Having problems with message search?
Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2008 13:52:24 -0700
From: webmaster@... (Drug Sense)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, April 4, 2008, #543
***********************************************************************
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***********************************************************************
DrugSense Weekly, April 4, 2008 #543
Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* This Just In
(1) Cannabis: Tough Penalties On Way After Another Change Of Mind
(2) Council Opposes Federal Raids On Medical Pot Clinics
(3) Freedom Eludes Many Crack Inmates
(4) Couple Cries Foul After Police Issue Drug Search Warrant
* Weekly News in Review
Drug Policy-
(5) Column: War On Drugs A Total Bust
(6) Editorial: If Drugs Are It, Acquit
(7) Edu: Senate Passes Legislation To Amend Drug Policy
(8) A Grim Tradition, and a Long Struggle to End It
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
(9) State Looking to Lower Population in Prisons
(10) Durham Police Chided For Marijuana Case
(11) Pitts Again Warns Community To Listen To Him
(12) Program Led by Marlboro Police
Cannabis & Hemp-
(13) Brown Signals An About-Turn
(14) Nimbin Under Siege
(15) Common Sense On Marijuana
(16) Fresh Ideas For A Tired Crusade
International News-
(17) Woman Gets Life Prison In Drug-Trafficking Case
(18) Officials Make Renewed Calls For Injection Site
(19) Legalize All Drugs: Former Police Officer
(20) New Party Pills 'Just As Good' As BZP
* Hot Off The 'Net
Opium Brides Of Afghanistan
Report Of The UN/NGO Consultation Held In Florida
The School Crotch Inspector / By Jacob Sullum
Battle Over Pot Possession In Alaska Is Back In The Courts
Clergy Speak Out Against The "War On Drugs"
DEA Vs. Heroin Kingpin - Full Premiere Episode
Regulating Compassion / By Philippe Lucas
How McCain Stays Popular Despite Supporting Disastrous Wars
Drug Truth Network
* What You Can Do This Week
First Aid Guidelines Project: Problem Drinking Survey
Call The Senate On The Crack/Powder Disparity
* Letter Of The Week
Medical Marijuana, Missouri / Jacqueline Patterson
* Feature Article
Hypocrisy Is Message We Need To Avoid / Ted Barnes
* Quote of the Week
William Hazlitt
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) CANNABIS: TOUGH PENALTIES ON WAY AFTER ANOTHER CHANGE OF MIND
Pubdate: Fri, 4 Apr 2008
Source: Times, The (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd
Authors: Richard Ford and Francis Elliott
Gordon Brown is preparing to overrule the advice of the Government's
drug advisory body and upgrade cannabis to a Class B drug, carrying
tougher penalties for its possession.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs made a recommendation in
private that cannabis should remain a Class C drug. Its decision
came after the presentation of evidence this week showing a huge
increase in the potency of cannabis seized by police but no
consistent evidence to support theories that this is causing an
increase in schizophrenia.
Of particular concern is the prevalence of skunk, a strain of
cannabis which is typically two to three times more powerful than
other forms of the drug, although some types can be even stronger.
The drug's potency comes from the high levels of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that it contains.
While normal cannabis contains about five per cent of THC, skunk's
concentration is about 10 to 15 per cent.
Ministers have made clear that they are not bound by recommendations
from the council and that in the end any decision on classification
is a matter of political judgment. It will be only the second time
since the council was set up under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 to
advise ministers that a government has rejected a recommendation on
reclassification.
A senior Whitehall official made clear yesterday that Mr Brown was
prepared to reclassify cannabis even if the advisory body
recommended leaving the drug in the C class. "Whatever the
scientific evaluation is, it is the Government's duty to decide what
signal classification sends," the official said.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n355/a05.html
===
(2) COUNCIL OPPOSES FEDERAL RAIDS ON MEDICAL POT CLINICS
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Apr 2008
Source: Los Angeles Daily News (CA)
Copyright: 2008 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Author: Rick Orlov, Staff Writer
Renewing its opposition to federal raids at medical marijuana
facilities, the Los Angeles City Council went on record again
Wednesday in urging the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to
allow the city to regulate the clinics.
"We have put a moratorium in place on all new clinics until we
develop regulations," Councilman Dennis Zine said. "Our goal is to
bring the sale of medical marijuana under control so it is
accessible to people who truly need it.
"This is about the compassionate use of a medicine that helps sick
people."
The council voted 9-1 to support a state resolution on the issue
after a number of people who use medical marijuana testified on
behalf of the resolution, saying it is a key to helping them enjoy a
decent quality of life.
[snip]
The council's vote supports a resolution pending in the state
Legislature that calls on the federal government to ban DEA raids on
the clinics. In the last two years, officials said the DEA has
conducted 50 raids on various clinics.
DEA Special Agent Sara Pullen said the agency will continue its
activities.
"The use of marijuana is still a violation of federal laws," Pullen
said. "Until Congress changes the law, marijuana use is illegal in
any form."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n353/a03.html
===
(3) FREEDOM ELUDES MANY CRACK INMATES
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Apr 2008
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2008 Los Angeles Times
Author: Richard B. Schmitt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
New federal sentencing guidelines designed to end the racially
tinged disparity between prison sentences for powder and crack
cocaine dealers went into effect a month ago, and so far more than
3,000 inmates have had their prison terms reduced.
Dozens have been released, including at least 15 in California, but
many others who should have been released have not. Attorneys
involved in the process blame bureaucratic delays as well as
opposition from the Justice Department.
