| March 10, 2006 #440 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) VOUCHERS HELP DRUG USERS OVERCOME THEIR ADDICTIONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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PHILADELPHIA -- It's a proposition as old as parenthood: Do this thing
you don't want to do -- "please?" -- and you'll get something nice for
your trouble. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now, the idea that we can influence adult behavior by offering meaningful incentives -- gift cards, bus tokens, CD players and rent subsidies -- is slowly catching on in drug and alcohol treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than 60 studies in the United States and in Europe show that
rewarding substance abusers for staying clean helps keep them enrolled
in the crucial early weeks of outpatient rehab, when dropout rates can
hit 40% or more. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's also helped double abstinence rates later on to about 60%. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Many of us recognize this as one of the most important and effective
tools we have," said Charles R. Schuster, director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush,
now head of addictions research at Wayne State University School of
Medicine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"But we've done a lousy job of selling it," he added. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) CORRECTIONS IN CRUNCH FOR CASH, SEEKS IDEAS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HELENA -- The state Department of Corrections needs an extra $11.5
million to make it until July and has temporarily scrapped plans to
build a special needs prison for lack of funds, officials announced
Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Corrections Director Bill Slaughter asked the interim Legislative
Finance Committee Thursday for permission to spend the money out of the
agency's pool of funds set aside for next year. He also asked the
lawmakers whether they had any ideas on how the department might cut
down on costs -- a delicate task in an agency that cannot scrimp on
staff at lock-down institutions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Spending money set aside for next year will leave an even bigger hole
down the line, David Ewer, the governor's budget director, said after
the meeting. But Ewer said until the state finds a better way of
addressing crime and methamphetamine, bigger budgets for Corrections
are unavoidable. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"If we thought there was a viable way of saving this money without jeopardizing public safety, we wouldn't be here," Ewer said. Records show about half of the budget overrun comes from hundreds more people in Montana's penal system than agency officials and lawmakers expected when they set the department's budget in the 2005 Legislature. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Slaughter said the overrun isn't all bad. If there wasn't stress on the
system, he said, no one would ever think of new ways of looking at
corrections and the state would continue building prisons and filling
them up. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The pressure forces us to be innovative," he said after the meeting. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) KEEP MARCHING, POT CRUSADER SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
B.C.'S Emery Says Protests Must Go On Despite Arrests At Hamilton Cafe | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pot crusader Marc Emery says fellow activists shouldn't abandon the
battle to legalize marijuana even though the owner of Hamilton's pot
cafe has been charged with trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We have to keep protesting and keep marching," Emery told about 50
people who marched to the downtown police station yesterday afternoon
in the wake of Chris Goodwin's arrest. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"They are trying to wipe out our movement," the founder of the B.C.
Marijuana Party said over a phone linkup from his home in Vancouver,
where he is fighting extradition to the United States to face drug
charges for selling pot seeds through the mail. "They're trying to
intimidate us out of business." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Goodwin, owner of the Up In Smoke cafe, was arrested Wednesday and charged with possession and possession for the purpose of trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's his latest run-in with Hamilton police, who he says have visited
his business more than 300 times since he opened it in August 2004 on
King Street East. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The former Liberal government talked of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of pot, but the new Conservative government rejects that position and has promised mandatory minimum jail time and large fines for serious drug offenders and a crackdown on pot growers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) APPEALS COURT: CASH WITH DRUG RESIDUE CAN BE SEIZED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Harrisburg - Cash with far-higher-than-normal trace levels of cocaine
can be seized as illegal drug proceeds if found in vehicles pulled over
for speeding, Commonwealth Court ruled yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 4-3 ruling concerned the seizure of $451,000 during separate vehicle stops in Somerset and Cumberland Counties by state police on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in 2002 and 2004 in which no drugs or paraphernalia were found and no criminal charges were filed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The majority opinion by Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt said the amount of
money, the way it was bundled, the amount of drug residue found on the
bills, and suspicions about the stories told by the vehicle occupants
all helped link the money to drug trafficking. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A dissenting judge, Rochelle S. Friedman, called the ion-scan test used
to detect cocaine traces on the bills "nothing more than junk science"
as it was performed in the two cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The contradictions of the drug war continue. In Philadelphia,
apparently it's not all that uncommon for elementary school children
to show up to class with illegal drugs. (Rarely with alcohol,
though. Hmmm). While the kids know where to find the drugs, the
government doesn't want you or any other citizens to know about a
whole bunch of drug cases. The records are being kept secret. The
