| Dec. 15, 2006 #479 | ||||||||||||||||
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Note: This issue of the DrugSense Weekly was delayed due to a wind storm knocking out power in the Pacific Northwest. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/16/wind-storm.html | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) POT IS CALLED BIGGEST CASH CROP (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The $35-Billion Market Value Of U.S.-Grown Cannabis Tops That Of Such Heartland Staples As Corn And Hay, A Marijuana Activist Says. | ||||||||||||||||
SACRAMENTO -- For years, activists in the marijuana legalization
movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop.
Now they're citing government statistics to prove it. | ||||||||||||||||
A report released today by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the U.S. exceeds $35 billion -- far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay, which are the top three legal cash crops. | ||||||||||||||||
California is responsible for more than a third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined -- and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report states. | ||||||||||||||||
The report estimates that marijuana production has increased tenfold
in the past quarter century despite an exhaustive anti-drug effort by
law enforcement. | ||||||||||||||||
Jon Gettman, the report's author, is a public policy consultant and leading proponent of the push to drop marijuana from the federal list of hard-core Schedule 1 drugs -- which are deemed to have no medicinal value and a high likelihood of abuse -- such as heroin and LSD. | ||||||||||||||||
He argues that the data support his push to begin treating cannabis
like tobacco and alcohol by legalizing and reaping a tax windfall
from it, while controlling production and distribution to better
restrict use by teenagers. | ||||||||||||||||
"Despite years of effort by law enforcement, they're not getting rid
of it," Gettman said. "Not only is the problem worse in terms of
magnitude of cultivation, but production has spread all around the
country. To say the genie is out of the bottle is a profound
understatement." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(2) DRUG-DRIVING TEST FAILS PUBLIC EXAM (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Francis Paul doesn't look like she is stoned - but a test she failed
says otherwise. | ||||||||||||||||
The 76-year-old Rotorua woman doesn't smoke cannabis or take any illegal substances - but she does suffer from arthritis, which caused her to fail a mock drug test conducted by the Daily Post yesterday. | ||||||||||||||||
The test, based on one police propose to use from next year on drivers
they suspect have used drugs, included walking a straight line,
balancing with eyes shut and a time test. | ||||||||||||||||
More than half the people tested in the unofficial survey failed the
simple walk and balance tests. | ||||||||||||||||
And they say they weren't under the influence. | ||||||||||||||||
Rotorua police say that with the number of drug-affected drivers on the
increase, the new test is a positive move. | ||||||||||||||||
They say anything to get such drivers off the road is a good thing. | ||||||||||||||||
When the new regime is introduced by police, drivers who fail will be
required to give a blood sample, something police may currently not
demand. | ||||||||||||||||
Because of her medical condition Mrs Paul is unable to walk a straight
line and was unable to stop herself swaying while balancing with her
eyes closed. | ||||||||||||||||
She said the test was inadequate and would encroach on people's right
to privacy. She fears the wrong people could be targeted by the
impairment tests. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(3) SOBERING VACATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A New Wave of Addiction Treatment Centers Is Turning Malibu into the
Capital of Luxury Rehab -- and Raising Questions About Whether Five-
Star Service and Recovery Mix. | ||||||||||||||||
MALIBU, Calif. -- Each sumptuous bed here at a retreat called Promises has been fitted with Frette linens and a cashmere throw. | ||||||||||||||||
The elongated pool beckons as does the billiard room beyond, tucked into the Santa Monica mountains overlooking the Pacific Ocean. | ||||||||||||||||
But not just anyone can come to this exclusive getaway -- and really,
not many would want to. Promises is an addiction-treatment center that
caters to a mix of celebrities, corporate chiefs, their families and
people who want to live like them. | ||||||||||||||||
Promises is part of a growing niche in the burgeoning business of addiction treatment: centers that are truly, deeply luxurious. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(4) BONGS SET FOR NATIONAL BAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE Howard Government is pushing for a ban on the sale of marijuana
bongs throughout Australia. | ||||||||||||||||
The Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Christopher Pyne, said
the Government believed the legal sale of bongs sent a tacit signal
that the Government approved the use of such drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Pyne's call follows a landmark report this week from former Federal Police Commissioner Mick Palmer which found that smoking cannabis, particularly by young people, substantially increases the risk of mental illness and worsens existing mental health conditions. | ||||||||||||||||
Bongs can usually be found for sale in tobacconists and sometimes even
service stations. They feature a small bowl in which marijuana is
placed. | ||||||||||||||||
The smoke is then inhaled through cooling water in the base of the pipe
to deliver the "hit". | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Most shoppers at city store Off Ya Tree, which sells bongs and smoking
pipes, opposed a ban on bongs. | ||||||||||||||||
"No, I don't like smoking through plastic bottles," one shopper said. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's not going to stop anyone from smoking anyway," another said. | ||||||||||||||||
"They will find a more unhealthy way to smoke it." | ||||||||||||||||
Mr Pyne admitted it could be hard to ban bongs because they could be
used for legal purposes such as tobacco smoking. | ||||||||||||||||
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Even though this section normally concentrates on U.S. drug policy,
I just had to bring attention to a fantastic British column which
does an excellent job of covering the fallacies of prohibition and
arguing for treating addiction as a medical illness. American
columnist, Neal Peirce, follows a similar path with his column which
received press in several papers this week. | ||||||||||||||||
Good news from the East Coast as New Jersey finally joins the rest
of our nation by passing legislation to allow a needle-exchange
pilot program. | ||||||||||||||||
Closing on a humorous note, a University of South Carolina student
grabbed readers' attention with a catchy title and comparing laws
against poor diets with drug laws. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) Column: DRUGS: WHY WE SHOULD MEDICALISE, NOT CRIMINALISE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
If you are a desperate drug addict and you are neither a trust fund
babe nor a doctor with a prescription pad, you really have only
three ways to pay for your habit: you steal, you deal or you sell
your body. For those poor young women who have too many scruples to
steal or deal, prostitution is often the only answer. Some 95 per
cent of prostitutes, according to a Home Office study, are what they
call "problematic drug users". | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
And it is not just the law on compensation that should be changed.
