------------------------------------------------------------------- Mixing Driving, Over-The-Counter Drugs Could Become Illegal ('The Associated Press' Says More Than 300 Police So-Called Drug Recognition Experts Together With About 100 Prosecutors, Toxicologists And Highway Safety Advocates Are In Portland Through Tuesday For A National Conference - Police 'Experts' Want To Criminalize Oregon Drivers They Deem Impaired By Legal Drugs, But Dr. Robert Julien, An Anesthesiologist At Providence St. Vincent Hospital In Portland, Acknowledges A Lack Of Research On How Such Drugs Correlate With Behavior) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 23:54:47 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US OR: Mixing Driving, Over-The-Counter Drugs Could Become Illegal Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Source: Associated Press Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 MIXING DRIVING, OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS COULD BECOME ILLEGAL PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Police trained to detect drugged drivers worry that too many motorists drive with legal sedating medications, such as pain killers, cold and flu treatments and antihistamines. "It's one of the weaknesses in our law," said Lt. Chuck Hayes, a 24-year Oregon State Police veteran and a drug recognition specialist. More than 300 experts from the United States and Canada are in Portland through Tuesday for a national conference. Joining them will be about 100 prosecutors, toxicologists and highway safety advocates. Hayes would like to see Oregon join Washington state in adding legal drugs to the definition of driving under the influence. Hayes, who hopes a such a law will be passed by the next Legislature, said the goal is not to punish people but to educate them. An estimated 400,000 allergy sufferers live in Oregon, studies show. For many, antihistamines alleviate sneezing and watery eyes, but they also can cause drowsiness. Dr. Robert Julien, an anesthesiologist at Providence St. Vincent Hospital in Portland, said decongestants and blood pressure medication also can cause dizziness, drowsiness and disorientation. Julien said some medications have the opposite effect. Anti-asthma medications can cause anxiety reactions and irritability, he said, making overmedicated drivers could become more volatile or hyperactive. Ruth Vandever, executive director of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy, said she doesn't think over-the-counter drugs pose a driving hazard as long as the consumer follows the directions on the label. That means taking the prescribed dosage and, in many cases, not combining the drug with other drugs or alcohol. "I don't think it's anything where the consumer would be disabled by the medication," Vandever said. Julien acknowledges a lack of research on how the level of such drugs in the blood correlates with behavior. Because of that, he doubts legislation controlling the use of medications while driving would take hold in Oregon immediately. Julien noted that the use of drug recognition experts in police agencies still is relatively new. Twenty-five officers underwent Oregon's first training in 1995 to identify illegally drugged individuals. Today 120 officers have gone through the 100 hours of drug-recognition training. "Our goal is to have a drug recognition expert be able to respond to any given area throughout the state at any time," he said. Oregon law does not permit officers to require urine tests to determine drug use. But the officers have had an 88-percent success rate in convincing the drivers to take the test, Hayes said. "All of this has to do with the quality of the people we have in the program and their demeanor," Hayes said. Methamphetamine is by far the most popular drug among Oregon drivers who do get caught. Marijuana is second, Hayes said. "Forty-five percent of all the urine tests that we get back show two or more drugs in the system." Once these expert officers have determined that a driver may be drug-impaired, toxicology tests have proved their suspicions right 90 percent of the time, slightly better than the national average, Hayes said. Since the program began, arrests for drug-impaired driving have increased from 319 in 1994 to more than 700 in 1997.
