-------------------------------------------------------------------

Cop, Youth Killed In SWAT Raid ('Fresno Bee' Article About Death
Of 16-Year-Old California Teen And 33-Year-Old Cop - Police Lieutenant
Rejects Criticism About Department Investigating Itself, But Autopsies
Still Not Completed - Incident Provokes Re-Examination Of Special Weapons
And Tactics Teams - Peter Kraska Of Eastern Kentucky University Says
Use Of SWAT Teams Increased From 3,000 Deployments Nationwide In 1980
To 30,000 In 1995)

Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 15:18:58 EST
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Anti-Prohibition Lg (aal@inetarena.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Cop, youth killed in SWAT raid (fwd)

SWAT action resulting in two deaths questioned

By Lewis Griswold
The Fresno Bee, January 20, 1998

VISALIA - Rachael Portugal points to two bullet hole in her apartment wall
behind the refrigerator. Each hole is about three feet above the floor and
about the size of a dime.

The bullets flew in Jan. 9 from the apartment next door during a police
raid. Two died in the raid: Visalia police officer James Rapozo, 33, from a
bullet believed fired by 16-year-old Alfonso Hernandez, and Hernandez
himself in a hail of return police bullets

A third man, 19-year-old Emiliano Trevino, in the apartment with Hernandez,
was hit five times by police bullets but survived.

The grim results - two dead and one wounded - have caused some to question
the use of SWAT tactics to serve arrest warrants, especially in a crowded
apartment building with children present.

A college professor who has made a specialty of studying SWAT teams fears
that the nation is in danger of "militarizing Mayberry."

The use of Special Weapons And Tactics units has increased from 3,000
deployments nationwide in 1980 to 30,000 deployments in 1995, said Peter
Kraska, professor of police science at Eastern Kentucky University.

"These are police paramilitary units," Kraska said. The "no-knock entries"
typical of SWAT actions are "full-out military assaults," he said. "This
kind of policing is unprecedented in our history."

In Visalia, police conduct SWAT raids about 45 times a year, and shots have
been fired in three raids in 10 years, resulting in the deaths of two
suspects, including Hernandez.

Most SWAT raids are for contraband. But police supporters see SWAT teams as
an essential weapon in the nation's war against crime.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, we resolve them in a satisfactory
fashion," said Visalia interim Police Chief Chuck Huchel. "That's they are
only used in the most dangerous type of circumstance."

The National Tactical Officers Association, a SWAT team nonprofit support
group, said SWAT teams reduce the number of bullets fired by both police and
criminals in complicated situations.

"For whatever reason, there are people that refuse to recognize that there
are situations that require more than the standard police response," said
Larry Glick, executive director of the association.

While Hernandez's family is questioning the raid, others in Visalia support
the police.

"I think they did the best they could under the circumstances," said Jeff
Winey, a furniture store manager. "I'm not going to criticize the police,
not after what happened."

"It's unfortunate that young kids were there," said Felix Romero, a mail
carrier. "It's unfortunate, but that's the way life is."

Administrative review

Visalia police are writing two reports on the incident. Both are to be
finished next week.

One is an administrative review to determine whether officers acted in
accordance with department policy regarding the use of deadly force.

The other is a criminal investigation of the homicides of Rapozo and
Hernandez, and the wounding of Trevino. That report, by the
department's violent crimes unit, will be turned over to the district
attorney's office.

Five officers fired their weapons at the scene, and all are on
temporary administrative leave.

Ballistics report

The reports depend in part on receiving a ballistics report from the
Department of Justice in Fresno and a coroner's autopsy.

Visalia police Lt. Jim Nelson rejected criticism about the Police Department
investigating itself.

"Our administrative reviews can be seen by the City Council, the grand jury,
the FBI, the D.A.," Nelson said.

Visalia police admit that they knew there were children in the apartment.
Three children, all younger than 10, and two other juveniles were upstairs.
None was hurt.

By going in after Hernandez, the SWAT team was protecting lives, Huchel said.

"It was probably reducing the risk to kids' lives, because the element of
surprise is a very strong factor," he said.

There is no "rule" that SWAT teams follow on when to conduct a raid and when
to sit back and wait, Huchel said.

"Each situation is going to be different," he said.

Before the raid, police learned that Hernandez had said he would not be
taken alive and threatened to kill an officer if police tried to capture him.

