| July 21, 2006 #458 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||
Table of Contents
| ||||||||||||||
THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||
(1) POLICE RAID HOLY SMOKE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
THE WAR ON DRUGS: Saturday night arrest once again shines the spotlight
on controversial Herridge Lane shop | ||||||||||||||
Nelson City Police raided Holy Smoke Saturday evening and arrested Paul DeFelice, one of the controversial culture shop's three owners. | ||||||||||||||
DeFelice was charged with trafficking and possession of a substance and spent four hours in lock-up while police conducted a search of Holy Smoke. DeFelice is not permitted within 50 metres of the store. | ||||||||||||||
"It was a bit frightening at first because this unmarked SUV just came
barreling straight at me. I was almost being run down on Herridge Lane,
said DeFelice, who was alone at the Holy Smoke store when the police
tracked him down. "Then about four, maybe five cops - I couldn't quite
keep track of them - all jumped out at once. It instantly turned into a
Trailer Park Boys scene." | ||||||||||||||
Speaking on his day off, Sgt. Steve Bank confirmed that the warrant was
executed and DeFelice was charged, but could not provide greater detail
as it could jeopardize his investigation. | ||||||||||||||
"The warrant was for trafficking in a substance," said Bank, adding that the substance was marijuana. "Further arrests are imminent." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(2) POLICE RELEASE A NEW POLICY FOR DRUG CRIMES (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Focus on arresting dealers, not quiet users | ||||||||||||||
Vancouver police are making it their official policy not to arrest people
for quietly using drugs, but to focus instead on those who sell and make
them. | ||||||||||||||
The new policy, unveiled yesterday, also says drug prevention is one pillar of the city's Four Pillars drug policy that is being overlooked. | ||||||||||||||
"A person's behaviour, rather than the unlawful possession or use, should be
the primary factor in determining whether to lay a charge," Insp. Scott
Thompson, the Vancouver Police Department's drug policy co-ordinator, said
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
"If you're a drug addict, that's one thing. But if you're a drug addict who
stands and bothers people, and overtly displays bad behaviour, that's going
to trigger the next stage." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Deputy Chief Const. Doug LePard said officers will take drug users to the
safe-injection site instead of down to the station. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The Vancouver Police Board will vote on the policy in September. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(3) RULES RELAXED FOR INDUSTRIAL HEMP GROWING (Top) | ||||||||||||||
The rules around the commercial cultivation of industrial hemp are
being relaxed. | ||||||||||||||
Industrial hemp is a low-drug variety of the marijuana plant. | ||||||||||||||
The Health Ministry's medicine regulatory agency Medsafe said that from
August 1 it would be implementing a new but less onerous regulatory
regime for the cultivation, processing and distribution of industrial
hemp as an agricultural crop. | ||||||||||||||
But those who wished to grow, trade in or process hemp would still need
to be licensed. | ||||||||||||||
Medsafe compliance team leader Derek Fitzgerald said individuals and
organisations would be allowed to grow hemp for industrial purposes and
research under certain conditions. | ||||||||||||||
"The new regulations - the Misuse of Drugs (Industrial Hemp)
Regulations 2006 and the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Regulations 2006 -
take into account the low drug content of hemp, which was previously
subjected to the same strict controls as those placed on illicit
cannabis," he said. | ||||||||||||||
"They seek to balance growers' appeal for practical and reasonable
requirements against the need to maintain adequate controls on hemp
seed and plants." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(4) BOSTON OFFICERS ACCUSED OF 'SELLING BADGES' TO DRUG DEALERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Three Boston police officers are accused of "selling their badges" to drug traffickers in a far-reaching corruption case that includes charges of identity fraud, money laundering and illegal after-hours parties involving prostitutes, law enforcement officials said today. | ||||||||||||||
Federal agents arrested Roberto Pulido, 41, Nelson Carrasquillo, 35,
and Carlos Pizarro, 36, Thursday night in Miami, where they allegedly
went to get a $35,000 payment for protecting a drug shipment from
Western Massachusetts to Boston, officials said. The people they met
were really undercover FBI agents as part of a sting that also took
place in Atlantic City and Boston, officials said. | ||||||||||||||
The officers are each charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to
distribute more than 100 kilograms of cocaine. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Pulido, the alleged ringleader, is accused of running a criminal enterprise that prosecutors allege included framing a former business partner on drug and gun charges, insurance fraud, illegal alien smuggling and importing steroids. The corruption probe could extend beyond the three officers as Pulido implicated others in the Boston Police Department during the sting, according to the affidavit. | ||||||||||||||
"The allegations in the complaint reveal an extraordinary breadth of
criminal activity by at least one officer and a willingness of other
officers to join him in selling their badges to drug dealers," US
Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said at a press conference, adding that
