| March 31, 2006 #443 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) MEXICO CRITICISES US DRUG-WAR EFFORTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The US should make a "bigger and more integral effort" in the fight
against drugs, according to the Mexican government's highest-ranking
law official. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"There has to be a direct fight [against drugs] in the US, too, just
like the one we are fighting," Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, the country's
attorney-general, told the FT in an interview. "If they fought like we
are fighting here, they would surely have a problem of violence much
greater than the one we have."
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Mr Cabeza de Vaca's frank critique of the US government's efforts in
the war against drugs comes amid a wave of killings in Mexico,
particularly in the cities that border the US. Many of them are
believed to be drugs-related. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The violence has raised concerns on both sides of the border,
influencing the ongoing debate about border security and illegal
immigration. Both issues will be high on the agenda when Presidents
George W. Bush of the US and Vicente Fox of Mexico on Friday continue a
two-day summit in the Mexican beach resort of Cancun together with
Stephen Harper, Canada's newly elected prime minister. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) SYNDICATES SHIFT SHABU PRODUCTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A new sign of how lucrative the illegal drugs trade is that syndicates are now manufacturing drugs on yachts offshore to elude police authorities, the Task Force Against Illegal Drugs reported Wednesday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police Director Marcelo Ele, task force chief, disclosed that his unit has not moved against the yachts suspected of operating as clandestine shabu laboratories because it does not have the speedboats. | ||||||||||||||||||||
At a forum at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan, Ele said the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency also does not have ships to go after
the drug syndicates operating offshore. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ele disclosed that the agency is now coordinating with the Philippine
Coast Guard and military to expand its monitoring operations against
drug syndicates. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Reports disclosed that the syndicates produce shabu aboard private yachts. They then ship the shabu in smaller boats to points where the drug is distributed through the syndicate's local network. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This new strategy allows the syndicates greater mobility and makes it
more difficult to arrest them, Ele said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(3) LIFE SENTENCES UPHELD IN RECORD LSD CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DENVER -- An appeals court on Tuesday upheld the life sentence of a man
who allegedly used an illicit laboratory at Wamego, Kan., to become the
nation's largest supplier of the hallucinogen LSD. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 against William
Leonard Pickard in his bid to overturn his convictions and two life
prison terms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pickard, 60, was convicted in 2003 in federal court in Topeka for his
role in operating the lab from a converted missile silo. Authorities
said the LSD-making lab was the largest ever seized in the history of
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
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He and co-defendant Clyde Apperson were proven "to be responsible for
the illicit manufacture of the majority of the LSD sold in this
nation," a DEA official said in 2003. Tuesday's ruling also upheld
Apperson's 30-year sentence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pickard was a chemist and has a master's degree in public policy from
Harvard University. He was a researcher at the University of California
at Los Angeles who studied psychoactive drugs, the San Francisco
Chronicle reported in a lengthy 2001 article. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Chronicle reported that Pickard had been interested in LSD since
the 1960s, when the drug helped launch the counterculture revolution.
LSD was what Timothy Leary referred to in that era when he urged people
to "turn on, tune in and drop out."
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[snip]
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(4) ANTI-SNITCH CAMPAIGN RILES POLICE, PROSECUTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
PITTSBURGH -- It was not the first time prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini had
been enraged by the sight of the T-shirt with the traffic-sign message:
STOP SNITCHING. But this guy was about to wear one into court, with
matching baseball cap. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Worse, he was a witness -- her witness -- and the intended victim in an
attempted murder case that had brought him, her and the defendants to
court that day last fall. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This was Rayco "War" Saunders -- ex-con, pro boxer and walking
billboard for a street movement that has sparked a coast-to-coast beef
involving everyone from professors to rappers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Pellegrini, thinking "witness intimidation," told Saunders to lose the
hat and reverse the shirt. Saunders, crying "First Amendment," refused.
He left the courthouse, shirt in place. Case dismissed. "In almost
every one of my homicides, this happens: 'I don't know nothin' about
nothin', " the prosecutor says. "There is that attitude, 'Don't be a
snitch.' And it's condoned by the community."
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Omerta, the Mafia's blood oath of silence, has been broken by turncoat
after turncoat. But the call to stop snitching -- on other folks in the
'hood -- is getting louder. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is it an attempt by drug dealers and gangsters to intimidate witnesses? | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is it a legitimate protest against law enforcers' overreliance on self-
serving criminal informers?
