| Apr. 27, 2007 #496 | ||||||||||||||||
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Table of Contents
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THIS JUST IN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
(1) PLEAS WON'T END PROBE OF ATLANTA POLICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Two Atlanta Cops Plead Guilty in Woman's Death
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What started with a few bags of marijuana being planted near a suspected street dealer quickly spiraled out of control. Narcotics officers lied to a judge, illegally broke into 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston's house, fired 39 shots at her -- and then one handcuffed her as she lay bleeding before he planted drugs in her basement. | ||||||||||||||||
The events of Nov. 21, outlined in court documents, were almost an "inevitable" outcome of a troubled police unit, a federal prosecutor said Thursday as two former Atlanta narcotics officers pleaded guilty and promised to cooperate in a wider probe of the department. | ||||||||||||||||
According to investigators, Atlanta narcotics officers hoped to
satisfy goals set by police commanders by repeatedly lying to obtain
search warrants, barging into homes and sometimes restraining innocent
people, an atmosphere that led to tragedy. | ||||||||||||||||
The sweeping accusations were made in the guilty-plea agreements of
Gregg Junnier and Jason R. Smith, two on a team of officers that took
part in the botched raid at Johnston's home. | ||||||||||||||||
The deceit Nov. 21 didn't end with a faked warrant, according the officers' plea agreements -- they conspired to cover their actions by asking a confidential informant to lie for them. Instead, the informant went to authorities, giving birth to one of the biggest scandals to hit the Atlanta Police Department in years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(2) COURT UPHOLDS MARIJUANA CONVICTION (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Coos County - Judges Say Helping a Friend Move Medical Plants Is
Possession
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Helping a friend move some medical marijuana plants has proved quite
costly for Thomas Patrick Fries. | ||||||||||||||||
Although Fries, 38, had no criminal record, a Coos County judge
convicted him of felony drug possession in 2003. | ||||||||||||||||
And on Wednesday, a divided Oregon Court of Appeals upheld Fries'
conviction, saying that Oregon's drug laws provide some exemptions but
helping a friend move marijuana plants to a new home isn't one of
them. | ||||||||||||||||
"The Legislature knows how to create exemptions to criminal
responsibility for those who knowingly have physical possession of
controlled substances," Judge Walt Edmonds wrote for the 6-4 majority.
"Because it did not create an exemption that applies to the
circumstances of defendant in this case, we must infer that the
Legislature's omission was deliberate."
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Four dissenting judges argued that Fries didn't possess the marijuana in a legal sense because he acted at the direction of his friend, Richard L. Albritton, 25, who had a legal right to have the marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
"The marijuana plants were never outright contraband, and Albritton
never ceded to defendant any right to control or dispose of them,"
Judge Rex Armstrong wrote in dissent. "In showing that defendant
transported the plants with Albritton as his passenger, the state
demonstrated only that defendant undertook to deliver the plants to
Albritton's new residence at Albritton's direction."
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[snip]
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(3) INSIDE DOPE ON CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Indoor Marijuana Farming Becoming More Widespread
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From California to Connecticut, marijuana plants are budding behind a
veil of suburban normalcy. | ||||||||||||||||
Protected from neighbors, insects and weather, the indoor pot is
flourishing among humidifiers, high-watt lamps and ventilation systems
that filter and disperse the telling aroma. | ||||||||||||||||
In the last several months in the Los Angeles area, authorities raided
several upscale homes and found marijuana "grows" valued at a total of
about $50 million. Similar operations also were uncovered recently in
Georgia and New Hampshire. In Connecticut in 2004, police seized 1,200
plants valued at $500,000 from swanky homes in Southington and
Burlington. | ||||||||||||||||
Legalization advocates say there's a lot more indoor weed the cops
don't know about, both in large grows and clusters of plants tucked
into back rooms. And all signs, they say, show an upward trend in
housing the nation's most popular illegal drug. | ||||||||||||||||
"It's a straight-up curve," said Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. | ||||||||||||||||
Reasons for the move indoors, according to a variety of sources and published reports, include the lesser chance of getting caught or having plants stolen; tighter borders since Sept. 11, 2001, that are squeezing imports from Mexico and Canada; the ability to grow high- quality marijuana in a controlled environment; the reluctance of some smokers to buy pot from dealers; the wide array of seeds available, particularly from the Netherlands and Canada; and the ease and low cost of setting up an indoor greenhouse for personal use or sales. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(4) CRACK HABIT A DISABILITY, EX-OFFICER'S APPEAL SAYS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Ottawa police officer who was ordered to resign from the force
after stealing crack cocaine and smoking it himself will have an
appeal of his dismissal heard in Toronto today. | ||||||||||||||||
Const. Kevin Hall is scheduled to go before a panel of board members
of the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services in an attempt to
overturn the dismissal. | ||||||||||||||||
In early December, hearing officer Terence Kelly ordered the 43-year-
old constable to resign from the Ottawa police within seven days or be
fired. | ||||||||||||||||
Const. Hall admitted to becoming addicted to crack cocaine after he
tried the drug for the first time after seizing it from a suspect on
Nov. 9, 2004.
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In addition to buying the drug while on and off duty, Const. Hall also
admitted to stealing crack cocaine from an evidence envelope and
taking drugs that were to be destroyed. | ||||||||||||||||
In his notice of appeal, Const. Hall alleged Mr. Kelly failed to give "proper weight and consideration" to the idea that his drug addiction should be considered a disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
It has certainly been a drug testing kind of week!
