Portland NORML News - Thursday, June 18, 1998
-------------------------------------------------------------------

NORML Weekly News (Canadian Government Health Agency
Calls For Decriminalizing Marijuana; French Government Report
Says Marijuana Poses Less Dangers Than Alcohol; Military Judge
To Rule On Third Hemp Seed Oil Case In Seven Months)

From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 17:14:38 EDT
Subject: NORML WPR 6/18/98 (II)

The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release

1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Ste. 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-8751 (p)
202-483-0057 (f)
www.norml.org
normlfndtn@aol.com

June 18, 1998

***

Canadian Government Health Agency Calls For Decriminalizing Marijuana

June 18, 1998, Toronto, Ontario: The simple possession of marijuana
should no longer be a criminal offense, concluded a recently released
Canadian government report.

"The available evidence indicates that removal of jail as a sentencing
option would lead to considerable cost savings without leading to
increases in rates of cannabis use," determined researchers at the
Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse (CCSA) National Working Group on
Addictions Policy. The CCSA report, "Cannabis Control in Canada: Options
Regarding Possession," further advises the government to replace current
federal law criminalizing the possession of marijuana with a "fine only"
option.

"The civil violation option offers the best opportunity to achieve the
most appropriate balance between the need to reduce the harms associated
with cannabis use and the need to restrain the cost and harms involved in
attempts to control use," researchers concluded. "It would remove
cannabis possession from the criminal law, preclude imprisonment due to
failure to pay fines, and eliminate the criminal record consequences of a
conviction."

The new policy would remain consistent with Canada's international
treaty obligations to discourage marijuana possession, and mimic the laws
of ten U.S. states that have decriminalized offenses involving the simple
possession of marijuana. The report noted that criminalizing marijuana
seemed to have little effect on an individual's decision to use the drug.

"The enforcement of current law against cannabis possession has a very
limited deterrent effect," the authors stated. "Cannabis use remains
high despite a high level of law enforcement and there is no clear
relationship between changes in enforcement and levels of illicit drug
use over the past several decades."

Finally, the study found that Canadians strongly supported
decriminalizing marijuana. "The vast majority of Canadians no longer
favor jail sentences for simple possession of cannabis," researchers
declared.

Despite funding the CCSA policy paper, the Canadian government remains
hesitant of any proposal to relax the country's marijuana laws. "Moving
too swiftly to liberalize the use of marijuana may result in an inability
to control problematic use in the future," stated Health Department
officials in a memo obtained by the Ottawa Citizen.

"Virtually every federally commissioned report ever examining the
issue of marijuana and the law recommends decriminalization," said Allen
St. Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation. "It is time for
governments to begin implementing the recommendations of the very
commissions they appoint."

The CCSA was created by Parliament in 1988 to promote debate on
substance abuse issues and to support organizations involved in drug
prevention and treatment.

Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in Canada, with
possession accounting for about half of the estimated 60,000 drug
offenses recorded annually. By comparison, American law enforcement
arrested almost 550,000 individuals for possession of personal amounts of
marijuana in 1996.

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. The CCSA report is
available from The NORML Foundation upon request or on-line at:
http://www.ccsa.ca/canfinal2.htm.

***

French Government Report Says Marijuana Poses Less Dangers Than Alcohol

June 18, 1998, Paris, France: Smoking marijuana poses less of a
threat to public health than the regular consumption of alcohol,
determined a French government commissioned report Tuesday.

"The report again shows that the basis [for policies prohibiting
marijuana] is totally wrong," spokesman for the Greens party announced in
a prepared statement. The party is calling for a federal review of the
nation's drug policies.

Marijuana has low toxicity, little addictive power, and poses only a
minor threat to social behavior, researchers at the French medical
institute INSERM concluded. The report identified alcohol, heroin, and
cocaine as the drugs most dangerous to health. Tobacco, psychotropic
drugs, tranquilizers, and hallucinogens were placed in a second, less
harmful group. Marijuana was classified in a third category of
substances defined as posing relatively little danger.

"This federally commissioned report concludes, just as the World
Health Organization did earlier this year, that marijuana smoking does
less harm to public health than drink and cigarettes," said Allen St.
Pierre, Executive Director of The NORML Foundation.

Junior Health Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the report's
findings would not encourage the federal government to consider
decriminalizing the simple possession of marijuana. He called the report
"toxicologically correct but politically wrong."

Kouchner's office paid for the INSERM study.

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.

***

Military Judge To Rule On Third Hemp Seed Oil Case In Seven Months

June 18, 1998, New Orleans, LA: A military administrative law judge
will rule shortly on whether to acquit a Coast Guard engineer of charges
that he smoked marijuana after hearing evidence that the consumption of
legal hemp oil may cause and individual to test positive for the drug on
a urine test. The case marks the third time in seven months that a
military serviceman has raised the "hemp oil defense" to challenge a
positive drug test.

Both prior rulings found in favor of the defendants.

Christopher Dresser, 38, said that the regular consumption of a hemp
seed oil nutritional supplement caused him to test positive for marijuana
on a November drug test. He denies that he smoked marijuana.

"There is little doubt that the ingestion of some legal hemp oil
products will cause one to test positive on a urine test shortly after
consumption," explained NORML Publications Director Paul Armentano. A
series of studies conducted this past summer and reported in the Journal
of Analytical Toxicology indicated that regular users of the oil may test
positive for low levels of THC. Those studies, along with two recent
acquittals of military officers, prompted some within the drug testing
industry to call on Congress to amend federal law to prohibit the
possession and sale of hemp products.

Tulane University Law Professor Julian Murray, a former federal
prosecutor who testified during the hearing, said that a government ban
on the oil would eliminate the confusion on drug tests.

NORML board member Don Wirtshafter, Esq. of The Ohio Hempery, who has
followed this issue closely, criticized any forced regulation on the
American hemp industry based upon concern from drug testing companies.
"This is not a health issue," he said. "To me the onus is on the drug
testing industry and the employers. They are the ones putting out a
faulty product that is not able to differentiate between the legal
consumption of hemp products and the illegal consumption of drugs."

Hemp health products, such as hemp seed oil, are sold commercially in
nutrition stores across the nation and consumed for their high
concentrations of amino and fatty acids.

For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Allen
St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. Don Wirtshafter may
be contacted @ (740) 662-4367.

- END -
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Minutes Of Portland NORML Board And Advisers Meeting
(A Summary Of The Meeting Last Night)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:06:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anti-Prohibition Lg (aal@inetarena.com)
To: "Portland N.O.R.M.L.
Subject: Board & Advisers Meeting Notes, 6/17

Portland N.O.R.M.L.
Certified chapter of the
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Thursday June 18, 1998

From: Floyd Landrath, Secretary

To: Terry Miller, Director

re: Board & Advisers Meeting notes from 6/17 meeting

cc: Perry Stripling, Dona MacPherson, Shasta Hatter, & membership email
and fax list

Hello everyone,

1. Oregon State Fair: TD will coordinate volunteers, Dona M will
assist him and be available for most of the fair's run (8/22 - 9/7).
WE NEED A LARGE NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS FOR THIS EVENT, PLEASE CALL TD AT
777-9088 TO SCHEDULE. Perry is working on having the chapter's web
pages available on a stand-alone computer. Voter Power (John Sajo)
contributed $750 to complete the fund raising needed to secure our
place at the fair. Thank you John.

2. A "members only" picnic is scheduled for Saturday, July 25. Call
777-9088 to make a reservation for you and your family. This event is
only open to members whose dues are paid up (*).

3. Anne Pierce (sp?) is a prison activist and will be our guest
speaker at the July general meeting, 7:30p.m., Wednesday 7/22 at the
Phantom Gallery (3125 SE Belmont in Portland). This event is free and
open to the public. Floyd volunteered to write a press release after
he gets details from TD.

4. Outstanding issue with impending computer move and finding a new
server for the chapter's state of the art web pages (www.pdxnorml.org).
Perry and Phil Smith continue to work this issue and will keep the
board appraised.

5. June 19 benefit: we have been informed this is a "no smoking"
venue, Perry volunteered to make and post signs to that effect. Board
agreed better communication between them and organizers was needed to
avoid any misunderstandings. It was noted that we need at least 160
people to attend and clear the cost which has been put up by Shasta
Hatter out of her own pocket. There was some confusion about financial
commitments, but the board agreed Shasta should be reimbursed off the
top.

6. We need a new newsletter editor. The board identified several
items for next issue but needs someone to gather, edit and layout the
newsletter. Hope was expressed we might find a volunteer at next
week's general meeting.

7. The Secretary, Floyd Landrath, requested the Treasurer, Dona
MacPherson, to develop regular financial reporting for the board. She
agreed to work on this and have something set up by the next board
meeting.

8. There was unanimous agreement that the event called WHEE2, a very
commercial 'hemp festival' sponsored by High Times magazine was not the
type of event Pdx NORML wanted to associate with, nor do we have any
interest whatsoever in accepting the event organizer's offer of a free
booth in exchange for working for them at this event.

9. Promoters of 'Eco-Fest 3' have invited us to set up a booth but
we have not identified a trained volunteer to head it up. We'll keep
looking.

10. No on M57: Board requested Floyd to represent the chapter at the
first meeting on Sunday 6/21. Floyd agreed but noted it would only be
for this meeting as he had to also represent the American
Antiprohibition League within the forming coalition.

Thank you.

Floyd.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
How to contact Portland NORML:

phone: 503-777-9088
email: pdxnorml@pdxnorml.org
web: www.pdxnorml.org
post: 4218 SE Glenwood, Portland, OR 97206

(*) -- Membership dues are $20 per year.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Drug Test Reliability (Dr. Dean Edell, The San Francisco
Television Medical Reporter And Syndicated Radio Show Host,
Interviews Another Doctor Who Has Investigated The Reliability
Of Urine Tests, And Who Says They Are So Often Inaccurate
That Thousands Of People Have Been Denied Employment Unfairly)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 04:11:11 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: ltneidow@voyager.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: ltneidow@voyager.net (Lee T. Neidow)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Drug Test Reliability

From Dean Edell M.D., San Francisco:

Drug Testing for Jobs Could Ruin Your Life

Applying for a new job? Well, along with your resume...you'll no doubt be
handing over your bodily fluids in a pre-employment drug test. 80% of major
corporations have climbed aboard the urine drug test bandwagon to screen job
applicants. But, how accurate are they? Well, one doctor has investigated
this issue and says they are so often inaccurate, thousand of people have
been denied employment unfairly.

Drug testing expert Kent Holtorf says, "Basically in some labs, over 50% of
positives are false positives because of lab error." Even in the best lab,
you may flunk a drug screen without taking drugs. Poppy seed bagels & rolls
top the
list...but most people don't realize how long these seeds can make you
positive for heroin and morphine. Dr. Holtorf: "A single poppy seed bagel
will cause your opiod level to go up to 38 times the cut off level and be
positive for up to three days."

Perhaps the most common problem, though, is legal drugs.

In fact, I think you'd be amazed at the number and variety of medications
that will make you test positive on a drug test. Things like nasal sprays
can make you positive for amphetamines. Sleeping pills can do it, as well as
Tylenol with codeine, Vicodin can turn you positive for opiods. Even
something simple like some vitamins can make you positive for marijuana.

The list goes on and on...but, it doesn't stop there. Go to a party where
someone else is smoking marijuana, you'll test positive longer from the
second hand smoke, than if you'd actually smoked a joint.

Dr. Holtorf: "The low level constant absorption from 2nd hand mj smoke will
cause the fat soluble thc to accumulate in the tissues and will actually be
excreted longer period than for brief periods of active smoking."

If you think hair testing for drugs is the answer, think again. Dr. Holtorf
says, hair testing is racist because drugs are absorbed more easily into the
hair of blacks.

Holtorf: "For an equal dose, an African American will incorporate 50 times more
metabolite than a Caucasian."

Since the results of drug testing can destroy your life, these tests should
be as perfect as any medical test...and often they are not.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Drugs And Police Corruption (Four Pro-Reform Letters To The Editor
Of 'The Los Angeles Times' Respond To Two Recent Articles)

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 00:12:39 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: PUB LTEs: Drugs And Police Corruption
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/

DRUGS AND POLICE CORRUPTION

It seems as if the war on drugs causes crime more than it helps people
("Illegal Drug Scene Spurs Rise in Police Corruption," June 13). First we've
had to deal with increased theft and robberies so people using drugs can
afford to buy them, with their increasing cost. Now we have to deal with
corruption from police officers, too.

Wouldn't it be better if the police were away from drugs and out helping to
stop violent crimes such as rape and murder? If we ended the war on drugs,
our lives would be much safer. Black market prices would be eliminated and
drug-related theft would be reduced, violent criminals wouldn't need to be
released early from prison to make room for nonviolent drug offenders and
police would be focused on stopping and solving violent crimes.

MARY MENOS Garden Grove

***

It was truly chilling to read about armed police plotting and carrying out
robbery, murder and embezzlement while ostensibly enforcing drug abstinence.
The carte blanche, Constitution-be-damned ground rules of drug war
enforcement have facilitated, almost invited, these abuses.

It's shocking to read of a fivefold increase of police corruption
convictions in four years. Even if this means police are policing themselves
better, it's likely that those caught, as in all crimes, remain a small
fraction of those involved in such corruption.

As long as there are huge revenues at stake in criminalized pleasure drugs,
there will be an endless line of lawbreakers on both sides of the police
chase. Only by replacing the profit-guaranteeing prohibition system with
civil regulation will the profits and attending corruption subside.

PAUL M. BISCHKE, Co-Director Drug Policy Reform Group of Minnesota, St. Paul

***

The article especially struck a nerve with me because I am a citizen of
New Orleans, and as your article explained, corruption has been a problem
here for years. Our status as a major port city is like a lighthouse for
drug smugglers who bribe our police officers for "protection." The result
has been a deep disrespect for, distrust of and cynicism toward the New
Orleans Police Department. The black market for drugs that has led to police
corruption has caused many citizens to fear the police.

Our ineffective laws have done far more damage than drugs themselves ever could.

WILL ELKINS New Orleans

***

Re "The Drug War: a War on Poor, Lower Classes," Column Left, June 11:

Alexander Cockburn's column points out the deep-rooted problem with
initiating an honest debate on drug policy reform.

The lingering question is, what do we do? We have allowed our government to
operate on the basis of fear and lies.

And, as demonstrated by the aftermath of Prop. 215, politicians are no
longer interested in truth or the will of the people. The issue of drug
policy is bipartisan in its ignorance; therefore, we are stuck with a failed
position and no politicians open to change.

GREGORY HANDEVIDT San Diego

Copyright Los Angeles Times
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Agents Seize 1,000 High-Grade Plants, Make Four Arrests ('The Modesto BeeŽ
Covers The Bust Of A Marijuana Greenhouse In South Modesto
Disguised As A Welding Shop - Police Say One Of The Suspects
Sold 2.2 Pounds Of Cocaine And A Pound Of Marijuana To Undercover Agents)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 10:28:15 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Agents Seize 1,000
High-Grade Plants, Make 4 Arrests
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: Modesto Bee
Contact: http://www.modbee.com/man/help/contact.html
Website: http://www.modbee.com/frontpage/index/0,1112,,00.html
Author: Jeff Jardine and Daryl Farnsworth Bee staff writers

AGENTS SEIZE 1,000 HIGH-GRADE PLANTS, MAKE 4 ARRESTS

Drug agents filled a U-Haul van with more than 1,000 marijuana plants,
$20,000 in specialized lighting and watering equipment, and 41/2 pounds of
ready-to-sell drugs seized Wednesday from a facility in south Modesto.

The marijuana greenhouse had been disguised as a welding shop.

The plants, at maturity, could have produced at least $5 million worth of
packaged marijuana, said Art Longoria, an agent with the state Bureau of
Narcotics Enforcement.

Agents began investigating a statewide money-laundering scheme six months
ago and it led them to Modesto, said Sgt. Doug Leo of the Stanislaus Drug
Enforcement Agency.

