Table of Contents

* Breaking News (12/30/24)

* This Just In

(1) Former Placer Medipot Activist May Lose Refuge
(2) Drug Conflict Displaces Ever More Colombians
(3) Cannabis Move Expected Next Week
(4) Top 10 Drug War Stories

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

COMMENT: (5-8)
(5) Feds' Anti-Meth Bill Dies With Patriot Act Extension
(6) Drug Tests Of Governing Body Members OK'd
(7) Union Gap Residents Claim Delay In Drug Tests
(8) Widow Of Slain Trooper Sues Makers, Sellers Of Meth Ingredient

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

COMMENT: (9-13)
(9) Schools Fail To Get Confiscated Cash
(10) Flour in Condoms Sent Her to Jail
(11) Pregnant Women Who Use Drugs Could See Jail Time
(12) Man Says He Was Mistakenly Targeted In Drug Raid
(13) Murder By Drug Dealing Charge Reviving

Cannabis & Hemp-

COMMENT: (14-17)
(14) House Overrides Carcieri's Medical Marijuana Veto
(15) Supporters Of Medical Marijuana Bill Concede Problems
(16) Marijuana Wars Set To Continue
(17) Reefer Madness

International News-

COMMENT: (18-22)
(18) Haitian Candidates Are Under Suspicion
(19) Mexican Military Caught Up In Drug Corruption, Officials Say
(20) Ten Police Officers Convicted Last Year
(21) Drug Users Face Stiffer Penalties
(22) Imprisoned: First Offenders Fall Foul Of New Drugs Law

* Hot Off The 'Net

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    Justice, Texas Style
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    Cultural Baggage Radio Show
    Century Of Lies
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* What You Can Do This Week

    Help Review The Year With DrugSense
    How To Increase Drug Policy Reform In Your Local Media

* Letter Of The Week

    Street Nurse Tells It Like It Is / By Beth Wehrman

* Feature Article

    Published  Letter  To  The  Editor  Writer  Of  The  Year  - 2005
    / By Richard Lake

* Quote of the Week

    Walt Whitman

Ordered Expulsion From Canada Could Lead to Jail

Steve Kubby, a fugitive from Placer County and internationally known medical-marijuana activist, is fighting to stay in Canada despite a court order to leave the country by Thursday.

"Monday we're going to request a stay based on legal motions that we filed in court," Kubby said in a telephone interview from his home Thursday.  "We remain hopeful that it will be granted."

Kubby fled to Canada with his family in an effort to avoid incarceration after a 2000 conviction in Placer County on charges of possession of mescaline and psilocybin.  Placer County deputies reportedly found a small amount of peyote button and magic mushroom during a 1999 raid of Kubby's Olympic Valley home.

[snip]

"I must confess that I really fear for my husband's life," Michelle Kubby said.  "He must have cannabis constantly to survive the deadly threat posed by his adrenaline-secreting tumors."

The Canadian Border Services rejected the Kubby family's bid for protection Dec.  9. Kubby returns to a Canadian court Monday to argue that a stay of the departure order must be granted, his wife said.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 06 Jan 2006

Source:	Auburn Journal (CA)

Website:	http://www.auburnjournal.com/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/530

Author:	Penne Usher, Journal Staff Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/kubby.htm (Kubby, Steve)

Related:	http://www.kubby.org/

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n023.a08.html

PEREIRA, Colombia - Armando Garces was reluctant to leave his mountain village even after right-wing militia members had gone door to door telling residents they had 48 hours to evacuate, or else.  He didn't like being ordered to abandon the only home he had ever known.

Then a daylong gun battle erupted between the paramilitary fighters and leftist guerrillas over control of nearby coca crops and transit routes.  Garces' town -- Bajo Calima, nestled in Colombia's Pacific coast rain forest -- was caught in the cross fire between the rebels above the town and militia members below it.

"We hid under our beds all day, and the next morning we were gone," said Garces, recalling the terrifying day in June when his township became a battleground in the nation's long-running drug wars.  "Everyone agreed it was time to look for some other future."

So the 25-year-old woodcutter, his wife, two children and 500 other residents joined Colombia's swelling ranks of the internally displaced. More than 3 million people have been driven from their homes by the longstanding civil conflict between Colombian armed groups vying for political dominance and control of crops related to the nation's drug trade as well as of other agricultural products.

Only Sudan has more internally displaced citizens than Colombia, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, a human rights group that has tracked the displaced around the globe for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 5 Jan 2006

Source:	San Jose Mercury News (CA)

Website:	http://www.mercurynews.com/

Author:	Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n021.a01.html

Cannabis Was Downgraded to Class C Two Years Ago

A decision on whether to reclassify cannabis as a more serious drug will be taken in the next few days, Home Secretary Charles Clarke has said.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "worried" about new studies linking it with mental health problems.