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Public school students are increasingly being subjected to drug testing even though the effectiveness of these programs has not been proven. The ONDCP continues to aggressively "market" these intrusive searches using selective studies, dangling federal grant money and, of course, fanning the flames of fear in parents across America. | ||||||||||||||||
Thankfully, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling prevents this practice from reaching the entire school body and can "only" be used on students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities. | ||||||||||||||||
An Ohio school board is considering inviting parents to voluntarily place their children into their random drug testing program which they believe will not conflict with this ruling. Meanwhile, a South Carolina school bus driver drove students to the local jail to be searched for drugs because she smelled marijuana smoke. | ||||||||||||||||
Teachers may soon be forced to join the crowd as the State of Hawaii
is holding salary increases hostage in return for implementation of
teacher drug testing. With only the HSTA President voting against
it, the teacher's negotiating team sent the tentative agreement to
the members without a recommendation on whether to vote for or
against it. | ||||||||||||||||
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(5) SCHOOLS URGED INTO DIVISIVE DRUG CRACKDOWN (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
FOR its supporters, random drug testing sends out an important
message to schoolchildren. "It provides them with a suit of armour
against peer pressure, enabling them to say no to drugs," says John
P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP). Since 2002, when the Supreme Court ruled
that schools could drug-test middle and high-school students
participating in extracurricular activities, the U.S. has seen a
rapid increase in such testing. | ||||||||||||||||
However, scientists have repeatedly called into question the
effectiveness of such tests. Last month the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) reaffirmed its position that drug testing should
not be widely implemented without additional evaluation of its
safety and efficacy. It also recommended making drug treatment
services more readily available for teens (Pediatrics, DOI:
10.1542/peds.2006-2278). | ||||||||||||||||
In spite of the criticisms, proponents are already pushing ahead
with plans to expand testing in schools. On 24 April, school
administrators from across the south-west U.S. will gather in Las
Vegas, Nevada, to hear ONDCP representatives speak in the fourth in
a series of drug policy "summits" this year. Speakers will explain
how schools can join the nearly 1000 that have already started
random testing, and compete for a slice of $1.6 million in federal
support for such programmes. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The ONDCP and others in favour of testing claim that a number of
studies have shown it works. These include a survey in which 80 per
cent of high-school principals in Indiana reported an increase in
drug use after the cessation of a state-wide testing programme in
2000; a study by the U.S. Department of Defense which found that
drug use among military personnel decreased from 27 per cent to less
than 1 per cent in the 25 years following the introduction of random
drug tests; and research by Oregon Health & Science University in
Portland which found that drug use was 14 per cent lower in a school
that used random drug testing compared with one that didn't -
although it only compared these two schools. | ||||||||||||||||
"I think that what is being presented is seductive," says Sharon Levy, director of the Adolescent Substance Abuse Program at Children's Hospital Boston. However, she believes the ONDCP overstates the effectiveness of drug testing, and she is not alone. A 2005 survey of 359 U.S. physicians specialising in paediatric, adolescent and family medicine, found that 80 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed with the ONDCP's recommendation that all adolescent students be tested for drugs. John Knight, also of Children's Hospital Boston, says there are only two peer-reviewed articles. "One showed essentially no correlation between testing and drug use rates, the other showed a slight decline," he says. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(6) BROAD SCHOOL DRUG TEST STUDIED (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The law allows schools to require drug testing only in certain circumstances, such as participation in after-school activities. | ||||||||||||||||
But the law doesn't prevent parents from voluntarily asking their
child be tested, Farrell said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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School board members told Farrell to include language in the next draft to allow parents to put their minor child in the drug-testing pool. Parents would not be allowed to volunteer their adult children, but students 18 and older could volunteer themselves. | ||||||||||||||||
Board President Mark Morris raised several questions about the
proposed policy, including asking staff for copies of studies
showing that random testing actually deters student drug abuse. So
far, the only studies he has found show that random drug testing
does not deter drug use, he said. | ||||||||||||||||
"Do we have any evidence anywhere that suggests this will do what we
want it to do?" Morris said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Parent Heidi Bruzina, who has five children, said she supported the
board's stance, but had some concerns with drug screens, which
sometimes showed false-positive results. | ||||||||||||||||
"There are some issues with interfering substances that could cause a test to show positive for certain substances," said Bruzina, who has worked in the medical diagnostic field for nearly 20 years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(7) WILLIAMSBURG SCHOOL BOARD HEARS COMPLAINTS ABOUT DRUG SEARCH OF (Top)STUDENTS | ||||||||||||||||
KINGSTREE - Community members filled the Williamsburg County School
District board/staff development meeting room during a regular
meeting Monday to voice their concerns about several items including
an incident where a Kingstree bus driver took her students to the
Williamsburg County Detention center and had police search them for
drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Mayers said he was told by students involved in the incident that
the driver told police she smelled marijuana on the bus. Students
were taken off the bus and told to open their bookbags, purses and
pockets. Mayers said about 40 students between the ages of 11 and 17
were "patted down" by male officers, which made some female students
