on a breathalyzer machine and yet be
asked to provide a urine specimen for testing before being released
without a charge. | ||||||||||||||||||
The incident near a multi-agency sobriety checkpoint at the
intersection of Route D and Highway 96 involved officers from the
Carterville Police Department and the Jasper County Sheriff's
Department. | ||||||||||||||||||
The incident and its attendant publicity have left Wolf embarrassed and more than a little upset with the officers involved. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's given me firsthand experience with something I'd heard about
but never encountered myself, that is, these rogue officers who
mistreat the public and, frankly, who violate the law," Wolf said in
an interview last week. | ||||||||||||||||||
He said he has not had a drink in more than five years and should
never have been mistaken for being intoxicated the night in
question. He said he informed the officers involved that he suffered
from neuropathy in his legs and feet that made it difficult for him
to perform the two field sobriety tests he failed, but it did not
seem to matter to them. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Just in time for the holidays, the heartless grinches on the San
Diego Board of County Supervisors have announced that they plan to
sue the state of California in order to overturn prop. 215,
otherwise known as the 1996 Compassionate Use Act. Arguing that
prop.215 is illegal because it violates federal drug laws, the
supervisors plan to file their lawsuit in Federal court later this
month. Our second story comes to us from Holland, where a broad
coalition of political parties has introduced a bill to legalize and
regulate the production of cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
Our next article is a column from AlterNet by Garrison Keillor
deriding the federal war on cannabis users and producers. The
longtime host of the popular "Prairie Home Companion" radio show
urges elected officials to consider the ever-increasing harms
stemming from the U.S. prohibition on cannabis possession. Our
fourth story looks at the use of hemp as part of tertiary sewage
treatment in New Zealand. The experiment is being conducted in
Manawatu District by researchers from Massey University, and will
determine the efficiency of the hemp plant in removing nitrogen and
phosphorous from treated sewage waste. | ||||||||||||||||||
Lastly, in a San Francisco column citing a recent Time magazine
article on the year in medicine which names marijuana as an up and
coming treatment modality, Debra J. Saunders urges the Bush
administration to reschedule cannabis in light of its obvious
therapeutic potential. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) COUNTY TO SUE TO OVERTURN MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
County supervisors decided behind closed doors Tuesday to sue to try to overturn California's 9-year-old medical marijuana law - - the "Compassionate Use" initiative in which voters statewide said it was OK for seriously ill people to use marijuana to ease their pain. | ||||||||||||||||||
Supervisors announced last month they would sue the state because
they did not want to create registries and identification cards to
help medical marijuana users. But they left open the question of
whether they would try to overturn Proposition 215, the | ||||||||||||||||||
On Tuesday, the board made it official, voting 4-0, with Supervisor
Ron Roberts absent, to challenge the initiative. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) DUTCH POLITICIANS FAVOUR POT ON FARMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A broad coalition of political parties announced a plan Friday to regulate marijuana farming on the model of tobacco, in what may be the most significant development in Dutch drug policy in years. | ||||||||||||||||||
Opponents in the government said the move would be tantamount to
legalization. But the proponents, representing a large majority in
parliament, have threatened a showdown if the government tries to
block the proposal. | ||||||||||||||||||
Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and his Christian Democrat party
oppose allowing cannabis cultivation because it would set the
Netherlands another step apart from the rest of Europe. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But legislator Frans Weekers, whose conservative VVD party recently
swung its support to the proposed program, said the current policy
is "hypocritical and leading to increasing problems." | ||||||||||||||||||
"There comes a moment when you say: 'Now we have to take the next
step,'" Weekers said in a telephone interview. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) 'WAR ON DRUGS:' A FOUL TRAGEDY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
We Democrats are at our worst when we try to emulate Republicans --
as we did in signing onto the "war" on drugs that has ruined so many
young lives. | ||||||||||||||||||
The cruelty of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984 is stark indeed, as
are the sentencing guidelines that impose mandatory minimum
sentences for minor drug possession -- guidelines in the 1986
Anti-Drug Abuse Act that sailed through Congress without benefit of
public hearings, drafted before an election by Democrats afraid to
be labeled "soft on drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||
As a result, a marijuana grower can land in prison for life without parole while a murderer might be in for eight years. No rational person can defend this; it is a Dostoevskian nightmare, and it exists only because politicians fled in the face of danger. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(17) HEMP TESTED FOR SEWAGE TREATMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Feilding has its own crop of hemp which scientists are testing to
