> Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2007 13:46:24 -0700
> From: webmaster@... (Drug Sense)
> Subject: DrugSense Weekly, Apr. 13, 2007, #494
>
>
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>
> DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
>
>
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>
> DrugSense Weekly, Apr. 13, 2007
> #494
>
> Read This Publication On-line at:
> http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
>
> ------------------
>
> TABLE OF CONTENTS:
>
> * This Just In
>
> (1) Forensics Expert Explains Marijuana Testing
> Myths
> (2) Drawing The Line On Drugs
> (3) Parents' Health Advice Under Fire From
> Schools Watchdog
> (4) Mexican Traffickers Defy Crackdown With Gory
> Public Challenges
>
> * Weekly News in Review
>
> Drug Policy-
>
> (5) Sharp Joins Independence County Suit
> (6) OPED: When The Cure Is Not Worth The Cost
> (7) Brain Scans, Genes Provide Addiction Clues
> (8) Column: Drug Prohibition -- Lost Liberty,
> Money
>
> Law Enforcement & Prisons-
>
> (9) County One Of 42 Looking At New Jails
> (10) Sheriff Speaks From Personal Experience At
> Meth Meetings
> (11) Editorial: Geriatrics In Jumpsuits
> (12) Column: Unequal Justice For All
>
> Cannabis & Hemp-
>
> (13) Some Aren't Stoked About New Tax
> (14) Board Members Rip Marijuana Prosecution
> (15) Legal Pot Activists Angry At Police
> (16) N.H. House Approves Growing Hemp
>
> International News-
>
> (17) McCaffrey Sees 2007 As A Crucial Year
> (18) Data Shows Students Taking Illicit Drugs On
> The Rise
> (19) Police Powerless As Psychedelic Herb
> Remains Legal
> (20) Hallucinogenic Herb Being Abused By Young
> People - Health Canada
>
> * Hot Off The 'Net
>
> The U.S. "War On Drugs" Is An Assault On South
> America's Poorest
> Cultural Baggage Radio Show / With Host Dean
> Becker
> Bush (Still) Loves D.A.R.E. / By Marsha
> Rosenbaum
> What Does It Mean To Decriminalize Marijuana?
> Long Term Use Of Medical Cannabis By
> Federal Legal Patients
>
> * What You Can Do This Week
>
> Celebrate Narco News' 7Th Anniversary In New
> York City
>
> * Letter Of The Week
>
> Legalizing Drugs Could Stem Crime / John F.
> Ferry, M.D.
>
> * Letter Writer Of The Month - March
>
> Alan Randell
>
> * Feature Article
>
> Making the Most of DrugSense / Mary Jane Borden
>
> * Quote of the Week
>
> Thomas Jefferson
>
> DrugSense needs your support to continue this
> newsletter and many
> other important projects - see how you can help at
> http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> THIS JUST IN
>
=======================================================================
>
> (1) FORENSICS EXPERT EXPLAINS MARIJUANA TESTING
> MYTHS
>
> When a student is caught in possession of
> marijuana, there is little
> they can use as an excuse to get out of being
> arrested or slapped with
> a hefty fine, according to Mahmoud ElSohly, a
> research professor at
> the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at
> the University of
> Mississippi.
>
> As part of the Forensic Science Seminar
> Series, ElSohly made his
> presentation, "Marijuana in Forensics," to
> about 60 students and
> members of the community in Pastore Chemical
> Laboratory Friday.
> Referring to his latest research, ElSohly talked
> about the fact and
> fiction of marijuana usage and why certain
> defenses for positive
> marijuana testing don't hold up in court.
>
> "When the tests come back positive for marijuana,
> some people say, 'I
> went to a party and people were smoking pot,'"
> ElSohly said. "This
> issue has been studied to death."
>
> ElSohly said the party scene he described
> would be an example of
> passive inhalation, something that could not cause a
> marijuana test to
> show up positive. "There's no way you'd be
> up to the physical
> guidelines," he said.
>
> ElSohly said another excuse that wouldn't hold up
> in court would be
> the "hemp seed" defense. Hemp seed and oil
> contain small amounts of
> THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which are responsible
> for the
> psychometer effects of marijuana.
>
> According to ElSohly's research, hemp seed and oil
> can be found in 120
> different products on the market today. Because
> the amount of THC is
> significantly less, however, ElSohly said
> students that using hemp
> products as an excuse for a positive drug test
> would be disappointed
> in a police officer or an employer's reaction. Like
> passive
> inhalation, there would not be enough THC in a
> sample after ingesting
> hemp to meet the guidelines for "testing positive."
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2007
> Source: Good 5 Cent Cigar (U of RI: Edu)
> Copyright: 2007 Good 5 Cent Cigar
> Website: http://www.ramcigar.com/
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2599
> Author: Brenna McCabe
> Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug
> Testing)
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n468.a09.html
>
> ===
>
> (2) DRAWING THE LINE ON DRUGS
>
> The drug prohibition causes crime," proclaims Jerry
> Cameron to a room
> filled with rapt libertarians. A former police
> chief with FBI and DEA
> training, Cameron is doing "penance" for his
> seventeen-year law
> enforcement career in the "war on drugs." He
> spends an hour setting
> forth the case for the total decriminalization
> of all drugs to the
> Students for Individual Liberty's delight.
>
> Sadly, Cameron takes it too far. Although he
> spends most of his time
> discussing the legalization of marijuana, he
> supports legalizing all
> drugs and even wants the government to hand
> out free heroin.
>
> [snip]
>
> Criminalizing marijuana is simply indefensible. It
> has no serious ill-
> effects, is not physically addictive and to overdose
> you have to smoke
> about your own body weight in pot (which is
> impossible because you
> will pass out long before that). Conversely,
> current drug laws end up
> resulting in increased crime, racist
> enforcement, and overcrowded
> prisons. This is not the case for hard drugs.
>
> They are highly addictive and have been proven to
> cause serious, long-
> term medical problems, but Cameron wants the
> government to hand them
> out for free. As long as libertarians support the
> legalization of all
> drugs, they'll continue to be pigeonholed as
> a one-issue party.
>
> What's worse, people will continue to ignore
> the need to legalize
> marijuana.
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 12 Apr 2007
> Source: Cavalier Daily (U of VA Edu)
> Copyright: 2007 The Cavalier Daily, Inc.
> Website: http://www.cavalierdaily.com/
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/550
> Author: Josh Levy, Cavalier Daily Opinion Columnist
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n464.a08.html
>
> ===
>
> (3) PARENTS' HEALTH ADVICE UNDER FIRE FROM SCHOOLS
> WATCHDOG
>
> Smoking and binge drinking among teenage girls
> have reached worrying
> levels because parents and teachers make the
> health risks seem less
> important than those of illegal drugs, the schools
> watchdog, Ofsted,
> said yesterday.
