| Sept. 22, 2006 #467 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1) THE WAR ON MARIJUANA IS EXPENSIVE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Prohibition Is Not Working, As Records Show | ||||||||||||||||||||
IT'S times like these that I wish I had been alive when prohibition was
coming to an end in America. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I'd like to know if the folks who believed that the attempt to
eradicate alcohol in America was not working were labeled immoral
drunks. | ||||||||||||||||||||
After all, those of us who believe marijuana prohibition isn't working
are labeled "potheads" or worse. | ||||||||||||||||||||
No matter what they think, the war on marijuana isn't working. It's
costing billions and it's giving criminal records to thousands of
people who don't deserve it. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Federal Bureau of Investigation's annual Uniform Crime Report for
2005 was released earlier this week and it shows that police arrested
an estimated 786,545 persons for marijuana violations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The total is the highest ever recorded by the FBI and is about 42
percent of all drug arrests in the United States. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Of all those charged with marijuana violations, about 88 per cent were
charged with possession only. The rest were charged with
"sale/manufacture," which includes cultivation of the plant for
personal or medical use. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(2) BALLOT INITIATIVE - INTERNAL POLL FINDS SUPPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Question Would Allow Possession of Marijuana for Recreational Use | ||||||||||||||||||||
A ballot initiative to allow Nevadans to possess small amounts of
marijuana for recreational use has a better chance of passing than most
people think, according to a newly released internal poll conducted on
behalf of the proposal's backers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the new poll, respondents were read the actual text that will appear
on their November ballots. Of the 600 likely Nevada voters interviewed
statewide by a respected national polling firm, 49 percent said they
would vote yes on the question and 43 percent said no. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Previously, survey after survey has shown that Nevadans are resistant to a ballot initiative that would, in its words, "control and regulate marijuana." But those results, such as a recent Reno Gazette-Journal poll that found 55 percent of likely voters opposed to the measure and just 37 percent in favor of it, were misleading because they asked the wrong question, advocates of the marijuana initiative said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Other polls on the initiative have tended to ask whether respondents favored a move to "legalize" marijuana, a word that doesn't appear in the ballot language, said Neal Levine, campaign manager for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, the Nevada initiative's backers. The committee is largely supported by the Washington, D.C., based Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization group. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The word 'legalize' is a politically charged term," Levine said in
explaining the difference between his poll and others. "It gives people
the false notion of a free-for-all, marijuana on every corner. That's
not what we're proposing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We're proposing a very tightly regulated system where we'd get
institutional safeguards and tax revenue." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(3) GROUP AGAINST POT INITIATIVE PLANS LECTURES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Amendment Backers Say Alcohol Is Worse | ||||||||||||||||||||
DENVER - The group opposing Amendment 44, which seeks to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes, said Wednesday that a series of lectures will serve as the primary weapon in the campaign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The lectures by various experts on drugs and addiction will focus on
the dangers of marijuana and the effects on the state of legalizing
cannabis, said Calvina Fay, executive director of Save Our Society from
Drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Marijuana is much more powerful and much more addictive than it was a generation ago," Fay said. "The change proposed in Amendment 44 has terrible consequences for our state, particularly for our children." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Fay's group, which goes by S.O.S., is based in Florida but is helping
lead the charge against Amendment 44. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Members of the coalition include Lt. Gov. Jane Norton and Andrew Barthwell, a Chicago-based doctor and former deputy director for the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In addition to lectures, S.O.S. said it hopes to have money for radio
ads, direct mail and computerized phone calls during the campaign.
Fay said the group has raised about $40,000 so far. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(4) ARE DRUG CARTELS GAINING UPPER HAND IN MEXICO? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
As Violence Surges, U.S. Officials Fear Government May Be Losing
Control Of Fight | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON - Once encouraged by Mexico's assault on drug traffickers,
U.S. officials now worry that the cartels' growing geographic reach and
the recent killing of a judge and police officials are signs that the
government may be losing control of the drug fight. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The powerful cartels are securing smuggling routes through Central
America and are recruiting gunmen from there, say senior U.S. officials
in Washington and Mexico City. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The concern is growing. There is a dramatic spike in violence," said
one senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. The tense
presidential succession now under way in Mexico will make the coming
months "very dangerous," the official said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Law enforcement officials from both countries will meet today in the
Texas border city of Laredo, in part at the urging of U.S. Ambassador
Tony Garza, who last week described lawlessness in Mexico as an urgent
problem. The U.S. Embassy issued a new travel advisory to Americans,
warning them of a rising level of "brutal violence" throughout Mexico,
especially along the border with Texas. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mexican officials acknowledge the violence but say it is a result of
their aggressive law enforcement efforts. They say the U.S. must share
responsibility for the problem because of the continuing demand for
illegal drugs. Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez called Mr. Garza's
comments "unfortunate." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-9) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The upside-down crazy logic of the drug war continues. Long-time
prohibitionist Frank Melton, at the moment the mayor of Jackson,
Miss., has been indicted by the local district attorney for his
overly aggressive and unwarranted drug war tactics. The story has
now gained attention in the New York Times. Over at the Washington
Post, a grim story shows how the drug war, along with immigrations
problems, have terrorized U.S. residents who live near the border.
