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Well-Being Of Oregon's Kids Falls (Eugene, Oregon 'Register-Guard'
Notes The Baltimore-Based Annie E. Casey Foundation Ranked Oregon 23rd
Among The 50 States In This Year's 'Kids Count' Standings,
Down From Number 14 Only Five Years Ago - But The Newspaper Fails To Explain
Why It's The Drug War Making Things Worse)
May 5, 1998
Register-Guard
Eugene, Oregon
http://www.registerguard.com/
letters to editor:
http://www.registerguard.com/standingdocs/feedback.html
Well-being of Oregon's kids falls
By PAUL NEVILLE
The Register-Guard
For the fifth year in a row, Oregon has slipped in a
national ranking of conditions that affect the well-being of
children.
Oregon ranked 23rd among the states in this year's Kids
Count report, which was released today by the
Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
Five years ago, Oregon ranked significantly higher - 14th
nationally - in the annual report, which measures key
indicators such as poverty, teen births, child deaths and
juvenile violent crime rates.
Mickey Lansing, acting director of the state Commission
on Children and Families, said she was disturbed by
Oregon's drop in the ranking and contended the study
points to the need to increase funding for preventive
services for children.
"We need to spend money on families in ways that we
haven't done before," said Lansing, who added that the
study also points to the need for more local involvement
in planning such services.
The ranking was based on data from 1995, the latest year
for which complete information was available from all
states.
Although Lansing said the state has made some
subsequent improvements, she said the report "pretty
accurately" reflects the state's current standing.
The report showed that Oregon lost the most ground in
recent years in several areas concerning the well-being of
teen-agers.
For example, 30 out of every 1,000 Oregon females ages
15 to 17 gave birth in 1995, compared with 23 in 1985.
That's a 30 percent increase, nearly twice the 16 percent
increase nationally during the same period.
Eleven percent of teens ages 16 to 19 were high school
dropouts in 1995, a 22 percent increase over the 9
percent reported a decade earlier. By contrast, the
dropout picture actually improved by 9 percent
nationwide during the same period.
Oregon also saw a 47 percent increase in the rate of
juvenile arrests for violent crime from 1985 to 1995.
However, that increase was less than the national increase
of 66 percent during the same period.
The state showed significant improvement in the areas of
infant mortality and poverty.
In 1995, there were 6.1 deaths reported for every 1,000
births in Oregon. That's a 38 percent improvement of the
9.9 deaths per 1,000 births reported in 1985.
Oregon also had 16 percent of its children living in
poverty, compared with 18 percent a decade earlier - an
11 percent improvement. By contrast, the percentage of
children living in poverty nationwide remained
unchanged, at 21 percent from 1985 to 1995.
Child advocates voiced concern about the state's
continued slippage in the rankings.
"I find this drop in rank troubling - Oregon has long
prided itself in being above average in all policy areas,
from the environment to welfare to children," said Tonia
Hunt, public policy associate for Children's First for
Oregon, a statewide child advocacy organization based in
Portland.
Hunt noted that Oregon held steady or declined in a
number of areas where most other states saw
improvement.
"It's great that other states are getting better, but this tells
us that Oregon is not keeping pace," she said.
The study also looked at the area of child care on a
national scale, determining that low-income families face
increasing difficulties in finding and affording quality child
care.
According to the report, child care costs consume on
average fully one-fourth of the income of U.S. citizens
who earn less than $1,200 a month.
Moreover, the report said demand for available child care
is soaring. It projected that an estimated 70 percent of all
women with pre-school children, including millions of
former welfare mothers, will work outside the home by
the year 2000.
Even when parents can find child care, it is often
substandard, the report stated.
The report cited a multistate study concluding that only
one out of 12 infant and toddler rooms at child-care
centers provided "developmentally appropriate" care.
Forty percent were deemed a potential threat to children's
health and safety.
The report linked poor-quality child care to low wages
and inadequate training for child-care workers.
In Oregon, pre-school teachers earned an average salary
of $6.95 an hour compared with a national average of
$7.80, according to the report.
The report also said 67 percent of Oregon children under
the age of 6 lived in households where parents worked
and did not stay home - 4 percentage points higher than
the national average.