uncomfortable. According to WCSC Live 5 News, Kingstree Police Chief
Robert Ford says the search was legal because the driver smelled
drugs, which gave them probable cause to search the bus. "The bus
driver, because of what was happening on the bus, did what she felt
was in the best interest of the safety of all the children on that
bus," Williamsburg County School District Superintendent Ralph
Fennell said. | ||||||||||||||||
Fennell said officers found a cigar, some cigarettes, lighters, a
knife and some marijuana. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(8) TEACHERS CALL DRUG TESTS A DEAL-BREAKER FOR STATE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The state made drug and alcohol testing of public school teachers "a
non-negotiable demand" when settling on a new contract last week,
according to the Hawaii State Teachers Association. | ||||||||||||||||
If the teachers union had objected to drug testing, the state would not have agreed to a tentative contract offering some 13,000 teachers 4 percent raises in each of the next two years and other benefits, according to a video posted on the HSTA Web site. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Without giving details, Yamasaki [chairwoman of the negotiations committee for the union] said the union and the state would devise a drug-testing program that would protect teachers' rights. | ||||||||||||||||
State chief negotiator Marie Laderta would not comment on why the
administration wanted drug testing. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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On Wednesday, HSTA President Roger Takabayashi was the only member
of the union's board of directors to vote against sending the
contract for ratification. Twenty-six members backed the contract
and one abstained. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Teachers will vote on the contract Thursday afternoon. If the vote fails, the union likely will miss a legislative deadline to submit the contract to lawmakers to fund pay raises, and the HSTA would have to go back to the bargaining table with the state. | ||||||||||||||||
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Law Enforcement & Prisons
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COMMENT: (9-12) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
I clearly remember seeing temporary 65 mph signs while driving up the 101 the day after California lifted the decades-old 55 mph speed limits. It was certainly proof that a law can be executed quickly if officials agree with it. This has not, unfortunately, been the case with updated drug laws. A sign of the continued struggles is revealed with the juxtaposition of a LA Times Editorial supporting Prop. 36 and a Modesto Bee OPED demanding more jails be built. | ||||||||||||||||
In 1994 Oregon voters passed a ballot initiative, Measure 11, which
required longer prison sentences for violent offenders. An Oregonian
reporter thoroughly examines the effects of this law. | ||||||||||||||||
Closing this section with an example of how drug prohibition profits
continue to lure in the very people who have sworn to uphold those
laws. | ||||||||||||||||
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(9) Editorial: FULLY FUND PROP. 36 (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Voters Approved the Measure to Give Drug Offenders Treatment Instead
of Prison Time, but the Governor Wants to Cut or Even Eliminate the
Program. | ||||||||||||||||
PROPOSITION 36, the voter initiative that mandated treatment instead
of jail for drug users, is under funding pressure from Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger and under fire from critics who say the program is
failing. A Times study showed that nearly half of those sentenced
never complete their treatment regimen and that more than a quarter
fail to even show up for rehab. A recently released UCLA study
showed that even more drug users are rearrested now than was the
case before voters adopted the experiment in 2000. | ||||||||||||||||
There's not much point running a rehab program if no one shows up
for treatment. Schwarzenegger, to his credit, says he wants to
increase participation. But he also wants to slash funding and
return a dose of jail to treatment protocol. That's the wrong way to
go. | ||||||||||||||||
The UCLA study flagged numerous shortcomings in Proposition 36, most
of which point to a need for longer, more intensive treatment. That
means more funding, not less. It makes no sense to expect that an
offender with a lifelong drug problem will drop into rehab and
emerge three months later completely free of the habit and ready to
start life over. It's encouraging, in fact, that as many as 25% of
offenders ordered into rehab in lieu of jail completed their course
of treatment. That qualified success suggests that offenders need to
get to rehab quicker, for longer, and with follow-up monitoring,
which is now nonexistent. | ||||||||||||||||
Schwarzenegger instead is cutting funding from this year's $120
million to a proposed $60 million in the coming budget. Or even
nothing, if offenders continue to shirk their programs or re-offend.
Instead, the governor wants to put the money in a parallel program,
one that currently supplements counties that spend all of their
Proposition 36 allocation. But that program comes with
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There are those who insist that only the threat of jail will bring
an addict the necessary moment of clarity and spur him or her to
show up for treatment. For some, that may be the case. Voters did
not put jail out of reach -- the initiative gives an offender three
chances. But the governor is wrong to introduce jail back into the
mix earlier and to threaten an innovative program that is showing
real progress. | ||||||||||||||||
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(10) OPED: SOLUTION TO INMATE OVERCROWDING IS MORE PRISONS, NOT (Top)FEWER PRISONERS | ||||||||||||||||
California's prison system is literally bursting at the seams and
stands at the point of crisis. | ||||||||||||||||
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join my Assembly
Republican colleagues on a tour of Folsom State Prison. Going behind
the iron gates, we saw the overcrowded facilities and learned about
the less-than-effective rehabilitation programs and health care
programs that have come under scrutiny from the federal courts. We
learned that at some prisons, inmates are even being housed in
dayrooms and gymnasiums, which are less than secure and put
correctional officers at risk. | ||||||||||||||||
For too long, the Legislature has virtually ignored prison
overcrowding. In fact, just one new 3,000-bed prison facility has
been built in the state over the past 15 years, despite the fact
that the prison population has grown significantly. Gov.