Four people were arrested Wednesday and two suspects remain at large, Leo
said. One of the suspects sold 2.2 pounds of cocaine and a pound of
marijuana to undercover agents during the investigation, Leo said.

"Through surveillance, they determined the other players who were involved
and came up with the other locations," he said.

Search warrants were issued for 10 local sites -- four addresses in
Modesto, four in Turlock and one each in Ceres and Oakdale.

At 8 a.m. Wednesday, agents raided portions of a commercial building at 509
Winmoore Way, south of Hatch Road. They seized 1,042 high-grade marijuana
plants, the finished product and expensive cultivation equipment from two
neighboring rental spaces. The spaces were rented as a welding shop by one
of the suspects still at large, Leo said.

Utility bills provided one of the signs of illegal activity, Leo said.
Instead of being in the predictable $400 to $500 range each month, "one
month it was $1,000 and another it was $1,500."

The building contained four 40-by-10-foot tables holding marijuana plants.
The plants averaged about 16 inches tall and were growing under a
water-cooled halogen lighting system, Longoria said.

"They had everything you'd need for a successful indoor grow and, as you
can see, they had a successful indoor grow," Leo said.

The plants, which produce a high-quality seedless grade of marijuana known
as sinsemilla, are believed to have been imported from Amsterdam, the
Netherlands, Longoria said.

Marijuana typically has a street value of $600 to $800 per pound, he said.
Sinsemilla, however, sells for about $5,000 per pound. He estimated that
each plant would have produced at least a pound of finished marijuana. He
said the $5 million estimate is conservative, because some of the plants
would have produced more than a pound each.

It was the one of the larger indoor marijuana busts on record, Leo said.

The four people arrested on cultivation and conspiracy charges were: Bryan
Joseph Packnit, 27, and his wife, Melissa Packnit, 22, both of Turlock;
Guilherme Bettencourt DeSousa, 29, of Modesto; and Paul Alan Dompeling, 24,
of Turlock.

Wednesday afternoon, the agents went to 657 Armstrong Way in Oakdale. In
Suite B, they reported finding similar equipment and evidence of a
marijuana harvest, but no plants. The suite had been rented by Dompeling as
a dairy equipment repair shop but contained no dairy equipment, Leo said.
Tuesday, Stanislaus drug agents seized a ready-to-cook drug lab -- capable
of producing about $1.2 million of street-value methamphetamine -- in
Empire, Leo said.

Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Department crews, routinely following up on a
May 13 fire at 5200 South Ave., came upon the lab and notified the county
drug agency. The lab was inside one of two World War II-era Army barracks
at a labor camp.

Agents said they found flasks and materials used in the production of
methamphetamine.

Jose Gonzalez Aguilar, 49, who owns the property, was booked on
manufacturing and other charges.

Agents said cleanup costs at the Empire site would exceed $25,000.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

San Francisco Teens Trying High-Nicotine `Bidi' Cigarettes
('The San Francisco Chronicle' Says A New Survey Conducted By Students
At Booker T. Washington Community Service Center In The Western Addition
And Galileo High School Suggests 58 Percent Of Those Surveyed
At Four City High Schools Had Tried Strawberry Scented Cigarettes
Imported From India, Shaped Like Marijuana Joints)

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 01:31:39 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: S.F. Teens Trying High-Nicotine `Bidi' Cigarettes
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: tjeffoc@sirius.com (Tom O'Connell)
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Section: A23
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Author: Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer

S.F. TEENS TRYING HIGH-NICOTINE `BIDI' CIGARETTES

Strawberry scented cigarettes, shaped like marijuana joints and spiked with
extra nicotine, are being sampled at an alarming rate by San Francisco
teens, a new survey shows.

The cigarettes, called ``bidis'' -- also ``beedies'' and ``beadies'' -- are
manufactured in India and are widely available in grocery stores in
paper-wrapped bundles of 20 for as little as $1.25 a pack.

Results show that 58 percent of students surveyed at four city high schools
had tried bidis at least once and that two-thirds knew someone under the
legal age of 18 who had purchased them.

``I knew a lot of people were smoking them, but I didn't know the numbers
were so high,'' said Frederick ``Junior'' Johnson, 16, a McAteer High School
student who has worked on the project since February.

The study found that 40 percent of the 461 students surveyed smoked bidis
more than once.

``It's been out there, but it is growing into a bigger problem,'' said Johnson.

The survey was conducted by young people themselves: Five teenagers at the
Booker T. Washington Community Service Center in the Western Addition and
two students at Galileo High spent 10 months on the project.

Ebonne Smith, project coordinator for the community center, said teenagers
found bidis widely available, particularly in the Western Addition, Haight,
and Tenderloin neighborhoods.

Smith's young investigators found that the required Surgeon General's
warning label was missing on seven out of 10 packs of bidis and that young
teens who tried to buy the products succeeded 24 percent of the time.

As a result, the youth center filed a complaint with the Federal Trade
Commission last month against the makers of the cigarettes. ``They said they
are looking into it,'' said Smith.

Representatives of the Federal Trade Commission could not be reached for
comment.

Bidis are a particularly potent form of tobacco, sold inexpensively.
According to Susana Hennessey of the San Francisco Department of Public
Health, each bidi, hand-rolled in a brown leaf called tendu, contains 7 to 8
percent nicotine

--compared with 1 to 2 percent in American cigarettes.

A reporter picked up six packs of bidis from a Union Square market for $2.50
each. ``Yes, they are very popular, particularly among the teenagers,'' a
clerk volunteered.

Bidis have been on the American market for at least 40 years. But as
American cigarette prices rise and young people search for new fads, the
crudely rolled cigarettes from India are a growing trend.

``It's an issue of peer pressure,'' said Johnson. ``It is kind of like
clothes. You see somebody wearing something you like and you want to wear
something like it too.''

Maurice Evans, 16, said the bidi manufacturers add flavors to make the harsh
tobacco more appealing. ``They've got strawberry, chocolate, mango and
vanilla,'' he said.

Evans said he knows one friend who has smoked 20 packs of bidis. ``He's
addicted to them. He wouldn't listen. It went in one ear and out the other.''

1998 San Francisco Chronicle
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Sixteen Sentenced In Idaho's Top Pot Bust ('The Oregonian'
Says Illegal Immigrants From Mexico Who Planted The Biggest Marijuana Crop
Ever Discovered In Idaho Relocated There To Avoid Paying A Bribe
Of $10 Per Plant)

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 03:38:41 -0700
From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com)
Organization: Oregon Libertarian Patriots
To: Cannabis Patriots (cannabis-patriots-l@teleport.com)
Subject: CanPat - 16 SENTENCED IN IDAHO'S TOP POT BUST!
Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@teleport.com

Profits cutting bribes in Mexico prompted the growers to
transplant their crop near the Oregon border, authorities say.

by Stephen Stuebner
special writer
The Oregonian
6-18-98

- transcribed by Paul Freedom--

BOISE---Illegal immigrants from Mexico planted the largest
marijuana groves discovered in Idaho to avoid paying high bribes
in Mexico, officials with the U.S. Attorney's office said Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Lindquist, who summarized the initial
outcome of the largest marijuana bust in Idaho's history, said the
growers confessed that they moved their operations into Idaho to
avoid paying $1,000 per 100 plants to Mexican authorities.

They called the bribe fees "mordida" in Spanish, or "the bite."

"They started to feel it in their pocketbook, so they moved their
operations to California and Idaho, where the only risk was getting
caught," Lindquist said. "It's a good indication of how we're affected
in Idaho by the narcotics trade below the border."

The Mexican growers set up a dozen well-hidden marijuana groves
in the thick underbrush in the foothills of southwest Idaho, some of them
just a few miles from Ontario, Oregon., and grew high-quality sinsemilla
(seedless) pot, he said.

Last summer, federal and state authorities seized 114,000 marijuana
plants with an estimated worth of $26 million in groves stretching from
the foothills of Weiser, Idaho, to Emmett, Idaho. Eighteen men---all
illegal immigrants from Mexico, except for one Idaho resident---were
indicted on federal felony charges of cultivating marijuana.

Sixteen of the men have been sentenced in federal or state court in
Idaho, some to 10 years of more. The only Idaho resident, Roberto
Sandoval, 42, of Caldwell, fled from the United States after he was
indicted and is still at large, Lindquist said. Another defendant, Juan
Jesus Campos, 42, has been transported to Amarillo, Texas, to face
drug trafficking charges.

Fearing that "snitching" on growers who fled to Mexico after the
big bust in Idaho might endanger their families back home, 11
defendants pleaded not guilty and are not cooperating with authorities,
Lindquist said.

That forced the U.S. Attorney's office to prosecute each defendant
one at a time. All of the cases, except for one, resulted in convictions.

Five defendants who did cooperate received lighter sentences of 30
months or less. Their testimony was invaluable in convicting the other
defendants and in providing insight into how they managed the groves
and marketed the pot, Lindquist said.

Lindquist said he was amazed that the defendants did not cooperate
and reduce their sentences by 80 percent.

"It takes my breath away," he said. " They are worried that if they
cooperate, their families would be harmed. It shows you how serious
of a business it is."

So far only two of the crew bosses who managed the operations
and sold at least a portion of the crop have been convicted, Lindquist
said. Crew boss Silvino Campos,26, of Nampa received the harshest
sentence, about 22 years and a $1,000 fine. At Campos' sentencing
hearing, the U.S. Attorney's office presented testimony that he tried to
hire a to transport marijuana to another party for $10,000, according
to federal and state drug enforcement authorities.

Alfredo Sandoval was the other crew boss who was sentenced,
Lindquist said. Sandoval received 16 years and a $1,000 fine.

During trial, Lindquist said the growers indicated that they selected
the remote foothills terrain in southwest Idaho because it resembled a
setting in Florencia, Mexico. The other wise tiny foothills have tiny seeps
and creeks that flow under thick brush, which provides excellent camouflage.
The growers removed some of the brush to make space for marijuana plants,
but kept some trees in place for cover and shade.

Growers testified they made about $1,000 a week or $5,000 a month to
grow pot in Idaho. The pot was sold in Idaho, Oregon, California and elsewhere
by crew bosses and others, Lindquist said.

It took three years before an anonymous source tipped off local authorities
that drugs were being grown in the thickets.

Others defendants and their sentences were: Gonzala Sandoval, 18, Caldwell,
Idaho, 11 years in jail, $1,000 fine; Rodrigo Sandoval, 22, Callwell, 11 years in
jail, $1,000 fine; Juan Francisco Ramirez, 26, Caldwell, 15-plus years in jail,
$1,000 fine; Rafael Gonzales, 24, Caldwell, 10 years in jail, $1,000 fine; Roberto
Cortez, 30, Caldwell, 10 years in jail, $1,000 fine; Jose Garcia, 29, Nampa,
Idaho, 10 years in jail, $1,000 fine; Oscar Correa, 26, Nampa, 11-plus years
in jail, $1,000 fine; Rubin Correa, 24, Parma, Idaho, 10 years in jail, $1,000
fine; Jesus Villa, 40, Mexico, 18 months in jail; Pascal Correa, 21, 30 months
in jail; Isaias Flores, 20, Caldwell, 30 months in jail.

Todocio Valdez and Roberto Valdez pleaded guilty to drug charges in Gem
County , Idaho, and were sentenced in state court.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

State Association Opposes Use Of Medical Marijuana
(According To 'The Las Vegas Review-Journal,' Larry Matheis,
Executive Director Of The Nevada Medical Association,
Says The Group Opposes The Use Of Marijuana For Medical Reasons
Until There Is Scientific Evidence It Helps Patients)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 10:04:21 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: medmj@drcnet.org
Originator: medmj@drcnet.org
Sender: medmj@drcnet.org
From: adbryan@onramp.net
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: ART: State association opposes use of medical marijuana

6-18-98
Las Vegas Review-Journal
http://www.lvrj.com
letters@lvrj.com

***

Thursday, June 18, 1998

State association opposes use of medical marijuana
As advocates push for a ballot item, one official questions if there's
enough proof of marijuana's benefits.

By Ed Vogel
Donrey Capital Bureau

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Medical Association opposes the use of
marijuana for medical reasons until there is scientific evidence it
helps patients.

Larry Matheis, executive director of the association, said
Wednesday there are prescription drugs available now that alleviate the
medical problems that marijuana is said to improve.

Americans for Medical Rights filed petitions Tuesday signed by
70,155 Nevadans who want to vote in November to allow doctors to
prescribe marijuana for sick people.

"We obviously can't support the proposal," Matheis said. "There
simply are better prescription drugs available."

But the medical rights organization believes marijuana can help
people with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis and other
ailments, and handle nausea, vomiting, chemotherapy and appetite loss.

Matheis, however, questions whether there is enough evidence of
marijuana's benefits.

"There may be valid uses for marijuana, but there also are better
alternatives already available," he added.

Pharmaceutical companies even have developed a synthetic
prescription drug, Marinol, that contains the active ingredient in
marijuana.

Nonetheless, Portland, Ore., physician Rick Bayer said some
patients are unable to use the available prescription drugs,
particularly because they are taken orally.

"If patients have nausea and are vomiting, they can't use
Marinol," said Bayer, who is pushing for a marijuana initiative to
appear on Oregon's ballot this year. "They must inhale their medication.
For them, marijuana may be the best medication. We don't think these
patients should be rounded and put in jail."

Bayer said the opposition to medical marijuana largely comes from
pharmaceutical companies, such as Roxane Laboratories, the manufacturer
of Marinol.

By smoking marijuana, patients also can control the dosage they
receive, something they cannot do with the current prescription drugs,
according to Bayer.

"Patients don't want to get high," he said. "They want to take as
little as possible."

Within the next couple of weeks, Secretary of State Dean Heller
will determine if Americans for Medical Rights gathered enough valid
signatures to place the proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot. County election
workers first must count the signatures and then do sample checks to
determine if enough are valid.

The proposition needs at least 46,764 valid signatures to qualify.
A minimum number of signatures must be found valid in all of the 13
Nevada counties where they were gathered.

The proposal would require approval of voters this November and
again in the year 2000 before doctors could prescribe marijuana.

Matheis said during the election campaign season the Medical
Association will serve as an information resource on marijuana. Doctors
will be available to express their views.

He added that Nevada doctors passed a resolution that called for
scientific studies to determine whether marijuana should be used for
medical reasons. Before such tests are completed, he said the doctors
would oppose the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

Bayer, on the other hand, said several tests have shown that
marijuana is a more effective drug for nausea and chemotherapy for some
patients.

"You should look at it from the patient standpoint," he said. "He
can't tolerate the first three drugs you gave him. It would make sense
to have further choices available."
-------------------------------------------------------------------

About Peter Wilson (A List Subscriber Asks You To Write A Letter
In Support Of The Arizona Cannabis Activist - Sentencing July 6
In Phoenix)

Subj: About Peter Wilson
From: Jim Rosenfield (jnr@insightweb.com)
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:31:09 -0700

Fellow freedom fighter needs our help

We need to help our fellow freedom fighter Peter Wilson by
writing a letter to the sentencing judge.

Ask your sympathetic friends to come out of the closet for the sake of Human
Rights. Stand up and say hell yes I use cannabis and I am your doctor,
judge, bus driver, garbage collector your brother and your sister.

Pete's court date for sentencing is July 6th, 8:45 a.m. before
Judge David Cole, Superior Court, Maricopa county.

You might like to see Brenda Kershenbaum's Letter to Maricopa County
Probation Department on behalf of Richard M. Davis

http://hempmuseum.org/ltrtoprobation.htm

write to :
Judge David Cole
Superior Court
East Court Bld, 5th Floor
201 W. Jefferson
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Phone No. (602) 506-5808

***

Here is what one hempster had to say about this situation:

LIE WHEN YOU ARE CALLED FOR JURY DUTY! My case was lost when the judge
weeded out any prospective jurors who truthfully said they would have
problems convicting someone on marijuana charges. THIS IS WAR! Deception
is appropriate game. Get on the jury.
If any freedom fighters get called for jury duty, do what you must to stay
on the jury. Honesty might get you thrown off the jury.