It is the law on drugs themselves. Drug addiction is a medical
condition; it should not be treated as a criminal offence. The crime
that results from drug addiction is a direct result of the drugs'
illegality. The organised criminal gangs, with their violence,
corruption and money laundering; the street gangs, with their gun
crime, stabbings and intimidation; the muggers, burglars, car
thieves and shoplifters, who steal to fund their habit; the dealers
who try to create new addicts; and finally, the prostitutes who put
their health and lives at risk; all this crime and suffering could
be wiped out if the drugs were available, free, on prescription.
Some 50 to 80 per cent of prisoners are in jail for crimes related
to raising money to buy drugs. Nearly half of women prisoners are
there specifically for drug offences and nearly three-quarters have
had a drug problem. The cost to the criminal justice system is huge.
The cost to the individuals, their families and wider society is
greater still. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
This isn't just the whim of a crazy columnist. The former head of
Interpol, Raymond Kendall, has called for drugs to be "medicalised"
instead of criminalised. He spent his life trying to control the
supply of drugs, only to see how pointless the effort was. Drugs are
now available on virtually every street corner, ready to destroy
lives. | ||||||||||||||||
So let's save lives instead. Let's take the profits out of the
pockets of criminal gangs and dealers. Let's make our streets safer.
And let's give these poor young girls the opportunity of a better
life, with dignity, security and scant chance of ending up murdered
and dumped in a ditch. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(6) Column: THE OTHER WAR WE CAN'T WIN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Pick your week or month, the evidence keeps rolling in to show this
country's vaunted "war on drugs" is as destructively misguided as
our cataclysmic error in invading Iraq. | ||||||||||||||||
There are 2.2 million Americans behind bars, another 5 million on
probation or parole, the Justice Department reported on Nov. 30. We
exceed Russia and Cuba in incarcerations per 100,000 people; in
fact, no other nation comes close. The biggest single reason for the
expanding numbers? Our war on drugs -- a quarter of all sentences
are for drug offenses, mostly nonviolent. | ||||||||||||||||
So has the "war" worked? Has drug use or addiction declined? Clearly
not. Hard street drugs are reportedly cheaper and purer, and as easy
to get, as when President Richard Nixon declared substance abuse a
"national emergency." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
We'd be incredibly better off if we had treated drugs as a
public-health issue instead of a criminal issue -- as the celebrated
Nobel Prize-winning economist, Milton Friedman, in fact advised us.
Friedman, who died last month at 94, witnessed America's
misadventure into alcohol prohibition in his youth. "We had this
spectacle of Al Capone, of the hijackings, the gang wars," wrote
Friedman. He decried turning users into criminals: "Prohibition is
an attempted cure that makes matters worse -- for both the addict
and the rest of us." | ||||||||||||||||
And in one of his last interviews, Friedman asked the relevant
questions: "Should we allow the killing to go on in the ghettos?
10,000 additional murders a year? ... Should we continue to destroy
Colombia and Afghanistan?" | ||||||||||||||||
The ironic truth is that humans have used drugs -- psychoactive
substances ranging from opium and coca to alcohol, hemp, tobacco and
coffee -- since the dawn of history. Problems get triggered when
substances are associated with despised or feared subgroups,
according to a careful study by the King County, Wash., Bar
Association. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The United States professes values of freedom, tolerance and love
for peace. Yet now, in its drug laws, its wholesale incarceration
practices and increasingly in its international drug practices, the
country lurches in a polar-opposite direction. | ||||||||||||||||
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(7) N.J. LEGISLATURE APPROVES PILOT NEEDLE-EXCHANGE PLAN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TRENTON - It took more than a decade to muster the votes, but the
New Jersey Legislature approved a pilot program yesterday that would
allow intravenous drug users to swap their dirty needles for clean
ones. | ||||||||||||||||
The Senate and Assembly both voted to allow six cities to establish
needle exchanges, a move proponents say will go a long way toward
reducing the spread of blood-borne disease, particularly HIV-AIDS,
through the sharing of infected needles. Officials in drug-plagued
Camden and Atlantic City have already said they would apply to
participate in the program, which Gov. Corzine said yesterday he
would sign into law. | ||||||||||||||||
When that happens, New Jersey will become the last state in the
country to offer some form of needle access. All others have
exchange programs or allow the over-the-counter sale of hypodermic
needles. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Needle exchange proposals have been floated in New Jersey since at
least 1993 but died amid opposition from those who argue that such
programs effectively endorse drug use. Though the Assembly has
approved exchange legislation before, the concept met with too much
resistance in the Senate. | ||||||||||||||||
In 2004, when former Gov. Jim McGreevey tried to circumvent the
legislative process by creating a needle-exchange program through
executive order, critics killed the effort in court. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Proponents say the program will go a long way toward tackling the
HIV-AIDS problem in New Jersey. Statewide, there are about 33,000
people with the disease - the fifth-largest number in the country.