Schwarzenegger declared a special legislative session last summer to
address the prison crisis, but his reforms were all rejected with
little debate. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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After months of inaction, some in Sacramento have proposed a
sentencing review commission as their solution to reduce prison
overcrowding, arguing that our prisons are nearly full today because
too many "nonviolent" prisoners are serving time under mandatory
sentencing laws. They contend that these felons pose no danger to
society and should be released into the community to free up prison
beds. | ||||||||||||||||
Make no mistake, when we talk about a sentencing review commission,
we are not talking about releasing those convicted of parking
violations, but rather the early release of serious and repeat
criminals into communities across the state. Consider that
California prisons are home to some of the most dangerous and
violent criminals in the entire country -- with more than 80 percent
of inmates having been convicted of at least one prior felony,
according to the Department of Corrections. Even worse, 12 percent
have had an astonishing 11 or more prior convictions. | ||||||||||||||||
I don't believe giving thousands of serious and repeat criminals a
get-out-of-jail-early card is the responsible way to solve our
prison problems. Our prisons are not overcrowded because we are
locking up too many murderers, rapists and sexual predators, but
rather because we have not built enough capacity. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(11) PRISON COSTS SHACKLING OREGON (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
The Benefits of Tough Sentencing Laws Diminish As the Prison System
Expands, Researchers Say
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Oregon is on the verge of a milestone: In the next two years, the
state will spend tens of millions more tax money to lock up prison
inmates than it does to educate students at community colleges and
state universities. | ||||||||||||||||
The trend results from more than a decade of explosive prison growth
largely fueled by Measure 11, the 1994 ballot initiative that
mandated lengthy sentences for violent crimes. Since then, the
number of inmates has nearly doubled and spending on prisons has
nearly tripled. | ||||||||||||||||
As legislators and the governor debate how much money to spend on
schools and higher education, there is little discussion in Salem on
spiraling prison costs. | ||||||||||||||||
Oregon taxpayers now spend roughly the same money to incarcerate
13,401 inmates as they do to educate 438,000 university and
community college students. But spending on prisons is growing at a
faster rate than education and other state services. | ||||||||||||||||
The Department of Corrections and Oregon Youth Authority budget is projected to grow 19 percent in the next two years, to $1.66 billion, under Gov. Ted Kulongoski's budget -- $174 million more than what Kulongoski proposes to spend on universities and colleges. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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With so many criminals locked up, both Oregon and the nation have
seen a steady decline in violent crime rates. In Oregon, there were
about five violent crimes -- homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated
assault -- per 1,000 population in the 1980s compared with 2.8
crimes in 2005. | ||||||||||||||||
But the decline has leveled off in recent years. A growing consensus
among researchers concludes that the benefits of longer sentences
diminish as a state prison system grows. Their studies show that
each new cell added to a prison system has less impact on crime than
earlier additions because so many career criminals already are
locked up. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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(12) HOLLYWOOD OFFICERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Four Hollywood [FL] police officers are ready to admit they brought a large shipment of heroin into the city, prosecutors said Thursday, but the men gave no hint whether they'll try to bring down others in a department long plagued by allegations of corruption. | ||||||||||||||||
Sgt. Jeffry Courtney, Detectives Kevin Companion and Thomas Simcox,
and Officer Stephen Harrison pleaded not guilty to a single drug-
trafficking charge in U.S. District Court on Thursday, almost two
months after they were accused of running a protection racket for
FBI agents posing as mobsters. | ||||||||||||||||
Shortly after the plea, Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Stamm
announced the men will soon plead guilty to the charge, which could
land them in prison for more than a decade. | ||||||||||||||||
Prosecutors said they will pursue no other charges against the officers. Neither the officers nor their attorneys would comment. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Prosecutors and FBI agents have said that in late January, they
convinced Simcox to work undercover as an informant as they tried to
expand their investigation deeper into the department. | ||||||||||||||||
Those efforts collapsed in early February after someone leaked news of the investigation, forcing prosecutors to shut down the probe. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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Until Thursday, prosecutors had been treating Simcox differently, letting him surrender a day after his alleged conspirators were arrested Feb. 22 and holding a separate hearing for him in March. But under federal guidelines, all men face prison terms ranging from about nine to 14 years if they plead to the trafficking charge. | ||||||||||||||||
They faced life sentences if found guilty of the original criminal complaints, which included running stolen diamonds from New Jersey to Florida, protecting loads of stolen cigarettes and operating as enforcers at a rigged, high-stakes card game on a yacht. | ||||||||||||||||
Police Chief James Scarberry said Thursday that he believes the four officers can provide no information to federal prosecutors because there is no more corruption in his department. And he reiterated that he won't discipline any ranking officers who supervised Courtney, Harrison, Simcox and Companion during their alleged crime spree, which FBI agents said lasted more than two years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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The one question hovering over the investigation and possible plea
deal is who leaked news of the probe. FBI agents informed Scarberry
in January, and he said he relayed the information to eight people:
his command staff, Mayor Mara Giulianti and City Manager Cameron
Benson. | ||||||||||||||||
Scarberry said Thursday that the information was leaked to Courtney
and insisted federal investigators -- not Hollywood officers or