***

My name is Peter Wilson. You may have heard or read something about me
selling pot with a license(http://wise-up.com/HTML/taxrules.html )
issued by the state of Arizona.

http://www.ecolution.com/azjudge.html
http://hempmuseum.org/images/jpeg/barclay1.jpg
http://hempmuseum.org/images/jpeg/barclay2.jpg
http://hempmuseum.org/images/jpeg/wallstreetrd1.jpg

This is my side of the story, as briefly as I can tell it.

I came to offer my fellow human beings peace instead of war. For this,
the mercenaries of the Drug War decided to crucify me. They tried to
take 20 years of my life. The thought of peace to those who make their
living off the War on Drugs was so frightening, they did everything in
their power to put me behind bars for 20 years, NO WAY OUT, so that the
public would never hear from this man of reason again.

They came this close (thumb and forefinger held near) to succeeding. It
was the most terrifying experience in my life. I am still in shock,
knees shaky, stomach churning, emotionally in tatters, wondering why in
the world I risked everything to bring a message of peace to a people in
love with war. Here is how it began:

In early 1990, a drunk threatened to take my life for asking him (in a
somewhat intimidating manner) to turn down his blaring music at 3 in the
morning. He was deadly serious, in a drunken rage and ready to kill me.
I took a few steps back, and thought about my wife trying to raise my
two young kids without me. As I tried to picture such a future, I saw a
black cloud. It would not be good.

As I contemplated being dead instead of alive, I heard God whisper to
me, "Son, I want you to work to end the Drug War." I admit that up to
that point, I had been somewhat skeptical about the idea of God, and
felt like I had no real mission in life except to have fun. But I
realized that the rest of my life was a gift, and that God wanted me to
do something useful with what was left of it.

I found out that Bill Green had just formed AZ4NORML, an Arizona chapter
of NORML. I immediately joined and became an active supporter. In 1992,
Bill decided to try to get a voter initiative on the ballot to legalize
mj. He did a computer search on every law in AZ that mentioned mj or
cannabis. There are about 40 such laws. We held a meeting at his house,
and read every one, deciding which ones we wanted to change for the
initiative. Among them was a tax law, requiring all cannabis dealers to
become licensed by the state, and to pay a tax of $10 per ounce on all
pot sold.

Signature gathering was all voluntary, and by the July '94 deadline, we
were still about 100,000 signatures short of having enough to get the
initiative on the ballot. About a month earlier, the US Supreme court
had declared that drug taxes were double jeopardy, and that states could
not collect taxes on drug dealers after prosecuting them. It seemed to
me that if I paid the tax first, then that should remove me from the
jeopardy of prosecution. I bought a Cannabis & Controlled Substance
Dealer's License from the state, and began selling pot for the first
time.

In February of '94, I realized my wife had Alzheimer's disease. She
would be dying, but I didn't know when (she passed on in June of '96).
She had always been argumentative, somewhat difficult to live with, but
the disease made matters much worse. By the summer of '95, she had
become so violent, I ended up calling the police. They came and arrested
her, and charged her with domestic violence. A month later, I called the
police again. She decided she didn't want to go to jail again, and tried
to turn the tables by telling them I was selling pot, and showed them an
ounce packaged for sale.

They asked me about it, and I explained that I was licensed by the state
to sell it. I showed them my license and the tax stamps. After some
discussion, they gave me the pot back and left. Four days later,
however, the narcotics unit of the Phoenix PD showed up at my door to
arrest me. They seized about 1/2 ounce of pot, and enough stamps for a
couple of pounds, and my license. They charged me with possession and
paraphernalia.

At the preliminary hearing, attorney Michael Waltz (working for free)
made an offer of proof. Justice of the Peace John Barclays agreed with
us, writing, "It would appear that...the legislature intended it to be
lawful to posses marijuana..." My point exactly. Licenses are required
for activities that are otherwise prohibited (hunting, fishing,
driving...operating nuclear power plants). I renewed my license, and
went back to selling.

At AZ4NORML, our thinking was to keep the victory a secret among
ourselves. Other people would become licensed and collecting tax for the
state, too. We thought if we could get a bunch of dealers collecting a
bunch of tax for the state, the people might just take a look at it, and
say, Why not? At one point, about 150 people had bought licenses.

It didn't stay secret for long. County attorney Richard Romley was
incensed. He instructed the cops to arrest anyone with a license anyway.
No one ever called the Department of Revenue to tell them to stop
selling licenses and stamps. Several Californians (Richard Davis and
Craig Ruben among them) http://hempmuseum.org/richd.htm bought licenses
and created a media spectacle by selling pot openly at Super Bowl XXX,
held in Tempe, AZ. Davis sold to an undercover cop twice and got
arrested. Selling from the back of his traveling Hemp Museum, Davis was
an easy target.

The '96 legislature considered repealing the license and tax, but
decided not to. Then George Soros and the Drug Policy Foundation
bank-rolled prop 200, an initiative to allow doctors to prescribe mj and
controlled substances for serious medical conditions, and to release
people from prison doing time for simple possession. The initiative
passed by a landslide. The Drug War mercenaries were furious. The
mercenaries refused to follow this new law, also. They immediately
announced that doctors who prescribed mj under prop 200 would be
arrested under federal law. And besides, there was no legal source, even
if someone did get a prescription.

Yours truly immediately responded by announcing the contrary: there was
already a legal source of mj--licensed cannabis dealers! This
announcement made the front page of the Arizona Republic, Arizona's
largest circulation daily. This was the last straw for the Drug War
mercenaries. They circled for the kill.

They sent an undercover cop to buy from me...twice. Then, just to make
sure, they sent two bounty-hunters to my home, and after they left, the
bounty-hunters reported back to the pigs that they had seen me bagging
up pot with my son, Lyle, who was 11 at the time. Nice lie. If a jury
believed that (and they almost did), Peter Wilson would be locked up for
20 years, NO WAY OUT. The mercenaries returned with a warrant, and in
addition to finding the expected pot, confiscated a magic mushroom
garden that I had growing in my living room.

At this point, the story gets pretty complicated. The state knew that if
I were allowed to tell my side of the story in court, a jury would
acquit me. So they used the 20-year mandatory minimum as a figurative
gun-to-the-head to scare me into plea bargaining, which would have
quashed the tax-and-license defense forever. And, they delayed the trial
over and over, so that any prospective jurors who might have read about
me or seen me on TV would forget.

The judge, the prosecutor and the cops were all working together to
railroad me. My own high-priced lawyer, Charles McNulty (a NORML
referral) pretended there was no conspiracy; the frame up was
business-as-usual for him, and a very lucrative business at that. All
four players in the courtroom--the judge, the prosecutor, the cop and my
own attorney--had an unspoken agreement to do whatever it takes to keep
the easy money of the Drug War coming. They operate on a simple
principle: tell the truth as often as possible, but lie whenever
necessary to keep the easy money coming in. To the inexperienced, it
looks like they are telling the truth all the time.

There was no way out. I had as much chance as a steer being led to the
slaughter house.

I fretted and fretted over how to get out of this situation that had no
way out. As a court hearing on January 30th, 1998 approached, I was
unable to sleep for days on end. Then, about 3 a.m. on the 30th, a most
extraordinary thing happened. God, who had sent me down this path so
many years before, stopped time for me, opened up the heavens, and took
me aside on "the other side" for a good long conference. God "revealed"
an extraordinary array of concepts. Overall, he is pretty fed up with
the behavior of humans, and disappointed that so few people believe in
or take seriously The One that created us.

Later on, I wrote down much of the conversation. If you are curious
about what God said, e-mail me (phoenix029@aol.com), and I'll send you a
copy. If you do not believe in God and just want to trash it, do not
bother. Some of it conflicts with "standard" religious doctrine; all I
can say in defense of it is that it is as accurate as God wants it to
be. Highlights include: God's plans for humans; a simplified set of
rules he wants us to live by; some changes in the way he wants us to
treat the earth we live on, and the animals we eat; his opinion on how
government ought to be run.

Anyway, back to the story: judge Alan Kamin ended up ruling that I could
say nothing in my defense in court. I could not mention tax or license,
medicinal or religious use of pot or magic mushrooms. Kamin ruled in the
state's favor on every pre-trial motion. After questioning the bounty
hunters, my lawyer opined that a jury would believe them, therefore I
should plea-bargain. I realized I would have to cross-examine them
myself, in order to beat the charge of involving a minor (the 20-year
mandatory), in order to preserve a basis for an appeal. I ended up
representing myself at trial.

People think I must have been crazy to have represented myself. Maybe
they are right. I know the law, and how to cross-examine, but the courts
do not follow the law, and they do not allow you to question your
accusers. You cannot even talk about the law in a court of law. Lawyers
know this; they make no protest, because the lawlessness of the courts
is their bread-and-butter. If judges upheld the law, most lawyers, drug
lawyers especially, would have no jobs. Its enough to drive you crazy.

At the trial, presided over by judge David Cole, I asked the prospective
jurors if any of them considered themselves to be "brave." Not one hand
went up. I had a sinking feeling right then: no one here but sheep.
Stripped of all defenses, the outcome was basically a foregone
conclusion. The jury was laughing in the jury room as they convicted me
on 8 felony counts of mj possession and sale, and 1 felony count of
"manufacturing" dangerous drugs (growing magic mushrooms). Then they
went quiet, and deliberated for nearly 3 hours on the count of involving
a minor, which they finally acquitted me of. That was June 2.

The next day, while in the court office to pick up a copy of my
conviction paper, I overheard judge Cole say to judge Kamin on the
phone, "I was relieved...and so was Ms. Sanders (the prosecuting
attorney)." Yes! Their jobs at the slaughterhouse are all safe!

As I await sentencing (July 6th), I contemplate my role in life. With 9
felony convictions, by career as an engineer is probably gutted for
good. The state is going to ask for a good, long sentence, so I probably
will spend some time behind bars. On July 4th, people all over the
nation will celebrate living in "the land of the free and the home of
the brave." I cannot join them.

I came to offer the people an alternative to War: taxation and
regulation. The mercenaries tried to kill the messenger. I am still
alive, but feeling beat to a pulp, and I certainly learned my lesson: do
not try to talk peace to a nation that loves war.

Peter Wilson
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Cop Fired For Tipping Off Suspects ('Reuters'
Says The LaVergne Police Department In Tennessee Has Fired A Sergeant
For Allegedly Warning People Who Were About To Be Investigated
Or Arrested For 'Drug' Offenses)

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 02:39:03 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US TN: Wire: Cop Fired For Tipping Off Suspects
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: Reuters

COP FIRED FOR TIPPING OFF SUSPECTS

LAVERGNE, TENNESEE-- The LaVergne Police Department has fired a sergeant for
allegedly tipping off suspects. The police chief says former Sergeant Sam
Spicer was warning friends who were about to be investigated or arrested on
drug charges. The chief believes the tip-offs have been going on for years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

75 Will Face Party Charges (The Richmond, Virginia, 'Times-Dispatch'
Says 66 Students At The Collegiate School Will Be Charged With
Underage Possession Of Alcohol, As Well As Nine Parents
Alleged To Have Supplied Kegs Of Beer For The Graduation Party
June 5 At Tuckahoe Plantation, The Boyhood Home Of Thomas Jefferson)

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 09:12:01 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US VA: 75 Will Face Party Charges
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@hotmail.com)
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Contact: feedback@gateway-va.com
Fax:(804) 775-8072
Website: http://www.orcoastnews.com/headlight/
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Author: Wynne W. Wasson, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

75 WILL FACE PARTY CHARGES

66 Collegiate students, 9 parents involved; investigation continues

Sixty-six students and nine parents will be prosecuted in connection with a
June 5 party in Goochland County for Collegiate School graduates,
authorities said yesterday.

Charlottesville Commonwealth's Attorney Warner D. "Dave" Chapman, who has
been appointed special prosecutor in the case, outlined the planned charges
in a brief statement released yesterday.

He said they relate to "the underage possession of alcohol by individuals
who attended the party and consumed alcohol; the adults who aided and
abetted the illegal consumption of alcohol by underage attendees; and, in
one instance, contributing to the delinquency of minor attendees."

"Because the investigation is continuing, further comment will be declined
at this time," Chapman said. He did not say when the charges will be filed.

Chapman was appointed after his

Goochland counterpart, Edward K. Carpenter, identified himself as a
potential witness because of a personal phone call he received from someone
at the party after deputies arrived.

The Goochland Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control are assisting with the investigation.

Sheriff James Agnew was only slightly more specific than Chapman. Agnew
said the charges are being planned against 54 adult students, 12 juvenile
students and nine parents. Even through the adult students to be charged
are at least 18 years old, they are under the legal age for buying or
drinking alcoholic beverages.

The party was held at Tuckahoe Plantation, the boyhood home of Thomas
Jefferson, where attorney Addison B. "Tad" Thompson serves as resident
manager. The property is owned by his family. His son, Addison B. Thompson
Jr. was one of 110 Collegiate School seniors who graduated the morning of
June 5.

Ninety of the graduates attended the party, and five kegs of beer were on
hand, sources said. The kegs were seized by six Goochland deputies who
responded to a complaint shortly after midnight. The deputies also
administered 90 breath tests on the young partygoers and determined 68 had
consumed alcohol.

The breath tests registered up to 0.20 that night, according to law
enforcement officials. A young person who registers 0.02 or higher is
considered to have consumed alcohol, said Sgt. Mike Randell of the Richmond
Police Department. Virginia's legal limit to be considered drunk while
driving is 0.08.

The contributing-to-the-delinquency charge apparently stems from the
purchase of the beer. When kegs are bought, the purchaser must sign a
permit stating that no one under 21 will be served.

The permit normally is a public document, but in this case the name on the
permit has been withheld as part of the investigation, said the ABC's
Jennifer Farinholt.

The pending charges against students and parents of the Henrico
County-based school come against a background of pro-active substance abuse
education at Collegiate, Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Toby Vick said.
Vick is a frequent speaker at Collegiate on drug and alcohol abuse.

"Collegiate has been very active as a school about alcohol and drug use
among kids. They're at the forefront of schools trying to deal with it," he
said. "They don't turn a blind eye to the problem that I think exists in
every school.

"They're candid, up front and deal with the problem," Vick said.

Dr. Beverly Sgro, interim headmaster of the 83-year-old private school,
said the party was not school-sanctioned.
Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)
-------------------------------------------------------------------

McCaffrey Warns Senate Committee Of Legalization ('The New York Times'
Says General Barry McCaffrey, The US Drug Czar, Has Stopped Ignoring
Advocates Of Harm Reduction Policies And Begun A Campaign Against Them
With Written Testimony To The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee -
'Through A Slick Misinformation Campaign,' He Said, 'These Individuals
Perpetuate A Fraud On The American People, A Fraud So Devious
That Even Some Of The Nation's Most Respectable Newspapers
And Sophisticated Media Are Capable Of Echoing Their Falsehoods' -
His Assertion Prompted The Judiciary Committee's Ranking Democrat,
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. Of Delaware, To Propose Hearings
Into The Issue Of 'Legalizing' Drugs)

From: ttrippet@mail.sorosny.org
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 98 12:32:05 EST
To: TLC__ACTIVIST_at_osi-ny@mail.sorosny.org, tlc-activist@soros.org,
Subject: NYT: McCaffrey Warns Senate Committee of Legalization
Sender: owner-tlc-activist@soros.org

From Today's New York Times
Letters to the Editor Information Follows

McCAFFREY WARNS SENATE COMMITTEE OF LEGALIZATION

Drug Policy Official Warns Panel of Effort to Legalize Drugs

By CHRISTOPHER S. WREN

Thursday, June 18, 1998
Page A29

WASHINGTON, June 17 -- The White House's top drug policy official
today accused critics of the nation's zero-tolerance drug laws of
pursuing an agenda to legalize drugs from marijuana to heroin and
cocaine.

