> Date: Fri, 6 Jul 2007 15:01:11 -0700
> From: webmaster@... (Drug Sense)
> Subject: DrugSense Weekly, July 6, 2007, #506
>
>
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>
> DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> DrugSense Weekly, July 6, 2007
> #506
>
> Read This Publication On-line at:
> http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
>
> ------------------
>
> TABLE OF CONTENTS:
>
> * This Just In
>
> (1) Nation's Pot Penalties Called A Hodgepodge
> (2) Column: Gore III Case Spotlights Pot Debate
> (3) Editorial: In The War On Drugs, One Victory
> (4) Editorial: High Time
>
> * Weekly News in Review
>
> Drug Policy-
>
> (5) Hillbilly Heroin And The Wall Street Boom
> (6) Column: Lawyer Wants Dare Off Vehicle
> Stickers
> (7) Column: Time To End Plan Colombia
> (8) City Adopts Bond Amounts For Marijuana
> Possessors
>
> Law Enforcement & Prisons-
>
> (9) Column: Libby's Independence Day
> (10) Drug-Free Zones Unfairly Target Blacks,
> Critic Say
> (11) Former Deputies' Cases To Proceed
> (12) Judge In Oxycontin Case Invites Victims To
> Speak
>
> Cannabis & Hemp-
>
> (13) Nation's Pot Penalties Called A Hodgepodge
> (14) Men Rolling Cross-Country To Free Pot
> (15) Judge Temporarily Halts Medical Marijuana
> Limit
> (16) Taking Up The Fight To Protect Medical
> Marijuana
>
> International News-
>
> (17) 10 Ugandans Face Death In China Over
> Narcotics
> (18) 63% Of B.C. People Want Insite To Stay
> (19) Billions Spent, But Drug Trade Grows
> (20) Ban Makes Party Pill Trade Worse
>
> * Hot Off The 'Net
>
> Standing Silent Nation
> Romney, Torture, And Teens / By Maia Szalavitz
> Why Cory Booker Is Mad As Hell / By Debra
> Dickerson
> Net Danger / By Samer Elatrash
> In Pot We Trust / Showtime
> Cultural Baggage Radio Show / With Dean Becker
> The MAPS Bulletin - Volume XVII, Number 1,
> Spring/Summer 2007
> Ban Lifted On D.C. Needle Exchange / Susan
> Levine
>
> * What You Can Do This Week
>
> New Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP)
> Website
> Drug Policy Alliance Seeks Part-Time Website
> Assistant
>
> * Letter Of The Week
>
> Where's The Harm? / By Ralph Givens
>
> * Feature Article
>
> And The Winner Is... / By Mary Jane Borden
>
> * Quote of the Week
>
> Albert Camus
>
> 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) NATION'S POT PENALTIES CALLED A HODGEPODGE
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2007
> Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
> Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
> Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
>
> Smoke a joint in Alabama or Oregon, and you can
> permanently lose the
> right to adopt a child. Smoke one in Oklahoma, and
> you're ineligible
> ever to be a foster parent. Light up in Utah,
> and get a lifelong
> eviction notice from public housing.
>
> Grow a marijuana plant in any one of a dozen
> states, including
> California, and you're permanently barred from
> receiving welfare or
> food stamps.
>
> Those laws and others are detailed in the first
> nationwide study of
> the consequences of marijuana convictions, in
> areas ranging from
> family life to voting and jury service.
> Researchers headed by a
> Northern California lawyer said they had found a
> hodgepodge of state
> and federal restrictions that seemed to
> conflict with the overall
> trend of reduced criminal penalties for pot.
>
> "For many people, (the penalties) can result in a
> lifetime of hardship
> -- an unrecognized punishment that continues
> long after they have
> served their criminal sentences or completed
> probation," said the
> report, which was paid for by a group that favors
> legalizing marijuana
> under state regulation.
>
> The chief author, attorney Richard Boire of Davis,
> said Tuesday that
> many of those in the court system are unaware of
> the consequences of
> marijuana convictions.
>
> [snip]
>
> Report:
>
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/rpts/col_sanctions.htm
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n796.a04.html
>
> ===
>
> (2) GORE III CASE SPOTLIGHTS POT DEBATE
>
> Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2007
> Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
> Copyright: 2007 Washington Post Writers Group
> Author: Kathleen Parker, Washington Post Writers
> Group
>
> News that Al Gore's 24-year-old son, Al Gore III,
> was busted for pot
> and assorted prescription pills has unleashed a
> torrent of mirth in
> certain quarters.
>
> Gore-phobes on the Internet apparently view
> the son's arrest and
> incarceration as comeuppance for the father's
> shortcomings. Especially
> rich was the fact that young Al was driving a Toyota
> Prius when he was
> pulled over for going 100 mph -- just as Papa Gore
> was set to preside
> over concerts during a 24-hour, seven-continent Live
> Earth celebration
> to raise awareness about global warming.
>
> Whatever one may feel about the former vice
> president's environmental
> obsessions, his son's problems are no one's cause
> for celebration. The
> younger Gore's high-profile arrest does, however,
> offer Americans an
> opportunity to get real about drug prohibition,
> and especially about
> marijuana laws.
>
> For the record, I have no interest in marijuana
> except as a public
> policy matter. My personal drug of choice is a
> heavenly elixir made
> from crushed grapes. But it is, alas, a drug.
>
> Tasty, attractive and highly ritualized in our
> culture, wine and other
> alcoholic beverages are approved for responsible
> use despite the fact
> that alcoholism and attendant problems are a plague,
> while responsible
> use of a weed that, at worst, makes people
> boring and hungry, is
> criminal.
>
> Pot smokers might revolt, if they weren't so mellow.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n800.a05.html
>
> ===
>
> (3) EDITORIAL: IN THE WAR ON DRUGS, ONE VICTORY
>
> Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2007
> Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
> Copyright: 2007 The Christian Science Publishing
> Society
> Website: http://www.csmonitor.com/
>
> Action by states and the Congress has resulted in a
> sharp decrease in
> the number of US meth labs.
>
> Virginia's attorney general calls
> methamphetamine "probably the
> ugliest drug...in 40 years." Many other
> law-enforcement officials
> agree. So it's heartening that state and
> federal effort targeting
> these illegal uglies is hitting a bull's eye - at
> least in reducing
> the US supply of "meth."
>
> Since the early 1990s, a meth resurgence has
> spawned thousands of
> hidden labs in motel rooms, barns, and homes in
> rural and suburban
> America. But the number of these meth kitchens is
> radically declining,
> thanks to stepped-up law enforcement and laws that
> restrict the supply
> of a key ingredient.