>
> Most young people correctly saw cigarettes and
> alcohol as a far
> greater threat and the school curriculum must
> change to reflect that,
> it said. Pupils also felt let down by adults who
> were reluctant to
> talk about sensitive issues such as sex and
> relationships, Ofsted
> said. Instead, young people turned to magazines for
> advice.
>
> [snip]
>
> The report on personal, social and health
> education was based on 350
> school inspections over five years.
>
> It said: "Many adults are concerned about young
> people's involvement
> with illegal drugs, but the overwhelming
> majority of young people
> identify correctly that tobacco and alcohol are
> the greatest drug-
> related dangers."
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 12 Apr 2007
> Source: Guardian, The (UK)
> Copyright: 2007 Guardian Newspapers Limited
> Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
> Author: James Merkle, Education Correspondent
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n469.a10.html
>
> ===
>
> (4) MEXICAN TRAFFICKERS DEFY CRACKDOWN WITH GORY
> PUBLIC CHALLENGES
>
> Gangs Use Brazen Displays to Intimidate
>
> MEXICO CITY -- Drug traffickers are waging a
> highly effective
> publicity campaign in Mexico that began with
> a chilling show of
> brutality in Acapulco: two police officers'
> heads, streaming with
> blood, were stuck on metal spikes outside a
> downtown building with a
> fluorescent cardboard sign. "So that you learn to
> respect," it read in
> thick black letters.
>
> The spectacle a year ago in the Pacific resort
> set off a ghoulish
> trend among the drug lords battling for
> billion-dollar smuggling
> routes into the United States. They have since left
> a trail of bodies
> and bloodstained notes across Mexico, with a goal
> of spreading fear -
> -- a sense of dread so deep that rivals, police,
> witnesses and even
> President Felipe Calderon won't dare cross them.
>
> Regular citizens used to be left out of crime
> battles.
>
> No longer. The drug gangs now publish
> newspaper ads and tack
> threatening notes to corpses with ice picks or tape
> them to trash bags
> filled with body parts for public display. They
> are even using the
> Internet, posting a video on YouTube.com that
> showed the apparent
> beheading of an alleged hit man.
>
> "Before long, they're going to have their own TV
> program, 'Narconews,'
> where they drag out their dead for show," drug
> expert Jorge Chabat
> joked grimly.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Fri, 13 Apr 2007
> Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
> Copyright: 2007 Chicago Tribune Company
> Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
> Author: Julie Watson, Associated Press
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n470.a02.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
>
=======================================================================
>
> Domestic News- Policy
> ----------------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (5-8)
>
> Just when we thought ephedrine was safely
> tucked behind the
> counter...some folks in Arkansas have initiated a
> civil action suit
> against pharmaceutical companies for not keeping
> their legal product
> from meth cooks.
>
> Both the U.S. Senate and House have introduced
> bills which would
> require insurance companies to cover mental health
> and addiction the
> same way they cover physical illnesses. A
> journalist, Maia
> Szalavitz, warns that treatment funding must
> require proof of
> efficacy or much of the money may be wasted on
> programs which do not
> work.
>
> And, yes, there is actual scientific research
> on addiction. The
> Journal of the American Medical Association
> published an article
> covering advances in these studies during the
> past year which can
> lead to better treatment.
>
> One of our heroes, Arianna Huffington, decried
> the total lack of
> dialogue about our failed drug policies by
> 2008 presidential
> hopefuls. Her column points out that even Obama,
> who actually admits
> to a past drug problem, has not said a word
> and certainly hasn't
> offered any solutions.
>
> Closing this section with a column by a New
> York philosophy
> professor. He makes some excellent points about
> the harms caused by
> drug prohibition but, unfortunately, feels it
> will never end.
>
> ===
>
> (5) SHARP JOINS INDEPENDENCE COUNTY SUIT
>
> ASH FLAT -- The Sharp County Quorum Court
> voted Monday to join a
> class action lawsuit against a pair of
> pharmaceutical giants and
> some distributors of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.
>
> The vote was 8-0 with one justice absent.
>
> The purpose of the lawsuit, filed in circuit
> court by Independence
> County last month, is to recoup damages that
> counties have incurred
> while combating methamphetamine use and addiction.
>
> The suit contends that ephedrine and
> pseudoephedrine are the only
> ingredients that makers of the illegal drug
> methamphetamine cannot
> make on their own but must obtain from over
> the counter drugs.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2007
> Source: Batesville Daily Guard (AR)
> Copyright: 2007 Batesville Guard-Record Co. Inc.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1403
> Author: Larry Stroud, Guard Associated Editor
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n463.a01.html
>
> ===
>
> (6) OPED: WHEN THE CURE IS NOT WORTH THE COST
>
> ON its face, providing equal coverage for
> mental and physical
> illnesses sounds like a good idea, something
> only a managed-care
> bean counter could oppose. To that end,
> Representatives Jim Ramstad,
> Republican of Minnesota, and Patrick Kennedy,
> Democrat of Rhode
> Island, have introduced the Paul Wellstone
> Mental Health and
> Addiction Equity Act.
>
> Named for the senator who was long an advocate
> for mental health
> "parity," it would require that private
> insurers pay for as much
> treatment for mental illnesses and addiction as
> they do for physical
> illnesses.
>
> Senators Ted Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts,
> and Pete Domenici,
> Republican of New Mexico, have introduced a
> similar bill in the
> Senate. President Bush has said he will sign the
> legislation if it
> passes.
>
> Unfortunately, this change would not be as
> benign as it appears.
> Unless mental health parity is tied to
> evidence-based treatment and
> positive outcomes, generous benefits may become a
> profit bonanza for
> providers that does little to help patients.
>
> [snip]
>
> Without financial incentives to provide treatments
> that are known to
> work, many mental health professionals stick with
> what they know, or
> pick up on the latest fad, or even introduce
> their own untested
> innovations - which in turn are spread by
> testimonials and credulous
> news media coverage.
>
> [snip]
>
> According to a review by the Institute of
> Medicine in 2006, only
> 10.5 percent of alcoholics received "care
> consistent with scientific
> knowledge" of the disorder; similarly, 43
> percent of children in
> psychiatric hospitals are given antipsychotic
> medication despite not
> suffering from psychosis. Tough boot camps for
> troubled teenagers -
> which have been proven to be ineffective and
> potentially harmful -
> thrive, while "multisystemic family therapy,"
> which effectively
> treats teenagers at home, is available only
> through the juvenile
> justice system.
>
> [snip]
>
> If we want to provide genuine help for the 33
> million Americans with
> mental health and drug problems, giving more
> no-strings-attached
> money to providers via insurance mandates is not
> the answer. It is
> dangerous to blindly bolster useless and even
> harmful treatments
> while failing to support proven therapies.
> Coverage must be tied to
> outcomes and evidence. And payment should be
> dependent, at least in
> part, on health improvements, not just services
> received. We need
> parity in evidence-based treatment, not just in
> coverage.
