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. . . a weekly service on news related to marijuana prohibition.

April 4, 1996

District Attorney To Take No Further Action In Medical Marijuana Distribution Case

California Reports Record Numbers Of Marijuana Prisoners

Prosecutors Seek Frequent-Flier Miles Of Man Convicted Of Marijuana Trafficking

Let's Do the Numbers

(This is for ages 12 and older, within the past month. Many if not most nongovernment experts put the figure at closer to 10 percent. An appendix to the survey at http://www.health.org/pubs/94hhs/apx2.htm notes that "response rates were lowest among whites (76%)" and that "NHSDA estimates are based on self-reports of drug use, and their value depends on respondents' truthfulness and memory. Although many studies have generally established the validity of self-report data and the NHSDA procedures were designed to encourage honesty and recall, some degree of underreporting is assumed. Except for the special estimates of heavy drug use given in section 5, no adjustment to NHSDA data is made to correct for this.")

In Multnomah County, the current population is 626,500 according to the Center for Population Research and Census at Portland State University. The Center does not have a readily available figure for the population over age 12. However, Walter Wink, in an article titled Getting Off Drugs: The Legalization Option, published in the February 1996 Friends Journal (previously posted in the Portland NORML Web pages at http://www.pdxnorml.org/friends.html), repeats the NHSDA figures in conjunction with a statement that there are 200 million Americans over age 12. Assuming a U.S. population of 260 million and transposing that ratio to Multnomah County would mean there are 626,500 x 200/260 (= 20/26 = 10/13) = 481,923 people over 12 in Multnomah County. Dividing that by 6.6 percent yields 31,806 illegal-drug users. Eighty-one percent, or 25,763, would be marijuana consumers.

Multnomah County now has a court-ordered ceiling of 1,371 jail beds, plus 480 more if the May 21 bond measure passes, for a potential 1,851 beds. That would mean there are currently at least 23 substance offenders in Multnomah County for every jail cell. If the jail-bond and levy measures pass on May 21, there would still be at least 17 substance offenders for each bed. Of course, if the nongovernment estimate of 10 percent of the population using illegal drugs is correct, that would mean there are 48,192 illegal-drug users in Multnomah County, or 26 for every cell even if the May 21 jail-bond and levy pass.

If endorsed by voters, the new jail bonds will cost $79 million, or $134 million with interest. That will buy 480 new cells, expansion of existing jails, new alcohol and drug centers for 150 inmates and the sheriff's computer upgrading. The average cost per cell comes to $164,583.33, or $279,166.66 with interest. At that rate, building new jail cells for all the illegal-drug users in Multnomah County would cost $164,583.33 multiplied by 31,806 equals $5,234,737,300 - more than $5 billion - or $8.8 billion with interest. Just building cells for all the traffickers, usually estimated at 10 percent of users, would cost $523 million, or $887.9 million with interest. Those figures do not even begin to account for such expenses as the current $75-per-day cost of each prisoner, or new police officers, guards, prosecutors, judges and probation officers. With the current 1,371 beds costing $75 per day, Multnomah County pays $102,825 per day to feed, clothe and house prisoners, or $37,531,125 per year. With 480 new beds the respective costs would be $138,825 per day and $50,671,125 per year.

'Oregon Prison Population Forecast'

Marijuana Task Force III

In her letter to Miller, dated March 18, the Mayor also notes that "As Police Commissioner, it is my responsibility to see that all city ordinances and state statutes related to controlled substances are enforced effectively and equally throughout the City of Portland. You are correct in saying that I want only the best for Portland, however, until such time as the legislature of this state legalizes marijuana, I will direct the Portland Police Bureau, through Chief Charles Moose, to continue their enforcement efforts."

Less than a week after the Mayor affirmed her intent to uphold the controlled-substance laws effectively and equally, Robert Landauer, a staff editorial columnist for The Oregonian, wrote a piece titled "The myths of the young give parents nightmares" (March 24, 1996, p. E3). Landauer reports that "Police in Multnomah County prefer not to arrest young people for booze-related infractions." In the same column, Landauer also notes that "From 1986 through 1994, 439 Oregon youths under 21 were involved in alcohol-related fatalities. That's four dozen a year. The tricounty metropolitan Portland area had 129; Multnomah County, 70."

What does the public fear more: drunken drivers and hundreds of dead teenagers, or people smoking or even growing a nontoxic plant in the privacy of their own homes? It's clear what most people would prefer to spend their tax dollars on, given a choice. As soon as public officials figure out this is not an ideological issue so much as a practical one, marijuana offenses will be assigned the lowest priority. The vast majority of the public will not only reject the enormous costs and nonexistent benefits of pot prohibition, it will enthusiastically support public officials who do so, as long as the money freed up goes to solve real problems.