Cannabis was downgraded from class B to class C two years ago, but Mr Clarke ordered a review of that last year and said the move had confused the public.

Experts and charities are divided over the drug's possible reclassification.

Dame Ruth Runciman, who chaired the initial inquiry that recommended downgrading cannabis, said reclassification would confuse the public even more.

"I think it is very ill-judged thing to do and that it actually puts cannabis where it does not belong in the scale of relative harm," she said.

But John Henry, a clinical toxicologist at St Mary's Hospital in London, told BBC News there was a "strong link" between cannabis and schizophrenia.

"It's probably about four times commoner in people who smoke cannabis regularly," he said.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 5 Jan 2006

Source:	BBC News (UK Web)

Copyright:	2006 BBC

Website:	http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Cited:	Home Office http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/drugs/

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?207 (Cannabis - United Kingdom)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n018.a02.html

1) Don't Bogart My Closeup: The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and its fearless leader, drug czar John Walters, got slapped by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office in January when the GAO reported that Walters' band of merry narcos had violated a government ban on "covert propaganda" with its release of prepackaged video news stories, ready to air on broadcast news programs, that failed to identify the ONDCP as the source of the "news."

2) Man-Min Madness ...  : In a 5-4 decision delivered Jan. 12, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the federal mandatory-minimum sentencing schemes enacted by Congress in the mid-Eighties in reaction to an increase in drug crimes, opining that, as currently applied, man- mins violate the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial.

In order to pass constitutional muster, the court said, the sentencing schemes should be downgraded to just an advisory tool for judges to consider.

3) ...  And More Madness: Apparently U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R- Wis., didn't get the memo concerning the Supremes' ruling.

He went on his merry drug warrior way and, in April, filed the uber- draconian Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act (HR 1528).  This wolf in sheep's clothing would create a whole host of stricter man-mins - including a mandatory 10-year sentence for any adult over 21 who sells more than five grams of pot to anyone under 18, and a mandatory three years for parents who are aware of drug-trafficking activities near their children but fail to report the alleged activity to police within 24 hours.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Fri, 06 Jan 2006

Source:	Austin Chronicle (TX)

Copyright:	2006 Austin Chronicle Corp.

Website:	http://www.auschron.com/

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/33

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n021.a02.html

Domestic News- Policy

2006 arrived without a federal meth bill, thanks to Congressional wrangling.  Will "voluntary" drug tests for public officials in small towns become a trend in 2006? It seemed to be at the end of 2005. And, the widow of a state trooper killed in a drug raid is suing makers of drugs used to make methamphetamine.

Hopeful that more federal money will still come in 2006 to help fight crime related to methamphetamine abuse, Blaine County Sheriff Walt Femling's hopes were temporarily dashed last week as Congress adjourned for the holidays.

Scheduled as a rider on the USA Patriot Act renewal bill, legislation geared toward regulating the production of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine was killed when the U.S.  Senate voted to extend the Patriot Act for six months.  Methamphetamine legislation that was approved by the House of Representatives earlier in the month was stricken from the bill.

Femling, who sits on the board of the National Association of Counties ( NACo ), said the organization has adopted methamphetamine addiction as its top priority in the near term.

"Young people's lives are being destroyed by meth," Femling said. "[Police] are taking children out of "meth lab" houses ...  For those reasons communities are stepping up to get something done."

The legislation would have limited purchases of cold medicine that contains ephedrine or pseudoephedrine to about 120 pills per day and would have required retailers to store off-the-shelf medicine like Sudafed, NyQuil and Benadryl behind the counter.  The bill was also geared to monitoring manufacturers of the base ingredients used for making meth.  The goal to prevent shipments of large quantities to "superlabs" is expected to be a top order of business when the Senate reconvenes this winter.  It will be for NACo.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 28 Dec 2005

Source:	Idaho Mountain Express (ID)

Copyright:	2005 Express Publishing, Inc

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/2296

Author:	Matt Furber, staff writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2021/a03.html

JACKSON -- Less than a month after Township Committeeman Michael Kafton pleaded guilty to drunken driving and was charged with possession of a toxic chemical, the Township Committee voted to provide voluntary, random drug testing for its members.

"I believe that the Jackson Township Committee should take the lead, set an example, and subject themselves to random drug testing to prove that Jackson's elected officials are willing to hold themselves up the highest standards of personal conduct," Republican Committeeman Mark Seda said Tuesday night.

Seda, who had called on Democrat Kafton to resign, proposed the resolution setting up the drug testing.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 28 Dec 2005

Source:	Asbury Park Press (NJ)

Copyright:	2005 Asbury Park Press

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/26

Author:	Matt Porio

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Test)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n011/a02.html

UNION GAP -- Some residents is this small town wonder what's taking so long for elected officials to complete voluntary drug tests.

"If they were serious about showing us that they had it together, then they would have done it all at once.  But them lingering gives the appearance that they are cleaning something out of their system," said Union Gap resident and activist Andrea Vasquez.