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Or is it bigger than that?
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[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-7) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Although it is not fresh news, USA Today delivered some fair
coverage of the Stop Snitching Movement. The T-shirts originated
from the title of an underground DVD released a few years ago. Law
enforcement and prosecutors are frustrated that slogan-clad citizens
have not tired of this 'fad'. | ||||||||||||||||||||
An editor from Newfoundland reports tobacco smoking has declined during the past several years but asserts a recent school smoking ban will not lower student drug usage. He falls short of making the connection between how the same successful tobacco educational techniques could and should be used for other substances. | ||||||||||||||||||||
This week's story about the analysis of public sewage removes all
doubts of just how far drug warriors will go. This ultimate form of
involuntary urine testing has this writer investigating designs and
plans for an old fashioned outhouse. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) ANTI-SNITCH CAMPAIGN RILES POLICE, PROSECUTORS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is It A Grass-roots Backlash Against Criminals Turned Informers Or
Intimidation?
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PITTSBURGH -- It was not the first time prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini
had been enraged by the sight of the T-shirt with the traffic-sign
message: STOP SNITCHING. But this guy was about to wear one into
court, with matching baseball cap. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Worse, he was a witness -- her witness -- and the intended victim in
an attempted murder case that had brought him, her and the
defendants to court that day last fall. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Start with the war on drugs. Over the past two decades, law
enforcers have made more drug arrests and turned more defendants
into informers than ever before. According to the U.S. Sentencing
Commission, the agency that establishes federal court sentencing
practices, about one-third of drug trafficking prosecutions involve
informers' "substantial assistance." That makes them eligible for
reduced sentences under otherwise inflexible federal sentencing
guidelines. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) TOBACCO SMOKE WILL CLEAR, DRUGS WON'T
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There's probably not a lot of people who will argue over the Nova
Central School Board's decision to ban smoking on its property,
particularly schools. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Last week, trustees voted unanimously in favour of banning puffing
at all schools, school board facilities, grounds and in board-owned
vehicles. In fact, some might question why it took this long to
happen, and say the board has been behind the rest of society on
this. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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While the battle to prevent people from picking up the unhealthy
habit of smoking continues, and probably will be waged for many
years, the fact is fewer and fewer teens are becoming regular
smokers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
When some citizens in the school district lobbied hard for this
motion to be tabled, one of the major impetuses was the notion the
elimination of student smoking areas would also extinguish a great
deal of drug use. The thought is smoking areas are -- the ban
doesn't actually come into effect until September -- -- prime
markets for drug dealing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
That somewhat assumes smoking cigarettes goes hand-in-hand with
smoking joints, popping pills and ingesting whatever the
drug-of-the-month might be. But not all smokers are drug users, and
not all drug users actually smoke cigarettes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) SEWAGE TESTED FOR SIGNS OF COCAINE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fairfax Participating In Federal Program To Assess Drug Use | ||||||||||||||||||||
If government studies are a reliable guide, about 25,000 residents
of Fairfax County -- 2.5 percent of its population -- have used
cocaine in the past year. The same data from the National Survey on
Drug Use and Health suggest that about 9,000 have partaken within
the past 30 days. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Those estimates, based on personal and computer-assisted interviews,
rely almost completely on the candor of the respondents. The Bush
administration, hoping to someday broaden the government's knowledge
of illegal drug use, is probing the mysteries of Fairfax's sewage
for a clearer picture. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Earlier this month, the county agreed to participate in a White
House pilot program to analyze wastewater from communities
throughout the Potomac River Basin for the urinary byproducts of
cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (8-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
An encouraging selection of editorial sanity was available this
week. Two Southern editors suggested we can not and should not
continue to incarcerate our way out of our flawed drug policies. An
editor from Tennessee points out that more caution should be
exercised when enforcing our drug laws. The following article
reveals the reported incident is not an isolated occurrence.