In North Carolina, which has the country's fifth largest population
of crack offenders eligible for early release, four inmates have
been freed out of some three dozen who lawyers say should have been
released, in some cases, years ago.
The delays appear to be due in part to a procedural bottleneck:
Federal judges there did not approve a plan for processing requests
for sentence reductions until five days before the new rules were to
go into effect. Courts in parts of Texas and south Florida also
appear to be lagging.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission approved the guidelines in December
after a two-decade debate over the fairness and efficacy of laws
that have punished dealers of crack cocaine much more severely than
those who sell powder cocaine. The disparity has weighed
particularly hard on African Americans, who represent about 90% of
the defendants prosecuted for crack offenses in federal court.
The sentencing commission has estimated that about 20,000 inmates
are eligible for the reduced sentences.
When the rules were approved, the commission deferred the effective
date until March 3 to give courts time to prepare. As of Tuesday,
the federal Bureau of Prisons said it had received 3,077 signed
orders from judges modifying the sentences of prisoners nationwide.
The prisons bureau won't say how many have actually been released;
even after the reductions, some inmates will still have much time to
serve.
In Dallas, one judge has refused to allow federal defenders to
represent crack offenders in his court, saying they have no right to
counsel at this stage of the proceedings. That has left hundreds of
inmates having to file jailhouse petitions to gain their freedom.
After that ruling, the federal public defender in Dallas, Richard
Anderson, sent out a mass mailing to several hundred eligible
inmates to help them prepare their cases. Many of the inmates'
applications are incomplete or have errors. The complexities of
federal sentencing law have caused added confusion.
"The playing field isn't very level," Anderson said.
Some judges have recently begun to reconsider the approach and are
more readily appointing lawyers for inmates, he said.
The delays stand in sharp contrast to the experience in other
regions of the country where the new rules have unleashed an
outpouring of federal clemency.
The process seems to be working best in jurisdictions where
prosecutors, judges and probation officers were working weeks and in
some cases months in advance of the effective date to mitigate
delays.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n354/a03.html
===
(4) COUPLE CRIES FOUL AFTER POLICE ISSUE DRUG SEARCH WARRANT
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Apr 2008
Source: Penticton Herald (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Author: Scott Trudeau
A Penticton woman is adamant police targeted the wrong people after
its Drug Task Force members swarmed her residence Friday night.
About 8:30 Candice Cullum and her boyfriend, Dustin Gee, were
relaxing at their rental home located directly in front of the Mid
City Manor and adjacent to the 24-Seven store on Eckhardt Avenue.
They had their pajamas on and had settled in to watch TV for the
evening when a group of police officers marched through their
unlocked front door, arrested them and held them in a jail cell
before releasing them.
"The door opened and I had guns pointed at me and I was told to get
on the floor," she said Tuesday. "At first I kind of thought it was
a joke until I actually saw a uniform. The third cop in had a
uniform."
Cullum and Gee were instructed to lie face down on the floor, held
down by a knee in their back. Whenever Cullum asked what was
happening she claims she was told repeatedly to "shut up" by police.
The couple was perplexed by the search warrant and ensuing arrest.
"Neither of us has any criminal record whatsoever so I don't even
understand the suspicion of this," said Cullum.
[snip]
Cullum - who was also strip searched at the detachment by a female
officer - believes it was about midnight when she was released and
left to walk home in her pajamas and slippers. She waited outside
for Gee who arrived a short time later.
The couple spent the next two to three hours cleaning up the
pictures, clothes, CDs and an overturned bed mattress strewn on the
floor by police during its search.
Dellebuur said the couple can take their concerns to the watch
commander or the head of the detachment's drug task force. If that
isn't satisfactory they can contact the Commission for Public
Complaints Against the RCMP.
The couple wants police to apologize for what happened but Cullum
admitted she's hesitant to discuss the matter with police.
"If they got away with doing this in the first place," she said.
"I'm not sure if it would do any good at all. I'm not sure if I
would be taken seriously."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n354/a02.html
***********************************************************************
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
=======================================================================
Domestic News- Policy
----------------------------------
COMMENT: (5-8)
After the debut of a new reality show lauding the excitement and
danger of the Drug Enforcement Agency, most TV critics seem
underwhelmed. And some, like Vinay Menon at the Toronto Star, aren't
just bored by the trite story lines, but irritated by the glaring
ideological agenda of the show.
Other media commentators still seem much more impressed with the
finale of cable TV's The Wire, which unflinching stared down the
disaster of the war on drugs. Also last week, the student government
at a New York university moved towards drug policy reform on campus;
and the New York Times looks at Narcan and how its used in on New
Mexico town.
===
(5) COLUMN: WAR ON DRUGS A TOTAL BUST
Pubdate: Wed, 02 Apr 2008
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2008 The Toronto Star
Author: Vinay Menon
In The End, It All Seems So Futile.
Undoubtedly, this was not the intended message of DEA ( Spike TV, 11
tonight ), a new six-part series that returns a spotlight to the
battle that once occupied the zeitgeist before terror: the war on
drugs.
Executive-produced by Al Roker - yes, he does more than the weather
- - DEA takes viewers behind the scenes in Detroit, where brawny
agents navigate the narcotics labyrinth while looking for the bad
guys.
Cameras are rolling as Group 14 of the Drug Enforcement
Administration - a unit that's tackled 100 cases over the past year
resulting in more than 200 busts and $9 million in seizures -
executes warrants and high-risk takedowns.