Mayor Aubrey Reeves gave council members the option last week of taking a voluntary drug test at the city's expense.  His offer came after Councilman Dale Glaspey's Dec.  13 arrest for allegedly selling cocaine to an informant.

"Some ( council members ) asked me to make it available because they didn't want to be labeled as drug users," Reeves said.

Testing is being offered at Valley Medi-Center in Union Gap.  The cost is $42.50 per test or $340 for all seven council members and the mayor.

To date only three elected officials -- Reeves and Councilmen Jim Lemon and Glenn Bateman -- have taken urine tests.  So far Lemon is the only one to receive his results, which showed he's clean.

The remaining council members support the idea of drug testing for elected officials and all say they plan on being tested this week.

"I think it's a great thing, and it's long overdue.  If we expect our employees to do it, then we should be doing it," said Councilman Dave Butler, who planned on taking his test this week.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 28 Dec 2005

Source:	Yakima Herald-Republic (WA)

Copyright:	2005 Yakima Herald-Republic

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/511

Author:	Lia Steakley

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2020/a02.html

WALTERS - The widow of a slain trooper filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday against those who make and/or sell pseudoephedrine. Linda Green claims in the Cotton County lawsuit that drug companies and suppliers -- including Pfizer, Wal-Mart, Walgreen, Dollar General and United Supermarkets -- knew methamphetamine addicts were buying the drug to get high and not to treat a cold.

She also charges makers knew how to make the pseudoephedrine tablets without allowing drug addicts to extract the ingredients needed to make methamphetamine.

"The reason for filing this suit is to hold those people accountable for what they've done, not just to Nik Green and his family ( but for ) every other person in the United States who's been impacted," said Gary James, an Oklahoma City attorney representing Linda Green.

The suit also names Ricky Ray Malone, who was convicted of murdering Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Nikky Joe Green.  Malone was high on methamphetamine during the December 2003 shooting.  A mobile methamphetamine lab was found in Malone's car.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 28 Dec 2005

Source:	Oklahoman, The (OK)

Copyright:	2005 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/318

Author:	Chad Previch

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2020/a07.html

Law Enforcement & Prisons

Public school officials in Kansas are still upset that state police officials aren't sharing enough drug money with them.  Instead of insisting that the police change their ways, a new proposal would remove protections for those targeted by asset forfeiture seizures.

Also last week, a college student gets incarcerated for carrying flour as a stress reliever; a Missouri county acknowledges that it routinely prosecutes women who give birth to babies with illegal drugs in their systems; a law-abiding 68-year-old Wisconsin man is assaulted by unrepentant cops in another botched drug raid; and Louisiana officials are charging drug suppliers with murder.

Missouri officials are attempting once again to overhaul state laws so that millions of dollars of cash confiscated in suspected drug crimes goes to public education.

State law requires that proceeds from fines and forfeitures be spent on public education.

But only $10 million of the $71 million in suspected drug money that law enforcement agencies have seized since 1999 has ended up in school coffers, according to government records.

Instead, Missouri law enforcement agencies have used a strategy allowing them to keep drug money by handing it off to a federal law enforcement agency.  A series of news articles in 1999 and 2000 revealed how the federal government kept a portion, 20 percent or more, and then sent the rest back to the seizing agency to be spent under federal guidelines.

That was a strategy being used not only in Missouri, but in many other states.

In Missouri, state legislators thought they fixed the problem in 2000 with new legislation.  The fix didn't take, they now say.

One reason law enforcement officials say they are continuing to send the money to the federal government or not seizing drug money at all is because Missouri laws are too protective of criminal suspects.

Now a task force of law enforcement and education officials, brought together by Missouri Treasurer Sarah Steelman a year ago, believes it finally may have an answer with legislation it has drafted.

"It's good for kids, it's good for law enforcement," said Doug Gaston, deputy treasurer and a former prosecutor, who led the task force.

The bill would eliminate the requirement that property can be forfeited only after a person has been convicted of a crime.  It also would be quicker to take someone's property - 30 days after a seizure in many cases.

In addition, the bill would:

# Allow law enforcement agencies to keep up to 50 percent of a forfeiture to pay for the cost of their investigation.  In order for an agency to recoup its expenses, rules would be set up requiring the agency to submit its expenses, most likely to the judge overseeing the forfeiture, officials said.

# Send the rest - 50 percent or more - to a state school fund.

# Require that once the school fund has a balance of $6 million, additional money go to increase minimum salaries for teachers.

# Require that once minimum salaries for teachers have been taken care of, the rest of the money would be used for safe school grants providing for school resource officers, metal detectors, fences and other safety programs.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 01 Jan 2006

Source:	Kansas City Star (MO)

Copyright:	2006 The Kansas City Star

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/221

Author:	Karen Dillon

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n004/a07.html

A College Student Spent 3 Weeks in Jail After a Field Test Said She Was Carrying Drugs.  She Filed a Lawsuit.