check its anti-pollution powers for rivers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Hemp looks like marijuana but has less than 100th of the hallucinogenic THC chemical in it than the illegal drug has. | ||||||||||||||||||
Massey University horticulture lecturer Mike Nichols says the trial
planting covering a fifth of a hectare is about 40 centimetres tall
and masters student Randall Gibson has just begun taking samples
from plants. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Hemp is known to be a good absorber of nitrogen and phosphorous,
both of which are river pollutants," Dr Nichols says. | ||||||||||||||||||
The planting has been done in conjunction with the Feilding sewage treatment plant, which has treated waste going into the Oroua River. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(18) SMOKE GETS IN YOUR POLITICS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THIS WEEK'S issue of Time magazine basically lists marijuana as a
medicine. Now, can Washington and President Bush finally wake up and
change federal policy so that states can allow sick people to use
medical marijuana if they need it? | ||||||||||||||||||
This is what Time reports in an article on the year in medicine:
"Research into the analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of
cannabis continued to bolster the case for the medicinal use of
marijuana, making the 'patient pot laws' that have passed in 11
states seem less like a social movement than a legitimate medical
trend." The article then cites studies that found that cannabis
lessened the pain and suppressed rheumatoid arthritis and "can
reduce inflammation in the brain and may protect it from the
cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer's disease." | ||||||||||||||||||
"If politicians would be a little bit more willing to listen to the voters, they'd find there is more support than they think," noted Tommy McDonald of the anti-drug war Drug Policy Alliance. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Canadians face a barrage of American-style drug war talk from the
Conservative Party (former Tories) as the upcoming elections heat up.
Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper thinks he knows what will
sell: more drug war. None of this pandering to pot legalizers or
coddling 'criminals', no sir. The Tories are going to escalate the
"war", and get some real policing done, just like they get to do, down
in the States. U.S.-style mandatory minimums are what Tories think
will sell, but, as Dan Gardner points out in this week's Ottawa
Citizen, mandatory minimums have a miserable history. Gardner reviews
the history of drug prohibition in Canada. "The lesson was obvious:
Punishment cannot control drugs." Back on the Campaign trail,
Conservative Drug-Warrior hopeful Stephen Harper found time to snipe
at (outgoing) Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell, suggesting Campbell's
Four-Pillars harm reduction drug policies were rejected by voters.
Shot back Campbell (who was also an RCMP officer and coroner), "If Mr.
Harper had my ratings when I decided not to run again, he would be
prime minister." | ||||||||||||||||||
In Australia, a stunned nation mourned the loss of Australian citizen Nguyen Tuong Van, who was executed last week for trying to smuggle some heroin through a Singapore airport. With the execution and the issue of mandatory minimums in the background (which both Singaporean and Australian prosecutors use in drug cases), sitting Judge of the Federal Court of Australia, Ronald Sackville, chairman of the Judicial Conference of Australia, denounced mandatory minimums in an editorial appearing in The Age newspaper. "The effect of mandatory minimum sentencing laws is to deny judges or magistrates any discretion to take account of the particular circumstances of the offender, or the nature of the particular offence," noted Justice Sackville. By fine-tuning indictments, mandatory minimums allow prosecutors to dictate sentences in advance of a trial, circumventing the traditional powers of a judge. Prosecutors use mandatory minimum laws to coerce plea-bargains from defendants, circumventing also traditional rights to trial. | ||||||||||||||||||
When it comes to dousing the South American nation of Colombia with
plant poisons or bullets, prohibitionist Washington is always
willing to lend a hand. Over the past few years, Washington has
poured billions into the "war on drugs" in Colombia, and promised
American voters that a drug-free utopia was right around the corner.
John Walters, the Bush-appointed drug czar, promised us only weeks
ago that the battle was at last making progress. But this week,
according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a new U.S. Government
Accounting Office (GAO) report says no dice, the five-year "Plan
Colombia", has done little, and that White House pronouncements of
Drug War success in Colombia are deeply suspect. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(19) HARPER'S DRUG-WAR FLASHBACK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
The Conservative Leader's New Ideas For Fighting Drugs Are In Fact
Very Old, And Still Badly Flawed | ||||||||||||||||||
'Our values are under attack," Stephen Harper declared Saturday in Vancouver. The enemies are drugs, he said, and a federal government that has been far too soft in battling the scourge on the streets. "Some people want to deal with the problem by simply surrendering," Mr. Harper fumed, but a Conservative government would wage war. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
There would be no more talk of reforming the marijuana laws, Mr.