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2007
> Source: New York Times (NY)
> Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
> Author: Maia Szalavitz
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n462.a07.html
>
> ===
>
> (7) BRAIN SCANS, GENES PROVIDE ADDICTION CLUES
>
> Scientists using advanced brain imaging and
> genetic testing to probe
> the physiological basis of addiction are gleaning
> new insights into
> these disorders and how to treat them.
>
> A symposium sponsored by Brookhaven National
> Laboratory (Upton, NY),
> held in conjunction with the American Association
> for the
> Advancement of Science's annual meeting in San
> Francisco in
> February, highlighted several advances in
> addiction science made
> over the past year. Researchers presented
> findings from brain
> imaging studies revealing the importance of
> memory and drug-related
> cues in addiction, the role of monoamine
> oxidase-inhibiting
> compounds in cigarette smoking, the damage to
> inhibitory controls
> caused by methamphetamine use, as well as
> results from studies
> suggesting that genomics could be used to
> better tailor addiction
> therapies.
>
> [snip]
>
> Harder to explain is another key component of
> addiction: the intense
> craving or desire that addicted individuals
> experience when they are
> exposed to drug-associated cues, such as persons
> with whom they used
> the drug, places where they used the drugs, and
> drug paraphernalia.
> Now, however, brain imaging techniques are
> giving scientists a
> window on what happens in an individual's
> brain during craving.
>
> To probe this response, Volkow and her
> colleagues at Brookhaven
> National Laboratory used positron emission
> tomography (PET) scans to
> obtain an indirect measurement of dopamine
> levels in the brains of
> 18 cocaine-addicted individuals under two
> conditions: while watching
> videos of people buying and using cocaine and
> also while watching
> videos featuring nature scenes (Volkow et al. J
> Neurosci.
> 2006;26:6583-6588).
>
> [snip]
>
> Brain imaging studies also are providing evidence
> that
> methamphetamine use may cause functional and
> structural deficits
> that interfere with users' ability to control
> negative emotions.
>
> Edythe D. London, PhD, of the Semel Institute
> of Neuroscience and
> Biobehavioral Science at the University of
> California in Los
> Angeles, and colleagues have used PET scans and
> radiolabeled glucose
> to monitor and compare brain activity in
> methamphetamine-addicted
> individuals who have abstained from the drug for
> 4 to 11 days with
> that of controls (London ED et al. Arch Gen
> Psychiatry.
> 2004;61:73-84). They found abnormally low
> levels of activity (as
> measured by glucose metabolism) in the
> cerebral cortex that was
> related to symptoms of depression.
>
> [snip]
>
> London said the findings suggest that
> methamphetamine use leads to a
> loss of function in parts of the brain that
> control emotion. This,
> she said, may explain why methamphetamine users
> often are involved
> with serious crimes and violence and why they
> have difficulty
> abstaining. "It could be that they
> misinterpret environmental
> stimuli and react in a strong way," she said.
>
> She and her colleagues are now studying whether
> modafinil, a drug
> used to treat narcolepsy, might help in
> treating methamphetamine
> dependence. The drug has been shown to improve
> inhibitory control in
> healthy individuals and in those with
> attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Such a
> means to control a
> problematic symptom of methamphetamine abuse
> may improve the
> effectiveness of existing therapies, such as
> behavioral therapy.
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 04 Apr 2007
> Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
> (US)
> Copyright: 2007 American Medical Association.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/219
> Author: Bridget M. Kuehn
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n462.a13.html
>
> ===
>
> (8) Column: DRUG PROHIBITION -- LOST LIBERTY, MONEY
>
> As the Iraq War drags into its fifth year,
> there is a far more
> destructive policy that has been going on for
> decades, drug
> prohibition. This prohibition is offensive in
> at least in part
> because of its utter contempt for liberty.
>
> [snip]
>
> Some nanny-types argue that drug use isn't
> harmless because persons
> harm others through impaired driving, stealing
> to support their
> habit, drug-fueled violence, etc. There are a
> couple things to note
> about this argument. First, these activities are
> already illegal and
> can be combated by directly targeting them. In
> fact, the massive
> resources used to track down drugs might end up
> diverting resources
> needed to prevent violent crime.
>
> For example, according to anthropologist
> Michael P. Ghiglieri,
> citing Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the 90's,
> only about 38% of
> murderers were sentenced to prison.
>
> Second, if this argument warrants drug
> prohibition, it provides an
> even stronger case for alcohol probation. It's
> hard to imagine
> anyone who isn't a blood enemy of liberty
> wanting to criminalize
> alcohol again.
>
> Third, if we allow the criminal law to protect
> against
> externalities, that is, when one person's
> conduct imposes costs on
> others, the state could mandate jogging, body
> weight, sexual
> practices, etc. The harm principle (when narrowed
> to focus on direct
> harm to others) is a bulwark against such an
> invasion of liberty.
>
> [snip]
>
> Even if drug prohibition didn't involve a
> dizzying lack of respect
> for liberty, it probably doesn't pass a simple
> cost-benefit
> analysis.
>
> [snip]
>
> The federal drug control budget in 2006 was
> $12.5 billion. Since
> numerous state and local agencies also spend
> vast amounts of time
> and energy pursuing marijuana and other threats
> to the free world,
> one can imagine that the costs here are
> considerably greater than my
> low-end estimate of $34.5 billion.
>
> Worthy of special contempt is the Drug Abuse
> Resistance Program
> (DARE) program. According to a 1998 study by
> Professors Ronsenbaum
> and Hanson of the University of Illinois at
> Chicago, DARE has no
> impact on the long-term rate of drug use by
> children who go through
> it. Other sources claim that this is the same
> result found in all
> major research into DARE's effectiveness.
> Despite the lack of
> evidence for its effectiveness, in 1996 it was
> administered in 70%
> of the nation's school districts, reaching 25
> million students.
>
> [snip]
>
> Another significant cost is the shredding of
> the Constitution in
> pursuit of recreational drugs.
>
> [snip]
>
> In the absence of convincing evidence that the
> benefits of
> prohibition outweigh its costs, it's better to
> err on the side of
> liberty.
>
> [snip]
>
> Like alcohol prohibition, drug prohibition
> tramples on liberty and
> doesn't clearly past the cost-benefit test.
> Sadly, it's probably
> here to stay anyway.
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2007
> Source: Observer, The (NY)
> Copyright: 2007 The Observer
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2118
> Author: Stephen Kershnar
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n467.a06.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> Law Enforcement & Prisons
> -------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (9-12)
>
> It has long been evident that we just can not
> incarcerate our way
> out of drug usage. There are daily reports about
> overcrowded jails
> and prisons shifting "criminals" from one
> cage to another in an
> attempt to avoid judicial wrath. Surely we can
> not be far away from
> the day when citizens will insist on better
> answers.
>
> One of those citizens, though, will not be the
> Texas Sheriff who had
> his son arrested for using meth. The Sheriff
> claims his only two
> choices were prison or death. He 'hopes' his
> son will not relapse
> and I hope they might both discover the treatment
> option.