"If we had waited until he came out, he could spray bullets in an open
area," Huchel said. "If you ask him to come out, it's a hostage situation."

Lives in danger?

Next door, in Portugal's apartment, were four children, ages 6 through 8.

"There could have been lives taken here," Portugal said. "My son could have
gotten shot in the head."

Her 6-year-old boy was playing on the living room floor at the entrance to
the kitchen.

When Portugal heard what sounded like gunshots, she grabbed the boy and
rushed upstairs where the other children were playing.

"The police should have come to my door and asked me to leave," said
Portugal, 36. "They didn't have to tell me why, just ask me to leave."

But evacuating the apartment building probably would have alerted Hernandez
and police would have lost the element of surprise, Nelson said.

When Portugal came back downstairs, she found a bullet lodged in the door of
a kitchen cabinet, about 2 feet above the ground. The bullet had traveled
through the apartment wall and into the back of the refrigerator, out the
front door of the refrigerator, across the kitchen floor and into the
cabinet.

Critical of operation

Hernandez's mother, Magdalena Sandoval, remains critical of how police
handled the attempt to apprehend her son.

"As I understand it, they the police knew for about two hours where my son
was that day," Sandoval said Monday in Spanish. "If they had come to me and
asked for my help, I know I could've talked my son into giving himself up
without violence."

But Nelson said, "His mom had a lot of opportunities" to tell her son to
turn himself in.

"My son didn't have to die," Sandoval said. "The police officer didn't have
to die. Both deaths could have been avoided. All that violence could have
been prevented."

Sandoval said she is waiting for the results of her son's autopsy.

Photographs taken

Capt. Mike Scott of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said the autopsy
is not complete and will be made available to the family when the Visalia
Police Department submits its report to the Tulare County district
attorney's office.

Sandoval said she had a friend take photographs of her son's face as his
body lay in an open casket prior to Thursday's rosary service. She said she
ordered the photographs because it appeared to her that her son had been
beaten.

"He had a big bruise on the bridge of his nose and another bruise on his
right upper cheek," she said. "His face was disfigured."

Police denied that Hernandez had been beaten.

Sandoval said she was planning to talk to a lawyer about her son's death.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

More Scientific Evidence Cannabis Is Effective Medicine As Feds Try To Close
Buyers Clubs ('Marijuananews.com' Highlights January 9 Press Release
From HealthWire Citing Article In January 1998 'Arthritis & Rheumatism'
Describing Anti-Inflammatory Effects Of CT-3, A Non-Psychoactive
Synthetic Derivative Of A Metabolite Of Tetrahydrocannabinol)

Date: 	Tue, 20 Jan 1998 16:48:56 -0400 (AST)
Sender: Chris Donald 
From: Chris Donald 
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com,
Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: More scientific evidence that cannabis is effective medicine

All,

Here's a study of another cannabinoid analogue (I'm guessing it is
of cannabidiol) that provides further proof of the potential for cannabis
to wipe out the analgesic/NSAID market of the big pharmaceutical companies
if it was legalized for medical uses. Note that another study of a
different cannabinoid analogue found that that cannabinoid worked as well
as morphine for pain relief, but without the addictiveness and reduction
of effectiveness over time (LA Times from last Nov). Of course, who would
pay hundreds of dollars for a supply of pills that simply mimics the
effects of a weed you can grow in your back yard in any climate. The big
pharmaceutical companies have a billion dollar stake in keeping mj
illegal.
							
from http://www.marijuananews.com

A Personal Newsletter on the Cannabis Controversies / Date: 01/20/98

[1] Richard Cowan, Editor and Publisher

More Scientific Evidence of Marijuana's Medical Value As Feds Try to
Close Buyers Clubs

Friday January 9, 7:58 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

Article in Leading Arthritis Journal Spotlights Anti-inflammatory
Efficacy Of Atlantic Pharmaceuticals' Proprietary Lead Compound

Pre-clinical Studies Show CT-3 Reduces Chronic and Acute Inflammation
And Reduces Destruction of Joints

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 9, 1998-- An article in the
January 1998 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism describes the
anti-inflammatory effects noted in pre-clinical experiments using
CT-3, a proprietary lead compound of Atlantic Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
(Nasdaq SmallCap: ATLC - news).