officers would face additional charges. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||
As noted in this space last year when Tennessee adopted a "crack
tax," such taxes on illegal drugs have been declared unconstitutional
elsewhere. Strangely, state officials still seemed surprised and
disappointed when their own law got rightly shot down in court. In
other court news, a California judge has blocked a new state law
which undermines a drug policy reform initiative approved by voters a
couple years ago. | ||||||||||||||
On the diplomatic front, Donald Rumsfeld blames drugs for the
resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In education news, more
schools appear to be testing for drugs, despite what USA Today
reporter Donna Leinwand described as "inconclusive" evidence to
suggest such tactics actually reduce student drug use. And in local
political news, a Connecticut mayor who admitted to past drug use
now has taken a pay cut and wants to get tough on drugs as he gears
up for a reelection campaign. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(5) 'CRACK TAX' STRUCK DOWN (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Judge Rules State Law Unconstitutional In Jefferson County Drug Ring
Case | ||||||||||||||
A judge has struck down as unconstitutional the state's so-called
"crack tax" in the case of a man accused in a massive Jefferson
County marijuana trafficking ring. | ||||||||||||||
But Knoxville attorneys insisted Tuesday that Davidson County
Chancellor Richard H. Dinkins should have added one more descriptor
for the now 18-month-old tax - evil. | ||||||||||||||
"It makes you ashamed for America," attorney Ralph Harwell said of
the state's enforcement of the Unauthorized Substance Tax Act, a law
enacted ostensibly to levy a tax on drug dealers. | ||||||||||||||
"Of all the unconstitutional laws, this one should be in the hall of
fame," attorney Gregory P. Isaacs added. | ||||||||||||||
It was defense attorneys James A.H. Bell and Richard L. Holcomb who
convinced Dinkins to strike down the tax, dubbed the "crack tax"
soon after it became effective in January 2005. | ||||||||||||||
Bell and Holcomb were challenging the state Department of Revenue's
levying of a $1.1 million tax on Jeremy Robbins of Jefferson County,
who is accused of dealing marijuana. | ||||||||||||||
Robbins is charged along with at least eight other people of
conspiring to funnel more than two tons of marijuana from Arizona to
East Tennessee. Arrested in April 2005, he has been indicted in U.S.
District Court. He has not been convicted. | ||||||||||||||
Despite that, the state Department of Revenue had assessed a tax on
the amount of marijuana authorities alleged he had sold and took
steps to collect it. Bell said Robbins was told to either ante up or
watch the agency take his stuff. | ||||||||||||||
That Robbins is presumed innocent did not matter, Bell and Holcomb
argued. The "crack tax" trounced on that right, along with rights
guaranteed under both the state and U.S. Constitutions, such as the
right to due process and the right against self-incrimination, the
pair of attorneys contended. In a ruling issued late Monday, Dinkins
agreed. | ||||||||||||||
"The act on its face fails to ensure the constitutional guarantees
in several particulars," Dinkins wrote. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(6) COURT HALTS NEW LAW ON DRUG TERMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Judge Says Lawsuit By Prop. 36 Backers Is Likely To Succeed. | ||||||||||||||
An Alameda County judge on Thursday blocked implementation of a new law allowing judges to issue short-term jail sentences to drug offenders who fail to complete court-ordered treatment programs. | ||||||||||||||
Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith said opponents of the new law
had a "substantial likelihood of success" in the lawsuit they filed
to overturn the law enacted with the governor's signature on Senate
Bill 1137. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(7) RUMSFELD LINKS DRUGS, TALIBAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said
yesterday that a flourishing drug trade in Afghanistan may be
helping fuel a Taliban resurgence, potentially undermining the young
Afghan democracy. "I do worry that the funds that come from the sale
of those products could conceivably end up adversely affecting the
democratic process in the country," he told reporters accompanying
him on an overnight flight from Washington. "I also think any time
there is that much money floating around and you have people like
the Taliban that it gives them an opportunity to fund their efforts
in various ways," he added. U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan in
October 2001 to oust the radical Taliban regime. | ||||||||||||||
Although the country now has a democratically elected government, the Taliban has been making a comeback. At a press conference after Mr. Rumsfeld met with President Emomali Rakhmonov and other senior government officials, Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov told reporters that the Taliban is trying to "turn Afghanistan back to its past." He expressed confidence that the fundamentalist movement would fail. Mr. Rumsfeld said U.S. intelligence information indicates that the Taliban has taken a share of drug profits in exchange for providing protection. He did not offer specifics or elaborate. The defense secretary also said the bulk of the demand for heroin and other drugs supplied by Afghanistan is largely in Europe and Russia, and he called on the Europeans to do more to help fight the problem. "Western Europe ought to have an enormous interest in the success in Afghanistan, and it's going to take a lot more effort on their part for the Karzai government to be successful," he said, referring to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Tajikistan, which has supported U.S. counterterrorism efforts including the war in neighboring Afghanistan, lies on a major route used by drug traffickers to smuggle narcotics to Russia and Eastern Europe. The United States has worked with the Tajik government to attempt to improve its border security. At the press conference, Mr. Nazarov said his country is given too much of the blame for being a drug conduit. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(8) MORE SCHOOLS TEST FOR DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||