She was a freshman on an academic scholarship at Bryn Mawr College, preparing to fly home to California for Christmas, sleep-deprived, with questions from a calculus exam still racing through her head.

In the space of a few hours on Dec.  21, 2003, Janet Lee landed in a Philadelphia jail cell, where she would remain for three weeks, held on $500,000 bail and facing 20 years in prison on drug charges.

All over flour found in her luggage.

"I haven't let myself be angry about what happened, because it would tear me apart," Lee said.  "I'm not sure I can bear to face it... . I'm amazed at how naive I was."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Thu, 29 Dec 2005

Source:	Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)

Copyright:	2005 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/340

Author:	John Shiffman, Inquirer Staff Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2019/a01.html

It's not that he doesn't care, but Newton County Prosecutor Scott Watson can't understand what all the fuss is about.

Making headlines recently, Greene County has lately implemented a policy of prosecuting mothers whose newborn babies are born with illegal drugs in their system.

But despite the added media attention surrounding the issue, Watson metaphorically shrugs his shoulders.  After all, Newton County has done the exact same thing for years now.

"It's nothing new to us," he said.  "We've had that policy in place for as long as I can remember."

Watson explained that if a baby is born in Newton County and tests positive for illegal drugs it constitutes endangering the welfare of a child.  If convicted, the mother could face a Class C felony charge ( if in the first degree ) and possibly be sent away to prison for up to seven years.

Although unsure of how many women Newton County has actually prosecuted in this type of case, Watson said that it has, nevertheless, happened in the past, although admitting that prosecution may sometimes depend on the circumstances involved.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sat, 31 Dec 2005

Source:	Neosho Daily News (MO)

Copyright:	2005 Neosho Daily News

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/4058

Author:	Wes Franklin, staff writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/women.htm (Women)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2026/a08.html

Police Broke Through Wrong Door On House, Man Says

PEWAUKEE - Police officers serving a search warrant in a drug raid last week went to the wrong address, waking a 68-year-old man from his sleep in a pre-dawn raid that left the man fuming.

H.  Victor Buerosse, 68, a retired attorney, said police intended to target the rental unit above his office at 150 Park Ave., which is connected to his 148 Park Ave.  residence, before dawn last Friday morning.

Instead, they broke into his residence, a single-story addition connected to but different from the two-story structure described in the warrant, he said.

"I said, 'You guys are in the wrong place,"' Buerosse said.  "All ( the sergeant ) would say is, 'We have a valid search warrant.' I said, 'You don't have a valid search warrant, you dumb S.O.B., if you are in the wrong place.'"

Despite identifying himself, Buerosse said, "they threw me on the ground, into a closet door, hit me in the head with a shield, not that it was that hard, but it was hard enough to knock me down."

It took the arrival of a local sergeant who knew Buerosse for officers on the scene to accept that they had the wrong man, Buerosse said.  The officers left without an apology, he said.

"I thought, 'I'm 68 years old.  What if I had a heart condition? What if I am one of those guys who sleeps with a gun under the pillow? What if I was one of those guys who keeps a large dog?'" Buerosse said.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 04 Jan 2006

Source:	Waukesha Freeman (WI)

Copyright:	2006 The Waukesha Freeman

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/770

Author:	Brian Huber, Gm Today Staff

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n017/a14.html

Prosecutors Turn to Little-Known Law

When a jury determined earlier this year that Jake Johnson had been murdered, it had seen no weapon.  Prosecutors didn't even try to establish intent, and they conceded the victim played a key role in his own death.

Yet the second-degree murder conviction brought the killer the same mandatory life-without-parole sentence handed out routinely to shooters and stabbers.  All prosecutors had to establish was that defendant Jeanie Hano, 42, had sold methadone to the 16-year-old victim and that the same pills contributed to his death by overdose.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 27 Dec 2005

Source:	Times-Picayune, The (LA)

Copyright:	2005 The Times-Picayune

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/848

Author:	Meghan Gordon, St.  Tammany bureau

Cited:	Criminal Justice Policy Foundation http://www.cjpf.org

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/states/la/ (Louisiana)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n2024/a03.html

Cannabis & Hemp-

Rhode Island policy makers kicked off the political year with a bang (bhang?) by overriding Gov.  Carcieri's veto of a state medical cannabis bill, making RI the 11th U.S.  state to allow the compassionate use of cannabis by those with recommendations from their physicians.  The law will allow registered users to grow up to 12 plants or to possess 2.5 ounces of dried cannabis.  In an interesting follow-up article, the Providence Journal examines the problems of access for medical users who can now legally obtain therapeutic cannabis, but must do so through the illegal black market.