>
> A Daily Tar Heel editorial correctly claims the
> increasing number of
> older inmates behind bars will soon need to be
> addressed. All the
> contractors enjoying prison building profits may
> need to switch to
> secure nursing home construction.
>
> One of our heroes, Arianna Huffington, decried
> the total lack of
> dialogue about our failed drug policies by
> Democratic 2008
> presidential candidates. She points out that
> even Obama, who
> actually admits to a past drug problem, has
> not said a word and
> certainly hasn't offered any solutions. Her
> column also covers the
> disparities of 'justice' which lead to this war
> being carried on the
> backs of minorities.
>
> ===
>
> (9) COUNTY ONE OF 42 LOOKING AT NEW JAILS
>
> No Mower Countian should for a moment think the
> county is alone in
> its jail-justice center saga.
>
> In fact, there are 42 Minnesota counties presently
> studying
> expanding or building new jail and justice
> center facilities.
>
> That's what the Mower County Board of
> Commissioners and selected
> staffers learned at the recent Association of
> Minnesota Counties'
> legislative conference.
>
> David Hillier, 3rd District county commissioner,
> said Tuesday the 42
> jail and justice center issues did not include
> counties who have
> attempted to solve issues of their own by
> building new facilities,
> such as the recently opened Steele (3 years ago)
> and Freeborn County
> (last year) jail and justice centers.
>
> Ironically, both counties are presently shopping
> around the
> availability of jail beds to other counties
> discussing how to
> address their own jail over-crowding and
> district court security
> issues.
>
> [snip]
>
> According to Hillier, the commissioners learned at
> the AMC
> legislative conference the state is reimbursing
> the county only $13
> per day in per diem costs for housing short-term
> offenders in county
> jails, while the costs are $55 or more in per diem
> alone.
>
> "We have a serious problem here as far as
> housing prisoners is
> concerned," Hillier said. "According to the last
> statistics, in 1988
> there were 3,600 prisoner beds in Minnesota.
>
> "Last year -- 2006 -- the number of adult beds in
> the state grew to
> over 9,100," Hillier added. "That's why we have 42
> counties
> considering building new jails."
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Sat, 07 Apr 2007
> Source: Austin Daily Herald, The (MN)
> Copyright: 2007 Austin Daily Herald Inc
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1201
> Author: Lee Bonorden, Austin Daily Herald
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n446.a14.html
>
> ===
>
> (10) SHERIFF SPEAKS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AT METH
> MEETINGS
>
> Bowie County Sheriff James Prince has a unique
> perspective when it
> comes to dealing with methamphetamine users
> and their families.
>
> Three and a half years ago, he had his own
> 31-year-old son arrested
> on drug charges. "It's a tough thing to put your
> kid in jail, but a
> lot of people are doing it. The alternative is
> a whole lot worse.
>
> I told my son I would rather see him in jail
> than in a casket"
> Prince said. Prince spoke Tuesday night in
> Redwater, Texas, at the
> first town hall meeting held by the Bowie County
> Sheriffs Office and
> the East Texas Council on Alcoholism and Drug
> Abuse. He said he
> caught a plane to Georgia when he received a
> phone call saying his
> son might be doing drugs.
>
> [snip]
>
> "I hope and pray he stays off it" the sheriff
> said. Prince said
> parents of meth users should not be ashamed
> if their sons or
> daughters are on drugs. "You have not done
> anything wrong" he said.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2007
> Source: Texarkana Gazette (TX)
> Copyright: 2007 Texarkana Gazette
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/976
> Author: Lon Dunn, Texarkana Gazette
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n464.a02.html
>
> ===
>
> (11) Editorial: GERIATRICS IN JUMPSUITS
>
> State needs to address aging in prisons to save
> money North Carolina
> has a problem with old people and prisons:
> There are increasing
> numbers of the former in the latter.
>
> Because of longer sentences, especially for
> drug-related crimes,
> more often people approach retirement age
> while sporting orange
> jumpsuits.
>
> According to a 2006 report on aging in N.C. prisons,
> the 50
> years-and-older group was the fastest growing
> age bracket in our
> inmate population. While the total number of
> inmates has increased
> by 16 percent in the past five years, the
> elderly incarcerated
> population has jumped 61 percent.
>
> [snip]
>
> This is a burden on the state financially, not
> just because of the
> ever-growing need for cell space but also because
> medical and mental
> health care for elderly inmates costs about
> three times as much as
> that for prisoners in younger age brackets.
>
> The sad part is that the elderly poor probably
> receive more
> comprehensive health care within the prison
> system than outside its
> walls. It might actually be a worse punishment
> to send them out to
> tackle the Medicaid and Medicare systems - which
> is a commentary on
> those systems, and not an appeal to punish
> elderly inmates more
> harshly.
>
> [snip]
>
> One possible solution is to shorten sentences
> for non-violent
> crimes, but because no politician seeking
> re-election wants to be
> branded as being against the "War on Drugs,"
> this is not a likely
> scenario.
>
> A fix that N.C. officials have proposed is to
> release terminally
> ill, low-risk elderly inmates to hospices,
> while placing other
> elderly prisoners or prisoners with disabilities
> in secure private
> facilities.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 12 Apr 2007
> Source: Daily Tar Heel, The (U of NC, Edu)
> Copyright: 2007 DTH Publishing Corp
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1949
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n465.a01.html
>
> ===
>
> (12) COLUMN: UNEQUAL JUSTICE FOR ALL
>
> THERE IS ONE SUBJECT BEING forgotten in the 2008
> Democratic race for
> the White House. While all the major candidates
> are vying for the
> black and Latino vote, they are completely
> ignoring one of the most
> pressing issues affecting those constituencies:
> the failed "war on
> drugs" -- a war that has morphed into a war
> on people of color.
>
> Consider this: According to a 2006 report by
> the American Civil
> Liberties Union, African-Americans make up an
> estimated 15 percent
> of drug users, but they account for 37 percent of
> those arrested on
> drug charges, 59 percent of those convicted and
> 74 percent of all
> drug offenders sentenced to prison. Or
> consider this: The United
> States has 260,000 people in state prisons on
> nonviolent drug
> charges; 183,200 (more than 70 percent) of them
> are black or Latino.
>
> Such facts have been bandied about for years.
> But our politicians
> have consistently failed to take action on
> what has become yet
> another third rail of American politics, a
> subject to be avoided at
> all costs by elected officials who fear being
> incinerated on contact
> for being soft on crime.
>
> Perhaps you hoped this would change during a
> spirited Democratic
> presidential primary? Unfortunately, a quick
> search of the top
> Democratic hopefuls' Web sites reveals that not
> one of them -- not
> Hillary Clinton, not Barack Obama, not John
> Edwards, not Joe Biden,
> not Chris Dodd, not Bill Richardson -- even
> mentions the drug war,
> let alone offers any solutions.