Twenty-four percent of all Oregon children under the age
of 13 lived in low-income families with working parents,
in contrast to 21 percent nationwide, the report said.
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Update On Orange County - Three Cases (Local Correspondent
Notes Developments In Cases Of Proposition 215 Defendants
Dave Herrick, Marvin Chavez And Jack Shacter)
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 20:31:45 EDT
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: FilmMakerZ
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Update on Orange County Three cases
After numerous delays, Dave Herrick, of the Orange County Cannabis Co-op, is
scheduled to have jury selection on Wednesday, May 6. His trial should start
on Thursday, May 7.
Thursday, May 7 is also the day of Marvin Chavez's next court hearing. A
rally is planned that morning in front of the courthouse. Support Marvin
Chavez and Dave Herrick by coming to the rally and packing their courtrooms.
Marvin's and Dave's hearings are at the Orange County Central Courthouse, 700
Civic Center Drive West, in Santa Ana. Rally in front of the courthouse at
8:30 am, then pack the courtrooms. Dave's trial is in Division 36, 10th
floor. Marvin's is in Division 313, 3rd floor.
Jack Shacter, Co-director of the Orange County Cannabis Co-op, has his next
hearing on May 26 at the West Orange County Municipal Courthouse, 8141 - 13th
St., Division 17, in Westminster. We need people to hold signs out front and
fill the courtroom for Jack, too.
If anyone is able to attend any of these hearings, please come and show your
support for these three medical cannabis patients being unfairly targeted and
prosecuted.
Mira
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Defendant, Jurors Protest Stiff Sentence In Drug Case ('Associated Press'
Says Jurors In Birmingham, Alabama, Expressed Surprise When A Woman
First-Time Offender They Found Guilty Of Selling A Bottle Of Morphine
For $150 Was Sentenced To Life Without Parole)
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 23:33:36 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: trikydik@inil.com (trikydik)
Subject: MN: US AL: Defendant, Jurors Protest Stiff Sentence In Drug Case
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: Wire - Associated Press
Pubdate: Tue, 05 May 1998
DEFENDANT, JURORS PROTEST STIFF SENTENCE IN DRUG CASE
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Jurors who convicted first-time offender
Teresa Wilson of illegally selling a bottle of morphine for $150 don't
like the sentence she received: life without parole.
"In this case the punishment definitely, definitely does not fit the
crime," said juror Keith Loftis, who has written state lawmakers and
congressmen complaining about Mrs. Wilson's sentence.
Another juror, Lee Smith, said he regretted finding Mrs. Wilson guilty
because of the stiff sentence. "It's just not right," he said.
Mrs. Wilson, 30, describes herself as a drug addict who is being
punished too harshly for selling a small amount of the drug, a
powerful painkiller. She's due to be sent to state prison from the
county jail today.
"I messed up one time, and they're trying to ruin my life," she
said.
Judge J. Richmond Pearson, who permanently imprisoned Mrs. Wilson, had
no leeway under mandatory state sentencing laws. "I have no choice
about these sentences, madam," he said at her April 17 sentencing.
But a prosecutor said Mrs. Wilson sold almost twice the amount of drug
needed to invoke the life-without-parole penalty, and a secretly
recorded tape showed she talked to the officer like an experienced
dealer.
"She may not have known what the penalty was, but she knew what she
was selling," said Theo Lawson, an assistant district attorney.
Jurors in March convicted Mrs. Wilson of selling an undercover officer
about 98 grams -- 3{ ounces -- of a morphine mixture, which she
obtained from a neighbor whose husband, a cancer patient, had been on
the drug.
Loftis said evidence showed the actual amount of morphine in the
liquid was far less, about 0.01 grams. She also sold the officer 45
pain-killer pills as part of the same transaction, but that drug did
not carry a life-without-parole mandate.
Under state law, anyone convicted of illegally selling 56 grams or
more of the drug or a morphine mixture must be sentenced to life
without parole. The same punishment is required for anyone who sells
more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana or 22 pounds of cocaine.
While police say morphine has a street value of at least $100 a gram,
Mrs. Wilson let the officer have it for $150: $80 for Mrs. Wilson and
$70 for the neighbor, who wasn't prosecuted.