officials -- were responsible. | ||||||||||||||||
"I just hope that when the real source of the leak comes out, the same people who have been accusing me and the department will be just as quick to say we did nothing wrong," Scarberry said. | ||||||||||||||||
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Cannabis & Hemp-
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COMMENT: (13-17) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bernie Ellis, a professional public health consultant who resides in
Tennessee, has worked for anti-substance abuse programs across the
country. He was also unrepentant about growing and providing free
cannabis to terminally ill patients, so the cold, heartless feds are
determined he pays an exorbitant price for his compassion - they
want his farm. | ||||||||||||||||
The outstanding Alabama activist and gubernatorial candidate,
Loretta Nall, had great reason to celebrate 420 - in court on Friday
she was finally cleared of cannabis possession charges that have
been dogging her for several years. | ||||||||||||||||
In other celebrity news, Willie Nelson pleaded guilty to cannabis
possession, and was ordered to pay $1,024 along with six months
unsupervised probation. Though the fine is heftier than normal,
luckily he was not charged with a felony for the one and half pounds
found on the tour bus. | ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis in the US/Canada has evolved from the two kinds of pot in the 70's - good or bad - to hundreds of exquisite, potent hybrids for consumers to partake of. Like anything that people develop a taste for, cannabis has spawned an elite, very knowledgeable class of connoisseurs who embrace the very essence of their culture. | ||||||||||||||||
In not-so-jolly England, the relentless wave of reefer-madness brainwashing continues unabated, this time flogging a 10 year study from reefer-mad Australia that concludes that teen pot consumers are destined to become losers, but drinkers turn out just fine. Huh? | ||||||||||||||||
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(13) MARIJUANA MARTYR (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Bernie Ellis Gave Comfort to the Sick and Dying. For That Crime, the
Government Means to Take Everything He's Got. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
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It must have been a real disappointment. Ellis, a public health
epidemiologist, readily acknowledged that he was growing a small
amount of medical marijuana to cope with a degenerative condition in
his hips and spine. He was giving pot away to a few terminally ill
people too. There were only a couple dozen plants of any size
scattered around his place-enough to produce seven or eight pounds
of marijuana worth about $7,000. | ||||||||||||||||
But for that crime-growing a little herb to ease his own pain and
the agony of a few sick and dying people-Ellis was prosecuted like
an ordinary drug pusher. Actually, if he had been one, he probably
would have been treated less harshly. He has mounted $70,000 in debt
to his lawyers, lost his livelihood and spent the past 18 months
living in a Nashville halfway house. Worst of all, he risks losing
his beloved Middle Tennessee farm-187 acres of rolling green hills
along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Prosecutors are trying to seize the
property as a drug-case forfeiture, and Ellis is fighting against
the odds to save his home of nearly 40 years. | ||||||||||||||||
"If I were a rapist, the government couldn't take my farm," Ellis
says. "I grew cannabis and provided it free of charge to sick
people, so I run the risk of losing everything I own. That just
doesn't compute to me."
| ||||||||||||||||
But a strange thing has happened while the government has been
trying to make an example out of Ellis. Colleagues, friends and
neighbors are rallying around him-along with a whole lot of people
who had never heard of him before. The balding, bespectacled
57-year-old with the amiable manner of a favorite uncle has become
an improbable cause celebre. National organizations working for the
liberalization of drug laws are hailing Ellis as a folk hero and a
martyr of the medical marijuana movement. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(14) DRUG POSSESSION CHARGES AGAINST ALEX CITY GUBERNATORIAL (Top)CANDIDATE DROPPED | ||||||||||||||||
After years of court battles, U.S. Marijuana Party founder Loretta
Nall of Alexander City was cleared Friday of drug possession charges
in a Tallapoosa County circuit court. | ||||||||||||||||
"I'm almost speechless," Nall said. "It's been a long time coming." | ||||||||||||||||
The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force arrested Nall in a
November 2002 raid on her house where 0.87 grams of marijuana was
discovered. She was convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession
and possession of drug paraphernalia in district court in February
2004. Nall appealed the conviction to circuit court, seeking to
| ||||||||||||||||
Investigators obtained a search warrant by using a letter to the
editor that Nall wrote to the Birmingham News in support of changing
marijuana laws and by using statements made by Nall's daughter in
her kindergarten class. | ||||||||||||||||
"They illegally questioned my daughter and violated my right to free
speech," Nall said. "The judge ruled it a bad search and the judge
dropped the charges."
| ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
Nall also has aspirations of running against Rep. Mike Rogers in
2008. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(15) MUSIC LEGEND FINED IN MARIJUANA CASE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
ST. MARTINVILLE -- Country music legend Willie Nelson and his tour
manager were ordered to pay $1,024 each and were sentenced to six
months of probation after pleading guilty to possession of marijuana
here Tuesday. | ||||||||||||||||
Nelson, tour manager David Anderson, Nelson's sister and two of the
singer's tour bus drivers were cited on misdemeanor drug charges in
September while traveling on Interstate 10 through St. Martin
Parish. | ||||||||||||||||
State Police investigators said they found 1 1/2 pounds of marijuana
and a small amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms in a search prompted
by a "strong odor of marijuana" during a routine motor coach
inspection stop of his tour bus. | ||||||||||||||||
Nelson and Anderson, both of Texas, entered their guilty pleas on a
regular court day in St. Martinville, arriving with their attorney a
few minutes before the plea hearing and taking seats at the front of
a courtroom filled with other defendants. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
A criminal background check indicated that Nelson, who has made no
secret of his marijuana use, had never before been convicted on a
drug charge, according to Cedars. | ||||||||||||||||