Dissimilar conclusions of two Wisconsin editorials make for an
interesting juxtaposition but also reaffirm the value of having a
choice when it comes to local news sources. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) EDITORIAL: SHRINKING OUR JAIL POPULATION IS A CHALLENGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
When Charlotte County commissioners approved a $28 million expansion
of the county jail it presented only a temporary solution to the
problem of overcrowding. Only when the state and county rethink how
they deal with less violent criminals will the problem really be
solved. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Those possible alternatives would include in-house detention and
electronic monitoring. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Granted, there are risks involved. Criminals under those types of
restrictions can cheat. They can leave their home or they can
sometimes find ways to fool electronic monitors. That is why we
emphasize only nonviolent, petty criminals should be eligible for
this type of punishment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A first or second-time drug offender -- a user, not a significant
dealer -- or someone with a number of traffic violations, might be
considered for these types of restrictions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(9) EDITORIAL: LAWMAKERS SHOULD HEED TOAL'S CALL FOR SENTENCING (Top)REFORM | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE BIGGEST WASTE of money in our state -- not to mention human
potential -- is the hundreds of millions of dollars we spend every
year locking people away. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Of course we have to lock up violent offenders. But nearly half the 22,000 inmates in state prisons have never committed a violent offense. One reason: A quarter of all inmates are there for drug crimes, 10 percent for traffic offenses, and nearly as many for fraud. Some of these crimes were violent; others were not. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Frankly, this isn't rocket science. It costs a lot of money to care
for someone 24 hours a day. So you only do it when there's no
legitimate alternative. Except for violent offenders, there are
almost always legitimate alternatives, from punitive fines and
electronic monitoring to real community service work and intensive
probation programs. And in most cases, those alternatives would
serve society better than incarceration, even if they weren't less
expensive. | ||||||||||||||||||||
We have avoided doing things the smart way for too long. We simply
cannot afford to do so any longer. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) EDITORIAL: DID COPS ACT TOO SOON? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Methamphetamine labs are explosively dangerous and toxic. So it is understandable that Horn Lake police officers, acting on reliable evidence, moved quickly early Wednesday to shut one down. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The problem is that once they arrived on the scene, officers raided
the wrong house. In the action that followed, two octogenarians were
seriously injured. Horn Lake Mayor Nat Baker, a former police
captain, rightfully asked for an internal police investigation and a
written report on the 4 a.m. raid.
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[snip]
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Law enforcement officials across the country have called the making
of the cheap, highly addictive stimulant one of the more serious and
dangerous crime problems in the nation. The labs are prone to
explode and the cooking of the drug leaves potentially deadly toxic
residues. Despite these facts, however, the question remains whether
officers should have waited for more information when they were
unexpectedly confronted with two houses. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) 2 HURT IN RAID ON WRONG HOUSE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Couple Hospitalized After Police Burst Into Home Looking For Meth | ||||||||||||||||||||
An unidentified elderly Horn Lake couple were hospitalized Thursday
after police burst into their home thinking it housed a
methamphetamine laboratory. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The incident occurred Wednesday about 4 a.m., said police Capt.
Shannon Beshears. Beshears said it was the right address, but the
wrong house. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Police Chief Darryl Whaley said an investigation would be made into the operation to determine what happened when officers confronted the elderly couple. He said he believes his officers acted correctly and followed procedures when they entered the first home. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Obviously, a mistake was made and it was regrettable," he said. "But, I stand by my officers. I think they acted properly." | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) EDITORIAL: BACK UP DRUG BUSTS WITH STATS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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It's not necessarily coincidental that more drug busts seem to be
happening in central Wisconsin. Wood County Sheriff Thomas Reichert
attributes it more to the focus of his department on youth issues
and the work of the Central Wisconsin Drug Task Force
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[snip]
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What Reichert can't do is quantify the numbers. He can't say how many busts have occurred compared with a year ago, for instance. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We are probably having more than in the past, because we are really
focused on dealing with the local who is directly supplying our
children and creating problems for families in our community," he
said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Anecdotal evidence, while important, doesn't tell the whole story.
Data supporting an increase in drug busts would make the case that
much stronger. Beef up perception with proof that central Wisconsin
is becoming a better, safer place. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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"Our real goal in this is to make our little corner of the world
better. To this point I think we have, given the amounts and
seriousness of some of the cases," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's a good goal, and one that all law enforcement agencies -- all
community members -- should embrace. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Keep enforcing laws, eliminating illegal drugs and making our
communities better places for everyone, but let us know how we stack
up. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It's impossible to go forward if you don't know where you've been.