>
> Meth is known to be quickly addictive, with severe
> health
> repercussions. But it also has a social ripple
> effect. Children of
> users may be abused as the user turns violent, or
> neglected for days
> during the user's crash period. Kids and neighbors
> are also endangered
> by the potentially explosive manufacturing
> process, which produces
> five pounds of toxic waste for every pound of meth.
>
> As the meth outbreak gathered steam, though,
> so did many states,
> followed by the US Congress. Awareness, training,
> and shared databases
> helped local and federal law enforcement, and many
> states passed laws
> restricting the supply of the key meth
> ingredient pseudoephedrine,
> found in cold medicines. Last year, Congress
> brought uniformity to
> those laws by requiring pharmacies to move the
> medicines behind the
> counter and limit the amount customers can buy
> in a day. Customers
> must also show an ID.
>
> The results are striking. According to the
> federal Drug Enforcement
> Agency (DEA), the number of lab sites seized in the
> US has dropped by
> 58 percent since the peak in 2003 - to 7,347
> last year. This is an
> instance in which laws worked.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n797.a02.html
>
> ===
>
> (4) EDITORIAL: HIGH TIME
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007
> Source: North Shore News (CN BC)
> Copyright: 2007 North Shore News
> Website: http://www.nsnews.com/
>
> In handing a grow operator a conditional sentence
> last month, North
> Vancouver provincial judge Doug Moss expressed
> frustration the court
> could not do more to curb his activities.
>
> We share Moss's frustration, but we believe it is
> misdirected. Moss is
> right the system has little power to kill
> grow ops. But stiffer
> sentences would do nothing to help. Our 80-year war
> on drugs has shown
> this in abundance.
>
> Despite the endless resources we have poured
> into enforcement, the
> drug trade has thrived. Our efforts have driven up
> prices to the point
> it is among the most lucrative industries on the
> planet.
>
> Sky-high profits and a dependent consumer base
> have drawn criminal
> organizations like flies, driving them to invest
> enormous effort into
> the trade's expansion. No law will deter them.
>
> In this sense, drug laws are arguably the biggest
> driver of crime in
> the modern world. The trade can be tied to
> everything from gang
> violence to property crime to the dangerous and
> destructive grow ops
> Moss - like the rest of us - would like to see
> eradicated.
>
> It is only when we realize we're heading the
> wrong way, when we
> acknowledge our courts are indeed ineffectual
> under the current
> system, that we will begin to make progress.
>
> Drugs - marijuana included - should be
> legalized, regulated, and
> restricted internationally, much the way cigarettes
> are. Drugs cannot
> be vanquished, but the criminals who pedal them
> can. The dangers of
> legalized drugs are manifold, but they are
> nothing compared to the
> dangers of the status quo.
>
> URL:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n795.a09.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
>
=======================================================================
>
> Domestic News- Policy
> ----------------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (5-8)
>
> Pressure on Wall Street has been leading to
> increase drug use among
> financial workers, according to a Reuters story.
> Some sources cited
> in the article challenged the premise, but it
> does seem to follow
> stories out of some colleges in recent years which
> detail
> prescription drug use to cope with pressure
> and enhance academic
> performance.
>
> Elsewhere, an indefatigable drug policy
> reformer from Illinois is
> challenging the use of the DARE logo on local
> vehicle stickers; one
> columnist argues its time to abandon Plan
> Colombia (the failures of
> which are discussed in the International
> Section of DrugSense
> Weekly); and a Wisconsin city adopts civil
> fines for low level
> marijuana offenders, but somehow brings driving
> privileges into the
> equation.
>
> ===
>
> (5) HILLBILLY HEROIN AND THE WALL STREET BOOM
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007
> Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
> Copyright: 2007 Calgary Herald
> Author: Tim McLaughlin, Reuters
>
> Bankers Are Buckling Under The Strain
>
> NEW YORK - Wall Street's push for record profits
> is ruining careers,
> tearing apart families and keeping drug dealers
> busy, mental health
> experts say.
>
> While record bonuses make some Wall Street
> bankers feel invincible,
> others become emotional wrecks from pressure to
> perform and some hit
> rock bottom, experts say.
>
> Harris Stratyner, a psychologist at Caron's
> New York Recovery
> Center, said some executives he treats are
> experimenting with
> cocaine, opiate-based drugs, ecstasy and
> marijuana, as well as
> abusing alcohol.
>
> "It's like they're chasing a dream. Even when
> they make tremendous
> profits, they're still worried," he said.
>
> Alden Cass, a clinical psychologist who counsels
> Wall Streeters with
> drug addictions, said drug abuse and high anxiety
> are undercurrents
> to the current boom.
>
> "When things are really good, they feel
> invulnerable," Cass said.
> "That can lead to adultery, substance abuse,
> problems with the law."
>
> When it comes to profits, things are really good.
> Six of the largest
> U.S. investment banks -- Goldman Sachs, Lehman
> Brothers, Citigroup,
> JPMorgan & Chase Co., Morgan Stanley and Bear
> Stearns -- combined
> for $17.6 billion U.S. in first-quarter profit
> this year. That's
> after shelling out $28.8 billion U.S. for pay and
> benefits,
> financial statements show.
>
> Those profit and pay figures are more than double
> those seen in the
> first quarter of 2000, the last days before
> the dot-com bubble
> burst. New York's comptroller estimates Wall
> Street's 2006 bonuses
> will generate $1.6 billion in state tax revenue.
>
> "To my knowledge, we have not seen an uptick in
> drug use," Morgan
> Stanley spokeswoman Jean Marie McFadden said.
>
> The other five firms declined comment or did
> not return telephone
> calls.
>
> But Cass said opiate abuse among his clients
> is rising and they
> openly talk about being hooked on prescription
> drugs like OxyContin,
> known as hillbilly heroin.
>
> "That's what has changed from previous booms
> on Wall Street," he
> said.
>
> Cass and Stratyner said their clients sometimes
> conceal their habits
> by taking prescription drugs they get for back
> surgery or
> sports-related injuries. The Internet has also
> expanded the black
> market for drugs.
>
> Wall Street professionals in their 20s use
> Ritalin and Adderall,
> prescription drugs used to treat
> attention-deficit disorder and
> hyperactivity, to enhance their performance as
> they grind out
> 100-hour weeks, Cass said.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n777/a08.html
>
> ===
>
> (6) COLUMN: LAWYER WANTS DARE OFF VEHICLE STICKERS
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007
> Source: Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, IL)
> Copyright: 2007 Daily Southtown
> Author: Phil Kadner
>
> Jim Gierach has written a letter to the mayor of
> Oak Lawn, saying he
> is offended by village vehicle stickers that
> feature the insignia of
> one of the most popular anti-drug programs in
> the country -- DARE.