"We did something apparently nobody else has done," he said. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(16) CONNOISSEURS OF CANNABIS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Like Fine Wine, Growing Medicinal Weed Has Become So Specialized As
to Inspire Tastings and a New Vocabulary
| ||||||||||||||||
Stephen DeAngelo bent and sniffed deeply over a clump of frizzy
purple nuggets in a petri dish, one of eight sitting in the middle
of a long refectory table. They were not labeled or arranged in any
particular order, although to the experts assembled in DeAngelo's
Oakland loft -- "cannabis is my calling," he says -- their identity
was no mystery. | ||||||||||||||||
"I would describe this as grapey, candy-like, sweet, with a slight
undertone of spice," said DeAngelo, a longtime activist and hemp
promoter who is now chief executive officer of Harborside Health
Center, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland. He was holding
the tasting at home where he could properly and legally -- at least
in the eyes of California, if not the federal government -- evaluate
some samples. To prepare, he'd taken off his green tweed coat,
loosened his tie and settled in a chair near his vaporizer, an
apparatus that allows him to breathe vapor instead of smoke, because
it's less harsh. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
As the quality and variety of marijuana products in pot clubs have
grown, so too has an emerging marijuana connoisseurship or, as some
call it, "cannasseurship." "I guess," said DeAngelo, when asked
about the term after trying several samples, "I'm a cannasaurus." In
medical marijuana circles, the treatment potential of a certain
strain, whether it produces a "body high" or a "head high" that
dulls pain or stimulates appetite, treats pain, nausea,
sleeplessness or other ailments, is paramount. But to a distinct and
discerning subculture, there is another dimension. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
Cervantes, who now lives in Spain, says part of the publicity about new strains can come down to "money, money, money" in America. Consumers in Northern California, for example, are crazy about purple strains, he said. In general, they're not as high quality as green varieties, but someone has figured out that "purple sells." | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(17) HEAVY CANNABIS USE BY TEENS IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN ALCOHOL (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Ten-Year Study Finds Long-Term Users Have Problems With Work and in
Relationships
| ||||||||||||||||
People who start using cannabis as teenagers are more likely than
drinkers to suffer from mental illness, have relationship problems,
and fail to get decent qualifications or jobs, according to a new
study by academics. | ||||||||||||||||
"Cannabis really does look like the drug of choice for life's future losers," says Professor George Patton, who conducted the 10-year study that followed the fortunes of 1,900 schoolchildren until they were 25. "It's the young people who were using cannabis in their teens who were doing really badly in terms of their mental health. They were also less likely to be working, have qualifications or be in a relationship and more likely to be taking other drugs." | ||||||||||||||||
The 10-year study is the first of its kind to compare drinkers with
cannabis users. Almost two-thirds of people had tried cannabis
before they turned 18. | ||||||||||||||||
Heavy users of the drug were between three and six times more likely
to use other drugs, compared with drinkers, less likely to be in a
stable relationship and up to three times more likely than drinkers
to have dropped out of education or be unemployed. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
International News
| ||||||||||||||||
COMMENT: (18-21) (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Led by prime minister Stephen Harper, Canadian conservatives have tried to paint crime as 'out of control'. Only the fist of authority, says Canada's ruling conservative party, in the form of "get tough" jail sentences for "crime" (read: marijuana) will do. In March, a Tory-created $3.5 million panel was seated to review Canada's jails. Led by Rob Sampson, a former Ontario corrections minister who spearheaded prison privatization there, the federal panel is expected to echo the Harper conservatives' calls for more prisons. While "privatization is expressly excluded from the panel's mandate," reported the Ottawa Citizen, other observers see the panel as a rubber stamp for expanding for-profit prisons in Canada. | ||||||||||||||||
Historically, politicians can easily sound "tough" by lavishing
taxpayer money on police, in the name of fighting "drugs."
Australian Prime Minister John Howard is no different, and last week
announced the creation of a $150 million elite "flying squad" of
narcotics police who will target the production of
| ||||||||||||||||
The UK Drug Policy Commission's recent report continues to
reverberate in the press. The New Zealand Herald this week, while
stressing the numbers of British who say they take cocaine, let slip
the "street price has dropped from UKP 69 ($187) to UKP 49 a gram
over the past six years," yet another stark failure of prohibition.
Government "attempts to stem the use of illegal substances have
failed", noted the Herald. On top of that, most use of illegal drugs
isn't even a problem. Admitted the Herald, "most try cannabis only a
few times with a small minority going on to be problematic users of
harder drugs."
| ||||||||||||||||
If you thought that Ecstasy (MDMA) must be more dangerous than booze
or cigarettes -- because after all MDMA is illegal, and tobacco and
alcohol are legal -- then you'd be wrong, according to Oxford
Professor Colin Blakemore. Blakemore co-wrote a report in the Lancet
last March, which ranked drugs according to their harms. The "system
pays too much attention to adverse reactions which affect very few
people... The clearest message that came out of our report is that
we must consider the real social harms caused by alcohol and
tobacco... 90% of all drug related deaths are caused by alcohol and
tobacco."
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(18) EDITORIAL: LOOKING BEHIND THE BARS (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
Prisons figure large in the federal Conservative plan to tackle crime. If Canada starts locking up more criminals for longer sentences, it had better make sure the prisons are working properly. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
The total budget could reach $3.5 million. | ||||||||||||||||
Mr. Sampson's appointment has worried some because of his openness to private-sector involvement in the corrections system. But privatization is expressly excluded from the panel's mandate. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
It will also examine the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs.