Give us details to show improvement. It will make seeing drug busts
on the front page much more satisfying when we know what it really
means. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) EDITORIAL: DRUG BUSTS ON RISE, AS THEY SHOULD BE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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In nine days, authorities in the three central Wisconsin counties pulled off the streets nearly $75,000 worth of marijuana and cocaine, nearly $10,000 in cash and 20 suspected dealers and buyers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They also made sure the busts grabbed headlines and made the evening
newscasts. That's part of the strategy, to shout, "Hey, drug
dealers, this community's bad for business."
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Which leads to obvious questions: Does that strategy work? Has each
of these drug arrests made us safer? Are the cops cleaning up our
streets?
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Wood County Sheriff Thomas Reichert, who started a campaign called
"Take Back Our Youth," says the answer is yes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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"Our real goal in this is to make our little corner of the world
better."
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It's a good goal, and one that all law enforcement agencies -- all
community members -- should embrace. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Drugs clearly are a danger to our way of life. We cannot afford to
lie down like a lamb and let them continue to roar. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
We begin this week with an update on Angel Raich's most recent
challenge of the federal cannabis prohibition. On Monday Angel and
her legal team argued that the federal prohibition of cannabis
(including medical use) impeded her fundamental right to life and
freedom from pain before the 9th Circuit Court. Although she remains
optimistic, the skeptical tone of questioning by the court led many
observers to doubt this cases chances of success. A decision is not
expected for a number of months. On a more positive note, L.A.
County Supervisors have voted 4-1 to lift a standing ban on medical
cannabis dispensaries, choosing instead to license and regulate
them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And all the way from Victoria, B.C., news that the conservative mayor Alan Lowe has sent letter of support for the use of medical cannabis, and asking Health Canada to initiate an "immediate review of current policies and regulations to determine where improvements can be made". The letter came at the urging of local activists (including this author) and reflects growing discontent with Canada's ineffective federal medical cannabis program. In another story from Canada this week, a Richmond, Ontario man has been acquitted of drugged driving after the judge ruled that there isn't enough scientific research to either assess or determine the extent of intoxification in relation to cannabis use. And lastly, an interesting article from Hartford examining the ever-growing number of older recreational cannabis users. As the good man says, "it's better to burn one, then to fade away". My, my; hey, hey. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) RAICH BRINGS MARIJUANA CASE BACK TO APPEALS COURT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against her,
Oakland medical marijuana patient and advocate Angel Raich will go
back before a federal appeals court today with a different legal
argument. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Her lawyers will try to persuade a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in Pasadena, that keeping her from
using marijuana as medicine unduly burdens her fundamental rights to
life and freedom from pain, as protected by the Fifth Amendment's
Due Process Clause and the Ninth Amendment. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The government argues there's no constitutionally protected
fundamental right to obtain and use marijuana in defiance of the
federal ban on the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Nor can plaintiffs establish that the use of any particular drug,
free of a regulatory scheme designed to protect the public health
and safety, is a fundamental right that is deeply rooted in our
nation's history, legal traditions and practices," wrote Assistant
U.S. Attorney Mark Quinlivan in his January brief to the appeals
court. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(15) L.A. COUNTY LIFTS BAN ON POT DISPENSARIES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A decade after California voters legalized medical marijuana, Los
Angeles County supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to regulate
dispensaries in unincorporated areas, effectively lifting a
countywide ban on the facilities. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dozens of medical marijuana advocates hailed the vote as they
gathered in the rain outside the Hall of Administration, some
lighting up joints. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Advocates said that despite the ban, dozens of dispensaries have
been operating throughout the county, including one recently in
Hacienda Heights. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"This represents a major step forward," said Don Duncan, a spokesman
for the Hacienda Heights dispensary closed by the county last year.
"This ordinance puts the county of Los Angeles ahead of the curve on
this issue."
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[snip]
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(16) VICTORIA MAYOR OFFERS SUPPORT TO MEDICAL POT USERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Victoria's mayor has thrown his support behind local medicinal pot
users and called upon Health Canada to conduct an immediate review
of how it provides medical marijuana to Canadians. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A presentation to council by local compassion clubs last month
prompted Alan Lowe to draft a letter to federal Health Minister Tony
Clement criticizing public access to the Federal Marijuana Medical
Access Regulation program. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Many of these citizens rely on marijuana for the purpose of pain
management and have expressed an inability to access the...
program," he wrote in the March 20 letter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Without proper access, "many Canadians will continue to suffer." | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Victoria City Council therefore respectfully requests an immediate
review of current policies and regulations to determine where
improvements can be made to ensure a better quality of life for
those Canadians in need of medical assistance."