Harper promised, not even the Liberals' tepid plan for | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
And in 1961, new legislation added a mandatory minimum prison
sentence of seven years for importing or exporting drugs in any
quantity. Maximum sentences for other offences were raised to life
in prison. | ||||||||||||||||||
It should have been a death blow to drugs, but a curious thing
happened. Drug use didn't go down; it started to climb. And it kept
on climbing. Arrests and imprisonment soared but still drug use
multiplied. And the black market expanded to satisfy demand so
efficiently that drug prices started to fall. | ||||||||||||||||||
A decade after the new law came into force, the nation had been
transformed. There was vastly more drug use and drugs could be found
in cities and towns where they had never been. The police were
powerless. | ||||||||||||||||||
The lesson was obvious: Punishment cannot control | ||||||||||||||||||
Time passes and people forget, of course, particularly when
forgetting is politically convenient. But if Stephen Harper wants to
do more than buy votes with fairy tales -- if he is serious about
crafting drug policies that keep people alive and communities safe
-- he might want to read a little history. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(20) LARRY CAMPBELL SHRUGS OFF HARPER'S CRITICISM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Outgoing Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell is shrugging off Stephen
Harper's suggestions that city voters rejected Campbell's drug
policies, noting the Tory leader would be lucky to be as popular as
Campbell. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If Mr. Harper had my ratings when I decided not to run again, he
would be prime minister," Campbell told The Province from Hong Kong
where he is on an official federal government visit. | ||||||||||||||||||
"I can't be insulted by someone as ignorant as Stephen | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Harper also took issue with Campbell's comments in a recent forum
that the so-called crystal-meth crisis is "garbage." | ||||||||||||||||||
Campbell said he would be glad to stack his 29-years of experience
as a Mountie, coroner and mayor dealing with drugs against Harper's
experience on the subject. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(21) OUR MANDATORY LAW SHAME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
WITH the execution of young Australian citizen Nguyen Tuong Van now a fait accompli, commentators have sought to draw lessons from the human tragedy of a legally sanctioned death in another country. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The second issue is the sheer arbitrariness of mandatory penalties.
Under Singapore law, anyone caught trafficking in more than 15 grams
of heroin is subject to the mandatory death penalty. A court, once
the accused is found guilty, has no discretion. It does not matter
whether, as in Nguyen's case, the offender has no previous
convictions, can demonstrate mitigating circumstances, displays
remorse and is prepared to co-operate with the authorities. The
penalty must be death. | ||||||||||||||||||
That is why in Singapore a first offender drug mule caught with 16
grams of heroin in his or her possession is sentenced to death by
hanging. A seasoned criminal caught with 14 grams escapes the death
penalty. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
While Australia does not now impose the death penalty, Australian
law retains mandatory minimum penalties for certain offences. As
recently as 2001, the Commonwealth Parliament enacted legislation
providing for mandatory minimum sentences for those convicted of
so-called people-smuggling offences. | ||||||||||||||||||
The laws of some states and territories force courts to impose minimum sentences for certain kinds of offences or offenders. | ||||||||||||||||||
The effect of mandatory minimum sentencing laws is to deny judges or
magistrates any discretion to take account of the particular
circumstances of the offender, or the nature of the particular
offence, when determining the minimum sentence that should be
imposed. Such laws are instruments of injustice, just as the
Singapore law providing for mandatory capital punishment was an
instrument of injustice in Nguyen's case. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(22) WATCHDOG CHALLENGES U.S. DRUG WAR IN COLOMBIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Bogota, Colombia -- A U.S. government report to be released next
week raises serious questions about the effectiveness of the
multibillion-dollar U.S. anti-drug campaign in Colombia, despite
moves by the Bush administration to extend the program. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 52-page report by the Government Accountability Office, an advance copy of which has been obtained by The Chronicle, challenges administration conclusions that the drug interdiction effort known as Plan Colombia -- a five-year program that ends this year -- has reduced the amount of cocaine available in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
But the GAO, the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress,
specifically criticized those figures, saying that they reflected
trends that "could reflect law enforcement patterns rather than drug
availability patterns" and that the number of U.S. cocaine users
remained constant at about 2 million. "Other sources estimate the
number of chronic and occasional cocaine users may be as high as 6
million," the report stated. | ||||||||||||||||||
The GAO also found the White House assessment of the amount of
cocaine entering the United States in 2004 -- 325 metric tons to 675
metric tons -- to be too varied to be "useful for assessing
interdiction efforts." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Plan Colombia "is essential for what we do," said Col. Yamlik Moreno
of the National Police's antidrug division. "Without the funding ...