------------------------------------------------------------------- No On Measure 57 Meeting Notes (A Summary Of A Meeting In Portland Sunday Night Intended To Organize Opposition To Recriminalizing Possession Of Less Than An Ounce Of Marijuana, To Be Decided By Oregon Voters In November)Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 15:06:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Anti-Prohibition Lg (aal@inetarena.com) Subject: NO ON MEASURE 57: 6/28 Meeting Notes THE NO ON MEASURE 57 COMMITTEE (*) 3125 SE BELMONT STREET PORTLAND OREGON 97214 503-235-4524 AAL@InetArena.com 6/28/98 Meeting Notes 1. In attendance were Floyd Landrath (Antiprohibition Lg.), D. Paul Stanford (Campaign for the Restoration & Regulation of Hemp), Terry Miller, Perry Stripling, & Dona MacPherson (Pdx NORML), Lee Berger & L. Beau (Voter Power). Floyd took the notes. 2. The League's draft proposal (below) was presented for a second reading and discussion. While the proposal has been widely distributed, so far only CRRH (Stanford) and the League fully accept it. Pdx NORML and Voter Power wish to differ the proposal for further study. No word yet from the Pacific Party which is also studying it. 3. CRRH, the current OCTA sponsor, announced that it has secured about $10,000 in pledges earmarked for No on 57. A registered political committee must be set-up asap to begin accepting contributions. The League and CRRH will set one up, calling it: THE NO ON MEASURE 57 COMMITTEE. The group requested Floyd to act as director on an interim basis and that the League office and phone number be used as our primary contact point with the public. Floyd then requested and appointed Paul Stanford as interim co-director. Paul also volunteered to file the new committee with the Secretary of State, within the next couple of days. 4. General discussion revolving around relationship between Voter Power and this group, THE NO ON MEASURE 57 COMMITTEE. Lee expressed concern over duplicating efforts and the need to avoid divisive infighting. Floyd noted all infighting must stop and anyone who wants to work with either group is free to do so, "we all have the same goal, defeating M57," he said. Everyone agreed, M57 presents an opportunity to make much needed progress in organizing on a statewide level, coordination and cooperation will bring cohesion and political power for the future of the Oreogn antiprohibition movement. Lee suggested and their was unanimous agreement for Floyd and Paul to meet with the Board of Voter Power to make clear this mutual agenda and to offer mutual cooperation, the meeting is TBA. 5. The 1st Eugene meeting is set for Friday, July 10, 7 to 9 p.m. at the Growers' Market. Please contact Dan Koozer at (dkoozer@pondnet.net) or 541-747-3589) for details. 6. NEXT MEETING IN PORTLAND FOR 'NO ON M57' IS: SUNDAY, JULY 5, 4 P.M. AT THE LEAGUE OFFICE (PHANTOM GALLERY), 3125 SE BELMONT STREET. (Please note the earlier start time.) 7. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30p.m. *** (*) -- THE NO ON MEASURE 57 COMMITTEE American Antiprohibition League Voter Power Portland NORML Campaign for the Restoration & Regulation of Hemp Cannabis Liberation Society Southern Oregon University Hemp Club (as of 6/29/98) The AMERICAN ANTIPROHIBITION LEAGUE Volunteers Working for "Drug Peace!" In Oregon Just Say NO! to M57 3125 SE BELMONT STREET PORTLAND OREGON 97214 503-235-4524 fax:503-234-1330 Email:AAL@InetArena.com Sunday, June 21, 1998 Draft Proposal No on Measure 57 Coalition, Organizing the grass-roots Coalition purpose: To organize a grass-roots campaign to defeat marijuana "recrim" (M57) in the November 3, 1998 election and then reconstitute itself as a united, statewide antiprohibition force. Coalition members (as of 6/21/98): * American Antiprohibition League (OR Pol. Committee) * Voter Power (OR PC) * Portland NORML (Non-profit through national?) * Campaign for the Regulation & Restoration of Hemp (OR PC) * Cannabis Liberation Society (?) * Southern Oregon University Hemp Club (?) Coalition endorsements (as of 6/21/98): TBA Coalition structure: Each member organization appoints one voting delegate. All decisions are by consensus of the delegates. Each member organization agrees to: * Register as many supporters as possible. * Recruit as many volunteers as possible. * Provide this data to a centralized data base. * Do at least 1 fund raising event by Oct. 1998. * Distribute Coalition approved literature. * Monitor and report on local press and media. Coalition functions: * Centralized contact point, run statewide headquarters * Centralized data base of supporters * Fund raising and distribution * Standardize message, clear focus * Bulk mail * Scheduling, monitoring and reporting
------------------------------------------------------------------- Doonesbury (Garry Trudeau's Syndicated Cartoon Makes Fun Of Prohibitionist Hyperbole In The Medical Marijuana Debate)