The CT-3 experiments modeled both chronic inflammation, such as occurs
in rheumatoid arthritis, and acute inflammation, such as results from
sprained joints. In each case, CT-3 substantially reduced inflammation
at very low oral doses. Importantly, the article notes that the
compound also prevented the destruction of joint tissues that
typically result from chronic inflammation.

CT-3 is a non-psychoactive synthetic derivative of a metabolite of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound found in cannabis
(marijuana). The reported research was directed by University of
Massachusetts Professor of Medicine Robert B. Zurier, M.D., the lead
author of the article in Arthritis & Rheumatism, a monthly peer-review
journal published by the American College of Rheumatology. In November
1997, Dr. Zurier reported his findings in Washington, D.C. at the 61st
National Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology.

``We are encouraged by Arthritis & Rheumatism's decision to publish
these findings,'' stated J. D. Lindjord, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Atlantic Pharmaceuticals. ``In combination with CT-3's
previously demonstrated effectiveness in relieving pain, this
demonstration of anti-inflammatory action suggests that CT-3 could
ultimately be a very useful drug if these therapeutic effects can be
replicated in future clinical trials.''

Dr. Zurier is Director of the Division of Rheumatology at the
University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, and a member of
Atlantic Pharmaceuticals' Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Zurier
conducted his CT-3 research in association with Ronald G. Rossetti,
M.P.H., Joan H. Lane, D.V.M., D.A.C.V.P., John M. Goldberg, B.A.,
Sheila A. Hunter, M.Sc., and Sumner H. Burstein, Ph.D., all of whom
are affiliated with the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

CT-3 is Atlantic Pharmaceuticals' internal name for
dimethylheptyl-THC-11 oic acid (DMH-11C), a synthetic drug that
appears to reverse the psychoactive effects of THC while demonstrating
unexpectedly powerful analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. The
Company is conducting a series of pre-clinical toxicology studies to
test the safety of CT-3 for potential clinical trials. The Company
anticipates that these studies will culminate with the filing of an
investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration and other major regulatory agencies.

Atlantic Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company developing
pharmaceutical and biomedical products for a variety of therapeutic
areas. The Company's strategy is to develop a diverse portfolio of
promising and independent product candidates licensed from a variety
of sources. Currently, Atlantic Pharmaceuticals is developing
proprietary technologies in antisense gene therapy, cataract removal,
prevention of restenosis following coronary angioplasty, and
anti-inflammatory/analgesic drugs.

Arthritis & Rheumatism is the official journal of the American College
of Rheumatology, an organization of physicians, health professionals
and scientists that serves its members through programs of education,
research and advocacy that foster excellence in the care of people
with arthritis and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. Arthritis &
Rheumatism contains peer-reviewed articles on diagnosis, treatment,
laboratory research and socioeconomic issues related to all forms of
rheumatic disease.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that
relate to future business and financial performance. Such statements
can only be predictions and are subject to a number of factors and
uncertainties, which may cause the actual events or future results to
differ from those discussed herein. Such factors include those risks
described in the Company's most recent reports on Forms 10-QSB and
10-KSB filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company
assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.

For more information on Atlantic Pharmaceuticals' technologies, visit
the Company's web site at http://www.atlan.com. The Company's press
releases are available through BusinessWire's web site at
http://www.businesswire.com. The releases may also be requested at no
charge by phoning BusinessWire's fax-on-demand service at (888)
286-8109.

***

Contact:

Media Investors
Mary Jane Walker or Dian Griesel
(212)484-6788 (212)664-8489
or
Mary Ann Dunnell
(212) 484-7797

-------------------------------------------------------------------

DARE We Admit It? Drug War Is A Bust With Our Children (Kendra Wright
Of Fam Watch Recounts The Failures Of DARE And The Failure Of Politicians
To Act)

From: "sburbank" (sburbank@orednet.org)
To: "Phil Smith" (troy@grin.net)
Subject: Re: Oregonian article 1-20-98
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 06:50:35 -0800
The Oregonian
Portland, Oregon
1-20-98 page E-9
Letters To The Editor:
letters@news.oregonian.com

Dare we admit it? Drug war is a bust with our children.
By Kendra Wright

What would you say if told that each year the federal government spends
more than $650 million of our money on an education program that has been
proven ineffective and may actually be hurting our children?