In written testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
the official, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, asserted, "There is a carefully
camouflaged, exorbitantly funded, well-heeled elitist group whose
ultimate goal is to legalize drug use in the United States."

While General McCaffrey named no names, he was clearly referring to a
coalition of advocacy groups that argues that the global war on drugs
has cost society more than drug abuse itself. Some of those advocates
attracted attention last week with an open letter to the United
Nations Secretary General as the General Assembly opened a three-day
special session on drugs.

The letter -- whose 500 signers included the former Secretary General
Javier Perez de Cuellar, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz
and two former Senators, Alan Cranston and Claiborne Pell -- argued
that by focusing on punishing drug users, the United States and other
countries had helped create a worldwide criminal black market that
wrecked national economies and democratic governments.

The letter's signers also included George Soros, the billionaire
investor and philanthropist, who has spent as much as $20 million
supporting research and advocacy groups working to change Americans'
views on how to deal with drug use. Mr. Soros said in an interview
last week that he hoped that it would foster an open discussion of the
issue.

But General McCaffrey, the Clinton Administration's director of
national drug policy, said the critics were disguising their true
purpose because Americans overwhelmingly opposed legalizing drugs.

"Through a slick misinformation campaign," he said, "these individuals
perpetuate a fraud on the American people, a fraud so devious that
even some of the nation's most respectable newspapers and
sophisticated media are capable of echoing their falsehoods."

His assertion prompted the Judiciary Committee's ranking Democrat,
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, to propose hearings into the
issue of legalizing drugs.

"Let's expose it for the fraud that it is," Senator Biden said.

Mr. Soros could not be reached today because he was traveling in
Sweden. But one of the most prominent advocates of less punitive
approaches to drug use, Ethan Nadelmann, director of the Lindesmith
Center, a drug policy institute in New York supported by Mr. Soros,
called the general's criticism "an attempt to smear what's a very
responsible approach to dealing with drug abuse in our society."

At the core of the disagreement is the concept of harm reduction,
which to advocates like Mr. Nadelmann, means finding ways short of
abstinence to reduce the harm that drug abusers cause themselves and
society. Needle exchange, in which addicts are given clean needles to
try to stem the spread of AIDS, is a prominent example.

Kevin Zeese, president of Common Sense for Drug Policy, a group in
Falls Church, Va., that also wants drug laws changed, said, "The
reason why there is an upsurge of people advocating reform is because
the current policy is not making for a safer or healthier society,"

But General McCaffrey called harm reduction "a hijacked concept that
has become a euphemism for drug legalization."

"It's become a cover story for people who would lower the barriers to
drug use," he said.

Mr. Nadelmann responded, "The majority of harm reduction advocates
oppose drug legalization, and that includes George Soros."

Until today, General McCaffrey had ignored the advocacy groups'
lobbying, and so his sharp attack was a change in strategy.

After testifying, he said he was suggesting a debate about
legalization, not a witch hunt.

"It's a legitimate subject of debate in our society if you do it
openly," said General McCaffrey, who is retired from the Army.

He predicted that the notion would be "rejected resoundingly" once
Americans discovered what was involved.

Mr. Nadelmann said: "I would welcome the opportunity to debate him
anytime or anyplace. His trying to equate all forms of harm reduction
with a free market approach to drug legalization is both false and
duplicitous."

But Mark A. R. Kleiman, a professor of public policy at the University
of California at Los Angeles who follows drug issues, expressed concern
that such a debate would detract from the more crucial task of finding
ways to make the current anti-drug strategies work more effectively.

***

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR INFORMATION:

Letters must include the writer's name, address and telephone number.
Those selected my be shortened for space reasons (ie. the shorter the
better). Fax letters to 212-556-3622 or send by email to
letters@nytimes.com, or by regular mail to Letters to the Editor, The
New York Times, 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036. I recommend
by email or fax before noon on Friday, June 19.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Senator Biden Calls For Hearings On Drug Legalization (Commentary
From List Subscribers About Today's 'New York Times' Article
And Yesterday's Press Release From Senator Biden's Web Site)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:32:49 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: rgivens@sirius.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: R Givens (rgivens@sirius.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Senator Biden Calls For Hearings On Drug Legalization

Well, troops our labors are bearing fruit. It's a sign of desperation when
a narcomaniac like Senator Biden feels compelled to call for Senate
hearings to defend drug prohibition in the face of our withering criticism.

Biden better be careful because a man can get himself incinerated playing
around with number nine napaalm like this. One little slip and he could end
up exposing "the myths and dangers" of prohibition.

We should encourage this dog and pony show because no matter how they try
to stage manage things a lot of ugly facts about prohibition are sure to
emerge. This is sure to be a lose-lose deal for the narcs, no matter how
they play it.

We should demand that Biden drag these outspoken "legalizers" in front of
the Committee and expose them for the world to see (C-Span). Ask them the
hard questions and .....

We know what'll happen if they dare to give any of our big guns a platform
to "defend their myths about drugs" from and we should urge Biden forward
into the attack. Kinda like encouraging General Custer to attack those
pesky Indians at the Little Bighorn.

Yes sireee a good old fashioned Senate hearing about drug prohibition is
just the thing....... No matter how they script it, we'll beat them flat.

R Givens

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:56:18 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: aal@inetarena.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Anti-Prohibition Lg 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Re: Senator Biden is p*ssed off at the drug reformers

On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, Kelly T. Conlon wrote:

> from http://www.senate.gov/~biden/
> ---------------------------------
>
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> June 17, 1998
>
>Biden Calls for Expanded D.A.R.E. Programs
>
> WASHINGTON -- Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., today proposed expanding
> D.A.R.E. to include education and prevention programs for eighth graders.

[snip]

> "I remain convinced that drug legalization would be a disaster. But,
> today, many powerful voices in our society are supporting a variety of
> legalization policies. They say, Let's save money and trouble and just
> legalize drugs.' So I am suggesting that we on the Senate Judiciary
> Committee take a hard, unblinking look at drug legalization. I think it
> unfortunate that we must, but I believe it necessary," Biden said.
>

It's about time! But of course "unblinking" probably means eyes closed...
This should be interesting...

Floyd.

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:22:25 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: RKSTROUP@aol.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: (RKSTROUP@aol.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Legalization Hearings

Dear Colleagues:

FYI, NORML today sent this letter to Sen. Biden.

Keith Stroup

***

June 18, 1998

Sen. Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
221 Russell SOB
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Biden:

I was pleased to read that you are considering scheduling hearings on the
legalization of drugs. While I recognize you do not support legalization,
I commend you for your willingness to allow this policy debate to occur.
Surely, in a free country, we have nothing to fear from a healthy debate
over drug policies.

Should such a hearing be scheduled, I would request the opportunity to
testify regarding the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. As
you may know, NORML is a public-interest lobby that has been advocating
the legalization of marijuana since 1970. We strongly oppose the use of
marijuana, as well as legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, by
adolescents. But the current policy of arresting adults for marijuana
smoking is a misguided policy which causes enormous harm to the lives,
careers and families of the more than 500,000 marijuana smokers arrested
each year in this country. Furthermore, enforcing prohibition extends
government into areas of our private lives that are inappropriate.

Marijuana smokers in this country are no different from their non-smoking
peers, except for their marijuana use. Like most Americans, they are
responsible citizens who work hard, raise families, contribute to their
communities, and want a safe, crime-free neighborhood in which to live.
They are not part of the crime problem and should not be treated like
criminals.

I hope you will permit us to testify if hearings are held on this
important subject.

Regards,

R. Keith Stroup, Esq.
Executive Director

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 21:43:55 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: dreaming@avana.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Gary Metzendorf 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: Re: Senator Biden is p*ssed off at the drug reformers

Hello Kelly T. Conlon, on 18-Jun-98 13:46:35, you said,

>from http://www.senate.gov/~biden/
>
>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>June 17, 1998
>
>Biden Calls for Expanded D.A.R.E. Programs
>
>WASHINGTON -- Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., today proposed expanding
>D.A.R.E. to include education and prevention programs for eighth graders.

snippage of S.O.S. re: DARE --

>Biden also called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on
>drug legalization in order to "expose the myths and dangers of
>legalization."

>"I remain convinced that drug legalization would be a disaster. But,
>today, many powerful voices in our society are supporting a variety of
>legalization policies. They say, Let's save money and trouble and just
>legalize drugs.' So I am suggesting that we on the Senate Judiciary
>Committee take a hard, unblinking look at drug legalization. I think it
>unfortunate that we must, but I believe it necessary," Biden said.

If I understand political speak, this looks like a tentative wet finger in
the wind to see which way the wind is blowing. These are interesting times to
be alive compadres.

Gary M.

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 16:41:02 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: schaffer@smartlink.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: "Cliff Schaffer" (schaffer@smartlink.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: RE: Senator Biden is p*ssed off at the drug reformers

> -----Original Message-----
> From: drctalk@drcnet.org [mailto:drctalk@drcnet.org]On Behalf Of Kelly
> T. Conlon
>
> Biden also called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on
> drug legalization in order to "expose the myths and dangers of
> legalization."
>
> "I remain convinced that drug legalization would be a disaster. But,
> today, many powerful voices in our society are supporting a variety of
> legalization policies. They say, Let's save money and trouble and just
> legalize drugs.' So I am suggesting that we on the Senate Judiciary
> Committee take a hard, unblinking look at drug legalization. I think it
> unfortunate that we must, but I believe it necessary," Biden said.

Uuuuuh, gee, Senator Biden. I recall a few years ago we sent you the
Resolution for a Federal Commission on Drug Policy, asking for an open and
honest investigation of the evidence so you could publicly and firmly refute
all those nasty legalization people. You didn't sign it. Have you changed
your mind?

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 21:54:46 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: rumba2@earthlink.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Scott Dykstra (rumba2@earthlink.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Re: Senator Biden is p*ssed off at the drug reformers
Organization: Citizens Against the Drug War

> If I understand political speak, this looks like a tenative wet finger in
> the wind to see which way the wind is blowing. These are interesting times to
> be alive compadres.
>
> Gary M.

I equally, strongly agree Gary. Do you think they'll bite at the
opportunity to save their own ass by admitting another approach is
needed? (regulation) or will they just dismiss it altogether. After
all, the prisons, probation, courts, cops, judges, DEA, FBI, CIA and
customs agents stand to lose thousands, not to mention the BEER
companies......and pills whores.

Like I've said before, if those impotent, sexually starved Americans who
cannot achieve a physical requirement without Viagra, they should try
smoking some cannabis. Works for thousands......

I've noticed that a lot more of my friends are becoming chronic alkies
because they can no longer smoke cannabis. People say, "why not just do
nothing at all"? Because we WANT TO smoke, or drink or
masturbate....it's our right.

The puritanical mind-set makes me want to gag....

Scott Dykstra
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/9584/

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 17:54:16 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: gsutliff@dnai.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Gerald Sutliff (gsutliff@dnai.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Re: Senator Biden is p*ssed off at the drug reformers

>Biden also called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold hearings on
>drug legalization in order to "expose the myths and dangers of
>legalization."
>
>"I remain convinced that drug legalization would be a disaster. But,
>today, many powerful voices in our society are supporting a variety of
>legalization policies. They say, Let's save money and trouble and just
>legalize drugs.' So I am suggesting that we on the Senate Judiciary
>Committee take a hard, unblinking look at drug legalization. I think it
>unfortunate that we must, but I believe it necessary," Biden said.

Dear Talkers,

The good senator is certainly ascribing a lot of power to a handful of
truth tellers. Maybe he, we and the Internet are on to something.

(;~)]
vty, jerry sutliff

***

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:42:48 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: tom.barrus@denver.cahners.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Tom Barrus (tom.barrus@denver.cahners.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: LTE Re: McCaffrey warns Senate Committee of Legalization

1998-Jun-18

Editor:

Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey warned the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee:

"There is a carefully camouflaged, exorbitantly funded, well-heeled elitist
group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug use in the United States."

He also said:

"Through a slick misinformation campaign, these individuals perpetuate a
fraud on the American people, a fraud so devious that even some of the
nation's most respectable newspapers and sophisticated media are
capable of echoing their falsehoods."

This exorbitantly funded, well-heeled elitist group is actually the federal
government of the United States. It is the government that is running a
"slick misinformation campaign" and is perpetuating "a fraud on the
American people".

Drug use is already "legalized" in the United States. Actually, this "legal"
drug use is the unlawful exemption of tobacco & alcohol (the drugs
which account for the most disease & death of any drug) from our drug
"laws", particularly the Controlled Substances Act.

If Gen. McCaffrey had any respect for the rule of law or the Constitution,
he would be demanding that tobacco & alcohol both be classified as
controlled substances.

Has McCaffrey ever demanded that Congress uphold the Constitution's
guarantee of the "equal protection of the laws" by applying the drug
laws to all drugs, including tobacco & alcohol?

No.

We need to expose the government's so-called "war on drugs" for the
fraud that it is.

Tom Barrus, R.Ph., MBA
President, American Federation for Legal Consistency
P.O. Box 10732
Golden, CO [80401]
(303) 499-4648

Tom.Barrus@denver.cahners.com

***

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 22:30:30 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: amr@lainet.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Dave Fratello (amr@lainet.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: "Legalization" hearings of 1988

The suggestion by drug czar McCaffrey and Sen. Biden that now is the time
to hold congressional hearings on drug legalization proves that history
repeats itself.

In 1988, the (now defunct) House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and
Control also held a couple days' worth of hearings on legalization. (And
produced a fat report compiling anti-legalization rhetoric.)

The context then was ongoing debate on the election-year drug war bill
(father of mandatory sentencing, or at least its worst escalation) and the
then-"recent" emergence of credible voices in favor of reform, decrim, and
legalization. (Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke had made the biggest splash
that year in calling for a debate on decriminalization.)

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY, and a familiar character in this) called the
hearings for the same reason Biden and McCaffrey now want to do the same --
to use the forum to attack, belittle, and explode all the arguments and
people against the drug war. Though many prominent critics were invited in
'88, many others were not, and while people could submit written testimony,
I've never heard anyone call the hearings themselves fair or open to
inquiry.

It was a quickie hatchet job of a hearing meant to discredit the critics
and move on to escalating the drug war. And that's what our reps did move
on to do...

True, the situations then and now are different, and the opportunity is not
insignificant. But congressional hearings that might be called in open
hostility to our issues don't sound like a promising chance to change minds
on the Hill.

Indeed, reformers may even be missing a key point of the hearings -- they
might not really be about reformers and the drug war at all, but about
Republicans vs. Democrats in an election year. Two months ago Newt Gingrich
brought all the hard-right Republicans he could to the Capitol steps to
announce an election-year commitment to escalating the drug war.
Center-right Democrats like Biden and Clinton's general McCaffrey need a
counter to that -- more, it seems, than they need to hear out drug policy
reform issues and craft a new policy...

-- dave fratello

***

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 18:18:48 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: Phillizy@aol.com
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
Subject: Re: "Legalization" hearings of 1988

In a message dated 98-06-20 10:59:36 EDT, alive wrote:

>I think these hearings would be a great step in the right direction.
>Politics being the glacial change of our world, the R vs. D confrontation
>of who is "toughest" on drugs would be a great dog and pony show.
>
>Even if no reformers are invited to speak, the news will carry the rest of
>the story.

The House had a medical marijuana hearing earlier this year. Professor
Grinspoon testified, and so did Peron; several flunkies from the loyal
opposition testified, as well: a panel of about five witnesses, as I recall.
It was a Republican show start-to-finish. Democrats took a walk, never asked
a question.

Congressman Barr held forth as prime inquisitor and ultimate drug warrior,
mainly trying to discredit Grinspoon. This tactic backfired on Barr, as
Grinspoon literally buried the loyal opposition with his experience and
expertise. Barr backed off on Grinspoon and Peron, and spent the rest of his
time tossing softball questions to the drug war flunkies on the panel.

The Democrats plainly wanted no part of this dog and pony show. They were
having second thoughts about the drug war, and thinking the voters might be
having second thoughts, as well. They may be getting ready to jump ship, and
leave the GOPers swinging in the wind with both nicotine and marijuana.

