| Oct. 20 , 2006 #471 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1) DEA WARNS OF SOFT DRINK-COUGH SYRUP MIX (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
When San Diego Chargers defensive back Terrence Kiel was charged last month with illegally shipping cases of prescription cough syrup back home to East Texas, it cast a spotlight on a drug trend authorities say is spreading throughout the South and being celebrated in rap songs. | ||||||||||||||||||
In a statement announcing Kiel's arrest Sept. 26, the Drug Enforcement Administration cited the rising popularity of a concoction that includes codeine-laced syrup mixed with a soft drink or sports drink. Such cocktails -- known as "Lean," "Syrup," "Sizzurp" and "Purple Drank" -- were popularized in rap mixes in the late 1990s by Robert Earl Davis Jr., a Houston disc jockey known as DJ Screw. | ||||||||||||||||||
Since then, some teens and young adults in East Texas and beyond have
been getting high on drinks in which the key ingredient is a
prescription cough suppressant that contains the opiate codeine. DEA
Special Agent Doug Coleman, who tracks the drug from the agency's
headquarters in Arlington, Va., says users typically mix an ounce of
the syrup with Sprite, a sports drink or a regional soft drink called
Big Red, then plop in a Jolly Rancher candy and pour it over ice. The
opiate produces a feeling of euphoria and causes motor skill impairment
that makes users move slowly or lean over. | ||||||||||||||||||
The scope of cough syrup abuse across the nation is unclear because national drug surveys do not ask about it specifically. However, police, federal drug agents and public health analysts from Texas to Florida say the abuse and illegal sale of codeine syrup are rising and are part of the much larger problem of prescription drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(2) LEGAL HIGHS - THE NEW 'SOCIAL TONICS'? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Britain's drugs laws are in a mess, and into the confusion has stepped
a new breed of drugs entrepreneurs who claim they have the answer:
safe, substitute substances. | ||||||||||||||||||
I meet my dealer, Matt Bowden, in the plush foyer of a Kensington hotel. He welcomes me with a big smile on his boyish face, hands over his business card and opens up his laptop. "I've got a PowerPoint presentation on the pills if you'd like to see it," he offers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Matt Bowden isn't exactly an ordinary dealer. Indeed, in the truest
sense of the word, he isn't a dealer at all. For one thing, the pills
he's selling are perfectly legal. He's a smart marketing man from New
Zealand who sees Britain's unquenchable desire for "social tonics" -
his favourite phrase - as a big opportunity. | ||||||||||||||||||
"There needs to be a move away from prohibition in drug laws," he argues in his soft Kiwi accent. "Today the laws reward gangsters and that's completely dysfunctional. What I'm saying is: let's look at it from a marketing perspective and see what consumer needs are currently being met by criminals. Are people looking to relax? Is it a social lubricant? People take E, for instance, to break down barriers so they can communicate in a social environment. I'm saying we should meet those consumer needs with something that has a lower risk profile." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(3) TOKIN' VICTORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A Guilty-As-Sin Stoner Beats the Rap, but the Sheriff Won't Discuss the
One That Got Away. | ||||||||||||||||||
May 2004, Doug Woods packed up his 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon and, with his trusty pooch Sadie riding shotgun, headed home to Boulder, Colo. He'd spent the previous six months with friends and family in Fremont, Calif., after his mother succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Before hitting the road, though, the 40-year-old bohemian scored a half-ounce of top- shelf bud from a California grower--for a steal, he boasts. | ||||||||||||||||||
En route, he stopped off in Las Vegas to visit his dad, a retired New
York City cop. Woods did a three-year stretch for burglary in the
mid-'90s, so he and the old man don't always see eye to eye. Woods
maintains he was guilty of nothing more than jilting an ex-lover. In
any event, he refused a plea deal, defended himself at trial and proved
the axiom about having a fool for a client. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Sevier County Sheriff's Deputy Adrian Hillin was clocking traffic on
Interstate 70 when Woods' Vanagon whizzed past. Hillin hit the lights,
flipped around and gassed it. | ||||||||||||||||||
"The speed limit is 65; you were only going 67," the deputy is heard
telling Woods on a video recording of the stop. "I just thought I'd
stop and make sure all your information is correct." | ||||||||||||||||||
As Woods fished out his license, registration and proof of insurance,
Hillin asked if he owned the van, where he was headed and where he'd
been. To the untrained motorist, Hillin's small talk would seem
innocuous enough. But, in fact, he was pumping Woods for incriminating
information and scanning the van for indicators of drug trafficking.
Did he borrow the van? Are his travel plans plausible? Is he coming
from a source city or headed to a destination city? Are his hands
trembling? Is he perspiring? Is the vein in his neck pulsating wildly?
What's that smell? Are there any hidden compartments? | ||||||||||||||||||
"OK, just sit tight," Hillin said as he turned back toward his police cruiser with Woods' papers in hand. "I'll run it and let you go." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(4) TURVEY'S MOMENT WAS BRILLIANT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
John Turvey was a friend of mine. We met sometime between his kicking
his heroin addiction and when he started Vancouver's first needle
exchange. | ||||||||||||||||||
He died last Wednesday, the inevitable result of his four year battle
with mitochondrial myopathy. It's a disease that interferes with nerve
function. Turvey could neither hold his eyes open nor properly swallow.