You might wonder why the Republicans haven't attacked it as a taxpayer
rip-off. Or why the Democrats, who consider education policy their
domain, haven't created a task force to find something better. Or why
parents and teachers haven't demanded some answers.

Over the last five years, study after peer-reviewed study has described how
D.A.R.E. and other anti-drug programs fail to reach the teenagers most at
risk of drug abuse. Present in 70 percent of public schools nation-wide,
D.A.R.E. relies on uniformed police officers and scare tactics to drum the
lust-say-no message into our kids.

This is a national scandal. Yet in competing radio addresses about teen
drug use in December, neither the president nor the Republicans addressed
the failure of drug education programs.

Studies conducted for the General Accounting Office, the Justice Department
and the California Department of Education received some coverage by the
media. But the truth about D.A.R.E. has been virtually ignored or dismissed
by our political leaders.

It's little wonder why. D.A.R.E. is an effective marketing machine. By
combining grassroots RR -- including T-shirts, bumper stickers and rallies
-- with aggressive political lobbying of local, state and federal
governments, D.A.R.E has become its own special interest group.

Unfortunately, D.A.R.E, and other 'rust say no" programs rely on hype over
science when it comes to educating our kids.

Dr. Joel Brown of Berkeley-based Educational Research Consultants conducted
the most extensive evaluations of drug education programs to date. His
research, published in leading national scientific journals, showed that
drug education programs are not only ineffective but may actually be
hurting your kids.

Brown's conclusions -- eloquently articulated for him by the teens he
interviewed -- were so disturbing that in 1995 the California Department of
Education, which funded Brown's study, buried the results. (The findings
only became-public in March 1997, when they were published in the
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis journal.)

Research shows that kids who are taught that pot is as bad as heroin are
more likely to experiment with heroin if they tried marijuana and
experienced few consequences. Those kids suspect that if they were lied to
about pot, then they were probably lied to about hard drugs as well.
As a result, many teens rebel against the programs that are intended to
help them. The core of the problem is that D.A.R.E. and other "just say
no" boasters refuse to recognize that teen-agers experiment with drugs.
Government surveys show half of high school students try an illegal drug --
80 percent if you include alcohol -- before graduation. What does the "just
say no" message offer these kids? How do we reach these young people on the
issue of drug abuse?

Unfortunately, federal law makes it harder, not easier, to reach kids who
experiment with drugs. Federal funding is allowed to flow only to "just say
no" curricula -- programs that don't allow us to answer honestly the
questions our kids ask.

Kids who experiment with drugs and those with substance abuse problems
alike are suspended or expelled from school, stigmatized and ostracized. In
short, we poorly educate all children and abandon the kids most in need of
our help.

We can turn around drug education by abandoning the "just say no" approach
and funding pilot programs that seek to reduce the harms associated with
drugs, including addiction. We should focus on the capabilities, not
inabilities, of our children. Most importantly we should understand that
drug experimentation is different from both misuse and drug abuse, and seek
ways to help those who have a problem with substance abuse.

As in 12 step programs, the first step toward recovery is the recognition
that we have a problem.

***

Kendra Wright is the facilitator of Fam Watch, a national network concerned
about the impact of drug policy on families, women and children.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

DARE (Sandee Burbank Of Mothers Against Misuse And Abuse In Mosier, Oregon,
Says Wasco County's New Sheriff Has Shut Down Its DARE Program)

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 20:54:43 EST
Reply-To: alive@pacifier.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: alive@pacifier.com (Arthur Livermore)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: DARE

To All,

I am happy to report that the DARE program no longer exists in Wasco
County, OR. Our new sheriff, who I supported and who said during the
campaign that he questioned the effectiveness of DARE, has shut it down.
Let us celebrate the small victories!

Sandee Burbank
2255 State Road
Mosier, OR 97040
541-298-1031

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Students Challenge Effectiveness Of Anti-Drug Ads (Thumbs Down
'Associated Press' Review Of New $195 Million US TV Ad Campaign
As It Premieres In Atlanta, Georgia - McCaffrey Says Ads Also Being Tested
In Baltimore, Boise, Denver, Hartford, Houston, Milwaukee, Portland, Oregon;
San Diego; Sioux City, Iowa; Tucson And Washington, DC)

By CHELSEA J. CARTER
The Associated Press
01/20/98 10:18 PM Eastern

ATLANTA (AP) -- Lamar Stewart was amused by the anti-drug
TV ad of a 20-something woman smashing an egg as well as
everything else in the kitchen with a frying pan.