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[snip]
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(17) LACK OF SCIENCE CITED IN IMPAIRMENT ACQUITTAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
An Ontario Court judge has acquitted a Richmond man of impaired
driving due to drug consumption because there is no "scientific
evidence" to support the effect marijuana has on operating a
vehicle. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ontario Court Justice Richard Lajoie said yesterday proof of
consumption and the effect of consumption had not been proven in the
case against Steven Ayotte, 33, in connection with a May 1, 2005,
Dunrobin-area incident. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Judge Lajoie said a reasonable doubt had remained whether Mr. Ayotte's erratic behaviour was due to smoking marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Outside the court, Mr. Ayotte's lawyer, Dominique Smith, said, "We
don't have the same tests in place that we do for persons who may be
impaired by alcohol. There are no roadside screening devices for
marijuana, so that's really the difficult situation the court is in
with respect to impairment by way of drugs."
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[snip]
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(18) STILL GRAZING IN THE GRASS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Let's look back into the haze - 25 to 40 years back. Part the veil,
and peer into that basement rec room, where a Led Zeppelin drum solo
rumbles, faded jeans glow under a black light and the air is steeped
in killer weed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Those were the days when marijuana became a national sensation, when the original burnouts wandered high school hallways and pot-smokers' paraphernalia included everything from pipe screens to the huge rolling paper included in Cheech & Chong's "Big Bambu" album. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For most people who indulged in the 1960s and '70s, the sights,
sounds and smells of the marijuana culture linger only in memory.
Some, however, truck on. They may have lost their old posters and
stopped staring at their hands, but for various reasons, pot has
remained part of their lives. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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International News
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COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Bolivian President and coca farmer Evo Morales holds up coca as for
use as food, tea, and medicine. Coca (not cocaine) can be used as a
remedy for Parkinson's disease and even impotence, according to
promoters. But the newly elected Morales walks a political tightrope
Should he toss out the gringo DEA, as he promised? But this might
stir the wrath of the "Big Stick" U.S. colossus of the north. The
prohibitionists in D.C. dictate that Bolivia shall grow no coca,
even though it has been grown as a staple food, tea, and chaw for
millennia. An article from Der Spiegel magazine this week gives an
idea of the dilemma Morales faces in his first year as president.
Coca, says Der Spiegel, may just be the "new hemp."
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Enforcing laws against "crimes" for which no victim may be
identified is always hard work for would-be vice police. After all,
no victims exist to call the cops! When the "crime" is making drugs
on the high seas (where national laws may or may not even apply),
well, "authorities have had difficulty tracking them," as one
gung-ho Philippine top narc put it last week. Like rural areas,
oceans (which cover about three- fourths of the earth's surface),
are ideal places to hide meth factories. Marcelo Ele Jr, of the
Philippine Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force
disclosed the high seas meth cooking technique to the Philippine
Star newspaper this week. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It turns out that having thousands of your fellow countrymen
slaughtered over "drugs" may not have been such a great idea, after
all, the party of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is
learning. Opposition parties are making political hay over Thaksin's
in ordering the summary executions in 2002. "Thaksin ordered summery
killings over 2,000 people during the first three months of war on
drug when his government took office five years ago."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
One expects police should abide by the laws. You hope and pray they
will. But, that's not always the case as an excellent editorial by
Canadian legal scholar Alan Young in NOW Magazine makes clear.
Police in Toronto, writes Young, are long on complaints about pesky
"rights" which make policing harder, but short on actually solving
murders. Police say if only it weren't for Canada's "Charter of
Rights", their work would be ever so much easier. But, as Young
points out, police aren't ones to let a few laws stop police, of all
people. In 1991, 59% of Canadian search warrants were "invalid",
according to a government study. In 1999, 69% were invalid,
according to another study. Remember that next time a Mountie says,
"We don't make the laws, we just enforce them."
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(19) A POLITICAL DRUG WAR IN BOLIVIA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Is Coca the New Hemp?