The end was a blessing. | ||||||||||||||||||
While his passing was inevitable, there was nothing inevitable about
Turvey's life. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Friends who knew him then say Turvey, with only a Grade 6 education,
was a voracious reader and a determined debater. Within a few years he
was the head social worker at Vancouver's Bayswater Crisis Centre for
kids. About that time he was also the chair of the provincial
government's Kitsilano Resources Board. He tossed it all aside in the
early '80s. For a time he sold coffee beans at the Granville Island
Market. | ||||||||||||||||||
But he wasn't out of social work for long. He was hired on a small
grant as a street worker based out of the newly re-opened Carnegie
Centre. Working the streets at night, he handed out condoms and needles
to the sex trade workers and junkies on his beat. | ||||||||||||||||||
He had his own needle exchange going before he convinced then Vancouver
mayor Gordon Campbell to come along with a pile of money. To the rest
of the country it was shockingly radical. To Turvey it was sensible and
lifesaving. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A demonized and essentially illegal drug is being touted for more possible medical uses, and that drug is not marijuana. Instead, it's the crack of the 21st century, methamphetamine. An article from Montana, where the research has taken place, suggests that the drug might help protect neurons in the brain after a stroke. Researchers expected the meth to make problems worse, and were surprised by the result. Unmentioned in the article, meth has been legally marketed to help narcolepsy and ADD under brand names like Desoxyn for years. | ||||||||||||||||||
Another set of Florida researchers are suggesting that cocaine use
is increasing. Strange that should happen after all the billions
U.S. tax-payers have sent to Colombia to stamp out the trade. Also
last week, a high profile pain doctor will have to remain in jail
waiting for a new trial even though a previous conviction was
recently overturned; and, finally, we're almost done with "Drug-Free
Labor Week" - how will you celebrate its end? | ||||||||||||||||||
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(5) ANIMAL TESTS SHOW METH MAY OFFER RELIEF TO STROKE VICTIMS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Stroke victims might one day receive relief from a startling source:
methamphetamine. | ||||||||||||||||||
The addictive drug that ruins lives in horrible ways actually
protected neurons when injected after strokes into the brains of
rats and gerbils in a Missoula laboratory. "I didn't believe it at
first," Dave Poulsen said Friday. "We thought that, based on the
literature, it was going to make the effect of stroke worse. We were
kind of surprised." | ||||||||||||||||||
Poulsen, a University of Montana research assistant professor, will be in Atlanta on Wednesday to present the findings of a team of researchers from UM, St. Patrick Hospital and Montana State University at the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference. | ||||||||||||||||||
Poulsen cautioned that testing is far from complete. Meth won't be a
panacea for stroke sufferers any time soon. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's very important that everybody understands that," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(6) UPTICK IN COCAINE DEATHS FOUND (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
After a Period of Decline, Cocaine Is Back. | ||||||||||||||||||
University of Florida researchers said Tuesday that a rise in
cocaine-related deaths in wealthy communities and college towns in
Florida - including Gainesville - could mean a recurring epidemic of
abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
New data from UF and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shows
that the number of cocaine deaths per 100,000 people in the state
has nearly doubled in the past five years, from 150 in 2000 to
nearly 300 in 2005. The steepest per capita rise in death rates was
in college towns like Gainesville and Tallahassee and wealthy,
upper-class seaside communities, such as Melbourne, West Palm Beach
and the Florida Keys, according to the data. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the 8th Judicial Circuit, which includes Alachua, Baker,
Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties, medical examiners
reported that cocaine-related deaths jumped from 17 in 2000 to 48 in
2005. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(7) DOCTOR WILL REMAIN IN PRISON UNTIL RETRIAL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Physician, Whose Drug Conviction Was Overturned, Deemed a Flight
Risk | ||||||||||||||||||
Former Northern Virginia pain-management doctor William E. Hurwitz,
whose conviction on drug-trafficking charges was overturned, will
not be released from prison until his retrial, a federal judge ruled
yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Leonard D. Wexler said he was concerned that Hurwitz might flee after a federal jury in Alexandria convicted him in 2004 of running a drug conspiracy out of his McLean office and trafficking in narcotics. Hurwitz is perhaps the most prominent doctor to be targeted in a federal crackdown on what authorities call the over-prescribing of OxyContin and other painkillers. | ||||||||||||||||||
"Things have changed with respect to flight," Wexler said as he
rejected a motion from Hurwitz's attorneys to free him on bond. "A
jury has found him guilty of 50 counts . . . I think there is a risk
of flight." | ||||||||||||||||||
The case has generated strong emotions, with Hurwitz becoming a symbol in a nationwide debate over whether licensed doctors who prescribe legal medication to patients in chronic pain should be prosecuted if their patients abuse or sell the drugs. About 10 family members and supporters were in court yesterday, and Hurwitz's brother said afterward that the judge's concerns were "laughable." | ||||||||||||||||||
"He's not going to run away," said Kenneth Hurwitz, who is a senior
associate for Human Rights First in New York. "He believes he's
innocent. This is a guy who went to law school and medical school.