we would have to reduce our operations by 90 percent." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Colombian officials also say they are winning the drug war and point
to an increase in the fumigation of coca fields and record seizures
of cocaine. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the
amount of acreage devoted to coca cultivation has been reduced by
more than half in the past five years, to about 200,000 acres from
403,551 acres in 2000, while production has fallen more than 45
percent to 149 metric tons last year. | ||||||||||||||||||
But critics say that spraying has merely pushed coca production into
more remote areas and that statistics do not adequately measure the
amount of drug each acre produces. | ||||||||||||||||||
"These antidrug policies have failed to address the real causes, the
real structural reasons that Colombia produces drugs," said
Francisco Thoumi, an economist at Rosario University in Bogota who
has followed the drug trade for more than three decades. "They
confront the problem in a short-term limited way, and there is no
reason to believe that will change with a new version of Plan
Colombia." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
PERMISSION FOR PLEASURE | ||||||||||||||||||
Does everything we enjoy have to be good for us? | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||||
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THE 2005 INTERNATIONAL DRUG POLICY REFORM CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||||||||
Halcyonpink and TassPink interview fellow conference goers. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Members of Congress Support Cannabis Research Facility | ||||||||||||||||||
Members of Congress (36 Democrats and 2 Republicans) sent a letter to
the DEA urging the approval of Prof. Lyle Craker's application to the
DEA for a license for a cannabis production facility | ||||||||||||||||||
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CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
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CANNABIS INTOXICATION AND FATAL ROAD CRASHES IN FRANCE | ||||||||||||||||||
Conclusions - Driving under the influence of cannabis increases the
risk of involvement in a crash. However, in France its share in fatal
crashes is significantly lower than that associated with positive
blood alcohol concentration. | ||||||||||||||||||
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CORY MAYE | ||||||||||||||||||
By Radley Balko, The Agitator - http://www.theagitator.com | ||||||||||||||||||
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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 scheduled events to be held in our online Virtual
Conference Room. | ||||||||||||||||||
SATURDAY, DEC 10 8pm EST, 7pm CST, 5pm PST - DrugSense and MAP Open
House | ||||||||||||||||||
Join DrugSense staff members as they welcome in leading DPR
activists for roundtable meet and greet, discussion of all things
drug policy. We'll be celebrating year end summaries of a great 2005
and invite your participation and your sharing the highlights of
your own drug policy reform successes in your area and with your
organizations. | ||||||||||||||||||
WEDNESDAY, DEC 14 9pm EST, 8pm CST, 6pm PST - Media Activism 101 | ||||||||||||||||||
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. Discussion is conducted with live Voice (microphone and speakers all that is needed) and also via text messaging. The Paltalk software is free and easy to download and install. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Job Opportunity | ||||||||||||||||||
Director of Communications - Committee to Regulate and Control
Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||||
The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana (CRCM), the Nevada campaign committee of the national Marijuana Policy Project, seeks a Director of Communications. This position is based in Las Vegas. | ||||||||||||||||||
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated and organized communications professional with great people skills to work with top campaign professionals running a major statewide campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||
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Write A Letter Supporting Legalization | ||||||||||||||||||
Please support MAP's Focus Alert this week, "Another Call For Drug
Legalization." | ||||||||||||||||||
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LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DID WE LEARN ANYTHING FROM PROHIBITION | ||||||||||||||||||
By Robert Merkin | ||||||||||||||||||
To the Editor: | ||||||||||||||||||
In "Cannabis distributor Les Crane slain" ( Nov. 18), you quote
Mendocino County Sheriff's Detective Commander D. J. Miller as
linking marijuana growing with violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
For 14 years, the production and sale of wine and other alcoholic
beverages were accompanied by enormous criminal gang violence. When
alcohol was made a crime -- but people were still willing to pay for
it -- Prohibition became a government charter to enrich and empower
violent criminal gangs like the Mafia. And Americans drank more
alcohol than they did when it was legal. | ||||||||||||||||||
When asked what he thought of Prohibition, Will Rogers replied:
"Well, I guess it's better than no liquor at all." | ||||||||||||||||||