>
> An attorney with offices in Oak Lawn, Gierach
> has spent nearly 20
> years campaigning for the legalization of drugs
> such as marijuana,
> cocaine and heroin.
>
> "There isn't a single problem in this country,
> make that the world,
> that isn't somehow tied to this country's
> prohibition against
> certain drugs," Gierach said during a recent
> telephone conversation.
>
> "You can't afford new schools because tax
> money is being used to
> build new prisons to hold the people arrested
> for using or selling
> drugs.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n779/a04.html
>
> ===
>
> (7) COLUMN: TIME TO END PLAN COLOMBIA
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2007
> Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
> Copyright: 2007 The Spokesman-Review
> Author: Froma Harrop, Providence Journal
>
> How to make enemies, squander billions and
> accomplish nothing:
> That's a U.S. program called Plan Colombia. Its
> central idea is to
> slow the flow of cocaine into the nostrils of
> American
> night-clubbers by poisoning crops in the Andes.
>
> Five billion wasted dollars later, cocaine surges
> cheaper and purer
> into our cities and suburbs.
>
> Since 2000, Plan Colombia has sprayed an area
> the size of Delaware
> and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, Colombia's coca
> acreage rose 9 percent
> last year.
>
> Indigenous peoples have been growing coca in the
> Andes for the last
> 2,000 years, give or take a few centuries.
> These farmers are not
> keen on having their culture destroyed as
> they're dragged into our
> War-on-Drugs lunacy. You can imagine.
>
> So why do we do it?
>
> Here's a hint: Almost half of the $630 million
> in military aid to
> Colombia last year was scooped up by U.S.
> defense contractors.
> There's money in the madness.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n757/a04.html
>
> ===
>
> (8) CITY ADOPTS BOND AMOUNTS FOR MARIJUANA
> POSSESSORS
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007
> Source: Herald Times Reporter (Manitowoc, WI)
> Copyright: 2007 Herald Times Reporter
> Author: Kristopher Wenn
>
> MANITOWOC - First-time offenders of the city's
> new marijuana and
> drug paraphernalia ordinance will have to
> account for hefty bond
> amounts after Monday's Manitowoc Common Council
> meeting.
>
> In June, the council moved to make possession
> of marijuana an
> ordinance violation instead of a misdemeanor
> charge in circuit
> court.
>
> Under the recently adopted rules, first-time
> offenders caught with
> less than 8 grams will receive a city ticket.
> Those caught with more
> than 8 grams of marijuana will face a misdemeanor
> charge, and second
> and later offenses will be handled in circuit
> court, District
> Attorney Mark Rohrer said in February.
>
> On Monday, the council voted unanimously to adopt
> bond amounts that
> were recommended by Municipal Judge Daniel Glaeser.
>
> Adults found in possession of marijuana will have
> to pay a $300 bond
> and get a minimum six-month driver's license
> suspension. For
> possession of drug paraphernalia, adults will
> have to pay a $150
> bond and get a six-month or longer driver's
> license suspension.
>
> A juvenile in possession of marijuana will have
> a $150 bond and a
> six-month or longer suspension of the juvenile's
> driver's license.
> For possession of drug paraphernalia, juveniles
> will have a bond
> amount of $75 plus costs and will have their
> driver's license
> suspended for six months or longer.
>
> "I think it's reasonable," said Alderman Paul
> Tittl. "I believe that
> it is painful enough to cause people to think
> twice . There has got
> to be some teeth to it for it to be effective."
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues: URL:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n791/a09.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> Law Enforcement & Prisons
> -------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (9-12)
>
> At least one columnist made the connection
> between President Bush's
> commutation of Lewis Libby's prison sentence as
> "excessive," and the
> hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated for
> excessive terms due
> to the war on drugs. In other news, some
> activists in Florida are
> speaking out against the racism inherent in
> "drug-free zones"; some
> drug cases are dropped in the wake of a police
> corruption scandal in
> North Carolina, but not all the cases involving
> the controversial
> officers; and the criminal case against
> Oxycontin continues, with
> the judge arranging time for victim statements.
>
> ===
>
> (9) COLUMN: LIBBY'S INDEPENDENCE DAY
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007
> Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
> Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
> Author: Debra J. Saunders
>
> OK. I'M GLAD President Bush commuted the 30-month
> prison sentence of
> Scooter Libby, the former top aide to Vice
> President Dick Cheney.
>
> Like Bush, I buy the jury's verdict that Libby
> committed perjury and
> obstructed justice in a Department of Justice
> probe to discover who
> leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie
> Plame Wilson. Perjury
> is no small crime and Libby could have spared
> himself a long legal
> ordeal, if only he had not lied to investigators.
> Libby made his own
> bed.
>
> That said, Libby's prosecution has seemed
> overwrought and overly
> political from the beginning. Note that Special
> Prosecutor Patrick
> Fitzgerald never prosecuted Richard Armitage, who
> originally leaked
> the operative's identity.
>
> Bush split the judge's sentence down the middle.
> He did not pardon
> Libby, but instead upheld the $250,000 fine
> and two years of
> probation. Bush reasoned that the fine,
> probation and prison time,
> however, were "excessive."
>
> As Bush noted in a written statement, in
> making the sentencing
> decision, the judge "rejected the advice of the
> probation office,
> which recommended a lesser sentence and the
> consideration of factors
> that could have led to a sentence of home
> confinement or probation."
>
> My complaint is that Bush did not commute
> other sentences for
> individuals serving "excessive" time under the
> federal
> mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.
>
> About an hour after the news, Amy Ralston
> called me. Ralston had
> been sentenced to 24 years for her role in
> her former husband's
> reputed Ecstasy ring, until President Clinton
> commuted her sentence
> in July 2000.
>
> "I only look at it one way," Ralston said. "I
> want to know if he
> granted additional pardons for other people who
> are serving 20 to
> life for minor drug crimes. I know so many
> who have had their
> petitions denied by the Bush administration,
> who are deserving."
>
> Ralston was crying as she discussed friends left
> behind in prison,
> serving sentences far longer than their crimes
> warranted. ( Her Web
> site is http://www.candoclemency.com/ )
>
> As long as Bush is looking at "excessive"
> sentences that cry out for
> a presidential fix, he should consider the
> sad case of Clarence
> Aaron. Aaron was 22 years old when he made
> the huge mistake of
> hooking up two drug dealers for two cocaine
> deals. He was paid
> $1,500 - -- but because he did not testify
> against the big fish in
> the deal and he pleaded not guilty, he was
> sentenced to life without
> parole -- that's right, life without parole
> -- for a first-time
> nonviolent drug offense.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n788/a02.html
>
> ===
>
> (10) DRUG-FREE ZONES UNFAIRLY TARGET BLACKS, CRITIC
> SAY
>
> Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007
> Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
> Copyright: 2007 The Palm Beach Post
>
> BOYNTON BEACH -- The 400 block of Martin
> Luther King Boulevard,
> where four men stood on a recent Sunday
> beckoning passing cars,
> doesn't appear to enjoy special protection
> from drug crimes.