Lizy

***

From: Rgbakan@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:14:41 EDT
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net, november-l@november.org, drctalk@drcnet.org
Subject: HT: Fwd: : Senator Biden is p*ssed off - a plan to reply
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net
From: Rgbakan@aol.com
Return-path: (Rgbakan@aol.com)
To: conlonkt@mcmail.CIS.McMaster.CA
Subject: : Senator Biden is p*ssed off - a plan to reply
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 15:13:10 EDT

A plan for Biden - and all other congresspersons -

The truth about DARE.- it doesn't work. We need to assemble a very credible and
well documented portfolio - might go along way to change the discussion. Our contention
is basically "it just isn't working" -- starting with DARE is right on message.

[Portland NORML notes - Well, how timely. Go to Portland NORML's new archive
full of information about DARE at: http://www.pdxnorml.org/dare_index.html
It also has a prominent link to DRCNet's similarly large archive on DARE.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------

1988 Drug Legalization Hearings - Review (Jon Gettman, Former Director
Of NORML, Recounts Some Of What Transpired The Last Time Congress
Supposedly Examined US Drug Policy - No Reformers Need Have Applied
For Time At The Podium)

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:16:09 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: Gettman_J@mediasoft.net
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Jon Gettman (Gettman_J@mediasoft.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: 1988 Drug Legalization Hearings - Review

I know a little bit about the 1988 Congressional Hearings on Drug
Legalization. As NORML's National Director at the time I helped prepare
NORML's testimony and monitored the hearings first hand. I also studied
the hearings while working on my masters degree.

Here is one way to characterize the case presented by advocates of the war
on drugs: Four elements are the basis for all governmental programs related
to drug abuse issues -- the danger of certain drugs, the obstinateness of
casual users, the moral dangers caused by drug abuse, and the resulting
need for extreme measures.

The following three tables (see below) provide examples of typical comments
of the time. Some are not from the 1988 hearings, but most are and all are
followed by citations.

The full transcript of the 1988 hearings comprises two volumes and should
be available in many university and state libraries around the country, as
are most congressional hearings. The full citation for the hearings is
contained in the citations below.

While it remains to be seen whether or not the US Senate will schedule new
hearings on this subject, a review of the prior hearings can be useful.
For example. Advocates of the war on drugs testified in support of then
current policies, and predicted that these policies would produce positive
results. Have they? Advocates of reform argued that current policies
would perpetuate and magnify certain costs? Have they?

Also, the existence of the heated debate reflected in 1988 Congressional
testimony contradicts the claim that no one cared about drug legalization
until George Soros began to provide financial support for some drug policy
reform organizations.

These comments of mine, and the excerpts below, in no way summarize the
1988 hearings nor the positions of either side. But I think they will
provide a useful introduction to the 1988 hearings. Only comments in
support of the drug war are provided below. Some of them contain familiar
rhetoric and hyperbole, however many of them reflect concerns that still
ring true today. Reformers must be prepared to address these concerns.
Many are, that's not the point. It's a dynamic challenge.

Jon Gettman

***

Table 1.
Fundamental Drug War Generalizations on Dangerous Drugs.

"The drug kingpins are continuing to cash in on our nation's seemingly
insatiable appetite for deadly drugs." Hon. Benjamin A. Gilman, U.S.
Congress (i)

"Making drugs more affordable and more readily available cannot be anything
but detrimental to our society." Hon. Tom Lewis, U.S. Congress (ii)

"These drugs take away the God-given gift of human potential. They poison
and destroy the body, the mind, and the soul. When even one more citizen
falls prey to the addiction of these substances, we all suffer as a
society." Hon. Solomon Ortiz, U.S. Congress (iii)

"And do you know what happens to a person who seeks treatment and can't get
treatment for three and a half months? That person is going to turn to
crime." Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin, U.S. Congress (iv)

"Studies have found that more exposure and curiosity leads to more usage,
which in turn leads to more and greater addictions. And that is a fact."
Hon. Kweisi Mfume, U.S. Congress (v)

"Everybody knows that crack is now the drug of choice. And Everybody knows
that it induces violent behavior." Hon. Edward I. Koch, mayor, New York
City (vi)

"Drugs themselves, not drug laws, as you have heard so many times, causes
the most damage to society." Hon. John Lawn, Administrator, Drug
Enforcement Administration (vii)

"But most simply, drugs are illegal because they are bad. They are bad for
our society. They are bad for the user. they are bad for those around the
users and for our communities." Arthur C. Eads, chairman of the board,
National District Attorneys Association (viii)

"Drug abusers are driven, self-destructive and out of control. Abuse
lowers self-esteem, erodes character, and prompts behavior that is
anti-social, often violent, frequently criminal, and manifests in almost
absolute indifference to the impact on others." Mitchell Rosenthal, M.D.,
president, Phoenix House (ix)

"(D)rug abusers are irresponsible, self-destructive, and anti-social
people, not all of them perhaps, but too many. They go out of control,
give way to violence. They do not rob and steal and mug only to buy drugs."
Mitchell Rosenthal, M.D., president, Phoenix House (x)

i Gilman, Benjamin (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs:Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p.3.

ii Lewis, Tom (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs:Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 8.

iii Ortiz, Solomon (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs:Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 9.

iv Cardin, Benjamin (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs: Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 23.

v Mfume, Kweisi (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs: Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 24.

vi Koch, Edward (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Impact
and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives (GPO, 1988), p. 57.

vii Lawn, John (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Impact
and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives (GPO, 1988), p. 70.

viii Eads, Arthur (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Impact
and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives (GPO, 1988), p. 73.

ix Rosenthal, Mitchell (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs: Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 108.

x Rosenthal, Mitchell (1988) pg 109.

Table 2.
Drug War Generalizations
Illegal Drug Use as a Moral Danger

"And cocaine abuse rapidly diminishes the ability to function normally, to
hold a job, to keep up with school work, or to sustain responsible social,
sexual, or family relationships." Mitchell Rosenthal, president, Phoenix
House, NY (i)

"It reinforces what we have long known: drug addiction is a chronically
relapsing disorder, and the sad lesson of addiction is that once you to
decide to (sic) start using drugs, it is very difficult to get off drugs."
National Drug Control Strategy (ii)

"These heavy users are at the heart of the drug problem that we read about
in our newspapers and see on television: open-air drug markets, crack
houses, drug-exposed infants, abused and neglected children, gang violence,
decaying neighborhoods, and drive-by shootings." National Drug Control
Strategy (iii)

"Drug dealers often go after public housing because the residents are a
"captive population." National Drug Control Strategy (iv)

"It is reasonable to assume that many drug users in the workplace are, in
fact, addicted and not just casual users." National Drug Control Strateg (yv)

"The accentuated risk of multiple health problems associated with drug and
alcohol use include(s) AIDS, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted
diseases." National Drug Control Strategy (vi)

"It has been suggested that drug and especially crack addiction in pregnant
women is a time bomb that has not yet exploded. Some experts have painted
a dim picture of our society 20 - 30 years from now when we begin to pay
for the fallout of the current drug epidemic in terms of social, medical,
and human costs." National Drug Control Strategy (vii)

"We know the effects of the underground black market drug economy . . .We
know the direct relationship of individuals to organized crime to problems
in schools and truancy and youth, suicides, shootings, robberies, murders,
traffic fatalities, addicted babies, the spread of AIDS, and countless
other public policy difficulties and personal tragedies." Hon. Michael
Oxley, Member of Congress (viii)

"Drugs are diabolical and destructive, not only to the human system, but to
a democratic way of life." Jerald Vaughn, executive director, International
Association of Chiefs of Police (ix)

i Rosenthal, Mitchell (1988) p. 108.

ii National Drug Control Strategy (1992) pg. 4.

iii ibid, p. 6.

iv ibid p. 38.

v ibid, p. 48.

vi ibid, p. 66.

vii ibid, p. 67.

viii Oxley, Michael (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs: Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 6.

ix Vaughn, Jerald (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit Drugs: Impact
and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives (GPO, 1988), p. 76.

Table 3.
Drug War Generalizations
Extreme Measures

"Researchers have found that the threat of criminal justice sanctions
motivate offenders to enter treatment." National Drug Control Strategy (i)

"In general, a network of drug trafficking organizations consists of three
levels. The first, core organizations . . .(they) depend on a variety of
secondary organizations . . .disrupting the secondary organizations is key
to disrupting the entire network . . .Finally, local organizations
distribute the drugs within a localized area."	National Drug Control
Strategy (ii)

"Prohibition in the 20's dramatically decreased average consumption levels
of alcohol. Now average consumption is back to pre-prohibition levels.
This historic perspective clearly illustrates a very important point,
greater availability results in greater use and greater abuse."	John Lawn,
administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (iii)

"We cannot cure drug abusers who are not in treatment. And what brings
them in are disincentives. That is why enforcement at the street level is
so important. That is why the current climate in the country, growing
intolerance for drug use and strong employer drug policies, makes victory
over drugs a realistic expectation." Mitchell Rosenthal, president, Phoenix
House, NY (iv)

"Although individuals are responsible for their choices, actions can be
taken to encourage them to make the right choices." National Drug Control
Strategy (v)

"Experience shows that treatment can work if a drug user remains in
treatment for a sufficient period." National Drug Control Strategyvi

"Recent history has taught us, however, that any relaxation of vigilance
brings the risk of a marked increase in drug use." National Drug Control
Strategy (vii)

"There is evidence that people with addictive disorders often value their
jobs more highly than their families or other social support networks.
Faced with the threat of job loss, the addicted employee is more likely to
seek treatment." National Drug Control Strategy (viii)

"Drug treatment and criminal justice are allies in the fight against drug
use and appropriate actions by the criminal justice system can foster
treatment effectiveness."	National Drug Control Strategy (ix)

"The presence of drugs on our streets and in neighborhoods is the result of
a long and complex process, carefully controlled by networks of drug
trafficking organizations."	National Drug Control Strategy (x)

"Experience has shown that the drug trade is most susceptible to disruption
at its organizational "center of gravity," the traffickers' home country
base of operations." National Drug Control Strategy (xi)

"The principal interdiction objective is to identify and target those
elements of the drug smuggling process that are of highest value to
trafficking organizations." (xii)

"We have hardly declared war against drugs in this country." Hon. Charles
Rangel, U.S. Congress (xiii)

"The policies that we have developed over the years can work if we, in
fact, make the commitments that are needed to make them work. We haven't
done that yet. We have not committed the resources, and we have not made
the commitments as a society that we need." Hon. William J. Hughes, U. S.
Congress (xiv)

"We will be able to turn the tide on drugs as we seek new and preventive
treatment methods coupled with tough laws on drug use and drug
trafficking." Hon. Kwiesi Mfume, U. S. Congress (xv)

"What do you think will happen when the imprimatur of lawfulness,
acceptability is there? Well, people will say, "Listen, if the Government
now says it is okay, it can't be all that bad." Edward Koch, mayor, New
York Cit (yxvi)

"Illegal drugs kill fewer, only because fewer people use them. Keeping
them illegal holds down use." Sue Rusche, National Drug Information Center
(xvii)

i National Drug Control Strategy, (1992) p. 70

ii ibid, p. 79.

iii Lawn, John (1988) p. 70.

iv Rosenthal, Mitchell (1988) p. 109.

v National Drug Control Strategy, (1992) pg. 3.

vi ibid, p. 73.

vii ibid, p. 34.

viii ibid, pp. 48 -49.

ix ibid, p. 70.

x ibid p. 79.

xi ibid, p. 80.

xii ibid, p. 99

xiii Rangel, Charles (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs:Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 1.

xiv Hughes, William (1988) opening statement in "Legalization of Illicit
Drugs:Impact and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee
on Narcotics Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives
(GPO, 1988), p. 10.

xv Mfume, Kweisi (1988) p. 25.

xvi Koch, Edward (1988) p. 59.

xvii Rusche, Sue (1988) testimony in "Legalization of Illicit Drugs:Impact
and Feasibility, Part I", Hearings before the Select Committee on Narcotics
Abuse and Control, United States House of Representatives (GPO, 1988), p.
112..
-------------------------------------------------------------------

What Can I Do? (Medical Marijuana Activist And Best-Selling Author
Peter McWilliams Urges Each And Every Drug Policy Reform Sympathizer
To Set Up A Web Site To Balance US Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey's Goal
Of Spending Taxpayer Money To Create 'As Many Sites As Possible'
Promoting Fear, Misinformation And Intolerance)

***

[Portland NORML notes: The ensuing item seems to err in saying General
McCaffrey's speech took place June 12, two days after the United Nations
Special Session on the drug war adjourned on June 10. McCaffrey actually
spoke to the United Nations on June 9. In any case, a link below will take you
to the text of the actual McCaffrey speech McWilliams quotes from.]

***

From: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
To: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Subject: What can I do?
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 20:03:09 +0100

What can I do?

People often e-mail me, asking, "What can I do to help?" I have not had a
very clear answer - until now, thanks to the prompting of our very own Drug
Czar.

Barry McCaffrey announced on June 12, 1998, his plan for drug warriors to
dominate the Internet by adding a massive number of web sites, all spewing
the party line that "marijuana is not a medicine," "marijuana is more
harmful that alcohol or tobacco," "we can have a drug-free America," and "we're
doing all this for the children."

One of the federal government's four Internet goals announced by McCaffrey
is "Reach target audiences through as many sites as possible." This plan is
not just a random trickle in the War on Drugs, but its new Drug War main
stream. "As stated in the U.S. 1998 National Drug Control Strategy,"
McCaffrey said before the United Nations, "our principal drug-control goal
is to educate our sixty eight [sic] million children about illegal drugs and
enable them to reject such drugs."

The four avenues McCaffrey outlined: advertising (spending $1 billion in tax
dollars on ads over the next five years), making nice with the entertainment
media "Involve industry leaders and creators of entertainment programming,"
"build and maintain ongoing relationships with regional, national, and
international media developing the news," and the Internet.

How many sites could "as many sites as possible" be? Let's consider the
potential. With sites selling for, say, $100 per year and the federal
government spending $17 billion a year on drug control, that's a potential
170 million sites. If the states throw in their 17 billion Drug War dollars,
that's 340 million sites. This is the extreme, of course. Most of the $34
billion gets spent on locking people up, and they're not about to stop doing
that. But even if they spend only $1 billion on it, as they are with the
advertising prong of the agenda, that's still 10 million sites. Imagine
looking up "MEDICAL MARIJUANA" or "DRUGS" on the Internet and having to wade
through the static of 10 million deceptive sites.

We must respond (and the word is respond-we're not starting this) with as
many separate sites about drug reform as possible.

If you want to do something, please start a separate homepage devoted to
drug reform. Whether your personal cause is medical marijuana, the reform of
marijuana laws, or bringing peace to the entire War on Drugs, please
establish a separate site based on your beliefs. Start with your personal
statement on the subject. Then link to all the drug reform sites you find to
be truthful and informative.

This is not a battle of us Vs. them. It is a battle of truth Vs. lies.

(McCaffrey's complete Internet plan follows this letter. His full speech is
at: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/speeches/ungass2.html )

Other important activities, I think, include writing letters to editors,
educating reporters who repeat Drug War propaganda verbatim (most can be
reached by phone), and calling into radio and television talk shows.

Communicating with people one-on-one, the people with whom we share our
lives, is essential. Once one sees the light-that the biggest problem is
prohibition, not drugs-it's hard to turn back. We need more lights lit, and
that's best done one at a time.

Finally, if you can afford it, donate money. McCaffrey testified before
Congress on June 18, 1998: "There is a carefully camouflaged, exorbitantly
funded, well-heeled elitist group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug
use in the United States."

Hardly.

The drug reform movement, and the medical marijuana moment in particular, is
horrendously underfunded. Unlike the federal government that has unlimited
funding and no workable ideas, the reform movement has lots of workable
ideas, but little funding to implement them. Every dollar donated to a drug
reform group or to a defense fund is an investment in our freedom. I know
that sounds like a U.S. Savings Bonds commercial, but it's true. We
sometimes forget what freedom costs. Thomas Jefferson laid it out at the
close of the Declaration of Independence: "we mutually pledge to each other
our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

Who can follow Jefferson?