He cares about his reputation. He's not someone who wants to live as
a fugitive who knows where." | ||||||||||||||||||
William Hurwitz, dressed in a green prison jumpsuit, sat quietly
during the hearing, then glanced at family members and glumly shook
his head as he was escorted out. He had been free on $2 million bond
during his first trial. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(8) DRUG USE IN THE WORKPLACE TARGETED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Drug-Free Work Week, Local Group Focus On Need For Testing,
Education | ||||||||||||||||||
Jim Phelps is always surprised at employers who tell him they don't
have any drug problems in their business. | ||||||||||||||||||
"That's because drugs aren't a problem until it's a problem," said
Phelps, of Community Recovery Resources and the Coalition For a
Drug-Free Nevada County. Phelps and Barbara Bashall of the Nevada
County Contractors Association know that drugs in the workplace is a
large problem here, and that's why they went before the Board of
Supervisors recently to discuss it. | ||||||||||||||||||
The pair also wanted to draw attention to Oct. 16-22, which is the
U.S. Department of Labor's Drug-Free Work Week. All across the
country, employers and employees will be asked to implement programs
to make their workplaces drug free. | ||||||||||||||||||
Supervisor Nate Beason had seen such a program work when he served
as a captain in the U.S. Navy. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It was a serious problem, and I saw it go to a manageable
situation," Beason said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol prohibition continues to fail in North Carolina, and those charged with stamping out illegal liquor still face an uphill battle. Trying to keep one county dry when nearby ones are wet is nothing compared to the more comprehensive prohibition we have, and yet the efforts still fail on all fronts. Also in North Carolina, some police who moonlighted as security guards at a club have been suspended from their cop jobs since the club was raided for drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Missouri, newspaper writers are amused by the irony of a drug arrestee who several years ago won an anti-drug essay contest. Of course, the weakness of the individual should not be mocked - it is the larger war and the idea that getting kids to write essays is some kind of inoculation against drugs that should be highlighted for derision. And, finally, the New York Times publishes a story showing that record expungement for drug and other offenders may not make criminal records as invisible as ex-offenders would like. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(9) JOINING FORCES TO FIGHT LIQUOR HOUSES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
After three separate fatal shootings in one week outside reported
illegal liquor houses in Charlotte, three law enforcement agencies
are joining forces to tackle the problem of such underground
businesses. | ||||||||||||||||||
Liquor houses aren't new and aren't easy to eliminate. Law
enforcement agencies nationwide have been fighting what are
sometimes known as speak-easies since at least the days of
Prohibition. The homes sell booze without permits, and often become
a den for other vices, with drugs and sex for sale. | ||||||||||||||||||
The homes create trash, traffic and trouble for neighborhoods. Add
guns to the mix, and such homes can be deadly. | ||||||||||||||||||
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they had investigated three
slayings connected to illegal liquor houses in the past two years.
That number doubled in the past week, leaving three more young men
dead. | ||||||||||||||||||
Now Mecklenburg County Alcohol Beverage Control agents, | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(10) NARCOTICS RAID LEAVES 2 DEPUTIES SUSPENDED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DURHAM -- Two more Durham County Sheriff's Office deputies have been
suspended after a Friday evening narcotics raid on a North Roxboro
Street nightclub that produced cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy
charges against one of their colleagues. | ||||||||||||||||||
Sheriff Worth Hill said deputies Brad King and Keith Dotson were ordered home from off-duty jobs Friday night and suspended as the investigation continued. One of them was working security at the club, La Zona, at 2825 N. Roxboro Road, when Friday's raid occurred. | ||||||||||||||||||
Deputies who conducted Friday's raid had expected to find both King and Dotson at La Zona, but one turned out to be working an off-duty job elsewhere. But both "worked there regular," Hill said, adding that investigators had been watching the club "for a long time." | ||||||||||||||||||
Hill added that both deputies could face disciplinary action, but he
wouldn't specify whether that might include criminal charges.