The ad was supposed to send a simple message: Stay away from
heroin, it will destroy your life. But the 15-year-old told the
nation's top drug-fighter, retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the
message was lost on him.

"It was kind of phony. The lady with the frying pan -- that just
made me laugh," he said of the ad, one of four unveiled in Atlanta
on Tuesday by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, director of the
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The action-packed MTV-style spot -- reminiscent of the 1980s
ads that used a frying egg to demonstrate the effects of drug use
on the brain -- is part of the federal government's $195 million
anti-drug campaign targeting youth.

The ads are being tested in Atlanta and 11 other cities and will be
released nationally in June.

Stewart, of suburban Stone Mountain, told McCaffrey the frying
pan ad failed to tell the audience what really happens when
someone uses drugs and what effect it has on the person's family.

But McCaffrey told an audience of students, politicians and
community leaders that the ad will send a message: Drugs destroy
lives.

"We are persuaded from our testing on the ads ... that they will
have an effect. That is one of our most powerful ads," he said.

Cynthia Stephens, 15, of Lawrenceville questioned the
effectiveness of the anti-drug campaign for children living in drug-
and alcohol-abuse environments.

"That's not going to do a whole lot of good if you see your parents
doing it. They are supposed to be your role models," she said.

Three of the ads are aimed at young people ages 9 to 19 and a
fourth targets their parents.

McCaffrey said he went after parents because of recent studies
that show that many who tried drugs in the 1960s and 1970s are
more tolerant of experimentation by their teen-age children. He
said the studies also showed that, "believe it or not, kids listen to
their parents."

"We're not going to solve the drug problem in America with
television and radio ads. ... But we estimate the average high
school senior has had 12,000 hours of education when they get
out of school. That same kid has watched 15,000 hours of
television. You know that television has got an effect," he said.

Sens. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., and Max Cleland, D-Ga., and Reps.
John Lewis and Cynthia McKinney, both D-Ga., also attended the
unveiling.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who spoke to the audience by
videotape, told of a friend whose 21-year-old daughter overdosed
on drugs two years ago and lives in a nursing home because of
brain damage.

"These aren't scare stories. These are historic truths," the Georgia
Republican said.

The ads also are being tested in Baltimore; Boise, Idaho; Denver;
Hartford, Conn.; Houston; Milwaukee; Portland, Ore.; San Diego;
Sioux City, Iowa; Tucson, Ariz.; and Washington. The cities were
selected for their diverse audiences, McCaffrey said.

***

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We welcome your feedback.
http://www.oregonlive.com/about/feedbk.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark Twain On Opium Smuggling (List Subscriber Posts Historical News Article
From 'San Francisco Daily Morning Call' Of July 9, 1864)

Date: Tue, 20 Jan 1998 18:21:08 -0800 (PST)
From: bc616@scn.org (Darral Good)
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: HT: MARK TWAIN on opium smuggling
Reply-To: bc616@scn.org
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

The San Francisco Daily Morning Call, July 9, 1864

OPIUM SMUGGLERS

The ingenuity of the Chinese is beyond calculation. It is asserted
that they have no words or expressions signifying abstract right or
wrong. They appreciate "good" and "bad," but it is only in reference
to business, to finance, to trade, etc. Whatever is successful is
good; whatever fails is bad. So they are not conscience-bound in
planning and perfecting ingenious contrivances for avoiding the tariff
on opium, which is pretty heavy. The attempted swindles appear to have
been mostly, or altogether, attempted by the Coolie passengers - the
Chinese merchants, either from honorable motives or from policy,
having dealt honestly with the Government. But the passengers have
reached the brains of rascality itself, to find means for importing
their delicious drug without paying the duties. To do this has called
into action the inventive genius of brains equal in this respect to
any that ever lodged on the top end of humanity. They have, doubtless,
for years smuggled opium into this port continuously. The officers of
Customs at length got on their track, and the traffic has become
unprofitable to the Coolies, however well it has been paying the
officials through the seizures made. The opium has been found
concealed in double jars and brass eggs, as heretofore described,
brought ashore in bands around the body, and by various other modes.
The latest dodge detected was sausages, Bolognas, as it were, filled
with opium; and yesterday we saw a tin can, with a false bottom about
one third the distance from the base, the lower third of the can
filled with opium, the rest with oil. John him self will have to be
opened next - he is undoubtedly full of it.