In El Dorado, Kansas, high school students will face random drug
testing just to attend school programs, like football games and
theater productions. In other school news, some Memphis-area
students will be paid cash money for snitching to school staff. And
in Oregon, the image of a lace maple leaf is censored because it
reminds some people of a cannabis leaf. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(5) JACKSON MAYOR IS INDICTED OVER CRIME-FIGHTING TACTICS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The mayor of Jackson, Miss., was indicted on six felony charges Friday after months of criticism and warnings that his unorthodox crime-fighting tactics might put him on the wrong side of the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Among the counts now faced by the mayor, Frank Melton, are burglary,
malicious mischief, illegally carrying a gun and causing a minor to
commit a felony. The most serious of the charges against him carry
sentences of up to 25 years, said the local district attorney, Faye
Peterson. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The mayor's supporters called the charges politically motivated and
said he would not resign. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some of the charges stem from a sheriff's investigation of the night
of Aug. 26, when the home of Evans Welch, a man with a history of
mental illness and petty crimes, was attacked by a | ||||||||||||||||||||
Witnesses said Mr. Melton, who often patrols the city at night with
the police and a group of teenage followers, had directed the
demolition of the house, which he said was known as a place to buy
illegal drugs. His two police bodyguards are also charged in
connection with that event. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Dale Danks, Mr. Melton's lawyer, issued a statement acknowledging
that damage had been done to "the drug house" and that "maybe better
judgment could have been used." | ||||||||||||||||||||
"But," the statement said, "the charges that have been made against
Mayor Melton are an extreme and excessive reaction." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(6) AS BORDER CRACKDOWN INTENSIFIES, A TRIBE IS CAUGHT IN THE (Top)CROSSFIRE | ||||||||||||||||||||
ALIR JEGK, Ariz. -- Elsie Salsido was breast-feeding her baby when
Border Patrol agents walked into her house unannounced this summer.
"Are you Mexicans?" they demanded. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Salsido's four other children cowered on the bed of her eldest, a girl in second grade. Night had fallen on this village on Arizona's border with Mexico, nestled in a scrubland valley of stickman cactuses hemmed in by mountains that look like busted teeth. The agents explained their warrantless entry into Salsido's house as "hot pursuit." They said they were chasing footprints, she recalled, of illegal immigrants sneaking in from Mexico, just 1,000 feet away. But the footprints belonged to Salsido's children -- all Americans. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As the United States ramps up its law enforcement presence on the border with Mexico, places like Alir Jegk, a village of 50 families in south-central Arizona, are enduring heightened danger, as they are squeezed between increasingly aggressive bands of immigrant and drug smugglers and increasingly numerous federal agents who, critics say, often ignore regulations as they seek to enforce the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alir Jegk's experience is complicated by the fact that it is on the
second-biggest Indian reservation in the United States, belonging to
the Tohono O'odham, or Desert People, who hunted deer and boar and
harvested wild spinach and prickly pear in this region before an
international border was etched through their land in 1853. Now, the
Tohono O'odham Nation occupies the front line of the fight against
drug and immigrant smuggling -- costing the poverty-stricken tribe
millions of dollars a year and threatening what remains of its
traditions. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We have the undocumented and drug smugglers heading north and law enforcement heading south. We're smack in the middle," Vivian Juan-Saunders, chairwoman of the tribe, said in an interview at the tribal headquarters in Sells, Ariz. "We are being squeezed." | ||||||||||||||||||||
In testimony to the U.S. Senate, the tribe's vice chairman, Ned
Norris Jr., described a "border security crisis that has caused
shocking devastation of our land and resources." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(7) ATTENDING SCHOOL PLAY REQUIRES DRUG TEST IN KANSAS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
EL DORADO, Kan. ( AP ) -- Random drug testing of student athletes
has become as routine as study hall and lunch at many high schools
across the country. But this factory town outside Wichita is taking
testing to the extreme. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It is instituting random drug screening for all middle and high
school students participating in - or even just attending - any
extracurricular activity. That includes sports, clubs, field trips,
driver's education, even school plays. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Those who don't sign consent forms cannot attend games, go to school dances, join a club or so much as park their car on school property. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Administrators insist the district does not have a drug problem, and
say the new policy - one of the toughest in the nation - is aimed at
keeping it that way. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We see this in the best interest of our students. We don't see this
is a punitive measure," said Superintendent Tom Biggs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Since the policy was enacted this school year, at least 425 students
out of 600 high schoolers, and 215 of the 315 middle school
students, have signed forms consenting to random urine tests for
alcohol, tobacco and drugs. No one has been tested yet, and school
officials don't want to tip off students about when the first random
drug test will be conducted. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Brett Shirk, executive director of the American Civil Liberties
Union of Kansas and Western Missouri, questioned the | ||||||||||||||||||||