"They've got some problems, let's put it that way. The extent of it
I just can't get into right now," he said Sunday. "We'll know pretty
soon." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(11) ESSAY WINNER FORGOT HER LESSON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
A woman who was honored a decade ago for an essay about avoiding
drugs and alcohol has been ordered to spend the next decade in
federal prison for distributing meth. | ||||||||||||||||||
Susan M. Gardner, 24, of Independence, sold methamphetamine to
undercover detectives four times and led police on a chase before
she was arrested with another package of the drug stuffed in her
pants. | ||||||||||||||||||
In imposing the sentence of 10 years and one month in prison on
Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner said Gardner had the
capacity to live a productive life. | ||||||||||||||||||
But, he said, there was a price she had to pay for her actions. | ||||||||||||||||||
"You were significantly involved with the distribution of drugs in
this community," Fenner said. "That's something that has to be taken
seriously and cannot be tolerated." | ||||||||||||||||||
Fenner said he would recommend that Gardner be sent to a prison where she can enroll in a 500-hour substance-abuse program. | ||||||||||||||||||
Defense attorney Robert Kuchar said it was a "sad situation." | ||||||||||||||||||
"We're dealing with a decent young lady who made some bad decisions
in her life," he said. | ||||||||||||||||||
When Garden was in eighth grade, the Missouri Peace Officers
Association picked her essay as the best of more than 400 other
entries, according to news accounts. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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(12) EXPUNGED CRIMINAL RECORDS LIVE TO TELL TALES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
In 41 states, people accused or convicted of crimes have the legal
right to rewrite history. They can have their criminal records
expunged, and in theory that means that all traces of their
encounters with the justice system will disappear. | ||||||||||||||||||
But enormous commercial databases are fast undoing the societal
bargain of expungement, one that used to give people who had
committed minor crimes a clean slate and a fresh start. | ||||||||||||||||||
Most states seal at least some records of juvenile offenses. Many
states also allow adults arrested for or convicted of minor crimes
like possessing marijuana, shoplifting or disorderly conduct to ask
a judge, sometimes after a certain amount of time has passed without
further trouble, to expunge their records. If the judge agrees, the
records are destroyed or sealed. | ||||||||||||||||||
But real expungement is becoming significantly harder to accomplish
in the electronic age. Records once held only in paper form by law
enforcement agencies, courts and corrections departments are now
routinely digitized and sold in bulk to the private sector. Some
commercial databases now contain more than 100 million criminal
records. They are updated only fitfully, and expunged records now
often turn up in criminal background checks ordered by employers and
landlords. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (13-16) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Last Thursday, the feds reinforced their vindictive and relentless
image once again by pursuing prominent California medical marijuana
advocate, Ed Rosenthal. The feds brought 14 new felony charges,
including cultivation, money laundering and tax evasion against the
outspoken activist. Ed's worst fears include knowing it really
doesn't matter if he wins or not. | ||||||||||||||||||
Promising news from the world of science - research shows cannabis
has potential to slow the onset of Alzheimer's, and though not a
cure, could lead to a treatment for the disease. | ||||||||||||||||||
A Dutch appeals court handed down a landmark ruling allowing a MS patient to grow cannabis for his personal use. It appears the Dutch lag behind Canada and some states in the U.S. which allow medical patients to grow under certain conditions, but there could be less urgency attached to some quality of life issues because the coffeehouses fill a huge void found everywhere else in the world. | ||||||||||||||||||
And lastly, cannabis is proving to be more versatile than ever, not only as the peace drug, but now the war drug.. sort of... In Afghanistan, 10 foot plants are being used for cover by the Taleban and camouflage by Canadian troops. The Canadian troops standing downwind when they tried (unsuccessfully) to burn the forest, "... decided that was probably not the right course of action." | ||||||||||||||||||
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(13) MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE FACES NEW U.S. INDICTMENT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SAN FRANCISCO - A leading medical marijuana advocate who
successfully appealed his federal conviction this year has been
indicted on new criminal charges that include tax evasion and money
laundering. | ||||||||||||||||||
The man, Ed Rosenthal, a well-known spokesman for the movement to
legalize marijuana, was already facing a retrial on federal charges
of growing marijuana for medical use. He is to be arraigned Monday
in Federal District Court here on the new indictment, unsealed late
Thursday. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"They want to shut me up," he said. "They are vindictive. They don't
like anybody beating them, and they will go after you again and
again until they wear you down." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The new charges against Mr. Rosenthal are similar to those in a 2002
federal indictment. At the time, Mr. Rosenthal worked for the City
of Oakland and was sanctioned under city and state laws to grow
marijuana plants and sell them to dispensaries. He was convicted by
a jury, but a federal appeals court overturned the decision, citing
juror misconduct. He was granted a new trial, and prosecutors were
moving forward, but the new federal indictment supersedes the
earlier one. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(14) MARIJUANA'S ACTIVE INGREDIENT MAY ACTUALLY IMPROVE MEMORY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
(AMES, Iowa) - It seems sacrificing your memory now could lead to
saving it in the future. | ||||||||||||||||||
A new study, published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics by
researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California has
found that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the
progression of Alzheimer's disease. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"What various studies around the world are starting to show is that
the basic ingredient in marijuana, the cannabis, may actually
increase the level of a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which
we need to form new memories," Bender said. "It also may block the
formation of something called amyloid plaques." | ||||||||||||||||||
Amyloid plaques are very common in the brains affected by
Alzheimer's disease and may be a key to why patients develop the
disease, Bender said. Plaques result when the brain cannot breakdown
amyloid normally. The resulting build-up of plaques impair brain
function and nerve transmission. | ||||||||||||||||||
He also said researchers have found that the cannabis may decrease inflammation in the brain of patients who have Alzheimer's disease. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
In Bender's opinion, since this research doesn't get at the cause of
Alzheimer's, it will probably lead to a treatment, rather than a