>
> [snip]
>
> Obama has written eloquently about his own
> struggle with drugs but
> has not addressed the tragic effect the war on
> drugs is having on
> African-American communities.
>
> [snip]
>
> Avoidance of this issue comes at a very stiff
> price (and not just
> the more than $50 billion a year we're spending
> on the failed drug
> war). The toll is paid in shattered families,
> devastated inner
> cities and wasted lives (with no apologies for
> using that term).
>
> During the 10 years I've been writing about
> the injustice of the
> drug war, I've repeatedly watched as politicians
> paid lip service to
> the problem but then ducked as the sickening
> status quo claimed more
> victims. Here in California, of the 171,000
> inmates jamming our
> wildly overcrowded prisons, 36,000 are
> nonviolent drug offenders.
>
> [snip]
>
> A 2000 study found that 1.4 million African
> American men -- 13
> percent of the total black male population -- were
> unable to vote in
> the 2000 election because of state laws
> barring felons from the
> polls. In Florida, 1 in 3 black men is permanently
> disqualified from
> voting. Think that might have made a difference
> in the 2000 race?
> Our shortsighted drug laws have become the
> 21st-century
> manifestation of Jim Crow.
>
> Shouldn't this be an issue Democratic
> presidential candidates deem
> worthy of their attention?
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 08 Apr 2007
> Source: Day, The (New London,CT)
> Copyright: 2007 The Day Publishing Co.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/293
> Author: Arianna Huffington
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n449.a05.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> Cannabis & Hemp-
> ---------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (13-16)
>
> The California state government is looking at
> medical cannabis once
> again, only this time it is the taxman who is
> treading into the
> murky gray waters. Tax assessors hope to be
> rewarded with millions
> of dollars from all cannabis dispensaries
> instead of the current
> patchwork of clubs that pay tax. Some stakeholders
> support the added
> legitimacy, while others fear possibly owing
> eight years worth of
> taxes and sharing information which could be
> seized by the feds.
>
> Madison Wisconsin activists kept the spotlight on
> a legal case that
> involved sharing a joint between two friends at a
> cannabis festival,
> which led to the Dane County Board asking the
> District Attorney to
> justify the costs of dropping the misdemeanor
> charge to pursue
> felony prosecution. The prosecutor had previously
> claimed money and
> resources are very tight, so some assurance was
> needed that the DA's
> office was "conserving its resources for pursuit
> of serious crimes."
>
> Some Denver, Colorado citizens are concerned
> democracy is being
> mocked by police who defiantly arrested 11
> per cent more people
> since voters approved an initiative to remove
> all penalties for
> possessing one ounce or less of cannabis
> several years ago. The
> Charlie Brown logic for pursuing this path is,
> "It's still state law
> - we can't be selective about the laws we enforce."
>
> "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try
> again", could be the
> motto of House politicians in New Hampshire who
> once again passed a
> bill to control and regulate the hemp industry.
> The Senate killed it
> two years ago, and even if it evolves further
> this time, there is
> still the DEA to contend with. However, with
> momentum and
> perseverance, it will just be a matter of time
> before U.S. farmers
> grow one of the most useful plants on the planet.
>
> ===
>
> (13) SOME AREN'T STOKED ABOUT NEW TAX
>
> [snip]
>
> For the first time since voters passed
> Proposition 215 more than a
> decade ago, state tax assessors are reaching
> out to the state's
> estimated 150 to 200 medical marijuana retailers
> to get them to pay
> their state and local sales taxes.
>
> In February, the state Board of Equalization
> sent out a special
> notice to sellers of medical marijuana, urging
> them to obtain a
> seller's permit like any other retailer.
>
> "If you sell medical marijuana, your sales in
> California are
> generally subject to tax and you are required
> to hold a seller's
> permit," according to the notice.
>
> It goes on to warn sellers that "if you do not
> obtain a seller's
> permit or fail to report and pay the taxes due,
> you will be subject
> to interest and penalty charges."
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Sat, 07 Apr 2007
> Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
> Copyright: 2007 The Sacramento Bee
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
> Author: Judy Lin, Bee Capitol Bureau
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n448.a05.html
>
> ===
>
> (14) BOARD MEMBERS RIP MARIJUANA PROSECUTION
>
> Four liberal Dane County Board members are
> questioning the district
> attorney's decision to pursue a felony drug charge
> against a Madison
> man who declined a deal to plead guilty or no
> contest to misdemeanor
> marijuana possession.
>
> In a letter to Democratic District Attorney
> Brian Blanchard, the
> board members note the county's top prosecutor
> recently raised
> concerns about budget constraints and asked
> county officials for
> more staff.
>
> The letter - signed by Progressive Dane Sups.
> Ashok Kumar, Al
> Matano, Kyle Richmond and Barbara Vedder -
> criticizes Blanchard's
> office for filing a felony charge against a
> county resident who
> allegedly "handed a marijuana cigarette to a
> colleague during a
> demonstration in favor of relaxation of
> anti-marijuana law in
> Downtown Madison."
>
> "The decision to file and pursue such charges
> calls into question
> the district attorney's office commitment to
> conserving its
> resources for pursuit of serious crimes," the
> letter states.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2007
> Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
> Copyright: 2007 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
> Author: Matthew Defour
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n458.a02.html
>
> ===
>
> (15) LEGAL POT ACTIVISTS ANGRY AT POLICE
>
> Possession Busts Rise Despite City Voters' OK
>
> Marijuana legalization advocates say they are
> furious with Denver
> police for arresting more people for
> misdemeanor possession after
> city residents voted to legalize the weed in
> 2005. Mason Tvert, who
> led the charge to get marijuana legalized, said
> the group will hold
> a noon news conference today at the steps of City
> Hall to decry the
> findings.
>
> Arrests for most minor crimes rose in Denver
> last year, and rose
> faster than marijuana arrests, following a
> change in policing
> philosophy.
>
> But Tvert said nothing can justify an 11 percent
> spike in marijuana
> possession arrests last year.
>
> "If there's one, it's too many," Tvert said. "They
> (police) have the
> discretion not to arrest."
>
> [snip]
>
> Tvert plans to have retired Denver police Lt.
> Tony Ryan on hand to
> speak for retired law enforcement officers who
> favor legalization.
>
> [snip]
>
> One person not sharing that idea is City
> Councilman Charlie Brown.
>
> "It's still state law," Brown said. "We can't be
> selective about the
> laws we enforce."
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2007
> Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
> Copyright: 2007, Denver Publishing Co.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
> Author: Lou Kilzer, Rocky Mountain News
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n455.a06.html
>
> ===
>
> (16) N.H. HOUSE APPROVES GROWING HEMP
>
> CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - The House voted Thursday
> to allow farmers to
> grow hemp - a close relative of marijuana -
> despite federal hurdles
> to planting the controversial crop.
>
> Supporters pointed out that hemp, which has a
> very low content of
> THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana,
> has unfairly been
> characterized as the same as marijuana.
>
> [snip]
>
> "No one confuses water with vodka though they
> look the same," Owen
> said.