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The wine, a bit on the sweet side, is supposedly a remedy against
Parkinson's disease and impotence and, according to the label, it is
especially suitable for "athletes and singers." In small doses, that
is, because the wine is pressed from coca leaves, enhancing the
effect of the alcohol. If you get drunk, you don't have to worry
about how you're going to feel the next day because "coca wine
doesn't cause a hangover," says Melby Paz. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Paz, a businesswoman from Bolivia's coca production center,
Cochabamba, bottles a few hundred liters of her coca wine each
month. The ink-colored beverage is the top-selling product for her
company, Coincoca. She also sells soap, shampoo, toothpaste and
cookies made with coca, and she has plans to develop instant soups
and muesli in the future. Indeed, Paz is serious when she says "coca
is an incredible valuable food and medicine."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
"Coca si, Cocaina no" -- yes to coca, no to cocaine -- was one of
Morales' campaign slogans. The goal of his new program is to
disassociate the plant that provides the substance used to make
cocaine from the drug stigma. In the Andes, the coca plant has been
used as a medicine for thousands of years, and the wonder plant was
even farmed by the Incas. Millions of poor Bolivians chew the leaves
because they dull the sensation of hunger and make backbreaking
labor more bearable. Bolivian officials are even considering adding
coca to school meals. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Morales plans to build a state-owned coca factory, a venture in
which Paz is his biggest ally. She has been hired to conduct a study
on industrial-scale coca production. Her company processes 350
kilograms of the plant each month, but, as she complains, "it could
be more if the leaves weren't so expensive." Until Morales took
office in late January, the army systematically destroyed coca
plantations, making coca, a staple food for Bolivians, scarcer and
more costly. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Military experts in Washington are already predicting a nightmarish scenario, the emergence of a socialist "narco-state" under populist farming leader Morales. They believe that Morales, with the help of his friends, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, could destabilize the entire Andes region. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
The drug war brought nothing but violence and poverty to farmers in
the region, fueling animosity toward the gringos -- U.S. drug
enforcement and military experts who consult with Bolivian security
forces on eradicating the coca plantations. Indeed, government
forces even used torture in their campaigns against coca farmers,
with dozens of the campesinos disappearing without a trace. This
brutal treatment almost triggered a revolt in Chapare, where the
resistance movement against the government was led by a cunning
union organizer: Evo Morales. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Soldiers stormed Quispe's hut in the small town of Chimore two years
ago. They tore up coca bushes in her garden, stole chickens and
oranges and molested Quispe's daughter. A fellow activist, union
leader Feliciano Mamani, was tortured at the Chimore military base
for allegedly stirring up anti-military sentiment among the farmers.
During a demonstration four years earlier, Mamani was shot at and
his shinbone was shattered. He claims that "American drug
enforcement agents" led the attacks. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now the former victims of persecution are in power in Bolivia.
Quispe represents the socialist governing party, MAS, in the
Bolivian congress. Mamani was elected mayor of Villa Tunari, a city
in Chapare. The foreign aid workers have been driven out, and local
municipalities are now administering the foreign aid money. As a
next step, former activists Mamani and Quispe want to see the
American drug enforcement agents pull out. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But it's a radical step that even President Morales isn't quite
willing to take. As president of a poor Andean country dependent on
foreign aid, Morales would be unlikely to survive a confrontation
with the powerful Americans. To avoid alienating the US, Morales has
publicly vowed to respect all international agreements over battling
the drug trade. He has even demonstratively attempted to convince
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of his peaceful plans for
the coca plant. At a meeting in the Chilean city of Valparaiso,
Morales gave Rice a guitar decorated with coca leaves. | ||||||||||||||||||||
So far, his strategy seems to be working. More than 70 percent of
Bolivians stand behind their new president. In early March, the
congress gave its blessing to Morales's most important political
project, a new constitution. An influential group of business
leaders in the country's Santa Cruz province, a group that had
bitterly opposed Morales during the election campaign, is now
assiduously courting the popular hero. | ||||||||||||||||||||
His campaign against corruption has been especially popular among the ordinary people. Morales cut his presidential salary in half and managed to push through a reduction in lawmakers' salaries. Several high-ranking officials Morales accused of corruptibility were fired. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(20) NOW COOKING: SHABU AT SEA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AIDSOTF) chief
Director Marcelo Ele Jr. has revealed that drug syndicates have
resorted to "cooking" shabu on private yachts sailing on the high
seas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
However, since drug syndicates have started using floating drug
labs, authorities have had difficulty tracking them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
