-------------------------------------------------------------------
NORML Weekly News (Canadian AIDS Patient Files Civil Suit
Demanding Federal Government Supply Medical Marijuana;
Growing Number Of US College Students Say They Support Legalizing Marijuana;
Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Agrees To Retry
Seven Year Old Marijuana Seed Case - Selective Prosecution
Motivated By Defendant's Activism; Arbitration Court Rules
Snowboarder May Keep Gold Medal Despite Positive Drug Test)
From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 12:42:37 EST
Subject: NORML WPR 2/12/98 (II)
A NON-PROFIT LEGAL, RESEARCH, AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATION
THE NORML FOUNDATION
1001 CONNECTICUT AVENUE NW
SUITE 710
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20036
T 202-483-8751 o F 202-483-0057
E-MAIL NORMLFNDTN@AOL.COM
Internet http://www.norml.org
. . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to marijuana
prohibition.
February 12, 1998
Canadian AIDS Patient Files Civil Suit Demanding Federal Government
Supply Medical Marijuana
February 12, 1997, Toronto, Ontario: A 53 year old Toronto AIDS patient
filed a civil suit against the Canadian government on February 5 asking
the court to find an exemption for the medical use of marijuana. The
suit also demands that the federal government begin distributing the drug
to those seriously ill patients who need it.
"It is our contention that it is a constitutional violation to
criminalize therapeutic activity," said Toronto attorney Alan Young, who
is assisting in the case. "We want the court to declare that [this
patient] is exempt from the drug act, meaning that he'd be entitled to
possess and cultivate marijuana. We also want a court [to order] the
government to provide him with a safe and secure supply."
Jim Wakeford, who was diagnosed with AIDS five years ago, credits
marijuana for extending his life. His doctor, Toronto AIDS specialist
John Goodhew, agrees.
"What has marijuana done for Jim Wakeford? It has allowed him to live,"
he said. Goodhew estimated that one-quarter to one-half of his patients
on anti-HIV medication use marijuana on a "semi-regular" basis.
"Patients who use [marijuana] continue to use it with my knowledge and
consent," he added. "Medically, I think it is a worthwhile cause. It is
absurd to criminalize a product that is so useful, effective,
inexpensive, and so non-toxic compared to all the pharmaceutical
alternatives."
Wakeford's federal challenge comes two months after a Canadian trial
court judge ruled that bona fide medical marijuana users are exempt from
criminal marijuana possession penalties. In that case, an Ontario judge
declared, "It does not accord with fundamental justice to criminalize a
person suffering [from] a serious chronic medical disability for
possessing a vitally helpful substance not legally available in Canada."
Meanwhile, some medical marijuana proponents are continuing negotiations
with the Canadian Department of Health to approve the use of the drug in
"emergency" situations. In December, a spokesman for Health Canada
stated that the agency had "no problem" with the medicinal use of
marijuana. He added that the agency would likely approve a medical
marijuana distribution plan if a university agreed to grow the drug.
Presently, a University of Toronto professor is lobbying for permission
to begin growing marijuana at the school's year-round greenhouse.
"There is increasing momentum toward changes that will allow legal
access to medical marijuana in Canada," NORML Executive Director R. Keith
Stroup, Esq. said.
The Ontario Court of Justice is scheduled to hear Wakeford's challenge
on May 4. Attorney Young said that he anticipates bringing several
international physicians to testify that marijuana has medical utility.
For more information, please contact attorney Tanya Kangas of The NORML
Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
***
Growing Number Of College Students Say They Support Legalizing Marijuana
February 12, 1998, Washington, D.C.: Thirty-five percent of college
freshman support legalizing marijuana, more than double the number who
endorsed it 1989, according to the results of a study by the University
of California, Los Angeles for the Washington-based American Council on
Education.
"This is a growing trend among not only college students, but the
American public at large," said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of
The NORML Foundation. "As more Americans have first hand experience with
marijuana, you have growing numbers of people rejecting the government's
claims of 'reefer madness.'
Federal statistics indicate that more than one third of Americans over
age eighteen admit to having experimented with marijuana at some point in
their lives.
Pollsters commented that college students' growing support for marijuana
comes at a time when many students are embracing more conservative
positions on other cultural issues such as gay rights and abortion.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre of The NORML
Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
***
Circuit Court Judge Agrees To Retry Seven Year Old Marijuana Seed Case
February 12, 1997, Hilo, HI: A Circuit Court Judge complied with
prosecutors' request to retry marijuana activist Aaron Anderson on a
felony charge stemming from the possession of legal hemp bird seeds. A
jury voted 9-3 to acquit Anderson last October.
"I can't think of a bigger waste of taxpayer dollars than the money
spent prosecuting Aaron Anderson for purchasing a product recognized as
legal under federal law," said Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of
The NORML Foundation.
Prosecutors are charging Anderson, age 60, with second-degree commercial
promotion of marijuana, a class B felony that carries a sentence of up to
10 years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Charges were filed after Anderson
ordered a 25-pound shipment of hemp seeds from the mainland in 1991.
Although the importation and possession of hemp seeds is legal under
federal law, prosecutors argue that the seeds fit the legal definition of
marijuana under state law. Last year, Deputy Prosecutor Kay Iopa
testified that her office would not prosecute a "little old lady" if she
possessed hemp seeds, but would file charges against an individual like
Anderson who "is very vocally, very outwardly, advocating the
legalization of marijuana."
Presently, Anderson and former co-defendant Roger Christie -- who had
the same charges against him dismissed -- are awaiting trial in a federal
countersuit against the county alleging that they were targeted for
prosecution because of their outspoken beliefs.
Anderson's criminal trial is scheduled for September 14.
For more information, please contact either Aaron Anderson of the Hawaii
Hemp Council @ (808) 965-0300 or Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation
@ (202) 483-8751.
***
Arbitration Court Rules Snowboarder May Keep Gold Medal Despite Positive
Drug Test
February 12, 1998, Nagano, Japan: The Court of Arbitration of Sport
(CAS) determined today that Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati may keep
his gold medal, despite having tested positive for marijuana on a
post-event drug screen. The CAS based it's ruling on the fact that they
and the International Olympic Committee have no formal agreement
governing the use of marijuana by Olympic skiers or snowboarders.
"It's purely a legal issue," said Jean Phillipe Rochat, secretary
general of the CAS. "It's not our role to examine the social issue at
this stage."
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the turn-around.
"First, marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug. Therefore, Mr.
Rebagliati's marijuana use should be of no concern to the IOC. Second,
there is ample evidence demonstrating that a non-smoker exposed to
second-hand smoke may test positive on a urine test, as alleged by Mr.
Rebagliati. Fortunately, in this instance the appeals panel reached a
just result."
For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Keith
Stroup of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.
-END-
MORE THAN 11 MILLION MARIJUANA ARRESTS SINCE 1965...ANOTHER EVERY 49 SECONDS!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drug Use In Prisons Fades After Random Tests ('Associated Press' Story
In 'The Oregonian' Says Use Of Illegal Drugs In State Prisons Has Declined
Since Drug Testing Of Inmates Began Almost A Decade Ago - But Fails To Note
Drug Testing Of Everyone Else Has Had No Effect Either)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 18:45:40 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Todd Olson
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Oregon Prison Drug Use
Printed in the Oregonian Metro Section 2/12/98:
--The Associated Press --
DRUG USE IN PRISONS FADES AFTER RANDOM TESTS
SALEM - Drug use in Oregon's prisons has plummeted since random
testing began almost a decade ago.
Oregon's success may set an example for the federal government in
the wake of President Clinton's recent call for a crackdown on illegal
drug use in state prisons across the country.
Nationwide, 9 percent of prisoners tested positive for drug use in
1996. Fewer than 1 percent of Oregon inmates -- 0.9 percent -- tested
positive for drugs during the same period.
That's the lowest rate in the United States, according to a survey
conducted by the Criminal Justice Institute, a nonprofit research
organization in New York.
The rate at Oregon's prisons has been about 1 percent to 1.5 percent
for the past four or five years, said Randy Ireson, the state
Corrections Department's research manager.
In 1996, 4,100 Oregon prisoners underwent urinalysis. Only 38
tested positive for drugs.
Drug test results for 1997 show that 1996 was no fluke. Positive
tests ranged from a high of 1.78 percent in August to a low of 0.28
percent in October, according to monthly figures compiled by the
Corrections Department.
Corrections officials back up their zero-tolerance policy on drugs
with random drug tests every month, surprise cell searches by
drug-hunting corrections officers and stiff penalties for drug smugglers
and users.
"When we put the drug testing into effect, the rates were on the
order of 10 percent or a little bit above that, "Ireson said. "Once we
instituted the surveillance, it came down very quickly."
Still, officials concede that eliminating prison drug use probably
is an unrealistic goal.
In Oregon and elsewhere, illegal drugs most often are smuggled into
prison by people visiting inmates. Drugs typically are passed to
inmates through visiting room kisses and hand-shakes.
"Any drugs in prison is a bad thing, and certainly we have a zero
tolerance and push toward it, but unless we took for more extreme
measures, it would be difficult for us to drop below that 1 to 1.5
percent rate," said Gary Field, director of the Corrections Department's
drug and alcohol treatment programs.
"That probably would take elimination of contact visits."
Clinton's nationwide call for eliminating prison drug use followed a
recent report by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University.
Researchers found that 1.4 million of the 1.7 million inmates in the
nation's prisons were either high on drugs or alcohol when arrested,
stole to buy drugs or have a history of drug or alcohol abuse.
That pretty much describes Oregon's prison population, officials
say.
"What you'll find across the state is about 70 to 75 percent of all
inmates have serious alcohol and drug problems directly related to their
criminal lifestyles," Field said. "It's pretty heavy."
Even so, officials say Oregon has largely achieved what Clinton is
setting out to do: keep prisoners off drugs.
Rates of drug use apparently are even lower among inmates enrolled
in drug and alcohol treatment programs.
"I think it's less than one-hundredth of 1 percent that come back
positive," Field said.
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Narcotics Team Back At Work After Inquiry ('Statesman Journal' In Salem,
Oregon, Says Allegations Against Linn-Benton Police
Found To Be 'Substantially Lacking In Factual Basis' - By Other Police)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 1998 02:24:43 -0800
From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com)
Organization: Oregon State Patriots
To: Cannabis Patriots
Subject: NARCOTICS Team Back at Work After Inquiry!
NARCOTICS TEAM BACK AT WORK AFTER INQUIRY
One officer of the Linn-Benton
unit remains suspended on sex allegations
The Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon)
2-12-98
by James Sinks
The police drug investigation unit in Linn-Benton counties
is back in business after a month of inaction, but one officer
remains suspended in the wake of allegations that he had an
improper sexual relationship with an informant.
Oregon State Police Detective David Campbell was
placed on administrative leave four weeks ago, along with
three other officers from the Valley Interagency Narcotics
Team, when reports surfaced about a possible relationship.
The other officers were accused of knowing about
the alleged sexual affair, and at least one was accused of
stealing money during a drug bust. Those complaints, even
though termed "vague" by police leaders, convinced the
agency's board to halt the operations of the six-member
team.
"We called a timeout," said Linn County Sheriff
Dave Burright, chairman of that committee.
But Wednesday, after an investigation led by
Lincoln County District Attorney Dan Globe and by
each of the affected police departments, three officers
were returned to duty, and the team was reactivated.
"The charges were found to be substantially
lacking in factual basis," said Chief Criminal Deputy
Larry McCloskey of the Benton County Sheriff's
Office. "They were unfounded."
In fact, the woman who reported the stolen
money actually signed a receipt for the cash and is
now being prosecuted for filling a false claim in a
separate case, he said.
The investigation continues into Campbell
and his alleged relationship, said Lt. Chuck Hayes
of the Oregon State Police. Another detective has
assumed his post on the drug team.
Burright said this is the first time in memory
that the Valley Interagency Narcotics team, dubbed
"Valiant," has been shut down.
However the nature of the allegations warranted
an inquiry, he said. Although there is nothing explicitly
illegal about a detective having a sexual relationship
with an informant, it could be considered official
misconduct because it might involve using a position
of authority for personal gain, Burright said.
The drug team includes members from the
Benton and Linn county sheriff's offices and from
police departments in Albany, Corvallis and Lebanon
and the Oregon State Police.
Chief Walt Richmond of the Lebanon Police
Department said the allegations against the officers
were so vague that it was difficult to conduct an
investigation. "There were no names attached and
no witnesses," he said.
The chief also is glad the drug team is back
in action. "For a month, there certainly hadn't been
much of a deterrent" he said.
Benton County's McCloskey said, "In light
of the new information, we think it is an appropriate
time to get back to work."
***
transcribed as a service to the American
Anti-Prohibition League by Paul Freedom
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO CANNABIS PATRIOTS
Send e-mail to majordomo@teleport.com
with subscribe cannabis-patriots-l
in the body of the message.
Or e-mail me if you have trouble or
someone you want me to subscribe!
nepal@teleport.com
Paul Freedom
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Marijuana Advocates Accuse California AG Lungren Of Lying
About Proposition 215, Then Lying To Cover Up The Lies ('Marijuananews.com'
Recaps Two Cases In Which California Officials
Contradict Statistics, Reporters - And Will Of People)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 11:42:48 EST
Originator: pressrelease@calyx.net
Sender: pressrelease@calyx.net
From: Nicholas Merrill
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Medical Marijuana advocates accuse California AG Lungren of
Exclusive to Marijuananews.com
Medical Marijuana Advocates Accuse California AG Lungren of Lying About Prop.
215 then Lying to Cover-up the Lies
February 12, 1998
By Jeff Meyers
Medical marijuana advocates are charging California Attorney General Dan
Lungren and his associates with using false and misleading statements in a
smear campaign against Proposition 215 -- and then lying about ever making
the statements.
Last month, Lungren sent California narcotics agent Christy McCampbell to
Florida to speak to the Florida Cabinet, which was holding hearings on a
ballot proposal that would legalize medical marijuana. Without citing any
study, McCampbell said marijuana use in California was increasing since the
passage of Proposition 215, and not only among sick people.
In a story than ran in the Miami Herald, she went so far as to claim that
"anyone of any age can virtually get marijuana in the state of California now
-- it has been legalized." After the California agent's testimony, the
Florida Cabinet unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Florida voters to
reject the medical marijuana initiative.
McCampbell's statements mirror Lungren's own. In a speech on the "State of
the Public Safety" last week at the Comstock Club in Sacramento, Lungren
linked the passage of Proposition 215 to the rise in marijuana use among
California youth, saying Proposition 215 sent a "damaging signal" to both
adults and children.
"As a result, here in California our young people are using marijuana more
than at any other time during the last 10 years," a story in the Sacramento
Bee quoted Lungren as saying.
Through spokesmen, both Lungren and Campbell denied ever making these
statements. Lungren spokesperson Peggy Bengs said that the phrase in the
story -- "as a result" -- was not said by Lungren and that the headline --
"Medical Pot Spurs Teen Drug Use" -- "did not reflect what the Attorney
General said."
Bengs also said that Lungren's remarks had been taken out of context by the
Bee. "The attorney general's point was, it's the message of Proposition
215," she said. "He wasn't talking about the ballot measure passing and all
of a sudden everything happened. He was talking about a message that went
out to young people."
The Bee reporter, Dan Bernstein, said his story is accurate. The Associated
Press reporter, Bill Kaczor, who wrote the story on McCampbell for the Miami
Herald, has her statements on tape.
At best, Lungren's statements are pure conjecture, experts say. Youthful
marijuana use has been rising not only in California but throughout the
country for the last five or six years. The 1997 study by the University of
Michigan's Institute for Social Research doesn't even break down usage by
states, and the last California state study was done in 1996, months before
the initiative passed in the November elections.
Asked where Lungren got his information, Bengs said it was based on an
article in the San Jose Mercury News that quoted a Department of Health and
Human Services official who attended a focus group in which kids allegedly
said that marijuana wasn't bad because it was medicine.
But a spokesperson for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug
Programs refuted the purported link between Prop. 215 and teen marijuana
use. "We can't make that link," said Maria Caudill. "There's no credible
study or empirical data."