The mayor, police, prosecutors and judicial system also have a statutory responsibility to jail convicted burglars, car thieves and drunken drivers who injure others, without waiting for them to rack up repeat offenses. The Portland media have reported that officials ignore these laws, too, as a practical matter because local jails and prisons are too crowded (with controlled-substance offenders). Again, any public vote on which is a bigger problem, car thieves, burglars and drunken drivers; or people who smoke pot in their own homes; is going to be lopsided in favor of incarcerating real criminals.

The mayor and police are have a responsibility to uphold other important laws which are ignored to bad effect. In a story titled "Kids on the Street: Runaways and Throwaways" (March 25, 1996, p. B1 & B5), The Oregonian observed that "By law, parents are responsible for their children until they reach age 18. But as a practical matter such a law is rarely enforced - the state itself was legally responsible for Josh Rennells and sent him away." Rennells, 14, "wandered the streets, hung out downtown in Pioneer Courthouse Square and at the City Nightclub, and slept in parks. Then, 10 days ago, police say the boy and two other street kids, both 15-year-old girls, robbed and killed a 33-year-old man by slashing his throat. ... Nobody knows how many of the estimated 2,800 juveniles on the street in the Portland metropolitan area are not runaways but 'throwaways.'"

One way Portland residents could quickly settle this matter openly and honestly would be to hold a simple democratic vote on whether such laws will be funded locally. Instead of making this an ideological vote on whether drugs are good or bad, Portland residents should be presented with a credible bill for the cost of really enforcing these laws. Two caveats: 1) the NHSDA survey notes that 74 percent of illegal-drug users are gainfully employed, so removing that much of the population from the tax base will significantly reduce revenue. 2) The NHSDA also notes that illegal-drug use is most prevalent among ages 18-25 or so, the same age bracket as many if not most parents of young children, so the Multnomah County foster-care system would likely encounter staggering additional expenses. Considering all these factors, the bill facing the voters should total at least $1 billion to $2 billion a year to be credible.

Slanted Reporting

Slanted Justice

Portland NORML Meeting April 24

"Free Planet 4:20 Fest"

Washington Governor Lowry Signs Medical Marijuana Bill

Hall writes, "Bill co-sponsor Senator Jeanne Kohl urged W.H.E.N.'s Dr. David Edwards to pull together a gaggle of local medical marijuana activists to attend the ceremony, and about a dozen folks showed up, including W.H.E.N.'s Jimmy Wheeler, Green + Cross members Joanna McKee, recently convicted grower Jess Williams and several other supporters and Green + Cross patients.

"Forty or fifty state dignitaries were also present, and the governor spoke for about fifteen minutes about the various bills he would be signing that support various state programs and agencies; he spoke without interruption. Then, at the end of his speech, he said there was a special bill in the stack and he wanted to thank Senator Kohl and the medical marijuana activists who worked so hard to make it happen. He then explained the medicinal marijuana bill and afterwards the whole room broke into enthusiastic applause! It was the only thing in the entire speech that received applause. He then asked the Senator and the activists to come up for handshakes and proceeded to pose with everyone for pictures and hand out pens from the signing ceremony."

Scotland Decriminalizes Small Quantities of Cannabis

Judge Flips On Drug Decision Amid Pressure

NEW YORK (Reuter) - A federal judge, whose controversial ruling throwing out drug evidence drew the ire of President Clinton and Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole, reversed himself Monday.

U.S. District Judge Harold Baer said he was vacating his earlier ruling based on new evidence presented by the government during a March 15 rehearing.

The reversal was a dramatic turnaround for Baer, who previously said the prosecutors' bid to get him to change his mind was a "juvenile project.''

"I understand the judge was under a substantial amount of pressure,'' said Ramon Pagan, a defense attorney in the case. ''I believe nothing changed in the second hearing and we will proceed to seek out legal remedies.''

Baer vacated his widely criticized Jan. 22 ruling in which he dismissed as evidence 80 pounds of cocaine and heroin that police officers had seized from a car trunk.

The judge, appointed by Clinton in 1994, originally ruled that police did not have reasonable suspicion to pull over Carol Bayless, the car's driver, when they observed four men approach a car and drop several bags in the trunk.

The judge said fleeing the police was not suspicious behavior in Washington Heights, a neighborhood known for corrupt and violent police officers.

His ruling first came under intense fire by Republican New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and other local politicians who said the judge cared more for the rights of criminals than for the rights of the public.

The controversy spread to Washington where the Republicans were trying to make Clinton's judicial appointees a major issue in the presidential race and asked the president to call for Baer's resignation.