"That policy invades the privacy of students that need deterrence
and risks steering those students to a greater risk of substance
abuse that makes the drug problems worse," Shirk said. Some
authorities said that excluding students from extracurricular
activities will just lead them into deeper trouble. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some students, including 17-year-old Aurelia Resa, said they are
offended by the policy. "What you do outside of school isn't
anybody's business but yours," Resa said. "They should be able to
respect your privacy." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(8) SCHOOLS TO PAY CRIME TIPSTERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Students Enouraged to Trust the Faculty | ||||||||||||||||||||
Memphis and Shelby County public high schools will launch a program
today that will pay rewards averaging $200 to students who report
crimes or give information that prevents them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In partnership with Crime Stoppers, the Trust Pays program is
designed to give students a way to report incidents at school
without fear of retribution. Students will tell a trusted faculty
member, who will tell the principal. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Plough Foundation will provide money to pay rewards. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Only the faculty member will know who the student tipster is, said
Buddy Chapman, executive director of Crime Stoppers of Memphis and
Shelby County. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Given the crime problems we face in Memphis, the obvious
intervention point is youth and the obvious intervention point for
that are the schools," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(9) POT-LEAF LOOKALIKE LEADS TO BOOK REDESIGN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
The serrated leaves on the plant gracing the front of the employee
benefits handbook reminded some Eugene city employees of marijuana,
so the city will get rid of the image. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The plant wasn't illicit, though. It was a lace leaf maple. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In the black and white photo on the handbook, it looked similar,
said Myrnie Daut, risk services division manager. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some employees said it appeared the city was endorsing the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Police Capt. Steve Swenson sent an e-mail to employees noting the
city has lots of maples. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I have a very nice one in my front yard,'' he said. "There are no hidden meanings, subliminal or intentional, supporting medical marijuana or advocating marijuana use as some are speculating.'' | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (10-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
We see the police breaking all sorts of boundaries this week in the
name of the drug war or drug-related corruption, mostly boundaries
that simply shouldn't be broken. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(10) LEGAL COMMUNITY BEMOANS SEARCH OF LAWYER'S OFFICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
A police search Wednesday of a [redacted] lawyer's office has the
legal community buzzing with worries about government intrusion into
attorney-client privilege - one of the oldest principles in U.S.
law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than a dozen agents with a search warrant approved by a federal
magistrate judge walked into the office of [redacted] just after 7
a.m. and seized financial, property, business, travel and personal
records of 17 people. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[redacted], a lawyer for 27 years, is not charged with any crime.
However, he is obviously the unnamed "Attorney A" in a 196-page
federal indictment issued Wednesday that named 12 men allegedly
involved in an international conspiracy to smuggle marijuana and
cocaine, grow marijuana and make methamphetamine. He could not be
reached for comment Friday. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The agents left six hours later with 11 items, including data from
four computers, according to the search warrant. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The affidavit, or sworn statement, that agents used to get
authorization for the seizures is under court seal because of the
ongoing investigation, so it cannot be determined what evidence they
cited to get the judge's permission. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," Assistant U.S. Attorney Monte
Stiles said Friday. He said agents carefully followed search pro-
cedures. | ||||||||||||||||||||
It could not be determined Friday whether anyone keeps track of
searches of lawyers' offices. While it doesn't track such searches,
the National Criminal Defense Lawyers Association says on its Web
site that they are on the rise. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(11) OPERATION TARNISHED BADGE: INQUIRY ALLEGES MORE ABUSES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
MAXTON -- The men moved quietly through the evening, guns drawn, down a darkened path toward the rear of Alex Locklear's home. | ||||||||||||||||||||
As they positioned themselves, an unmarked Robeson County patrol car
sped into the driveway, blue lights flashing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
State and federal prosecutors say this was no authorized drug raid. They say former Deputy Vincent Sinclair and four other men went to Locklear's home on the evening of March 14, 2004, with a single purpose -- to rob the place and terrorize its occupants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The robbery was just one incident in what has become a host of
allegations against Robeson County law enforcement officers in an
investigation known as Operation Tarnished Badge. But the
allegations against Sinclair stand out for their brazenness and
violence. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Locklear, who farms about 400 acres, said he was out of town when
Sinclair and four other men raided his home. But Locklear said the
men knew he had cashed a check to pay his farm laborers before he
left for a motorcycle rally in Myrtle Beach. | ||||||||||||||||||||
His son was home. Nicholas Locklear, who is paralyzed and uses a