Lungren apparently made another error in his speech by saying that the only
other state to experience an increase in illegal drug use by minors was
Arizona, which also approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1996. But
Christy Dye, director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, disputed
Lungren's allegations.
"He's tying two unrelated things together," she said. "Kids were smoking
more dope over the last three or four years, predating" the initiative.
Lungren is running for California's Republican gubernatorial nomination and
is wooing the party's right wing. His opponent in the primary is Dennis
Peron, founder of the San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club and target of
criminal charges filed by Lungren's office. Peron was asked about Lungren's
recent remarks linking Proposition 215 to increased marijuana use among teens.
"Lungren is trying to ride to the governor's office on the backs of sick and
dying people," Peron said. " But I don't think people buy into his lies. He
tried to influence people last time (when Proposition 215 got 56% of the
vote) and what did it get him? Nothing."
One medical marijuana advocate who preferred to remain anonymous asked, "Why
is Lungren sending California narcs to Florida to lie and get them to arrest
medical marijuana users. She should be here looking for crack dealers. Isn't
this illegal?"
***
Jeff Meyers will report soon in Marijuananews.com on the use of tax dollars by
various narcotics law enforcement agencies to influence public opinion against
medical marijuana, exploiting their credibility to deceive the public at
public expense.
Longtime journalist and a former Los Angeles Times staff writer, Jeff Meyers
is a documentary filmmaker living in Ventura, Ca. He is the producer of "The M
Files," a short dramatization of the absurd origin of marijuana prohibition.
He is currently working on "The Emperor Wears No Clothes - the Film." His
phone number is (805) 648-3952. Fax: (805) 641-3449. E-mail: jmeyers@isle.net.
For additional news and comment see http://www.marijuananews.com
Copyright 1998 Marijuananews.com
May be reproduced so long as marijuananews.com is given as source.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cancer Patient Seeks Judge's OK To Use Marijuana
('Los Angeles Times' Version Notes Hearing Scheduled March 9)
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:27:00 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: Olafur Brentmar (peace@mind.net)
Subject: MN: US CA: Cancer Patient Seeks Judge's OK to Use Marijuana
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
Author: Sue McAllister, Special to The Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
CANCER PATIENT SEEKS JUDGE'S OK TO USE MARIJUANA
Courts: Man freed on bail as he awaits trial on charges of growing pot says
he needs the drug for pain.
Lawyers for medical marijuana proponent Todd McCormick, who was arrested
last summer for allegedly growing thousands of marijuana plants in a home
in Bel-Air, asked a federal judge Wednesday to allow him to smoke marijuana
while he awaits trial.
McCormick, 27, has said he used marijuana to treat pain from recurrent
cancer, which he has suffered from since he was a child. His rented home on
Stone Canyon Road was filled with more than 4,000 marijuana plants when he
was arrested last July.
Using marijuana for medical purposes became legal in California with the
passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. But McCormick faces a federal charge of
manufacturing marijuana, punishable by at least 10 years in prison.
He is free on $500,000 bail, but the standard conditions of bail prohibit
him from using illegal drugs. In addition, he is required to undergo random
pretrial drug tests.
McCormick's lawyer, David M. Michael, said, "Any judge that has a sense of
compassion is going to realize that what Todd is asking for is . . .
something that's bona fide, something that's been so extraordinarily
documented. . . . I can't think of a reason why a judge would want to deny
him his medical marijuana."
McCormick said during a news conference outside the Roybal Federal Building
that since being deprived of marijuana, he has suffered from chronic pain
and fatigue, lack of appetite and depression. Other pain remedies have been
less effective than marijuana, he said.
"I never used to get depressed about cancer," he told a reporter after the
news conference. "I used to smoke a joint and forget about it."
McCormick said that if he is allowed to resume using marijuana he will
probably procure it from a cannabis buyers' club. Such clubs have been
under fire from federal authorities.
Michael said the motion filed Wednesday also asks Judge George King to
reduce the amount of McCormick's bail, which was posted by actor Woody
Harrelson. A hearing will be held March 9.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
City Sued For Alleged Mishandling Of Medicinal Marijuana Petitions
('Press-Herald' In Portland, Maine, Says Mainers For Medical Rights
Are 2,433 Signatures Short Of Getting On Ballot,
But Portland Officials Are Sitting On 3,239)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 04:03:53 EST
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Dave Fratello <104730.1000@compuserve.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Maine/Port'd paper on medmj petition lawsuit
Portland (Maine) Press-Herald, Thursday, February 12, 1998
CITY SUED FOR ALLEGED MISHANDLING OF MEDICINAL MARIJUANA PETITIONS
By Joshua L. Weinstein
Staff Writer
A group that wants to legalize marijuana for limited medicinal
purposes is suing the city of Portland and the secretary of state's office,
saying the two mishandled petitions to get a question on the November
ballot.
The state's top elections official said Wednesday that Mainers for
Medical Rights is correct to sue, and that Portland bungled the petitions.
Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky called the city's behavior ''inexcusable.''
Gwadowsky said he hopes a judge will order him to accept the
petitions. If that happens, Mainers could vote on medicinal marijuana this
November.
City officials acknowledge they handled the petitions badly. In
fact, they say they are working with Mainers for Medical Rights - the group
that is suing them.
The city plans to ''do our best to fix what needs to be fixed so
they can get on the ballot in November,'' said Gary Wood, Portland's city
attorney.
The problem stems from dates.
In order to get a citizen referendum on the November ballot,
organizations had to submit the signatures of at least 51,131 registered
voters to the secretary of state's office by Feb. 1.
Mainers for Medical Rights gave the state 48,688 -- 2,433 too few.
Without enough signatures, Gwadowsky had no choice but to decline
the group's request to put the question on the November ballot.
But there's a catch: According to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in
Kennebec County Superior Court, the organization submitted 3,239 additional
signatures to the city of Portland for verification on Jan. 23.
Those signatures are key.
The state constitution requires municipalities to certify such
petitions within five business days.
Portland and several other municipalities did not. Consequently,
Mainers for Medical Rights was not able to deliver the signatures to
Gwadosky's office before the deadline.
Robert Ganley, the city manager, said clerks were too busy
preparing for Tuesday's election to get to the petitions. He said it is
difficult to check signatures in five days, especially near an election.
''This thing wouldn't come up until November, and the election was
immediate,'' Ganley said. ''We had 17,000 voters yesterday, which is a huge
number for a special election, and almost 2,000 absentee ballots, so there
was a lot of preparation work that went into that, and I think the
priorities were correct in dealing with the election first.''
Still, he said, ''technically, we're wrong here.''
He said clerks will work through the weekend checking the
signatures.
Gwadosky, speaking from a meeting in Washington, said there is no
excuse for the city's failure.
''We were very disappointed that the city of Portland did not
process those petitions in a timely fashion, and can't think of any
rationale or excuse that they didn't do it, because they were obviously
aware of the constitutional and statutory deadlines,'' he said. ''Had we
known earlier, I think we would have pressured them to turn those around.''
He said that because Mainers for Medical Rights got the petitions
to the city on time, he would like to check the signatures and, if they are
valid, put the question on the ballot.
Craig Brown, a Mainers for Medical Rights spokesman, said the group
would rather not sue, but has no choice.
''The legal route is really the only way to resolve this,'' he
said. ''We played by the rules, and wish that Portland and the other
municipalities had also played by the rules.''
In 1996, Portland and six other municipalities improperly
disqualified valid signatures from voters wishing to join the Reform Party.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Satcher Sworn In As Surgeon General ('Los Angeles Times'
Says First US Surgeon General Since Dr. Joycelyn Elders Was Forced Out
Over Marijuana Statements Will Use His Bully Pulpit To Focus On
Personal Responsibility For Improving Health,
Including Prevention Of Teenage Pregnancy And Smoking -
But Not Trauma Caused By Record 641,641 Marijuana Arrests In 1996)
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 1998 20:27:00 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: Olafur Brentmar
Subject: MN: US DC: Satcher Sworn In as Surgeon General
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: February 14, 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
SATCHER SWORN IN AS SURGEON GENERAL, TALKS OF GRATITUDE
WASHINGTON--Dr. David Satcher, who rose from poverty to national
prominence, was sworn in as surgeon general Friday, and he promised to give
back to the nation that helped him.
"I know the American dream does not end when it comes true," he said during
the Oval Office ceremony.
President Clinton said he expects Satcher to help explain the nation's
complex health system, along with the stunning but sometimes confusing
medical breakthroughs. But he said Satcher could make the greatest impact
by persuading Americans to stop smoking, eat right and exercise.
"Dr. Satcher will give us plain talk and sound advice about what each of us
can do to live healthier lives," Clinton said.
The surgeon general's post has been a bully pulpit for public health
issues, with past holders focusing on the dangers of AIDS, smoking and
venereal disease.
Satcher has not discussed his agenda in detail, but he said Friday that he
will focus on personal responsibility for improving health, including
prevention of teenage pregnancy and smoking.
Appearing for the first time in the traditional surgeon general's uniform,
Satcher fills an office that has been vacant for more than three years,
since Dr. Joycelyn Elders was forced to resign.
He was Clinton's second choice to replace Elders, after Dr. Henry Foster,
who failed to win Senate confirmation. Satcher also faced opposition from
conservatives, but he was approved Tuesday, 63-35.
"I want to especially applaud the Senate for conducting such a lively and
healthy debate," Satcher said to laughter after being sworn in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Highest High And Lowest Low ('Toronto Sun' Columnist Hopes Debate
Over Olympic Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati Testing Positive For Cannabis
Will Provide Some Answers 'For Those Of Us
Who Aren't Really Opposed To Marijuana, Just Reticent About The Prospect
Of Its Widespread Use' - Though Use Is Less Than 5 Percent
Even Where It's Decriminalized)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: The highest high and lowest low
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 10:06:59 -0800
Lines: 104
Source: Toronto Sun
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
The highest high and lowest low
How many Canadians woke up wondering: 'Could I have passed that drug test?'
By LINDA WILLIAMSON, Toronto Sun
Explain this one to me, or better yet, to your kids:
A talented young Canadian who has worked diligently to achieve global
success has his Olympic glory tarnished forever because he liked to relax
in smoky rooms in Whistler, but ...
An appointed Canadian senator who likes to relax in Mexico defies an order
that he show up for work for the first time in years, and he gets another
chance.
What kind of screwed-up world is this, anyway?
That's apples and oranges, you say. Okay, let's not compare Ross
Rebagliati and Sen. Andy Thompson. How about Ross Rebagliati and Ben
Johnson? Everyone agrees Rebagliati's offence - somehow ingesting a trace
of marijuana vs. willingly ingesting a truckload of steroids - is nowhere
close to equal. So why should the punishment be the same?
That's politics, you say. That's Olympic sport. That's the world of old
rules vs. the world of young rebels.
Then let me ask you this: who among us didn't wake up yesterday wondering,
"Could I have passed that drug test?"
How long does marijuana stay in your system? How potent is second-hand
smoke? Did that guy I passed on Yonge St. last night sully me with his
illegal fumes?
Most important, if so many of us think Rebagliati has done nothing wrong,
isn't it time to question why, in Canada, marijuana is still an illegal
substance?
Long after the bizarre, Byzantine politics of the international Olympic
bureaucracy are forgotten for another four years, long after the
Rebagliati medal fiasco is settled for better or worse, these are the
questions that should concern us.
So, is marijuana a dangerous drug? Is it time to decriminalize it?
Canadians have long been politely split on this issue. Cops are split, too
- in Toronto, there were nearly 2,000 busts for simple possession last
year, but in Ottawa, where the police chief publicly favors
decriminalization, such arrests are rare. And of course, if you believe
Rebagliati's associates, in Whistler, just about everybody uses the demon
weed.
Two months ago, when Torontonian Terry Parker got a local court to agree
he could use pot for "medicinal purposes," the public response was
cautiously favorable. Some ambitious advocates demanded governments take
over (and tax) the production and distribution of pot, much like alcohol.
It's a progressive proposal - especially if you buy the argument that
booze is more socially destructive than pot - but unlikely to become
reality. After all, look at how badly the feds have bungled their tobacco
policy. There's no way they could handle pot.
That's one popular reservation, but there are many others. We can only
hope the debate over Rebagliati, medal or no medal, will provide some
answers for those of us who aren't really opposed to marijuana, just
reticent about the prospect of its widespread use.
Is pot hallucinogenic? Carcinogenic? Addictive?
Already, we're seeing a parade of pundits and so-called experts declaring
that pot isn't performance-enhancing, but quite the opposite. Most agree,
though, that it's a bad choice for athletes because: a) smoking it
releases tars and other harmful stuff; and b) it's a relaxant that
adversely affects judgment and reaction time. (And then there's c): it
makes you want to eat junk food.) But the jury is still out.
Personally, I've heard too many people insist that marijuana did enhance
their performance at the wheel ("I drive better when I'm stoned!") to be
comfortable with decriminalization just yet. Maybe what we need is a good,
quick impairment test for pot to keep users, like drunks, off the roads.
The Parker verdict, which prompted Justice Minister Anne McLellan to say
Parliament would study the medicinal benefits and other aspects of
marijuana, should have pushed this debate forward. But that was two months
ago, and nothing's happened.
Now, Ross Rebagliati has given us a new reason to confront our ignorance
and hypocrisy about marijuana. Most Canadians have come a long way from
fearing "reefer madness" (although I heard one talk-show caller yesterday
refer to Rebagliati as a "drug addict"), but we need more facts before we
can all agree pot is "relatively harmless," as Parker's judge put it.
As for Rebagliati, whose athletic ability is truly impressive, he may have
been careless or stupid or just unlucky. One thing's sure, though - he
will now become the poster kid for slacker stoners and pro-pot activists
everywhere, the drug issue forever overshadowing his achievement. That's
the real crime here.
Linda Williamson is the Toronto Sun senior associate editor. Letters to
the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reefer Madness Clouds Issue ('Toronto Sun' Columnist Ponders Stripping
Of Olympic Gold Medal From Canadian Snowboarder And Concludes,
'I Guess We Better Change Those Marijuana Laws')
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Reefer madness clouds issue
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 10:04:21 -0800
Lines: 125
Source: Toronto Sun
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
Reefer madness clouds issue
By MICHAEL HARRIS, Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA -- So here we are again; one toke over the finish-line. Of course,
the way Ross Rebagliati tells it, those 17.8 nanograms of weed in his pee
came from someone else's joint. Feeble as it is, that explanation
apparently cut it with the Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Olympic
Association.
But while Carol Ann Letheren might be buying the second-hand smoke alibis,
the IOC really doesn't care how dope got into Rebagliati's body. What
matters is that it showed up in two tests whose results are not disputed
and that marijuana is on the list of banned substances for athletes
participating in the Winter Olympics -- along with alcohol, caffeine,
steroids, and certain anesthetics. Ergo, Ross' disqualification and
exclusion from the Games and our renewed Seoul-searching.
(By the time you read this, Ross may indeed be golden again. The
Independent Court of Arbitration may commute his sentence from banishment
and disgrace to a few hours in the glare of international media red wrists
and his gold medal. But even if that should happen, what follows still
follows.)
Strange defence
Was it T.S. Eliot who said April was the coolest month? Ross says that he
hasn't had a personal dalliance with Mary Jane since last April. A strange
defence, but one that the Winterlude Crowd in Ottawa is buying into hook,
line, and skate-guards.
With news of this latest Olympic Gold Robbery, I laced up my skates and
conducted the Canal Poll. What I found was that my fellow Canadians don't
take kindly to seeing the accomplishments of their super-jocks go up in
smoke.
Take Mary, a government secretary out for a skate on her lunch hour.
"They have no right to take away his medal. He didn't even smoke the
stuff, he just happened to be in a place where someone else was smoking
it. Anyway, it isn't as if it got him down the hill any faster."
Not so fast, Proud Mary. For the record, here's what the Director General
of the I.O.C., Francois Carrard, had to say on that score: "There is
quite a discussion about marijuana. I am told in some situations it could
be performance-enhancing. It could effect the behavior of some athletes."
And then there was Robert, an employee of Health Canada who says that when
he takes a break from his exertions on the blades, he often lights up on
one of the green park benches that line the country's longest skating rink.