Take good care.

Enjoy,

Peter McWilliams

MCCAFREY'S "INTERNET" PLANS, JUNE 12, 1998, BEFORE THE UNITED NATION:

During the past five years, the use of Internet and other new interactive
media has grown at a tremendous rate. For many of us, the Internet has
become an important source of information and entertainment. It can be an
effective way to reach target audiences, and information retrieval by users
can be measured in unprecedented ways. It also provides a powerful tool for
coordinating activity and building collaboration. As many as eighty million
Americans are likely to be "on line" by the end of this year; approximately
half will use the Internet daily. Similarly, more than a third of
adolescents currently use on-line services while 90 percent will have
Internet access through schools by 1999. ONDCP's has four principles for
dealing with interactive media.

a. Generate Web information with which young people will interact.
Recognize that young people use the Internet as a "social medium."

b. Offer transactional opportunities to users who are frequently in the
"action mode" when on-line.

c. Reach target audiences through as many sites as possible.

d.. Extend the reach of the campaign beyond advertising by integrating
mainstream youth Web sites and other digital media such as CD-ROM.
Full speech at:

http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/news/speeches/ungass2.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Senate Kills Tobacco Bill After Fierce Debate (The 'Standard Times'
In Massachusetts Says The McCain Bill And Its Proposed Prohibitionary Taxes
Died Yesterday In The Senate As Supporters Failed On Two Successive Votes
To Keep The Bill Alive)

From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: "MN" 
Subject: MN: US: WA: Senate Kills Tobacco Bill After Fierce Debate
Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 00:30:28 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Thursday 18 June 1998
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Author: David Espo

SENATE KILLS TOBACCO BILL AFTER FIERCE DEBATE

WASHINGTON -- Legislation to curb teen smoking and regulate nicotine died
yesterday in the Senate.

Measure supporters failed on two successive votes to keep the bill alive.
The first effort fell three votes shy; the second seven.

Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi countered for Republicans who
argued that the measure had become a big government, "tax and spend" bill.
"We've lost sight of the original noble cause of just dealing with teen-age
smoking and drug abuse," he said.

Hours before the vote, Clinton made a final appeal to "protect the children
and not the tobacco lobby."

He said he and other Democrats met critics "more than halfway" in agreeing
to cut taxes and add anti-drug provisions. "Now, if there is a move to kill
or gut this legislation, there can be no possible explanation other than the
intense pressure and the awesome influence fueled by years of huge
contributions of Big Tobacco," he said.

Rejection of the bill would cause an unpredictable chain of political and
legal events.

Democrats are certain to raise the issue this fall against Republicans,
while tobacco companies would be open to more lawsuits. The fate of the
settlement several states reached with the industry to end their lawsuits is
unclear.

That agreement sparked the drive to write legislation in the Senate, but
election-year politics and other forces swiftly intruded.

A proposal to grant limited liability protection to the tobacco companies
was stripped from the bill on the Senate floor as lawmakers sought a way to
show voters they were willing to be tough on an industry that markets its
products to teen-agers.

As drafted, the measure would raise the price of cigarettes by $1.10 a pack.
The money would help states pay their smoking-related health care costs,
finance anti-smoking advertising and pay for health research.

At the insistence of Republicans, the measure now includes an election-year
tax cut for couples making less than $50,000, a series of anti-drug
provisions and a cap on fees for lawyers participating in lawsuits against
the tobacco industry.

Clinton and Democrats sought to frame the debate as a question of choosing
children over cigarette makers.

Pointing to teen-age messengers at the foot of the Senate rostrum, Sen.
Joseph Biden, D-Del., said their peer group would be targets for tobacco
marketing. The industry, he said, would "consciously attempt to addict them
to nicotine."

Republicans said the truth was different, that they, too, favor cracking
down on teen smoking, but that the bill had gotten out of hand.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Fear And Loathing At City Hall (Columnist James McKinnon In Victoria,
British Columbia's 'Monday Magazine' Finds Hypocrisy In The Victoria
City Council's Decision To Yank The Business Licence Of Ian Hunter's
Sacred Herb Hemp Store After Hunter Was Found Guilty Of Engaging
In Several Acts Of Civil Disobedience Against Canadian Pot Prohibition)

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 1998 02:39:05 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Canada: Fear And Loathing At City Hall
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Pubdate: June 18-24, 1998
Source: Monday Magazine (Victoria, BC, Canada)
Contact: editorial@monday.com
Author: James McKinnon

FEAR AND LOATHING AT CITY HALL

In Victoria, civil disobedience is bad business

Edge Wise by James McKinnon

Chief of police Doug Richardson looked like he could use a quadruple whiskey.

He wasn't the only one. Each city councillor's face was a mask of discomfort
as they gathered last Thursday to address a most unseemly matter. MARIJUANA.

Gripping the podium, Richardson began pressing his case that city hall
should refuse to renew Ian Hunter's business licence.

Hunter's crisp white suit could not conceal his crimes, after all. He'd been
convicted for openly growing pot and selling marijuana seeds as an act of
civil disobedience, and for having traces of magic mushrooms in the office
of his Johnson Street hemp shop, Sacred Herb. Furthermore, one of his
employees had sold pot to an undercover cop.

Though the courts had not linked Hunter or his shop to the larger crime, the
courts had still found him to be a heinous nogoodnik. For disgusting the
morals of good people everywhere, he had been served a fine of...$500.

With the charges laid before them, several councillors looked as though
they'd never exhaled. A contemptuous flexing of jowls began - perhaps
explained by the fact that they were about to take a bong hit of Grade A
hypocrisy.

It wasn't going to be easy to condemn Hunter. Even those few bureaucrats
whose minds are unaffected by the '60s "experience" could not recall even
one other business licence being brought before council for any comparable
reason. Restaurants with poor food-safety records had never suffered similar
persecution; nor had grocery stores caught selling cigarettes to kids, nor
vendors of questionable meats. In fact, Hunter had to be found even more
shocking to community standards than prostitutes who are legally welcome to
buy a business licence, even though their business can't be practised
without a crime being committed.

To nix Hunter's business licence, then, he had to be declared more than an
exception. He had to be proven a freakish aberration, like a circus clown
with a smack habit, or a John Denver tribute band.

But hypocrisy is a dangerous drug - like a barbiturate stirred into Mexican
brandy - and its addicts get shirty when they're jonesing for a fix.

When the defence had been heard - including the usual ululations comparing
dope-head persecution to blacks' struggle for civil rights - the councillors
promptly made to shut out the public and hang Hunter in private.

Eyes cool as a yeti's, councillor David McLean declared the debate should be
public. Councillor Bob Friedland agreed. With no one to enable his penchant
for secrecy, mayor Bob Cross lurched forward, his jaw sweating as he scanned
the public gallery.

"There may be acid-crazed hippies out there," his eyes seemed to say. "Who
knows how they'll respond when the hammer comes down? In my neighbourhood in
Metchosin, we know how to keep the granolas out of the garden. I'd give my
right wing for a barrel full of buckshot!"

Then each councillor stood to speak his or her piece.

"Guilty," deadpanned McLean, Helen Hughes, Jane Lunt, Chris Coleman, Bea
Holland and, later, Cross. Civil disobedience or not, Hunter's cannabis
crimes were linked to his shop. He was not Chamber of Commerce material.

But in the midst of the lynching stood Geoff Young, the city's most
unpredictable beancounter.

"We are being asked to impose a remedy which is far, far greater - that is
Mr. Hunter's livelihood and his ability to operate in this city - than the
one the courts provide," he said.

With the city manager and solicitor squirming in their seats, Young
continued his heresy. The court's small fine seemed out of whack with the
effort the police put into snooping around Hunter's business licence, he
noted. What if every business was just as thoroughly investigated? Surely a
few tightly rolled joints, a mysterious mushroom or two would turn up in the
desks of even respectable citizens.

I felt a hallucinatory lightness, the momentary sense that Victoria might
make it through this witch-hunt without becoming a laughing-stock.

But then the vote came down. Only Young, Friedland, and Pamela Madoff voted
to support Hunter's freedom to do business. The Sacred Herb will be shut down.

Stumbling home, I found this city had once again sapped me the optimism that
comes with tolerance. I needed a pick-me-up. Perhaps a cuppa of traditional
opium tea?

Ahhh.

Much better.

What's that noise? Sirens? Have they come at last for my business licence?
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Drug 'Gateway' Theory Simply Scare Tactic (Letter To The Editor
Of 'The Ottawa Citizen' By Vancouver, British Columbia Police Constable
Gil Puder Responds To The Fearmongering Of Canadian Revenue Minister
Herb Dhaliwal)

From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: PUB LTE: Drug 'gateway' theory simply scare tactic
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 08:33:40 -0700
Lines: 29
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca
Pubdate: Thursday 18 June 1998

Drug 'gateway' theory simply scare tactic

I'm embarrassed when a parliamentarian from our part of the country
stoops to fearmongering, as Revenue Minister Herb Dhaliwal did with
his comments on decriminalization of marijuana. His "gateway'' theory,
that marijuana leads to hard drug use, has been repeatedly refuted by
scientific research, and is simply an unethical scare tactic.

Being a politician, he might want to review the 1997 Angus Reid poll
showing that 63 per cent of British Columbians favour
decriminalization. When that body of voters realizes that Mr.
Dhaliwal's department is taking their money to prohibit cannabis
(which courts are regularly finding not to be a public health
concern), he might be out of a job.

Forcing people into a black market is what exposes people to dangerous
substances, and enriches the criminal gangs that Mr. Dhaliwal's
department simply can't compete with. I hope Mr. Dhaliwal proves to be
a good accountant, because on the marijuana issue he is merely
plumbing the depths of his own ignorance.

Gil Puder,

Vancouver
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Girls Will Be . . . Boys - And It's Not A Pretty Sight ('The Toronto Star'
Says A New Report By An Alliance Of 77 US Universities Shows Girls
Are Behaving More Like Boys, Having Virtually Caught Up In Math
Performance, But They Are Now Smoking, Drinking And Using Drugs
As Often As Boys Their Age)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 09:43:47 -0400
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Dave Haans 
Subject: TorStar: Girls will be . . . boys - and it's not a pretty sight
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Source: The Toronto Star
Pubdate: Thursday, June 18, 1998
Page: A1
Website: http://www.thestar.ca
Contact: LetterToEd@thestar.ca
Authors: Barbara Vobejda and Linda Perlstein

Girls will be . . . boys - and it's not a pretty sight

So says a new report by 77 U.S. universities

By Barbara Vobejda and Linda Perlstein

Special to The Star

A generation after a great rethinking of gender roles and the forces that
classify children by their sex, the results are in: girls are behaving more
like boys - and it isn't always a pretty picture.

Girls have virtually caught up with boys in math performance and have
closed the gap considerably in science. But they are now smoking, drinking
and using drugs as often as boys their age. And though they're not nearly
as violent as boys, girls are increasingly more likely to find their way
into trouble with the law.

A status report released yesterday by an alliance of 77 university and
other research centres describes young females in the United States as a
population stepping out of many traditional stereotypes that have defined
girls for generations. And that, it is becoming clear, can be both good and
bad.

``Adolescent girls are getting more of a sense of entitlement in healthy
ways and feeling bolder, but some may be acting this out in ways that are
not so healthy,'' said Lynn Phillips, author of The Girls Report, which
compiled the most recent research on girls from hundreds of academic and
government sources. ``There are ways we want girls to catch up with boys,
but there are also ways we want boys to catch up with girls.''

Some of the progress girls have made comes from public policies and private
efforts - to enhance math, science and sports programs for girls, for
example. But more subtle social pressures have also had an effect, pushing
girls to follow the less desirable patterns set by boys in other ways.

While 13 per cent of Grade 8 girls reported smoking in 1991, the report
shows, that figure increased to 21 per cent in 1996, a faster increase than
that for boys. And nearly 17 per cent of Grade 8 girls used marijuana in
1996, compared with just over 5 per cent in 1991.

In its report, the National Council for Research on Women also found:

* While girls are still less likely than boys to be arrested for violent
crimes, the rate at which they are being arrested for these crimes
increased faster than that for boys between 1986 and 1995.

* Girls participate in a wider range of sports and exercise more than ever
before, but they still lag far behind boys. And a U.S. federal study found
that the percentage of senior high school girls participating in sports
declined from 46 per cent in 1980 to 41 per cent a decade later, while male
participation remained even at 63 per cent.

* After years of concern about girls trailing boys in math performance, a
1996 test administered by the U.S. education department found no
significant differences between average scores for Grade 8 and 12 girls and
boys.

* In science, girls perform about as well as boys until Grade 12, when
boys' average scores pull ahead and more boys excel in science.

Although much of what the new report documents are the problems that face
girls, it also challenges many popular stereotypes. It questions, for
example, the notion that adolescent girls are doomed to go through a period
of low self-esteem or that the teen years are inevitably filled with anger
and stress.

It also makes clear that, despite their convergence with boys on some
measures, in many important ways, girls remain very different.

They are twice as likely to be depressed as boys, for example. And a U.S.
federal survey of high school students found that 34 per cent of girls see
themselves as overweight, compared with 22 per cent of boys. Nearly two out
of three of the girls were attempting to lose weight.

Racial differences among girls are important in many instances. African
American girls, for example, have more positive perceptions of their own
bodies than do white and Hispanic girls.

And black girls are significantly less likely to smoke than girls of other
races or African American boys.

They also found that girls are frequently the victims of violent crime. It
cited studies estimating that between one-third and one-fourth of girls are
sexually victimized by the time they finish high school. That includes a
range of experiences from rape to sexual harassment.

And nearly two-thirds of rape victims are under 17, the report said.

THE WASHINGTON POST
-------------------------------------------------------------------

RCMP Caper Latest Indictment Of Justice System (Letter To The Editor
Of 'The Ottawa Citizen' Says The Newspaper's Coverage
Of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Reverse-Sting Money Laundering
Operation Shows There Are Two Levels Of Justice In Canada -
One For The Average Citizen And A 'Carte Blanche' System For The Wealthy,
The Police And The Government)

From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: LTE: RCMP caper latest indictment of justice system
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 08:32:19 -0700
Lines: 38
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Ottawa Citizen
Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca
Pubdate: Thursday 18 June 1998

RCMP caper latest indictment of justice system

Thomas Mann
The Ottawa Citizen

I am very pleased with the coverage of the RCMP reverse-sting money
laundering "caper." Here's a fine example of two levels of justice in
Canada: One for the average citizen and a "carte blanche" system for
the wealthy, the police or the government.

The law must simply be the law -- period.

With luck, this investigative report will inspire further exploration
of similarly deceitful policing. At least in the money exchange case
the commodity involved was currency. Many more examples can be
reported of police using and selling illicit drugs, or of Canadians
being sacrificed and unjustly incarcerated domestically and abroad in
the name of so-called justice. Wrongfully convicted prisoners in
Canada don't just include murder suspects such as Donald Marshall and
David Milgaard.

I applaud Citizen reporter Andrew MacIntosh. I sincerely hope stories
like this will encourage public support to demand a truer, more
accountable justice system. Let's end "us" and "them" legalities.
Let's rally for a more common sensible, results-driven national drug
strategy, rather than today's insanely expensive, revenge-driven
fiasco. Let's help end drug abuse, rather than fueling huge police
budgets and incarceration rates.

Thomas Mann,

Ottawa
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Reefer Sadness (Staff Editorial In 'The Calgary Sun'
About The Conviction Tuesday Of Multiple Sclerosis Patient Grant Krieger
For Trafficking Marijuana Says That, If Marijuana Is Legalized For Medical
Purposes, There Must Be Tight Legal Controls, Similar To Ones In Place
For Addictive Painkillers Like Morphine)

From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: Editorial: Reefer Sadness
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 08:30:44 -0700
Lines: 54
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Calgary Sun
Contact: callet@sunpub.com
Pubdate: June 18, 1998

Reefer sadness

Talk about a potty concept.