wheelchair, said the men ordered everybody outside to hit the
ground, including a pregnant woman. | ||||||||||||||||||||
They burst onto the back porch, he said, and ordered a man and a
woman sitting on a swing to the ground. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"They told him they were going to blow his brains out," Nicholas
Locklear said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He said the men searched him and ransacked the house. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"They just wanted to know if we had any drugs or any large amounts
of money," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alex Locklear said the robbers took about $200 from his bedroom. | ||||||||||||||||||||
His daughter, Michelle Jacobs, said she arrived at the home just as
the patrol car was leaving and her friends were getting off the
grass. She said the woman on the porch broke her arm when she ran
and tripped in a ditch. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Alex Locklear said he reported the robbery to a sheriff's deputy and
mentioned that the patrol car used would be missing a front hubcap
lost during the raid. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Locklear said the Sheriff's Office never conducted an investigation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The widening investigation has revealed deputies stealing hundreds
of- thousands of dollars from drug stops on Interstate 95, beating
and robbing people in their homes, swindling money from county
coffers and working with drug dealers to steal money and drugs from
other dealers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Some deputies are accused of kidnapping drug dealers and holding
them for ransom. One is accused of giving someone two trash bags
full of marijuana to burn a pawnshop to settle a personal vendetta.
The home of a man who was set to testify against that deputy was
firebombed shortly before trial. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(12) SUSPECTS' DEATHS INCREASINGLY PINNED ON DISPUTED CONDITION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DALLAS ( AP ) -- Police found 23-year-old Jose Romero in his
underwear, screaming gibberish and waving a large kitchen knife from
his neighbor's porch. Romero kept approaching with the knife so
officers shocked him repeatedly with a taser gun. Then he just
stopped breathing. His family blames police brutality for the death,
but the Dallas County medical examiner attributed it to a disputed
condition known as excited delirium. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medical examiners nationwide have increasingly cited the
heart-racing delirium resulting from drug use or psychiatric
problems when suspects die in police custody. But some doctors say
the rare syndrome is being overused, and certain civil rights groups
question whether it exists at all. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"For psychiatrists, this is a rare condition that occurs once in a blue moon," said Warren Spitz, a former chief medical examiner in Michigan. "Now suddenly you are seeing it all the time among medical examiners. And always, police and police restraint are involved." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Excited delirium came to doctors' attention in the 1980s as cocaine
use skyrocketed, said Vincent DiMaio, chief medical examiner in
Bexar County, Texas, and a proponent of the diagnosis. No reliable
national statistics exist on how many suspects die from excited
delirium because county medical examiners make the ruling, and some
use different terminology. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(13) POLICE USED HIGH-TECH SURVEILLANCE AT FESTIVAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hidden Cameras Helped In Drug Bust | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hidden, high-dollar equipment helped police crack down on drug
dealing at this years Wakarusa Festival. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A new article in a trade journal, Government Security News,
describes the roughly $250,000 worth of hidden-camera, night-vision
and thermal- imaging equipment used by police throughout the
festival grounds. The equipment was courtesy of a California company
that agreed to give a free demonstration of its wares for marketing
purposes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The company estimated that they were able to cover 85 percent of the festival grounds with about a half dozen hidden cameras. One camera, for example, was mounted atop a light tower and used on Shakedown Street, a bustling area viewed as a problem spot for drug dealing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Its hopefully a win-win for everybody except the crooks, said Mike
McRory, vice president of business development for NS Microwave
Inc., of Spring Valley, Calif., which markets security and
surveillance equipment and is owned by the defense contractor Allied
Defense Group. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The company builds covert cameras disguised as everything from electrical boxes to birdhouses. Theyre capable of seeing at night as long as theres some ambient light nearby such as a lantern or fire. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
On hearing the news that Willie Nelson has been busted for a misdemeanor involving pot, many people were surprised it happened at all, while others were surprised it never happened sooner. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Thousands of supporters and activist groups had a chance to mingle,
educate and do their part to liberate the cannabis plant at the
annual Hemp Fest held in Boston last weekend. Unfortunately, there
were 53 arrests for marijuana possession as the police safeguard job
security by upholding prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
In Florida, one of those rare "Heads vs. Feds" debates occurred with
Steven Hager, former editor of High Times, debating a retired DEA
agent in front of a packed house of 700 souls. Judging from the
response, Steve won hands down. | ||||||||||||||||||||
A chapter of high profile activism came to a close in a Vancouver
courtroom last Friday. Carol Gwilt, the proprietor of the Da Kine
cafe, openly sold cannabis to store customers until she was shut
down by a huge police raid which unfolded on the six o'clock news.