"Marijuana is a recreational drug and it's a lot better for you than
booze. Even if the guy did have a toke, so what? It's not like this is
another Ben Johnson."
Bingo.
The collective whine coming out of Canadians over Doperboard is really
about the lingering psychic scar of a fallen hero of a decade ago. For
three glorious days back in the summer of 1988, the whole country basked
in the fact that one of its citizen's was officially the World's Fastest
Man.
I have never quite understood such euphoria. But then I am the World's
Slowest Man when it comes to grasping the strange sway athletics exercises
over the national imagination.
Then came Ben's fatal pee-stop. Even at that, a lot of people were all
sympathy and still somehow felt that Our Ben, and by implication, the
Beaver, had been cheated. Only in 1993, when Johnson was caught a second
time for using performance-enhancing drugs, did people start wondering
about what kind of person we had been cheering for all those years.
Which brings me back to Ross Rebagliati.
In their zeal to justify the success of a gifted Canadian athlete, a lot
of people are saying that Ross' gold medal should be reinstated because
there was no intentional or negligent use of a banned substance -- just as
there wasn't in Silken Laumann's case in 1995 when she took Benadryl D and
then tested positive for pseudoephedrine in her doping test.
Ross' supporters also insist that this is not another Ben Johnson case,
because it is generally admitted that marijuana does not make you run
faster, jump further, or shoot down the mountain like a bullet.
Illegal
But there is this small difference that has so far played little part in
the current debate. The only place cough medicine is banned is in an
athlete's bloodstream during the Olympics. In the case of anabolic
steroids, they are banned at the Games, illegal, but not criminal. But
the last time I looked, it was a criminal offence to buy and use
marijuana, both here in Canada and in Japan. So does the Ross Rebagliati
story come down to this: The I.O.C. should restore his medal because his
apparent breach of the criminal law didn't get him down the mountain that
fraction of a second faster than Thomas Prugger of Italy?
Professional sports has certainly made its accommodation to the
recreational, and criminal, drugs routinely used by its multimillionaire
athletes. In the old days of baseball and football, the use of illegal
drugs by a player was grounds for being banned for life from his sport.
Today, cocaine-use gets pro athletes a year in treatment, like throttling
the coach or the wife. What really counts is that percentage from
three-point land and the number of sacks. As skater after skater told me
that Ross had done nothing wrong and ought to get his medal back, I
pictured him on the milk cartons and TV spots, dazzling the ankle-biters
with his prowess on the snowboard and legitimizing pot. "We either have to
change our marijuana laws or our values, one or the other," I thought.
At Dow's Lake, an epiphany of sorts awaited me. There, amongst the
dazzling ice-sculptures of Mother Teresa, Brian Mulroney, and bowling
polar bears taking aim at penguins was the exhibit that stole the show; a
Formula One racing car with its driver giving the thumbs up for victory.
It even looked like Jacques Villeneuve. Carved in the ice beside it was
the a single word; champion. Brute accomplishment is in the driver's seat
these days.
I guess we better change those marijuana laws.
Michael Harris can be e-mailed at mharris@istar.ca or visit his home
page. He is The Sun's national affairs columnist. Letters to the editor
should be sent to editor@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Gold Medal Restored To Canadian Snowboarder ('Associated Press'
Says Court For Arbitration Of Sport Ruled On One Point Only -
That International Olympic Committee, Lacking Agreement
With International Ski Federation On Marijuana Use,
Could Not Sanction Ross Rebagliati For Positive Urine Test -
Though Japanese Police Question Him For Hours)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 03:31:45 -0700
To: maptalk@mapinc.org
From: Steve Kubby (kubby@alpworld.com)
Subject: CNN: Gold Medal Restored To Canadian Snowboarder
***
Note: Olympic officials decided to give back the gold medal on a
technicality, since no formal agreement exists between the IOC and Olympic
Snowboarders. Everyone is avoiding the real issues. --sk
http://cnnsi.com/olympics/events/1998/nagano/snowboarding/
news/1998/02/12/reversal_second/
CNN Interactive
Posted: Thu February 12, 1998 at 5:42 AM ET
***
Gold Medal Restored To Canadian Snowboarder
NAGANO, Japan (AP) -- Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati got his gold
medal back on a technicality Thursday, one day after it was taken away
because he tested positive for marijuana.
Avoiding the thorny question of recreational drug use, the Court for
Arbitration of Sport said it ruled on one point and one point only: That
the International Olympic Committee, lacking an agreement with the
international ski federation on marijuana use, could not strip Rebagliati
of his medal.
"It's purely the legal issue. It's not our role to examine the social
issues at this stage," Jean Philippe Rochat, secretary general of the CAS,
said Thursday in upholding Rebagliati's appeal.
"It's a clear message that if the international sports body wants such
rules, it has to specify clearly that marijuana is a forbidden substance,"
Rochat said.
The panel's decision was unanimous, didn't require a vote and cannot be
appealed, Rochat said. Both the IOC and Rebagliati were notified, he said.
The IOC said it would comply with the ruling.
Rebagliati, 26, of Whistler, British Columbia, won the men's giant slalom
on Sunday in the first Winter Games at which snowboarding has been a medal
sport. As a winner, he submitted a urine sample.
On Wednesday, the IOC said it was taking away Rebagliati's medal because
the test came back positive for marijuana -- 17.8 nanograms per milliliter.
Rebagliati maintains he hasn't smoked marijuana since April 1997 and must
have inhaled second-hand smoke during a going-away party in Canada late
last month.
The appeals panel's decision hinged on the legal intricacies of agreements
between the IOC and the ski federation.
Both the IOC and the ski federation include marijuana on their lists of
banned substances. But the two bodies have no formal agreement governing
the use of marijuana by Olympic skiers or snowboarders. As a result, the
IOC had no power to strip Rebagliati's medal because of the positive
marijuana test, the panel ruled.
Though nothing indicates Rebagliati came into contact with marijuana in
Japan, he also faces a criminal investigation here. He appeared this
afternoon at the Nakano Police Station near the Shiga Kogen ski area, the
snowboarding venue, for questioning, and left after several hours.
Beyond the procedural ruling, Rebagliati's explanation appears medically
plausible. Ronald L. Alkana, professor of molecular pharmacology and
toxicology at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy,
said the active ingredient in marijuana, called THC, is stored in fat and
can be stored in the body for "relatively long periods of time."
"It's reasonable to assume that second-hand smoke could be absorbed,"
Alkana said Wednesday. "It's certainly a possibility. How much would have
been absorbed through second-hand smoke, I don't know."
However it got into Rebagliati's urine, his friends and fellow Canadians
seem most upset with the IOC. At the snowboarding halfpipe competition,
fellow Canadian snowboarder Michael Michalchuck today unfurled a small
banner that read: "Ross is the champion. Give the gold back."
Even Preston Manning, the Canadian Parliament's conservative opposition
leader whose Reform Party has a tough anti-drug stance, said the country
"shouldn't give up that medal without a fight."
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, whose portfolio includes the Olympic
program, said Canadians were rooting for Rebagliati.
"I think the young man was the best in the world, and he did not engage in
any activity that would illegally enhance that," she said.
John Dizikes, a professor of American studies at the University of
California at Santa Cruz, has researched attitudes toward sports and
athletic conduct in the 20th century. He sees the Rebagliati case as "one
of the weirdest," not an example of a cheating athlete but a bellwether for
conflicting attitudes about drug use.
"This is very much part of the almost hysterical anxiety about drugs. It
didn't help him win," Dizikes said. "We say, `Don't be dumb,' and we know
what that means. It means the worst thing is getting caught."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Boarder Gets Medal Back ('Toronto Star' Version)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: 'Boarder gets medal back
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 10:01:20 -0800
Source: Toronto Sun
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
'Boarder gets medal back
By CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD
Toronto Sun NAGANO -- The kid from Whistler finally caught a break.
Beleaguered Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati, who won his sport's
first-ever Olympic gold medal and then lost it within a matter of days
after testing positive for marijuana, got a last-minute reprieve early this
morning from the Court of Adjudication for Sport (CAS). But his ordeal may
not be over yet. Rebagliati was still being questioned by Japanese police
when word of the CAS decision came through.
Accompanied by Canadian team officials and a representative from the
Canadian embassy to Japan, Rebagliati was at the station outside Nagano for
more than two hours.
After a special hearing convened last night at the Kokusai Hotel in
downtown Nagano, a three-referee panel today decided the 26-year-old
Rebagliati should be reprimanded for the positive test, but allowed to keep
the medal he won last Sunday.
Rebagliati had, in the words of a fellow skateboarder, been "put through
the emotional meat grinder" because that group of elderly freeloaders known
as the International Olympic Committee, whose doddering members wouldn't
grasp any of the colloquial meanings of the word "joint," decided to use an
elephant gun to kill a flea.
Rebagliati didn't use anabolic steroids. He didn't use human growth
hormone. He didn't try blood doping or EPO, which boosts the ability of
your blood to carry more oxygen. He wasn't using stimulants.
The poor benighted innocent, like many other refugees from the
snowboarding world new to the mainstream, arrived here with a minute
quantity of the active ingredient of marijuana in his urine.
A former self-admitted weed smoker himself, who quit last spring as the
Olympics drew close and he had to choose between his two favorite pastimes
(it was, you might say, a moment of truth, literally when he had to s--- or
get off the pot), Rebagliati, probably as a function of merely breathing
the air in Whistler, where he lives and where the marijuana is the most
potent in the world, still had enough of the drug in his system that it
showed up in the test barely.
That doesn't mean he was lying about having quit; his presence at a
going-away party held in his honor earlier this month might well account
for it.
The jury is still out on the effects of passive pot smoking, but given the
kind of marijuana sold in Vancouver and area (according to Canadian expert
Dr. Andrew Pipe, the stuff sold in the 1980s and on which the little
research there is was carried out had an active ingredient of 2.5%; the
weed now being sold has a concentration of between 22 and 30%) and the fact
the air at Rebagliati's goodbye party was thick with it, it's a possibility.
And so what?
Marijuana, as Dick Pound, Canada's member on the IOC and one of the few
who is young enough that he might actually have some visceral understanding
of all this says, is not on the banned list, is not a prohibited substance.
The IOC doesn't routinely test for it, though it may, if requested by the
particular sport and as the skiing federation demanded in Nagano. That's
the vague language of the rule in question. As Rob Stevens, a friend of
Rebagliati and member of the 1992 Canadian snowboard team, says, "You don't
put someone through an emotional meat grinder on a 'may' and a 'maybe'."
Good Lord, as anyone who has ever smoked the stuff, or had a hash brownie
or two, knows, the notion of weed as an aid to performance of any sort
(athletic, sexual, intellectual, conversational) is pretty much ludicrous;
marijuana's most common effects, in my own not insubstantial experience,
are to induce a mellow languor and/or a raging craving for junk food.
As Pound said with an impatient shrug when someone asked if the Rebagliati
case was akin to the Ben Johnson steroid scandal almost a decade ago, "Ben
Johnson used anabolic steroids as a performance-enhancing drug.
"This is pot." He didn't add, "for God's sake," but he might as well have.
Pound, as one of the eight-member IOC executive board which made this
anachronistic decision, made his own sensible view known, but withdrew from
the actual voting because of the potential for an apparent conflict of
interest. Some seasoned IOC observers say Pound should have swallowed his
principles and "saved the kid" by doing what countless other IOC executives
have done before him when their country's athletes found themselves in
trouble.
"My opinion is what we are fighting against is doping in sport," Pound
concluded. "I don't think this (marijuana) is doping...I don't think you
take away an athlete's medal unless he or she has doped." There's another
school of thought on this one, that if Rebagliati was so stupid as to have
used the drug himself recently or exposed himself to secondhand smoke, he
deserves his fate and/or that the IOC must be seen to be sending out a
message to the young people of the world that drugs are bad.
But even if you subscribe to this view, no less an august person than
Prince Alexandre de Merode, the head of the IOC medical commission and the
man whose recommendation that Rebagliati be issued a warning was
overturned, put that in perpective. "For me," he said, "marijuana is not
doping, it's a problem of education." If the IOC, in other words, wanted to
send out an anti-drug message to the kids, there are better ways to do it
than by whacking Ross Rebagliati.
The law and morality of marijuana-smoking are in flux all over the world.
What's legal in Holland is illegal-but-seriously punished in Japan and
illegal-but-tolerated (and in epileptic Terry Parker's case,
court-condoned) in Canada. A 26-year-old snowboarder should never have been
made to carry the can for the shifting mores of a confused planet.
Christie can be e-mailed at cblatchf@sunpub.com or visit her home page.
Listen to Christie Blatchford on CFRB 1010 Monday to Friday after the 8.30
a.m. news. Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Final Victory For Rebagliati - CBC - The National Transcripts
On Ross Rebagliati (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Television Newscast
From Winter Olympics In Nagano, Japan, Notes Snowboarder's Gold Medal
Has Been Returned)
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 14:34:23 -0500
To: DrugSense News Service
From: Richard Lake
Subject: MN: Canada: CBC The National transcripts on Ross Rebagliati
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: Richard Lake
Source: CBC-TV, The National
Website: ?
Note: Transcripts from the 11th, 12th and 17th of February are below.
Date: 12 Feb 1998
Title: Final victory for Rebagliati.
Guest: IAN HANOMANSING, CBC Reporter
ROSS REBAGLIATI,Olympic Medalist
LORI GLAZIER, Cdn. Snowboarder
MARKFAWCETT, Canadian Snowboarder
COLIN BLAKE, SnowboardingCouncil
MICHELLE VERDIER, IOC
CAROLE ANNE LETHEREN,Canadian Olympic Association
PETER MANSBRIDGE: Good evening. It's been the kind of journey even a wild
ride on an Olympic snowboard can't match: an emotional journey that's taken
Ross Rebagliati up, down, and now up again. The Canadian snowboarder will
hold on to his gold medal, and his run into the record books as the sport's
first Olympic champion will stand. An appeals panel today overturned an IOC
decision to penalize Rebagliati after testing positive for marijuana. With
more on the ruling and the reaction, here's Ian Hanomansing in Nagano.
IAN HANOMANSING: (Final Victory) Victory then disqualification, then
victory again; it still seems a bit unreal to Ross Rebagliati.
ROSS REBAGLIATI / OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I won the medal. It was the best moment
of my life. I got the news that I tested positive, that was the worst
moment of my life. It all happened in a short amount of time. It was an
amazing feeling. I'll never really be able to tell exactly how it was, but
it was quite a ride.
UNIDENTIFIED: It's overturned.
UNIDENTIFIED: Overturned!
UNIDENTIFIED: Yes!
HANOMANSING: As the news got out Thursday night in Nagano, there was
jubilation in the Canadian camp. And nowhere has there been more support
than from his snowboard teammates. (Cheering)
LORI GLAZIER / CDN. SNOWBOARDER: He deserves the gold and that's how it's
going to stand. And I think that's awesome for Ross, because he totally
deserves it.
MARK FAWCETT / CANADIAN SNOWBOARDER: It's incredible. It's been the biggest
emotional roller coaster for all of us here and we're ecstatic.
HANOMANSING: But there is also resentment.
COLIN BLAKE / SNOWBOARDING COUNCIL: Ross has been treated like a cheater.
He's not a cheater. There is no cheating going on; why they decided to
pounce on him and use him as an example is beyond me. Maybe there are some
forces at work that are not too stoked at having snowboarding in the
Olympics, and it was a good way of blowing things up.
HANOMANSING: The arbitration panel concluded the International Olympic
Committee didn't have the authority to strip the medal because it hadn't
reached an agreement with the federation which governs snowboarding to make
marijuana a banned substance. Why wasn't all this sorted out before the
Games? Not surprisingly, the International Olympic Committee had little
comment.
MICHELLE VERDIER / IOC: The IOC has taken note of the award rendered by
court of arbitration for sport, and we'll be abiding by this decision.
That's all we can say.
CAROLE ANNE LETHEREN / CANADIAN OLYMPIC ASSOCIATION: There's absolutely a
requirement here for this to receive real clarification. It's very
confusing for the athletes, there's a lot of mixed messages in it, and
there's no question it does need clarification.