>
> But with two signs warning that this city
> street is a "drug-free"
> zone, this neighborhood of modest homes and aged
> apartment complexes
> is one of the front lines of a
> quarter-century-old "war on drugs."
>
> It is a war that has seen years of casualties
> with no end in sight;
> the number of people imprisoned for
> drug-related crimes has only
> climbed each year since 1982. And while police
> say the heightened
> penalties for selling drugs in drug-free zones
> fortify their
> position, critics say the size and number of
> these zones have only
> increased the toll with a disproportionate impact on
> black
> offenders.
>
> "The crimes aren't being displaced because
> there's nowhere to
> displace them to. There's no incentive for drug
> dealers to move,"
> said Ben Barlyn, a New Jersey deputy attorney
> general who heads a
> state commission that in 2004 examined the impact
> of drug-free zones
> in that state.
>
> That study, followed by two more, concluded
> that drug-free zones
> cover densely populated urban corridors where
> black neighborhoods
> predominate. As a result, researchers said,
> zones have created two
> systems of justice, penalizing black offenders
> for where they live
> as well as for their crimes, while white
> offenders who tend to live
> and work out of the zone face lesser penalties.
>
> Those examining the impact of drug laws have
> pointed to other
> factors leading to disproportionate numbers of
> blacks serving time
> for drug crimes, including higher penalties for
> crack cocaine than
> powder cocaine, and for street narcotics than
> unauthorized
> prescription drugs. Racial profiling also has been
> cited as
> contributing to racially disparate incarceration
> rates.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n776/a08.html
>
> ===
>
> (11) FORMER DEPUTIES' CASES TO PROCEED
>
> Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2007
> Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
> Copyright: 2007 Fayetteville Observer
> Author: Venita Jenkins
>
> LUMBERTON -- The Robeson County district
> attorney says he plans to
> prosecute cases that were handled by deputies
> who have pleaded
> guilty as part of a federal investigation into
> corruption in the
> Sheriff's Office. Johnson Britt said he
> doesn't think the recent
> pleas by the former lawmen will have an adverse
> effect on the cases.
>
> Britt said he plans to prosecute what he
> calls victim cases --
> murders, assaults and robberies -- where the
> state can rely on
> testimony from victims and other witnesses.
>
> "If you have a confession or statement of omission
> of
> responsibility, there is no grounds to dismiss
> it," he said. "There
> may be other evidence to substantiate the
> statements. So the former
> deputies' involvement doesn't become a major issue."
>
> Sixteen deputies with the Robeson County
> Sheriff's Office pleaded
> guilty between December and May to various
> charges in U.S. District
> Court. Their pleas came after a four-year
> investigation called
> Operation Tarnished Badge. High-ranking
> officers, including the
> chief of detectives and a homicide
> investigator, were among those
> accused of various criminal violations,
> including conspiracy to
> violate racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit
> money laundering,
> conspiracy to defraud the government, conspiracy
> to commit satellite
> piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping,
> conspiracy to distribute
> cocaine and use of a firearm during and in
> relation to a crime of
> violence. The number of cases involving the
> lawmen is in the
> hundreds, Britt said. Those cases include
> forgery, breaking and
> entering and at least a dozen murder cases.
>
> "It runs the gamut," Britt said. The District
> Attorney's Office has
> dismissed 200 to 300 drug cases involving 130
> defendants since 2004.
>
> Those cases included drug trafficking charges,
> Britt said. The cases
> were investigated by members of the sheriff's
> Drug Enforcement
> Division. Several of its members were charged
> with racketeering,
> conspiracy to commit money laundering,
> conspiracy to defraud the
> government and conspiracy to commit satellite
> piracy.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n783/a09.html
>
> ===
>
> (12) JUDGE IN OXYCONTIN CASE INVITES VICTIMS TO
> SPEAK
>
> Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007
> Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
> Copyright: 2007 Roanoke Times
> Author: Laurence Hammack
>
> Prosecutors Have Already Said That Identifying
> Victims Of The
> Deceptively Marketed Drug Would Be Difficult
>
> 981-3239 Those wishing to speak at the July 20
> hearing must notify
> the U.S. Attorney's Office in Abingdon by July 18.
>
> Before sentencing three pharmaceutical executives
> for overpromoting
> OxyContin, a federal judge wants to hear from
> the victims of what
> prosecutors are calling one of the greatest
> prescription drug
> failures in U.S. history.
>
> In an order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge
> James Jones said he
> will allow brief statements at a July 20
> sentencing hearing from any
> of those who consider themselves a victim of
> Purdue Pharma's crimes.
>
> That could include a grieving parent who lost a
> child to an
> overdose, an addict who emptied his bank account
> to pay for pills,
> or an insurance company that paid millions of
> dollars a year to
> cover OxyContin prescriptions.
>
> Jones -- who has raised questions about a plea
> agreement that calls
> for $634.5 million in fines but no jail time for
> Purdue's top three
> executives -- apparently intends to hear from
> the witnesses before
> deciding whether to accept the agreement.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n787/a06.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> Cannabis & Hemp-
> ---------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (13-16)
>
> The potential consequences of a marijuana
> conviction vary
> considerably within the United States. Thus a
> new report from the
> Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, "Life
> Sentences: Collateral
> Sanctions Associated With Marijuana Offenses," on
> line at
>
>
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/rpts/col_sanctions.htm,
> should be a
> "Must Read" for not only users but also any lawyer
> who defends anyone
> arrested for marijuana.
>
> In Canada popular support for legalizing
> marijuana is close to a
> majority nationally, and has a solid majority
> in a few provinces.
> The efforts to send the message to Parliament
> are many. One is the
> Freedom Tour.
>
> In Colorado a judge questions the logic behind a
> Colorado Department
> of Health and Environment five-patient policy
> for the number of
> patients an authorized medicinal marijuana
> grower may have.
>
> In Oregon an attempt is being made to destroy the
> state's medicinal
> marijuana law through an initiative. Hidden
> deep in the proposed
> initiative is a requirement that only pills
> containing a synthetic
> form of THC be authorized for use, as if
> the 59 other known
> medically active chemicals in marijuana did
> not exist. While the
> initiative is a long way from even being on a
> ballot, patients and
> their supporters need to be alert for
> efforts like The Oregon
> Crimefighting Act of 2008, on line at
>
>
http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/irr/2008/104text.pdf
>
> ===
>
> (13) NATION'S POT PENALTIES CALLED A HODGEPODGE
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2007
> Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
> Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc.
> Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
>
> Smoke a joint in Alabama or Oregon, and you can
> permanently lose the
> right to adopt a child. Smoke one in Oklahoma, and
> you're ineligible
> ever to be a foster parent. Light up in Utah,
> and get a lifelong
> eviction notice from public housing.
>
> Grow a marijuana plant in any one of a dozen
> states, including
> California, and you're permanently barred from
> receiving welfare or
> food stamps.
>
> Those laws and others are detailed in the first
> nationwide study of
> the consequences of marijuana convictions, in
> areas ranging from
> family life to voting and jury service.
> Researchers headed by a
> Northern California lawyer said they had found a
> hodgepodge of state
> and federal restrictions that seemed to
> conflict with the overall
> trend of reduced criminal penalties for pot.
>
> [snip]
>
> The study was released by the Center for
> Cognitive Liberty and
> Ethics, which Boire described as a group of
> academics and lawyers
> studying ethical and legal issues involving
> new technologies and
> drugs. It was funded by the Marijuana Policy
> Project.
>
> The report ranks states by the extent of the
> penalties that
> accompany a marijuana conviction, apart from a
> criminal sentence.
> California -- where legislators reduced
> criminal penalties for
> personal possession of pot to a
> traffic-ticket-type infraction in
> 1975, and where voters passed the nation's
> first law legalizing
> medical marijuana in 1996 -- was among the least
> severe in
> noncriminal sanctions. The report ranked it as tied
> with
> Pennsylvania and Kansas for 42nd among the 50
> states and the
> District of Columbia.
>
> Florida was listed as having the harshest
> noncriminal penalties and
> New Mexico the least severe.
>
> The lifetime ban on welfare and food stamps for
> anyone convicted of
> a drug-related felony, which includes cultivation
> of marijuana, was
> part of a 1996 federal welfare law signed by
> President Bill Clinton.
>
> The law allows states to pass their own laws that
> partly or
> completely restore eligibility for welfare and
> food stamps. All but
> 12 states have passed some such law, the report
> said. California is
> one of the 12.
>
> [snip]
>
> Other findings included:
>
> Possession of marijuana can result in
> ineligibility to become an
> adoptive parent in 38 states, and a lifetime
> ban in seven states.
> California is not among them.
>
> Twenty states, though not California, allow
> their agencies to deny
> professional and occupational licenses to
> anyone convicted of a
> marijuana-related misdemeanor, regardless of
> whether it had any
> connection to the person's work.
>
> Most states make people with any marijuana
> conviction ineligible for
> publicly subsidized housing for a certain
> period, usually at least
> three years. California is one of only four
> states with no such
> restriction. A separate federal law allows public
> housing tenants to
> be evicted for any drug-related activity, on or
> off the premises, by
> any resident or guest.
>
> A 1998 law bars federal grants and loans to any
> student with a drug
> conviction. In addition, 28 states, though not
> California, withhold
> state financial aid from students with drug
> convictions, including
> marijuana possession.
>
> In 21 states and the District of Columbia, a
> conviction for
> marijuana possession can result in a driver's
> license suspension for
> at least six months. California is not among
> them, but the state
> suspends a driver's license for up to three years
> for driving under
> the influence of drugs or committing a drug
> crime that involved a
> motor vehicle. Minors convicted of any drug crime
> in California lose
> their license for at least a year.
>
> In six states, people convicted of marijuana
> cultivation and other
> felonies can be banned from voting for life. In 23
> states, including
> California, and the District of Columbia, drug
> felons are barred
> from jury service for life.
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n796/a04.html
>
> ===
>
> (14) MEN ROLLING CROSS-COUNTRY TO FREE POT
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2007
> Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
> Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist
> Author: Lexi Bainas
>
> If you saw a man rollerblading through the
> Cowichan Valley late last
> week following a vehicle sporting a huge flag
> and sign, you were
> seeing the first leg of a cross-Canada trek that
> won't finish until
> Remembrance Day.
>
> It's a long haul for the rollerblader Neil
> Magnuson and his driver,
> Bert Easterbrook, but both men say it's worth it
> to get across their
> point.
>
> They're concerned that government, particularly
> in Ottawa, is
> beginning to look upon itself as Canada's moral
> arbiter, even though
> no one elected politicians to fulfill that role.
>
> Magnuson laced up the blades last year on his
> first trip to Ottawa.
> This is the second of what both men hope will
> be an annual event.
>
> [snip]
>
> He wants government to take control of the
> pot trade. "There's
> enormous costs and damage that's being done by
> anti-drug
> prohibition. Criminal groups are being formed to
> handle the supply
> side because the government refuses to take
> control of these
> substances the people demand. The very act of
> prohibition only makes
> these drugs more alluring for some people so use
> and abuse goes up."
>
> Easterbrook said they're operating on a
> shoestring but are hopeful
> they'll be able to get their points across.
> They're posting their
> progress at freedomtour.ca
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n792/a05.html
>
> ===
>
> (15) JUDGE TEMPORARILY HALTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIMIT
>
> Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2007
> Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
> Copyright: 2007 Denver Publishing Co.
> Author: David Montero, Rocky Mountain News
>
> For now, David Damien LaGoy can get his marijuana
> - thanks in large
> part to a judge's ruling Tuesday.
>
> LaGoy sued the state because the registered
> medical marijuana
> provider he wanted to use, Daniel Pope, had
> reached the state's
> five-patient maximum and couldn't help him.
>
> The lawsuit claimed the five-patient rule was
> unfair. Denver
> District Judge Larry Naves agreed, calling the
> policy arbitrary.
> Naves granted an injunction that temporarily
> allows registered
> providers to take on as many patients as they like.
>
> "There is no reason this plaintiff should
> suffer," Naves said.
>
> [snip]
>
> Lawyers for the Colorado attorney general's office
> argued there were
> many medical marijuana providers registered with
> the state and that
> LaGoy had options. State Registrar Ron Hyman
> testified that of the
> 636 caregivers registered with the state, 548
> were single-patient
> providers - meaning each one could take on four
> more patients under
> the state statute.
>
> But LaGoy said providers were hard to find and
> that he had developed
> a trusting relationship with Pope.
>
> [snip]
>
> No date has been set for LaGoy's lawsuit to be
> tried on its merits,
> although attorneys for LaGoy believe it could
> happen in the fall.
> Based on LaGoy's health, Naves said he was
> inclined to hurry things
> along.