Those who break the law to fire up support for decriminalization of
marijuana for medicinal purposes are just blowing smoke.

Grant Krieger, a multiple sclerosis victim convicted Tuesday of
possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking, has vowed to
keep selling pot as medicine.

Judge Robert Davie didn't buy Krieger's argument that medical users
should be able to grow and distribute cannabis. The judge ruled
dissemination of drugs is restricted to doctors and pharmacists for
the protection of society.

We couldn't agree more, but sympathize -- to a degree -- with
Krieger's attempts to draw attention to the issue. There is evidence
cannabis helps sufferers of MS, glaucoma, AIDS and other afflictions.

Federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan says the government is already
looking at decriminalization for medical purposes. The last three
words are key here. If marijuana is legalized for medical purposes,
there must be tight legal controls -- similar to ones in place for
addictive painkillers like morphine.

Legalization advocates are simply enjoying brightly colored pipe
dreams if they believe otherwise.

Imagine the prospect of a merry bunch of marijuana growers using and
selling it for ailments as varied as lower back pain, headaches and
"havin' a bad day, man."

There are very valid reasons why marijuana remains illegal, despite
decades of effort by the pot lobby.

It causes impairment similar to alcohol. Long-term use leads to
lethargy and lack of motivation. We need only look at cultures where
cannabis use is widespread to witness its sad impact.

If it is legalized for "medical purposes only," strict controls are
needed to prevent it becoming a conduit for recreational users.

Even California, that mecca of drug use, has recently cut the flow
for medicinal purposes because of inadequate restrictions.

Those who believe decriminalization for medical purposes will be a
painless, uncomplicated process had better clear away the smoky haze
and take a hard look at reality.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

More Teenagers Using Marijuana ('The Age' In Australia
Says A National Survey On Drug Use Released Yesterday
Suggests More Teenagers Are Trying Marijuana - 41 Per Cent
Of 14- To 19-Year-Olds - The Same Survey Suggests Most 16- And 17-Year-Olds
Drink Alcohol, And That One In Five Is A Regular Heavy Drinker)

Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 02:56:17 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Australia: More Teenagers Using Marijuana
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Ken Russell
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: The Age (Australia)
Contact: letters@fairfax.theage.com.au
Author: Darren Gray

MORE TEENAGERS USING MARIJUANA

More teenagers are experimenting with marijuana, with 41 per cent of 14 to
19-year-olds having tried it, according to a national drug study released
yesterday.

The 1985-95 report on patterns of drug use, also shows a significant level
of under-age drinking in Australia.

Most 16 and 17-year-olds drink alcohol and one in five is a regular heavy
drinker, according to the report. One in three 14 and 15-year-olds has tried
alcohol and one in four is a moderate drinker.

While the report reveals worrying figures on teenage drinking, the overall
number of Australians who do not drink has increased to one in five, and the
proportion of heavy drinkers has declined.

Tobacco consumption has declined among heavy smokers and smoking is becoming
less common among adolescents.

Men remain more likely to smoke than women, but the gap is closing. Thirty
per cent of men smoke, compared to 25 per cent of women, the report said.
Smoking rates for men have declined since World War II and remained stable
for women.

The federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said he was concerned
that some people considered marijuana safe.

"There's mounting evidence to show that psychiatric disorders might be
unmasked, for example. I find that very scary," he said.

A co-author of the report, Professor Ian McAllister, said it contained mixed
news for Australians. "In terms of the illicit drugs, most of the major ones
are readily available to people if they want them. And significant
proportions of people reported that they have been offered them at some
stage in their lives," he said.

The report found that most people using heroin did so irregularly, with 86
per cent saying they used it less than once a year. The heroin users were
most likely to be men in their 20s.

The report also referred to a "significant" link between unemployment and
heroin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

150,000 Teens Smoking Dope (Version In Australia's 'Herald Sun')

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 19:33:30 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service 
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Australia: 150,000 Teens Smoking Dope
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Ken Russell
Source: Herald Sun (Australia)
Contact: hseditor@ozemail.com.au
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Author: Helen Carter, medical reporter

150,000 TEENS SMOKING DOPE

NEARLY one in three Australian adolescents smoked marijuana in the past
year, an alarming report says.

Almost half of teenagers have tried the drug and more than 10 per cent or
150,000 smoke dope once a week or more.

The report said children were starting to smoke cannabis at younger ages
with 18 per cent of those under 15 having tried it, up 14 per cent from 1993.

Worrying trends on tobacco smoking also were revealed, including news that
43 per cent of women in their 20s smoke cigarettes.

And smoking rates for women in their 30s have jumped to one in three.

Women who are single, divorced or work in manual jobs also have high rates.

Australian Medical Association president David Brand said at least doubling
the price of cigarettes would deter young people from smoking.

"We want cigarettes to cost at least two times what they do now - $10 or
$20 for a pack - that will have the biggest impact on young people," he said.

Another shock finding was that by 1995, 26 per cent of female adolescents
and 15 per cent of male adolescents were classed as heavy drinkers - males
who had five or more drinks a session or females who had three or more.

Despite a decline in binge drinking overall and a slight drop among
adolescents, adolescent binge drinking rates were still 12 per cent
compared with 5percent for adults.

About 15,000 Australians were asked about their drug use in Patterns of
Drug Use in Australia 1985-95.

Launched yesterday by federal Health Minister Michael Wooldridge, the
report combined results from five national drug surveys.

Smoking remained the biggest drug killer, causing more than seven in 10
drug deaths.

Although the proportion of smokers dropped slightly since 1985 - a 6 per
cent drop for males and 5percent for females - 30 per cent of men and 25
per cent of women still smoke.

Heavy smoking - those smoking 20 or more a day - declined by one third.
Highest rates were among the divorced and separated, followed by those who
were single.

Teenagers were waiting longer before starting - up six months to 14.9 for
boys and 16.4 for girls.

Alcohol remained the most-used drug, with just under half the population,
47 per cent, regularly drinking at least one day a week.

Non-drinking is up, with the number of teetotallers rising from 15 per cent
to 20 per cent.

The frequency of drinking among men and women also fell. More men drink
only one to three days a month now than in 1988.

Women who drink often - four to seven days a week - dropped from 21 per
cent to 19 per cent.

Illicit drug use, apart from marijuana, has remained stable or dropped. Men
are about twice as likely as women to use illegal drugs.

Heroin availability declined from 1985 to 1991 but use remained stable.

Amphetamine users rose from 2 per cent since 1988 to 8 per cent of people.

Cocaine use, at 3 per cent, was stable.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Anti-Drug Book Misguided (A Physician's Letter To 'The Evening Post'
In Wellington, New Zealand, Criticizes Its News Story
Promoting A Sensational New Prohibitionist Book As Counterproductive)
Link to earlier story
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 05:15:58 EDT Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org Reply-To: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org From: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn) To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org) Subject: NZ: PUB: Anti-drug book misguided Newshawk: david.hadorn@vuw.ac.nz Source: The Evening Post (Wellington, NZ) Pubdate: June 18, 1998 Contact: editor@evpost.co.nz Author: David Hadorn Author's note: The Post's editor, Suzanne Carty, took the rare step of appending a rejoinder to my letter, which she does to only about a letter a month or so. And that's usually to answer a question, not to rebut the author. Ms Carty and I have had an ongoing correspondence (including one meeting) on this topic, which might in part explain her action. But I can't help but feel that her rather wanton labeling of me as "pro-marijuana" - whereas my letter is obviously only anti-prohibition and anti-lies - is virtually an invitation to follow up with another letter (which I surely will). It'll be a pleasure explaining why SHE is the one who has missed the point. DH *** Anti-drug book misguided By choosing to promote (in the guise of a news story) the latest sensational anti-drugs book (Drug epidemic on way - book (The Post, May 20), you once again ill-serve our young people. As informed drug educators know, several major studies have shown that the sort of rhetorical excesses and exaggerated anti-drug messages contained in this book actually increase drug use by young people. The Post has previously been made aware of this research information. Instead of fueling the fires of teenage curiosity with strident claims that the sky is falling (which tends to make skeptical teenagers want to rush outside and look up), society should strive to make cannabis boring - something used by (some) parents and other "old people". This has happened in The Netherlands, where 22 years of normalised cannabis sales to adults has reduced both cannabis and hard drug use by teenagers to among the lowest levels in the developed world. The authors of Drug Precipice wish us to believe that any method of drug control other than strict prohibition would "make things worse overall". Like anti-drugs campaigners everywhere, these authors ignore the mountain of scholarly evidence showing that prohibition is in fact the source - directly or indirectly - of most of the harms produced by illicit drug use. This is especially true of cannabis. Perhaps the Post was correct in thinking that publication of Drug Precipice was newsworthy. But the true significance of the story is this: the sort of scare-tactic anti-drug messages known to increase drug use by children continue to be tolerated - even promoted - by societies on both sides of the Tasman. David Hadorn Northland [Ed's note: Dr Hadorn, who is director of the Drug Policy Forum, is missing the point. The Reuters' report from Sydney quoted the views of the authors who are as entitled to their anti-cannabis views as Dr Hadorn is to his pro-marijuana stance. - Editor]
-------------------------------------------------------------------

A Hero Returns Home To New Zealand (A Press Release From The New Zealand
Government Featuring A Statement By Customs Minister Tuariki Delamere
About His Speech At The Recent United Nations Special Assembly
To Expand The Global Drug War - Plus Commentary)

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 04:46:18 EDT
Errors-To: manager@drcnet.org
Reply-To: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz
Originator: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
To: Multiple recipients of list (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: A hero returns home to New Zealand

Fellow drug policy activists/scholars,

Surfing the local press-release wire a short while ago I came across this
release from New Zealand Associate Minister of Health, Hon John Tuariki
Delamere, who spoke at the recent UNGASS on behalf of New Zealand. As I
understand from someone who attended the symposium (Dr John Marks, a new
trustee of the NZ Drug Policy Forum Trust), Mr Delamere was the ONLY
delegate to UNGASS who referred to the failure of the war on drugs or who
used the word "hypocrisy" in the appropriate way. Mr Delamere deserves a
tremendous amount of credit for his bold statements, carrying as they did
the light of truth and rationality into the very belly of the beast.

In speaking out against the war on drugs Mr Delamere (who is also Customs
Minister) is noticeably out of step with the current NZ coalition
government, of which he is a front-bencher. The Coalition is ruled by
arch-prohibitionist Prime Minister Jenny Shipley; Associate PM Winston
Peters, head of the New Zealand First party (to which Delamere belongs), has
ducked the issue since coming to power (mostly by saying "we have more
important things to worry about"), but not long before the election in 1996
he called for a public referendum on cannabis law reform. The other
Associate Minister of Health, Roger Sowry, BTW, is quite close-minded on the
issue of cannabis law reform (he's agin' it), but to his credit he did not
raise any noticeable objection to Delamere's speech, which he surely
previewed. I don't know if Ms Shipley previewed the speech; I would guess not.

Anyway, since hearing the news of Mr Delamere's speech I wondered if he
would be forced to dissemble to some extent upon returning into the
anti-reform fold, but from his press release (below) it seems not. Indeed,
he appears to be wearing his recent statements as a badge of honour, as well
he should.

As an interesting footnote, the new head of the NZ Drug Foundation, Sally
Jackman, upon hearing the news of Mr Delamere's statements immediately sent
letters supportive of Delamere to the editors of the newspapers that ran the
story of Delamere's speech (like the Dominion's story, 'Delamere denounces
drug hypocrisy'), including all the majors except the (Wgtn) Evening Post,
whose editor, Suzanne Carty, is another arch-prohibitionist. (See my recent
LTE to the EP, posted separately.) I doubt the previous NZDF director would
have done this. Ms Jackman (whom I have had the pleasure of meeting a
couple of times) was at the outset of her recent appointment a novice in the
field of drug policy, but she has quickly figured out what the issues are
and where truth and rationality reside. It is my hope that she will be able
to lead the Foundation into a position of greater influence in advocating
for drug law reform.

This is all by way of prelude to the following press release. In a
nutshell, it provides a further ray of hope that New Zealand might (as in my
fondest dream) help lead the world out of the deadly and insane
international war on drugs.


David Hadorn, M.D.
Director, NZ Drug Policy Forum Trust

***

Hon Tuariki Delamere: Column on Drugs
Thursday, 18 June 1998, 9:48 am
Press Release: New Zealand Government

One of the occupational hazards of being a politician is having people
constantly attack you for being dishonest.

So it was a real pleasure for me personally after addressing the
United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs
recently, to be approached by delegates from several countries,
congratulating New Zealand on having the courage and integrity to
speak out plainly and honestly on dealing with the world drug trade.

Speaking for New Zealand, I told the UN that we were helping ease
the problems of drug abuse through a methadone programme and a
needle exchange scheme. A few quotes:

I believe that our efforts to strike a balance between supply control,
demand reduction, and the management of drug problems have
helped us to reduce significantly the harm associated with illicit drugs
in New Zealand.

For example, there has been a steady increase in the number of
people seeking treatment in methadone programmes.

We have significantly increased the number of people receiving
methadone over the last three years. Many of these people have not
only reduced their illicit drug use and needle-sharing, but have
stabilised their family and working lives, reduced their involvement in
criminal activity, and generally improved their health status.

We consider that the introduction of a needle exchange programme a
decade ago has also helped to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS
amongst injecting drug users.

New Zealand's infection rate of less than 1% is one of the lowest in
the world.

We are only now beginning to understand just how important this
relatively simple and inexpensive programme has been in terms of
helping to protect the public health of all New Zealanders.

I note that there are those who vehemently oppose methadone or
needle exchange programmes. For me, the answer ?well, it works?
seems to be the best response to these critics, who I suspect would
have us blindly march down the road towards a "war on drugs" a
philosophy which many consider hasn't worked.

A further point I was keen to emphasise was the question of being
honest with our young people about the dangers of drugs.

As the speech said:

.....if we are going to stand a chance in convincing our young people
about the risks of drug use, we need to address the hypocrisy that
young people see when adults, even politicians, occasionally openly
and legally abuse alcohol, then turn around and condemn youth for
using marijuana. This sort of hypocrisy makes young people switch
off, and you can't really blame them.

Now, these sentiments seem like plain commonsense to me, but it
was remarkable to see so many other speakers at the UN deliver
grand sounding speeches, but with little content. New Zealand's
contribution really stood out and it was pleasing to have that
acknowledged.

The abuse of drugs is a true destroyer of our families and our
communities. Every practical step we can take towards ending that
abuse is another step on the path towards a better life for all New
Zealanders.

The message from the UN was: honesty and action, not empty
grandstanding and hyprocritical moralising, are the keys to success in
fighting the illicit drug plague.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Delamere Drug Sense (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Dominion'
In Wellington, New Zealand, From The Drug Policy Foundation
Of New Zealand Praises The Recent Statements By Customs Minister
Tuariki Delamere At The United Nations General Assembly On Drugs)

Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 02:56:59 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: New Zealand: PUB LTE: Delamere Drug Sense
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: David.Hadorn@vuw.ac.nz (David Hadorn)
Pubdate: Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: The Dominion (Wellington NZ)
Contact: editor@dominion.co.nz

DELAMERE DRUG SENSE

The Drug Foundation wishes to record its support for recent statements by
Customs Minister Tuariki Delamere at the United Nations General Assembly on
Drugs.

Mr Delamere said New Zealand drug policies aim to reduce the harm caused by
drug-taking, as well as trying to stop it happening.

For example, our needle-swapping scheme has kept the HIV infection rate
amongst drug users one of the lowest anywhere. This contrasts with the
United States "war on drugs" approach, which sees needle exchange as
condoning drug use.

The United Nations has recognised the need for alternative economic
development in drug-producing countries and reduction of demand in consuming
countries.

The Drug Foundation is keen to contribute its experience to international
efforts that New Zealand makes in this regard.