Carol was sentenced to 17 months in jail for her efforts to
normalize cannabis use in society. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(14) WILLIE NELSON IN DRUG BUST (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Willie Nelson and several members of his band were issued
misdemeanor citations for drug possession early yesterday at a
traffic stop on Interstate 10 near Breaux Bridge in St. Martin
Parish, La., The Associated Press reported. State Trooper Willie
Williams said troopers noticed a strong odor of marijuana when the
driver opened the bus door, and about 1.5 pounds of marijuana and
about 3 ounces of mushrooms were found during a search. Mr. Nelson,
73, of Spicewood, Tex., and four members of his band were released
after they were given the citations. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(15) HEMP FEST LIGHTS UP COMMONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hemp Fest Lights Up Commons | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hemp Fest-- the annual public convention held to advocate the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts -- was held Saturday and Sunday at the Boston Commons, with local students and dread-locked, tie-dyed demonstrators alike demanding one thing: freedom. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Yet the Boston Herald reported yesterday that police arrested 53
people for marijuana possession, and passed out fliers stating they
would not pardon anyone with the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But that did not deter thousands of people from attending the event
or protesting. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rachel Normington, a student from New Hampshire who did not want to
name what school she goes to, said she was a first-timer at "the
'Fest." | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We'll keep coming as long as [legalization] is an issue," Normington said. "It's about everybody coming together as one family. We're trying to reform marijuana laws but it goes deeper than that, and the more people, the greater the effort." | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hemp Fest 2006 was also a medium for local businesses to publicize
their products, including Amy Fulgham, a delegate for Awea -- a
clothing and accessory company out of Portland, Maine -- who was
there to support hemp as an alternative material. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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(16) CROWD PACKS STETSON CHAPEL FOR MARIJUANA DEBATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DELAND -- Only at The Great Debate: Heads vs. Feds could an
announcer warn -- "Remember, no lighting up." | ||||||||||||||||||||
About 700 people poured into the Elizabeth Hall Chapel at Stetson
University on Wednesday night for the great debate that pitted Bob
Stutman, a retired Drug Enforcement Agency agent, against Steven
Hager, former editor of High Times magazine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The event put on by the Stetson Council of Student Activities drew
so much attention that the two-story chapel was packed upstairs and
downstairs with people lining the back walls and sitting in the
aisles. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Hager kicked things off by pointing out five reasons why marijuana
should be legalized -- from "it's good medicine" to "it's a
sacrament" to his "hippie" culture. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Saying that there are no major medical benefits to marijuana is
standing in a major hurricane and having the American government
tell you wind ain't blowing," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stutman countered that it would create more accidents and that about 14 percent of people who use it become dependent on the drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
He compared the legalization of marijuana to the 21st Amendment,
which lifted the prohibition on alcohol in 1933, and said there are
currently 170 million people consuming alcohol and 14 million people
using marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
As for which side the crowd was on -- let's just say there were lots
of cheers when Hager was introduced and when he spoke. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(17) OWNER OF MARIJUANA CAFE SENT TO JAIL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Woman Sentenced To 17-Month Term For Drug Trafficking | ||||||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER - With the sun streaming through the atrium windows of the
B.C. Supreme Court building in downtown Vancouver, Carol Gwilt
embraced a half-dozen supporters yesterday before walking inside to
be sentenced for trafficking in marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Ms. Gwilt, who worked with mentally handicapped adults before her
involvement with the Da Kine, was sentenced after convictions on two
counts related to marijuana trafficking and two counts of possession
of proceeds of crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Trafficking in illegal substances is not tolerated," the prosecutor
said. Mr. Riley said he accepted that Ms. Gwilt is remorseful, but
if she continues to disagree with the prohibition against marijuana,
she should express it through "pro-social" means. | ||||||||||||||||||||
More than 20 Vancouver police officers were involved in the raid on
the Da Kine, which openly sold marijuana, one day after the
provincial solicitor-general criticized city officials for having a
"ho-hum" attitude about the cafe. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The friends who attended court yesterday were visibly upset. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"The law is the law, yet they bend it for people all the time," said
John Shavluk, the director of a pro-marijuana group called End
Prohibition. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"If Carol Gwilt deserves to be in jail, we all deserve to be in
jail. I have never met a more compassionate person." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
From the U.K. this week, there were calls from senior Liberal
Democrats including Nick Clegg, Chris Davies, and Baroness Walmsley,
for the "decriminalising [of] all illegal drugs." Said Davies (a
senior member of Parliament), "We keep saying 'war on drugs' year in
year out, but it achieves nothing." | ||||||||||||||||||||
In New South Wales Australia, an Ombudsman investigation on the
effectiveness of sniffer dogs found they were "an expensive waste of
money that fails to catch serious drug dealers but manages to
embarrass thousands doing nothing wrong," according to a report in
the Sydney Morning Herald. "Almost all of those were carrying
cannabis, and mostly in small amounts... The Drug Detection Dog Unit
cost $870,000 in 2002-03, but over the study period, just 19 people
were convicted for supplying drugs." | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Italian Red Cross and others launched a media campaign this week
to allow Afghani farmers to legally grow opium to supply the world's
legal morphine markets. "This system we advocate provides for one
part of the Afghan opium to be used to make legal morphine, rather
than illegal heroin," suggested Italian Red Cross president Massimo
Barra. After the European Senlis organization made a similar
suggestion to simply buy up Afghan opium last year, the U.N.