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n797/a01.html
>
> ===
>
> (16) TAKING UP THE FIGHT TO PROTECT MEDICAL
> MARIJUANA
>
> Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007
> Source: Newberg Graphic (OR)
> Copyright: 2007 Newberg Graphic
> Author: David Sale, Newberg Graphic reporter
>
> Newberg resident Pamela Sterling is not ashamed of
> her drug use. Due
> to chronic illness, the 43-year-old former
> registered nurse enrolled
> four years ago in Oregon's medical marijuana
> program, one of 231
> current members in Yamhill County.
>
> Approved by voters in 1998, participants are issued
> cards
> identifying them as members on the
> recommendation of a qualified
> doctor -- a M.D. or osteopath (D.O.) -- who has
> diagnosed them with
> a qualifying condition such as glaucoma, cancer,
> Alzheimer's disease
> or chronic pain. Enrollment allows members to
> possess and use
> marijuana, as well as to grow up to seven
> marijuana plants for
> personal use.
>
> "I used to work as a labor and delivery (OB/GYN)
> nurse and I injured
> my neck and shoulder (on a difficult birth),"
> Sterling said. "I have
> a lot of muscle tremors and spasms and I used
> to be on a lot of
> pills, but medical marijuana has taken the place of
> that."
>
> Sterling is not alone in her experience. A
> 2004 study at the
> University of California in San Francisco has
> shown that medical
> marijuana can lower, by up to half, a
> patient's narcotics use.
>
> [snip]
>
> So when Sterling heard that former state
> representative and
> political activist Kevin Mannix (R-Salem) was
> preparing an
> initiative that would replace Oregon's medical
> marijuana program
> with synthetic alternatives, she decided to speak
> out.
>
> "I'm not lighting a joint and trying to stick it
> in someone else's
> mouth," she said. "I only want the right to
> medicate myself the way
> my physicians and I see fit."
>
> Mannix' proposal, titled "The Oregon
> Crimefighting Act of 2008,"
> addresses many more issues than medical
> marijuana. Among its
> provisions are a program of tax credits to
> fund methamphetamine
> investigation and treatment; stiffer sentences
> for repeat arrests
> for drunk driving or sexual offenses; and increasing
> law
> enforcement.
>
> But the act would also require the use of
> Marinol or Cesamet --
> pills containing a synthetic form of THC, the
> active ingredient in
> marijuana -- to be used in place of medical
> marijuana.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n774/a08.html
>
>
=======================================================================
>
> International News
> ---------------------------
>
> COMMENT: (17-20)
>
> Ten Ugandan nationals who were arrested for
> body-packing heroin into
> China "will soon be lined up for public
> execution as punishment,"
> said Ugandan youth minister James Kinobe this
> week. Apparently, the
> trial is a mere formality, the outcome having
> been decided already.
> "It's very sad that our people will soon be killed
> in China for drug
> trafficking... They were arrested recently and are
> now still in jail
> waiting for trial."
>
> Canadians in British Columbia want the Insite
> supervised injection
> center to stay, according to the results of a
> poll of almost 900
> adults in the province that was released last
> week. 63% of adults
> asked in a Mustel Group survey said the
> government should allow
> Insite to stay, and 76% of those polled in
> Vancouver agree. Such
> results were surprising, given the government's
> low-key approach to
> telling the public about the site. "What is
> significant is that a
> majority of people support it when no effort
> has been made by the
> government to educate the public about the site
> or harm reduction,"
> noted Ann Livingston, executive director of
> the Vancouver Area
> Network of Drug Users.
>
> The U.S. has dumped more than 5 billion dollars
> into Plan Colombia
> since 2000, and what's there to show for it? The
> U.S. cocaine market
> is saturated. Cocaine is cheaper, more pure, and
> more plentiful than
> ever, despite dousing Colombian rainforests
> with plant poisons. A
> piece from this week's St. Petersburg Times
> newspaper puts the
> situation in a bit of perspective. Although
> U.S. prohibition
> officials paint a scary scenario where,
> "funding cuts in the
> spraying program could flood the United
> States in even more
> cocaine," Congressional Democrats proposed cutting
> the Plan Colombia
> budget, and diverting much of the money to
> economic and social
> programs, away from military and spraying.
>
> And we leave you this week with news from New
> Zealand, where, after
> months of political posturing, moralizing and
> grandstanding, New
> Zealand politicians banned the so-called
> "party pill" BZP. BZP,
> popular in New Zealand precisely because the
> more popular MDMA was
> already banned, will join the ranks of drugs
> for which possession
> will result in fines and jail time. Although the
> government "found
> no evidence of deaths from the pills," and
> "conceded there was no
> guarantee a ban would lead to decreased use of
> party pills," a ban
> was sought anyway by prohibitionists. Expect
> deaths to rise as
> adulterated "party pills" containing the more
> popular MDMA quickly
> fills the demand, as elsewhere worldwide.
>
> ===
>
> (17) 10 UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER NARCOTICS
>
> Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2007
> Source: Monitor, The (Uganda)
> Copyright: 2007 The Monitor.
> Authors: Yasiin Mugerwa and Jude Luggya
>
> KAMPALA -- TEN Ugandans held on charges of
> illicit drug trafficking
> in China will soon be lined up for public
> execution as punishment, a
> government minister has said. James Kinobe, the
> state minister for
> youth who has just returned from China, said
> some 10 Ugandans were
> duped into illicit drug smuggling by a network
> of gangs to act as
> carriers of heroin pills to China.
>
> [snip]
>
> "The suspects, who are aged between 18 and 23,
> including one woman,
> were found with heroin amounting to over 1.5kg
> each, far beyond the
> limit. This automatically spells a death
> sentence," Mr Kinobe said.
>
> While speaking on a local FM radio in Kampala on
> Thursday, Mr Kinobe
> revealed that if the 10, Ugandans are found
> guilty, they will be
> executed. The minister, however, said there are
> diplomatic efforts
> by the two governments to try and save the
> lives of the suspects.
>
> [snip]
>
> "It's very sad that our people will soon be killed
> in China for drug
> trafficking. Most of these people are youth who
> wanted to make cheap
> money. They were arrested recently and are now
> still in jail waiting
> for trial," Mr Kinobe said.
>
> [snip]
>
> A source told Daily Monitor over the weekend
> that the Ugandan
> government, through Amnesty International, is
> desperately calling on
> the Chinese government to halt these executions
> pending diplomatic
> negotiations.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n783.a03.html
>
> ===
>
> (18) 63% OF B.C. PEOPLE WANT INSITE TO STAY
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jun 2007
> Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
> Copyright: 2007 Canoe Inc
> Author: Matt Kieltyka, 24 Hours
>
> The future of Vancouver's Supervised Injection
> Site may be in doubt,
> but harm reduction advocates are encouraged by
> the results of a
> recent public survey.
>
> According to a Mustel Group survey released
> yesterday, 63 per cent
> of B.C. adults think the federal government
> should extend InSite's
> licence beyond this year.