Idaho legislature passed a "meth mom" bill that would lead to prison
for women who use illegal drugs during pregnancy. At about the same
time, Slate's Jack Shafer dismantled more propaganda to show that
descriptions of a "meth epidemic" are overblown. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) DRUGS GO TO SCHOOL WITH THE YOUNGEST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Phila. Cases Like The 7-Year-Old's Are Not So Rare | ||||||||||||||||||||
As police tried to determine how a second grader obtained the dozen
bags of cocaine she carried Monday to her elementary school in
Southwest Philadelphia, a check of school district statistics
suggested that the incident was hardly an aberration. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Although elementary students account for only a small percentage of
drug-related reports in city schools, the number appears to be
increasing. At the current pace, the total this school year could
surpass last year's, according to school district data. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Seventeen students from kindergarten through sixth grade were
involved in drug or alcohol incidents at their schools through
Christmas, compared with 26 in the entire 2004-05 academic year,
data collected by the state's Office of the Safe Schools Advocate
show. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Heroin was discovered in the pocket of a kindergartner. A second
grader took a bag of suspected cocaine to class. | ||||||||||||||||||||
At Patterson Elementary School, where this week's case occurred,
drug-awareness assemblies are scheduled today for all five
second-grade classrooms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We have a serious drug problem in many of our communities, and
ultimately what is happening in the communities filters into the
schools," said Paul Vallas, the schools' chief executive. "If you
have drugs lying around, kids are going to eventually put it into
their pockets and take it to school." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Most of the reported cases involved students who brought drugs,
rather than alcohol, to school, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) FEDERAL COURT RECORDS BEING KEPT SECRET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Outcome Of Cases For 5,000-Plus Defendants Are Hidden From Public | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Despite the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of public
trials, nearly all records are being kept secret for more than 5,000
defendants who completed their journey through the federal courts
over the last three years. Instances of such secrecy more than
doubled from 2003 to 2005. An Associated Press investigation found,
and court observers agree, that most of these defendants are
cooperating government witnesses, but the secrecy surrounding their
records prevents the public from knowing details of any plea
bargains. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Most of these defendants are involved in drug gangs, though lately a
very small number come from terrorism cases. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some of these cooperating witnesses are among the most unsavory
characters in America's courts -- multiple murderers and drug
dealers - -- but the public cannot learn whether their testimony
against confederates won them drastically reduced prison sentences
or even freedom. At the request of the AP, the Administrative Office
of U.S. Courts conducted its first tally of secrecy in federal
criminal cases. The nationwide data it provided the AP showed 5,116
defendants whose cases were completed in 2003, 2004 and 2005, but
the bulk of their records remain secret. The court office's tally
also shows the percentage has more than doubled in the last three
years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) 'METH MOM' BILL CLEARS SENATE BY 18-16 VOTE: GET-TOUGH MEASURE | ||||||||||||||||||||
BOISE - The so-called "meth moms" bill that could lead to pregnant
drug users serving jail time in Idaho squeaked through the Senate
Tuesday by a mere two votes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, the bill's sponsor, acknowledged treatment programs would be a preferable alternative to law enforcement intervention, but said under the state's current landscape meth babies are being born with increasing frequency. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Shouldn't it be a crime for a mother to induce those chemicals into
her baby?" he asked during his closing argument. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But the controversial get-tough measure worries care providers and
women's groups who fear it could lead to higher abortion rates and
less pre-natal care. | ||||||||||||||||||||
During a passionate debate, Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d'Alene, said
he'd like to see drug dealers publicly stoned, but voted against the
bill out of a fear of unintended consequences. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It is my great fear that these mothers will not come forward
because now they've got felony charges waiting around the bend for
them," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) METHAMPHETAMINE PROPAGANDA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Government And The Press Are Addicted | ||||||||||||||||||||
The press goes mad for meth. The myth of the adversary press holds
that reporters assume that every government statement contains at
least one flagrant lie, and that before disseminating the
information the press must expunge or otherwise expose the
government propaganda. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nowhere does the myth of the adversary press break down more often
than on the illicit-drug beat, where most government press releases
receive only a gentle rewrite before publication. Today's offender,
the Associated Press, took the handoff from a Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration March 1 press release to
produce a piece of junk journalism about an explosive increase of
methamphetamine users in drug treatment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The SAMHSA-AP story has gotten wide play, with the Web sites of 307
news outlets picking up a version ( "Sharp Rise in People Seeking
Meth Treatment, Report Finds" ), according to a Friday morning
Google News search. At least four top newspapers (the Washington
Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, and | ||||||||||||||||||||
Citing SAMHSA, the AP reports that the number of meth users admitted
to substance-abuse programs had quadrupled between 1993 and 2003.