These scenes do not deviate from fictional portrayals: unmarked
vehicles roll into dodgy neighbourhoods carrying a squad of heavily
armed agents in flak jackets. The agents race toward the target
house in stack formation. They use metal Hallagan tools to pry open
screens. They smash doors from hinges with battering rams.
In a disorienting haze of shouts, threats and constant
identification, they storm the premises, guns drawn.
If all goes according to plan, the suspects will be subdued without
incident during the controlled chaos.
As the opening graphic states, this is "one of the most dangerous
jobs in the world." Or in the words of agent Roy Hoyt: "Anytime that
dope and money come together there is always the possibility of
violence."
In fact, since the DEA was created in 1973 by executive order of
U.S. president Richard Nixon, 75 agents have been killed in the line
of duty.
This isn't mentioned tonight, nor is the cost of the war on drugs,
estimated to be $500 billion over the past 35 years.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n347/a03.html
===
(6) EDITORIAL: IF DRUGS ARE IT, ACQUIT
Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2008
Source: Chico News & Review, The (CA)
Copyright: 2008 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
The "war on drugs" seems just about as successful as the one on
"terror." Instead of a decrease in drug use and a drop in addiction
rates, we see more Americans ( one out of every 100) imprisoned.
People like Chico's Brian Epis, convicted for growing pot plants, do
not belong in jail. Neither do most other casualties of the "drug
war."
Californians know this. We've attempted to create more humane drug
laws, as in the provisions of Proposition 36, allowing for treatment
rather than incarceration, and our decision under Proposition 215 to
allow the use of marijuana by patients with a prescription.
But as the federal government and local law enforcement continue to
show no respect for California's decision to decriminalize the
medical use of marijuana, it's time for citizens to take action.
The creators of the award-winning television series The Wire
recently called for an unusual step. Noting the high rate of
incarceration in America, the disparity in sentencing among races
and social classes and the resources spent chasing drug convictions
rather than being used to make our cities safer, they've called for
citizens to engage in "jury nullification."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n334/a08.html
===
(7) EDU: SENATE PASSES LEGISLATION TO AMEND DRUG POLICY
Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2008
Source: New Paltz Oracle (SUNY, NY Edu)
Copyright: 2008 New Paltz Oracle
Author: Gina Marinelli, Copy Editor
For the first time in three years, the SUNY New Paltz administration
has been listening more than ever to the student senate in regards
to drug policy reform, said Student Association President Brian
Gold.
The two parties which once held aggressive and antagonistic
discourse now have been able to maintain a productive relationship
which "has potential for a great deal of success," said Gold.
Most recently, the student senate has passed a resolution aimed
towards changing the drug policy for students found in possession of
marijuana. The legislation would remove expulsion as a possible
punishment for second time marijuana offenders, establishing a new
policy that includes removal from residence halls as a punishment
and potentially creating a drug education program. Written by former
Sen. Josh Goldberg, this piece of legislation focuses on a specific
aspect of the entire drug policy. "Some think it's small," Goldberg
said of the resolution. "I think it's a big step."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n336/a07.html
===
(8) A GRIM TRADITION, AND A LONG STRUGGLE TO END IT
Pubdate: Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: 18, Section A
Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company
Author: Erik Eckholm
ESPANOLA, N.M. -- Eric Lucero has been addicted to heroin for three
decades and says he has known at least 100 people in this pastoral
county who died from overdoses, some in his presence.
But Mr. Lucero has recently become a popular -- and, he would argue,
safer -- injection buddy. Seven times, he says, he has revived
companions by using an anti-overdose drug, Narcan, which the state
now hands out to addicts and their relatives as part of its effort
to reduce the toll of one of the country's most pervasive epidemics
of narcotics use.
Mr. Lucero, 48, said, "People know I'm good at saving them."
Rio Arriba County, just north of Santa Fe, is a Georgia O'Keeffe
landscape of juniper-dotted desert and mountain valleys populated
mostly by Hispanics who proudly trace their lineage to settlers of
the 1600s -- and who, a decade ago, discovered that their county had
the nation's highest per capita rate of deaths from overdoses.
Hundreds of families are struggling to live with a multigenerational
plague of narcotics; Mr. Lucero's own son is addicted.
Federal data released in March showed that the county ranked first
in drug fatalities for 2001 to 2005, with a death rate of 42.5 per
100,000, compared with a national average of 7.3.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n346/a08.html
=======================================================================
Law Enforcement & Prisons
-------------------------
COMMENT: (9-12)
Kentucky continues to look at ways to reduce inmate populations in
state prisons - it looks like alternatives for non-violent drug
offenders might be a partial solution. However, elsewhere, some
police have the resources to arrest upstanding members of the
community on non-existent evidence.
In Lima, Ohio, one activist doesn't see many changes after a mother
was killed in a botched drug raid; and prescription drug abuse seems
to have hit another tipping point, as the police and DEA in one New
Jersey city hold a meeting to focus exclusively on that problem with
parents.
===
(9) STATE LOOKING TO LOWER POPULATION IN PRISONS
Pubdate: Sun, 23 Mar 2008
Source: Bowling Green Daily News (KY)
Copyright: 2008 News Publishing LLC
Author: Burton Speakman, The Daily News
Committee Wants to Change Penal Code, Create Alternative Sentences
for Nonviolent Offenders
The Kentucky Justice and Safety Cabinet is working to alter the
state's penal code to reduce prison and jail populations. But a
reduction in jail population might actually be a financial blow to
the Warren County Regional Jail.