cure. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"I think that in families that have been seriously affected by
[Alzheimer's], certainly any hope that's out there brings them out
of the woodworks looking for support," she said. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It does have the potential to change the impression of the public." | ||||||||||||||||||
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(15) DUTCH MS PATIENT ALLOWED TO GROW POT (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
THE HAGUE - A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday handed down a landmark
ruling allowing an MS patient to grow cannabis for his personal use
to alleviate the symptoms of his illness. | ||||||||||||||||||
Although it is legal in the Netherlands to sell and consume small
amounts of cannabis and hashish in licensed cafes, growing and
trafficking the drugs are banned. Tuesday's ruling is the first time
Dutch authorities have made an exception on the ban on growing
cannabis for personal medical use. | ||||||||||||||||||
The case before the appeals court in Leeuwarden in the northern Netherlands involved 51-year old Wim Moorlag, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, and his wife Klasiena Hooijer, who grew cannabis. They cultivated just enough to meet Moorlag's daily use of three grams, namely some 300 grams per harvest every 15 weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||
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(16) MARIJUANA FIGHTERS FOX CANADIANS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Taleban fighters using giant Afghan marijuana forests for cover are
proving a tough foe to smoke out, the head of Canada's armed forces
has revealed. | ||||||||||||||||||
Thickets three metres (10ft) high readily absorb heat, making them
hard to penetrate with thermal devices, said Gen Rick Hillier in a
speech in Ottawa. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Burning them is not an option as they are laden with water, the
general said. | ||||||||||||||||||
He was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency that the crew of at
least one armoured car had responded by camouflaging their vehicle
with marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
"We tried burning [the marijuana forests] with white phosphorous -
it didn't work," said Gen Hillier. | ||||||||||||||||||
"We tried burning them with diesel - it didn't work. The plants are so full of water right now... that we simply couldn't burn them." | ||||||||||||||||||
He noted that a couple of brown plants on the edges of some of the forests had caught fire but this had posed yet another problem. | ||||||||||||||||||
"A section of soldiers that was downwind from that had some ill
effects and decided that was probably not the right course of
action," he said, speaking dryly, according to Reuters. | ||||||||||||||||||
One soldier had told him: | ||||||||||||||||||
"Sir, three years ago before I joined the army, I never thought I'd
say 'That damn marijuana'." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
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International News | ||||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (17-20) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
From Scotland this week, a new report from a team headed by Dr.
David Shewan at Glasgow Caledonian University revealed that heroin
use in prison was increasing, driven by prison drug testing. The
"the policy of drug testing had turned cannabis-using inmates into
heroin addicts. It's the drug testing that's knocked guys from
smoking cannabis on to heroin because cannabis is in your system for
28 days after you've had a smoke," one male prisoner said. Once
again, a policy intended to make people stop using drugs backfired
badly, turning cannabis users into heroin addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
From Colombia, we get a another admission of the failure of "Plan
Colombia" this week as "American aid is quietly being cut back in a
region where cocaine production is surging." The six-year, $4
billion plan to force Colombians to not grow coca hasn't put a dent
in coca availability in the U.S., while at the same time cocaine
prices have fallen. The news of a reduced "Plan Colombia" follows
release of an "internal memo" from the United States Agency for
International Development which admits that crop replacement schemes
have failed in coca-rich Caqueta State. | ||||||||||||||||||
In Mexico, suggestions that "drugs be legalized" ignited a simmering
debate there. Ernesto Ruffo Appel, a former governor, suggested that
government get out of the drug prohibition business. "If someone
wants to prick their veins, let them do so," said Ruffo. "But they
should no longer be allowed to drag down governments." Alberto
Capella Ibarra, president of Baja California's Citizens' Advisory
Committee on Public Safety: "It seems that Mr. Ruffo is correct, on
an issue that has become politically very difficult for many
leaders." | ||||||||||||||||||
Meanwhile this week, U.K. tabloids are running with reports that
cannabis is "more dangerous than heroin," on the heels of a
Conservative Party social justice policy review. Unsurprisingly,
conservatives estimate that "95% of psychiatrists" say that cannabis
"causes" psychosis. The posturing over cannabis policy is in
preparation for the upcoming General Election, where conservatives
are expected to run on a popular platform of increasing punishments
for those who take cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(17) EXPLOSIVE REPORT REVEALS TRUE EXTENT OF PRISON DRUG ABUSE (Top)EPIDEMIC | ||||||||||||||||||
A new 265-page report has revealed the grim extent of drug abuse
within the Scottish prison system. | ||||||||||||||||||
The result of two years of work by a research team led by Dr David
Shewan at Glasgow Caledonian University, it garnered views directly
from prison inmates and addiction staff about the scale of the drugs
epidemic and how it should be tackled. | ||||||||||||||||||
This week the explosive findings from the study - commissioned by
the Scottish Prison Service to inform its policy and considered the
most in-depth study of its kind - are made public for the first time
by the Sunday Herald. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Controversially, researchers were told that the policy of drug testing had turned cannabis-using inmates into heroin addicts. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It's the drug testing that's knocked guys from smoking cannabis on
to heroin because cannabis is in your system for 28 days after
you've had a smoke," one male prisoner said. "Whereas with smack, I
can take a burn of smack now, go back to ma cell, drink three litres
of water and it'll no' be in ma system. If I did that with cannabis
I'd get done. | ||||||||||||||||||
"So a lot of people are turning to heroin for that | ||||||||||||||||||
Another said: "I know guys that actually come in - doesn't take
smack outside - well-respected guys, come into prison and started
taking smack and ended up with a smack habit in prison for the
simple reason that it's easier tae get smack out your system than it
is cannabis." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Staff and prisoners in some prisons linked the perceived rise in
drug use with the end of the policy of taking remission as a
punishment. It was argued that punishments now in force - such as
losing recreation for seven days or losing wages - did not deter
prisoners from taking drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
The fear of violence and disturbance was another reason prisoners
felt that staff failed to act on their knowledge of drug abuse.