Our third story is a Rocky Mountain News editorial on SAFER's attempt to translate their recent success in legalizing the adult use of cannabis in Denver into a statewide legalization effort.  The group is currently gathering the 68,000 signatures necessary to place a legalization question before Colorado voters on next fall's electoral ballot.  And lastly this week, a column from the Colorado Springs Gazette condemning recent DEA raids on medical cannabis dispensaries in California, and wondering if Colorado's medical cannabis program might suffer from similar federal interference.

Rhode Island on Tuesday became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana and the first since the U.S.  Supreme Court ruled in June that patients who use the drug can still be prosecuted under federal law.

House lawmakers voted 59-13 to override a veto by Gov.  Don Carcieri, allowing people with illnesses such as cancer and AIDS to grow up to 12 marijuana plants or buy 2.5 ounces of marijuana to relieve their symptoms.  The law requires them to register with the state and get a photo identification card.

Federal law prohibits any use of marijuana, but Maine, Vermont, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington allow it to be grown and used for medicinal purposes.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Tue, 03 Jan 2006

Source:	Associated Press (Wire)

Copyright:	2006 Associated Press

Author:	M.  L. Johnson, Associated Press Writer

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n010.a02.html

The medical marijuana law that passed yesterday allows doctors to recommend that patients obtain from illegal sources a drug of unknown potency and unknown purity.

This is not how doctors normally prescribe treatment.

But if the longstanding support of the Rhode Island Medical Society is any indication, many are willing to go this route -- because of the potential benefits to patients who can't get relief from pain, nausea, muscle spasms and other problems.

Even supporters of the concept, however, admit that it's "weird."

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 04 Jan 2006

Source:	Providence Journal, The (RI)

Copyright:	2006 The Providence Journal Company

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/352

Author:	Felice J.  Freyer, Journal Medical Writer

Referenced:	http://www.rilin.state.ri.us/Billtext/BillText05/SenateText05/S0710Aaa.pdf

Cited:	Rhode Island Medical Society http://www.rimed.org

Cited:	Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians http://www.rimed.org

Cited:	Board of Medical Licensure and Discipline http://www.health.ri.gov/hsr/bmld/index.php

Cited:	The Institute of Medicine report http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed/

Cited:	Center for Biomedical Ethics: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Center_for_Biomedical_Ethics

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 (Chronic Pain)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n012.a04.html

Legalize possession of marijuana? Denverites said yes to that proposition last fall, but after surprisingly little debate.  It was almost as if opponents didn't take the group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation and its misleading campaign seriously - and so ignored the measure.

Needless to say they won't make that mistake again.

Last week SAFER officials said they'll gather signatures to put a measure on next fall's ballot to legalize marijuana statewide because Denver is still issuing tickets for possession under state law.  And while we don't exactly welcome the prospect, the initiative at least will provide a chance for voters to consider serious arguments for and against legalization in a context that actually makes some sense.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 01 Jan 2006

Source:	Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)

Copyright:	2006, Denver Publishing Co.

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/371

Cited:	http://www.safercolorado.org/

Cited:	RAND Drug Policy Research Center http://www.rand.org/multi/dprc/

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Safer+Alternative+for+Enjoyable+Recreation

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n001.a01.html

It's something of a mystery why federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided HopeNet, a medical cannabis dispensary said to serve about 30 patients a day in San Francisco, on Dec.  20. It followed a series of raids in San Diego on Dec.  12 that closed 13 cannabis dispensaries.  No arrests were made in any of the raids, but some patients are concerned that these raids are a prelude to a major effort to close down cannabis clubs statewide.

That seems unlikely, at least any time soon.

The backdrop to all this is the fact that California law and federal law are different regarding the medical use of cannabis, or marijuana.  This could have repercussions in Colorado, as we also have a state law that allows possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical use if a person has the approval of a doctor.

Especially since the Supreme Court ruling last June in Raich v. Ashcroft, federal law prohibits growing, possessing or using marijuana, even for medical purposes, and even if such activities occur entirely within the borders of a state that authorizes the use of marijuana through the recommendation of a licensed physician, as California and Colorado voters have since approved measures in those and nine other states.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Mon, 02 Jan 2006

Source:	Gazette, The (Colorado Springs, CO)

Copyright:	2006 The Gazette

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/165

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06.n009.a11.html

International News

In Haiti, as elsewhere, U.S.  DEA officials show they can interfere with elections by alleging "links" to drugs.  In the upcoming elections in Haiti, at least three candidates have been tainted by DEA leaks of links to "drugs".  U.S. officials say traffickers want to keep the Haitian government "weak and corruptible."

U.S.  officials allege the Mexican military is corrupted with drug money also.  Mexican soldiers, earning only about $300 a month, are easily bought by drug traffickers.  Arresting drug traffickers is not the traditional duty of the army, but is a task pressed upon them by prohibitionists in Washington.  "We're the ones who pushed the Mexican military into fighting narcotics," said Armand
Peschard-Sverdrup, head of the Mexico Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.  "We've pushed them into narco corruption."