More than a charter - Prohibition and violent gangs were a
partnership. During alcohol Prohibition, an estimated 15 percent of
American law enforcement officers were on the payroll of
bootleggers, rumrunners and criminal gangs. ( It is impossible to
maintain a large criminal enterprise without police cooperation and
protection. ) Law enforcement and government were regarded as a
contemptuous joke by most Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||
In 1933, under the leadership of newly-elected President Franklin
Roosevelt, alcoholic beverages were legalized again, and all the
violence associated with the alcohol market ended overnight. The
manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages have ever since taken
place under strict government supervision, and the beverages are
heavily taxed. | ||||||||||||||||||
No one has been murdered over a wine deal gone sour since 1933. Even
the desperately thirsty just go to the neighborhood liquor store,
pay less than $10, and get the intoxication they want. The beverages
are certified pure, untainted and of precise potency by the
government. All disputes over sales turf by alcohol distributors are
settled by lawyers in civil court. | ||||||||||||||||||
Detective Miller must now investigate a murder that could only have
happened because marijuana is a prohibited substance and a crime. If
it remains a crime, what does it say about police and political
priorities? That we prefer murders and violence to decriminalizing,
supervising and taxing a substance far less harmful to people than
alcohol? | ||||||||||||||||||
Robert Merkin | ||||||||||||||||||
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FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Ten Years Of DrugSense | ||||||||||||||||||
By Philippe Lucas | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense (www.drugsense.org), the world leader in online drug
policy research and reform, turns ten this year amid a flourish of
kudos and awards. | ||||||||||||||||||
Founded in November of 1995 by Director Mark Greer (who was later
joined by Webmaster and Senior Tech Support Specialist Matt Elrod),
the volunteer-driven organization has rapidly expanded from its
origin as an archive for drug policy related media to become a major
player in drug policy-related media activism, web hosting, and
grassroots organizing. | ||||||||||||||||||
Following in the success of the Media Awareness Project (MAP)
(www.mapinc.org) - which archives over 150,000 news articles on
drugs and drug policy in searchable database used by researchers,
reporters, and reform organizers - DrugSense now hosts or provides
technical support for over 200 drug policy focused organizations all
over the world. Through its Focus Alerts initiative, DrugSense has
had over 20,000 Letters-to-the-Editor (LTEs) published worldwide,
representing over $20 million of advertising value in support of
drug policy reform. | ||||||||||||||||||
Additionally, DrugSense staff have conducted over 250 radio and
television interviews to promote common sense and compassion in drug
policy, and trained dozens of local grassroots organizers and activists
to do the same. And for the last eight years, DrugSense has published a
weekly newsletter (http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm) -
encapsulating major drug policy developments that now reaches over
30,000 readers a week. | ||||||||||||||||||
In recognition of these many notable accomplishments, DrugSense was
recently awarded the Robert C. Randall Award for Achievement in the
Field of Citizen Action at the recent 2005 International Drug Policy
Reform Conference in Long Beach, California. | ||||||||||||||||||
At the awards ceremony, Founder/Director Mark Greer illustrated the importance of DrugSense to drug policy reform by asking members of the audience who had used MAP or any other DrugSense services to stand up, resulting in an impromptu standing ovation for the organization. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Without such a dedicated group of volunteers and staff members and the continued commitment of our funders, online drug policy research and reform would still be in the stone-age," states Greer. "DrugSense has brought Internet activism into the 21st Century, and with new resources like the Community Audits and Initiatives Project (http://www.drugsense.org/caip/), we look forward to ending the ongoing abuses of prohibition and finally moving towards evidence-based drug policy over our next 10 years of operation." | ||||||||||||||||||
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, DrugSense is dedicated to
providing accurate information about drug policy. We heighten
awareness of the expensive, ineffective, and destructive "War on
Drugs." DrugSense informs the public about rational alternatives to
the drug war and helps citizens to take actions that encourage
reform. | ||||||||||||||||||
To help support the many services of DrugSense, please visit
http://www.drugsense.org/donate/ | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Civil liberties are always safe, as long as their exercise doesn't
bother anyone." - Anonymous | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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. | ||||||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||||||
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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