About 36 per cent of federal offenders are convicted of new crimes
within two years of completing their sentences. About five per cent
of offenders commit new violent offences within two years. That's a
small number, but it's enough to make rehabilitation a key part of
justice policy, and the priority for this panel. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(19) SQUAD FIGHTS ICE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
THE Federal Government is to establish an international "flying
squad" of elite police to target production of the killer drug
crystal methamphetamine, or "ice". The new Australian Federal Police
squad will be announced by Prime Minister John Howard today as part
of an additional $150 million over four years to boost the
Government's "tough on drugs" strategy. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
Some of the largest ice factories supplying Australia are in
South-East Asian countries such as Indonesia. The new international
AFP squad, to be known as the Regional Deployment Team, will aim to
intercept the drug before it reaches Australia. | ||||||||||||||||
The team will operate via an international liaison officer network,
and travel to regional sites of drug production if the case
requires. | ||||||||||||||||
The package to be announced by Mr Howard will also include money for
the Australian Crime Commission aimed at improving its technical
communications interception capabilities. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
It will recognise that the treatment of ice addicts often requires
specialist skills, because chronic users can be psychotic and
violent. | ||||||||||||||||
An international study released two weeks ago showed Australia had the highest per-capita ice usage in the English-speaking world. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(20) BRITAIN'S COCAINE USE HITS NEW HIGH (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
More than 750,000 people take cocaine at least once a year as its price falls and ecstasy loses its popularity among clubbers, according to a wide-ranging study of drug abuse in Britain. | ||||||||||||||||
Official attempts to stem the use of illegal substances have failed,
with cocaine soaring in popularity and addiction to heroin remaining
stubbornly high. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
Cocaine use among young people has tripled since the late 1990s to
more than 750,000 in 2005-2006, the study for the new UK Drug Policy
Commission says. | ||||||||||||||||
Nearly 5 per cent of people entering drug rehabilitation programmes say their main problem is with cocaine. The average street price has dropped from UKP 69 ($187) to UKP 49 a gram over the past six years. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
It said one in four people aged 26 to 30 have tried a class A drug,
such as heroin, cocaine or ecstasy, at least once. | ||||||||||||||||
The number of heroin users has risen from 5000 in 1975 to an
estimated 281,000 in England and 50,000 in Scotland. It has now
stabilised at "levels that are very high by international
standards". | ||||||||||||||||
With around 20 per cent of people arrested dependent on heroin, the
cost of drug-related crime in England and Wales is estimated at more
than UKP 13 billion. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug use is now of common experience for people born since 1970,
although most try cannabis only a few times with a small minority
going on to be problematic users of harder drugs. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
(21) OXFORD DON - CIGARETTES MORE DANGEROUS THAN ECSTASY (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
An Oxford Professor has co-written a report which ranked ecstasy and cannobis [sic] below alcohol and tobacco in terms of individual and social harm. The report, published by The Lancet in March, criticises the current ABC system of classification of drugs in the UK. It claims to "suggest a new system for assessing the potential harms of drugs on the basis of fact and scientific knowledge". Three categories -- physical harm, dependence and social harm -- were established. | ||||||||||||||||
Each drug was given a score in each category and these scores were added up to produce a final result. Heroin was ranked as the most dangerous drug. Controversially, ecstasy was ranked 18th and cannobis 11th whilst tobacco was ranked 9th and alcohol 5th. Professor Colin Blakemore, of Magdalen College and chief of the Medical Research Council, said, "The current ABC system pays too much attention to adverse reactions which affect very few people. | ||||||||||||||||
Class A drugs have been demonised by the media, who have not been
terribly responsible by focusing on cases such as Leah Betts. They
do not say that this is one of a very few people who die from
ecstasy compared with the tens of thousands who die from alcohol
consumption -- one has to get these things into balance. "90% of all
drug related deaths are caused by alcohol and tobacco and we accept
it because they are legal, we think we can't do anything about it.
Well, we should. | ||||||||||||||||
The clearest message that came out of our report is that we must
consider the real social harms caused by alcohol and tobacco."
Professor Blakemore also criticised the government's policy on
drugs. "Their scare tactics simply do not work, as the facts show.
Half a million to a million young people will use ecstasy on any one
weekend. They are using their personal experience to guide them when
they should have objective evidence at their disposal. | ||||||||||||||||
[snip]
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
HOT OFF THE 'NET (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
U.S. BORDER PATROL BARS CANADIAN PSYCHOTHERAPIST
| ||||||||||||||||
U.S. Border Patrol Bars Canadian Psychotherapist With Drug Research
Far in His Past
| ||||||||||||||||
By Linda Solomon, The Tyee. Posted April 25, 2007.
| ||||||||||||||||
A Canadian psychotherapist who conducted research with LSD was denied entry to the United States after a border guard Googled his work. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
COCA GROWERS SHAKE THE ANDES ONCE AGAIN
| ||||||||||||||||
Struggles Heat Up in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia
| ||||||||||||||||
By Jose Arenas, Former Colombian Congressman
| ||||||||||||||||
During the last few days, coca growers, especially in Peru and
Colombia, have been in the news again, as their actions have given the
media something to talk about. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
420 AT THE VANCOUVER ART GALLERY 2007
| ||||||||||||||||
Cannabis users observe 4:20 as a time to smoke communally. It has
evolved into a counterculture holiday. A gathering to celebrate and
consume cannabis. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
INTERACTION BETWEEN OPIATES AND CANNABINOIDS
| ||||||||||||||||
by Sandra Welch
| ||||||||||||||||
Presented to 2004 Cannabis Therapeutics Conference, Sandra Welch,PhD examines the analgesic effects of combining Cannabinoids and Opiates. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
CONNECTING THE DOTS
| ||||||||||||||||
ONDCP'S Reluctant Update On Cocaine Price And Purity
| ||||||||||||||||
A Report by the Drug Policy Program of the Washington Office on Latin
America / By John M. Walsh, Senior Associate, WOLA
| ||||||||||||||||
Preliminary U.S. government data, quietly disclosed by ONDCP, indicate that cocaine's price per pure gram on U.S. streets fell in 2006, while its purity increased. These latest estimates, continuing a 25-year trend, suggest that cocaine supplies are stable or even increasing. | ||||||||||||||||
http://wola.org/media/Connecting%20the%20Dots%204-23-2007.pdf | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
STUDY FINDS HIGHEST LEVELS OF THC IN U.S. MARIJUANA TO DATE
| ||||||||||||||||
20 Year Analysis of Marijuana Seizures Reveals a Doubling in Pot
Potency Since Mid-80's;
| ||||||||||||||||
New Strains of Marijuana May Be Behind Increase in Teen Marijuana
Treatment Admissions and Rise in Emergency Room Episodes Related to
Marijuana
| ||||||||||||||||
White House Drug Czar Warns: "This isn't your father's marijuana." | ||||||||||||||||
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/press07/042507_2.html | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
RAISE YOUR VOICE
| ||||||||||||||||
Don't let Congress hold education funding hostage to drug war politics! | ||||||||||||||||
Calls and E-Mails Needed in These States: Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wyoming | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
DAMAGE DONE - THE DRUG WAR ODYSSEY
| ||||||||||||||||
After 30 years of drug war, illegal narcotics are decreasing in price,
increasing in purity and demand continues to surge. The heroes of
this film are veterans of the drug war and they urge us to consider
ending drug prohibition.