And minorities are affected disproportionately - more than
three-quarters of those infected are black or Hispanic, and more
than a third are women. | ||||||||||||||||
More than a quarter of the total - about 9,500 people - contracted
the disease by sharing infected drug needles, according to June data
released by the health department. | ||||||||||||||||
Critics question whether needle-exchange programs help, but advocates point to several studies that show the spread of HIV-AIDS dropping in places where exchanges have been established. | ||||||||||||||||
The programs don't only reduce the transmission of disease,
proponents say. They also bring addicts into contact with
health-care professionals and services, raising their chances of
rehabilitation. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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(8) OPED: WHO GOT TRANS FAT IN MY WATER BONG? (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Legislation could bring new meaning to phrase 'rolling a fatty' in
time Let's face it, banning trans fats extends government power much
too far into the private sector for comfort and takes nanny
state-ism to a new extreme. | ||||||||||||||||
Give people the choice to be fat if they want - at least, that seems
to be how many people on campus feel. | ||||||||||||||||
But many of these pro-personal responsibility advocates don't speak out against anti-drug legislation, and that just doesn't make sense. | ||||||||||||||||
Binging daily on trans fatty-loaded McDonald's fries is completely
acceptable, but smoking marijuana in the privacy of your own home is
not? | ||||||||||||||||
"But drugs are so dangerous." Please. How many people died of heart
disease last year compared to drug overdose? | ||||||||||||||||
Drug-related violence, however, is absolutely a legitimate concern -
that can be easily solved with legalizing drugs. Nicotine is highly
addictive, but there aren't gun-slinging gang fights over cigarettes
in gas station parking lots. | ||||||||||||||||
By providing regulated access to currently controlled substances,
violence would actually be reduced. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But it all comes back to personal responsibility. If you think
people shouldn't be told what they can and can't put into their
bodies, it's time to stop letting propaganda and the past make
decisions for you. | ||||||||||||||||
It's time to stop wasting countless dollars and let people take care
of themselves. | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (9-13) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
For many years America has no longer been the "Land of the Free" as
statistics continue to reveal we are the most incarcerated nation in
the world. Several opinion pieces found hard copy this week ranging
from educational explanations and thoughtful solutions to ignorant
"stay the course" resolutions. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) OPED: THE FEMINIZATION OF PRISON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Why More Women -- and Especially Black Women -- Are Behind Bars | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The idea of a woman in prison then was a novelty. It isn't anymore.
According to a recent Justice Department report on America's jail
population, women make up about 10 percent of the America's inmates.
There are now more women than ever serving time, and black women
make up a disproportionate number of these women. They are twice
more likely than Hispanic, and over three times more likely than
white women, to be jailed. | ||||||||||||||||
In fact, black women have almost single-handedly expanded the
women's prison-industrial complex. From 1930 to 1950, five women's
prisons were built nationally. During the 1980s and 1990s, dozens
more prisons were built, and a growing number of them are
maximum-security women's prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
More women, and especially black women, are behind bars as much because of hard punishment than their actual crimes. One out of three crimes committed by women are drug related. Many state and federal sentencing laws mandate minimum sentences for all drug offenders. This virtually eliminates the option of referring nonviolent first-time offenders to increasingly scarce, financially strapped drug treatment, counseling and education programs. Stiffer punishments for crack cocaine use also has landed more black women in prison, and for longer sentences than white women (and men). | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
There is little sign that this will change. The public and
policymakers are deeply rapped in the damaging cycle of myths,
misconceptions and crime-fear hysteria about crime-on-the-loose
women. They are loath to ramp up funds and programs for job and
skills training, drug treatment, education, childcare and health and
parenting skills. Yet, this is still the best way to keep more women
from winding up behind bars. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) Editorial: INCARCERATION NATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Issue: U.S. Leads The World In Prison Population | ||||||||||||||||
Our view: We can't afford the soaring human and financial costs. | ||||||||||||||||
With scant media coverage beyond an official press release, the U.S.
Justice Dept. recently announced that a record 7 million people, or
one in every 32 American adults are behind bars, on probation or on
parole - an increase of 2 million. Of those 2.2 million are in
prison or jail somewhere in the United States, giving us the highest
rate of prisoners per 100,000 in the world. Isn't it ironic then
that, with so many prisons and prisons so wretchedly overcrowded
nationwide - Illinois' 130-year-old Menard prison houses 3,315 in
space built for 1,983 - we still can't get a new, $140 million
prison open in Thomson? | ||||||||||||||||
But that's another editorial. | ||||||||||||||||
Those millions of prisoners and parolees, meanwhile, represent a
fraction of real costs of what has become in the last few decades an
incarceration nation - for as offenders do time at $20,000 per year,
they also leave behind fatherless children and families. Lacking any
means of support, they are far more likely to join welfare roles at
taxpayer expense, or turn themselves to crime. | ||||||||||||||||
It's shameful for a democracy to lock-up one in every 32 adults. Yet
it's also a shame to have so much crime in America, so many innocent
crime victims and so much glorification of violence, crime and
lawlessness in popular culture. And what of the estimated 1 million
or so incarcerated Americans who are non-violent offenders, mostly
drug addicts who spend years in prison conditions that can,
paradoxically, make them violent or mentally-ill before they return
to life on the street with their addictions, an ex-con's scarlet
letter, and no means of support? | ||||||||||||||||
There are no easy answers. | ||||||||||||||||
Nor do there appear to be any meaningful attempts by our leaders to
ask the right questions, or to try new approaches beyond costly
prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
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(11) Column: TIME IS RIPE TO OVERHAUL CITY'S DRUG WAR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When you're trying to survive a maelstrom of criticism and
controversy, it's a little difficult to see the moment as an
opportunity for constructive change. | ||||||||||||||||
But that's just the opportunity that Police Chief Richard Pennington
has. He should use it to rewrite his department's strategy on drug
interdiction. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
So the unfortunate episode gives Pennington some maneuvering room.