Mrs. Wilson, in an interview with The Birmingham News from the county
jail, said the low price showed she was no hardened drug pusher. "I'm
an addict, not a drug kingpin," she said.
"There are people out there who have messed up time and time again and
who get slapped on the wrist and get sent home," said Mrs. Wilson, who
has no prior convictions.
Loftis, the juror, said there was no question about Mrs. Wilson's
guilt. But he believed she would receive a light sentence because of
the small amount of morphine the case involved.
"I'm not upset that she's guilty. But that she's going to prison for
such a minuscule amount of drug that was actually sold, that's what
upsets me," he said.
Retired Jefferson County Circuit Judge Dan Reynolds said the case
illustrated the problem with laws that require mandatory sentences for
certain crimes. He called her a "little fish" caught by a law meant to
nab drug kingpins.
"As serious as selling drugs is, I don't think it's as serious as
taking a human life. Life without parole is not the right amount of
time in her case," said Reynolds.
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Congress Takes Aim At Drug Use In College (Gannett News Service Article
In 'Seattle Times' Notes The US House Of Representatives Was Set
Tuesday Night To Pass A Little-Noticed Law To Withhold Federal Loans,
Grants, Or Other Financial Aid From College Students Convicted
Of Any Drug Offense, Including Simple Possession Of Marijuana -
Prospects For Senate Passage Also Appear Solid)
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 22:17:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: turmoil
To: hemp-talk@seattlemusicweb.com
Subject: HT: congress takes aim at college drug use
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
Copyright 1998 The Seattle Times Company
Nation and World : Tuesday, May 5, 1998
Congress takes aim at drug use in college
by Billy House
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON - Amid a national outbreak of college unrest stemming from
crackdowns on alcohol, the House was set to pass a little-noticed plan
today to withhold federal grants, loans and other financial aid from
college students with drug convictions.
Prospects for Senate passage also appear solid because the Senate version
of the $250 billion Higher Education Reauthorization Act, to be voted on
this session, has the same language.
"It'll be on the (House) floor Tuesday night. That aspect of it hasn't
attracted that much attention," said Jay Diskey, a spokesman for the House
Education and the Workforce Committee.
Co-sponsored by Reps. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., and Mark Souder, R-Ind., the
amendment was quietly approved in March as part of a higher-education
bill.
In fact, the lack of any opposition to the drug-conviction loan ban has
surprised committee Chairman William Goodling, R-Pa., and other committee
members, Diskey said.
But Solomon spokesman William Teator said yesterday that word is starting
to get out, and that Solomon's office has started getting telephone calls
from campus newspapers and others interested in the measure.
The House's action would come only two days after police used tear gas and
water hoses to quell a riot near Washington State University early Sunday.
Officials there are unsure what prompted the incident, but some students
blamed recent crackdowns on alcohol on campus.
Early Saturday, other police-student clashes over crackdowns occurred at
the University of Akron, Michigan State University in East Lansing, and
Plymouth State College in New Hampshire.
Under the measure:
-- Any student convicted of a first drug-possession offense, either a
federal or state charge, would be ineligible for federal assistance for
college for up to one year.
-- A second possession offense would lead to a two-year suspension.
In either case, students could be eligible again for federal loans more
quickly if they complete a drug-rehabilitation program.
-- A third possession conviction would lead to a permanent ban from
federal aid programs.
-- An initial conviction for sale of an illegal drug would lead to a
two-year suspension from federal aid; a second sales offense would lead to
a permanent ban.
The overall House Higher Education Reauthorization Act would provide more
than $50 billion a year from 1999 to 2004 in federal student lending. In
all, there are between 15 million and 16 million federal financial aid
awards given each year to between 8 million and 10 million college
students.
While the Clinton administration last week issued a statement listing
several reservations about the overall higher-education bill, it raised no
objections to the Solomon-Souter amendment.
Copyright 1998 The Seattle Times Company
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Gingrich Wants To Drug Test Staff ('Associated Press'
Notes The Former Pot Smoker And Speaker Of The House
Joins Two Other US House Republicans Who Say
They Test Their Employees)
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 11:18:09 -0300
From: Keith Alan
To: "mattalk@islandnet.com"
Subject: Gingrich Wants to Drug Test Staff
May 5, 1998
Gingrich Wants to Drug Test Staff
WASHINGTON - The Associated Press via NewsEdge Corporation: House Speaker
Newt Gingrich plans to begin testing his staff for illegal drug use, his
spokeswoman said Monday, and Gingrich said he already submits to the checks.