A state committee has been set up - incorporating law enforcement,
prosecutors, public defenders and others - to review the code and
recommend changes.
The first meeting of the committee was Monday, and it went extremely
well, Kentucky Public Advocate Ernie Lewis said.
There's a new head of the cabinet, a new governor and a new sense of
urgency, he said - the last making changes a lot more likely to
succeed.
"There are too many nonviolent class C and D felons in the prison
system who are drug abusers or mentally ill," Lewis said. "That's
what we're talking about: nonviolent and non-sex-offenders convicted
of class C and D felonies."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n332/a07.html
===
(10) DURHAM POLICE CHIDED FOR MARIJUANA CASE
Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2008
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2008 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Author: Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
Trafficking Counts Filed Against a Duke Student Are Dismissed in a
Package Delivery Bust
DURHAM - A prosecutor has tossed out marijuana trafficking charges
against a Duke University student, prompting criticism from a
defense lawyer that police are doing their business backward.
Bill Thomas, a lawyer called in to help two Duke students facing
drug charges, said he feared police were rushing to arrest first and
waiting to conduct their investigations later.
"The power to arrest someone is a tremendous power," Thomas said
Wednesday. "But with that power goes a tremendous responsibility to
conduct a full and complete investigation. You investigate first,
and you arrest after the investigation."
The most recent case to draw a rebuke from Thomas involved Eric
Halperin, a senior honors student at Duke. Charges against him were
dropped early this week.
Police had intercepted a package at a DHL delivery service station
with 27 pounds of marijuana addressed to the off-campus fraternity
house where Halperin lived.
As part of an undercover operation, an investigator posted a note on
the fraternity house door. The note mentioned an attempt to deliver
the package, according to court documents, and gave a phone number
to call.
Halperin, according to his attorney, called the number. The
undercover officer, according to court documents, said the package
was addressed to a woman at that address.
Halperin, according to Thomas, said no one by that name lived at
that address. But the package was delivered Feb. 27.
Shortly after that, Halperin was sitting on his couch next to the
unopened package when a special police enforcement team rushed in
with guns raised.
"He was handcuffed at gunpoint, strip-searched, taken to jail and
placed under a $25,000 secured bond for a crime he did not commit,"
Thomas said. "Sadly, this is the third innocent Duke student who has
had their good name tarnished for a crime they clearly did not
participate in."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n333/a03.html
===
(11) PITTS AGAIN WARNS COMMUNITY TO LISTEN TO HIM
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Mar 2008
Source: Lima News (OH)
Copyright: 2008 Freedom Newspapers Inc.
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/990
Author: Greg Sowinski
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm
(Racial Issues)
LIMA - A city leader and community activist is telling everyone to
"wake up" while warning the criminal justice system is drifting down
the same path that led to the fatal police shooting of a woman
during a January drug raid.
Police and others in the community have operated in the same way
that created the conditions that led to the shooting of 26-year-old
Tarika Wilson, a mother of six, inside her East Third Street home
Jan. 4, said Fifth Ward City Councilman Tommy Pitts.
Pitts also repeated what he has for the past year about disparities
in arrest procedures with black and white drug dealers. That
disparity showed through court records blacks were allowed to make
more drug sales than whites in similar circumstances.
On top of that, the additional buys meant more charges and more
prison time as is the case with Anthony Terry, the man police were
after during the botched raid, Pitts said.
"When it comes to healing there can be no healing until there is
equal justice," he said.
Pitts, who has never said blacks should be treated better only equal
in drug arrests, was speaking after reading in the newspaper Terry
is scheduled to plea and possibly go to prison for up to five years.
Pitts' comments are far from the first time he has addressed the
disparity.
Although some have seemed to not take Pitts serious for addressing
race issues as it relates to drug arrests, especially since he first
raised it while his sons were facing drug charges, he has continued
to push the issue long after the cases against his sons were over
and the time
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n334/a06.html
===
(12) PROGRAM LED BY MARLBORO POLICE
Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2008
Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ)
Copyright: 2008 Asbury Park Press
Author: Michelle Sahn
DEA Will Teach Parents About Drug Abuse
MARLBORO -- Township police are teaming up with the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration, school administrators and the local
municipal drug abuse prevention alliance to teach parents about the
danger of prescription drug abuse by young people.
Nationwide, prescription drug abuse is a problem among people of all
ages, and at Marlboro High School, there are students who are
addicted to prescription drugs, Township Police Lt. Doug Van Note
said.
"We noticed the problem in our school," Van Note said. "We're seeing
kids who are actual addicts now. They have to take these
prescription drugs in order to make it through the day."
The drugs also have been sold by students in school, police said.
Van Note said police and school administrators realize there is an
issue and want to deal with it.
"We got together and saw the problem we were having, and we knew we
had to reach the parents," Van Note said. "We want to tell the
parents it happens in our town."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n333/a02.html
=======================================================================
Cannabis & Hemp-
---------------------------
COMMENT: (13-16)
Spurred on by tabloid hysteria over "super skunk" causing psychosis,
Gordon Brown is pushing ahead with plans to re-reclassify cannabis
as a class B drug, sending a "signal" of misunderstanding and
dismissing the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse
of Drugs that cannabis should remain a class C drug.
At the ACMD's most recent meeting, the Council heard evidence that
between 1996 and 2005, levels of schizophrenia had actually dropped in
the UK. According to The Guardian, the authors say this data is "not
consistent with the hypothesis that increasing cannabis use in earlier
decades is associated with increasing schizophrenia or psychoses from
the mid-1990s onwards".