[1] [LINK] Return to Call index

References

1. http://www.tarleton.edu/activities/pages/facultypages/schmidt/callindex.html

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Woman Attacked By Policeman Loses Appeal Over Damage Award (US Supreme Court
Refuses To Review Case Of Motorist Sexually Assaulted By Cop Who Claimed
To Find Marijuana - Which She Never Used)

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 18:19:06 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US WA: Woman Attacked By Policeman Loses Appeal Over Damage Award
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Source: Seattle Times
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author: Laurie Asseo, Associated Press
Pubdate: January 20, 1998

WOMAN ATTACKED BY POLICEMAN LOSES APPEAL OVER DAMAGE AWARD

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court today refused to reinstate a $452,000 award
won, and then lost, by a woman who was sexually assaulted by a Florida
policeman.

The court, without comment, turned down the woman's argument that the town
of Lake Hamilton should be held responsible for the police officer's
actions.

The court also turned away a pair of appeals that urged it to decide
whether, or when, states can tax on-reservation commercial activities
tribes enter into with non-Indians. Instead, the justices let Arizona
continue taxing the revenues of a hotel located on the Yavapai-Prescott
Indian Tribe's reservation.

In the Florida case, Heather Ann Sewell was stopped for speeding early one
morning in May 1991 in Lake Hamilton by police officer Paul Stines.

Stines claimed to have found marijuana in the woman's car, although she
said she never used illegal drugs. Sewell said the officer took her to the
vacant police station and repeatedly told her she must submit to a strip
search or he would arrest her on a drug charge.

Sewell said she undressed and that the officer molested her. He let her
leave, and she reported the incident to authorities the next day. Stines
was arrested, convicted and sent to prison.

Sewell sued the town in federal court, seeking damages for violations of
her civil rights. She said the town failed to properly train and supervise
Stines, and that a complaint about him from another woman motorist that
same night had been mishandled.

A jury awarded her $452,000 in damages, but last July the 11th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals threw out the verdict.

The appeals court said the town could not be held responsible for Stines'
actions when the proper conduct would have been obvious to anyone even
without training or supervision.

In 1978, the Supreme Court said local governments can be held responsible
for violating a person's constitutional rights, but only if the injury
flows from an official practice. In 1989, the court said governments can be
forced to pay damages if "deliberate indifference" leads to inadequately
trained employees violating someone's rights.

But last year, the justices seemed to water down that ruling by making it
harder to sue local governments over excessive force by police officers.

In the appeal acted on today, Sewell's lawyers said the 11th Circuit
court's ruling means that "the more egregious the employee's conduct," the
less likely the municipality will be held responsible.

The case is Sewell vs. Town of Lake Hamilton, 97-651.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

The Ultimate Betrayal? Tories Took Money From A Heroin Baron
(Britain's 'Independent' Quotes The Sister Of One Of Southeast Asia's
Most Notorious Drug Smugglers Saying Ma Sik-chun Donated £1 Million In 1994)

Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 18:57:31 -0500
Subject: MN: UK: The Ultimate Betrayal? Tories Took Money From A Heroin
Baron
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Zosimos 
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jan 1998
Source: The Independent (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk

THE ULTIMATE BETRAYAL? TORIES TOOK MONEY FROM A HEROIN BARON

The Conservative Party received a £1m donation from one of south-east
Asia's most notorious drug smugglers, his family alleged yesterday. Steve
Boggan and Anthony Bevins report the latest, and probably most damaging,
installment in the Tory funding controversy

Ma Sik-chun, 59, channelled the money to the party in June 1994, according
to a series of front-page articles yesterday in the Hong Kong-based
Oriental Daily News, which the Ma family owns.

According to the reports, which were accompanied by a picture of Mr Ma's
son with John Major, the payment was made in an effort to smooth Ma
senior's return to Hong Kong from Taiwan, where he has lived as a fugitive
since 1978.

Three months after the donation was made, Ma Ching-kwan, Mr Ma's son, was
invited to dine with Mr Major at Downing Street. The Oriental Daily News
published a copy of the invitation and the menu - cucumber and tarragon
soup, roast lamb with rosemary and orange and caramelised lemon tart.