He also said that based on intelligence reports, the syndicates
would "cook" shabu on yachts and bring the illegal drugs on board
small bancas to the shore for distribution. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The syndicates also give full protection to chemists on the vessels. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(21) WINAI SAYS THAKSIN NOT WELCOME NATIONWIDE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Winai Sompong, former Palang Dharma Party leader, said if Thaksin Shinawatra became prime minister again after the next election, he would find it difficult to travel to many parts of the country. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Speaking to the protesters at about 3:25 pm:, Winai said the Thaksin
administration was involved in corruption with the biggest magnitude
in Thailand's history. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Winai also alleged Thaksin ordered summery killings over 2,000
people during the first three months of war on drug when his
government took office five years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) COPS NOT PLAYING BY BOOK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police Want Public's Trust? Then Don't Whine About How Charter
Handcuffs Probes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Toronto police haven't exactly been winning any awards when it comes
to solving murders. Only 58 per cent of last year's murders have led
to charges, while the clearance rate for murders in the previous
five years (2000 to 2004) has hovered around 63 per cent - a
dramatic decline from the 86 per cent clearance rate recorded in
1993. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
However, a few weeks ago Deputy Chief Tony Warr provided another
explanation for the declining efficiency of murder investigations:
the Charter Of Rights And Freedoms. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He spoke of the added burden of having to be "more complete and
thorough than ever before," and the "painstaking" constitutional
demands for the police to disclose to the Crown and defence the
entire fruits of their investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Based on the few existing studies, one could conclude that police practice hasn't changed dramatically under the Charter. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For example, a 1981 Law Reform Commission study reported that 59 per
cent of search warrants were invalidly issued, whereas two
post-Charter studies (1995 and 1999) found the rate to be 39 per
cent and 69 per cent respectively. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Before the police can blame the Charter for hampering their investigations, they need to demonstrate that they are actually complying with the burdens imposed by the Constitution. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SAFER COLORADO CAMPAIGN BLOG
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER)
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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AWAITING REAL ROCKEFELLER REFORM
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Anthony Papa, AlterNet. Posted March 29, 2006.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
New York's drug laws ensure that the privileged and connected receive
leniency for the same offenses that send thousands of blacks and
Latinos to prison. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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Listen live Fridays, 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
http://www.KPFT.org/
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DEPT. OF EDUCATION BACKS DOWN IN FACE OF SSDP LAWSUIT
| ||||||||||||||||||||
In the face of a lawsuit, the Department of Education has backed down
from a decision to charge the nonprofit organization Students for
Sensible Drug Policy thousands of dollars to provide it with
information about the number and location of college students affected
by the Higher Education Act's (HEA) drug provision. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
RETHINKING THE DRUG WAR
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Mar 29, 2006
| ||||||||||||||||||||
by John Stossel
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Getting high can be bad. Putting people in prison for it is worse. And
doing the latter doesn't stop the former. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/JohnStossel/2006/03/29/191689.html | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE FOURTH NATIONAL CLINICAL CONFERENCE ON CANNABIS THERAPEUTICS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Patients Out of Time and Santa Barbara City College will hold the
fourth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics next
week, April 6-8, in Santa Barbara, California. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DARING TO QUESTION DRUG LAWS
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Randy Vizyak
| ||||||||||||||||||||
After reading "Willie Horton Multiplied" ( "Taking Liberties" by
Joel McNally, March 9) I looked at some Web sites for the Wisconsin
attorney general race. Paul Bucher criticizes Kathleen Falk for
wanting to legalize marijuana. Unfortunately, that's not true. In a
2002 interview Falk said she was "reviewing literature on that
subject."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Now carry this to its logical conclusion. Let's say Falk was
reviewing an essay by congressman Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas,
who said the federal drug laws should be repealed so that states can
make their own laws. Maybe Nevada legalizes it and Alabama doesn't.
This is what happened with liquor laws after the 18th Amendment was
repealed in 1933. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Now according to Bucher's thinking, an attorney general candidate
shouldn't be reading things like that, or at least not publicly
admitting it, because we don't dare question the drug laws.