There were 28,000 admissions for meth or amphetamines in 1993 (
about 2 percent of 1.6 million admissions nationally ) and almost
136,000 admissions in 2003 ( more than 7 percent of the total 1.8
million admissions ). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Neither the AP nor SAMHSA explains why treatment numbers are up, up,
up. A SAMHSA official indicates to the AP that the addictiveness of
meth is to blame, not an increase in prevalence; the AP reporter
cites unnamed experts to say meth use is "epidemic in some states,"
indicating that an increase in use might be behind more users
seeking help. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A cursory look at the SAMHSA report points to another reason why
additional meth users are "seeking" treatment: coercion. If you read
all the way to the bottom of the SAMHSA report and consult the
endnotes, you learn that changes in drug law have helped boost
meth-therapy admissions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
More corruption, destruction and cruelty in the name of the drug war
this week. Also, earlier accounts of a standoff at the U.S.-Mexican
border may have been overblown. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) TOWN CHIEF SUSPENDED, OFFICER FIRED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
TROUP, Texas ( AP ) -- City officials in this East Texas town have
suspended the police chief and fired an officer after they were
arrested as part of an investigation into corruption, drugs and
tampering with evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Troup City Council held an emergency meeting Monday following
last week's arrest of Chief Chester Kennedy and Officer Samuel Mark
Turner. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The council voted to place Kennedy on unpaid leave for 30 days. He
was charged last week with tampering with or fabricating physical
evidence and released from jail on a $400,000 bond. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The council approved the firing of Turner, who remained jailed
Tuesday night on bonds totaling $500,000. He's charged with
misdemeanor delivery of marijuana and felony tampering with or
fabricating physical evidence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The two men's arrest followed an eight-week investigation by the FBI
and Smith County officials after Turner allegedly delivered
marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) BOND DENIED FOR AIR MARSHALS IN DRUG SCHEME (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
HOUSTON A judge denied bond Wednesday for two U.S. air marshals
accused of smuggling narcotics onto planes, after hearing testimony
alleging the men had dealt drugs including cocaine and had planned
to rob a drug stash house. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shawn Ray Nguyen, 38, and Burlie L. Sholar III, 32, both from
Houston, had been granted bonds of $100,000 last month by a federal
magistrate judge. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors appealed and U.S. District Judge David Hittner agreed, saying both men were a flight risk and a danger to the community. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stuart Maneth, a special agent with the Department of Homeland
Security's Office of Inspector General, testified that a third air
marshal told authorities that Sholar had given him 25 tables of
ecstasy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That marshal also told authorities that Sholar had asked him how he
and Nguyen could rob a drug stash house worth $3 million to $4
million inside it, Maneth said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) GUNSHOT FATAL TO ASSUMPTION DEPUTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Paincourtville Officer Died After Sting Operation | ||||||||||||||||||||
An Assumption Parish Sheriff's deputy was killed Wednesday night
during an undercover drug operation, Sheriff Mike Waguespack said
this morning. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sgt. Jeremy Newchurch, 31, of Paincourtville, died at Assumption
Community Hospital following the 8:30 p.m. shooting, Waguespack
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Newchurch was shot in the upper chest area just above his bullet
proof vest during a scuffle with a man officers were trying to
arrest after a high-speed chase, Waguespack said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Newchurch and seven other drug agents were trying to execute felony
drug warrants, Waguespack said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Officers walked up to a vehicle that was illegally parked. The driver put the car in reverse, fled and later crashed into a ditch on Georgette Street, south of Napoleonville, Waguespack said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) INMATE'S LAWSUIT SAYS SHE WAS KEPT IN SHACKLES DURING LABOR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Despite complaints, only 2 states have laws forbidding practice
Shawanna Nelson, a prisoner at the McPherson Unit in Newport, Ark.,
had been in labor for more than 12 hours when she arrived at Newport
Hospital on Sept. 20, 2003. Ms. Nelson, whose legs were shackled
together and who had been given nothing stronger than Tylenol all
day, begged, according to court papers, to have the shackles
removed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Though her doctor and two nurses joined in the request, her lawsuit
says, the guard in charge of her refused. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"She was shackled all through labor," said Ms. Nelson's lawyer, Cathleen V. Compton. "The doctor who was delivering the baby made them remove the shackles for the actual delivery at the very end." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Despite sporadic complaints and occasional lawsuits, the practice of
shackling prisoners in labor continues to be relatively common,
state legislators and a human rights group said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Only two states, California and Illinois, have laws forbidding the
practice. The New York Legislature is considering a similar bill.