Conservative Central Office last night strongly denied that the party would
accept donations with any strings attached.

Ma senior fled to Taiwan after being charged in connection with one of
Asia's largest drug-trafficking operations. A year earlier, in 1977, his
brother, Ma Sik-yu, known in Hong Kong as "White Powder Ma", had taken the
same route after being tipped off that the police were about to arrest him
on similar charges.

In yesterday's Oriental Daily News, the family said they had asked for the
return of the £1m donation last April and they reproduced a receipt,
numbered A10885, from Tory headquarters in Smith Square, Westminster,
acknowledging the £1m gift.

According to the newspaper, the Conservatives were fully aware of the
source of the funds and originally made out the receipt to an "anonymous
donor". It is understood the family hoped it would smooth the return of Ma
senior to Hong Kong.

However, the reports say, the Conservatives decided that £1m was too large
an amount to be credited to an anonymous benefactor so "they realised they
needed a real name but . that it was not convenient to put Ma Sik-chun".
The newspaper claimed that the receipt was subsequently altered and made
out to his son "CK Ma", Ma Ching-kwan, who was then the chairman of the
Oriental Press Group, which publishes the newspaper.

The paper said the true source of the donation was the fugitive Ma,
although a separate donation of £548,000, was donated by the "Ma family" in
1994. It is understood the bulk of this money was given to the Tories to
fund a party printing press in Reading.

Last night the Conservative Party refused to discuss individual donors but
a spokesman said donations were never accepted with conditions attached.
"We will categorically say that the Conservative Party did not or would not
accept donations conditional on favours," the spokesman said.

Asked by The Independent whether the numbered receipt as amended was
authentic, the party refused to comment. It also failed to confirm or deny
it had received a request for the return of the £1m donation. However, the
spokesman said the party would return any money if it was proven to come
from illegal sources.

Mr Major's office said he was in the United States yesterday and,
therefore, not available to explain why CK Ma's presence at Downing Street
on 27 September 1994 was not listed at the time as one of the former Prime
Minister's official engagements.

According to the Oriental Daily News, Chris Patten, the former Governor of
Hong Kong and former Conservative Party chairman, acted as a "go between"
for the donation from Ma Sik-chun.

Mr Patten firmly denied the allegation yesterday, describing it as a
"complete and utter fabrication".

"I know nothing about any donations Mr Ma may have made to Central Office,"
he said. "It would have been wholly improper for me to be involved [in
fund-raising] once I left the chairmanship of the party.

"Mr Ma's [junior's] father was treated in accordance with all the usual
rule of law considerations. The truth of that is what has happened. Where
is he now?"

In the year the donation was made, former Cabinet minister David Mellor was
hired as a consultant by the Oriental Press Group in his capacity as a
lawyer. It is understood that part of his role was to advise the family on
whether Mr Ma senior could return to Hong Kong. Mr Mellor listed the
consultancy in the Members' Register of Interests. He declined to comment
yesterday.

Commenting on the donation a Labour Party spokesman said last night: "If
this is true, then it is both a disgrace and a disaster for the Tory party.

"We have always said that once the source of their foreign funding became
known, it would be an enormous embarrassment from which it would be
difficult for them to recover. William Hague and his predecessors have got
some very serious questions to answer and we will keep pressing them very
persistently."

With Lord Neill's official inquiry into party funding already taking
written evidence, the bombshell charge could not have dropped at a worse
moment for Mr Hague.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

A Culture Of Depraved Drouthiness (Op-Ed By Tom Morton In 'The Scotsman'
Ponders Pub Closing Hours And The Varieties Of Human Behavior)

Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 19:09:43 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service 
From: Richard Lake 
Subject: MN: UK: OPED: A Culture Of Depraved Drouthiness
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: shug http://www.shuggie.demon.co.uk/
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Jan 1998
Author: Tom Morton
Source: The Scotsman
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com

A CULTURE OF DEPRAVED DROUTHINESS

TOM MORTON on our love-hate relationship with licensing laws

THE longer the opening hours, the less crime, it would seem from recent
research in Edinburgh. But should we be surprised? Those who remember the
grim days of 10pm closing, and the consequent tidal wave of mayhem and
vomit-flecked violence of an average Friday, know that punitive pub
licensing leads to concentrated, high-speed slurping at the end of the
night. More extreme drunkenness, packed into a shorter time-span. And the
anti- social behaviour that inevitably brings.