On March 21, White House press secretary Michael McCurray suggested that Clinton would await Baer's decision on whether to reverse his earlier ruling before the president decided whether to call for the judge's resignation.

Dole had said Baer should be impeached if he did not resign and a spokesman said the senator was not going to apologize for expressing "his outrage in the strongest terms possible over a dangerous decision by a member of the liberal Clinton judiciary.''

The attack on Baer drew responses from legal groups and other judges who say the criticisms are part of a general effort to exploit judicial decisions for political reasons.

In a highly unusual move, a group of judges from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a strongly worded public statement criticizing the White House and Dole, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination.

They said the calls for his resignation unless he reversed his decision amounted to "extraordinary intimidation.''

"The framers of our Constitution gave federal judges life tenure, after nomination by the president and confirmation by the Senate,'' the judges wrote. "They did not provide for resignation or impeachment whenever a judge makes a decision with which elected officials disagree.''

[End of excerpts]

The New York Times reported April 4 that repeated votes against a sales tax increase led to the local sheriff closing half the city jail. In essence, fiscal conservatism has spawned liberalism in the city courts, with criminals sentenced not to jail but rather to community service and rehabilitation. City officials were surprised when crime rates did not increase, as many had feared. "We saw that whether an individual served jail time had little impact on the recidivism rate," said Canton County Prosecutor Robert Horowitz.

Such was the impact of the unintended policy shift that when voters finally did pass a special tax to fund the jail, law enforcement officials said they would not return to the old policy of throwing every offender in jail.

[Distributed by: Join Together, New York (http://www.jointogether.org/). Tel. (617) 437-1500.]

"The House That Hemp Built"

In France, there are now three companies using hemp hurds to restore or actually build houses. In 1986, the hemp growers' co-op La Chanviere de l'Aube patented a technique to "mineralize" hemp hurds by coating them with silica to make them moisture-repellent. The resulting product, commercialized under the brand name "Canonbiote," can be used in loose form as insulation or mixed with cement to create walls and ceilings. A spinoff of La Chanviere called Isochanvre, patented its own brand of silica-coated hemp hurds, which have already been used to construct over 250 houses.

Instead of cement, Isochanvre combines its treated hurds with natural lime and water to create a lightweight mixture which can be poured into molds, like cement, to harden into walls, or applied with a trowel, with a grainy texture similar to cork. Another company, Canosmose, uses untreated hemp hurds with lime and plaster of Paris - a more do-it-yourself approach.

The advantages of building with hemp hurds are numerous. Not only does the hemp replace the need for wood, bricks, and fiberglass insulation, but the hardened material is mold and insect-resistant and fire-retardant. It's also many times lighter than cement, sets in a couple of hours and provides both thermal and sound insulation.

In Germany, a company called Mehabit is treating hemp hurds with bitumen (similar to tar) to create floor insulation. The product is simply poured between the floorboards. The bitumen helps mold the hurds together, creating a solid mass that won't shift under pressure.

But the real future for home construction lies in hemp composites. C&S Specialty Builders Supply in Harrisburg, Oregon, is making medium-density fiberboard from hemp that is twice strong than wood and three times more elastic. The hemp fiberboard could be used to replace wood-based fiberboard in more traditional housing construction and furniture - anywhere you see wood in a house. "Initially it will be used as a supplement to wood fiberboard because of its superior strength," predicts C&S partner Dave Seber. "But eventually, hemp composites will replace wood in home construction in many parts of the world. Anything you can make out of a tree, you can make better with hemp."

[An excellent interview with Bill Conde and Dave Seber illustrating hemp's potential to replace virtually all wood products is posted in Portland NORML's Web pages at http://www.pdxnorml.org/conde.html. - Ed.]

Taking their cue from Rembrandt, who painted his masterpieces with hemp-based oils, HanfHaus is the first company to make hemp paints since the paint industry switched over to petroleum and synthetics. According to Brockers, hemp oil makes a very durable, long-lasting paint that renders wood highly water-resistant. Sure it's pricey - around $30 a gallon - but you don't have to contend with any toxic fumes. "You can paint your bedroom and sleep in it the same night," he says.

Yet Brockers is most proud of the company's newest product, the world's first hemp-based laundry detergent, to be released in February under the name Sativa. The product contains a mixture of hemp oil and yeast that is biodegradable (breaking down completely in 10 days) and cleans better than petroleum-based detergents. In independent tests, Sativa not only beat out laundry soaps made from other natural plant oils, but consistently outperformed Germany's leading synthetic brand.

It was Calvin Klein who predicted last June in The New York Times that hemp would soon be "the fiber of choice" for the home-furnishings industry.

[End of excerpts]

Pointing Fingers

Cannabis Buyers' Clubs on 48 Hours

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