Ms. Nelson's suit, which seeks to ban the use of restraints on
Arkansas prisoners during labor and delivery, is to be tried in
Little Rock this spring. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) MEXICAN MILITARY NOT SEEN IN VIDEO OF STANDOFF (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Video of the standoff between U.S. authorities and drug smugglers in
Hudspeth County in January does not prove the involvement of the
Mexican military, according to several officials who viewed the two
tapes taken by the Texas Department of Public Safety. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But Hudspeth County Sheriff's Deputy Esequiel Legarreta, who said he
was first on the scene, said the tapes do not show the entire
incident, and Hudspeth County Sheriff Arvin West said new evidence,
such as the alleged military identification plate on one of the
Humvees, should be considered. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The two videotapes, which were obtained by the El Paso Times, total
47 minutes and show patrol cars chasing three SUVs to the Rio Grande
on Jan. 23. One video shows the standoff that followed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Great news from California this week, as former medical cannabis refugee and California gubernatorial candidate Steve Kubby was released from Placer County Jail after serving 40 days of a 120 day sentence. The L.A. Times article reports that Kubby is in good spirits despite losing over 25 pounds during his imprisonment. Kubby must still face a hearing on March 14th for failing to appear at his original sentencing when he fled for Canada over five years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And from Canada this week, news that the new minority Tory
(conservative) government has absolutely no intention of following
the advice of recent parliamentary reports by lessening the
penalties in regards to cannabis, sending fears that increased
crackdowns and U.S.-style mandatory minimums may be proposed by the
Prime Minister Harper. Our next article is comprehensive examination
of the recent police arrest of AIDS sufferer and legal cannabis user
Tom Shapiro. The RCMP were forced to return Mr. Shapiro's plants and
equipment after the prosecutor stayed the charges against the Health
Canada certified medical user, but the irreparable damage to his
therapeutic garden will not be addressed or compensated. Lastly this
week, a short article on Canadian cannabis activist Marc Emery's
recent appearance on 60 Minutes, where he had a chance to discuss
the ongoing war on the personal freedoms of both Canadians and
Americans being waged by our own federal governments. To see the
entire interview, please go to: | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) FREED MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACTIVIST VOICES NEW PRAISE FOR JAIL (Top)STAFF | ||||||||||||||||||||
Steve Kubby, a California medical marijuana pioneer who was forced
to return from Canada earlier this year and was thrown into jail,
earned his freedom Monday after serving a third of the four-month
sentence his doctor predicted might kill him. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Placer County jail officials said Kubby's release after 40 days came
because of his good behavior in custody and their need to reduce
crowding under a federal court order. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Kubby has spent the last six years vociferously fighting Placer
County authorities over his conviction for possession of a peyote
button and a psychedelic mushroom. But his early release underscored
a sudden shift in his once bitter attitude toward law enforcement
authorities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In jail, Kubby lost 25 pounds, yet said he gained respect for his
jailers and the medical staff who tended to the rare -- and
typically terminal -- form of adrenal cancer he has been treating
with marijuana for three decades. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) TORIES DITCH LIBERAL PLANS TO EASE POT LAWS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Potheads beware: The Conservative government has no plans to relax marijuana laws as arrests in some regions are expected to rise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A spokesman for Justice Minister Vic Toews was brusk when asked if
the Tories would resurrect Liberal efforts to decriminalize simple
possession of marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It is a very short answer and the answer is No," said Mike
Storeshaw. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We have no plans to bring any bill forward." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) MEDICAL MARIJUANA MIX-UP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last Thursday, Tom Shapiro walked into the Regina Police department,
where he had recently been detained for possession of drugs. He
walked out with two large bags of dried marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Shapiro, who is infected with AIDS, has used marijuana for the last
five years to alleviate the nausea that is a side-effect of his
medication. His large, medically-sanctioned supply of marijuana was