>
> Hemp can be grown only with permission from
> the federal Drug
> Enforcement Administration. North Dakota farmers
> are currently
> trying to get DEA permission to grow hemp under
> that state's rules.
>
> "This is in the end an issue of liberty. Small
> farmers in the state
> need all the help they can get," Owen said.
>
> [snip]
>
> Hemp can be grown legally in other countries.
>
> Pubdate: Fri, 06 Apr 2007
> Source: Foster's Daily Democrat (NH)
> Copyright: 2007 Geo. J. Foster Co.
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/160
> Author: Norma Love, Associated Press Writer
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n449.a07.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> International News
> ---------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (17-20)
>
> Ex-drug czar under Bill Clinton, and Gulf War
> Army General Barry
> McCaffrey had a "trip report" from his recent
> trip to Afghanistan
> published by the Washington Post last week.
> "Afghanistan is now a
> narco-state," declared McCaffrey. But, it is the
> Brit's fault: "The
> British have the lead for the [counter-drug]
> program" but won't
> spend enough money to make Afghanistan be drug
> free. Not to worry,
> because there's no problem which can't be solved
> by more force and
> more police in Afghanistan. "This should be a
> 10,000 man [local]
> program, supported by a $250 million [U.S.]
> program -- with an
> in-country presence of 200+ DEA agents."
> Laments McCaffrey, There
> are no real jails -- or prosecutors -- or judges
> -- or squad cars."
>
> Despite one of the world's harshest
> prohibitionist regimes in
> Indonesia, the number of children taking illicit
> drugs continues to
> rise there. Insp. Gen. Mudji Waluyo, from the
> Indonesian National
> Narcotics Agency said drug use was up some 400
> percent from 2005
> among students in "elementary, junior high and
> senior high schools",
> and this in a country which enthusiastically
> executes people for
> selling small amounts of prohibited drugs. "All
> those figures show
> us how rampant drug abuse is among students in
> Indonesia," admitted
> Mudji. Ironically, many of the young
> Indonesians polled indicated
> one reason they took drugs was as an "escape
> from authoritarian
> treatment."
>
> And finally this week, we leave you with two
> different re-writes of
> the same alarmist salvia divinorum article written
> by Kenyon Wallace
> of the Canadian Press, which was picked up by
> papers all over Canada
> last week. The Saskatchewan newspaper, The
> StarPhoenix, emphasized
> that police power might be at risk with the
> headline "Police
> Powerless As Psychedelic Herb Remains Legal."
> True, only "four cases
> of adverse reactions to salvia" have been
> documented by Health
> Canada (making salvia remarkably safe compared
> to, say, aspirin or
> Viagra or anything else). But no matter:
> because young people may
> get some, or it might be used by a person
> driving, it must be made
> illegal for everyone, say police, eager to add
> salvia to list of
> plants police may arrest people for possessing.
> The Edmonton Journal
> in Alberta slugged the piece as "Hallucinogenic
> Herb Being Abused By
> Young People - Health Canada", and likewise buried
> the fact that few
> adverse reactions to salvia have occurred.
> But even though The
> Journal declared that salvia is "being abused",
> Health Canada can't
> make it illegal "until we have sufficient
> scientific and empirical
> data that concludes it has the potential for
> misuse and abuse,"
> admitted a Health Canada spokesman.
>
> ===
>
> (17) McCAFFREY SEES 2007 AS A CRUCIAL YEAR
>
> "We Are Now in a Race Against Time."
>
> When retired Army Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey
> visited Afghanistan in
> February for meetings with 23 senior Western
> and local military,
> intelligence and political officials, he came away
> with a cautiously
> optimistic view of the prospects for reform and
> political stability
> there.
>
> [snip]
>
> "Afghanistan is now a narco-state. The
> opium/heroin take is $3.1
> billion -- which is 1/3 of the GNP. The British
> have the lead for
> the [counter-drug] program and are not adequately
> resourced for the
> effort. There is no single unifying leadership
> for the U.S. nor
> international effort."
>
> "If we do not get a serious and sustained
> effort on counter-drug
> operations . . . we will fail to achieve our
> objectives. . . . This
> should be a 10,000 man [local] program, supported
> by a $250 million
> [U.S.] program -- with an in-country presence of
> 200+ DEA agents."
>
> [snip]
>
> "We can, without question, achieve our U.S.
> national objective of a
> functioning law-based state -- with a
> performing, non-drug economy
> -- which rejects sanctuary for terrorism. This
> is a cross-over
> year."
>
> "The effort to create the Afghan police force is
> currently grossly
> under-resourced with 700 U.S. trainers. . . . In
> Iraq, we have 7000
> U.S. police trainers. . . . In Kosovo, we had 5000
> police mentors. .
> . . We have trained 60,000 Afghan police, but we
> have no idea where
> they are. . . . Probably there are
> non-uniformed, untrained and
> largely criminal elements in many of the
> district capitals. There
> are no real jails -- or prosecutors -- or judges
> -- or squad cars.
>
> [snip]
>
> We must lose the 'Expeditionary' mindset.
> Reconstruction in this
> destroyed nation is going to take 25 years."
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2007
> Source: Washington Post (DC)
> Copyright: 2007 The Washington Post Company
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
> Author: R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post Staff
> Writer
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n455.a07.html
>
> ===
>
> (18) DATA SHOWS STUDENTS TAKING ILLICIT DRUGS ON THE
> RISE
>
> Despite a nationwide anti-drug drive, the
> country continues to see
> more cases of drug use by schoolchildren, a top
> anti-drugs
> campaigner said Tuesday.
>
> "The number of illegal drug users continues to
> increase annually,
> with 81,702 of them students of elementary,
> junior high and senior
> high schools," head of the Narcotics Abuse
> Prevention Center at the
> National Narcotics Agency (BNN) Insp. Gen.
> Mudji Waluyo, said as
> quoted by Antara, in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
>
> He was referring to 2006 data collected by the
> agency across the
> country.
>
> Addressing a seminar on the Use of Information
> Technology in the
> Campaign against Drug Abuse and Trafficking,
> which was held in the
> auditorium of the East Kalimantan Governor's
> Office, Mudji said the
> agency recorded a total of 8,449 elementary
> school students who had
> used drugs last year. It was nearly a 400-percent
> increase from the
> 2005 figure of 2,542 students.
>
> [snip]
>
> "All those figures show us how rampant drug abuse
> is among students
> in Indonesia," Mudji said.
>
> Quoting the survey conducted by the BNN, Mudji
> said 86 percent of
> respondents said that they had consumed drugs
> due to the influence
> of their environment, another 74.15 percent said
> that they had used
> drugs just for fun and another 70 percent said
> that they had turned
> to drugs to escape from authoritarian
> treatment at home or at
> school.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 11 Apr 2007
> Source: Jakarta Post (Indonesia)
> Copyright: The Jakarta Post
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/645
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n461.a03.html
>
> ===
>
> (19) POLICE POWERLESS AS PSYCHEDELIC HERB REMAINS
> LEGAL
>
> OTTAWA -- An easily available herb that packs a
> powerful psychedelic
> punch has some federal health officials recommending
> strict
> controls.