And yet it is a truth universally acknowledged by the beetle- browed
members of licensing committees that young people are not permitted to have
fun in public, and preferably in private. Because fun leads inexorably to
Bad Things, like vandalism, kissing in doorways and indeed, loud beat music
played on electric guitars. As alcohol is usually conducive, at least in
moderation, to enjoyment in the unattached and/or youthful, consumption
must be rigidly controlled. Hence the ludicrous club curfews of recent
times, the jealous enactment of councillors' sorrow over their own lost or
wasted youth.

The Scottish obsession with licensing hours, though, is essentially a
bizarre hangover from the even more punitive days when mother's ruin was
perceived as just that, and the ha'penny gin a far greater social threat
than heroin is today. Scotland, a society which took masochistic Calvinism
from the Swiss and made it really hurt, is a place which likes to lash
itself with guilt, and render cravings unslakeable. Fuel that with a
genuine fear of alcohol's power to destroy lives, and the result is the
culture of depraved drouthiness.

There is still a kind of deadly longing for the days of dry areas which did
not end until the 1980s, when Kilsyth finally allowed the serving of
alcohol without the statutory three baked beans or half a sandwich to meet
legal requirements. And the more recent permitting of off-sales on Sundays
at last gets rid of the massive queues which used to stretch down the
corridors of one hotel in Glasgow, and out into the west end.

But why do we feel so angered by licensing hours, which, even at their most
draconian, are in reality no worse than other major European cities,
ostensibly more liberal and lax? For serious drinkers, there are
falling-over clubs in the likes of Milan where you can go to deal with your
habit, but the ordinary bars and bistros don't stay open 28 hours in 24.
Perhaps it is just that we like to drink a lot more than say, the camomile
tea and capuccino-fuelled Italians, who, on visiting Scotland, are
frequently aghast at the kind of industrial toping they encounter. And also
because, deep down, we want to be regimented, made to feel that there is
something sinful in what we are doing down the pub.

In reality, a little planning will ensure that there is always a bottle of
Cab Sauv back at the house, or indeed a case of Lagavulin. For those
desperate to cultivate the illicit thrill of social drinking, or for whom
dramming within the old homestead is tantamount to desecration, there are
private clubs, although nothing on the scale of London, where a man is not
a man, or a woman a lush, without access to the Groucho or something a
little more salubrious. Or indeed dubious, although that is hard to imagine.

But where is the pleasure in the lemming-like rush to the bar for last
orders, the suffocating crush through smoke, sweat, flesh and its various
secretions for some kind of unholy communion, sealed in spilt beer or
corked wine? Does it not appeal to our need to be part of the herd, and to
be herded?

Bars need not be this way, but our culture of consumption is unlikely to
change. Even in the most welcoming, stone-flagged, roaring-fire-equipped
rural bar, there will always be the risk of Young Farmers' social erupting,
complete with buttock-display and beer-throwing. Or worse, that horrific
symbol of male sexuality gone haywire, the pre-nuptial blackening, where
haplessly drunk grooms are tarred and tied. What must visitors from abroad
think? The pubs permit such events, as long as no- one wants a lock-in. Or
a soft drink.

Ah yes, the lock-in. Can you imagine a Frenchman taking delight in his
local bar's closing of its doors to all but terminal alcoholics, and then
illegally serving them with more poison? Luis Buuel, the surrealist
film-maker, wrote that nothing was more enjoyable in life than to sit in a
bar, nursing a drink, observing humanity.

He was Spanish, obviously, so in the cafe bars he was used to, not only
could you get a seat and sip a drink slowly without being accused of
wimpdom on a grand scale, but you could read, write and observe with
impunity. Plus humanity actually goes into Spanish bars. And remains
upright, or capable of getting up and walking.

The Scottish pub is not so much a haven of leisure and pleasure as a kind
of semi-official drug-den, where you go to get your fix. We demand
licensing laws to control our desires, to frustrate them, to prevent
ourselves getting out of hand. Without them, where would we be? At home,
probably. Having a quiet drink, or 15. Certainly not fighting in the
streets.