returned to him legally on March 2. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police seized his basement full of plants on January 31; his permit
to grow and possess marijuana had expired in October. Shapiro said
that he had applied to renew it before it expired, but it was late
coming in the mail and he lost status as a legal user. Tipped off by
his electricity bill, police entered his Regina home and seized 21
plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Health Canada said I'm not on the list, so I must be illegal,"
Shapiro said. He added that he believed the police did undue damage
to his property in seizing the plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(17) EMERY MAKES CASE ON 60 MINUTES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana activist Marc Emery, who is facing extradition to the
U.S., got to share his story with approximately 12 million Americans
on CBS's Sunday night broadcast of 60 Minutes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot" told interviewer Bob Simon that
everything in the U.S. indictment against him is true, estimating
that he sold cannabis seeds over the Internet to about 70,000
Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington John McKay told
Simon the charges against Emery are not political; the issue is the
amount of B.C. bud crossing the border. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"It has a reputation -- it's almost been marketed," said McKay.
"This marijuana from British Columbia is great pot." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Simon also spoke with ex-Vancouver mayor, Senator Larry Campbell,
who predicted Canadians will react with "outrage" if Emery is
extradited. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Philippine government officials were stung once again this year by the
U.S. State Department's International Narcotics Control Report, which
again charged the Philippines with not jumping high enough when the
U.S. cracks the prohibition whip. The report, which accuses the
Philippines of having a large drug industry worth billions of dollars,
was fodder for opposition politicians who accused the President with
not doing enough. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Things sure have changed since the spring of 2001, when the Bush
administration trotted Colin Powell out to personally present the
Taliban with millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. Why? When it came to
"drugs", the Taliban, vicious prohibitionists, were just to the Bush
regime's taste. Opium production was down to record lows in the
former Taliban Afghanistan. A year after the glorious U.S. Army
defeated the foe in Afghanistan, new opium records were being set,
only this time, records for bumper opium crops. This week, officials
announced with much fanfare new U.S. and British opium eradication
programs. The programs will concentrate on former Taliban
strongholds in the south. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Australia, a jury found four crew members of a North Korean
vessel innocent of smuggling heroin. Four other crew members of the
North Korean ship earlier pled guilty to attempting to smuggle 150
kilos of heroin to Australia from the ship in 2001. Those found
innocent included the captain and the "political officer" of the
North Korean ship. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And finally this week, from we leave you with an unexpectedly lucid
background article published this week in The Jakarta Post, a
newspaper in staunchly prohibitionist Indonesia. The article, by
Duncan Graham, is notable because it admits that prohibition
isn't working, that "The Drug War Is Being Lost." Yet rhetorical,
propaganda "wars" get politicians elected in many places. "When
politicians announce 'crackdowns' and 'tough stances' they know
they're on a vote-winner." The "Drug Policy Alliance advocates
public health alternatives to the criminal justice approach; this
means treatment instead of jail for users. The Alliance says the war
on drugs has become a war against public health, constitutional
rights and families who suffer dreadfully when a breadwinner is
jailed." Despite an appealing 'tough on drugs' stance for years,
Indonesia has a serious problem with HIV spread by drug users
illicitly injecting prohibited drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(18) REVILLA INCENSED BY U.S. REPORT RP IS HAVEN FOR DRUG SMUGGLERS | ||||||||||||||||||||
An embarrassment, a big slap on the law enforcement capability and
sincerity by a government claiming to be serious in curbing drug
trafficking, an administration senator yesterday said as he fired at
the executive on the latest international report citing the
Philippines as having a booming illegal drugs industry with billions
of dollars involved the past few years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Sen. Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., reacting to the 2006 international narcotics control report of the U.S. State Department, chastised the apparent lapses of the government as manifested in the report, saying this should serve as a wake-up call as it not only caused the latest humiliation for the country but is also alarming. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(19) AFGHANISTAN DRUG THREAT CITED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marine General Says Issue Is Bigger Risk Than Taliban, | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - The top military commander of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization said Monday that the narcotics trade poses a greater