HANOMANSING: Rebagliati has said he hasn't smoked marijuana in almost a
year, but is often at parties where there is a lot of second-hand smoke.
How will he deal with that in the future?
REBAGLIATI: Unfortunately, I'm not going to change my friends for you. I
don't know, I don't care what you think about that. I think my friends are
real, and I'm going to stand behind them. I support them; I'll never
deviate from that. I may have to wear a gas mask from now on, but whatever.
HANOMANSING: Rebagliati's return home may be delayed again. He was planning
to leave later today, but the men's hockey team has asked him to stay for
their first game -- for good luck. Ian Hanomansing, CBC News, Nagano.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada Backs Rebagliati - Support Strong In Medal Battle ('Calgary Herald'
Says Many Of Canada's Political And Sports Leaders Came To Defence Wednesday
Of Ross Rebagliati, Gold-Medal Winning Olympic Snowboarder
Who Tested Positive For Marijuana)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada backs Rebagliati: Support strong in medal battle
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:07:18 -0800
Lines: 106
Source: Calgary Herald
Contact: letters@theherald.southam.ca
Thu 12 Feb 1998 News A1 / FRONT
Canada backs Rebagliati: Support strong in medal battle
By: Eric Duhatschek and Mark Kennedy, Calgary Herald
Many of Canada's political and sports leaders came to the defence
Wednesday of Ross Rebagliati, the gold-medal winning Olympic
snowboarder who tested positive for marijuana.
Rower Silken Laumann, herself the centre of a doping scandal in the
1995 Pan-American Games for taking the wrong cold medicine, said she
was backing the 26-year-old with the electric smile.
``This is the same suspension given to Ben Johnson 10 years ago; what
kind of message are we sending with that?'' said Laumann. ``I, for
one, am very proud of him (Rebagliati).''
Unlike the anabolic steroid stanozolol used by Johnson at the Olympics
in Seoul, marijuana is not seen as a performance-enhancing substance
-- especially when you're slashing through 30 to 50 gates on a course
with a vertical drop of 290 metres.
Rebagliati spent an anxious night Wednesday, awaiting a ruling on his
appeal from an independent sports tribunal.
Dressed in jeans and a wool sweater, Rebagliati testified on his own
behalf in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a
three-member panel that operates independently of the International
Olympic Committee. The appeal, filed on behalf of Rebagliati by the
Canadian Olympic Association, was heard just before 5 a.m. MST.
Following the 2 1/2 hours, Rebagliati was whisked out the back door of
a hotel, avoiding the crush of reporters awaiting him outside.
The IOC stripped Rebagliati of the gold medal he won in giant slalom
last Sunday, the first medal awarded in the 1998 Winter Olympics.
Rebagliati's punishment provoked debates across the country.
On Parliament Hill -- with few exceptions -- ministers and MPs said
they don't think smoking marijuana warrants losing a gold medal.
NDP Leader Alexa McDonough even suggested the case should force Ottawa
to address the question of whether marijuana should be decriminalized.
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps, whose portfolio includes sport, said
she hoped Rebagliati wins his appeal.
``Based on the facts that have been communicated, I think the young
man was the best in the world, and he did not engage in any activity
that would illegally enhance that.''
Asked what sort of image a marijuana-smoking, Olympic gold-medal
winner projects to the public, Copps walked away from reporters but
eventually said: ``Would I want my daughter to see that as a plus?
No.''
Reform Leader Preston Manning, whose party has adopted a tough line on
law and order, had no qualms about supporting Rebagliati, even though
the Whistler B.C. athlete admitted smoking marijuana in April of last
year.
``We shouldn't give up that medal without a fight,'' said Manning.
Conservative Leader Jean Charest, who was federal sports minister when
sprinter Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal at the 1988
Olympics for steroid use, said Rebagliati should get a simple rebuke.
``I don't think the penalty fits the infraction . . . A rebuke is
sufficient. The public revelation of this is going to have deep
consequences on this man's life. The message is sent.''
Solicitor General Andy Scott said ``every Canadian'' would like to see
the gold medal returned to Rebagliati. However, he said there's no
sense in using the controversy to reopen the debate over
decriminalizing marijuana.
Calgary Reform MP Art Hanger expressed sympathy for Rebagliati, but
said he can't excuse his actions.
``There's no doubt the young fellow tried very hard, but there's also
rules. There are regulations that I'm sure he was very aware of when
he walked in there. It's unfortunate but there's consequences to
violating the rules.''
Making an exception to those rules, he said, would set a bad example
to ``young sports enthusiasts.''
Rebagliati looked dazed and confused heading into the hearing. Asked
if he had any comment, Rebagliati said: ``Not at the moment.''
He was later questioned by police in Nagano whether he used drugs
while on Japanese soil.
Rebagliati told team leader Mike Wood that he was exposed to
second-hand smoke at a Jan. 31 going-away party at Whistler, B.C.,
prior to a Olympic staging event in Calgary.
Ottawa Citizen and files from Canadian Press
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebagliati Still A Hero - Many Factors Determine How Long Marijuana Stays
In Bodies (Interesting Details About Urine Testing In 'Hamilton Spectator'
Story)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Rebagliati still a hero
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:16:11 -0800
Lines: 76
Source: Hamilton Spectator
Contact: letters@spectator.southam.ca
Thu 12 Feb 1998 Local News A1 / Front
Rebagliati still a hero: Many factors determine how long marijuana stays in
bodies
By: Jon Wells
Canadians guessing how and when Olympic snowboarder Ross Rebagliati
got marijuana in his system are engaging in just that -- guess work.
The fact is, depending on the individual and potency of the drug
inhaled, marijuana can be detected more than 25 days after inhaling --
or it can vanish the next day.
Rebagliati, 26, says trace elements of marijuana found in a urine test
by the International Olympic Committee are from passive (second-hand)
smoke he inhaled at a going-away party Jan. 31 in his home town of
Whistler, B.C.
But the science on determining whether this claim makes sense is
murky.
``You can't correlate urine-testing levels to quantitative measures,
there are too many variables,'' said Dr. Bhushan Kapur, director of
clinical pharmacology and toxicology at the Hospital for Sick Children
in Toronto.
In other words, even though IOC tests found a concentration of 17.8
nanograms per millilitre -- 17.8 parts per billion -- in Rebagliati's
urine after he raced last Sunday in Nagano (the accepted limit is 15),
no one can accurately say -- apart from Rebagliati, perhaps -- when it
entered his system.
The active drug in marijuana --delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC --
is absorbed in fatty tissue in various organs. The degree of THC
storage depends on the potency of the marijuana inhaled, the frequency
with which you smoke it, and your body's biology. Moreover, the pace
at the chemical leaches out through the bloodstream depends on body
fat percentage and metabolism. And the measuring unit is incredibly
minuscule -- one nanogram represents one one-millionth of a milligram.
``There is the amount of fluids you take in that influences your
urine, and your physical structure,'' said Kapur. ``There's a
tremendous amount of genetic gobbledegook involved.''
One U.S. study says a heavy marijuana smoker who ``has in fact
stopped, may show positive samples for three or more weeks after.''
But if Rebagliati's explanation is true -- that his urine showed a
17.8 reading from passive smoke inhaled eight days prior to testing --
then he must have been in an extremely smoky room, considering that he
is a world-class athlete with presumably low body fat.
A 1991 study, published in the Journal of Substance Abuse, showed that
individuals shut in a large crate and exposed to four burning
marijuana cigarettes for 30 minutes, an ``unrealistically high-smoke
environment,'' showed a marijuana reading of 20 ng/ml shortly
afterward. Individuals shut in a regular room and exposed to four
burning joints over one hour, showed a reading of just six ng/ml 24
hours later.
One thing seems clear, despite opinions expressed by the IOC to the
contrary: marijuana is not a performance-enhancing drug. Dave Murray,
from McMaster University's athletic therapy clinic, said, ``If
anything, it retards your system, rather than stimulates it . . . as
opposed to steroids.''
There might be one potential performance advantage, according to Dr.
Ian Cohen, a University of Toronto team physician. It comes if an
athlete inhales marijuana to calm nerves. ``But at the same time, it
might take away from your drive and focus,'' he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebagliati Now Worth Even More, Agent Says ('Vancouver Sun'
Quotes Barry Frank Of New York's International Management Group Saying,
'I Can't Think Of A Single Sponsor Who Would Take Him,
Aside From The Hemp Growers Of America,' But Marc Emery Of Hemp BC
Says Rebagliati Is Now Poster Boy For BC's Billion Dollar Marijuana Industry,
And There Is Already Talk Of Naming A Strain Of BC's World-Renowned Pot
Golden Boy, In Rebagliati's Honour)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: Rebagliati now worth even more, agent says
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:17:01 -0800
Lines: 87
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Vancouver Sun
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Pubdate: Thu 12 Feb 1998
Section: News A1 / Front
Author: John MacKie
REBAGLIATI NOW WORTH EVEN MORE, AGENT SAYS
Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati's gold medal victory in Nagano has been
tarnished by a drug scandal. But he could still be on the road to
becoming a cultural icon.
Before the furor over his Olympic suspension, Rebagliati was just one
of dozens of athletes who would have come home with a gold medal from
Nagano. As a Canadian, Rebagliati might have made up to $500,000 per
year in endorsements and sponsorships.
But the traces of marijuana in his dope test have thrust the
26-year-old Whistler resident on to the front page around the globe.
And some people think his marketing value could go sky-high,
particularly in snowboarding circles, which revel in their alternative
image.
``He could make millions of dollars,'' said sports agent Ron Perrick,
who represents such National Hockey League players as Rod Brind'Amour
and Cliff Ronning.
``In this case, he's won a gold medal. Maybe it's taken away, maybe
it's not. There's a TV movie, a book, there's all kinds of stuff there
now that wasn't there before. Before, it was a gold medal in
snowboarding. Now the story is much, much bigger and therefore might
be much, much more lucrative for him. You can see this guy on
Letterman, he's going to be everywhere.''
Places you probably won't seem him are on a kids' cereal box, or in
commercials for big, conservative corporations such as car companies.
``I can't think of a single sponsor who would take him, aside from the
Hemp Growers of America,'' said Barry Frank, vice-president of New
York's International Management Group, one of the world's largest
representatives of athletes.
But North Vancouver's Perrick thinks Rebagliati's new-found fame could
be dynamite for the right advertiser. ``He's like a cult hero,''
Perrick said. ``There are things that people react to. I remember when
Willie Nelson wore a Moosehead Beer T-shirt to one of his Farm Aid
concerts. Well, Moosehead Beer became the most popular beer for a
while in the United States and Canada -- they couldn't make the stuff
fast enough.''
One of Rebagliati's current sponsors is Kokanee Beer, a division of
Labatt. The company plans to stick with Rebagliati's elite
snowboarding team, the JW4.
``This incident is obviously an unfortunate blip,'' said Paul Smith,
Labatt's director of public affairs. ``We're fully committed to
promoting and supporting the sport of snowboarding, and will continue
to do that.''
Snowboarder Moe Arsenault said Rebagliati's name is now golden in
snowboarding circles.
``This guy kicks ass. If he's going to put his name on a product, I
would look at it,'' said Arsenault, a 20-year-old who hits the slopes
five times a week.
Marijuana advocate Marc Emery of Hemp B.C. said Rebagliati is now the
poster boy for B.C.'s billion dollar marijuana industry. In fact,
there is already talk of naming a strain of B.C.'s world-renowned pot
Golden Boy, in Rebagliati's honour.
``We love that guy,'' Emery said. ``He's the Canadian cannabis hero.''
One factor that may work in Rebagliati's favour is snowboarding's
outlaw image. In a way, it's only fitting that the sport's first
Olympic gold medal winner should stir up such controversy.
Snowboarding was invented in the late 1970s, but was virtually banned
from ski hills until the late 1980s. Snowboarders were seen to be the
bad boys and girls of the hills, anarchistic daredevils with a major
attitude problem.
In any event, snowboarding boomed in the late '80s, when it was
embraced as a possible financial saviour of the struggling ski
industry.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Don't Forget You're Still King Of The Hill
(The Dinger, A Columnist For 'The Calgary Sun,' Sympathizes
With Canadian Snowboarder At Olympics Who Tested Positive For Cannabis)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Don't forget you're still king of the hill
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 09:47:08 -0800
Lines: 70
Source: Calgary Sun
Contact: callet@sunpub.com
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
Don't forget you're still king of the hill
By RICK BELL Calgary Sun
Dear Ross, King of the Snowboarders: I'm on your side, dude. I don't
bother with the nervous Nellies, the naysayers, the moralizers, the
mean-spirited who would look better in a lynch mob.
Let them rot. I know you've gone though a lot these past hours with your
gold forever tarnished, but I can't help seeing this whole thing as a bad
joke. Yes, you tested positive for pot. Your athlete's body held a small
amount, just a smidgen above the limit for weed set by the snowboarding
poobahs.
Big deal.
Ross, when all is said and done, I really don't care if you toked, or
when, or why.
What traces you had in your system did not pump you up. If anything, it
slowed you down. You weren't a steroid monkey, a juice junkie searching
for drugstore legs and arms of steel in a vain attempt to cheat. You
didn't cheat.
Ross, some say you're a disgrace to your country. They say we're now
vilified on the world stage. Some say you never did deserve the gold medal
you worked so hard to get since age 15, when you told your dad you'd
snowboard and then got kicked out of the house for a week.
They say you give snowboarders a bad name, as if toking puts you next to
Charlie Manson in the pantheon of evil-doers. They speak of you as another
Ben Johnson and mouth the words in angry indignation.
I don't agree, but they do not hear me, Ross. You or me. I've got to say
you should have steered clear of the scene to make sure you were totally
clean, Ross.
If anything, you used bad judgment.
But I know you didn't violate the spirit of the Olympics. In fact, you
were very much a part of these Games. I still can see your run for gold. I
still feel proud seeing the smile when you won and your fellow-shredders
cheered and hugged and called your performance by one wonderful name.
Killer.
Twice as good as wicked. Nobody can take that away. They can't take away
the race you dedicated to Lumpy, your great friend who died this past year
in an avalanche in Kootenay National Park.
They can't take away the mob scene after you, the underdog, won the medal
and the gold was placed around your neck. Fan after fan broke through
security to touch you, to share in your gold medal win. In a snowy instant,
you were snowboarding's Paul McCartney.
And no one can take away the crystal-clear moment at race's end, in the
fog at the base of Mount Takebitai, when dad and your pals and a nation
waited.
Darren Chalmers, your teammate, shouted to you. "Ross, you are an animal.
This is so killer." Remember Ross? Killer. Twice as good as wicked.
The Dinger can be reached at (403) 250-4323 or by e-mail at
rbell@sunpub.com. Letters to the editor should be sent to
callet@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
There Was A Lot Of Pot Smoking Going On (Three-Part Article
In 'Ottawa Citizen' Provides Background On Olympic Gold Medal Winner's Milieu
In British Columbia, Prevalence Of Cannabis Use, Asks Did He Or Didn't He,
Outlines Leagues' Testing Policies)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: `There was a lot of pot smoking going on'
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:12:08 -0800
Lines: 291
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca
Pubdate: Thu 12 Feb 1998
Section: News A1 / Front
`There was a lot of pot smoking going on'
By: Jeremy Mercer and Randy Boswell
Did he or didn't he? The experts speak
Experts are divided on whether to believe snowboarder Ross
Rebagliati's claim that he inhaled -- but didn't smoke -- marijuana.
The amount of marijuana metabolites found in Mr. Rebagliati's
bloodstream was so insignificant, says Simon Fraser psychology
professor Barry Beyerstein, that the only thing it proves is that the
athlete didn't smoke a large amount of marijuana recently.
``It's a tiny, tiny amount,'' argues Mr. Beyerstein, one of Canada's
leading authorities on drug testing.
And the Canadian Olympic Association's key adviser on drugs in sport,
Dr. Andrew Pipe of Ottawa, says the appeal to restore Mr. Rebagliati's
gold medal was partly based on his ``plausible'' explanation for where
the marijuana traces came from.