A campaign to decriminalize cannabis possession in Massachusetts is
inspiring some insightful editorials and exposing those who will
always oppose reforming cannabis laws on ideological grounds,
regardless of the evidence.
A SWAT team from Sydney went on an unexpected and expensive fishing
expedition to the marijuana Mecca of Nimbin, Australia.
The New York Times has taken notice of travel author and television
host Rick Steves' latest effort to foster a rational public discourse
on cannabis policy.
===
(13) BROWN SIGNALS AN ABOUT-TURN AS GOVERNMENT PREPARES TO TOUGHEN UP
THE LAW ON CANNABIS
Pubdate: Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2008 Associated Newspapers Ltd
Author: Benedict Brogan
Graphic: http://www.mapinc.org/images/tabloidjournalism.jpg
The Prime Minister said he wanted to give teenagers a clear message
that smoking the drug is not only illegal but also dangerous.
At his monthly press conference, Mr Brown said he was waiting for a
report from scientific advisers on whether to return the drug to its
Class B category.
He expects the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs this month to
recommend tightening the law, he added.
A crackdown would follow three years of dithering by the Government
after the downgrading of the drug in 2004 was followed rapidly by
clear evidence of a negative impact.
Mr Brown has made it obvious that he is in favour of reversing the
decision to downgrade the drug, made under his predecessor Tony Blair.
"I believe that if we are sending out a signal particularly to
teenagers, and particularly those at the most vulnerable age, young
teenagers, that we in any way find cannabis acceptable, given all that
we now know about the changes in the way cannabis is being sold in
this country, that is not the right thing to do.
"My personal view has been pretty well known for some time.
"Given the changing nature of the stock of cannabis that is coming
into the country and greater damage that appears to be doing to
people who use it, there is a stronger case for sending out a signal
that cannabis is not only illegal but it is unacceptable."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n346.a09.html
===
(14) COMMON SENSE ON MARIJUANA
Pubdate: Sun, 30 Mar 2008
Source: Milford Daily News, The (MA)
Copyright: 2008 The Milford Daily News
Author: Rick Holmes, Opinion editor
Now that we've settled the casino thing, anybody for a joint?
Marijuana decriminalization is the next hot-button social issue moving
through the state Legislature. But unlike casino gambling, marijuana
reform can't be stopped by House Speaker Sal DiMasi. If the
Legislature doesn't enact it, voters will see it on the November
ballot.
The initiative is simple. Possession of marijuana is now a criminal
offense, punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to
$500. A single joint can get you a criminal record, a CORI file that
can keep you from getting housing or a job and that makes you
ineligible for a student loan.
The initiative proposes reducing possession of less than an ounce of
marijuana to a civil offense, punishable by a fine of up to $100. The
laws concerning manufacturing or trafficking in pot wouldn't change,
nor would the law against driving under the influence of marijuana.
Juveniles would be fined, sentenced to perform community service and
attend a drug education course.
Sound radical? It isn't. Eleven states already consider possession a
civil offense, including New York, Maine, Nevada and even Mississippi.
In those places, lower penalties have been in place for as long as 30
years. Several studies could find no significant difference in
marijuana use in those states as opposed to states with criminal
penalties.
Decriminalization has public support, with 72 percent of respondents
in a 2002 CNN/Time Magazine poll in favor of fines, but no jail time,
for marijuana possession. Over the last eight years, non-binding
decriminalization proposals have won voter approval in 30
Massachusetts legislative districts - with an average "Yes" vote of 62
percent.
But reefer madness persists in the dusty corners of the State House.
"I do not know a thing about this piece of legislation," Rep. Martin
Walsh, D-Boston, told the Judiciary Committee at a hearing on the
initiative earlier this month, "but it doesn't make sense. It's not
good policy."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n349.a02.html
===
(15) NIMBIN UNDER SIEGE
Pubdate: Wed, 2 Apr 2008
Source: Lismore Northern Star (Australia)
Copyright: APN News & Media Ltd 2008
Author: Andsy Parks
Photo: http://www.mapinc.org/images/Nimbian.jpg
"Everybody get down on the ground." Those were the first words Nimbin
resident Nurit heard when 50 police from across the State yesterday
raided the Nimbin Museum, Hemp Embassy and Hemp Bar.
Eight people were arrested and police seized four kilograms of
cannabis, as well as cannabis cookies and smoking implements.
Sydney-based police from the Public Order and Riot Squad, wearing
bullet-proof jackets and protective pads, led the raids, along with
officers from the Dog Unit and the Richmond, Tweed and Coffs Harbour
Local Area Commands.
About six police four-wheel-drives, as well as an RBT bus, were used
to transport the officers into town.
Nurit was inside the museum about 11.30am when the police arrived. She
said the police grabbed her shoulders and forced her to the ground.
"They came out of nowhere," she said.
"I've never been so scared. I was treated like a terrorist.
"My first thought was that I was glad I didn't have my kid here - it
was full on. I respect the law and if something is wrong I would go to
the police, but this is unjustified. How much money and effort is
being spent? It was scary."
Cafe owner and Hemp Embassy volunteer Andrew Kavasilas said police
used saliva swabs on people inside the embassy to determine whether
they had marijuana in their blood system.