>
> Among Vancouver residents alone, that number jumps
> to
> 76 per cent.
>
> The survey, which polled 852 B.C. adults, has a
> margin of error of
> 3.4 per cent.
>
> "What is significant is that a majority of people
> support it when no
> effort has been made by the government to
> educate the public about
> the site or harm reduction," said Ann
> Livingston, the executive
> director of the Vancouver Area Network of
> Drug Users (VANDU).
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n781.a08.html
>
> ===
>
> (19) BILLIONS SPENT, BUT DRUG TRADE GROWS
>
> Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007
> Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
> Copyright: 2007 St. Petersburg Times
> Author: David Adams, Times Latin America
> correspondent
>
> Critics And Farmers Say Old Approaches Aren't
> Working
> In Colombia.
>
> [snip]
>
> Despite its apparent lack of precision, U.S. and
> Colombian officials
> defend the spray program as the most efficient
> means of eliminating
> coca production in Colombia, the world's
> largest producer of
> cocaine.
>
> But critics of antinarcotics policy in Colombia
> say the latest data
> shows that eight years of intense spraying of
> coca crops, at a cost
> of billions in U.S. taxpayers' money, have failed
> to make a dent in
> the illegal drug market.
>
> The latest U.S. government estimate puts the
> amount of coca in
> Colombia at 385, 500 acres in 2006 -- 27 percent
> more than in 1999
> when "Plan Colombia" was enacted. It was the
> third straight year of
> increases.
>
> More coca has meant more cocaine. A recent dip
> in the street price
> of cocaine and a rise in purity points to
> an abundant supply.
>
> Democrats in Congress, concerned over the
> disappointing results of
> the drug war, want to slash funding for the spray
> program. Instead,
> they propose spending more on social and economic
> projects,
> including funding for alternative crops to replace
> coca.
>
> But U.S. and Colombian officials warn that
> funding cuts in the
> spraying program could flood the United States in
> even more cocaine.
> Colombia says it cannot afford to run the spray
> program on its own.
>
> [snip]
>
> Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. aid
> outside the Middle
> East and Afghanistan, more $5.4-billion since
> 2000 when Plan
> Colombia went into effect.
>
> Of that money about $4.4-billion is
> military-related aid, while
> $1-billion is social and economic funds,
> including alternative
> agriculture and support for democratic institutions.
>
> About three-quarters of the military aid is
> dedicated to supporting
> the aerial crop spraying program, which uses
> an enhanced form of
> Roundup weed killer, containing the chemical
> defoliant glyphosate.
>
> What's next -- the 2008 budget
>
> The Bush administration has asked Congress for
> $590-million for
> Colombia in the Foreign Aid Bill. As in previous
> years the majority
> of this money -- $450-million -- would be
> dedicated to military
> support.
>
> Democrats in Congress this week proposed cutting
> the overall budget
> by about 10 percent to $530.6-million, of which
> only $290-million
> would be for military support, including deep
> cuts in the aerial
> fumigation program. Democrats have proposed
> increasing economic and
> social funding by $100-million.
>
> "This is a major step away from what's happened
> in the last years,"
> said Adam Isacson with the Center for International
> Policy.
>
> [snip]
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n780.a09.html
>
> ===
>
> (20) BAN MAKES PARTY PILL TRADE WORSE
>
> Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jun 2007
> Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
> Copyright: 2007 New Zealand Herald
>
> Matt Bowden, of the Social Tonics Association,
> doubts the
> Government's decision to ban the manufacturing
> and sale of party
> pills will be the end of the matter. "Legal
> party pills are an
> established part of the social scene and you
> can't pretend that you
> can just ban them without generating a
> reaction," he says. He, and
> others in the trade, see it prospering
> underground, possibly with
> gangs becoming far more involved. They would, of
> course, say that,
> especially while fighting to keep the trade legal
> to those aged over
> 18. Unfortunately, however, there is a good
> chance they are right.
>
> [snip]
>
> The Government has acted on the recommendation
> late last year of the
> Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, which
> studied research on the
> danger of party pills containing benzylpiperazine
> (BZP). It found no
> evidence of deaths from the pills but worried
> about their frequent
> use with other substances, such as alcohol, or
> in high doses. It
> conceded there was no guarantee a ban would lead
> to decreased use of
> party pills but suggested their side-effects,
> such as nausea,
> dehydration and lack of appetite, would dissuade
> use if they became
> harder to find, more expensive and carried the
> risk of a fine or
> imprisonment.
>
> [snip]
>
> Yet, in practice, a ban will, as those in the
> industry suggest,
> drive the pill trade underground with the rest
> of the illegal drug
> business. A more cogent response would have been
> to place stricter
> regulations on the making and sale of party
> pills, especially in
> relation to the BZP dosage and the presence of
> illicit substances.
>
> [snip]
>
> This would certainly suffice until more
> definitive research is done
> into the long-term consequences of BZP use.
> This may, or may not,
> confirm the validity of the Government's decision.
> Until then, a ban
> is based more on morality than measured
> thought. One thing is
> certain. The party pill trade is about to become
> more dangerous for
> all those involved and significantly harder to
> control.
>
> Continues:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n777.a04.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> HOT OFF THE 'NET
> -------------------------------
>
> STANDING SILENT NATION
>
> "The Navajo Nation and a number of different Indian
> reservations have
> passed legislation to grow industrial hemp, but
> they are all waiting
> for me to get it legalized, so I have to
> do a lot of work. "
> - Alex White Plume
>
> http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2007/standing/update.html
>
> ===
>
> ROMNEY, TORTURE, AND TEENS
>
> The former governor's connections to abusive
> "tough love" camps
>
> Maia Szalavitz, June 27, 2007
>
> http://www.reason.com/news/show/121088.html
>
> ===
>
> WHY CORY BOOKER IS MAD AS HELL
>
> Enraged by his city's unfair drug policies, the
> Newark mayor vows to
> stop being polite and start making a difference.
>
> By Debra Dickerson
>
>
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2007/07/05/cory_booker/
>
> ===
>
> NET DANGER
>
> Online searches are new, and problematic, tools
> for border guards
>
> By Samer Elatrash
>
> There is nothing more perilous at a border
> crossing than a Google-
> happy border guard. Over the past year, two
> Canadians reported they
> were denied entry into the U.S. after a border
> guard Googled their
> names and decided, based on the search
> results, that they were
> undesirables.