He and his zone commanders should institute a strategy that a)
places more emphasis on arrests of significant dealers, those whose
drug sales amount to several thousand dollars a year; b) shuts down
crack houses and other locations that become magnets not just for
drug sales but also for other crimes; and c) goes after drug dealers
who also engage in violent crimes. | ||||||||||||||||
While they're at it, they should also limit their use of no-knock
warrants to dire emergencies. (Most dire emergencies don't even
require a warrant; if police believe someone is injured or in harm's
way inside a home, they may enter.) Catching a small-time dealer
with a few bags of marijuana or crack cocaine doesn't constitute an
emergency, much less a dire one. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The old tactics have made no discernible difference in disrupting
the drug trade, so what's he got to lose? | ||||||||||||||||
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(12) COLUMN: IF WE WANT TO REDUCE JAIL POPULATIONS, WE MUST BE SMART (Top)ABOUT CRIME, NOT JUST TOUGH ON IT | ||||||||||||||||
The State of Maine has one of the lowest violent crime rates in the
nation. We have a low property crime rate and the lowest
incarceration rate in the country. There are approximately 49 other
states that would trade their criminal justice problems for ours.
Yet most of our county jails and state correctional facilities are
overcrowded. Maine citizens are not eager to pay for new
correctional facilities, especially near where they live. Still, the
surge of crack cocaine and heroin continues along with increasing
violence and property crime associated with drug trafficking and
addiction. The arrival of methamphetamine poses greater challenges,
and promises greater pressure on our jails and prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
Maine has made several efforts to address these problems. In 2004, the Sentencing Commission concluded that we were sending too many people to jail and placing too many criminals on probation. On their recommendation, laws were enacted which served to reduce incarceration and probation for most crimes. Additional sentencing alternatives were put in place, some of which have proven useful. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
All of our efforts are predicated upon our belief that a minor
investment in the life of a young person today will pay huge
dividends for the individual and our community in the future. We are
in the business of changing lives and diverting young first
offenders from the criminal justice treadmill. | ||||||||||||||||
My office, the county sheriff, the courts and community partners
have worked together to foster multi-pronged approaches to crime. We
have programs targeted at young people who have committed their
first offenses. My office has partnered with the Waterville Boys and
Girls Club to give young offenders an alternative to a life of
crime. Several law enforcement agencies, along with the probation
department and the juvenile court, have worked with us to make this
"Rebound to Success" program a success. | ||||||||||||||||
The sheriff is to be commended for his public works programs for
inmates, which save many towns and cities tax dollars. We are a full
partner with Justice Nancy Mills in the operation of the
Co-Occurring Disorders Court for mentally ill offenders. The
district attorney, sheriff and the Pine Tree Camp work together and
provide alternative sentencing programs for young first offense
non-violent offenders. Pre-Trial Services now provides close
supervision and services for approximately 30 people who would
otherwise be in jail awaiting trial. | ||||||||||||||||
Additionally, our county is united in urging the Legislature to pass a bill capping county jail sentences at six months. This will lessen crowding at our jail and stop young low-risk first offense inmates from doing their time with serious, established criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
We have no choice but to make these efforts. It is the right thing
to do for the offender, and for the community. Being tough on crime
is important for any sheriff or district attorney. The crowding at
our jail and the numbers we send to state correctional facilities
attest to that. In Kennebec county we are also making every effort
to be smart on crime as well, with the hope of reducing the supply
of tomorrow's criminals. | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) EDITORIAL: TAKE ACTION ON PRISONS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
PERHAPS NOW THAT a federal judge has given California a six-month
deadline to ease prison crowding, the Legislature will do something
constructive about the problem. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton made the obvious conclusion
that a prison system with 173,000 inmates that was designed to house
100,000 is grossly overcrowded. | ||||||||||||||||
He said that unless the state does something to solve the problem,
he will be forced to order a cap on the prison population, which
could result in the early release of convicts. | ||||||||||||||||
Such drastic action does not have to take place if the Legislature
and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger come to an agreement on building more
prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Schwarzenegger did offer a credible reform package, but lawmakers
failed to support the governor in the special legislative session he
called in June or in the general session. | ||||||||||||||||
The governor's $6 billion plan would have financed two new $500
million prisons with bond money, which would allow them to be built
quickly. Schwarzenegger also sought to establish new community-based
prison facilities to house and counsel criminals who are about to be
released. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
It is unfortunate that the state has to spend large sums of money
keeping people behind bars, but there is no other realistic
solution. California needs to build or expand prisons. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp- | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (14-18) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Hopefully a California judge handed medical patients a permanent
victory when he ruled state law is supreme when it comes to
California's 10-year-old "Compassionate Use" act. San Diego County
officials vowed to appeal as they continue their crusade to overturn
a voter approved medical marijuana law by using the argument that
the irrational, failed federal law is "supreme" to the democratic
process. Listening to their rant about cannabis leads some to
believe a possible group neurosis manifested into this sorry legal
challenge. | ||||||||||||||||
The heartless haters of true democracy will be happy to see that in
Britain, a very sick woman is forced to look to a judge for mercy
for using cannabis in order to manage and determine her quality of
life and help others to do the same. | ||||||||||||||||
A small British Columbia newspaper gets a "Truth in Mainstream Media
Award" for raising the question whether the police have a hidden
agenda when it comes to the drug war. In total contrast, we close