The number of schools testing students for drug use is rising as
legal barriers to testing have fallen, funding for it has jumped and
schools have begun to expand the categories of students who can be
screened. | ||||||||||||||
Since the Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that random testing of student
athletes and others in competitive extracurricular activities did
not violate the students' privacy rights, the Bush administration
has made testing middle- and high-school students a priority. In the
2005-06 school year, 373 public secondary schools got federal money
for testing, up from 79 schools two years ago, U.S. Department of
Education records show. The government has not tracked the rise of
locally funded programs as closely, but the White House estimates
that an additional 225 schools have them. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(9) FABRIZI FORFEITS RAISE AFTER COCAINE ADMISSION (Top) | ||||||||||||||
BRIDGEPORT -- Mayor John M. Fabrizi, who tearfully confessed last
month to occasional cocaine use while in office, said today he will
forfeit two years worth of raises worth about $5,400. | ||||||||||||||
Fabrizi, who is up for re-election next year, also said he directed the police to implement a plan to rid the city of drug dealers. | ||||||||||||||
The move was part of a reform plan Fabrizi announced in an effort to
restore trust with voters. | ||||||||||||||
"My actions have made me re-evaluate my agenda and it is especially
important that I sharpen my focus on how to move Bridgeport forward
over the next 16 months," Fabrizi said. "I am confident that over
the next 16 months I will regain your trust and prove my ability to
personally and professionally move this city forward." | ||||||||||||||
Fabrizi, a Democrat and former City Council president who took
office after former Mayor Joseph Ganim was convicted of corruption
in 2003, confessed last month to occasional cocaine use over the
years. | ||||||||||||||
He said it never affected his work, and that he has been drug free for 18 months after seeking treatment. The mayor apologized, saying he would take a random test "any time, anyplace, anywhere." | ||||||||||||||
He would not say who sold him the drugs and has said he has no plans
to leave office. | ||||||||||||||
After the admission, Fabrizi passed a random drug test requested by
the Connecticut Post. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-14) (Top) | ||||||||||||||
California law enforcement notes a trend that other regions have
also noticed: less meth labs, but more (and allegedly more powerful)
meth. And among the usual stories about more corruption and
destruction, a judge in New York worries that recent prison
sentencing reform for drug offenders has helped the wrong kind of
prisoner. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(10) SHARP DIP NOTED IN METH LABS, BUT NOT IN AVAILABILITY OF DRUG (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Back when he started cooking "crank" five years ago, Ryan Spencer
had little trouble shopping for ingredients. | ||||||||||||||
He bought or stole pseudoephedrine pills by the boxful. He would hop
from pharmacy to pharmacy, gathering enough of the cold and allergy
medicine for a decent batch of methamphetamine. For iodine he would
drop by the local feed store. Red phosphorous proved harder to find,
so Spencer would soak matchbook strike pads in acetone and scrape it
off. | ||||||||||||||
That was until lawmakers and police clamped down on bulk sales of
pseudoephedrine and a host of volatile chemicals used to make the
potent stimulant known as "meth," "zip," "Tina" and "hillbilly
crack." | ||||||||||||||
Spencer, 27, who started smoking meth when he was 13, responded like any sensible crankster might. He stopped cooking and bought from dealers, selling some off to subsidize a $80- to $110-a-day habit. | ||||||||||||||
"The way it is now, it just seems they'll catch you" cooking, said
Spencer, who lives in Antioch and recently completed a 90-day
treatment program. "There's very little payoff. Meth, especially in
Antioch, is way easy to get." | ||||||||||||||
State crime data suggests that meth cooks like Spencer have quit in
droves. And Contra Costa County, once the Bay Area's notorious
hotbed for meth labs, has seen the sharpest drop in lab seizures of
any California county that recorded 15 or more lab busts in 2000, a
Times analysis of the data shows. | ||||||||||||||
The crackdown on precursor chemicals is one factor. But a bigger one, say authorities, may be the flood of cheap and stronger meth coming north from "superlabs" in the Central Valley and Mexico. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
The drop in lab activity locally means fewer contaminated homes and
less dumping of toxic chemicals in streams and creeks. But meth
remains widely available, and if anything, the problem has only
grown worse, say drug agents, prosecutors, treatment providers and
health officials. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(11) BORDER BRIBERY CASES WORRY U.S. OFFICIALS (Top) | ||||||||||||||
SAN DIEGO - Federal law enforcement officials are investigating a
series of bribery and smuggling cases in what they fear is a sign of
increased corruption among officers who patrol the Mexican border.