Spokeswoman Christina Martin said it was unclear when the staff checks would
begin and whether employees based outside Washington would be involved. ``All
of those details are under discussion,'' she said.
At a book-signing session in Bloomington, Minn., Gingrich told an Associated
Press photographer that he submits to drug testing - ``It's part of my
annual physical.'' He turned away, then turned back and added: ``By the way,
I know the answer when they check.''
Members of Congress are free to test their own staffs, but Republican Reps.
Joe Barton of Texas and Dan Burton of Indiana are the only ones who say
they do so.
Barton, who said Gingrich's decision is a ``positive step,'' is a co-sponsor
with retiring Rep. Gerald Solomon, R-N.Y., of a measure, to be introduced
soon, that would require drug testing for all House members and their staffs.
``The key will be when members start testing themselves,'' Barton said
through a spokeswoman. ``We need to test members of Congress. That's what the
American people are waiting to see.''
The plan by Gingrich, R-Ga., was first reported by the Capitol Hill newspaper,
Roll Call.
Gingrich has stepped up his criticism of the Clinton administration for
alleged failures to address the illegal drug-use problem. At a GOP rally
last week, he outlined a broad legislative agenda against drugs.
To that end, the House is expected to vote in the next few months on a range
of bills, including to legislation to double the number of border patrol
agents and link foreign aid to anti-drug efforts. Votes also are expected on
increasing penalties for methamphetamine traffickers and money launderers
and restrict loan eligibility for students convicted of drug possession.
The House also is scheduled to vote this week on a couple of anti-drug
measures ``expressing the sense of the Congress'' that: "Marijuana is
dangerous, addictive and unsuitable for medical use.
"Schools should be free of drugs, and drug-fighting agencies at all levels
of government should work with schools and parents to fight illegal drug use
in the schools.
Copyright 1998, Associated Press
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High Court To Hear Property Seizure Case ('Los Angeles Times'
Says The US Supreme Court Agreed Monday To Hear A Forfeiture Case
That Grew Out Of A Faulty Police Raid In West Covina, California -
At Issue Is Whether Police Officers Who Seized
An Innocent Homeowner's Cash And Valuables
Should Have Told Him How To Get Them Back)
Subj: US CA: High Court To Hear Property Seizure Case
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Pubdate: May 5, 1998
Fax: 213-237-4712
Author: David G. Savage, Times Staff Writer
HIGH COURT TO HEAR PROPERTY SEIZURE CASE
Law: Justices to rule on whether officers must tell innocent homeowners how
to get their valuables back. Issue stems from a botched West Covina raid.
WASHINGTON--The Supreme Court, agreeing to hear a case that grew out of a
faulty police raid in West Covina, said Monday that it would decide whether
police officers who seize an innocent homeowner's cash and valuables must
tell him how to get his property back. The case, to be heard in the fall,
renews the dispute between the U.S. appeals court in California and the
high court over the scope of constitutional rights. Last year, the U.S. 9th
Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the city of West Covina violated the
constitutional rights of a local couple when it failed to clearly tell them
how they could recover $2,469 in cash taken from their home. The case began
in May 1993, when Lawrence and Clara Perkins returned home to find their
doors damaged, their belongings in disarray and their cash savings missing
from a locked closet.
They also found a notice, which included the name and phone number of a
detective, saying that their house had been searched by West Covina police
under a warrant issued by a municipal judge. The police had been searching
for Marcus Marsh, a reputed gang member and murder suspect who had rented a
room from the Perkinses. At the time of the raid, he no longer lived there.
According to his complaint, when Lawrence Perkins went to see the
detectives, they asked him for help in finding Marsh. When the homeowner
could not help them, the detectives told him that they could not return his
property.
Only the court was authorized to do that, they said. At the courthouse,
Perkins was told that he needed the number of the search warrant.