with the hands down winner for the "Convoluted Logic Award" (and
"Good Liar Award"), to justify pot prohibition going to a Hawaiian
"educational" paper. | ||||||||||||||||
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(14) JUDGE TOSSES COUNTY'S MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHALLENGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN DIEGO -- Medical marijuana advocates declared victory and San
Diego County officials mentioned the word "appeal" Wednesday when a
Superior Court judge rejected -- for the second time -- the county's
controversial challenge to overturn California's "Compassionate Use"
act. | ||||||||||||||||
Superior Court Judge William R. Nevitt, reaffirming the tentative
ruling he issued Nov. 16, rejected the county's argument that
California's voter-approved Compassionate Use act should be
pre-empted by federal law. | ||||||||||||||||
Federal law says marijuana has no medicinal value and its use is
illegal in all situations. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(15) SUPES VOTE TO PERSIST WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA CHALLENGE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
SAN DIEGO -- As expected, San Diego County supervisors voted Tuesday to continue their controversial legal challenge to overturn California's 10-year-old, voter-approved medical marijuana law. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The county's challenge has national implications, patients and
government officials say, because it marks the first time that any
county has sued to overturn any of the medical marijuana laws voters
have approved in 11 states. | ||||||||||||||||
California's Compassionate Use Act, approved by 56 percent of voters
statewide in 1996, says that seriously ill people who have a
doctor's recommendation can use marijuana to ease their pain and
suffering. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"No, not at all," Horn said. "I think it's a bad law. I mean, as far
as the benefits, those are medical opinions. There are probably some
medical benefits, if you listen to the (patients). But that's not
our point. Our point is who has jurisdiction here (the state or
federal government). | ||||||||||||||||
"We didn't get that from this judge, so we're going to appeal it,"
he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(16) MS SUFFERER TELLS OF PLEAS FOR CANNABIS BARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
A woman with multiple sclerosis who helped distribute home-made
chocolate cannabis bars to fellow sufferers told a court yesterday
she would be in a wheelchair had she not used the drug. | ||||||||||||||||
Lezley Gibson, 42, who is accused of conspiring to supply cannabis
with her husband, Mark, described how she was "overwhelmed" with
requests for help after speaking publicly about her use of cannabis
to ameliorate her MS. | ||||||||||||||||
Carlisle crown court heard she was told she would be confined to a
wheelchair within five years of her diagnosis 21 years ago and yet
she had walked into court yesterday because she used cannabis,
including in bars of chocolate produced in their kitchen by Mr
Gibson. | ||||||||||||||||
The couple described how they supplied more than 20,000 bars of
chocolate free to more than 1,600 MS sufferers. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(17) RCMP PUT SPIN ON GROW OP BUSTS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
If the first casualty of war is truth, then what are you supposed to
believe about the war on drugs? The Kelowna RCMP would have you
believe their version. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug squad head Sgt. Tim Shields of the Kelowna RCMP spent a
considerable part of a media briefing yesterday trying to convince
reporters of a stand the force has taken often in the past: The
majority of marijuana grow operations are connected to organized
crime and that the dope they grow is smuggled into the U.S. and
comes back as cocaine. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But what about the obvious disparity? If the pot is all going south
for cocaine, how is it that the same dope can also supply our kids
for over a year? | ||||||||||||||||
The sergeant painted grow ops as hazardous health risks, staffed by
desperate criminals with guns who may also have their young children
living in a house filled with the exposed wires and overloaded
circuits. | ||||||||||||||||
Yet police seized no guns and not one child was found inside any of
the 23 grow houses. | ||||||||||||||||
When pressed for specifics, RCMP will often cite confidentiality
rules. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
A hidden agenda? | ||||||||||||||||
You decide. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(18) ANTI-MARIJUANA, PRO-ILLEGALIZATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Reefer" is in no way the lesser of two evils when comparing it to alcohol. Alcohol causes bad incidents and can kill people, but most people learn to drink better after their formative years and usually don't drink all day; "not-hemp" on the other hand is the leading cause of schizophrenia and psychosis in people under 18 and can be consumed all day long with no hangover or recourse. It doesn't help that pro-pot legislation, (as in the recent Amendment 44 case in Colorado) usually allows teens as young as 15 to buy "buds." | ||||||||||||||||
At the end of the day, whether "wacky-backy" is legalized or not, it
is already too imbedded in our social conscious for anything
revelatory to take place due to a newfound legality. The pro-pot
movement does not have enough ammo to make the government take any
notice. It is a topic for peacetime when the country has really
nothing noticeable to talk about. | ||||||||||||||||
Most college students try "skunkweed," but do so as a rite of passage and not as a life choice. It's a taste of rebellion to appreciate and decide the rules of their generation. Being legal, however, "cheebah" would no longer serve as a passageway and would become only another ID required item behind the counter at 7-Eleven. | ||||||||||||||||
An issue that has a much better chance to succeed is the lowering of
sentencing for possession. To turn jail time into a large fee would
shrink our jails and protect our young in the long run, rather than
making marijuana a part of American life. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
International News | ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (19-22) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
When it comes to drug policy, the Canadian government of Stephen
Harper takes its marching orders not from the Canadian people, but
straight from prohibitionists in Washington D.C. The U.S.
government, in turn, is "keen" to dictate Canadian drug policy,
according to documents pried from the government under the Canadian
Access to Information Act this week. The Victoria Times Colonist,
calling U.S. drug policy "by any measure, a costly disaster," noted
the very same ditch Mr. Harper seems intent on marching into hasn't
gone well for the Americans. "Twenty years ago there were about
80,000 drug offenders in U.S. prisons; today there are 400,000.