"Busting people for pot in Nimbin is like shooting fish in a barrel,"
he said.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n346.a07.html
===
(16) FRESH IDEAS FOR A TIRED CRUSADE
Pubdate: Tue, 01 Apr 2008
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2008 The New York Times Company
Author: Timothy Egan
Cited: http://www.marijuanaconversation.org/
The travel writer and public television host, Rick Steves, is a
certain kind of innocent abroad - benignly suburban to the core, with
a bit of a paunch and the ever-quizzical look of someone who would try
raw squid for breakfast and not complain about it.
At 52, he has spent a third of his adult life living out of a
suitcase, ever in search of that bargain room with a view, encouraging
his fellow Americans to become "temporary locals." His influence is
vast and one of the reasons our citizens aren't more hated abroad in
Bush's final days.
I was having lunch once in Vernazza, in the Italian Cinque Terre,
watching waves of people pour into the tiny village to look for their
serendipitous Stevesian encounter while clutching his guidebook. A
sudden outburst came from my 7-year-old son: "Rick Steves has got to
be stopped!"
Steves, who lives just north of Seattle, is packing his wrinkle-free
clothes for his latest expedition to Europe. One can only hope customs
will let him back in, for Steves has become a most unlikely voice on
behalf of ending the tragedy of the drug war.
He looks at the 800,000 Americans arrested every year on marijuana
charges and wonders why the waste of time, money and lives. Year after
year, nothing changes, except the faces of those in jail. He thinks
marijuana should be decriminalized, and that drug use in general
should be treated primarily as a health issue - as the Canadians, the
British, the Swiss and others do.
His views are not novel. But it's been fascinating to watch the
reaction since Steves started speaking out on this. Sponsors of his
television shows have hardly blinked. Cops and conservatives have told
him how much they agree with him. And, less than a month ago, the
Luther Institute gave Steves its annual Wittenberg Award, recognizing
"outstanding service to church and society." Steves is an active
member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n345.a09.html
=======================================================================
International News
---------------------------
COMMENT: (17-20)
In Dubai, the outrage of the week: a Kenyan woman was sentenced to
life in prison for selling .6 of a gram of hashish. People are
regularly snared in this Gulf Oil Emirate when accused by police of
possessing hundredths of a gram (a crumb) of cannabis.
While the Vancouver, Canada supervised-injection site may be on the
cutting block, in Victoria, Canada, B.C. Provincial Health Officer
Dr. Perry Kendall has joined calls for the city to set up a
supervised injection center of its own.
A former member of the Vancouver police force, Tony Smith, now
speaks out against same the drug prohibition laws he used to enforce
before retiring. "Dealers are right outside the pawnshops taking the
money for drugs.. If you're needing $200 for drugs, then you're
going to need to steal around $2,000 worth of goods." Tony Smith now
is a member of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition), and
argues that legalizing all drugs would actually lower crime.
In New Zealand, the party's over for benzylpiperazine (BZP) pills.
As predicted, new, legal, "party pills" are now on sale there, and
they pack a wallop. Trouble is, little research has been done on the
new varieties. One manufacturer "whose BZP products were part of the
clearout, will release more than 20 new varieties."
===
(17) WOMAN GETS LIFE PRISON IN DRUG-TRAFFICKING CASE
Pubdate: Mon, 31 Mar 2008
Source: Khaleej Times (UAE)
Copyright: 2008 Khaleej Times
Author: Mary Nammour
DUBAI -- The Dubai Criminal Court of First Instance yesterday
sentenced a Kenyan woman, identified as S.H., 27, to life in prison
followed by deportation for possession of hashish with the intent of
trafficking.
According to court records, on August 20, 2007 the anti-narcotics
unit in Dubai Police was tipped off about an African woman who was
in possession of narcotics and was about to sell it to a source for
Dh300.
[snip]
A search carried out at her house revealed 0.61 grammes of hashish
along with tools used by drug addicts. She also admitted having
smoked hashish," a police officer testified.
The accused's urine sample showed traces of the drug.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n349.a04.html
===
(18) OFFICIALS MAKE RENEWED CALLS FOR INJECTION SITE
Pubdate: Mon, 31 Mar 2008
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2008 The Vancouver Sun
Author: Cindy Harnett, Canwest News Service
Arguments Will Be Made In A B.C. Medical Journal
Editorial
At a time when the issue of injection drugs is at one of its most
controversial in Victoria, the province's health officer and a
prominent drug expert are making renewed calls for a supervised
injection site in the city -- where addicts can inject and consume
drugs.
"More so than ever before, it's probably time for concrete decisions
and action on whether we want to take the step forward to at least
to try and make this happen," said University of Victoria addictions
researcher Benedikt Fischer in an interview.
"Every day that passes you have 2,000 people doing very unhealthy
things to themselves and the community."
Fischer and B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall will
make their argument in a B.C. Medical Journal editorial to be
published Tuesday.
They say the sites are more critical in Victoria than
ever before.
[snip]
Supervised consumption sites were first established in Europe about
20 years ago, and now exist in about 15 countries, including
Switzerland and Germany.
The only site in North America, called Insite, is located in the
Downtown Eastside.
The facility provides high-risk street drug users -- such as those
who inject drugs or smoke crack cocaine -- with a protected
environment to prevent overdoses and clean equipment.
It also provides other support, including treatment
referrals.