Ten police officers in the commonwealth nation of New Zealand were convicted on corruption charges last year, including convictions of selling or using methamphetamine, the Central Leader newspaper reported.  An even great number of police corruption cases were not resolved by the year's end.  Although police wrongdoing is investigated by other police, New Zealand Police Association President Greg O'Connor nonetheless asserts police do "not hide anything."

Taiwanese government officials are ready to get ever tougher on drug users, this time around with sweeping new laws that let government detain marijuana users for up to three years of forced "treatment." New "treatment centers" (read: concentration camps) opened on Jan.  1 having a capacity to hold 4,000 drug users undergoing the forced-treatment.

Bermuda's legislature made the drug laws more severe last summer, and petty drug peddlers are now going to jail for longer terms. Bermuda, in an effort to curry favor with a prohibitionist U.S. regime, made their laws more harsh, increasing the jail terms for drug offences.  Expect drug use to rise in Bermuda, as a clueless government packs jails with an endless line of replaceable small-time dealers.  We've seen it all before.

Several Are Linked to Illicit Drugs by DEA

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- At least three candidates in Haiti's elections scheduled for Jan.  8 have links to a cocaine-trafficking industry that wants to ensure the next government is weak and corruptible, a half-dozen Haitian and U.S.  officials say.

Two of Haiti's best-financed presidential candidates -- Guy Philippe and Dany Toussaint -- have long been linked to cocaine trafficking by U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration officials. A Senate candidate who is a nephew of interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue has close links to a gang that controls drug smuggling in the port of Gonaives, according to the Haitian and U.S.  officials.

[snip]

Diplomats and counterdrug agents have expressed particular concerns about Youri Latortue -- the security chief for his uncle, the prime minister, and a senate candidate for the Gonaives region, a major drug-smuggling area.

[snip]

Youri Latortue, meanwhile, has struck a political alliance with Guy Philippe, one of the leaders of the rebellion that ousted Aristide and now a candidate for the presidency.  The two apparently knew each other when they served in the Haitian police.

The DEA suspected Philippe was involved in drug trafficking when he was police chief in the northern port of Cap Haitien, Haiti's second-biggest city.

Philippe has vehemently denied such allegations.

Pubdate:	Mon, 26 Dec 2005

Source:	San Jose Mercury News (CA)

Copyright:	2005 San Jose Mercury News

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/390

Author:	Joe Mozingo, Knight Ridder

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/find?236 (Corruption - Outside U.S.)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n2005.a08.html

WASHINGTON - U.S.  officials and analysts say there are new signs that drug corruption is spreading within the Mexican military, an institution long regarded as more professional and less prone to criminality than the country's law enforcement agencies.

In interviews, four senior U.S.  officials, a senior Mexican intelligence official and three independent analysts all expressed concern about the expanding role of the Mexican military in the drug war.  Some pointed to low pay among the middle and lower ranks as making military personnel vulnerable to offers from cartel leaders who may double or triple their pay.

"Corruption is more serious in the Mexican military than just about any other Latin American military," said a U.S.  official, speaking on condition of anonymity.  "The reason is not that the Mexicans are any more venal; it's that we're talking about huge amounts of money because drugs flow into Mexico and that makes them more vulnerable."

Spokesmen for the Mexican Embassy in Washington and for Los Pinos, the presidential residence, declined to comment, referring questions to the military.  Military officials requested questions in writing but said there would be no reply for now.

The concerns were underscored in a video sent to The Dallas Morning News in October and described in a Dec.  1 article. The video shows four men, bound and bloodied and prodded by an unseen interrogator, talking about their work for a drug cartel.  Two of the four identified themselves as former military men and said that their job was to recruit for the cartel from Mexico's special forces.

[snip]

"We're the ones who pushed the Mexican military into fighting narcotics," said Armand Peschard-Sverdrup, head of the Mexico Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.  "We've pushed them into narco corruption."

The military - historically a rallying point of Mexican nationalism - was long viewed as relatively free of the kind of corruption that has engulfed the country and many of its institutions.  For example, this month the Mexico attorney general's office said that 1,493 federal agents - about one of every five members of an elite force of 7,000 working for an agency modeled after the FBI - were under criminal investigation.

[snip]

U.S.  officials and analysts stressed that low pay among the rank and file makes them especially vulnerable to drug traffickers.  Soldiers make about $300 a month, compared with $5,000 for lieutenant colonels and about $28,000 for the defense secretary, according to a salary scale on the military's Web site.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Sun, 25 Dec 2005

Source:	Daily World, The (Helena, AR)

Copyright:	2005 The Helena Daily World

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/2742

Author:	Alfredo Corchado, The Dallas Morning News

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n2009.a01.html

Twenty-six police officers appeared in court in the past year for crimes that included selling methamphetamine, indecent assault and fraud.