Actually, our state and federal constitutions give legislators the
power to make and "repeal" laws, as well as freedom to criticize bad
laws. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The government's war on drugs has created a plethora of civil rights
abuses. If Bucher criticizes his opponent for simply "reviewing
literature" about it I sure as heck don't want him for state
attorney general. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Randy Vizyak
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Mukwonago
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fortress America - 2006
| ||||||||||||||||||||
By Bob Owens
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Organized crime gangs now rule across our borders at Nueva Laredo,
Juarez, Tijuana and any significant oasis of civilization in
between. Bodies are regularly being unearthed along the length of
the border, daylight shootings are common, and it was reported
earlier this year that a drug gang's "military styled vehicles" have
been driven across the border into U.S. territory.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
A January editorial in the San Antonio Express-News comments on a
video reportedly produced by Mexican Federal drug agents. In it are
four young men who had apparently been beaten and tortured. A gloved
hand appeared, placed a revolver to the head of one of them and
fired. The point of the editorial is summed up: "While U.S.
officials argue about the evils of undocumented workers, the real
threat to national security is the carnage caused by the drug wars.
When will both countries wise up?"
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Increasing numbers of news reports over the past year tell us that
"hundreds" have been killed in recent months by the Zetas gang,
headed by the reputed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. These
slaying have occurred on both sides of the border and are frequently
intended to secure a monopoly on drug smuggling. U.S. Ambassador to
Mexico Tony Garza has been quoted as saying "drug cartels ....are
destroying the economic and social fabric of our communities." The
continuing violence led him to shutting down a consulate for a week
following another, particularly violent outburst. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Where are the cops, one might ask. An example from Nuevo Laredo is
in order. In June 2005 the Mexican government suspended the entire
750 officer force, replacing it with the army. Prompting this move
was the murder of the new police chief six hours after he took
office, adding to the dozen police officer deaths during the year
and the departments reputation for aiding drug smugglers and
routinely accepting bribes. In an effort to restore public
confidence, the entire force was required to submit to polygraph
exams and drug testing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Yet, for the most part, the casual stateside observer might think
that the major issue on our southern border is the influx of illegal
immigrants, our inability to curb this flow and the presumed adverse
influence on the labor market. Obviously this is a safer,
politically, than the volatile, violent and highly dynamic drug
problem whether here or along the border. Our elected officials can
find safe ground from which to allocate funds for walls, threaten
sanctions against employers who hire illegal immigrants, and promise
hundreds of additional Border Patrol Agents. Posed against such a
backdrop of responses, the imagery of Nero playing on his fiddle
while Rome burns behind him is hard to avoid. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The world is in terrible shape, many Americans say, with all these
corrupted outsiders threatening our pristine landscape. Perhaps a
little wake up call is in order. Who, pray tell, is paying for these
drugs that penetrate our borders? Perhaps the largest segment of our
population that chooses to support the drug merchants are our 18 to
35 year olds, the age group most frequently arrested for drug use.
This includes those who may not be encumbered with children and a
mortgage and thereby have significant discretionary income. They are
also the segment of our population susceptible to the negative
influences of the seamy side of the entertainment world and their
flirtation with drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
There is no simple answer to this complex and disagreeable social problem which has been developing for nearly a century other than to look to another social experiment that had similar negative results - the Prohibition Act of 1929. Recognizing its failure, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) formed in 2002. This international education organization comprised of former law enforcement, corrections and judicial officers with long experience working the front lines of the so-called "War on Drugs" advocates the legalization of drugs combined with a comprehensive system of regulation such as is now done with alcoholic beverages. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A perfect solution? Certainly not, but at least a mechanism that can
be adjusted and refined to reduce the prohibitive costs and social
damage that is now a consequence of our misguided efforts to "just
make drugs go away."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Retired Chief of Police Bob Owens,
| ||||||||||||||||||||
He wrote this column in cooperation with MAP's Drug Policy Writer's
Group project. For more information on the DPWG; how to submit
columns and also how to get DPWG columns printed in your local
media, visit the MAP Media Activism Center
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The object and practice of liberty lies in the limitation of
governmental power."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
- Douglass MacArthur, youngest brigadier general and most decorated
soldier in American history. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
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content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
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