>
> http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/070507/news1.html
>
> ===
>
> IN POT WE TRUST
>
> Provocative documentary takes an in-depth look
> at the controversy
> surrounding medical marijuana premieres July
> 9th on Showtime
>
>
http://www.sho.com/site/announcements/20070611inpot.do
>
> ===
>
> CULTURAL BAGGAGE RADIO SHOW
>
> Tonight: 0706/07 - Voices from U.S. Social Forum,
> panel "How to
> end the drug war, today" Pt.2 + Aaron Dixon
> of Center House,
> Poppygate, Black Perspective & Drug War Facts
>
> Audio:
> http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_070607.mp3
>
> Last: 06/29/07 - Presidential Candidate Ron Paul
> discusses the drug
> war (2003 rebroadcast) plus Drug War Facts
>
> Audio:
> http://drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_062907.mp3
>
> ===
>
> THE MAPS BULLETIN
>
> Volume XVII, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2007
>
> The MAPS Bulletin is published by the
> Multidisciplinary Association
> for Psychedelic Studies.
>
>
http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v17n1/maps-sprsmr07.pdf
>
> ===
>
> BAN LIFTED ON D.C. NEEDLE EXCHANGE
>
> Talk of the Nation, July 2, 2007 ú Last week,
> Congress lifted a ban
> that prevented the use of District of Columbia tax
> dollars for needle
> exchange programs. The programs allow drug users
> to exchange dirty
> needles for clean ones in an effort to prevent
> the spread of HIV.
>
> Susan Levine, reporter, the Washington Post
>
>
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11664095
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> NEW LAW ENFORCEMENT AGAINST PROHIBITION WEBSITE
>
> DrugSense is proud to announce a new and
> improved LEAP website is
> now online, thanks in part to our tech team
> members Deb Harper and
> Matt Elrod. Surf on by and CREATE AN ACCOUNT to
> enjoy all the site
> features; blogs, audio/video, forums, photos,
> networking and much
> more.
>
> http://www.leap.cc/
>
> ===
>
> DPA SEEKS PART-TIME WEBSITE ASSISTANT
>
> Note: this position requires the candidate live in
> the Washington DC
> area. Telecommuting will not be considered.
>
> http://www.drugpolicy.org/about/jobsfunding/jobs/
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> LETTER OF THE WEEK
> ------------------------------------
>
> WHERE'S THE HARM?
>
> By Ralph Givens
>
> Re: "Caught in the middle" ( Newslines, by Robert
> Speer, CN&R, June 21 ):
>
> The very idea that people are being imprisoned
> for using marijuana
> makes me ashamed to be an American. When I hear
> that Assistant U.S.
> Attorney Samuel Wong is using fraudulent evidence to
> convict a medical
> marijuana user, my disgust becomes complete.
>
> Refusing to recognize the right of California
> voters to legalize
> medical marijuana makes President Bush guilty of
> lying, because before
> he was elected he said, "I believe each state can
> choose that decision
> as they so choose."
>
> What evil has Bryan Epis done by growing and using
> marijuana? Has he
> murdered anyone under the influence? Has he gone
> on a one-man crime
> wave because of smoking pot? Has Epis assaulted,
> robbed or done any
> wrong to his fellow man because of using marijuana?
>
> If Epis has harmed no one, why is he facing [the
> resumption of] a 10-
> year prison sentence? Could it be because of the
> fables, fictions and
> false witness marijuana prohibition is based on? It
> is a sign of moral
> bankruptcy to enforce such absurd laws.
>
> RALPH GIVENS
>
> Daly City
>
> Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jun 2007
> Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
> Referenced:
> http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n742/a05.html
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> FEATURE ARTICLE
> -------------------------------
>
> And the Winner Is ...
>
> By Mary Jane Borden
>
> Volunteers form the core of DrugSense's mission to
> advance the cause
> of drug policy reform, and we recognize these
> volunteers and
> contributors with several different awards.
>
> One 'winner' recognized each week is the
> individual who writes the
> best reform-focused Letter-to-the-Editor (LTE).
> Volunteer, Derek
> Rea, scans the hundreds of LTEs submitted
> each week to the MAP
> DrugNews Archive. From these, he picks five
> that best convey the
> reform message. He then posts links to these
> five on a couple of
> DrugSense e-mail discussion lists. List members
> vote for the best
> LTE, and the winning LTE is published in
> that week's DrugSense
> Weekly.
>
> Winning LTE authors have included well-known
> reform advocates like
> Bruce Mirken of MPP or Loretta Nall, as well as
> ordinary concerned
> citizens. Those who have composed the most LTEs
> during a particular
> month are recognized as the Letter Writer of the
> Month.
>
> At the We Get Published page, DrugSense also
> honors LTE writers who
> have written the most letters over the last ten
> years. This page lists
> the top ten letter writers and the dollar values
> for reform accrued
> from their effort. (http://www.mapinc.org/lte/)
> DrugSense confers
> three Published Letters Awards to top writers (
> http://www.mapinc.org/lteaward.htm).
>
> The Silver LTE Award is given to the writer
> who has at least 100
> published letters in the MAP archive. Twelve LTE
> authors have been
> recognized with this award.
>
> The Gold LTE Award is accorded to those who
> have more than 500
> published LTEs. Only two writers have achieved
> this remarkable feat,
> Robert Sharpe and Kirk Muse.
>
> Only one letter writer has earned our highest
> award, the Platinum
> LTE Award. Robert Sharpe has had a remarkable
> 1,741 LTEs published
> in the last ten years. That's the equivalent of
> giving drug policy
> reform over $1.7 million of free advertising.
>
> Sharpe has also been honored with the Letter
> Writer of the Year
> award four times in the last seven years:
> 2006, 2005, 2004, and
> 2002. In 2006 alone, 226 of his letters were
> published in response
> to a newspaper or magazine article in the DrugNews
> Archive.
>
> On a final note, DrugSense was the proud recipient
> of the
> prestigious 2005 Robert C. Randall Award for
> Citizen Activism from
> the Drug Policy Alliance. This award not only
> recognized us, but
> also the volunteers who have help make a difference
> through
> DrugSense.
>
> 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
> ------------------------------------
>
> "Freedom is not a reward or a decoration that
> is celebrated with
> champagne...Oh no! It's a...long distance race,
> quite solitary and
> very exhausting." - Albert Camus
>
>
***********************************************************************
>
> 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
> Stephen Young (steve@...), Cannabis/Hemp
> content selection
> and analysis by Richard Lake
> (rlake@...), International
> content selection and analysis by Doug Snead
> (doug@...),
> This Just In selection, Hot Off The Net selection
> and Layout by Matt
> Elrod (webmaster@...). Analysis
> comments represent the
> personal views of editors, not necessarily the
> views of DrugSense.
>
> We wish to thank all our contributors, editors,
> NewsHawks and letter
> writing activists. Please help us help reform.
> Become a NewsHawk See
> http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm for info on
> contributing clippings.
>
> ===
>
> 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
>
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>
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>
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