Two brothers who worked for the U.S. Border Patrol disappeared in
June while under investigation for smuggling drugs and immigrants,
and are believed to have fled to Mexico. In the past month, two
agents from Customs and Border Protection, which guards border
checkpoints, were indicted for taking bribes to allow illegal
immigrants to enter the United States. And this month, two Border
Patrol supervisory agents pleaded guilty to accepting nearly
$200,000 in payoffs to release detainees. | ||||||||||||||
Authorities say two trends are at work: The massive buildup of
Border Patrol agents in recent years has led to worries that hiring
standards have been lowered; and, smugglers are intensifying efforts
to bribe those guarding the border. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(12) OPED: SETTING KINGPINS FREE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
IN 2004, the New York State Legislature finally enacted changes to
the draconian Rockefeller drug laws that imposed long mandatory
sentences on major and minor drug dealers. The goal of these changes
( later supplemented by further minor reform last year ) was to
prevent first-time nonviolent offenders -- especially low-level
dealers and addicts selling to support their drug habits -- from
serving unreasonably lengthy jail sentences. | ||||||||||||||
The new law, the Drug Law Reform Act, reduced penalties, eliminated
life sentences and afforded more plea-bargaining options, among
other things. | ||||||||||||||
While the changes themselves were less extensive than what many of
us had hoped for, it was a good beginning, especially since it gave
judges discretion to lower sentences that were unduly harsh for
low-level, nonviolent offenders. No one envisioned that the
sentences of drug kingpins would be reduced. | ||||||||||||||
Now the first report that details at least some of the cases
resentenced under the new law must force us to re-examine these
changes. | ||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, according to the comprehensive report by Bridget
Brennan, New York City's special prosecutor for narcotics, of the 84
drug offenders who applied for resentencing under the new law, only
one was a first-time, low-level, nonviolent offender. Instead, drug
"kingpins," or major dealers and leaders of drug organizations,
received some of the biggest sentence reductions, as did some
defendants with felony records, drug suppliers and dealers with
large amounts of narcotics and weapons. And, sadly, almost no women
benefited from the new law. | ||||||||||||||
Why has this happened? Because the new legislation allowed all
convicted high-level drug offenders to apply for resentencing. And
the majority of those offenders were significant drug dealers or had
violated the public trust. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(13) DRUG OVERDOSES ARE OUTPACING HOMICIDES (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Death Grip | ||||||||||||||
Drug deaths are outpacing homicides in Philadelphia, even as the
bodies piled up during one of the city's deadliest weekends with 19
shot - six of them fatally. | ||||||||||||||
The last drug overdose occurred on Friday when a 36-year-old man was dead on arrival at 5:03 p.m. at Temple University Hospital. | ||||||||||||||
Early yesterday, Kareem Smith, 33, found shot once in the chest and
lying between two parked cars in South Philadelphia, became the most
recent homicide. | ||||||||||||||
As of yesterday, city records show there were 266 drug deaths. This
compares to 211 homicides, more than 80 percent of them committed
with handguns. | ||||||||||||||
And authorities expect both homicides and drug deaths to surpass
last year's totals, when there were 488 drug deaths and 380
homicides. | ||||||||||||||
In 2004, drug deaths also outnumbered homicides 361 to 330. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(14) DRUG LIEUTENANT BREAKS LONG SILENCE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
TAMPA - For 18 years, Justo Jay has kept quiet about his involvement
in a drug ring that authorities say helped make Miami the drug
capital of the world in the 1980s. | ||||||||||||||
On Monday, Jay broke his silence to testify that Joaquin Mario Valencia- Trujillo was the ring's main Colombian cocaine supplier. | ||||||||||||||
Serving a life sentence for drug trafficking, Jay, 50, said he has
applied for clemency from President Bush. He said he hopes his
testimony against Valencia will help that application. | ||||||||||||||
Valencia is standing trial on charges including drug trafficking and
money laundering. Authorities say he was a leader in Colombia's Cali
Cartel. He was the main target of Tampa-based Operation Panama
Express, one of the largest international drug investigations in
U.S. history. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
That year, he said, he went to work for Magluta and Magluta's
partner, Willie Falcon. Authorities say Magluta and Falcon made $2
billion smuggling cocaine into Miami in the 1980s. | ||||||||||||||
Jay said that at first, large loads - 180 to 250 kilograms - of
cocaine were flown from Colombia to a private airstrip on a farm in
Clewiston. The witness said he received the shipments, distributed
them to clients and collected money. Jay said he would help unload
the plane, put the cocaine into a car and drive it to a stash house
in Miami. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (15-19) (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Prosecutors in Britain are cracking down on medical cannabis
suppliers who cater to people with Multiple Sclerosis. In an
atrociously cruel move, medical cannabis suppliers are being charged
with distributing illegal drugs, leaving some MS patients without
any other channel. As coverage in the Guardian noted, a
pharmaceutical spray made from cannabis has still not been approved
for distribution in the country, so the those who need the medicine
find themselves with no alternative but the street. | ||||||||||||||
A couple in Arizona who says cannabis serves as a sacrament in their
religion is fighting federal drug charges on constitutional grounds.