In Victoria, the sites have been identified as a way to bring drug
users in off the street, and complement the city's needle exchange
which gives users new equipment but nowhere to inject their drugs.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n345.a01.html
===
(19) LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS: FORMER POLICE OFFICER
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Mar 2008
Source: Red Deer Advocate (CN AB)
Copyright: 2008 Red Deer Advocate
Author: Ashley Joannou
After 28 years on the Vancouver police force, Tony Smith believes
the "war on drugs" is creating far more problems than it's solving.
During a 45-minute speech at the Alberta Harm Reduction Conference
on Thursday, Smith argued legalizing all drugs would lower crime,
and take control of the drug industry out of the hands of dangerous
criminals.
The retired officer is a member of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition (LEAP), a non-profit organization of former judges,
prosecutors, federal agents and police officers from around the
world that argues that drugs should be legalized and taxed similar
to alcohol.
A former member of the force's pawn shop squad, he told the crowd of
about 350 people about a man who arrived at a Vancouver pawn shop
still tearing the tags off stolen goods with his teeth.
"Dealers are right outside the pawnshops taking the money for
drugs," he said. "If you're needing $200 for drugs, then you're
going to need to steal around $2,000 worth of goods."
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n336.a08.html
===
(20) NEW PARTY PILLS 'JUST AS GOOD' AS BZP
Pubdate: Tue, 01 Apr 2008
Source: Dominion Post, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2008 The Dominion Post
Author: Anna Chalmers
BZP-laced party pills are off shelves from today but retailers say
new stock, which is "just as good", will be in store by the weekend.
A ban on benzylpiperazine-based pills took effect at midnight,
making any retailer selling the drugs from today liable for
prosecution.
[snip]
Party pill retailer Dan O'Neill said his Wellington store Herbal
Heaven would be closed today, but would reopen by Friday with a new
name and "ample" varieties. "Our [new] stuff will be just as good."
[snip]
Christchurch manufacturer Wize Marketing, whose BZP products were
part of the clearout, will release more than 20 new varieties, most
imported.
[snip]
Director Ross Bell said there was no information about what was in
the new products, or their effects, and users' health could be
compromised.
[snip]
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n351.a05.html
***********************************************************************
HOT OFF THE 'NET
-------------------------------
OPIUM BRIDES OF AFGHANISTAN
By Pete Guiter at Drugwarrant.com
http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2008/03/31.html#a2777
===
REPORT OF THE UN/NGO CONSULTATION HELD IN FLORIDA
The report below is a fascinating read from the Florida NGO
Consultation. They did not invite drug policy reformers to participate
in their forum, and the report below reflects their mindset. It was a
completely different experience from the Vancouver NGO Consultation.
(See http://carbc.ca/portals/0/resources/Beyond2008.pdf )
http://www.spcollege.edu/central/collaborative/08/DFAF/DFAF_RTR.HTM
===
THE SCHOOL CROTCH INSPECTOR
Fighting the Advil menace, one strip search at a time
By Jacob Sullum
http://www.reason.com/news/show/125786.html
===
BATTLE OVER POT POSSESSION IN ALASKA IS BACK IN THE COURTS
By Phillip S. Smith, Drug War Chronicle
They won't give up -- Alaska Supreme Court hears oral argument in
state's bid to overturn legal marijuana at home.
http://alternet.org/drugreporter/81118/
===
CLERGY SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE "WAR ON DRUGS"
A new mini-documentary produced by Mike Gray, http://mike-gray.org/,
of Common Sense for Drug Policy, http://csdp.org/, with assistance
from Chuck Thomas and Tyler Smith of the Interfaith Drug Policy
Initiative, http://idpi.us/
http://www.idpi.us/clergy_dvd/
===
DEA VS. HEROIN KINGPIN - FULL PREMIERE EPISODE
DEA agents put their lives in the hands of a drug and weapons
trafficker turned informant as they mount an operation to burrow deep
into Detroit's drug underworld. Each undercover buy and daring raid
brings them one step closer to a deadly showdown with a violent drug
kingpin.
http://www.spike.com/episode/26482/st/2967221
===
REGULATING COMPASSION
An overview of Canada's federal medical cannabis policy and practice.
By Philippe Lucas, Vancouver Island Compassion Society
In response to a number of court challenges brought forth by Canadian
patients who demonstrated that they benefited from the use of
medicinal cannabis but remained vulnerable to arrest and persecution
as a result of its status as a controlled substance, in 1999 Canada
became the second nation in the world to initiate a centralized
medicinal cannabis program. Over its six years of existence, this
controversial program has been found unconstitutional by a number of
courts, and has faced criticism from the medical establishment, law
enforcement, as well as the patient/participants themselves.
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/pdf/1477-7517-5-5.pdf
===
HOW MCCAIN STAYS POPULAR DESPITE SUPPORTING DISASTROUS WARS
By Ira Chernus
The strange nature of McCain's appeal is directly tied to the
distractions of the unwinnable Iraq occupation and the "War on Drugs."
http://alternet.org/drugreporter/80822/
===
DRUG TRUTH NETWORK
Century of Lies - 04/01/08 - Paul Wright
Mass Imprisonment extract from KUOW in Seattle featuring Paul Wright
of Prison Legal News
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/1826
Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 04/02/08 - Drugs and Pregnancy
Pregnant Women, another casualty in the drug war with Dutch Chatenberg,
Lynn Paltrow and Susan Boyd
http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/1827
***********************************************************************
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
--------------------------------------------------
FIRST AID GUIDELINES PROJECT: PROBLEM DRINKING
We would like to invite consumers and carers to participate in our
project developing first aid guidelines for problem drinking.