threat to Afghanistan than a rekindled insurgency by Taliban and al-
Qaida fighters. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, NATO's supreme commander, said he
doesn't think that Taliban and al-Qaida remnants can "restart an
insurgency of any size or major scope," but that they're part of a
"wider span of problems" that includes the opium trade and rampant
criminality. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
About 21,000 NATO troops from 36 countries are preparing to take
over stability and security operations in southern and eastern
Afghanistan in coming months. NATO will very likely take over
stability operations throughout Afghanistan by the end of 2006,
Jones said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(20) AFGHANS BEGIN POPPY-ERADICATION PROGRAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Driving tractors through fields of poppy
plants, Afghan counternarcotics agents started a major opium
eradication campaign Wednesday in the heartland of the world's
largest producer of illicit drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The effort comes amid warnings of another bumper crop that would
feed millions of heroin addicts in Asia and the West and endanger
Afghanistan's emerging democracy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some 1,000 heavily armed police and soldiers guarded the drug agents
because Taliban insurgents have threatened to defend the poppy
farms, said provincial administrator Ghulam Muhiddin. | ||||||||||||||||||||
However, there were no reports of violence as about 100 tractors
moved across the poppy fields, grinding up the young plants in
southern Helmand province's Dishu district, he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The eradication, part of a U.S.- and British-funded initiative,
comes two days after the Afghan government and the United Nations
warned that they expect cultivation of opium poppies to increase
across large swaths of the country this year. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(21) VITAL EVIDENCE KEPT FROM JURY ON PONG SU DRUG RUN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
While four men pleaded guilty to their role in the heroin mission,
the captain of the ship and its political officer were among the
crew members who walked free from court this week. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
On Sunday the Supreme Court jury found all four innocent. For the
AFP, the failure to convict the senior officers was a significant
blow. Vital evidence exploring the North Korean Government's history
of international drug smuggling was not allowed to be presented to
the jury, including testimony from two North Korean defectors. And
the jury heard nothing about a direct radio communication between
the ship and North Korea. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) HOW THE DRUG WAR IS BEING LOST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian statistics, as former president Megawati Soekarnoputri
once observed, are not to be trusted. Officially, the police say
they handled almost 6,000 drug cases in Jakarta last year and made
almost 8,000 arrests. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Jakarta Narcotics Agency reckons there are up to 15,000 injecting drug users in the capital alone. NGOs talk about a pandemic and say maybe a quarter of a million people around the archipelago already have HIV -- with the number growing daily. | ||||||||||||||||||||
One study involving the National Narcotics Agency and the University
of Indonesia claimed Indonesians are spending more than Rp 12
trillion (US$ 1 billion) on drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
When politicians announce "crackdowns" and "tough stances" they know
they're on a vote-winner. [snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
In 2001 then president Megawati declared a "war" against drug
trafficking to much acclaim. But despite his past experiences and
present front-line commitment Dony refuses to be conscripted. The
bumper sticker on his little red car reads: DRUG ABUSE IS BAD; THE
DRUG WAR IS WORSE. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S. has been running its drug war for years. Millions of dollars have been spent and nearly 500,000 are behind bars for drug crimes. Yet drugs get cheaper and more readily available. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The U.S.-based Drug Policy Alliance advocates public health alternatives to the criminal justice approach; this means treatment instead of jail for users. The Alliance says the war on drugs has become a war against public health, constitutional rights and families who suffer dreadfully when a breadwinner is jailed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The reasoning runs that a war has a clearly defined enemy, while the
drug issue is too complex for them-and-us, good-and-bad solutions.