Federal spending on anti-drug efforts have climbed from $1.5 billion
in 1985 to more than $20 billion." | ||||||||||||||||
Another report, this one from the RCMP on the Vancouver supervised
injection center (Insite), made news in Canada this week when it was
obtained by a Freedom of Information request. The three-page report,
which had been released internally within the government last
summer, was authored by RCMP Staff-Sergeant Chuck Doucette and
attempted to counter an avalanche of praise from "scientific studies
on the site's impact ... rigorously peer reviewed, appearing in
respected publications such as The Lancet, the New England Journal
of Medicine, the British Medical Journal and the Canadian Medical
Association Journal." As expected, the RCMP report slammed Insite as
increasing drug use. The RCMP report, apparently written at the
behest of a Harper government eager to find a pretext to cut funding
for the site, and contradicting Vancouver police who say Insite is
working, was roundly criticized in by experts in the field. "There
was no research, no facts, statistics or analysis. Just one
officer's impression that things didn't look any better in the area
and the suggestion that the risks of overdose death and HIV
infection are valuable deterrents to drug use." | ||||||||||||||||
In Mexico, the new President Felipe Calderon has been in office only
a few days, and is obeying orders from Washington to step up the
"war" on drugs. Moving some 6,500 soldiers into Michoacan state ("a
key drug stronghold"), Calderon is also having the Mexican navy
patrol Lazaro Cardenas port. The previous Mexican president, Fox,
presided over much-ballyhooed arrests of alleged "drug lords", only
to have other drug traffickers then shoot it out in violent turf
battles for market share. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(19) U.S. SHOWS U.S. WHAT NOT TO DO | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Two separate reports this week suggest the Harper government is at
risk of ignoring science, common sense and experience in developing
its promised national drug strategy. | ||||||||||||||||
Internal documents reveal that Ottawa has been consulting with U.S.
government officials on its new drug plan, with "various
senior-level meetings between U.S. officials and | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But developing a common approach with the U.S. is wrongheaded. The
American enforcement-based war on drugs has been, by any measure, a
costly disaster. Twenty years ago there were about 80,000 drug
offenders in U.S. prisons; today there are 400,000. Federal spending
on anti-drug efforts have climbed from $1.5 billion in 1985 to more
than $20 billion. | ||||||||||||||||
And all that effort and money have brought nothing but failure.
Addiction, deaths and crime have increased. Drugs are cheaper and
more readily available. The damage, to individuals, families and
communities, has mounted. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite that, the U.S. government has publicly pressured Canada to
follow its failed approach. | ||||||||||||||||
Worryingly, the Harper government has echoed the U.S. rhetoric,
stressing enforcement and talking about the need for mandatory
minimum sentences, more enforcement and more jails. More of the same
old failed tactics. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
But the federal government offered only temporary operating approval
for the site, saying more research was needed. Prime Minister
Stephen Harper said he would give particular weight to the RCMP's
views on the pilot project. | ||||||||||||||||
This week those views were revealed. A three-page report from the
force's Pacific region drug and organized crime awareness program
attacked the safe-injection site. | ||||||||||||||||
There was no research, no facts, statistics or analysis. Just one
officer's impression that things didn't look any better in the area
and the suggestion that the risks of overdose death and HIV
infection are valuable deterrents to drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(20) RCMP TAKES HEAT OVER INSITE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Force's Research Criticizes The Lauded Safe-Injection Site And
Asserts That The Program Increases Drug Use | ||||||||||||||||
VANCOUVER -- The RCMP is under heavy fire for its criticism of
Vancouver's pioneering supervised injection site for heroin users, a
project that has won positive reviews from more than a dozen
rigorous research studies. | ||||||||||||||||
In a critical, three-page report on the site, Staff-Sergeant Chuck
Doucette questioned findings of the numerous peer-reviewed studies,
while pointing to "considerable evidence" that making drug use safer
increases the number of users. | ||||||||||||||||
Staff-Sgt. Doucette is Pacific regional co-ordinator for the RCMP's
drug and organized crime awareness division. His report, submitted
this summer, was made public through a Freedom of Information
request. | ||||||||||||||||
Yesterday, the head of addiction medicine for the Vancouver Coastal
Health Authority charged that the RCMP report is full of "falsehoods
and prejudice." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
And Vancouver police Inspector Scott Thompson, saying he represents
the views of local beat police officers who deal with the facility
on a regular basis, reiterated the Vancouver Police Department's
support for the experimental project. | ||||||||||||||||
"The RCMP doesn't deal directly with a safe-injection site. That's for sure," said Insp. Thompson, head of youth services and drug policy co-ordinator for the Vancouver Police Department. | ||||||||||||||||
"We're the ones on the ground, and we support the public health
objectives of reducing fatal overdoses and lessening the risk of HIV
and AIDS among drug users." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Harper previously indicated that he was partial to the views
expressed to him by the RCMP about the site. | ||||||||||||||||
Despite widespread community support and many studies in prestigious medical journals espousing the benefits of Insite, the Conservative government refused this fall to grant it another three-year legal exemption, extending its operation only until next December. | ||||||||||||||||
Federal Health Minister Tony Clement said more information is
needed, but then cut off federal funding for research into Insite's
operation. | ||||||||||||||||
David Marsh, physician leader of addiction medicine at the Coastal
Health Authority, bluntly rejected Staff-Sgt. Doucette's assertion
that drug use rises when risk is reduced. | ||||||||||||||||
A study of Vancouver drug addicts published recently in the British
Medical Journal found that Insite did not have that effect, Dr.