"There'd be trouble. There'd be stabbings. Officers would get
stabbed, 'cause there's two of them in the hall. There are probably
about 280 prisoners." | ||||||||||||||||||
In a damning indictment of current efforts to tackle drugs and their
health consequences in jails, one addictions co-ordinator said: "The
main problems are simply a matter of resources. It's a public health
issue and it's a massive health problem. I estimate there are 2500
problematic drug misusers who pass through here every year. A lot of
these guys will use needles. Those who use needles, generally
speaking, tend to be HIV-positive or have hepatitis C, or some other
blood-borne virus, so there's a huge healthcare issue which I don't
think it being adequately addressed." | ||||||||||||||||||
Another specialist said: "I think they have to admit at some point
that there is a strong problem within prisons and we're compounding
the problem by taking away, for instance, syringes, because then
they're really sharing with people whose backgrounds they don't
know. So we're actually encouraging the spread of some of the things
that we're trying to reduce." | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
The survey of addiction teams revealed that 43% agreed or strongly
agreed that most prisoners with drug problems are not in contact
with drug interventions. A further 49% agreed or strongly agreed
that mandatory drug testing (MDT) had led prisoners to change their
drug use to heroin. A further 22% said they did not know. A large
minority of staff - 40% - believed MDT "no longer served any
purpose". | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
* 88% admitted that drugs were present both in prisons' designated
drug free areas and drug support units. | ||||||||||||||||||
* 49% of addiction staff said they believed that mandatory drug
tests had caused prisoners to change their drug use to opiates, such
as heroin. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(18) LESS AID FOR COLOMBIAN STATES RICH IN COCA (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
SAN JOSE DEL FRAGUA, Colombia -- A $4 billion battle to wean
Colombian farmers off the cocaine trade through a combination of
military might and American aid is quietly being cut back in a
region where cocaine production is surging. | ||||||||||||||||||
In an internal memo, the United States Agency for International
Development cites unacceptable security risks for its workers and a
lack of private investment partners for its pullout from Caqueta
State. | ||||||||||||||||||
Six years and more than $4 billion in American tax dollars after
Plan Colombia began in Caqueta, coca, the raw ingredient of cocaine,
is still the region's No. 1 cash crop. But the programs meant to
provide farmers with a profitable alternative to growing coca are
vanishing. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(19) LEADERS DEBATE PLAN TO LEGALIZE DRUGS IN MEXICO (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
TIJUANA - A former governor's proposal that drugs be legalized in
Mexico has set off a sharp debate in this region plagued by
drug-related violence. | ||||||||||||||||||
In the days since Ernesto Ruffo Appel brought up the subject at a
business forum in Mexicali, it has drawn the attention of political,
civic and religious leaders across the state. | ||||||||||||||||||
"If someone wants to prick their veins, let them do so," Ruffo, a member of the National Action Party, or PAN, said on Friday. "But they should no longer be allowed to drag down governments." | ||||||||||||||||||
The issue of legalizing or decriminalizing drugs has come amid a
growing outcry against violence in Baja California, much of it
related to drug trafficking. On Saturday, the Citizens Front for
Security is expected to begin a 16-day march through the state to
bring attention to the region's crime problems. | ||||||||||||||||||
One of the march's leaders, Alberto Capella Ibarra, said yesterday
that he would back a proposal to decriminalize drugs. | ||||||||||||||||||
"It seems that Mr. Ruffo is correct, on an issue that has become
politically very difficult for many leaders," said Capella,
president of Baja California's Citizens' Advisory Committee on
Public Safety. | ||||||||||||||||||
Capella said suspects arrested with small amounts of drugs for
personal use are routinely released by federal prosecutors, who
investigate drug-related crimes. "In the strict sense, drugs are
already legalized," Capella said. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Ruffo's proposal hit a nerve, and many are opposing it, including
Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy and Tijuana Roman Catholic
Bishop Rafael Romo Munoz. During a stop in Tijuana yesterday,
Elorduy, who is also a PAN member, said drug prevention programs in
schools and rehabilitation programs are the appropriate way to
combat drug abuse. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
(20) CANNABIS: A DRUG MORE DANGEROUS THAN HEROIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Robin Murray, professor of psychiatry at the Institute of
Psychiatry, and a consultant at the Maudsley Hospital, is one of the
few UK experts studying cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||||
For years, he has been warning about the harm the drug can cause,
pointing out that cannabis is the common reason for relapses in
psychiatric patients. | ||||||||||||||||||
The same relapse was evident at Yale medical school when volunteers
were given THC, the major active ingredient of cannabis, by
injection. | ||||||||||||||||||
Professor Murray said recently: "Five years ago, 95% of | ||||||||||||||||||