A story out of a local Arizona newspaper shows how the pair's
religious freedom has been rescinded more drastically as the case
continues. | ||||||||||||||
In other news, after a high profile fight, a request to place a medical cannabis dispensary at tourist-friendly Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco has been denied; and a pair of California legislators continues to push for legal industrial hemp, while another entrepreneur hopes to take advantage of the consumer market. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(15) PROSECUTORS TAKE A TOUGH LINE ON CANNABIS SUPPLIED TO RELIEVE (Top)PAIN | ||||||||||||||
Up To 30% of MS Sufferers Estimated To Use Drug | ||||||||||||||
Four Linked To Support Groups Face Charges | ||||||||||||||
Prosecutors are taking a firm line on the supply of cannabis for
pain relief to people with chronically painful conditions such as
multiple sclerosis, despite the downgrading of the drug from class B
to class C. | ||||||||||||||
Two crown court trials, one starting this week and one next week,
will accuse four individuals of supplying illegal drugs through the
organisations Bud Buddies and THCforMS ( Therapeutic Help from
Cannabis for Multiple Sclerosis ). | ||||||||||||||
THCforMS says on its website that it has supplied 33,000 bars of
cannabis chocolate to bona fide MS sufferers over the last five
years. Mark Gibson, Lezley Gibson and Marcus Davies of THCforMS face
a charge of conspiracy to supply cannabis in a trial that begins
next Wednesday at Carlisle crown court. | ||||||||||||||
Bud Buddies offered a number of cannabis preparations including
cannabis cream for topical application to anyone with a proven
medical need. | ||||||||||||||
Its founder, Jeffrey Ditchfield, faces nine charges of cultivation
and supply of cannabis, including a charge of supplying a cannabis
plant received by John Reid, now home secretary, in November 2005.
His trial starts on July 24 at Mold crown court. All four face
maximum sentences of 14 years in prison. | ||||||||||||||
Estimates suggest that between 10% and 30% of MS sufferers in Europe
use cannabis to alleviate the pain and distressing symptoms of the
disease. | ||||||||||||||
Many say it alleviates their symptoms where ordinary prescription
drugs have failed. Few medicines are effective for treating MS,
which affects around 85,000 people in the UK. | ||||||||||||||
MS patients say the prosecutions, if successful, will close down
this route to help, while the government drags its heels on
licensing a cannabis-based drug. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(16) PIMA COUPLE USES FREEDOM OF RELIGION TO FIGHT DRUG CHARGES (Top) | ||||||||||||||
A local couple who claims to practice an ancient religion that
deifies and allows them to consume marijuana will be in court next
month to fight for freedom to practice their religion. | ||||||||||||||
Dan and Mary Quaintance of Pima are the founders of the Church of
Cognizance, which practices the Zoroastrian religion. According to
Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, the Zoroastrian beliefs are
ancient, though its holy book, the Avesta, only dates back to the
second century. | ||||||||||||||
Because the church's members, or cognoscenti, believe that the
cannabis plant is an ancient holy entity and use the plant as its
holy sacrament, the Quaintances have found themselves in legal
trouble because the use, distribution and possession of the
substance is illegal in the United States. | ||||||||||||||
In February, the couple was arrested in New Mexico for having 172
pounds of marijuana in their possession. The Drug Enforcement Agency
took the Quaintances into custody and executed a search warrant,
with help from the Southeastern Arizona Drug Task Force, on their
property in Pima. | ||||||||||||||
Though the task force was aware of the group and its activities, it did not have enough evidence for a search warrant until the task force joined with the DEA, Task Force Spokesman Dave Boyd said. | ||||||||||||||
Though the search warrant produced minimal results, the couple were jailed briefly on the possession charges. Released until their dismissal hearing, the Quaintances are dealing with several different release orders, which have made it difficult -- if not impossible -- for them to be involved with their church. | ||||||||||||||
"The first release order said we couldn't talk to any members of our
church, but we could talk to the press," Dan said. "That was amended
to allow us contact with members of our church, but we weren't
supposed to talk to the press or promote our church in any way. It
has been changed again, and we really aren't sure who we can or
cannot talk to." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(17) NO MEDICAL CANNABIS AT FISHERMAN'S WHARF (Top) | ||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO -- Marijuana cannot be sold alongside the cracked crab
and souvenirs of Fisherman's Wharf, the San Francisco Planning
Commission decided late Thursday. | ||||||||||||||
On a vote of 4 to 2, the commission denied the Green Cross, one of
scores of cannabis clubs authorized to dispense medical marijuana to
patients who have a doctor's prescription, a permit for a storefront
near the wharf, a popular tourist destination. | ||||||||||||||
The owners of the Green Cross said they would appeal, despite strong
opposition to their proposal from merchants of Fisherman's Wharf and
neighborhood residents. | ||||||||||||||
Dwight S. Alexander, the commission's president, said tourism had
been an issue in the voting, but not the only issue. "It wasn't an