Papers released to The Press under the Official Information Act show 10 officers were convicted, two were acquitted and one discharged, and 13 cases were continuing.

[snip]

Police human resources general manager Wayne Annan said the charges against officers in the past year included several assaults, an indecent assault, fraudulently obtaining $500 and selling P, pure methamphetamine.

A Manukau constable had allegedly given away the methamphetamine seized in a drugs bust.

[snip]

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the fact police misconduct still made the news showed it was not a big problem.

[snip]

O'Connor said police did not hide anything when it came to wrongdoing by their own.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Mon, 26 Dec 2005

Source:	Central Leader (New Zealand)

Copyright:	2005 Central Leader

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/3532

Author:	Sean Scanlon

Bookmark:	http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n2009.a02.html

Crackdown:	Those Caught Taking Minor Drugs Such As

Ketamine And Ecstasy Could Soon Face Detention and
Forced Treatment at One Of Several Centers Around the
Nation

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is amending a law which will enable the agency to detain people who use minor drugs and force them to undergo treatment.

"The proposed amendment will help teenagers and youths give up taking minor drugs such as ketamine, MDMA [ecstasy] or flunitrazepam frequently used in pubs or KTVs, and also be a punishment to deter people from using these kinds of drugs," Vice Minister of Justice Wang Tian-sheng said.

Wang said drug use by teenagers and youths is rampant.

The new law will be approved and put into practice next year, Wang added.

According to the Violation of the Narcotics Endangerment Prevention Act, while selling or transporting third-class, or minor, drugs is a criminal offense, those who caught using minor drugs do not face criminal charges and cannot be forced to undergo treatment for drug abuse.

"The MOJ found that minor drugs frequently taken in pubs and KTVs have caused health and social problems among teenagers and youths, so the [government] decided to send them to the MOJ's drug abstention and treatment centers, which are charged with detaining drug abusers and giving them forced treatment," the vice minister said.

Wang added that students would be suspended from their studies if they receive treatment for narcotics abuse.

Wang said that to house the drug users, four drug abstention and treatment centers in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taitung would be opened on Jan.1, which will be able to accommodate more than 4,000 people.

[snip]

Under the current law, those arrested for using "first-class" drugs such as heroin and cocaine, or "second-class" drugs such as amphetamines and marijuana, must undergo narcotic treatment at drug abstention and treatment centers for a maximum of one month.  Those who are seriously addicted and fail an exam after the one-month treatment must undergo a second treatment, lasting up to a maximum of one year.

The vice minister said that in the proposed amendment the MOJ has suggested extending the one-month limit on treatment to two-months, and the one-year treatment to three-years.

He said that more than 3,600 people are currently receiving narcotic treatment at centers at 19 detention houses and 18 Juvenile Detention and Classification Houses nationwide.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Mon, 26 Dec 2005

Source:	Taipei Times, The (Taiwan)

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/1553

Author:	Rich Chang, Staff Reporter

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n2014.a05.html

Three Drug Dealers Sentenced To 16 Years In First Case Under Tougher Regime

The hard new drug regime claimed its first traffickers on Monday when a local man and two Americans all went to jail for a total of 16 years.

The Misuse of Drugs Amendment Act 2005, which passed into law in August, now provides for maximum penalties of 10 years in jail and fines of half a million dollars or three times the value of the drugs seized.

What's more, it's retroactive -- something that sent Steven Javon Evans to jail for six years even though he committed his offences before the new law went into effect.

[snip]

Pubdate:	Wed, 21 Dec 2005

Source:	Bermuda Sun (Bermuda)

Copyright:	2005 Bermuda Sun

Details:	http://www.mapinc.org/media/3865

Continues:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n2017.a09.html

THE BIG CHILL - INSERTING THE DEA INTO END-OF-LIFE CARE

From the New England Journal of Medicine

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n015/a06.html

JUSTICE, TEXAS STYLE

By Sarah Shemkus, The American Prospect

Reporter Nate Blakeslee's new book describes what can happen if you're arrested in Tulia, Texas -- and you're young and black.

Continues:	http://alternet.org/drugreporter/30048/

ANNOUNCEMENT OF NORML'S 2006 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

January 5, 2006 - Washington, DC, USA

Washington, DC: NORML's 2006 annual conference will once again be held in the great city of San Francisco, California at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway.

Continues:	http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6772

CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW

Tonight:	01/06/06 - Bruce Mirken of Marijuana Policy Project + nurse

Mary Lynn Mathre and Drug Czar Walters.

Last:	12/30/05 - Cultural Baggage Highlights 2005 with Author Doug

Valentine, Earl Barnett of LEAP, Carl Velley of DPFT, Dr.  Robert Melamede, US Rep Dana Rohrbacher, Dr.  Frank Fisher, Roberta Franklin of J4J, Ethan Nadelmann, Dean Becker to Constitution Society, Marilda Garnad of AETNA, Mason Tavert of Safer & Dr.  Rick Doblin of MAPS.