condemned the very idea, and Senlis representatives were ejected
from Afghanistan. | ||||||||||||||||||||
An Alberta, Canada "Task Force on Crystal Meth" came up with a load
of recommendations, but most blatantly violate the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms, says Laura Stevens, president of the
Criminal Trial Lawyers Association. "There's no way some of the
provisions they've put forth could ever be in place. They have been
declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court and would be struck
down." The police-endorsed "Getting Tough" measures included "an
attempt to have drug criminals labelled violent offenders, denied
bail rights and conditional sentences." | ||||||||||||||||||||
In a related item, the ruling Canadian Tories (Conservative Party) proposed U.S-like "three strikes" laws, ostensibly aimed at "violent criminals". After "someone has been convicted a third time they will be considered guilty until proven innocent of being a dangerous offender." If passed, the new laws will allow government to permanently jail people with "an unlimited prison sentence." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(18) CALL TO DECRIMINALISE DRUGS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
SENIOR Liberal Democrats yesterday demanded the party's leadership
consider decriminalising all illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Nick Clegg, the home affairs spokesman, was urged to examine the
case for government-controlled drug outlets in the face of the
failure of the war on narcotics. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mr Davies likened the issue of the war on drugs to the Emperor's new
clothes. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We keep saying 'war on drugs' year in year out, but it achieves
nothing," he said. "It's time to stop pointing and laughing at this
piece of nonsense." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Baroness Walmsley, the Liberal Democrats' education spokeswoman in
the Lords, said: "I think the issue is a no-brainer. We have got to
go along this direction." | ||||||||||||||||||||
She said such a policy would contribute to harm reduction, tackle gun culture, save police time and reduce drug-related crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(19) SNIFFER DOGS BARKING UP WRONG TREE: REPORT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
THE drug sniffer dog program is an expensive waste of money that
fails to catch serious drug dealers but manages to embarrass
thousands doing nothing wrong, a NSW Ombudsman investigation has
found. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Government believes the dogs interrupt the supply of illegal drugs, but the two-year investigation found they stop three times as many people who are not carrying drugs as those who are. | ||||||||||||||||||||
During the study, 10,211 people were stopped at train stations, in
pubs and on streets - but only a quarter of those searched were
carrying illegal drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Almost all of those were carrying cannabis, and mostly in small
amounts, with cocaine and heroin discovered on fewer occasions than
prescription drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Drug Detection Dog Unit cost $870,000 in 2002-03, but over the
study period, just 19 people were convicted for supplying drugs.
Most of those were carrying drugs for their friends rather than for
sale, the report found, with only three sentenced to periodic
detention. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(20) ITALIAN RED CROSS, THINK-TANK LAUNCH CAMPAIGN FOR USE OF AFGHAN (Top)OPIUM TO MAKE PAINKILLERS | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Italian Red Cross and other organizations launched a campaign
Monday to promote the idea of licensing Afghanistan's illegal opium
production to make morphine. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"This system we advocate provides for one part of the Afghan opium
to be used to make legal morphine, rather than illegal heroin,"
Massimo Barra, president of the Italian Red Cross told reporters in
Rome. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The campaign seeks to promote trade agreements with Afghanistan and
stems from a study released last year by The Senlis Council -- a
European think-tank on drug policy -- that examined the potential
for licensing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan to provide legal,
opium-based painkillers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(21) IDEAS WON'T FLY: LAWYER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Recommendations Run Counter To Charter Rights | ||||||||||||||||||||
An anti-meth task force should have known better than to make
recommendations that violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms,
says one of Edmonton's top defence lawyers. | ||||||||||||||||||||
For all the work the Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth did over
the last year, it never approached the Criminal Trial Lawyers
Association, said president Laura Stevens. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"There's no way some of the provisions they've put forth could ever
be in place. They have been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court and would be struck down." | ||||||||||||||||||||
She scoffed at the task force's call for the federal government to
shift the burden of proof to the accused in meth manufacturing
cases, and shot down another that would let police seize suspected
proceeds of crime. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I understand their goals, but there is precedent declaring such
motions unconstitutional and a violation of rights. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stevens dismissed a half-dozen other recommendations in the
anti-meth report, listed under the "Getting Tough" header, among
them an attempt to have drug criminals labelled violent offenders,
denied bail rights and conditional sentences. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
(22) TORIES EYE THREE STRIKES FOR OFFENDERS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Proposed Bill Would Ease Ability To Label Criminals As | ||||||||||||||||||||
The federal government is preparing three-strikes legislation that