>
> But Health Canada says it can't regulate the use
> of salvia divinorum
> until there's more evidence of its dangers.
>
> Department documents obtained by The Canadian
> Press under Access to
> Information law say salvia is being used by
> adolescents and young
> adults for its hallucinogenic properties.
>
> [snip]
>
> Department spokesperson Jason Bouzanis said salvia
> has been known to
> cause hallucinations, out of-body experiences,
> unconsciousness and
> shortterm memory loss. But that's not enough to
> declare it illegal.
>
> "We can't make any recommendations to place
> salvia under the
> Controlled Drug and Substances Act schedules until
> we have
> sufficient scientific and empirical data that
> concludes it has the
> potential for misuse and abuse," Bouzanis said.
>
> [snip]
>
> An October 2006 report by the natural health
> products directorate of
> Health Canada, which is responsible for
> assessing safety among all
> marketed health products, highlights four cases of
> adverse reactions
> to salvia.
>
> [snip]
>
> Despite being aware of salvia's potentially
> harmful effects, the
> RCMP can't crack down on the herb because it's
> legal.
>
> "As far as including salvia included under the
> Controlled Substances
> Act, that's Health Canada's responsibility,"
> said Sgt. Nathalie
> Deschenes.
>
> "The RCMP is always concerned about any
> substance or product that
> may put the safety and security of Canadians at
> risk."
>
> [snip]
>
> Missouri and Louisiana have criminalized the
> herb and there are
> proposals to make it illegal in Alaska,
> Illinois, Oregon and
> Wyoming.
>
> Dr. Bryan Roth, a professor of pharmacology at
> the University of
> North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is very concerned about
> the
> availability of the herb.
>
> [snip]
>
> "The distribution is totally unregulated so
> unsuspecting teens or
> even children younger than teenage years might
> chance upon it and
> that's a recipe for disaster."
>
> Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2007
> Source: StarPhoenix, The (CN SN)
> Copyright: 2007 The StarPhoenix
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/400
> Author: Canadian Press
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n450.a07.html
>
> ===
>
> (20) HALLUCINOGENIC HERB BEING ABUSED BY YOUNG
> PEOPLE - HEALTH
> CANADA
>
> Salvia Divinorum Can't Be Declared Illegal
> Without More Data
>
> [snip]
>
> A December 2005 report by the marketed health
> products directorate,
> an arm of Health Canada, recommends that salvia
> divinorum be placed
> under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
>
> [snip]
>
> "We can't make any recommendations to place
> salvia under the
> Controlled Drug and Substances Act schedules until
> we have
> sufficient scientific and empirical data that
> concludes it has the
> potential for misuse and abuse," Bouzanis said.
>
> [snip]
>
> It is a species of sage, which belongs to the
> mint family, and is
> most commonly found in Mexico, where indigenous
> Mazatec shamans have
> used it for centuries for spiritual journeys.
>
> [snip]
>
> An October 2006 report by the natural health
> products directorate of
> Health Canada highlights four cases of adverse
> reactions to salvia.
> One case involves a 16-year-old Canadian boy who
> reportedly became
> incoherent, suicidal and threatened to kill
> police officers after
> taking a single tablet in March 2005.
>
> [snip]
>
> But for one salvia user, the concerns are
> unnecessary. "Salvia is so
> intense, most people only try it once or twice,"
> said Ryan (Big P)
> Poelzer, who works at the Urban Shaman, a popular
> botanical store in
> downtown Vancouver.
>
> [snip]
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 08 Apr 2007
> Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
> Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal
> Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
> Author: Kenyon Wallace, Canadian Press
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n447.a03.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> HOT OFF THE 'NET
> -------------------------------
>
> THE U.S. "WAR ON DRUGS" IS AN ASSAULT ON SOUTH
> AMERICA'S POOREST
>
> By Benjamin Dangl
>
> Cocaine may be considered a scourge in America's
> cities, but in the
> Andes, the plant from which it's derived is
> a way of life that
> provides food, shelter, healthcare and education.
>
> http://alternet.org/drugreporter/50144/
>
> ===
>
> CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
>
> 04/06/07 - Panel : Are we winning the war on drugs?
> / with Stan Furce
> of HIDTA/ONDCP, Marcia Baker of Phoenix House &
> DTN/LEAP member Dean
> Becker.
>
> Audio:
> http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_041307.mp3
>
> Listen Live Fridays 8:00 PM, ET, 7:00 CT,
> 6:00 MT & 5:00 PT at
> http://www.kpft.org/
>
> ===
>
> BUSH (STILL) LOVES D.A.R.E.
>
> By Marsha Rosenbaum
>
> As President Bush declares April 12 "National
> D.A.R.E. Day," ideology
> and emotion once again trump science and truth.
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marsha-rosenbaum/
>
> ===
>
> WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA?
>
> A Cross-National Empirical Examination
>
> by Rosalie Liccardo Pacula, [et al.]
>
> http://repositories.cdlib.org/csls/fwp/25/
>
> ===
>
> LONG TERM USE OF MEDICAL CANNABIS BY FEDERAL LEGAL
> PATIENTS
>
> U.S. government grown medical marijuana is sent
> to several patients
> remaining on the I.N.D. program. In 2002,
> Elvy Musikka, George
> McMahon ... all ¯ and Irvin Rosenfeld appear
> in Portland, OR to
> discuss their health and experience of 20
> years using medical
> Cannabis. Hosted by Mary Lynn Mathre of
> Patients Out of Time.
>
>
http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=5703755977034467109
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> CELEBRATE NARCO NEWS' 7TH ANNIVERSARY IN NEW YORK
> CITY
>
> Sign-Up Today as a Sponsor of a Great Party
> for a Worthy Cause
>
> By Al Giordano
>
> Date: Wednesday, April 18
> Time: 8 p.m.
> Location: Lower East Side, Manhattan
>
> http://narconews.com/Issue45/article2618.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> LETTER OF THE WEEK
> ------------------------------------
>
> LEGALIZING DRUGS COULD STEM CRIME
>
> By John F. Ferry, M.D.
>
> Section one of the April 3 edition of The
> Advocate was dominated by
> stories about the terrible epidemic of murder
> and other criminal
> activity causing great distress in New Orleans.
>
> All these problems could be eliminated with
> one stroke of the
> government's pen. Decriminalize the use and sale of
> drugs.
>
> Because these drugs are illegal, their price
> is very, very high.
> Nevertheless, many people are willing to risk
> long jail sentences,
> murder people, or be killed themselves trying to
> get the drugs for
> their own use or to sell at huge profits.
>
> Undeniably, our society would be better off if
> no one used or sold
> these drugs.