But two other drug experts say the level of marijuana found in Mr.
Rebagliati's urine could not have gotten there from second-hand smoke.
A drug test less than one hour after Mr. Rebagliati's
gold-medal-winning performance showed 17.8 nanograms of marijuana
metabolites per millilitre of urine. The rules of the International
Ski Federation permit a level of 15 nanograms per millilitre.
Mr. Rebagliati says he hasn't smoked any marijuana since April 1997,
but he did say he spends a lot of time in the company of marijuana
smokers in Whistler, B.C. He says he was exposed to marijuana at a
going-away party on Jan. 31 before he left for Japan.
Dr. Siu Chan, director of the Calgary Regional Health Authority Centre
for Toxicology, said if that's his claim, ``then the answer (as to
whether this explains the test result) is definitively, `No.' ''
Mr. Chan, a PhD toxicologist who ran the Calgary drug-testing lab
during the 1988 Winter Olympics and is now a consultant for the
National Football League and the College of American Pathologists,
said Mr. Rebagliati must have smoked marijuana sometime before the
testing. But because the level is very low it would probably have been
a week or two before.
The active drug that can be detected in marijuana
(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) is absorbed in fatty tissue in
various organs.
Mr. Chan, who's lab tests about 1,200 samples a year for drugs, said
the scientific literature shows that the byproducts of second-hand
marijuana smoke do not show up in significant quantities in the urine.
Dr. Bill Campbell, a Calgary specialist in treating addictions,
agreed. He said he hears the second-hand smoke claim all the time. It
might get in the urine, but not at measurable levels, he says.
``These tests are highly standardized. When they get a positive it
means the person has used marijuana in the last three to four weeks,''
said Dr. Campbell, a member of the American Society of Addiction
Medicine.
Those views echo those of Dr. Benno Nigg, a member of the IOC medical
commission and head of the University of Calgary's Human Performance
Lab.
He said ``it's very unlikely'' the positive test for marijuana would
have come from second-hand smoke.
Mr. Chan said he doesn't think Mr. Rebagliati should lose the gold
medal, because the reading of 17.8 nanograms per millilitre is too
close to the permitted level of 15 nanograms. ``To give him the
benefit of the doubt I would disregard anything below 18,'' he said.
But Dr. Nigg disagreed: ``If you go into a race with one of those
drugs, it's like having an unfair advantage that other people don't
have. You are cheating,'' he said. ``You may go a different way into a
race -- more aggressively or more relaxed ... All drugs give an
advantage. In general those drugs change the way you approach
something. It's not a fair game anymore.''
But Mr. Regliati's defenders argue the small amount of marijuana
detected in his system would not have affected his performance -- in a
good or bad way.
``It's miniscule and the technology is there to pick it up now, but it
won't tell you how he took it into his system,'' says Mr. Beyerstein.
``It won't tell you when he took it, and it won't tell you whether he
was intoxicated by it. All it says it that at some undetermined time
in the past this person was exposed to this product, whether through
second-hand smoke or personal use.''
Mr. Rebagliati has been tested twice for drugs, in mid-September and
mid-December 1997, prior to coming to the Games. On both of those
occasions there were small traces of marijuana, but below the level
set out by the international ski federation.
Dr. Pipe says, ``I don't know if it's possible, but I'd say it's
plausible,'' that the traces of marijuana found in Mr. Rebagliati's
system could have come second-hand.
``When we looked at the scientific literature on people exposed to
high concentrations of marijuana smoke -- say, 16 people in a room --
we found it will produce marijuana metabolites in urine,'' says Dr.
Pipe. ``The question is, how long will those concentrations persist?''
Dr. Pipe says one of the difficulties in judging the Rebagliati case
is that most scientific research is based on testing of individuals
exposed to smoke from low-potency marijuana cigarettes -- in which pot
makes up about 2.5 per cent of the substance smoked.
Dr. Pipe says the typical joint in British Columbia, according to
experts who contacted him after news of the IOC decision, has up to 30
per cent marijuana.
``We're dealing with very, very potent marijuana,'' says Dr. Pipe,
adding that ``repeated exposure'' to such potent concentrations of the
drug hasn't been studied and that in these cases there's a strong
chance of heavy accumulation in the body.
``Nobody has done any studies on such high-potency marijuana,'' says
Dr. Pipe. ``That's an issue in the appeal developed by Canada.''
Mr. Beyerstein says marijuana metabolites can stay in the blood stream
up to six weeks, much longer than the traces of alcohol, heroin or
other drugs.
``Marijuana metabolites hang around a lot longer because they are
highly fat soluble and hang around in all kinds of nooks and crannies
in the body and are released over a period of weeks, and on certain
occasions and for certain people, months.''
The whole marijuana scandal is indicative of new testing practices
that detect the most minute amount of drugs, says Mr. Beyerstein.
``I've studied cases in the United States where bank tellers test
positive for cocaine use during company testing ... Now these are bank
tellers who are of impeccable character and are anti-drugs. The
reason? There is cocaine on the one hundred dollar bills coming out of
the underground economy. These people handling large numbers of those
bills absorb enough cocaine to test positive. It gets that crazy.''
***
`There was a lot of pot smoking going on': Marijuana use `part of life here'
By: Dianne Rinehart
WHISTLER, B.C. -- When Ross Rebagliati entered a popular Blackcomb bar
Jan. 13 for the wake of a good friend who died in an avalanche, the
air was thick with smoke.
``There was a lot of pot smoking going on,'' said Ptor Spricenieks, a
friend of Mr. Rebagliati's. ``He was exposed to pot the way people are
exposed to cigarette smoke. It's just a part of life here.''
Mr. Spricenieks said he doesn't know if Mr. Rebagliati smoked
marijuana in the weeks leading to the Olympics. But Mr. Spricenieks
does know Mr. Rebagliati couldn't avoid being exposed to it.
``Being that all his friends smoke, he's not going to run away.''
Mr. Spricenieks thinks pot smoking should be legal. But even among
those who abhor it, there was the belief that exposure to it is
unavoidable among the young in Whistler, a snowboarding haven.
Bob Allison, coach of the Blackcomb Snowboard Club, who sometimes
coached Rebagliati, opposes the use of marijuana and alcohol. But he
wonders whether even he would test positive for trace exposures.
``Recently I was on the Whistler gondola and some skiers got on and
lit a joint. I told them I didn't want to inhale their second-hand
smoke but they didn't put it out. It happens.''
Graham Turner, manager of Showcase Snowboards, a retail outlet that
sponsored Rebagliati and supplied him with his uniforms, agrees.
``I've seen (Rebagliati) in a cloud of smoke before. You just have to
go up the Whistler gondola.''
Rebagliati contends he was exposed to marijuana as recently as Jan. 31
-- the night before he left for Nagano. Turner and Allison don't doubt
that.
``If you go to any party with people that age there's a good chance
someone will be smoking pot,'' said Allison.
But don't expect anyone to come forward to back up Rebagliati's story.
``Everyone who was at the parties is lying low,'' said Turner. All of
them refused to be interviewed -- even anonymously he said. They're
worried about legal repercussions.
But they needn't be. An RCMP corporal said there are no plans to
investigate.
``Why would we expend resources to find out what we already know --
that he was at a party where people smoke dope . . . Chances are, no
one is going to come forward and say, ``Yes it was me that blew the
second hand smoke.'
``What can we do. Unfortunately dope is commonplace in our society.''
Allison said he believes Rebagliati -- as does Whistler mayor Hugh
O'Reilly -- that he had quit using marijuana and his positive test was
a result of exposure to second hand smoke.
But others weren't so sure.
Most snowboarders interviewed on Whistler's Blackcomb mountain Tuesday
believed he had probably used it recently, though they didn't believe
it should be an issue.
***
`There was a lot of pot smoking going on' : Different tests for different
sports
By: Lisa Burke
If Ross Rebagliati had won gold as an Olympic curler, there wouldn't
have been any question of him losing his medal.
Curling, bobsleigh, figure skating, luge and speed skating are Winter
Games sports whose athletes are not routinely tested for marijuana.
That's because the umbrella federations for those sports do not
require the tests, and the International Olympic Committee follows
their lead when it comes to drugs that fall into a discretionary
category.
Athletes competing in alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing,
freestyle skiing, nordic combined, ski jumping and snowboarding, all
events governed under the International Ski Federation, are tested for
marijuana as a matter of course.
If Canada's hockey players win a medal, they will not face testing for
marijuana use.
Here's how the system works:
Drugs in five categories are tested for all sports. These include
performance-enhancing substances such as steroids and amphetamines.
But other drugs, including marijuana, fall into a discretionary
category.
Sometimes athletes are tested for these drugs, sometimes they are not.
The penalties can range from disqualification to suspensions from
competition to a verbal reprimand.
Rebagliati, winner of the gold medal in the men's snowboarding event,
was disqualified after he tested positive for marijuana. Urine samples
taken after Rebagliati's winning performance indicated a level of
marijuana measured at 17.8 nanograms per millilitre, above the legal
limit of 15 nanograms.
The IOC does not consider marijuana a prohibited substance, but the
International Ski Federation, which governs snowboarding, lists a
threshold of concentration of 15 nanograms per millilitre.
All medal winners are immediately tested after their event, or as
quickly as they can supply a urine sample. Winners cannot leave the
competition area until they have been tested.
``The tests are taken as quickly as possible to avoid problems,'' said
Tom McIllfaterick, executive director of the Canadian Ski Association.
``They will wait as long as it takes for you to produce a (urine)
sample.''
In the case of team events, such as hockey, the International Ice
Hockey Federation follows a selection criteria that tests at least two
of the winning team members, but the International Olympic Committee
reserves the right to do random testing.
``Each federation follows its own guidelines,'' said Rob Koehler,
doping control co-ordinator for the Canadian Centre of Ethics in
Sports. ``Most follow the IOC's medical code.''
Canadian athletes are randomly tested by the Canadian centre 365 days
a year, Koehler said.
``Some can go through (testing) two to five times,'' Koehler admitted.
``The emphasis on testing is carried out throughout the year.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Whistler Wake Thick With Smoke ('Calgary Herald' Article,
Also In Previous Three-Part 'Ottawa Citizen' Item,
Portrays Olympic Snowboarder's Background In British Columbia -
Says He Was Exposed To Second-Hand Smoke January 13
During Wake For Friend At Shredder Bar)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Whistler wake `thick with smoke'
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:06:26 -0800
Lines: 78
Source: Calgary Herald
Contact: letters@theherald.southam.ca
Thu 12 Feb 1998 News A1 / FRONT
Whistler wake `thick with smoke'
By: Dianne Rinehart, Vancouver Sun
When Ross Rebagliati entered Merlins, a popular Blackcomb mountain ski
bar, on Jan. 13 to attend a wake for his good friend, avalanche victim
Lumpy Leidal, the air was thick with smoke.
But it wasn't from Camels.
``There was a lot of pot-smoking going on,'' Ptor Spricenieks, a
friend of Rebagliati's who was at the wake, said Wednesday.
``He was exposed to pot the way people are exposed to cigarette smoke.
It's just a part of life here,'' said Spricenieks.
Spricenieks said he doesn't know if Rebagliati smoked pot during the
weeks leading up to the Olympics. The Olympic gold meal winner
contends he hasn't smoked it since last April. But he does know
Rebagliati couldn't avoid being exposed to it, as he told Olympic
officials after traces of the drug showed up in tests.
``Being that all his friends smoke, he's not going to run away.''
Spricenieks thinks pot-smoking should be legal. But even among those
who abhor it, there was the belief that exposure to it is unavoidable
among the young.
Bob Allison, coach of the Blackcomb Snowboard Club, who sometimes
coached Rebagliati, opposes the consumption of marijuana and alcohol.
But he wonders whether even he would test positive for trace exposures
if he were an Olympic athlete.
``Recently I was on the Whistler gondola and some skiers got on and
lit a joint. I told them I didn't want to inhale their second-hand
smoke but they didn't put it out. It happens.''
Graham Turner, manager of Showcase Snowboards, a retail outlet that
sponsored Rebagliati and supplied him with his uniforms agrees. ``I've
seen (Rebagliati) in a cloud of smoke before. You just have to go up
the Whistler gondola. What do you think people do (on it)?''
Rebagliati contends he was exposed to marijuana as recently as Jan. 31
-- the night before he left for Nagano.
And Turner and Allison don't doubt that.
``If you go to any party with people that age there's a good chance
someone will be smoking pot,'' said Allison.
But don't expect anyone to come forward. They're worried about legal
repercussions. But they needen't be. A local RCMP corporal said there
are no plans to investigate.
``Why would we expend resources to find out what we already know --
that he was at a party where people smoke dope . . . Chances are, no
one is going to come forward and say: `Yes it was me that blew the
second-hand smoke.' ''
``What can we do. Unfortunately dope is commonplace.''
Allison said he absolutely believes Rebagliati -- as does Whistler
Mayor Hugh O'Reilly -- that he had quit using marijuana and his
positive test was a result of exposure to second-hand smoke.
Smoking pot is considered practically a way of life for many
snowboarders. But that's because they're predominantly young, experts
insist. Not because they're snowboarders.
``In that age group if you go anywhere, on campus or to a ski resort,
you're going to find it,'' said O'Reilly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana Rule Shameless - Rebagliati Deserves Gold Medal Honor
(Exasperated Op-Ed By 'Ottawa Sun' Reporter Against Cannabis Prohibition,
Reminiscent Of Speech In US Congress That Turned Tide Against McCarthyism)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Marijuana rule shameless
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 09:54:37 -0800
Lines: 102
Source: Ottawa Sun
Contact: oped@sunpub.com.
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
Marijuana rule shameless
Rebagliati deserves gold medal honor
By RON CORBETT Ottawa Sun
Let's see if I have this straight.
Ross Rebagliati snowboards down a mountain, a giant slalom no less, does
it in two minutes, 3.96 seconds, a time so superlative he is rewarded with
a gold medal at the Olympics, and after the race, trace elements of
marijuana are found in his blood. So, tell me again what's wrong with this
drug?
I'm trying to figure it out people. I'm not being cheeky. I'm truly trying
to figure it out.
Marijuana is saner than Scotch (go to a bar. Look at the research), has a
myriad of medicinal purposes, the possession of it is legal in many
countries, and yet, for 17.8 nanograms of marijuana in his blood (in case
you're wondering what a nanogram of marijuana is, it's what people used to
sell at the Chez Henri for $10) for this, Rebagliati has been stripped of
his gold medal.
He's gone from hero to goat in 24 hours.
Shameful. I think it's absolutely shameful.
Now, before I go any further I should tell you that some people have
cautioned me against writing this column. I have been told that rules are
rules, that Rebagliati was an idiot for even -- if you buy the second-hand
smoke argument -- for being in the same room as a lit joint.
Focus on the International Olympic Committee, I have been told. Focus on
the inane rules that it devises. Work in the Sudafed angle. Avoid marijuana.
And yet how can you separate it? Inane rules -- the IOC's, the FIC's,
those found in the Canadian Criminal Code -- are exactly why we have this
story today.
How plainly can I state it? Let's try this:
I am at a loss to come up with a single item that, in the course of
civilization, we have wasted more time, energy and money on than our
irrational fight against marijuana. Our "rules" have marginalized,
penalized and destroyed countless thousands of lives. For no defensible
reason.
We did it again this week to Ross Rebagliati.
Even if you disagree with me, I ask that you remember how you felt about
this young man just four short days ago. This is a 26-year-old man who won
a gold medal in his sport. The best in the world at his sport. How many
people reading this column can claim such a thing?
But did he inflate with ego after his accomplishment? Did he boast? Did
he become arrogant? No.
After winning his gold medal Rebagliati dedicated it to his best friend,
Geoff Leidal, who died in an avalanche while snowboarding in Kootenay
National Park 41 days ago. The gold medal that the IOC stripped him of,
and stripped Geoff Leidal of, for 17.8 nanograms of THC.
If there is such a thing as karma in this world then I fully believe every
person who voted for stripping Rebagliati of his medal is in serious
trouble today.
And family? Always one of my favorite subjects. How does family play out
in this story?