Marsh said. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think he is drawing conclusions without fully reviewing the
facts, reflecting false information and prejudice. His report
appears to be based on his beliefs, rather than facts," Dr. Marsh
said. | ||||||||||||||||
Studies have found that Insite has reduced fatal drug overdoses,
increased a desire among users to access detoxification centres, and
lessened risky needle-sharing that can lead to the spread of AIDS,
without quantifiably increasing the use of heroin. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
Thomas Kerr, a research scientist with the B.C. Centre for
Excellence in HIV-AIDS, said all scientific studies on the site's
impact have been rigorously peer reviewed, appearing in respected
publications such as The Lancet, the New England Journal of
Medicine, the British Medical Journal and the Canadian Medical
Association Journal. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's upsetting to note that you can do all this science, and at the
end of the day, it can be set aside by politics," Dr. Kerr said.
"These are life and death issues. They are not places for ideology
and political beliefs." | ||||||||||||||||
He said the RCMP report is "fraught with errors. It's frightening to
think that this person [Staff-Sgt. Doucette] is reporting to
government based on this kind of misinformation. | ||||||||||||||||
"Politics are interfering with the scientific process, and, as a
researcher, I find this particularly disheartening." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
"Yes, drug addiction is a great evil," Insp. Thompson said. "But
people dying from a drug overdose or getting a fatal disease is also
terrible." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) JUDGE INSITE ON SCIENCE, NOT POLICE ANECDOTES (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Needless to say, we wouldn't expect, nor would we permit, scientists to patrol our streets, as police officers do. But unfortunately, we do need to say that we shouldn't expect police officers to conduct evaluations of scientific experiments, as scientists do. | ||||||||||||||||
The need to say this arises from an RCMP report on Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection facility. The harshly critical report, written by RCMP Staff-Sgt. C.D. Doucette, suggests that harm reduction efforts such as Insite actually increase drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
So the report uses anecdotal evidence to counter the peer-reviewed,
scientific studies published in world-renowned medical journals.
This is precisely why we need to leave science to scientists, rather
than to the police. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
The report therefore gives us some insight into the RCMP's position
on this matter, but not much else. Indeed, RCMP Supt. Paul Nadeau,
while admitting that he hadn't read Doucette's report, said he
agrees in general with his position. | ||||||||||||||||
It's clear then, that the RCMP appears to have a pre-ordained conclusion in mind, and is merely looking for evidence to support | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(22) THOUSANDS OF MEXICAN TROOPS PREPARE FOR DRUG OPERATION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
APATZINGAN, Mexico - Thousands of Mexican troops rolled into a key drug stronghold Tuesday to set fire to marijuana and opium fields and round up traffickers as new President Felipe Calderon pledged to restore order in a region where smugglers have openly defied authorities with beheadings and large-scale drug production. | ||||||||||||||||
Navy ships also were patrolling the state's Lazaro Cardenas port, a
hub for drugs arriving from Central America and Colombia on their
way to the United States. | ||||||||||||||||
Cornelio Casio, one of several generals overseeing the operation,
which was announced Monday, said 6,500 soldiers and federal police
were fanning out across the state. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
He took office on Dec. 1, promising Mexicans he would no longer tolerate the execution-style killings, corrupt police and openly defiant gangs that plagued former President Vicente Fox's six years in office. Calderon has budgeted more funds for law enforcement and appointed a hard-line interior secretary, Francisco Ramirez Acuna. | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza has repeatedly expressed concern about
the rising violence, some of which has spilled over into the United
States from Mexican border cities, and the U.S. State Department has
warned U.S. citizens about travel to Mexico. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip] | ||||||||||||||||
During his term, Fox arrested several top drug lords, creating a
power vacuum in the country responsible for providing the U.S.
market with the majority of its marijuana, heroin, cocaine and
methamphetamines. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
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/ | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
TAKE 32 GRAMS OF TYLENOL AND CALL ME IN 25 YEARS | ||||||||||||||||
Florida should stop pretending this pain patient is a drug trafficker. | ||||||||||||||||
By Jacob Sullum | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DOES PROHIBITION OF MARIJUANA FOR ADULTS CURB USE BY ADOLESCENTS? | ||||||||||||||||
MPP's December 2006 report examines whether current marijuana laws
effectively deter marijuana use by young people. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
NEWS COVERAGE OF DUTCH PROSPECTIVE ECSTASY USER STUDIES | ||||||||||||||||
In response to the sensationalistic and inaccurate recent news
coverage of prospective Ecstasy user studies by Dutch researcher
Dr. Maartje M. de Win, MAPS President Rick Doblin, Ph.D. wrote
an open letter, http://www.maps.org/deWinNEXTltr.htm, to Dr.