would make it easier to label criminals as dangerous offenders after
a third serious conviction. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Unlike California's famous three-strikes-you're-out | ||||||||||||||||||||
That means that once someone has been convicted a third time they
will be considered guilty until proven innocent of being a dangerous
offender. | ||||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||||
The new legislation would make it much easier for judges to slap
three-time offenders with the designation which brings an unlimited
prison sentence, although offenders could begin applying for parole
after seven years. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"At present there is an onus on the prosecutors at all levels to
demonstrate dangerous offender," Toews said. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"We feel that once a person has been convicted three times, a
presumption should apply that the individual is dangerous because a
court has found that individual to be so." | ||||||||||||||||||||
Toews said the law will apply to violent offenders and serious
sexoffenders. He said he has been consulting with provincial
officials, as well as bureaucrats in his own department, on the
legislation. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
MEET RANDY GENTRY, CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT | ||||||||||||||||||||
By Radley Balko at theagitator.com | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DA KINE CAFE OWNER, CAROL GWILT, SENTENCED TO 15 MONTHS | ||||||||||||||||||||
A CBC report on the sentencing of Carol Gwilt. Carol was the owner
of the Da Kine, a cannabis cafe in Vancouver. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
HOUSE APPROVES STRIP SEARCH BILL | ||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
A bill approved by the U.S. House yesterday would require school
districts around the country to establish policies making it easier for
teachers and school officials to conduct wide scale searches of
students. These searches could take the form of pat-downs, bag
searches, or strip searches depending on how administrators interpret
the law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT, 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
http://www.kpft.org/ | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
MULTIDISCIPLINARY ASSOCIATION FOR PSYCHEDELIC STUDIES BULLETIN | ||||||||||||||||||||
Technologies of Healing | ||||||||||||||||||||
Volume XVI Number 2 - Autumn 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
MEDICAL MARIJUANA - HISTORY AND CURRENT COMPLICATIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||
Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask released an opinion this week on the legality of medical marijuana usage in the county. | ||||||||||||||||||||
His "white paper" concludes that California's Compassionate Use Act
of 1996, which legalized the use of medical marijuana for California
residents, is illegal under existing federal law. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.thedesertsun.com/assets/pdf/news/2006/0919_damarijuana.pdf | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
A HISTORY OF DRUG PROHIBITION | ||||||||||||||||||||
Transform Drug Policy Foundation | ||||||||||||||||||||
This timeline contains a selection of events that were felt to be of significance in the history of prohibition and the campaign for drug law reform. It is not intended to be a historically comprehensive document, but to give a sense of narrative and progress; to shed some light on why we are where we are with regard to the drug laws, and more importantly, how we can use this experience to move forward. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
OVERKILL - THE RISE OF PARAMILITARY POLICE RAIDS IN AMERICA | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cato Institute, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Policy Forum | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tuesday, September 12, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Featuring the author Radley Balko, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute, with comments by Norm Stamper, Seattle Police Chief (Ret.) and author of Breaking Rank: A Top Cop's Expose of the Dark Side of Policing. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WAITING TO INHALE DEBATE TRANSCRIPT | ||||||||||||||||||||
The First National Debate on Medical Marijuana | ||||||||||||||||||||
Transcript of a debate and panel discussion featuring leading
government officials and opponents of medical marijuana and the heads
of the two largest drug reform organizations in the US. | ||||||||||||||||||||
http://www.waitingtoinhale.org/news_news/debate_transcript.pdf | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. TAKES DRUG WAR TO TRENDY YOUTUBE | ||||||||||||||||||||
WASHINGTON -- The White House is distributing government-produced,
anti-drug videos on YouTube, the trendy Internet service that features
clips of wacky, drug-induced behaviour and step-by-step instructions
for growing marijuana plants. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
JOIN A MEDIA ACTIVISM ROUNDTABLE ONLINE | ||||||||||||||||||||
Gather with leading hearts and minds from the drug policy reform movement as we discuss ways to write Letters to the Editor that get printed. We'll also discuss ways to get notable OPEDS printed in your local and in-state newspapers. We'll also educate on how to increase drug policy coverage in your local radio markets. | ||||||||||||||||||||
The conferences will be held every Tuesday evening starting at 9
p.m. Eastern, 8 p.m. Central, 7 p.m. Mountain and 6 p.m. Pacific in
the DrugSense Virtual Conference Room. | ||||||||||||||||||||
SEE: http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for details on how you
can participate. Discussion is conducted by voice (microphone and
speakers all that is needed - however, you may listen if you don't
have a microphone) and also by text messaging. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
DRUG ILLUSIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||
By David S. Brannon | ||||||||||||||||||||
Two articles in your Aug. 27 paper touted renewed efforts by North
Carolina law enforcement to reduce drug-related crime and violence.