appropriate location," Mr. Alexander said. "There are several youth
facilities nearby." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(18) BILL'S AUTHORS ARE TRYING TO ROPE IN SUPPORT FOR HEMP (Top) | ||||||||||||||
AB 1147 is not the biggest bill of this legislative session, but it
is one of the most intriguing -- and most fun. | ||||||||||||||
Start with its purpose: to legalize the growing of hemp, a cousin of marijuana -- both members of the notorious cannabis family. | ||||||||||||||
Then proceed to the bill's joint authors, a pun that's unavoidable. | ||||||||||||||
One is a liberal San Francisco Democrat, Assemblyman Mark Leno; the
other a conservative Irvine Republican, Chuck DeVore. | ||||||||||||||
If nothing else, this bill shows it is possible for two legislators
of diametrically opposite ideologies to acknowledge some common
ground and work together to change public policy. | ||||||||||||||
Both agree that hemp -- advocates call it industrial hemp -- is
taking off worldwide as a plant used for fiber ( in car door panels,
for example ), food ( energy bars, granola, smoothies ) and body
care ( shampoos, soaps ). | ||||||||||||||
And they think it's illogical that the federal government allows the
importation of foreign hemp for American manufacturing into legally
sold products, but bans the growing of hemp by American farmers. So
they're trying to force the issue. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(19) ECO-STORE STRIVES TO RETAIL HEMP, DISSOLVE MYTHS (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Consumer products made from a renewable resource are all you will
find at Hempen Goods. At the near East Side store, clothing,
backpacks, wallets, footwear, paper, even lip balm, soap, candles
and dietary supplements are derived from seeds, stems and fibers of
the versatile hemp plant. | ||||||||||||||
Hempen Goods owner Rich Ray said Americans are the world's leading
consumers of hemp products. With the advantage of being an annual
crop that can be grown easily throughout much of the world, hemp can
be made into a variety of consumer goods from bio-diesel fuel to
building materials for homes. | ||||||||||||||
Ray said he hopes his shop can help dispel some of the myths and
controversy around the raw material that people may associate with
illegal drug use. | ||||||||||||||
"It's really an eco-store. People see hemp and a lot of times they
think head shop," Ray said. "Sometimes I think people believe hemp
is produced to justify some backdoor marijuana legalization. It's
really about offering people sustainable, quality products that
function better than what they replace. What I'm trying to do is
offer people that alternative." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (20-24) (Top) | ||||||||||||||
In Australia, the Green Party in the State of Victoria has proposed some drug policy changes that have government officials upset. The Greens' proposed new drug policy is designed to "minimise the harm and save lives." While trafficking would still be a crime, drug users who are caught would receive a "court order requiring them to participate in a health scheme." What has officials really upset are ideas the Greens wish to copy from the U.K. and Switzerland: prescribing heroin to addicts, and safe-injection rooms. "'It's not the decriminalisation of heroin," explained Greens candidate Colleen Hartland. "It is time to step back from the emotional debate and work to implement programs that will effectively tackle the problems associated with legal and illegal drugs." Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott immediately denounced the Green's proposals as "loopy." | ||||||||||||||
A group representing over 100 Australian politicians sent a letter
to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, supporting Vancouver's
supervised injection center. The center's three-year legal
permission to operate ends September 12, becoming the political
football of Harper's government. Harper, a far-right politician
elected by less than half of Canadian voters early this year, is
expected to kill the program to score points with his political
base. The supervised injection center in Vancouver has been credited
with saving lives because medical staff is on duty and can get users
medical help in case of overdose. Also last week, The Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users invited Harper on a little tour of Vancouver's
blighted Downtown Eastside "so he can see the devastation of drug
abuse for himself." | ||||||||||||||
Meanwhile Canadian law enforcement, long jealous of the budgets,
salaries and career opportunities offered U.S. cops by the
Americans' ever-expanding "war on drugs", complained again in the
press last week that the "prison system needs to expand." Jails
aren't big and profitable enough (like they are in the states) and
"I don't have any money in my budget, as we speak, for expansion,"
wailed British Columbia Solicitor General John Les. New prisons are
needed, explain officials, because those incarcerated must "share
cells". As expected, officials insinuated "crystal meth" and "drugs"
were the reason that more prisons should be built. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(20) GREENS IN A HEROIN TRIAL PLAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||
CLINICALLY produced heroin would be imported into Australia to trial
a new treatment for long-term addicts under the Victorian Greens
drug policy released yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