Now I would say that 95% say it does. It is a quiet | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
Mary Brett, the researcher who prepared the report for the Tories,
has criticised the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (who
reviewed the evidence in 2002 and advised the government to
downgrade cannabis) because not one single expert on cannabis,
psychosis or schizophrenia was a member. | ||||||||||||||||||
The issue, it's clear, will be there to battle over at the next
General Election. It's a gloomy prospect. | ||||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
POTHEADS, PURITANS, AND PRAGMATISTS | ||||||||||||||||||
Two marijuana initiatives put drug warriors on the defensive. | ||||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
BRITAIN - POT USE DOWN DRAMATICALLY FOLLOWING CANNABIS RECLASSIFICATION | ||||||||||||||||||
October 19, 2006 - London, United Kingdom | ||||||||||||||||||
London, United Kingdom: Self-reported cannabis use among Britons has
declined dramatically following a 2004 Home Office decision to
downgrade cannabis possession to a non-arrestable offense, according
to statistics published this week in the UK government's 2005-2006
British Crime Survey. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||||
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| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
AFGHANISTAN THROWS OUT GROUP URGING LEGAL OPIUM -- NOT | ||||||||||||||||||
The Senlis Council, the European development and security nonprofit
that has proposed diverting Afghanistan's booming black market opium
crop into the legal medicinal market to address a global shortage of
pain meds, is to be thrown out of the country. At least that's what
a handful of press stories this week reported. But despite the
reports, Senlis isn't going anywhere, the group told Drug War
Chronicle. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
STONED IN SUBURBIA | ||||||||||||||||||
A really nice documentary made in the UK. Shows a side of cannabis
use that is rarely talked about in the mainsteam, the use of cannabis
by seniors. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
JOIN DPR ACTIVISTS FROM AROUND NORTH AMERICA | ||||||||||||||||||
Tue. October 24/06, 09:00 p.m. ET | ||||||||||||||||||
Of special note in October will be review of the new MAP LTE Team which
has already helped produce a 20% increase in PUB LTEs. We'll also be
focusing on how to get more LTEs into Colorado and Nevada newspapers to
help facilitate passage of their respective initiatives to legalize
marijuana for adults. | ||||||||||||||||||
Discussion is conducted via the Paltalk messaging program and is
carried in either TEXT or via VOICE (you'll need a microphone and
speakers for the latter mode). | ||||||||||||||||||
See http://mapinc.org/resource/paltalk.htm for full details on the
easy, free download. | ||||||||||||||||||
Questions, comments? Contact Steve directly at | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
YES ON 44 | ||||||||||||||||||
By Laura Kriho | ||||||||||||||||||
Colorado was the first state to vote to repeal alcohol prohibition
in 1932, and we have the chance to be the first state to vote to
repeal cannabis ( marijuana ) prohibition with the passage of
Amendment 44. In 1932, forward-thinking Colorado citizens put an
initiative on the ballot to repeal alcohol prohibition. It passed
with 56 percent of the vote. | ||||||||||||||||||
However, in 1937, Congress enacted cannabis prohibition via the
Marijuana Tax Act. Cannabis prohibition created a new black market
in cannabis, which has led to the same violence and corruption seen
in the alcohol prohibition era. It also gave rise to government
agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration, which not only
uses your tax dollars to arrest and imprison nonviolent cannabis
users, but also actively campaigns for cannabis prohibition in our
democratic elections. | ||||||||||||||||||
In more than 10,000 years of almost constant human use, cannabis has
never caused a single overdose. It is safer than aspirin and has
many more medicinal uses. In 1988, the DEA's chief administrative
law judge called it the "safest therapeutically active substances
known to man." Cannabis, like alcohol, should be legal for adults to
use in the privacy of their own home for recreation as well as
medicine. It is prohibition that causes harm to society, not the
substance. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol prohibition only lasted from 1920 to 1933, a mere 13 years. Cannabis prohibition has lasted an amazing 69 years. Why has it taken so long to learn, again, that prohibition doesn't work? | ||||||||||||||||||
In 2005, Denver voters ended cannabis prohibition for small amounts
possessed by adults in the city. In 2006, Colorado voters have the
chance to do the same thing. Let's uphold our proud tradition as a
bellwether state and be the first state to vote to repeal cannabis
prohibition and end this failed policy. Bring your friends to the
polls on Nov. 7, and vote YES on 44. | ||||||||||||||||||
Laura Kriho | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - SEPTEMBER (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Stephen Heath for his four letters published
during September, bringing the total number of published letters
archived by MAP to 198. Besides writing letters to the editor, Steve
does volunteer work in support of the LEAP Speakers Bureau
http://www.leap.cc/speakers/ and is a volunteer editor at MAP. Steve
leads MAP's Media Activism Facilitator project | ||||||||||||||||||
You may read all of Steve's published letters at | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