Rebagliati's father was standing on the slopes when his son won a gold
medal. His father stood at attention when our national anthem was played.
His father later told reporters: "This is the greatest day of my life."
We destroyed all that. Because of our stupid rules, because of our defence
and acceptance of stupid rules, we destroyed all that. A golden moment.
As this column is being written we still don't know whether Rebagliati's
gold medal will be reinstated by the IOC. Maybe by the time you read this
common sense will have prevailed and the original decision will have been
overturned.
But if it hasn't, I hope all of us in Canada have the grace and wisdom to
treat Rebagliati the way he deserves to be treated when he returns to this
country.
Not as a loser or a fallen hero or a criminal. There has been far too much
of that already.
Rebagliati has proven himself to be a superb athlete. In interviews after
his win he has shown himself to be a thoughtful and compassionate young man.
He is a gold medal winner. A young man this country can be proud of. It
will take more than an IOC subsection and 17.8 nanograms to make me feel
any differently.
Letters to the editor should be sent to oped@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Ross Robbed Of Reputation (Licia Corbella, Editor Of 'Calgary Sun,' Says,
'Under The Same Circumstances, You Can Bet The IOC Wouldn't Pull Such A Stunt
On An American Or A German' - And Quotes One Of World's Top
Urine-Testing Experts, Dr. Siu Chan, Director Of Calgary's Centre
For Toxicology And Head Of Drug Testing At Calgary's 1988 Winter Olympics,
Who Says, 'We Have Been Doing The Legal Analysis Of Marijuana In Urine
And My Policy Is If It's Under 18 Nanograms, We Won't Report It Because
There's A Statistical Chance That It's Actually Under 15' - So There You Go -
There Is A Chance That The Reading Of 17.8 Could Actually Be 14.9 Or Less -
That's The Science)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Ross robbed of reputation
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 09:49:24 -0800
Lines: 87
Source: Calgary Sun
Contact: callet@sunpub.com
Pubdate: February 12, 1998
Ross robbed of reputation
By LICIA CORBELLA -- Calgary Sun
Medal or no medal, Ross Rebagliati has been robbed by the International
Olympic Committee.
Had the IOC done the right and proper thing, Rebagliati would still be
Canada's unsullied golden boy.
Had the IOC done the right thing, the world never would have found out
there were trace elements of marijuana in Rebagliati's urine at all.
We would all be writing about sporting events instead of scandal. This
wouldn't be an issue and we all wouldn't be worried about this tempting our
country's youngsters into taking up dope smoking.
Rebagliati, he of the bright face and blond hair, would still be hailed a
hero instead of slammed by scandal.
Now, no matter what great feats Rebagliati performs in the future, he will
always be remembered as the pothead who managed to win an Olympic gold
medal, only to see the benefit of such a feat go up in smoke.
Gone are inevitable lucrative endorsements and parades. Indeed, when one
looks at the cold, hard facts, one has to wonder if members of the IOC have
been smoking the wacky tabacky themselves.
Clearly, their vision and judgment has been clouded. Perhaps their minds
were also made lazy by virtue of the fact they were dealing with a Canadian
athlete and not, say, an American athlete. After all, sporting officials
find it easy to push Canadians around and the reason for that is because we
let them. Under the same circumstances, you can bet the IOC wouldn't pull
such a stunt on an American or a German.
But that's another issue. Let's look at the facts. Skiers and
snowboarders are the only Olympic athletes being tested for marijuana use.
Ostensibly, for safety reasons.
The maximum allowable by skiing federation rules (and it's important to
note, not IOC rules) is 15 nanograms, or 15 parts per million in a
millilitre of urine.
Testers in Nagano found 17.8 nanograms in his urine. Simple, right? He
had too much. Nope.
According to one of the world's top experts in this area, Dr. Siu Chan,
the director of Calgary's Centre for Toxicology and head of drug testing at
Calgary's 1988 Winter Olympics, there's a built in imprecision in any lab
test.
"Statistically speaking, we cannot take a number from a lab at face
value," said Chan yesterday from his office at the U of C's Heritage
Medical Research Centre.
"We have been doing the legal analysis of marijuana in urine and my policy
is if it's under 18 nanograms, we won't report it because there's a
statistical chance that it's actually under 15." So there you go. There is
a chance that the reading of 17.8 could actually be 14.9 or less. That's
the science.
"With that reading, they should have given the athlete the benefit of the
doubt." Let's look at some other facts. Marijuana is not a
performance-enhancing drug. It's a performance-inhibiting drug.
Dope testing is performed on athletes to prevent cheating. Not to prevent
recreational drug use. But most damning of all is how close the votes were
initially. The Olympic medical commission voted 13-12 in favor of stripping
the 26-year-old giant slalom winner of his gold medal. That's 13 to 12. It
was too close to call. So they took it to the IOC's executive committee and
the vote there was 3-2 with two abstentions, including one from a Canadian.
Again, too close to call. So the drug amounts were too close to call. The
votes were too close to call. The fact that the marijuana rule is a skiing
rule and not an Olympic rule made it too close to call.
So what did they do?
They not only made a call, they decapitated a young man's dream on iffy
evidence and questionable motivation. So who are the real dopeheads?
Granted, Rebagliati was stupid. The IOC folk are thieves.
Licia Corbella, editor of the Calgary Sun, can be reached at
403-250-4129. Letters to the editor should be sent to callet@sunpub.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Re - Olympic Snowboarder Gets His Gold Back (Drug Policy Reform Activist
Adam J. Smith Recounts Interview With Australian Radio - Relevant Question
Is Whether Or Not Marijuana Enhances Athletes' Performance - Plus
Other Commentary From List Subscribers)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 10:45:40 EST
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Adam J. Smith"
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Re: Olympic Snowboarder gets his gold back
Hello all,
Yesterday I was interviewed by Australia's ABC radio network about the
snowboarder issue... Prior to going on, I spoke with Keith Stroup of NORML
as well as several other reformers for their input. The consensus seemed
to be that the relevant question was whether or not mj enhanced performance
(based upon anecdotal evidence from numerous tokin' athletes, as David
Hadorn alluded to, there seems to be an argument that it does, at least in
some cases.) I think that we ought to push the IOC to make a determination
on this one way of the other. If it IS, in fact, performance-enhancing, we
use that ammo to confront the "mj is evil and amotivational and slows you
down and makes you a loser" propaganda. If the IOC determines that it's
NOT performance-enhancing, we push the issue of why they would be testing
for it. Is it because it is "immoral" to smoke? Do we disqualify
athletes with criminal records? Those who beat their children? If not,
and mj has no effect on performance, than what difference does it make to
the IOC whether someone has smoked it in the month or so prior to the
Olympics?
As the kicker, I would think we would all take great pleasure in rubbing
the warriors faces in the fact that if they didn't test for it, millions
upon millions of kids around the world would have never found out that you
can smoke and still be the best in the world at something. What a lousy
message their witch-hunt has wrought!
PS I'm doing my editorial for The Week Online on just this topic...
- adam
***
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 12:40:38 -0400 (AST)
Sender: Chris Donald (ai256@chebucto.ns.ca)
From: Chris Donald
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Whistler hero keeps medal!
Guys,
I saw the Canadian Olympic committee press conference announcing
that Ross would keep his gold. The only penalty, so far, seems to be
his having to listen to a hypocritical speech from the Japanese police
about the dangers of drugs. HA. Key development seems to be the
statements by the Skiing federation that the only reason mj is on the list
for their sport is in case it is used to decrease fear in such events as
ski jumping: EDDIE THE EAGLE (uk) FROM THE CALGARY OLYMPICS WAS MENTIONED
BY NAME BY THE CANADIAN OFFICIAL;) According to the Ski people, any amount
of THC in someone's system for freestyle events is apparently not a
problem. HA HA HA. Still, an awful lot of silly misinformation surfaced
in the last few days (12X potency etc.), and this still is an opportune
time to drive home our points. So GO FOR IT: Canada's Olympic committee
deserves praise for backing Ross, and should be politely chastised (if
at all) about the 12X thing IMHO.
Chris
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Opinion (Excellent Staff Editorial In Alberta's 'Lethbridge Herald'
About Near-Loss Of Canadian Snowboarder's Gold Medal Observes,
'By Appearing To Take A Stand On A Social Issue, The IOC
Has Wandered Off The Sporting Track - If Social Issues Were Important To It
In The First Place, It Would Have Upheld Its Ban Against Professionals,
The Moscow Summer Olympics Never Would Have Been Held, And The Nations
Known To Be Experimenting With Performance Drugs
Would Have Been Kicked Out Years Ago')
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 09:00:26
To: Mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Kathy galbraith
Subject: OpEd Lethbridge Herald:IOC meddling in wrong situation
Feb.12, 1998.
The Lethbridge Herald
Our Opinion
Contact: lherald@lis.ab.ca
When the week began, Ross Rebagliati was far from a
household name in Canada. In the space of four days, he's
achieved notoriety on two fronts: for getting us high on
snowboarding and for just getting high.
And the trace of marijuana found in the young British
Columbian athlete by a Japanese laboratory has introduced us to
a new measurement in a drug lexicon which once gave us "nickel
bags".: nanograms.
It took just 17 nanograms, a spectacularly small amount
of the drug, to leave a scar on the Olympics, on Canada, on
Rebagliati, on snowboarding.
The debate which now swirls is unsettling and unsettled.
Rebagliati has admitted he does smoke marijuana, although not for
many months. It's a drug many Canadians have inhaled.
Yes, it's an illegal drug. Had Rebagliati been caught
smoking during the Games, the resulting furor surrounding his
punishment would be far more subdued. He might even be in jail
in a country which frowns on its use and has a zero tolerance for
alcohol and driving.
Still, if there was ever a poster boy for a sport struggling
to gain international acceptance, the clean-cut, chiseled young man
from Whistler would be it.
And the fact marijuana is not a banned substance by the
sport's governing body shows even it can't be decisive about a
drug which has gone from the high moral tone of Reefer Madness to
the zonked craziness of Up In Smoke.
And the Olympics continues to drag its hypocrisy around,
this time up a Japanese mountain. For years, it turned a blind eye
to obvious steroid use by athletes from, among other nations, East
Germany. Asking for medals back from that particularly duplicitous
nation would create a crash on the world's gold markets.
Adding to the double standard is the IOC rule which allows
the various sport governing bodies to set their own regulations.
Skiers- and the snowboarders who labor under their policies - run
the risk of being caught with trace amounts of dope in their blood;
athletes in other sports may not.
And does the punishment fit the crime? Ben Johnson lost a
gold medal for using steroids, known to enhance performance and
cause grotesque after-effects. Anyone who thinks marijuana enhances
anything other than Iron Butterfly should stand stoned at the top of
a ski hill on a chunk of laminated wood.
Whether you believe Rebagliati's claims he merely attended
a party at which dope was present doesn't alter the overall fact
the lad is being pilloried for a relatively harmless act. Yes,
we place the Olympians above the general pack and expect them to
act like the sport gods we make of them. And yes, even a trace of
an illegal drug tends to tarnish what was otherwise a Canuck-style
devil-may-care second run to grab the gold.
Even if the medal is returned, Rebagliati's future is tainted.
The sanctions taken by the IOC against him will mean far more than
a disc of metal and an Olympic legacy.
By appearing to take a stand on a social issue, the IOC has
wandered off the sporting track. And if social issues were important
to it in the first place, it would have upheld its ban against
professionals, the Moscow Summer Olympics never would have been
held, the nations known to be experimenting with performance drugs
would have been kicked out years ago.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Snowboarders On The Loose - Olympics Asked For It (In Aftermath
Of Gold Medal Being Stripped Due To Supposedly Positive Urine Test
For Cannabis, 'San Francisco Chronicle' Sports Columnist
Pokes Fun At Stereotypes Of Snowboarders, But Notes,
'Television Loves The Board-Guys - They Fit The Demographic Perfectly -
Let's Be Honest, Do You Think The Olympics Are Adding Sports
To Give Committed Young Athletes A Chance To Compete Against The Best
In The World? Or Is It To Get Killer Ratings On TV? Exactly)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 15:00:46 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)
Subject: MN: US CA: OPED : Snowboarders On The Loose -- Olympics Asked For It
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: "Frank S. World"
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Thu, 12 Feb 1998
Author: C.W. Nevius
SNOWBOARDERS ON THE LOOSE -- OLYMPICS ASKED FOR IT
OLYMPIC OFFICIALS were shocked, shocked to learn yesterday that another of
those happy-go-lucky snowboarders has gotten himself into trouble.
First it was Ross Rebagliati, from Canada, who won the men's giant slalom
but then tested positive for marijuana and has been asked to return the
medal -- if he can just remember where he put the darn thing.
Now it is Austrian Martin Freinademetz, another giant slalom competitor,
who has been kicked out of his hotel for holding, like, a major party, and,
like, trashing the place.
This was apparently a complete shock to everyone. Freinademetz had never
given any indication that he might be some kind of party animal. Except, I
guess, for the fact that his bio says his nickname is ``The Terminator''
and that he describes himself as ``an aggressive person, both mentally and
physically.'' Certainly this is no laughing matter. Out-and-out snickering
is more like it. Olympic officials invite Bill and Ted to the Olympics for
an excellent adventure and are stunned to hear that they are not attending
the Olympic Village-sponsored floral-arranging classes. This is more than a
case of a couple of kids going off the wall --so to speak. The minute the
shredders were added to the Olympic roster they've been treated -- let's go
ahead and say it, encouraged -- to be the wackiest jocks in the village.
The official precompetition press conference by the American athletes was a
complete yuk-fest. Everyone, from the media to Olympic officials, were
fawning over those zany board guys.
At one point, Ross Powers, an 18-year-old American boarder, lost his train
of thought while attempting to say the word ``rivalry.'' He made two
attempts at it, then pushed the microphone away with the snappy one liner,
``Oh, f--.''
Remember, this is not only in front of international media, but being
broadcast live on the Olympic television network to every venue in the
complex, not to mention sending feeds to international television networks.
The reaction? The place broke up. It was minutes before people stopped
wiping their eyes and screeching with laughter. One USOC official called it
the most entertaining press conference he'd ever been to.
So what's the message there? That the more outrageous you are, the better
we like. In the dull days before actual competition started, the boarders,
with their Gen-X jargon, were the life of the party.
The more they said, the better we liked it. The wilder the better. Asked
what he thought of the Opening Ceremony, one boarder said, ``It was sick
(meaning great) man. Those people were applauding and it sounded like
macaroni crackling in a pan.''
Thank you, Edward R. Murrow.
There will probably be much hue and cry about the way the snowboarders have
trashed the Olympic ideal after this. Hopefully, no one gets caught
lighting up a reefer on the Olympic flame.
But c'mon. Olympic officials knew what they wanted when they invited these
guys in, and they got it -- good and proper.
Worse, once snowboarding was put on the fast track and jammed into the
Olympic schedule, we squealed at them like rock stars and hung on their
every insipid phrase.
The Olympics didn't create the snowboard problem, the Olympics just stood
aside and cheered while it was growing.
And now that the hotel furniture has hit the fan, well it is a little late
to do a ``fakey'' and say that you want to see a little more decorum from
these stoner dudes.
``I am not going to kid you,'' said American Todd Richards before the Games
began. ``A lot of these guys are party animals. And the Europeans are
worse.''
By the way, it is not going to hurt any of the boarders' feelings if
Olympic officials wag a finger in their faces. A lot of them think
competitions are very uncool anyhow. The greatest boarder in the world,
Tjehe Haakonen of Norway, couldn't even be convinced to show up for the
Olympics. He didn't like the way they were treating him, he said.
Over at someplace like curling, they can't believe the attitude. Curling --
for good reason -- couldn't make it into the Olympics for years. They
begged and pleaded and served as a ``demonstration'' sport five times. It
has taken them 30 years to get into the Games.
It didn't take snowboarding 30 minutes. And for good reason. Television
loves the board-guys. They fit the demographic perfectly. Let's be honest,
do you think the Olympics are adding sports to give committed young
athletes a chance to compete against the best in the world? Or is it to get
killer ratings on TV? Exactly.
What is going to happen? Nothing. The Olympic Committee created this
monster and now all it can hope is that none of the boarders are staying at
their hotels.