But officials later told him the warrant was sealed and the number
unavailable. "This was worse than a run-around. They wanted him to give
them [the detectives] information he couldn't give them in exchange for
getting his money back," said Patrick S. Smith, who filed a civil rights
suit against the city on behalf of the couple. The homeowner also went to
see the judge who had authorized the warrant but was told that he was on
vacation.
More than a year later, after the civil suit was set to go to trial, the
money was returned to the couple. In its defense, the city said that it
followed California law, which requires a homeowner to file a motion in
court seeking to have property returned.
* * *
"It's easy to do. There is an adequate remedy, and he didn't follow
it," said Priscilla F. Slocum, a Pasadena lawyer who represented the city.
"This is a case of a person who halfheartedly tried to get his money back,
made one more try and then gave up." The appeals court saw it differently,
ruling that the notice to the homeowners was not "adequate." "Here, the
notice left at the Perkins' home did not mention the availability of any
procedure for protesting the seizure of his property, let alone the
existence of a formal judicial procedure for obtaining its return," wrote
Judge Robert Boochever. "It did not provide essential information necessary
to invoke that procedure," such as the number of the search warrant, he
added. Under the 9th Circuit's ruling, the city of West Covina would be
forced to pay damages to the Perkins family for depriving them of their
right to due process of law.
* * *
However, city attorneys for 67 California municipalities, including
Los Angeles and San Diego, joined West Covina in appealing the case. Police
officers and municipal officials have no duty "to provide legal advice" to
people whose property has been legally seized, they said. On Monday, the
justices issued a one-line order agreeing to hear the case (City of West
Covina vs. Perkins, 97-1230). Meanwhile, the court, in a 5-4 vote, made it
slightly easier for civil rights plaintiffs to bring a suit in federal
court. The justices reinstated a lawsuit by a Washington, D.C., prisoner
who contends that an official deliberately lost his luggage during a
transfer to punish him for speaking out about prison conditions. A U.S.
appeals court here had erected a higher barrier to such suits and ruled the
prisoner must have "clear and convincing evidence" that the official acted
out of malice. Disagreeing, the high court said that a plaintiff needs some
evidence of a bad motive but not clear proof when the suit is filed
(Crawford-El vs. Briton, 96-827).
Copyright Los Angeles Times
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A Two-Edged Sword For The War On Drugs ('Toronto Star' Article
In 'Dallas Morning News' About The United States' Wish To Spray Tebuthiuron,
Or Spike, On Illicit Crops In Colombia As Part Of The War On Some Drugs'
Eradication Effort)
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 11:10:22 -0400
To: mattalk@islandnet.com, editor@mapinc.org
From: Dave Haans
Subject: TorStar: A two-edged sword for the war on drugs
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Pubdate: Tuesday, May 5, 1998
Source: The Toronto Star
Contact: LetterToEd@thestar.ca
Website: http://www.thestar.ca
Page: A18
A two-edged sword for the war on drugs
U.S. thinks deadly herbicide is just right for Colombia's fields
By Tod Robberson
Special to the Star
BOGOTA, Colombia - It is so strong that just a few granules sprinkled over
a pesky tuft of grass on a driveway in San Francisco killed an oak tree
several metres away.
Dow Agro Sciences, the manufacturer of the herbicide known as Tebuthiuron,
or Spike, warns customers never to apply it near trees, water sources or
any place where it can accidentally kill desirable plant life. Dow
specifically says this is not the product for wide-scale eradication of
illicit drug crops.
Which is how U.S. authorities want to see it used in Colombia.
Dow, the same corporation that manufactured the controversial defoliant
Agent Orange during the Vietnam War, is in the unusual position of siding
with international environmental groups against a U.S. proposal to make
Tebuthiuron a centerpiece in Colombia's war on drugs.
President Ernesto Samper's government, which is under heavy U.S. pressure
to to wipe out more drug crops, says it is reviewing a report by U.S.
government researchers listing Tebuthiuron as the most effective of several
potential eradication chemicals.
The researchers insist the herbicide can be used safely.
Environmental groups and concerned politicians in Colombia are warning of
potential disaster.
"It's insanity," says federal legislator Alegria Fonseca. "This chemical
was never designed for eradication. It was meant to be applied on weeds in
industrial parks . . . It is not selective in what it wipes out."