Those efforts will be rewarded with a short-term illusion of
improvement. The criminal justice system, however, is not the place
where our society can come to terms with the existence of drugs.
Many people try drugs. Only a few ever abuse them. | ||||||||||||||||||||
If, tomorrow, all drugs became legal and available, I doubt anyone
reading this letter would jump up, shouting in joy, "Finally, I can
try heroin!" Nope. | ||||||||||||||||||||
And so what if people do drugs? If their drug use harms no one else,
it's no one else's business. If their drug use is harming
themselves, we can change many of those behaviors with a public
health approach. It's worked with teen smoking and teen pregnancy;
we could at least try with the issue of drug abuse. It's for sure
that what we are doing now does not work. | ||||||||||||||||||||
We can't keep spending billions on a drug war that doesn't achieve
its stated goals. But we do. And it's time to stop. | ||||||||||||||||||||
David S. Brannon | ||||||||||||||||||||
Raleigh | ||||||||||||||||||||
( The writer is an attorney. ) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
COPS, LIKE KIDS, LURED BY DRUG-WAR PROFITS | ||||||||||||||||||||
By James E. Gierach | ||||||||||||||||||||
Four cops from the elite Chicago special operations section are
charged with robbing, beating, kidnapping and intimidating suspected
drug dealers. According to published reports, as many as nine cops
are suspected of abusing their police power in the latest episode of
drug-war corruption. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Part of the drug-war strategy is to take the ill-gotten goods from
the drug dealers -- take their real estate, their fancy ccars,
boats, airplanes and cash. Seize and forfeit, seize and forfeit --
that's the drug-war way. Half the confiscated loot goes to the
arresting agency and half to the feds. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tempting, all that money and property. | ||||||||||||||||||||
"Why not just confiscate it for ourselves?" whiz kid of Chicago's
elite gang crime unit, officer Joseph Miedzianowski, thought. He
graduated from super-drug cop to super-drug conspirator to
super-drug prisoner locked away in a federal hoosegow. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Cops are tempted by drug profits just like our kids -- both sets
nurtured, too often, into drug dealers in the imagined ""drug-free"
world our drug laws have made for us. Drug war saves our kids from
drugs, the old saw goes, and the recently released annual survey of
drug use in America shows that drug use by teenagers is down this
past year. Trouble is: Drug use is up among the baby boomers. (
Laughably, it's the old folks that need DARE classes. ) Net change
in U.S. drug use: none. Net drug-war success: none. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Tough prison sentences were going to make drug prohibition stick.
And our prisons are packed with drug users, packed to the point
where the Land of the Free is now the Home of the Prisons, as the
U.S. sports the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the
world with millions of people behind bars. | ||||||||||||||||||||
But drug war reduces drug availability, right? Nope. The United
Nations just reported record-breaking opium production in
Afghanistan despite an army of U.S. soldiers on the ground there.
Opium production is up 50 percent over the previous year, with the
2006 opium harvest fixed at 6,000 metric tons, enough for 60 tons of
heroin. And heroin is the dope of preference among those drug
dealers who have recently taken to lacing their illegal dope with
killer Fentanyl, a legal drug. | ||||||||||||||||||||
All heroin dealers are unlicensed. In fact, all dealers of illegal
drugs are unlicensed. Maybe they should be licensed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Heroin manufacture is uncontrolled. In fact, the manufacture of all
illegal drugs is uncontrolled. Maybe the manufacture of illegal
drugs should be controlled and regulated. There's been lots of
drug-war news, but it's all bad. | ||||||||||||||||||||
I told my ear doctor that I ran for governor once on a platform of
legalized drugs. He said, "If you run to legalize drugs again, I'll
vote for you." Now that's an earful. | ||||||||||||||||||||
James E. Gierach is an Oak Lawn attorney. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||||
"I have advocated for 30 years that, in order to preserve our democracy
and protect ourselves against demagogues, we should have courses in
schools on how to watch TV, how to read newspapers, how to analyze a
speech, how to understand the limitations of each medium and make a
judgment as to the accuracy or the motives involved." | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense
offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen Young (), Cannabis/Hemp content selection
and analysis by Deb Harper (), 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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