Let the Games continue. And hey, how about that hashpipe -- I mean halfpipe
-- competition?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Riders Line Up To Support Rebagliati ('The Oregonian'
Says 'Blow To Snowboarding Came At A Time
When The Sport Was Gaining New Legitimacy')
The Oregonian
oregonlive.com
February 12, 1998
letters@news.oregonian.com
Riders line up to support Rebagliati
The Canadian snowboarder who tested positive for
marijuana after his victory is still the gold-medal
winner to his fellow competitors
by Abby Haight
of The Oregonian staff
YAMANOUCHI, Japan -- Snowboarders lashed back
at the Olympic establishment Wednesday after their
sport's first Olympic hero was stripped of his gold
medal for testing positive for trace amounts of
marijuana.
"He still won the gold medal to me," U.S. rider
Cara-Beth Burnside said of Canadian Ross Rebagliati,
who lost his gold three days after winning the giant
slalom. "He wasn't doing anything that was affecting
his performance. I mean, come on. They're kicking
people out for cough medicine."
Also late Tuesday, U.S. bobsledder Michael Dionne
lost his appeal to a doping suspension and was
removed from the Olympic team. He tested positive
for ephedrine, a stimulant found in over-the-counter
cough medicines.
The blow to snowboarding came at a time when the
sport was gaining new legitimacy -- from its debut in
the Winter Olympics to new sponsors and growing
popularity on the slopes and among fans.
The slope below the Kanbayashi Snowboard Park's
halfpipe was jammed by fans who ignored a steady
rain to cheer the high altitude stunts of their favorites.
Rebagliati had gloried in fans' cheering when he won
the giant slalom. A veteran rider, the native of
Whistler, British Columbia, dedicated his medal to a
friend killed in an avalanche.
"Kids will start growing up with Olympic dreams now,"
Rebagliati said after his victory.
In a statement read by a teammate, Rebagliati
maintained his innocence: "I've been training for 11
years to be the best snowboarder in the world. I've
worked too hard to let this slip through my fingers."
Canadian officials said Rebagliati assured them he
hadn't smoked marijuana since April, but had been
around people smoking the drug -- including at a
going-away party before he arrived at the Olympics.
The Canadian Olympic Association is fighting to
decrease the penalty to a severe reprimand, saying the
drug is handled inconsistently from sport to sport.
Some governing organizations, such as the
International Ski Federation, which governs
snowboarding, test for marijuana while many others do
not.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to rule
on the appeal later today.
Rebagliati was cited by the narrowest of votes. The
International Olympic Committee governing board
voted 3-2 to take action against him; the IOC medical
commission voted 13-12 in favor of punishment.
The IOC could have censored Rebagliati while allowing
him to keep his medal.
"It was an unusually close decision," said Francois
Carrard, the IOC general director.
The fact that it was International Ski Federation rules
used against Rebagliati also opened old wounds. Most
of the riders supported the International Snowboard
Federation. But when the IOC added snowboarding to
the Olympics, it put it under the ski federation.
For Canadian officials, the disclosure carried a sharp
sting. Toronto sprinter Ben Johnson lost his gold medal
and world record after testing positive for anabolic
steroids in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.
Only four positive drug tests have been recorded at the
Winter Olympics -- two in Innsbruck in 1976, one in
Sarajevo in 1984 and one in Calgary in 1988. No gold
medalist has been disqualified for drugs since Johnson.
Riders in Wednesday's halfpipe competition sided with
Rebagliati, saying he was a victim of second-hand
smoke.
Many of the women riders talked about boycotting the
competition but decided they would make a stronger
statement by showing their sport to the world.
"I thought it wasn't fair," Canadian Tara Teigen said.
"Come on, do you think we want to ruin our chances?
Do you think we would come here on purpose to test
positive?"
Another teammate, Michael Michalchuck, finished his
pipe ride then lifted a small banner that read: "Ross is
the champion. Give the gold medal back."
"He wasn't smoking marijuana," Michalchuck said.
"He was in an atmosphere where it was present. That's
how it was ingested into his system. He didn't choose
to smoke it. He didn't smoke it."
Some riders bristled at the hard line taken by the IOC.
"It's not the riders who wanted to be here,"
Switzerland's Anita Schwaller said. "They wanted us to
be here."
Riders acknowledged that drug use occurs in their sport
-- but that it is not as ever-present as critics might
charge.
"I wouldn't say that every other snowboarder is out
there puffing a joint," said Michael Wood, the
Canadian team's leader. "I don't think it's more
prevalent in snowboarding than it is in any other sport."
Rob Roy, a coach for the U.S. team, told reporters the
sport was striving for legitimacy and could be hurt by
what happened.
"I think the public sort of looks at this and thinks, 'Ah
-- snowboarders are all wild and crazy,' " he said.
"That's not good."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pregnant Women Are Warned Not To Panic Over Tap Water Scare ('Vancouver Sun'
Reports New Study In Journal 'Epidemiology,' Based On Research
In California, Shows Pregnant Women In First Trimester Who Drink
Plenty Of Chlorinated Tap Water May Be At Higher Risk Of Miscarriage)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Pregnant women are warned not to panic over tap water scare
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:20:12 -0800
Lines: 86
Source: Vancouver Sun
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Thu 12 Feb 1998 News B1 / Front
Pregnant women are warned not to panic over tap water scare: Health experts
are playing down fears prompted by a study linking ingestion of chlorinated
tap water to an increase in miscarriages.
By: Pamela Fayerman, Sun Health Issues Reporter
Health and water experts are advising against panic on the heels of a
new study that shows pregnant women in their first trimester who drink
plenty of chlorinated tap water may be at higher risk of miscarriage.
The study, to be published next week in the journal Epidemiology, is
based on data and research in California. But local authorities
acknowledge the link between chlorinated water and miscarriages could
theoretically apply here.
That's especially so because, this week, the Greater Vancouver
regional district started up two new re-chlorination plants serving
residents of Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Delta,
Coquitlam and Port Moody to add protection against contaminants.
``I'm not going to go out and tell pregnant women they should boil or
filter their drinking water until we see from our constant monitoring
whether there is a reason to give such advice,'' said Dr. John
Blatherwick, medical health officer for the Vancouver/Richmond health
board.
The heightened risk to pregnant women is linked to exposure to a
contaminant found in chlorinated water. The chemical -- trihalomethane
(TTHM) -- forms when chlorine reacts with acids from organic plant
material. Secondary ozonation and filtration systems can reduce the
levels of TTHM in chlorinated water, but in a cost-cutting move
recently, the GVRD acted against the advice of public health officials
and delayed installation of such systems. They won't be in place now
for two to eight years.
Chlorine helps purify water and prevents contamination from parasites
that cause bacterial infections. In addition to the findings in the
current study, other research has linked TTHM with neural tube defects
such as spina bifida and with increased cancer risk.
Health Canada posts guidelines, not regulations, on the maximum level
of TTHM in tap water -- 100 micrograms per litre.
The study, led by California health department investigators, examined
the records of 5,144 pregnant women. It found women who drank five or
more glasses of tap water per day with at least 75 micrograms per
litre of TTHMs had an increased risk of miscarriage.
Their risk was calculated at 15.7 per cent, compared with 9.5 per cent
among women who drank far less. All the women drank water that met
state and federal drinking standards.
``You do run a risk if drinking unboiled water,'' said David Freeman,
general manager of the Los Angeles department of water and power, the
U.S.' largest municipal utility.
``Nobody knows how high,'' he said. ``The most practical thing that
we've come up with is to tell women in that category to boil some
water and put it in the refrigerator.''
Like Health Canada, the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S.
allows up to 100 micrograms of TTHMs per litre. But the agency plans
to reduce that standard to 80 micrograms in November.
Bob Jones, GVRD administrator of water quality control, said the
average levels of TTHM around the Lower Mainland are often well below
those that triggered concern in the study.
But he said the rechlorination changes will likely result in higher
levels of TTHM. How much higher is not yet known.
Jones said water treatment involves a balancing act between the need
to protect against microbes that cause intestinal illnesses and the
need to keep the dangers from disinfection to a minimum. Jones said
water industry experts will be reviewing the new study and he expects
Health Canada will also follow the U.S. lead by lowering the allowable
level of TTHM.
Blatherwick said people who are concerned can carbon-filter tap water
or boil drinking water for a minute before leaving it to cool.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Police Finish Off Arthrology (Canadian Hempster Says Police In Vancouver,
British Columbia, Have Shut Down Cannabis Speakeasy Once And For All,
This Time Busting Proprietor Wayne 'Bubba' Lubkey - Who Says Arthrology
Will Reopen Elsewhere)
From: muggles@hempbc.com (Cannabis Canada)
To: cclist@hempbc.com
Subject: CC: Police Finish Off Arthrology
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 14:32:56 -0800
Lines: 31
Sender: cclist@netnation.com
Reply-To: creator@hempbc.com
Organization: Cannabis Canada http://www.hempbc.com/
Police Finish off Arthrology
By Dan Loehndorf
Only ten days after busting Arthrology, a marijuana buyers' club, the
Vancouver police returned to Arthrology to finish it off. This time
Wayne "Bubba" Lubkey, who operates the club, piled couches in front of
the doors while police smashed them in with a battering ram.
Although the police hadn't identified themselves before smashing in the
doors, they still took Bubba's actions as enough provocation to throw
him on the ground and kick him repeatedly in the ribs. While one officer
assaulted Bubba, the others tore the club to pieces. Police broke in the
windows, destroyed both doors and smashed anything they had missed in
the last raid, when they left a framed copy of the Charter of Rights
crushed on the floor.
Once again police took the opportunity to hold honest citizens at
gunpoint for the contents of their wallets. They took a thousand dollars
from Bubba and eighty from someone else. Unlike last time, however, this
time they actually charged Bubba with a crime. Bubba will appear at the
Main St Provincial Court for his first appearance on February 17.
Now boards cover the broken doorways and windows of the club. Like dogs
marking their territory with urine, the police have left behind a sign
to the club's customers which reads, "drughouse closed". Sympathizers of
Arthrology have also left behind their own sign, "VPD Sucks!"
Bubba is still determined to provide Arthrology to the public. "We will
be reopening in a new location to be announced later," he affirms.
***
CClist, the electronic news and information service of CANNABIS CANADA,
"Canada's National Magazine of Marijuana & Hemp"
***
Subscribe to Cannabis Canada! Call 1-800-330-HEMP for info.
Write to: Suite 504, 21 Water St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1A1
Visit Cannabis Canada online at http://www.hempbc.com/
***
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp BC Update (Despite What You May Have Heard About Events In Vancouver,
British Columbia, Hemp BC, Cannabis Canada, Cannabis Cafe And HempBC Web Site
Are Still Very Much In Business - But There Have Been Some Big Changes)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: hemp bc update for mattalk (fwd)
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 17:38:44 -0800
-------- Forwarded message --------
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 17:22:02 -0800
From: Dana Larsen
To: creator@islandnet.com
Subject: hemp bc update for mattalk
Despite what you may have heard, Hemp BC, Cannabis Canada and the
Cannabis Cafe are still very much in business. But there have been some
very big changes.
Background
Hemp BC, the Hemp BC Grow Shop and the Cannabis Cafe were all raided by
police on December 16. About a quarter million dollars in merchandise
was seized by police, although in typical fashion no charges were laid.
This raid was financially devastating. For 2 months afterwards all
employees (including those at Cannabis Canada) took 25% pay cuts to help
us all survive.
The Hemp BC business license was up for renewal soon after that, and
City Hall refused to renew it. They have also consistently denied the
Cannabis Cafe a business license since it opened.
The city claimed that Hemp BC was in violation of city bylaws which
stipulate that there should be no paraphernalia in store windows. When
asked why the city had issued business licenses to Marc Emery in the
past, Vancouver community services director Ted Droettboom responded, "I
don't know..."
Without a business license, Hemp BC was very vulnerable to further
police action. Another raid at this time would be extremely damaging and
would have resulted in layoffs and possible shut-down of the entire
business.
Restructuring
To avoid further raids and destruction of the Hemp BC "family", Marc
Emery decided to remove himself from ownership of Hemp BC, the Cannabis
Cafe, and the Hemp BC Legal Assistance Centre.
Marc has sold Hemp BC to manager Sister Ice. He has sold the Cannabis
Cafe to managers Jana Razga and Adam. He has sold the Legal Assistance
Centre to lawyer Andrea Turton, who was already running it.
The Little Grow Store has been shut down. Marc retains ownership of
Cannabis Canada Magazine, and will continue to sell marijuana seeds
through mail-order only.
These changes will not be noticable to the average customer who enters
the Cannabis Cafe or Hemp BC. Both businesses will be "toning down" some
of their more strident aspects, now that Marc does not own them, but
they will continue to sell everything they used to, and will still
support the "cannabis movement" through retail activism.
The intent is to allow these businesses to obtain their business
licenses and continue on without fear of being raided. Since the
controversial seed sales will no longer be taking place on the premises,
and the new managers are not on record as encouraging "law-breaking",
they should be safer from any threat of police action.
Website news
Our webpage at www.hempbc.com has been out of service for a day or so.
This is completely unrelated to the business changes and is because we
have a new server and the changeover has produced some chaos. If you
can't find our webpage at www.hempbc.com, try just hempbc.com.
However, the website will be changing quite a bit over the coming weeks
as we separate the Hemp BC from the Cannabis Canada.
The www.hempbc.com website will continue, but Cannabis Canada Magazine
will be moving to www.cannabiscanada.com sometime in the next while.
Further changes, news and updates will be available at either webpage
address.
Commitment
Our commitment to marijuana freedom has not changed one whit. This
restructuring is simply a way for the various aspects of the Hemp BC
business to survive police and municipal harassment.
Hemp BC, Cannabis Canada, the Cannabis Cafe, and the Hemp BC Legal
Assistance Centre will all continue to play their roles in serving the
cannabis community and promoting cannabis culture.
We're not going anywhere, and we will continue our efforts to bring
freedom and tolerance to Canada, and around the world.
Long Live Marijuana!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
West Vancouver, British Columbia Students To Be Asked About Sex, Drugs
('Vancouver Sun' Says School Trustees Allow Survey
On Adolescent Health With Questions About Sex, Alcohol, Other Drugs)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: West Van students to be asked about sex, drugs
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:21:03 -0800
Lines: 47
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Vancouver Sun
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Pubdate: Thu 12 Feb 1998
Section: News B1 / Front
Author: Janet Steffenhagen
West Van students to be asked about sex, drugs : School board votes to
include local schools in a province-wide survey of adolescent health.
West Vancouver students will have a chance to participate in a survey
of adolescent health that has stirred controversy because it includes
questions about sex, drugs and alcohol.
With little debate, school trustees voted this week to include West
Vancouver schools in a province-wide survey by the non-profit McCreary
Centre Society of Burnaby.
Last month, North Vancouver trustees said their schools wouldn't
participate, partly because of concerns that the questions might give
students ideas.
But Lara Percy, a member of the West Vancouver student advisory
committee, noted the survey looks at overall mental and physical
health and she said students want to participate.
Saying teenagers are already bombarded with messages about sex, drugs
and alcohol, Percy added: ``That survey couldn't possibly place any
new ideas into our minds.''
Trustee Erica Bell-Lowther said gathering data about attitudes and
behaviors will help the district assess needs.
But Kathleen Glynn-Morris, chairwoman of the parents' advisory
council, told trustees to expect a flood of messages on their
voicemail because parents are divided on the issue.
Aileen Murphy, McCreary's project coordinator, said 23 of 59 school
districts support the survey and 26 are still considering it. In 1992,
when a similar survey was conducted, 48 of 75 districts participated.
The survey asks a broad range of questions, such as: How close do you
feel to your mother/father? What do you think of your body? How often
do you vomit on purpose after eating? Have you attempted suicide? Have
you carried a weapon? How many times have you gambled?