But like all snappy slogans the appeal lies in the mind-numbing
simplicity. | ||||||||||||||||||||
We get warm fuzzies by sponsoring a SAY NO banner, even when it
hangs alongside a slick ad promoting cigarettes -- which many say is
the gateway drug to narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drugs have founded a major legal industry in Indonesia. The police,
lawyers, jailers (50 per cent of prisoners have been sentenced for
drug crimes), bureaucrats, doctors, clinics, journalists, ad agents
and many other professionals are making money. They do so by
catching, prosecuting, defending, denouncing and treating users.
There's no shortage of work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
RIGHTWING NARCO'S FAMILY PAID $83 MILLION TO U.S. TO AVOID PROSECUTION | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Dan Feder at Narconews.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
PROPOSITION 36: IMPROVING LIVES, DELIVERING RESULTS | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Policy Alliance published Proposition 36: Improving Lives, Delivering Results to help California state and county officials understand the positive impact of the historic Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000 on California's correctional system, drug treatment centers, and state budget over its first four years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
REGISTER FOR THE 2006 NATIONAL NORML CONFERENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO | ||||||||||||||||||||
Join NORML April 20-22 -- Sign Up Today For Discounted Pricing | ||||||||||||||||||||
Online registration is now available at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CITIZENS FOR A SAFER PORTLAND | ||||||||||||||||||||
Campaigning for the initiative - on the November 2006 ballot in
Portland, Oregon - that would make enforcement of marijuana offenses
by adults aged 21 and older the lowest priority. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
http://www.KPFT.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
REFORMERS AND UN DRUG CHIEF TO DEBATE ON THE BBC THIS WEEKEND | ||||||||||||||||||||
This Sunday, March 12, at 2:00 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), the BBC
program "Have Your Say" will discuss the global drug trade in
"Can the War on Drugs Be Won?" The segment will feature UNDCP
chief Antonio Maria Costa as well as drug reformers Danny Kushlick
of Transform and Jack Cole of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP). | ||||||||||||||||||||
Visit http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=1261 to participate in the discussion before and during the show. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
KUBBY OUT OF JAIL, BUT NOT YET FREE | ||||||||||||||||||||
Must Return to Court On March 14 On Probation Violation Charges. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Exclusive to MarijuanaNews | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
REGARDING MEDICAL MARIJUANA | ||||||||||||||||||||
This film, produced by Martin O'Brien, is a hard hitting look at
medical marijuana in the modern day. Particularly relating to the
California front line battle to distribute and buy a medicine that
under state law is legal, yet under federal law is still a
Schedule 1 narcotic. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.freespeech.org/fscm2/contentviewer.php?content_id=1188 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHEDELIC STUDIES NEWS UPDATE | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, March 6, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG WAR CHRONICLE MARIJUANA NEWS ARCHIVE | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Reform Coordination Network have now posted a topical archives page with just the marijuana news portion of the Drug War Chronicle newsletter, including over a thousand articles dating back to 1997. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/archives-marijuana.shtml | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Job Announcement | ||||||||||||||||||||
Communications Assistant in the New York City office of the Drug Policy Alliance. Assist the Communications Department with the development and execution of strategic media campaigns on a variety of issues related to drug policy reform. Details on line at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/jobsfunding/jobs/comassist030906.cfm | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Write A Letter | ||||||||||||||||||||
Washington's Drug War Contradictions. A DrugSense Focus Alert. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Defense Of Educator In Marijuana Case | ||||||||||||||||||||
By D.H. Michon | ||||||||||||||||||||
For years I have been a frequent visitor to the Kalamazoo area for
the fine fishing opportunities. I have also had the distinct
pleasure, at a national drug policy conference, of getting to know
Greg Francisco - - who is suffering this spurious prosecution for a
tiny stem fragment of what was alleged to be marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I found Francisco to be a principled and gentle man who should never have been targeted this way. He is a credit to the area and his impressive abilities should be back at work for the people. I read that prosecutor Cory Johnson said Francisco "has not been targeted" and that the prosecution is a "routine matter." So, citizens are routinely arrested and lose their jobs for such trivia? Ridiculous. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This fine man and his family should never have had to endure this
harassment just because he advocates reform of a policy which makes
police and prosecutors much too powerful over our lives. It is a
picayune affair for which the people's money should never have been
wasted, and much greater expense lies ahead if Greg is forced to
defend his constitutional right to free speech. | ||||||||||||||||||||
D.H. Michon Eau Claire, Wis. Referenced: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - FEBRUARY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Steven Epstein of Georgetown, Massachusetts for