First aid for problem drinking is the help provided to a person
developing a drinking problem or in an alcohol-related crisis (e.g.
alcohol poisoning). The first aid is given until appropriate
professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves. At
present, there are conflicting views about how to support a person
with drinking problems. Thus, the aim of this project is to get
consensus between experts (consumers, carers and clinicians) on the
best way to help.
Once developed, the Guidelines will direct the Mental Health First
Aid (MHFA) training program. The MHFA training program was developed
in 2000 in an attempt to provide basic knowledge to people on how to
help someone who is experiencing mental health difficulties (see
www.mhfa.com.au for more details). The course has been very
well-received by the Australian public and has now been taught in
Scotland, the USA, Hong Kong, Canada, Ireland, Finland, and the UK.
We are currently recruiting clinicians, consumers and carers to
complete our survey.
See link below for more information.
http://www.mhfa.com.au/surveymonkey/Problem_drinking_info_sheet.html
===
CALL THE SENATE ON THE CRACK/POWDER DISPARITY
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/040208crack.cfm
***********************************************************************
LETTER OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
MEDICAL MARIJUANA, MISSOURI
Pubdate: Mon, 24 Mar 2008
Author: Jacqueline Patterson
Source: Kansas City Star (MO)
I was born with cerebral palsy and discovered early on that cannabis
mitigated the most painful physical and emotional manifestations of
my disorder. I later learned that cannabis can help stutterers speak
more clearly and that decades ago, doctors discovered the herb's
ability to alleviate muscle spasms, from which I also suffer.
A year ago my children and I reluctantly fled our home in Kansas
City and headed for the sanctuary of California's Compassionate Use
Act.
Although 12 states have enacted medical cannabis laws that protect
patients against state penalties, patients in the remaining states
risk losing their careers, their freedom and even their families
because they use a natural, nontoxic medicine to treat illness
rather than expensive and addictive pharmaceutical drugs.
Now that a bill to protect medical cannabis patients has been
introduced in the General Assembly, Missouri has an opportunity to
step up and do the right thing.
Patients all over the state are anxiously awaiting the assignment of
House Bill 1830 to the Health and Public Policy Committee. Please
contact House Speaker Rod Jetton and ask him to open his heart to
Missouri medical cannabis patients so that they may stop living in
pain, fear and misery.
Jacqueline Patterson,
Bolinas, Calif.
***********************************************************************
FEATURE ARTICLE
-------------------------------
HYPOCRISY IS MESSAGE WE NEED TO AVOID
By Ted Barnes
The "wrong message" to send to any teenager, to any child, is
hypocrisy. It turns them cynical and makes them disrespect the law,
when trusted adults evade reality for the sake of political
concerns.
The reality is that the inclusion of marijuana on the federal
government's Schedule I list of controlled substances along with
heroin and cocaine has always been a mistake. But the politicians'
bogus "war on drugs" gets a boost from the illegality of marijuana.
It is bulky, smelly and easy to detect. The "war on drugs" gets big
results, big statistics, and therefore big budget and big media,
from pot busts.
Marijuana is infinitely less harmful than all the other drugs,
including legal alcohol. It has positive uses. It has the lowest
profit margin in the underground economy. It is used recreationally
by just about everybody at one time or another, without damaging
results.
As a criminal defense lawyer for 27 years, I have dealt with
thousands of people affected by drugs and alcohol. I have yet to
find anyone who became physically addicted to marijuana, or who
became aggressive and got into a fight after smoking it; or who
burglarized a home or raped someone because the weed so affected
their judgment. Mostly, people get mellow and hang out. At worst,
they become unproductive. Danger, Will Robinson!
Teenagers do not know much and certainly a lot less than they think
they do. But one thing they learn before they graduate from high
school is that marijuana, aside from its illegality, is dramatically
less harmful than alcohol. Yet in a few years, they can drink
legally. Do you not see that disconnect? They do. The adults who are
running things need to shake off their blinders and recognize that
one of the two people next to them has used marijuana, maybe
frequently, and nonetheless leads a productive life.
Those adults who use or have used marijuana need to muster the
integrity to act on the reality they know, even if they cannot
openly admit their use for fear of castigation by those who remain
unyielding in their misperceptions.
I can imagine a state, a country, where a teenager admires the
elected officials who discuss and debate issues intelligently, and
without knee-jerk political posturing. That teenager respects the
law, which leads to nothing but positive societal consequences
because the law tracks with the reality he knows.
Billions of dollars could be taken out of the underground economy
and made legitimate and subject to taxation. Thousands of drug
police could focus on crimes where someone is actually victimized.
I have supported Gov. Lynch and probably will again. But his promise
to veto this tiny bill ( unless he does so in favor of more sweeping
decriminalization ) is a disservice to the people of this state. It
is my hope that the members of the Senate approach the bill with
confidence and grace.
Ted Barnes lives in Concord. This piece originally appeared in the
Concord Monitor.
Pubdate: Tue, 01 Apr 2008
Source: Concord Monitor (NH)
Copyright: 2008 Monitor Publishing Company
Author: Ted Barnes
***********************************************************************
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------
"The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the
love of ourselves." - William Hazlitt
***********************************************************************
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@...), This Just In selection by
Richard Lake (rlake@...), International content selection
and analysis by Doug Snead (doug@...), Cannabis/Hemp
content selection and analysis, 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
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@...
You rock. That's why Blockbuster's offering you one month of Blockbuster Total Access, No Cost.
Offline 
Send Email