Students can elect not to participate in the survey.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Boxer Punches Home Anti-Drug Message ('The Guardian' Portrays
60-Year-Old Canadian Boxing Legend George Chuvalo - After Illegal Heroin
Claimed Lives Of Three Sons, In Past Six Months
He's Talked To 200,000 Schoolchildren)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Boxer punches home anti-drug message
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:08:12 -0800
Lines: 97
The Guardian (Charlottetown)
Thu 12 Feb 1998 A A1 / Front
Boxer punches home anti-drug message: Chuvalo tells students the horror of
losing his sons to drugs
By: Jim Day
For years, George Chuvalo delivered frightening blows to his
opponents, 68 of whom remained cemented to the canvas until the savage
puncher was awarded the match.
Now the 60-year-old Canadian boxing legend, who was never once knocked
off his feet in a fight, is set to spend a long time firing graphic
shots at students.
``I think I can do this the rest of my life,'' Chuvalo said of his
personal anti-drug speaking circuit.
The soft-spoken, brutally frank and shockingly descriptive Chuvalo has
already talked to some 200,000 youths over the past six months, trying
to set them straight on drugs, like heroin, which claimed the lives of
three sons, leaving him with a son and a daughter.
The accumulative weight of the first two deaths led Chuvalo's wife,
Lynne, to kill herself in 1993, just two days after drugs delivered a
knockout blow to the couple's boy George Lee.
The former heavyweight fighter started his tour of Canadian schools
just one month after the loss of his third son, Steven, on Aug. 17,
1996 - a death he recounts for students in haunting detail, including
the unsettling image of the addict's sister finding the dead body
heaped in a chair with a syringe plunged into the left bicep.
``Young people don't know enough about the horrors of drugs. That's
why I'm here, to talk about that,'' Chuvalo told the Guardian
following his moving presentation to hundreds of students gathered
Wednesday in the gymnasium of Stonepark junior high school in
Charlottetown.
The massive man with fingers fatter than German sausages pulls no
punches on stage. Rocking nervously from side to side in a chair, he
almost seems preoccupied with pounding out every ounce of all the
brutal, festering ugliness that he saw drug abuse deliver at the feet
of his five children.
``I talk about my sons defecating in their drawers, crapping in their
pants at the very sight of heroin,'' he said.
``And I ask young people: can you imagine anything so horrible that it
would make you crap your pants at the very sight of something? Can you
imagine something that has such control over you?''
Chuvalo wants students leaving gymnasiums across the country with
powerful images pounding in their heads.
``I hope to raise their awareness about just how God-awful drugs can
be . . . I hope that I can make young people think. I hope that I can
raise their antennas and get their radar working when it comes to
drugs: to have them realize just how deadly serious the business of
taking drugs can be.''
Chuvalo, who repeatedly referred to his own lost children and the
students before him as `beautiful', preached love and respect from his
modest podium in the large gymnasium.
``Love makes you feel strong. Love makes you feel appreciated. Love
makes you feel important. We have to care about each other. We have to
care about ourselves. We have to care about our futures.''
Chuvalo says his own future will continue to see him talking from the
heart to Canada's youth in hopes of preventing tragedies like those
that struck Jesse, George Lee and Steven.
``It's always tough for me to speak to young people about this,'' he
said. ``I always . . . keep my wounds open. But by the same token,
it's also very gratifying for me to know that even though my loved
ones are gone, that somehow they still have a voice through me.''
Mitchell Chuvalo, a teacher in Toronto, says each presentation is a
draining affair for his father.
``After he walks out of there, he's numb for a substantial while,'' he
said. ``I worry about him but I know he gathers a lot of strength from
it.''
Chuvalo leaves the gymnasium while a documentary of his tragedy is
played on video for the students. He can't bear to watch the
interviews with Steven, who appears in the sombre piece done by the
fifth estate.
``I hear my son's voice and the pain is still so, so raw,'' he said,
looking out at the sea of students who he hopes will never experience
the unforgiving sting of drugs he has witnessed far too many times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Antiprohibitionist Action Report, Year 4, Number 3 (Summary For Activists
Of International Drug Policy Reform News, From CORA In Italy)
From: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
Comments: Authenticated sender is (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
To: "CORA LIST EN" (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 13:59:03 +0000
Subject: CORAFAX 3
Priority: normal
Sender: owner-hemp@efn.org
ANTIPROHIBITIONISTS OF THE ENTIRE WORLD...#3
Antiprohibitionist action report
February 12, 1998 - (Year 4) #3
***
CO.R.A.
Radical | Association federated with
Antiprohibitionist | the Transnational
Coordination | Radical Party
***
OLD - Observatory of laws on drugs
***
PAA - PARLAMENTARIANS FOR
ANTIPROHIBITIONIST ACTION
European campaign for the revision
of international conventions
***
CORA-ITALY
Via di Torre Argentina 76
00186 ROME
Tel:+39-6-68.97.91
Fax:+39-6-68.80.53.96
E-mail: cora.italia@agora.stm.it
***
CORA-BELGIUM
Rue Belliard 97
c/o European Parliament
Rem 5.08
1040 BRUSSELS
Tel:+32-2-230.41.21 - 646.26.31
Fax:+32-2-230.36.70
E-mail: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
***
CORAnet http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet (in Italian)
***
Director: Vincenzo Donvito
All rights reserved
***
NEWS FROM CORA
ITALY - NEW TRIAL FOR MARCO PANNELLA
FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF HASHISH DURING A TV PROGRAM
On Feb. 3, there has been the first hearing of the
Pannella trial for handing 250 grams of hashish to the TV host, Alda
D'Eusanio during a program broadcast by RAI, on December 1996. The
Court of Rome (the same that in other cases always wanted to condemn
Mr. Pannella) initially proposed the dismissal of the case; now the
Judge for the preliminary investigations - also thanks to the
opposition of Mr. Pannella - has ordered to proceed with a coactive
indictment also for other besides the simple distribution, like the
instigation to consumption and to delinquency. Mr. Pannella risks from
6 months to 6 years imprisonment.
***
ITALY - CORA ON THE MINISTER OF SOCIAL SOLIDARITY: DECRIMINALIZING,
DECARCERIZING, AND REDUCING HARMS ARE OK, BUT WHAT ABOUT TRAFFICKING?
Bologna - At the 3rd European Conference on Drug Addiction, the
Minister of Social Solidarity, Livia Turco has expressed her negative
position on administrative sanctions for drugs consumers. CORA has
always favored this approach and is for the total abolition of those
sanctions. On the controlled distribution of heroin, the Minister has
declared that the Government will not take positions, but that is
necessary to study and experiment. CORA asks the Government if it is
ready to authorize pilot-projects in some Italian towns following the
Swiss example. CORA fears that the argument of studying and
experimenting may be and excuse for delaying the whole process without
making any decision. All possible measures intended for reducing the
rigors of prohibitionist laws are positive and urgent, but alone and
in themselves they do not face the real problem: the total and general
failure of prohibition. Decriminalizing, decarcerizing and reducing
harms are all good choices, but what is equally urgent is to take the
market of illegal drugs from the hands of organized crime. A market
that equals 8% of the worldly trade and that gives to narco-mafias a
power worth $400B a year.
***
ITALY - DRUG-ADDICTS SERVICES OUTLAW!
CORA FILES COMPLAINTS IN OVER 20 CITIES
On February 6, CORA has formally filed complaints against
the Minister for Health in over 20 cities for the non implementation
of a significant part of the law on drugs. Art. 118 of the Law on
Narcotics (DPR 309/90) and Art. 4 and 5 of the relative implementing
law (DM 444/90). According to the law, starting from May 1991, at the
latest, every local sanitary unit (USL) should have established a
service for drug addicts (SERT), "open 24 hours a day seven days a
week in areas in which there is a significant population of addicts"
and "for at least 12 hour on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends" for the
rest of the country. FOR SEVEN YEARS THE LAW HAS NOT BEEN IMPLEMENTED.
The whole story is even more scandalous, if we consider the enormous
amount of words that have been spent on the necessity and urgency to
"face the drug tragedy"; not to mention the two Naples Conferences,
all the promises and the ultimatum of the champions of "anti-drugs"
(good only to collect votes against the 'cynic antiprohibitionists',
but not to enforce the laws that they consider the best solution to
the problem). CORA calls upon magistrates to verify if there are
possible aspects of this negligence that could lead to an aggravated
and continued violation of fundamental and constitutional rights: the
equality of citizens before the law and the right to health. In
particular CORA asks to verify the violation of Art. 328 of the
Criminal Code 'the refusal of official acts'. Moreover, CORA will
present a parliamentary interrogation to know the Government's
position on the enforcement of the law; to this end CORA has sent a
letter to Premier Prodi and held a demonstration in front of the seat
of the Government in Rome.
ITALY - OUT OF THE GHETTO!
From the page of the newspaper l'Opinione, CORA has launched an appeal
to citizens drug addicts and to their families asking them to come out
of the ghetto of fear and shame, in which they have been relegated by
prohibition. CORA asks them to be active filing complaints against the
non application of the law and in requesting that the public service
works according to addicts requests and not vice-versa. CORA also
believes that it is in the interest of addicts that the Government
should allow the experimentation of medical heroin, rather than
forcing them to continue living on sidewalk stuff.
NEWS FROM THE WORLD
FRANCE
In 1997, there has been a 2% drop in crime, while according to recent
police statistics, juvenile and drug-related crimes are up 9.22%. (LE
FIGARO 28/1, NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 29/1)
SWITZERLAND
The legalizing proposal, "DroLeg", has not had much fortune at the
Parliament. From many parts people have asked the proponents to
withdraw the request in order not to block the debate at the very
beginning. The proponents have declared that they are ready to
dialogue with anybody, but that at the same time they want to know the
opinion of the government coalition before deciding an eventual change
in their plans. (NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 29/1)
GERMANY
From February the selling of cannabis seeds will be restricted. The
"10th Directive on Narcotic Substances" also sets the prohibition of
cultivation in order to discourage hashish and marijuana consumption,
which are considered unhealthy. (FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG 31/1)
PANAMA
The negotiations between the Government and the U.S. to establish a
multilateral center for the fight against drug-trafficking have not
reached a final agreement. The project, which should allow U.S. troops
to remain in the channel after the 1999 hand-over, has to overcome
many obstacles and is not collecting an enthusiastic support. (NEUE
ZUERCHER ZEITUNG, 02/02)
GERMANY
The new edition of the 'Driving Code', that will be implemented this
Summer, sets clear penalties for those who are caught driving on
drugs. There are however more problems in detecting a drug user than a
drunkard. The only possible way would be a blood or a urine test,
which is not a quick way of testing someone's condition. German
authorities are now implementing a "Drugwipe" a device capable of
detecting the presence of drugs through sweat and saliva. FRANKFURTER
ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG 03/02)
WORLD
Bern - At the recent press conference, UNDCP Chief, Pino Arlacchi said
that the UN has nothing to object to the Swiss distribution of heroin.
But, that at the same time it does not consider it an experiment that
can be exported to other countries. (NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 4/2)
WORLD
According to a Canadian report based on researches made in the US, UK,
Japan, Australia, Germany and Canada, lawyers, managers, medics and
policemen are among the bigger consumers of alcoholic beverages while
working. Drug consumption is frequent among physicians, nurses, CEOs,
pilots and workers in big factories. (SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 04/02)
AUSTRIA
Vienna - A survey shows that Austrians approve the drug-related
policies of the local administration based on "curing rather than
repressing". As a matter of fact, the majority of drug addicts enjoys
some form of social assistance and there are no dangerous
neighborhoods. Social cohesion helps in circumscribe the phenomenon.
According to another survey commissioned by "Die Presse", 39% of
youngsters know at least someone who has tried drugs. 73% of the
people interviewed is against any possible consumption of narcotics.
15% is attracted by hashish and marihuana. (DIE PRESSE, NEUE ZUERCHER
ZEITUNG 5/2)
U.S.
February is the month of drugs "certification". President Clinton must
decide which countries can be considered good allies for the war on
drugs, and which cannot. The certification program risks to make
enemies even among "clean" countries that do not want the US intrusion
into their internal affairs and its role as the 'Supreme Judge' of the
Americas. Colombia, which was decertified last year, is still at risk,
because some satellite pictures showed that the some fields that were
supposed to have been eradicated by the government are still there and
seem even bigger. Moreover, Colombia has also amended the constitution
to allow extradition to the U.S. the Americans would like the norm to
be retroactive. Colombian authorities have rejected the US request.
(THE ECONOMIST 7/2)
MEXICO
U.S. and Mexico have adopted a common strategy against drug
trafficking. The agreement establishes a cooperation between both
intelligences, the control of borders and other measures. Even if the
US anti-drug czar, Barry McCaffrey, has said that the new program will
start late this month, this new cooperation could lead to a US
certification of Mexico for 1998. The certification of Mexico will
continue US economic and financial help to the government.
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE 9/2)
BOLIVIA
During his visit to Spain, the Vice-President Jorge F. Quiroga, has
stated that the objective of the Bolivian Government is to defeat drug
trafficking within the next five years. The means will be: repression,
eradication of crop - between 40,000 hectares and 60,000 - in
cooperation with other Governments of the region. (EL PAIS 30/1)
THE NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam - In a few weeks some "Narco Rooms" operated by the
Government will be opened. In these places some 15 addicts, chosen by
the police, will be allowed to inject heroin in a safe and clean
environment. After three months, the administration will decide if the
experiment is working, if so, other 10-15 "Rooms" for some 400 addicts
will be opened also to host those that are homeless. (EL PAIS 30/1)
COLOMBIA
"There is no Government in the whole world that has done so much to
fight drug-trafficking" has declared President Samper. Mr. Samper was
recently accused of receiving over $6M by some narco-dealers, a
"loyal" congress saved him from the scandal. (LA REPUBBLICA, 5/2, IL
MESSAGGERO, IL SOLE 24 ORE 7/2)
ITALY
The Supreme Court of Appeal has sent a message to all prefects
reminding them that the consumption of 'soft drugs' can be faced also
with 'mild' penalties. A decision of the Supreme Court rules that the
use of 'soft drugs' does not allow tough measures like the suspension
of driving license, especially for those who are caught with few grams
of hashish, in this case a formal admonition can be sufficient.
(CORSERA, IL GIORNALE, LA STAMPA 5/2)
ITALY
A year after the Naples Conference, the Government is still undecided
and waits the decisions taken by other European partners. This
uncertain position was presented at a conference held in Bologna
organized by ERIT, the European Federation of Associations against
Drugs. At the conference, the Minister of Social Affairs, Livia Turco,
also rejected the possible distribution of heroin, because she thinks
that Italy is not ready. The Emilia Romagna Region does not agree with
the Minister and has recently adopted a resolution in favor of the
legalization of 'soft drugs' and medical heroin. (CORSERA, 6-7/2, IL
MESSAGGERO, IL GIORNALE, LA REPUBBLICA, LA STAMPA 7-8/2)
***
JOIN THE CORA
***
Yes, I want to be member
(send by Email, or fax, or Mail)
Name and Surname ........................................
Address, Post code, City, State
..........................................
Email .....................................
Occupation .............................................
Date of Birth ..............................
Phone home ..............
office .................
fax ......................
mobile .....................
and I am enclosing a membership fee of .....................
By means of
/Postal Order to CORA
/Crossed Cheque to CORA
/ccp (only in Italy)
/Bank Account (choose below)
/Credit Card type ...........................................
no
....................................................................
..Expiry Date ......................
MEMBERSHIP FEE OF CORA 1997 IN EUROPEAN UNION
Austria 800 ATS, Belge 2000 Bfr, Denmark 500 DKK, Finland 400 FIM,
France 330 FF, Germany 100 DEM, Great Britain 35 GBP, Greece 5000 GRD,
Ireland 20 IEP, Italy 100.000 LIT, Luxembourg 2000 Lfr, The
Netherlands 100 , LG, Portugal 5000 PTE, Spain 5000 ESB, Sweden 500
SEK
BANK ACCOUNT
- no. 010381 to CORA, Deutsche Bank (Abi 3002, Cab 03270), Italy
- no.10067.00101.1032083440/4 to CORA, France
- no. 310107591981 to CORA, Belge
MAIL CCP: ONLY IN ITALY
- c.c.p. 53362000 to CORA, Via di Torre Argentina 76, 00186 Roma
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for February 12-18