We applaud Mr Delamere and his colleagues for their support of an expanded
range of international responses to drug problems. We should also keep
working at finding our own solutions, remembering that there is no "easy fix".

Sally Jackman Executive director Drug Foundation
-------------------------------------------------------------------

British Drug Company To Study Marijuana ('Reuters' Update
On Last Week's Story About GW Pharmaceuticals Being Awarded
Two Licenses To Cultivate Marijuana With The Aim Of Investigating
Medical Uses Of Cannabis Derivatives)

Date: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 01:06:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: theHEMPEROR@webtv.net (JR Irvin)
To: NTList@fornits.com
From: ntlist
Subject: [ntlist] British drug company to study marijuana
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 22:11:04 EDT
Errors-To: jnr@insightweb.com
Reply-To: friends@freecannabis.org
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
Sender: friends@freecannabis.org
From: Tim Perkins 
To: Multiple recipients of list 
Subject: British drug company to study marijuana

Thursday June 18 1:07 PM EDT

British drug company to study marijuana

LONDON, Jun 18 (Reuters) -- Britain has awarded two licenses to a new
company, GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd, to cultivate marijuana with the aim of
investigating medical uses of derivatives of the plant, the company announced
last week.

GW Pharmaceuticals will make extracts of cannabis sativa, determine the
best nonsmoking method for delivery of the drug and provide material for
research, according to a statement issued by Dr. Geoffrey Guy, the
company's founder. The company is applying for a product license from
Britain's drug regulator, the Medicines Control Agency (MCA).

"There is a considerable body of evidence to suggest that cannabis may
have a number of medicinal uses: for the relief of pain and spasticity
in multiple sclerosis; for pain relief in other neurological disorders, such
as paraplegia and neuralgia; as an appetite stimulant in treating AIDS
patients with wasting disease; for the prevention of nausea and vomiting
associated with cancer chemotherapy; and in the eye disease, glaucoma,"
said Guy in the statement. "But there have been very few systematic
research programmes or controlled clinical trials. Our aim will be to
establish the medical facts."

A spokeswoman for Britain's Home Office, which enforces the country's
drug laws, told Reuters Health, "If and when the benefits of a
cannabis-based medicine are scientifically demonstrated and a
marketing authorisation is issued by the MCA, the government would
be willing to propose amendments to the misuse of drugs legislation to
allow the prescription of such a medicine."

Dr. Bill O'Neill, science adviser to the British Medical Association,
said that the physicians' group welcomed the government's decision to
award licenses to GW Pharmaceuticals.

"We are very pleased that a company has come forward to try and produce
the (cannabinoid) derivatives," he told Reuters Health. "While we welcome
this, we do not in any way see it as a move toward the decriminalization of
cannabis," O'Neill added.

The research work will be carried out at secure facilities in the UK,
according to GW Pharmaceuticals. The company has recently negotiated a
collaboration agreement with the Dutch firm, HortaPharm BV, which has
experience cultivating and standardizing cannabis sativa for medicinal
purposes. GW Pharmaceuticals hopes to expand internationally with the help
of researchers from universities and other pharmaceutical companies.

Thursday June 18 1:07 PM EDT
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Smoking Cure On Trial (Version In Britain's 'Financial Times')

From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: "MN" (mapnews@mapinc.org)
Subject: MN: UK: Smoking Cure On Trial
Date: Sun, 28 Jun 1998 17:22:05 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: webbooks@paston.co.uk (CLCIA)
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 1998
Source: Financial Times
Contact: letters.editor@ft.com
Web site: http://www.FT.com
Author: Vanessa Houlder

SMOKING CURE ON TRIAL

Vanessa Houlder on a research programme that could lead to a currently
illegal drug being cleared for medicinal use.

Rarely has a new research programme caused such a stir. When last week the
UK Government gave the go-ahead to a cannabis farm that would grow plants
for the first large-scale clinical trials of the drug, it seemed to signal
an important change in attitude.

There is now the political will to approve cannabis as a drug, in the view
of Geoffrey Guy, the pharmaceutical entrepreneur behind the initiative. Four
years ago, his request to conduct a similar programme received a frosty
response.

The government's opposition to legalising the drug is unchanged. But its
willingness to approve research into its medical applications reflects
mounting pressure from doctors who are convinced of its potential benefits.
For example:

* Earlier this month, an independent study commissioned by the Department
of Health found "good evidence" that cannabinoids - the active constituents
of cannabis - reduce nausea in patients taking chemotherapy. The review,
conducted by Dr Philip Robson of Warneford Hospital in Oxford, found that
cannabinoids may be effective in relieving muscle spasms, pain, anxiety,
insomnia, certain forms of epilepsy, glaucoma and asthma. It would be
"irrational" not to ex-lore he therapeutic uses of cannabis further through
properly-controlled human research, it said.

* Last year both the British Medical Association and the US Institutes of
Health issued reports which recommended more research. Potential uses
include treating AIDS patients with wasting disease, in treating glaucoma,
the eye disease, and for relieving pain and spasms in multiple sclerosis.

* Last week, the royal Society and the Academy of Medical Science jointly
submitted a report to the House of Lords enquiry into the use of cannabis,
which found it may be clinically effective in some medical conditions.

One point is repeatedly made in these studies. As the Royal Society puts
it: "It is suggested that the issues of clinical use of cannabis should be
uncoupled from the issue of recreational use."

In recent years, the legal and moral issues surrounding cannabis have tended
to obscure its medical benefits. But at one time, cannabis was highly
respectable. It was prescribed for Queen Victoria by her personal
physician, who once described it as "one of the most valuable medicines we
possess." It continued to be prescribed in tincture form by doctors in the
UK until the 1970's.

Its withdrawal from medical use stemmed partly from the development of
synthetic drugs and partly from amoral backlash against the relaxed
attitude to drugs in the 1960's. In 1971, the UK Misuse of Drugs Act listed
it as a Schedule 1 drug with no therapeutic benefits.

The moral objections to using cannabis as a medicine remain. In the US,
anti-drug lobbyists are deeply sceptical about attempts to legalise the
medical use of cannabis, such as the successful campaign in California in
1996. They are concerned that allowing the medical use of cannabis will
open up a free-for-all and that, in particular, it will encourage
experimentation by teenagers.

Another argument repeatedly put forward by anti-drugs campaigners is that
THC (a chemical known as Tetrahydrocannabinol or Marinol that is one of the
active ingredients) is already available for specific conditions, such as
the nausea associated with chemotherapy.

"If pot is such a wonderful medicine, why haven't more doctors prescribed
Marinol, the real 'medical marijuana'?" asks Barry McCaffrey, the head of
the US government's anti-drugs campaign. "The argument that his chemical
needs to be smoked, exposing patients to carcinogenic agents that damage the
lungs, doesn't make sense."

The question of whether cannabinoids can help patients more safely and
efficiently than cannabis goes to the heart of this debate. The problem
with available cannabinoids such as Marinol is that patients often say that
they get a slower and less effective response than from smoking herbal
cannabis. Scientists believe that extracting a single cannabinoid does not
replicate the effect of the whole cannabis plant, which contains more than
400 chemical compounds and over 60 cannabinoids.

When it comes to judging the safety of cannabis-based drugs, much depends on
how they are administered. Three times as much tar is inhaled from a joint
containing only herbal cannabis than an ordinary cigarette, according to the
BMA. People who suffer life-long conditions such as multiple sclerosis need
to know more about potential long-term health risks, such as lung cancer,
emphysema and bronchitis.

This means that finding other methods of administering cannabis-based
drugs - such as aerosols or skin patches - is a priority for researchers,
such as GW Pharmaceuticals, the company that was granted a research licence
by the Home Office last week.

The success of this research project, or others like it, would doubtless be
welcomed by anti-drug campaigners, as well as by patients. But research
takes time. And meanwhile, thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens will
resort to illegal cannabis to alleviate symptoms that are poorly controlled
by existing drugs.

The debate about the medical use of cannabis is now moving on to the issue
of whether these patients should have to worry about the law. Some strands
of medical opinion already believe they should not. As Dr Robson, the
author of the Department of Health report puts it, prescribing
"compassionate reefers" to certain patients is justified on existing
evidence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Law Without Muscle (Translation Of An Editorial In Sweden's 'Expressen'
Protesting The Swedish Government's Latest Crackdown On Drugs -
This Time It's Criminalising The Use Of Anabolic Steroids)

Date: Sat, 20 Jun 1998 22:27:10 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Sweden: Editorial: Law Without Muscle
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Jun 98
Newshawk: "Jonas Thorell" (jonasth@bahnhof.se)
Source: Expressen
Section: Editorial
Contact: chefred@expressen.se
Website: http://www.expressen.se/ettan/index.html
Translation: Olafur Brentmar and John Yates

LAW WITHOUT MUSCLE

Now the government wants to criminalize doping. Just as it is illegal to
harm your body with narcotics, soon it will also be illegal to pump up with
anabolic steroids. The purpose, of course, is well intentioned. The
government says the ban will give a clear signal of how seriously society
regards doping. And it certainly is serious, no one denies that, but it is
nevertheless not reasonable to pass laws just to send messages and
political signals. Laws are too serious to be used in this way. In the
first place people must believe in laws and respect them. A law forbidding
doping is in practice nearly impossible to enforce, especially if people
are taking testosterone or growth hormones or anything else that already
exists in the body. And a law that cannot be enforced is not taken
seriously with the result that respect for the law is diminished. It is
exactly the same with the laws against taking narcotics or buying the
services of prostitutes, there is no reasonable possibility of enforcing
these laws and they end up as mere moral preaching and wagging fingers.

According to modern Swedish law it is not a crime to inflict damage upon
one's own body. It is a long time since suicide was illegal. Even though it
is considered reasonable and important to ban narcotics and doping, this
does not mean that abuse should be considered criminal. Whether one damages
one's body with legal or illegal substances can have no bearing on the legal
situation. It is still not a crime to damage oneself. If it is criminal to
damage oneself with steroids or heroin, one has to wonder how it can then
be permitted to eat until grotesquely fat or penetrate the body with needles
or pump it full of silicon - not to mention smoking or drinking yourself to death.
Criminalising abuse has absurd consequences and is judicially unsound -
what should be done for example with those who intoxicate themselves with
sleeping pills or inhale solvents? Should those go free while pot smokers
are imprisoned?

Abuse should be treated, not punished. Abusers are sick people who need
care, not punishment. That would be the mark of a good Swedish criminal
justice system.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly Action Report On Drug Policies, Year 4, Number 16
(Summary Of International Drug Policy News, From CORA In Italy)

From: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
Comments: Authenticated sender is (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
To: "CORAFax -EN-" (cora.news@agora.it)
Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 18:44:58 +0000
Subject: CORAFax 16 (EN)
Sender: owner-hemp@efn.org

ANTIPROHIBITIONIST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD ....

Year 4 No. 16, June 18 1998

***

Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies
Edited by the CORA - Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination,
federated to

- TRP-Transnational Radical Party (NGO, consultive status, I)

- The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War

***

director: Vincenzo Donvito

All rights reserved

***

http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet

mailto:cora.news@agora.stm.it

***

NEWS FROM THE CORA

UN CONFERENCE ON DRUGS
The CORA says that Pino Arlacchi's multi-million aire projects do
not reflect reality. Prohibitionism has failed, and its ideology which
is endangering fundamental rights must be denounced.

***

NEWS FROM THE WORLD

***

000082 13/06/98
E.U. / ITALY
DRUG ADDICT
CORRIERE DELLA SERA

Shiatsu therapies are being used also in hospitals. They seem to be
useful in curing drug addiction.

***

000091 16/06/98
E.U. / HOLLAND
DRUG ADDICT / JOINTS
SUEDDEUTSCHE Z.

From now on Dutch soldiers who may be found smoking a joint together
with others risk being expelled from the army. Smoking in private is,
instead, not punished.

***

000078 18/06/98
E.U. / WORLD
DRUG MAFIA
L'ESPRESSO

The money that international drug traffic and criminality needs to
recycle every year amounts to 330 million $. Where does the recycling
take place? In any one of the 63 small states in which fly-by-night
banks can strive, owing to favourable laws.

***

000088 16/06/98
AMERICA / COLUMBIA
DRUG MAFIA
HERALD TRIBUNE

The Colombian drug traffic bosses invest their wealth in sculptures,
hunting trophies, private zoos and jewellery. All, of course, is
rigorously in 'Kitsch' style.

***

000079 12/06/98
AMERICA
DRUG MAFIA / RECYCLING / INTERVENTION
NEUE ZUERCHER Z.

Evident discomfort about how 'Operation Casablanca' has been carried
was manifested at the annual meeting of the USA-Mexico Commission. On
one side Mexico accuses the Americans of having violated international
treaties, on the other the USA simply registers their resentment
without apologizing.

***

000090 17/06/98
E.U. / FRANCE
HEALTH
LA STAMPA / LE MONDE

A study commissioned by the Ministry of Public health says that
hashish is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco.

***

000086 16/06/98
EUROPE / SWITZERLAND / ZURICH
JURYSPRUDE / HEMP
NEUE ZUERCHER Z.

The State Attorney has denounced a shopkeeper who was selling
marijuana stuffed pillows. There is great interest for the outcome of
the sentence, because it will constitute the basis for future
jurisprudence.

***

000087 10/06/98
EUROPE / SWITZERLANDS
LAWS
LIBERATION

The new law against the recycling of drug money in Swiss banks has
become effective.

***

000077 13/06/98
E.U. / GERMANY / BERLIN
MARKET
CORRIERE DELLA SERA

Marijuana beer is having an enormous success. Competitor brands are
up in arms, but this beverage, that 'can make your head spin' is
perfectly legal. At least up to this day.

***

000080 19/06/98
E.U. / GB
ORGANIZATION
THE ECONOMIST 19/6 / THE TIMES 12/6

The English Government has asked GW Pharmaceuticals to put together a
study on the effects of therapeutical use of cannabis.

***

000081 12/06/98
AFRICA / SOUTH AFRICA
ORGANIZATION
LA REPUBBLICA 12/6 / THE TIMES 10/6

In 1984 Botha's regime was planning to reduce the black population to
obedience through mass-narcotization by using Madrax, an opium
derivative.

***

000089 17/06/98
E.U. / GERMANY
ORGANIZATION
LA REPUBBLICA

Various heads of Police, Mayors and Secretaries of various federal
offices have a shocking request for the Government: That the State
supply heroin under medical control.

***

000083 11/06/98
WORLD
WAR ON DRUGS
MISCELLANEOUS FROM 11/6 TO 19/6

The UN summit on drugs has closed without any substancial result and
the Arlacchi plan has been approved with difficulty and scarce
funding. The destruction of drug cutivations and their substitution
with alternative kinds of agriculture will cost about 500 million $
until year 2008. Very few countries will participate in the funding.

***

000084 12/06/98
E.U. / FRANCE
WAR ON DRUGS
LE MONDE

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has declared himself as being
against the legalization of light drugs.

***

000085 12/06/98
E.U. / FRANCE
WAR ON DRUS
LIBERATION

For reasons of political nature, the ****** has not yet nominated the
new President of the Interministerial Commission Against Drugs.

***

CLIPPINGS

***

ITALY- The councillor responsible for social policies of the region
of Tuscany is reproposing free distribution of heroin, after that the
Ministry of Health already vetoed this idea a month ago. there ios a
lot of talking about this, for and against.

ITALIA- The President of the RAI, the italian public television
network, has proposed that the 21st of November become the official
day aginst drugs, with coordinated live shows from TV networks around
the world.

***

CORA

-COORDINATION RADICALE ANTIPROHIBITIONNISTE
-ANTIPROHIBITIONIST RADICAL COORDINATION
-COORDINAMENTO RADICALE ANTIPROIBIZIONISTA

Federated with the Transnational Radical Party NGO
with category I consultative status at the UN

Emailto:cora.news@agora.it

http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet

Emailto:cora.belgique@agora.it

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

[End]

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