Supervised heroin injection rooms, such as one running in Sydney's Kings Cross, would also be trialled in Victoria while the policy also proposes to scrap all criminal penalties for drug use. | ||||||||||||||
The production, sale or trafficking of illicit drugs would remain an
offence, but users would only face a court order requiring them to
participate in a health scheme. | ||||||||||||||
Greens Victorian Upper House candidate Colleen Hartland, who
unveiled the policy at a needle exchange in Footscray, said the
proposals would 'minimise the harm and save lives'. | ||||||||||||||
"It is time to step back from the emotional debate and work to implement programs that will effectively tackle the problems associated with legal and illegal drugs," Ms Hartland said. | ||||||||||||||
The heroin trial was needed for those addicts who, through their
long-term use, had become resistant to methadone-based treatments,
she said. | ||||||||||||||
"'It's not the decriminalisation of heroin," Ms | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(21) HEROIN POLICY 'LOOPY' (Top) | ||||||||||||||
THE Federal Government would stop any moves to supply heroin to addicts under a plan put forward by the Australian Greens. Labelling the Greens' policy unworkable, federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said the Government would never allow importing heroin for addicts. | ||||||||||||||
Mr Abbott said the policy was "loopy stuff" and called on the State Government to make it clear it would not deal with the party. | ||||||||||||||
The Greens want to provide free heroin to long-term users, create
injecting rooms across Victoria, and scrap penalties for drug
possession. | ||||||||||||||
Premier Steve Bracks has rejected the plan. | ||||||||||||||
Victorian Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale said he was not
surprised by Mr Abbott's opposition to the policy. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(22) AUSTRALIA BACKS SAFE INJECTION PROGRAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- The escalating campaign to keep the doors open at
Vancouver's landmark safe-injection site for heroin addicts has
reached across the Pacific to Australia. | ||||||||||||||
A group representing more than 100 Australian federal and state
politicians wrote last week to Prime Minister Stephen Harper
expressing its strong support for the city's injection site, known
as Insite. | ||||||||||||||
The Vancouver facility's three-year legal protection to allow on-site heroin use expires on Sept. 12, and the Conservative government, with Mr. Harper previously on record opposing the safe-injection site, has not committed itself to renewing it. | ||||||||||||||
Nor has the government agreed to any further funds for the ambitious research project on the site's impact on injection drug users. | ||||||||||||||
"Our message to your Prime Minister is not to close his eyes to the success of safe-injection sites," Australian federal MP Duncan Kerr, a former attorney-general, said in an interview yesterday. | ||||||||||||||
"The option of criminalization and drug enforcement is a recipe for
disaster that drugs will bring to your community." | ||||||||||||||
The letter from the Australian Parliamentary Group for Drug Law
Reform was released by a remarkably broad-based community group,
Insite for Community Safety (IFCS), which is pressing the Harper
government to keep the site running. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
Vancouver's injection site has had similar, albeit preliminary,
results. | ||||||||||||||
So far, there have been 453 incidents of drug overdose at the site
without a single death. As well, on-site nurses have treated more
than 2,000 serious abscesses at the facility, easing the strain on
hospital emergency departments, and 368 heroin addicts have been
referred to withdrawal programs. | ||||||||||||||
"A lot of evidence is already in and it's clear," said researcher
Martin Schechter. "The safe-injection site does not increase drug
use and it does reduce harm." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(23) HARPER GETS INVITE TO TOUR SAFE-INJECTION SITE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users has invited Prime Minister Stephen Harper to tour the alleys of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside so he can see the devastation of drug abuse for himself. | ||||||||||||||
The invitation was issued as advocates continue a campaign to urge
Health Canada to extend the exemption that allows North America's
only safe injection site to operate legally. The exemption expires
in September. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
(24) 'PRISON SYSTEM NEEDS TO EXPAND' (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Don't count on a larger Fraser Regional Correctional Centre within
the next year, it's just not in the budget, according to Solicitor
General John Les. | ||||||||||||||
"I don't have any money in my budget, as we speak, for expansion,"
Les said Monday. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
"There's actually an incentive there to spend as much time as
possible in remand." | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
But it's possible Fraser Regional could grow in the future as a way
of relieving the population pressures in the branch. Les said the
ministry is talking about expansion somewhere in the system because
of the high number of inmates who have to share cells. | ||||||||||||||
Currently, 468 inmates are doing time in the institution that was
built with a capacity for 300. In 2000-01, Fraser Regional's
population stood at 293. | ||||||||||||||
About 75 per cent of those inmates, as in the rest of the B.C.