Dow spokesman Ted McKinney agrees. "Tebuthiuron is not labeled for use on
any crops in Colombia, and it is our desire that this product not be used
for illicit crop eradication," he says. "It can be very risky in situations
where the territory has slopes, rainfall is significant, desirable plants
or trees are nearby, and application is made under less-than-ideal
circumstances."
Colombia is the principal supplier of most cocaine and heroin consumed in
the United States, and the debate goes to the heart of U.S. and Colombian
efforts to curb that. The amount of land under illicit cultivation has
nearly doubled in the past five years to around 60,000 hectares, according
to government statistics.
"This is a struggle that Colombia will continue to deal with, independent
of what the United States thinks," says Attorney-General Jaime Bernal Cuellar.
"If we can't succeed with the fumigation process we're using, we will have
to try something better," he says. "At the same time, we can't permit the
use of chemicals that might harm our environment and our people just
because it helps the war on drugs."
But Colombia's anti-narcotics police commander, Col. Leonardo Gallego,
backs a change to Spike.
The problem is that the more environment-friendly herbicide preferred by
the Colombian government -- Glyfosate, known commercially as "Roundup" --
must be applied by crop-dusters flying slowly and close to the ground. And
the crop-dusting planes are the target of guerrilla groups that protect
illicit fields, labs and airstrips.
Besides, Glyfosate can be picked up and diverted by wind or dissolved by
rainwater, two factors that have radically reduced its effectiveness, a
U.S. state department official says.
The official says Glyfosate's rate of effectiveness was less than 50 per
cent in 1996.
U.S. Department of Agriculture herbicide researcher Charles Helling says
Tebuthiuron can be applied from high altitudes and fast speeds in any
conditions, with a far higher rate of effectiveness.
He says he has tested the herbicide under circumstances simulating the
tropical weather conditions and topography of Colombia and found little to
justify the type of concerns expressed by Dow and environmental groups.
"Anyone claiming that fields where Tebuthiuron was used would be steralized
forever is, well, just not telling the truth," he says. "We've tried it,
in circumstances that we believe are representative of the real-world
situation, and we found that, in most cases, we were able to replant on the
same land within six months of the application."
One industry observer who works closely with Tebuthiuron says there are a
number of conditions present in Colombia that could lead to widespread
deforestation if the herbicide is wrongly or accidentally applied.
"What if a plane is loaded with the stuff and it crashes or it takes a hit
from the guerrillas? If you have to dump a load, you could create a
desert," he says. "This stuff is extremely water soluble. It moves with
water. If it comes in contact with the root system of a tree, that tree is
gone."
Helling describes the prospect of a crash or a guerrilla shootdown as a
"hypothetical scenario" with "a very low probability" of actually
happening. But an accidental release over a forest could cause "some
temporary defoliation," he says.
Environmental groups including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund have
objected even to the limited testing of Tebuthiuron in Colombia, arguing
that the rainy weather, steep mountain slopes and heavily wooded areas make
it too risky.
But Colombia's deputy environment minister Carlos Fonseca, and Helling say
deforestation and pollution caused by drug traffickers dwarfs the
environmental problems posed by herbicides used in eradication.
Massive amounts of chemical fertilizers are used in drug cultivation, they
say, and rivers and streams near jungle laboratories are routinely polluted
with chemicals used to process cocaine.
"The amount of deforestation caused by coca growing is increasing all the
time," Helling says.
"That's the real issue."
The Dallas Morning News
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Firefighters Find Marijuana Plants - Two Men Face Five Charges
(Cautionary Tale From 'The London Free Press' In Ontario
Suggests Canadians' Right To Privacy Extends Only To Their Neighbor's Stove)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: FIREFIGHTERS FIND MARIJUANA PLANTS
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 08:46:19 -0700
Lines: 46
Source: London Free Press
Contact: letters@lfpress.com
May 5, 1998
FIREFIGHTERS FIND MARIJUANA PLANTS
TWO MEN FACE FIVE CHARGES
CREDIT: By Roxanne Beaubien -- Free Press Crime Reporter
INGERSOLL -- It was an accidental find but police here were glad to
happen on it.
Marijuana with a street value of up to $30,000 was seized early
Monday morning after it was discovered by firefighters who put out a
small blaze at a King Street East apartment, Const. Jim Robb said.