Marijuana Use A Safer Choice Than Alcohol | ||||||||||||||||||
Colorado -- Amendment 44, the Alcohol-Marijuana Equalization
Initiative, was proposed for one simple reason: The laws currently
on the books force adults to choose alcohol instead of marijuana
when they seek to relax or socialize. Given alcohol is far more
harmful than marijuana, this makes no sense whatsoever. | ||||||||||||||||||
Let's consider just a few of the facts. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol is deadly; marijuana is not. According to the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control, approximately 20,000 Americans die annually as
the direct result of alcohol consumption. The comparable number for
marijuana is zero. | ||||||||||||||||||
In addition, as the Colorado on-campus deaths of students like Samantha Spady and Gordy Bailey make clear, alcohol overdose deaths are not just possible, but an all-too-frequent occurrence. Marijuana, on the other hand, has never caused an overdose death. | ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol increases the likelihood of violent behavior; marijuana does
not. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice has reported the
following about crime in the United States: "Two-thirds of victims
who suffered violence by an intimate (a current or former spouse,
boyfriend, or girlfriend) reported that alcohol had been a factor.
Among spouse victims, three out of four incidents were reported to
have involved an offender who had been drinking." | ||||||||||||||||||
Alcohol is especially problematic on college campuses. Drinking by
college students, ages 18 to 24, contributes to an estimated 1,400
student deaths, 500,000 injuries and 70,000 cases of sexual assaults
or date rapes each year, according to a 2002 study commissioned by
the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Task Force on
College Drinking. | ||||||||||||||||||
While these numbers are staggering, some statistics are even more
powerful when conveyed as percentages. For example, researchers at
the Harvard School of Public Health College found that nearly three
quarters (72 percent) of all college female rape victims experienced
rape while intoxicated. | ||||||||||||||||||
In order to correct this illogical system, and to give adults the freedom to use marijuana if that is what they prefer, we have proposed making the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana legal for individuals 21 years of age and older. If you look at the language of our proposed measure, you will see this is our only intent. In fact, we specifically make it clear that possession of marijuana by individuals under the age of 21 will remain illegal. | ||||||||||||||||||
Yet the attorney general of this state, John Suthers, in The
Chieftain, has accused us of "recklessly" legalizing transfers of
marijuana to minors. He has even libelously said that we are
advocating such a change in law. | ||||||||||||||||||
He knowingly ignored the fact that the drafters of the Blue Book
(state voter guide) in the state legislature were the ones who
claimed our initiative would legalize transfers to minors, with
language the Rocky Mountain News called "misleading" and "false." In
response, we sued the Legislative Council in court in order to
clarify that such transfers would remain illegal after passage of
our initiative due to the existence of a "contributing the
delinquency of a minor" statute. | ||||||||||||||||||
This statute provides, in very clear language, that it is a felony
to aid a minor in breaking a state law. Since possession of
marijuana by a minor will still be illegal after passage of our
initiative, providing a minor with any amount of marijuana will be a
felony. | ||||||||||||||||||
The attorney general said in his column - and the Chieftain
editorial board strangely agreed - that a "creative defense
attorney" would somehow convince a judge that people voting for our
initiative intended to make transfers of marijuana to minors legal.
This is absurd. | ||||||||||||||||||
The attorney general should be far more concerned about the fact
that he is going around the state telling defense attorneys that the
contributing to the delinquency of a minor statute does not apply to
transfers of marijuana to minors. This means individuals committing
such an act will only be charged under current possession laws and
subject to a $100 fine, which your paper recognizes as "not a high
priority for law enforcement." If he doesn't think marijuana should
be transferred to minors, why on earth is he telling everyone it is
(and should remain) only a $100 fine right now and not a felony?
Nice work, Mr. Suthers. | ||||||||||||||||||
Please don't let elected officials fool or scare you into keeping
marijuana illegal. Those who want to maintain our alcohol-based
society - and the violence and death frequently associated with it -
are the ones who are truly "reckless." | ||||||||||||||||||
Vote YES on Amendment 44 and help make Colorado safer. | ||||||||||||||||||
political action group promoting Amendment 44 marijuana legalization. This piece was originally published in the Pueblo Chieftain. | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||||
"Through all of history mankind has ingested psychedelic substances.
Those substances exist to put you in touch with spirits beyond
yourself, with the creator, with the creative impulse of the planet."
- Ray Manzarek | ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
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Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
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