de Win voicing his concerns, and MAPS Clinical Research Associate
Ilsa Jerome, Ph.D., wrote a special report evaluating the media's
claims and how they relate (or not) to the actual data. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
JACK COLE OF LEAP ON VANCOUVER RADIO SHOW | ||||||||||||||||
Jack Cole and host Bill Good are joined by callers and Dr. Colin
Mangham of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
STEPHEN COLBERT INTERVIEWS AUTHOR DANIEL PINCHBECK | ||||||||||||||||
Stephen talks to Daniel Pinchbeck, author of "2012: The Return of
Quetzalcoatl." | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
VOLUNTEER FOR NIDA-SPONSORED MEDICAL MARIJUANA SAFETY STUDY | ||||||||||||||||
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Community
Consortium, a branch of the Positive Health Program of the University
of California-San Francisco Medical Service at San Francisco General
Hospital, are sponsoring a study to assess whether using vaporized
marijuana affects the safety of prescribed opioids in patients
treated for cancer-related pain. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
WAGING WAR ON MARIJUANA A WASTE OF TAX MONEY | ||||||||||||||||
By Tina Hoffman | ||||||||||||||||
The Herald-Leader's Nov. 25 article about using helicopters to
eradicate marijuana left me with a few questions. | ||||||||||||||||
How many millions of dollars in tax money are being spent on these
weed-pulling missions? Helicopters are expensive, and so is
manpower. How many schools have to do without proper books,
computers and teachers to finance these commando-style | ||||||||||||||||
How many terrorists, illegal aliens and bales of cocaine come across
our borders while our police are wasting time pulling weeds?
Protecting our borders is a much better use of scarce resources than
trying to arrest rural Kentucky gardeners. To all those who claim to
be for balanced budgets, smaller government and less spending: Why
can't you see that the war on marijuana is a failed effort that is
merely used as pork spending? | ||||||||||||||||
Millions of dollars are thrown at a failed effort year after year, with no sensible debate. Eleven states have voted to legalize medical marijuana, and over a dozen ballot initiatives have been passed to make marijuana enforcement the lowest priority for police. | ||||||||||||||||
I would rather have police eradicate kudzu, poison ivy or dandelions
if they feel the compulsion to wage a war on plants. | ||||||||||||||||
Tina Hoffman | ||||||||||||||||
Lexington | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE MONTH - NOVEMBER | ||||||||||||||||
DrugSense recognizes Wayne Phillips of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada for
his four letters published during November. This brings his total
published letters, that we know of, to 59 as noted at | ||||||||||||||||
You may read his published letters at | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Drug Peace in 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
By Philippe Lucas | ||||||||||||||||
Dear friends, | ||||||||||||||||
It has long been argued that the most effective harm reduction measure is ending the costly and ineffective "War on Drugs." Because of the federal government's unflagging support of drug prohibition: | ||||||||||||||||
- substance use is stigmatized, and users continue to face arrest; | ||||||||||||||||
- needle-exchange is under-funded or otherwise blocked; | ||||||||||||||||
- the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst substance users continues to
expand; | ||||||||||||||||
- substance use education and/or treatment is largely | ||||||||||||||||
- research into approaches toward harm reduction is stymied. | ||||||||||||||||
As we've all learned through experience, the most powerful harm
reduction tool is education. At DrugSense, we're committed to making
the most up-to-date online resources and drug war news available to
the harm reduction community, including: | ||||||||||||||||
a. The Media Awareness Project (http://www.mapinc.org), an archive
of over 175,000 drug-related news stories that can be accessed
through a powerful search engine or reviewed via our DrugSense
Weekly Newsletter (http://www.drugsense.org/nl/2006/). | ||||||||||||||||
b. Our Activism Center (http://www.mapinc.org/resource/maf.htm),
where you can access useful information on how to get your story
covered by the media. You then contact the outlets of your choice
using our FREE Media Contact on Demand database | ||||||||||||||||
c. The MAP OnAir event list (http://www.mapinc.org/onair) that
allows your org to add its upcoming print, TV, and radio
appearances, as well as find out about similar media appearances all
over North America. | ||||||||||||||||
d. Drug Policy Central (http://drugpolicycentral.com), which offers
free web design, hosting, email discussion lists, and technical
support to qualified non-profits. We currently host The National
Harm Reduction Coalition, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
(LEAP), the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates, the November
Coalition and so many more... | ||||||||||||||||
All of these services are absolutely FREE of CHARGE, but they're not
free to produce, so please consider giving to DrugSense this year by
going to http://drugsense.org/donate and making a tax-deductible
donation! | ||||||||||||||||
Your check or money order can also be mailed to: | ||||||||||||||||
14252 Culver Drive #328 | ||||||||||||||||
Please note that, as a DrugSense is a 501(c)(3) educational
non-profit, your donation to DrugSense is tax deductible to the
extent provided by law. | ||||||||||||||||
Also, due to the generosity of a long time DrugSense funder we have
secured a matching funds grant! This means that for a limited time
anything you contribute to DrugSense and the Media Awareness Project
will be matched, thus doubling the effective amount of your
contribution. | ||||||||||||||||
Let's make 2007 the year that we finally put an end to this ongoing
war on our civil rights and personal liberties. Please support harm
reduction and evidence-based drug policies. Give to DrugSense and
help us to move towards a "drug peace" in 2007! | ||||||||||||||||
Philippe Lucas is our Director of Communications. He is the founder
and director of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society, a Canadian
non-profit therapeutic cannabis research and distribution center;
and founder of Canadians for Safe Access, the nation's largest
medicinal cannabis patients rights organization. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"... it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds ...." -
Samuel Adams, Founding Father & American Patriot | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
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Matt Elrod () | ||||||||||||||||
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