About 50 plants -- from seedlings to recently harvested, dried pot
and some being made into cannabis oil -- were found next door to where
a kitchen fire was reported about 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Robb said.
The fire started on the stove of the basement apartment at 78 King
St. E.
Two people were treated at hospital for smoke inhalation and
released, Robb said.
After putting the fire out, firefighters checked the other apartments
for signs of smoke and stumbled upon the drugs and about $2,000 worth
of growing equipment.
Magazines titled High Times and Cannabis Canada as well as books on
growing, including one called Grow Yer Own Stone, were also seized
after police obtained a warrant to search the property.
The lone occupant of the apartment and a second man who tried to get
past the police and into a rear apartment were arrested.
Jason Ray Gee, 20, of King Street East, is charged with two counts of
possession for the purposes of trafficking and two counts of
production. Charles Edward Drepaul, 46, of Ingersoll, is charged with
obstructing police.
Both were released from custody and are scheduled to appear in
Woodstock court June 2.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Decrim Doesn't Cause Increase In Use (Summary Of Four Australian
Newspaper Articles Notes Results Of Two-Year Nationwide Study
By The Drug And Alcohol Services Council Of South Australia)
Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 09:50:29 -0400
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Dave Haans
Subject: Decrim doesn't cause increase in use...
Australian, Tuesday 5 May 1998, p.3
Canberra Times, Tuesday 5 May 1998, p.3
Advertiser, Tuesday 5 May 1998, p.7
West Australian, Tuesday 5 May 1998, p.28
A two-year national marijuana study has found decriminalisation has not
caused any increase in its use in Australia. The findings of the study,
carried out by the Drug and Alcohol Services Council of South Australia in
conjunction with other national research facilities, were presented to
Australia's Ministerial Council on Drugs Strategy meeting in Melbourne
yesterday.
The report also compared patterns of use and laws across Australia.
Commenting on the report, Dr Robert Ali said that the study showed there
was no evidence that expiation (on spot fines) for marijuana use has led to
any increase in the prevalence or intensity and frequency of marijuana use.
He said the study also found cost savings to the community through keeping
minor offenders out of jail.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Decriminalising Dope Produces No New Highs ('The Australian' Version)
Newshawk: Ken Russell
Source: The Australian
Pubdate: Tue, 5 May 1998
Contact: ausletr@newscorp.com.au
Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
Author: John Kerin
DECRIMINALISING DOPE PRODUCES NO NEW HIGHS
A TWO-YEAR national marijuana study has found decriminalization has
not caused any increase in its use in Australia.
The findings of the study carried out by the Drug and Alcohol Services
Council of South Australia in conjunction with other national research
facilities for Australia's health and justice ministers was presented to a
meeting in Melbourne yesterday, but the ministers left any action on the
report up to individual jurisdictions.
The study on the social impacts of cannabis compared marijuana use
patterns and legal regimes across Australia.
It also compared the experience of those jailed under the more stringent
marijuana laws in Western Australia with those who mainly received on
the spot fines for carrying or using small amounts of marijuana in South
Australia, where the drug has been decriminalized.
"The study showed there was no evidence that the introduction of
expiation ( on the spot fines) for marijuana use has led to any increase in
the prevalence or intensity and frequency of marijuana use," one of the
researchers associated with the study, DASC clinical policy director Dr
Robert Ali said last night.
He said although there had been increases across all jurisdictions in the
past decade, there was no great difference between jurisdictions where the
drug had been decriminalized and where it hadn't.
He said the study also found cost savings to the community through
keeping minor offenders out of jail. South Australia, the ACT and the
Northern Territory have Australia's most relaxed marijuana laws. In the
ACT, police can issue a warning or impose on-the-spot fines for minor
offences involving the possession of up to 25g for personal use or for the
growing of up to four plants. In South Australia, the limit is 10 plants.
ACT Health Minister Michael Moore said he had asked for the trial to be
extended to the ACT, where a similar decriminalization model to that in
South Australia operates.
The development came as federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge
yesterday pledged $3 million to a public awareness campaign to target
excessive alcohol use. Dr Wooldridge said the campaign was likely to
concentrate on young people aged between 15 and 24.
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to 1998 Daily News index for April 30-May 6