Audio:	http://drugtruth.net/MP3/FDBCB_123005.mp3

Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at http://www.KPFT.org/

CENTURY OF LIES

01/06/06 - Exit Strategy from War on Drugs Conference with Eric Sterling, Sanho Tree and Graham Boyd.

Audio:	http://drugtruth.net/cbaudio06/COL_010606.mp3

WHITE HOUSE DRUG POLICY OFFICE LAUNCHES PODCAST

White House "Drug Czar" to Share Latest Information Regarding National and Community Anti-Drug Efforts to Fight Drugs via new Internet Feed

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press06/010306.html

HELP REVIEW THE YEAR WITH DRUGSENSE

A DrugSense Focus Alert

http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0319.html

HOW TO INCREASE DRUG POLICY REFORM IN YOUR LOCAL MEDIA

Tue.  January 10 /06, 09:00 p.m. ET

Join leading hearts and minds from the drug policy reform movement as we discuss ways to write Letters to the Editor that get printed.  We'll also discuss ways to get notable OPEDS printed in your local and in state newspapers.

http://www.mapinc.org/onair/details.php?id=507

STREET NURSE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS

By Beth Wehrman

To the editor:

Re: "VANDU not worth coverage," Letters, Dec.  7.

When I respond to a situation which I know only peripherally, I often speak with lack of knowledge.  Such is the case with persons outside the realm of harm reduction and drug use.

I am a mother and a gramma.  I'm a street nurse. I work with drug users.  I provide information about safer ways to use drugs. I provide sterile injection equipment.  I teach people how to recognize and respond to opiate overdoses.  I provide counselling and testing for HIV and hepatitis C and vaccines against hepatitis A & B.  I am not a drug dealer.

But if and when an individual who uses drugs decides to make a change in his/her life, I am a trusted ally-a person they can call for reliable, accurate information and referrals.  I cannot make the decision for you to change your drug use.  You make that choice. I can support your decision.

If and when that happens, I may have helped you to take those steps without becoming infected with HIV or hepatitis.  That is my goal.

VANDU is an invaluable resource for individuals who often receive little support or understanding from the community at large.  They deserve our support, as do VANDU participants.

Beth Wehrman, Vancouver

Pubdate:	Sun, 18 Dec 2005

Source:	Vancouver Courier (CN BC)

Referenced:	http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1930/a04.html

PUBLISHED LETTER TO THE EDITOR WRITER OF THE YEAR - 2005

By Richard Lake

Again this year two letter writers are so close in their total number of published letters for the year that DrugSense wishes to recognize both for their accomplishments.

Robert Sharpe had 241 letters published last year that we know of, raising his career total to an amazing 1,421 published.

In 1999 Robert started writing letters as a student at George Washington University and a member of their Students for Sensible Drug Policy ( http://www.ssdp.org ).  Then he often used his SSDP chapter membership in his signature block to improve his chances of being published.  We first recognized Robert's letter writing accomplishments in May, 2000 as you can see in this photo http://www.mapinc.org/images/Robert.jpg

Today Robert writes as a volunteer for CSDP ( http://www.csdp.org ). He signs his letters "Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C." Robert tells us that he is spending about an hour a day after work sending out letters, and yes, many more are not published than are.  Robert has provided us with his tips for letter writing success at
http://www.mapinc.org/resource/tips.htm

You may read all of Robert's published letters at
http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Robert+Sharpe

Kirk Muse of Mesa, Arizona had 212 letters published during 2005 that we know of, bringing his career total to 627.

Kirk also supports the Media Awareness Project of DrugSense by newshawking news clippings, well over a thousand in the past year. By newshawking Kirk sees targets and frequently sends his letters to the editor to the newspapers before others are even aware of the news clipping.  Kirk is pictured, with MAP editor Beth Wehrman, at last November's Drug Policy Alliance conference here
http://www.mapinc.org/images/kirkdpa.jpg

Kirk sends copies of his letters to MAP's sent letter email list where they can be seen at the list's archives at
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/sentlte/

Like Robert, Kirk sends many more letters than are ever published.

You may read all of Kirk's published letters at
http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Kirk+Muse

Every drug policy reform organization encourages writing letters to the editor.  It is one of the most cost effective ways for activists to keep our issues before the public.  DrugSense recognizes the efforts of all our letter writing activists, giving recognition through links from this webpage http://www.mapinc.org/lteaward.htm We also provide a graphic display of the Top 100 Letter Writers here http://www.mapinc.org/lte/topwrit.htm

Thank You Robert and Kirk for all you do for our reform efforts! This recognition is well earned.

"There is no greater fallacy on earth than the doctrine of force, as applied to government." - Walt Whitman

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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CREDITS:

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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