his four published letters during February, which brings his total
published letters that we know of to 34. An attorney, he is a
founder of the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition | ||||||||||||||||||||
You may read his published letters at: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ricky Williams And The NFL's Brain Damaged Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Stephen Young | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Steve Young? The football player?" asked a mildly amused voice on
the other end of the phone line. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It was the kind of response I got sometimes while making calls from
a small newspaper office in the late 1990s. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The question usually came shortly after I introduced myself: "Hi,
this is Steve Young. I'm a reporter with the Bartlett Press, and I
have some questions for a story I'm writing." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Frequently, the more playful interviewees would respond with a
little joke involving the name I shared with the San Francisco 49ers
quarterback. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Reporter? So that's what you're doing after the NFL," they might
say. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Near the end of the other Steve Young's career, the lauded player
racked up astonishing career numbers, but he also had his brain
beaten by a series of concussions. By that time, I had developed my
own stock response. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Yes, that's right," I would say as dryly as possible, "After all
the repeated head trauma, journalism seemed like the only job to
suit me." | ||||||||||||||||||||
It usually got a laugh, more (I think) at the expense of a
profession that is distrusted by many than at the expense of Mr.
Young and his health problems. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But, as I read in an interesting article from ESPN Magazine last
month ( see http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2314899),
concussions in the NFL aren't funny at all. It's a serious issue for
players, but if the article is any indication, some league officials
think it's a big joke. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A Massachusetts dentist has been fitting members of the New England
Patriots with special mouth guards for several years. The Patriots
had no incidents of concussions between 2000-2003. Other teams
recorded as many as 20 concussions in the same time period. Serious
concussions, particularly multiple concussions, can lead to
long-term health problems. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other players in the league, as well as other athletes prone to
concussion, are starting to catch on, but NFL administrators have
their heads buried in the sand. According to the ESPN article, the
NFL official entrusted with safeguarding the health of players won't
even talk to the dentist. The league does not require players to
wear mouth guards, and only about 40 percent of players do. From the
league's comfortable standpoint on the sidelines, the policy is
working out just fine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
While NFL minimizes such an issue, it's interesting what the league
(and the broader media) portrays as a tragic controversy: Ricky
Williams' alleged drug use. | ||||||||||||||||||||
About the same time ESPN showed the NFL's recklessness on head
injuries, word leaked out that Williams, the amazing running back
for the Miami Dolphins, flunked his fourth drug test. The news was
based on rumor, but reliable sources didn't deny the story. While
some press accounts indicate that this drug test problem doesn't
involve marijuana, Williams' other drug test failures were for
marijuana. When he left the league for a year, he made no secret of
his love for the herb. | ||||||||||||||||||||
NFL players are required to be routinely tested for | ||||||||||||||||||||
Except, the players who test positive for marijuana, like Williams,
are frequently at the top of their game. Yes, he appears to have
broken some rules, but those rules are tied to | ||||||||||||||||||||
Instead of lamenting Williams' supposed lack of self-control, some commentators recognize the absurdity. In a piece posted at Alternet (see http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/32756/ ) Mike Beacom lauds Williams as a light of non-conformity in the world of pro athletics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"He is human first, football player second, and there are far too few of those in the NFL, or any league these days," Beacom writes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Perhaps that's true. Maybe it's not. But I can say for certain that the NFL demonstrates much more concern about reputations tarnished by drug war expectations than it does about brains bruised during play. When it comes to marijuana off the field, the league sees its players as temples not to be defiled; but once they hit field, they're pieces of meat who are supposed to play through the pain. | ||||||||||||||||||||
If trends continue, the ultimate irony could arrive in a few years
when the DEA comes after some of those retired, broken bodies and
their doctors for the alleged overuse of pain medication. Some
colleagues who now gravely wag fingers at Ricky Williams for his
"drug problem," might wish more people like Williams had made at
least an attempt to question the drug war. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stephen "Steve" Young is an editor with DrugSense Weekly. A new edition of his book Maximizing Harm is scheduled for release soon. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Political liberty is good only so far as it produces private liberty."
- Samuel Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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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 (),
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