>
> But, equally undeniably, the government's "War on
> Drugs" has failed.
> These items are readily available. Don't we ever
> learn?
>
> In the 1920s and early 1930s, our government
> decreed that since we
> would all be better off if no one consumed
> alcoholic beverages,
> alcohol consumption was made illegal.
>
> All the curses the use of alcohol brings on
> society would be
> eliminated. This was called the "Noble Experiment."
>
> Wow! Were they wrong.
>
> After all, all Al Capone ever did was to go into the
> liquor
> business. The difference was that his profits
> were so high that he
> eliminated competition with submachine guns
> rather than with low
> prices and good service.
>
> Reasonable men saw that the experiment had
> failed. Alcohol was once
> again made a legal substance for sale and
> consumption. The nation
> has survived.
>
> I hope that my fellow readers of The
> Advocate do not take this
> letter to indicate that I favor, promote or
> recommend the use of
> mind-altering substances. I do not
>
> But experience teaches that outlawing their use
> does not decrease
> their use. It only creates a lot of outlaws.
>
> John F. Ferry, M.D.
>
> retired physician/artist
>
> New Iberia
>
> Pubdate: Mon, 09 Apr 2007
> Source: Advocate, The (Baton Rouge, LA)
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> LETTER WRITER OF THE MONTH - MARCH
> ------------------------------------
>
> DrugSense recognizes Alan Randell of Victoria,
> B.C. for his two
> letters published during March which brings his
> career total, that
> we know of, to 442. You may review his superb
> letters at
>
> http://www.mapinc.org/writer/Randell+Alan
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> FEATURE ARTICLE
> -------------------------------
>
> Making the Most of DrugSense
>
> PDF version:
> http://www.drugsense.org/flyers/DSServicesFlyer.pdf
>
> By Mary Jane Borden
>
> You're a busy activist trying to change drug
> policy in your local
> community. You need quick, easy access to services
> that can get your
> name in the media and help you appear like much
> bigger
> organizations, and you need to do this
> professionally on a limited
> budget. You need DrugSense.
>
> DrugSense is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit
> organization
> dedicated to promoting accuracy in the media
> concerning drug policy
> topics. Here's how DrugSense can help your
> organization:
>
> Web Hosting. (http://www.drugpolicycentral.com)
> Need a Website? Our
> Drug Policy Central (DPC) subsidiary offers
> free or low-cost,
> subsidized Internet services to drug policy
> reform organizations
> worldwide. Notable clients include LEAP, the
> November Coalition,
> DanceSafe, the Ohio Patient Network, Michigan
> NORML, and over 100
> others. For a free quote, please visit
> http://www.drugpolicycentral.com/hosting/.
>
> E-mail Discussion Lists and 'Bulletin Board' Forums.
> (http://drugsense.org/lists/) Get your group active
> and
> communicating with its own e-mail discussion
> list or online forum.
> Exchange e-mail, ideas, and documents with one
> another to become
> more organized and effective.
>
> Real Time Meetings over the Internet.
> (http://www.mapinc.org/resource/teamspeak/) In the
> cyber age, you
> can conduct your organization's meetings for FREE
> over the Internet
> in real time. In one of our Virtual Conference
> Rooms hosted on the
> chat software Teamspeak, your group can talk to
> one another, plan
> future events, and develop responses to current
> problems.
>
> Learn from What Others Have Done.
> (http://drugsense.org/caip)
> Thinking about fielding a citizen-led
> initiative or community
> ordinance? Learn the language of other
> initiatives and what made
> them successes or failures. You can also read
> the editorials that
> promoted or decried their passage.
>
> Contact the media. (http://www.mapinc.org/mcod/)
> Our Media Contact
> on Demand (MCOD) database lists ALL U.S. print
> and broadcast media:
> TV and radio stations, daily and weekly
> newspapers, trade and
> consumer magazines, news syndicates, and AP
> and UPI bureaus. The
> database contains multiple contacts for almost
> 30,000 media outlets.
> Searchable on a number of parameters (such as
> by venue or by
> specific distances from any zip code or city),
> it can quickly and
> easily output mailing labels or data formats
> suitable for use in fax
> or e-mail software programs. Registered DrugSense
> members
> (http://www.drugsense.org/join) receive full access
> to MCOD. Others
> can obtain a limited number of records by using
> the username <guest>
> with no password.
>
> Learn How to Get Media.
> (http://www.mapinc.org/resource/) From
> Letters-to-the-Editor, to press releases, to
> radio and television
> interviews, our Media Activism Center is filled
> with ideas on how to
> get valuable media attention. DrugSense also holds
> periodic
> Teamspeak meetings to train activists on how to
> use these services.
> Please check MAP OnAir for upcoming Activism
> Roundtables.
>
> Get Your Group OnAir.
> (http://www.mapinc.org/onair/) MAP OnAir can
> help your group track, promote, and respond to
> media events that
> occur on television and radio.
>
> Build a Drug Policy Knowledge Base.
> (http://www.mapinc.org) Our
> DrugNews Archive of more than 180,000 articles
> on all aspects of
> drug policy serves as a knowledgebase for the
> movement as well as an
> early warning system of issues that may become
> important. You can
> help build this resource by submitting drug
> policy related articles
> to http://www.mapinc.org/newshawk/.
>
> Mary Jane Borden is a writer, artist, and
> activist in drug policy
> from Westerville, Ohio. She serves as Business
> Manager/Fundraising
> Specialist for DrugSense.
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> QUOTE OF THE WEEK
> ------------------------------------
>
> "I predict future happiness for Americans if
> they can prevent the
> government from wasting the labors of the people
> under the pretense of
> taking care of them."
>
> -- Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 - July 4, 1826).
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> DS Weekly is one of the many free educational
> services DrugSense
> offers our members. Watch this feature to
> learn more about what
> DrugSense can do for you.
>
> TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL
> ADDRESS:
>
> Please utilize the following URLs
>
> http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
>
> http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
>
> ===
>
> CREDITS:
>
> Policy and Law Enforcement/Prison content
> selection and analysis by
> Jo-D Harrison (jo-d@...), Cannabis/Hemp
> content selection and
> analysis by Deb Harper (deb@...),
> International content
> selection and analysis by Steve Heath
> (heath@...), Layout,
> TJI and HOTN by Matt Elrod (webmaster@...)
>
> We wish to thank all our contributors, editors,
> NewsHawks and letter
> writing activists. Please help us help reform.
> Become a NewsHawk See
> http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on
> contributing clippings.
>
> ===
>
> NOTICE:
>
> In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section
> 107, this material is
> distributed without profit to those who have
> expressed a prior
> interest in receiving the included information
> for research and
> educational purposes.
>
> ===
>
> MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE
>
> http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
>
> -OR-
>
> Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to
> MAP Inc. send your
> contribution to:
>
> The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc.
> D/B/a DrugSense
> 14252 Culver Drive #328
> Irvine, CA, 92604-0326
> (800) 266 5759
> MGreer@...

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