| ||||||||||||||||
Saturday, April 28, 2007
| ||||||||||||||||
7:00 pm on Global Television (Canada)
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
LETTER OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
TESTING WON'T STOP STUDENTS' DRUG USE
| ||||||||||||||||
By Dan Linn
| ||||||||||||||||
In response to the article, "Most Antioch high school board candidates want drug testing expanded," I would like to comment that such a policy of drug testing all students would not only be expensive and ineffective, but could also lead to more drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
Drug testing is not effective because it often severs the very
relationships between adults and students that are effective at
curbing drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
Last month, the American Association of Pediatrics released its opposition to random drug testing in its monthly journal. | ||||||||||||||||
Parents and educators should turn to Safety First: A Reality-Based
Approach to Teens and Drugs (safety1st.org) when trying to prevent
teen drug use. An open and honest discussion between adults and
teens about the potential harms of drugs and the likelihood that
teens will come into a situation where drugs will be offered to
them, without the teens being afraid of a harsh punishment is
crucial. | ||||||||||||||||
Safety is at the heart of the issue when dealing with teens and
drugs; a preventive measure that simply makes the consequences
harsher and more likely has not been effective and will continue not
to be effective. | ||||||||||||||||
Allowing teens to discuss drugs among their peers under the
supervision of an adult is a better solution than drug testing.
Plus, if a teen does not join an extracurricular activity for fear
of failing a drug test, how does that prevent the teen from using
drugs in the future?
| ||||||||||||||||
If the student were allowed into the extracurricular activity
without a drug test, then maybe his or her free time after school
would be taken up in a productive activity as opposed to being a
prime time for drug use. | ||||||||||||||||
All in all, drug testing will not stop drug use among students at any high school, but an honest approach to drugs by adults can at least focus on the most important aspect and that is safety. | ||||||||||||||||
Dan Linn
| ||||||||||||||||
Executive Director
| ||||||||||||||||
Illinois NORML
| ||||||||||||||||
Antioch
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
FEATURE ARTICLE (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
AN EMBARRASSMENT FOR THE DRUG CZAR
| ||||||||||||||||
By Pete Guither
| ||||||||||||||||
White House letter: U.S. cocaine prices drop despite billions spent
on drug war
| ||||||||||||||||
"The street price of cocaine fell in the United States last year as purity rose, the White House drug czar said in a private letter to a key senator, seemingly contradicting U.S. claims that US$4 billion (euro2.9 billion) in aid to Colombia is stemming the flow. The drug czar, John Walters, wrote that retail cocaine prices fell by 11 percent from February 2005 to October 2006, to about US$135 (euro99) per gram of pure cocaine. That's way below the US$600 a gram pure cocaine fetched in 1981, when the U.S. government began collecting data, and near the level it has been at since the early 1990s. | ||||||||||||||||
During the same period, analysis of data collected by the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration showed that after a drop in 2005, levels
of purity "have trended somewhat toward former levels," Walters
said. | ||||||||||||||||
Walters made the disclosure in a January letter to Sen. Charles
Grassley, the Republican co-chair of the Senate Caucus on
International Narcotics Control. The Washington Office on Latin
America, a think tank, obtained the letter and made it available to
The Associated Press."
| ||||||||||||||||
Oops. | ||||||||||||||||
"... Grassley, in an e-mailed statement, said the letter is 'all the
proof that anybody needs" that the White House drug office "has
gotten quite good at spinning the numbers, but cooking the books
doesn't help our efforts to curb cocaine and heroin production and
consumption.'
| ||||||||||||||||
The numbers cited by Walters contradict upbeat appraisals made by
U.S. officials as recently in March _ two months after Walters'
letter."
| ||||||||||||||||
Wait a second. I think I just heard... Was that the sound of someone
calling Walters a liar?
| ||||||||||||||||
"Rep. Jim McGovern, a Massachusetts Democrat, said despite the
existence of the new estimates, senior U.S. Embassy officials
provided him with older, more upbeat data during a March visit to
Bogota."
| ||||||||||||||||
More lying?
| ||||||||||||||||
So far, this story has shown up in Taiwan and France
| ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
Pete Guither is the author of Drug War Rant - www.drugwarrant.com -
a weblog at the front lines of the drug war, where this piece first
appeared. | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
QUOTE OF THE WEEK (Top) | ||||||||||||||||
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin
Luther King, Jr. | ||||||||||||||||
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TJI and HOTN by Matt Elrod ()
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