Corrections Branch, are double bunked. | ||||||||||||||
That's an increase from a province-wide double bunking rate of 36 per cent in the late 1990s, according to Bruce Bannerman, spokesman with the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. | ||||||||||||||
Les told council the education ministry is developing crystal meth
awareness materials which will be introduced into the curriculum as
part of the career and personal planning course. | ||||||||||||||
But Coun. Judy Dueck told Les she disagreed with focusing solely on
crystal meth, saying other drugs can't be ignored. | ||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||
OVERKILL - THE RISE OF PARAMILITARY POLICE RAIDS IN AMERICA | ||||||||||||||
By Radley Balko | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
HALLUCINOGENS AND MEDICINE | ||||||||||||||
Kojo Nnamdi interviewed psychedelics experts, including the author of a
recently published study on mushrooms and mystical experience, on his
NPR program yesterday. The show explored the therapeutic potential of
hallucinogenic drugs. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
www.KPFT.org | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES AS DRUG REFORM ALLIES | ||||||||||||||
By any measure, the United States is a highly religious country. More Americans claim to believe in God and attend church regularly than in any other Western industrial democracy, and religiously-based claims carry great weight in American politics. But the drug reform movement, much of it secular and unattached to traditional religious practices, has only begun to make serious inroads with these powerful groups. | ||||||||||||||
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/445/religious-communities-in-drug-policy-reform.shtml | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
WHO WOULD JESUS INCARCERATE? | ||||||||||||||
The American Civil Liberties Union has recently launched The ACLU Freedom Files, a revolutionary, 10-part series that tells the stories of real people in America whose civil liberties have been threatened, and how they fought back. And I'm proud to be a part of the current "Drug Wars" episode - which premiered on Link TV on July 13, Court TV on July 15th and, and is available now via the web at www.aclu.tv | ||||||||||||||
by John Fugelsang | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
BE A MAP NEWSHAWK | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT MPP | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
Marijuana Case: Asset Laws An Unjust Way Of Bringing About Justice | ||||||||||||||
By D.H. Michon | ||||||||||||||
The "potent asset forfeiture laws," used to seize land and cash from Jerry Hartman, have another definition: extortion - and by the government, no less ( "Law dents dealer's lifestyle," July 8). | ||||||||||||||
These laws do not pass the smell test. There may be something said
for reclaiming assets associated with illegal drug wholesaling,
provided it is applied within a system of rational drug laws - which
is now most certainly not the case. But the way prosecutors go after
assets, by filing charges far in excess of what true justice
requires in order to have the maximum leverage with which to mulct
their targets, is deplorable. | ||||||||||||||
This is about money, not drugs. Can the attorneys and cops operate
honorably realizing these funds are usually used to pay for people's
employment and pet projects? Justice should not be priced as
piecework. | ||||||||||||||
D.H. Michon | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||
THE 'JUST SAY NO' APPROACH IS NO GOOD | ||||||||||||||
By Robert Sharpe | ||||||||||||||
There is a lot about heroin that even people "in the know" may not
know. | ||||||||||||||
Because heroin is sold via an unregulated illicit market, its
quality and purity fluctuate tremendously. A user accustomed to
low-quality heroin who unknowingly uses pure heroin will likely
overdose. The inevitable tough-on-drugs reaction to overdose deaths
is a very real threat to public safety. | ||||||||||||||
Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. | ||||||||||||||
For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. | ||||||||||||||
While the U.S. remains committed to moralistic drug policies modeled after America's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition, Europe has largely abandoned the drug war in favor of harm reduction alternatives. Examples of harm reduction include needle exchange programs to stop the spread of HIV, marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft drug markets, and treatment alternatives that do not require incarceration as a prerequisite. | ||||||||||||||
On the cutting edge of harm reduction, Switzerland's heroin
maintenance program has been shown to reduce drug-related disease,
death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with
standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the
problems associated with illicit heroin use. Addicts would not be
sharing needles if not for zero-tolerance laws that restrict access
to clean syringes, nor would they be committing crimes if not for
artificially inflated black-market prices. | ||||||||||||||
Unfortunately, tough-on-drugs politicians have built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with drugs themselves. When politics trumps science, people die. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the U.S. are linked to injection-drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. | ||||||||||||||
The practice of prescribing heroin to addicts was standard in
England from the 1920s to the 1960s. In response to U.S. pressure,
prescription heroin maintenance was discontinued in 1971. There are
only a handful of English general practitioners that still prescribe
heroin. | ||||||||||||||
New licensing requirements and overzealous drug enforcement have
effectively discouraged what was once a common practice. The loss of
a controlled heroin distribution system and subsequent creation of
an unregulated illicit market led the number of heroin addicts in
England to skyrocket from fewer than 2,000 in 1970 to roughly
200,000 chronic users today. | ||||||||||||||
Heroin maintenance pilot projects are under way in Canada, Germany,
Spain and the Netherlands. The drug is distributed to addicts in a
clinical setting. You can think of it as a needle exchange program,
and then some. | ||||||||||||||
If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized
crime of a core client base. | ||||||||||||||
This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare
future generations addiction. Putting public health before politics
may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the
children are more important than the message. | ||||||||||||||
Robert Sharpe is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Washington, D.C. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||
"Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have."
- Harry Emerson Fosdick | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: | ||||||||||||||
Please utilize the following URLs | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Philippe Lucas (), International
content selection and analysis by Doug Snead (),
Layout by Matt Elrod (). Analysis comments
represent the personal views of editors, and not necessarily the
views of DrugSense. | ||||||||||||||
We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on contributing clippings. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes. | ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE | ||||||||||||||
-OR- | ||||||||||||||
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to: | ||||||||||||||
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. |
 | current issue | this issue |