------------------------------------------------------------------- Cops Seize Treats They Say Contain Pot ('The San Francisco Examiner' Notes San Francisco Police Busted Two Unnamed People In Separate Cases And Confiscated A Lot Of Goods Baked With Cannabis Near The Conclusion Of Sunday's Annual Gay Pride Festivities) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 21:57:00 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US CA: Cops Seize Treats They Say Contain Pot 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) Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA) Contact: letters@examiner.com Website: http://www.examiner.com/ Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 Author: Examiner Staff Report COPS SEIZE TREATS THEY SAY CONTAIN POT Thirty-nine dozen cookies and brownies allegedly laced with marijuana were confiscated at Civic Center Plaza during the conclusion of Sunday's annual gay pride festivities. One person was arrested three were questioned and released. Sgt. Mark Sullivan said the three people, who said they were working a volunteer booth, were questioned and released after police confiscated 110 packages, each containing three cookies reportedly containing marijuana. In a separate incident, a 30-year-old woman from Santa Cruz was arrested on suspicion of selling marijuana, after police confiscated 138 individually wrapped brownies that she was selling and that allegedly contained marijuana. The cookies will be analyzed for potential drug content. 1998 San Francisco Examiner
------------------------------------------------------------------- Prisons Bringing In Millions Of Dollars (According To 'The San Francisco Examiner,' A Report By Berkeley Economist George Goldman Says California Prisons Generate More Than $150 Million A Year - It's Not Clear Whether Goldman Or Just The Newspaper Omits Any Information About The Billions Of Dollars Spent Building And Maintaining California Prisons, Or The Costs Involved In Filling Them With Victimless Drug Offenders) Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com ( Frank S. World) Source: San Francisco Examiner ( CA) Contact: letters@examiner.com Website: http://www.examiner.com/ Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 PRISONS BRINGING IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BERKELEY - A Berkeley economist says prisons are producing much more than just license plates, with California's prison products - ranging from prunes to shoes - generating more than $150 million a year. The state's prison farms and factories also produce farm and dairy items such as eggs, as well as almonds, furniture, mattresses and clothing, according to a report by George Goldman, an economist at UC-Berkeley. Prisons also cut meat, roast coffee, offer dental and optical services, run a knitting mill - as well as make $10 million worth of license plates each year. The report says California has the nation's largest state prison work program, employing about 7,000 inmates in 23 units. "If you wiped out the California Prison Industry Authority, you'd lose $62 million in personal income in the state," Goldman said. The biggest prison products are food, with $33 million in annual sales. Prison work programs in California are voluntary. Pay scales range from 30 cents to 95 cents per hour, but inmates are eager to take the available positions, the report says. *** [War is good for business. Invest your son. - PDX NORML]
------------------------------------------------------------------- Attorney General Announces Anti-Methamphetamine Campaign (A Press Release From The Office Of California Attorney General Dan Lungren Notes The Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Has Received $18.2 Million From The Clinton Administration To Fight The Illegal Methamphetamine Market, With $1.8 Million For A Public Education Campaign And The Rest To Hire 131 Narcotics Agents, Criminologists And Lab Technicians Statewide) Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 10:18:17 +0100 To: dpfca@drugsense.org, friends@freecannabis.org From: Ellen Komp (ekomp@slonet.org) Subject: DPFCA: Fwd: [PRESSLIST] ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES ANTI-METHAMPHETAMINE CAMPAIGN Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org Reply-To: dpfca@drugsense.org Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/ Could Lungren be shifting to a new war? On the other hand, I wonder if the 131 new drug agents, etc. will be working solely on methamphetamine... From: Larry True (TRUEL@hdcdojnet.state.ca.us) Subject: [PRESSLIST] ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES ANTI-METHAMPHETAMINE CAMPAIGN To: PRESSLIST@hdcdojnet.state.ca.us ATTORNEY GENERAL ANNOUNCES ANTI-METHAMPHETAMINE CAMPAIGN June 29, 1998 98-84 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SACRAMENTO- Attorney General Dan Lungren today unveiled television and radio ads designed to raise awareness of the methamphetamine problem in California and discourage the use of the deadly drug. "California's methamphetamine problem is truly a multi-headed monster. The consequences of using the drug and the costs and danger associated with the aftermath of environmental hazards all need to be addressed in our methamphetamine strategy," Lungren said. "Simply put: where meth goes, violence and destruction follow. All of us in law enforcement and the general public alike, need to become as educated and informed as possible about this growing menace." Lungren unveiled two television ads which are part of a statewide public education campaign. The first ad focuses attention on the devastating environmental impact that "meth cookers" impose on California's environment. The second ad, titled "Eyes," shows the world through the point of view of a meth user, illustrating the paranoia and violence often associated with heavy meth use. Both ads begin airing today. Two additional television spots are currently in production. The public education campaign also includes four radio ads and 55 billboards which will be rotated throughout the state, all of which direct the public to an interactive web-site, www.stopdrugs.org ,which gives extensive information on the dangers of methamphetamine and other drugs. The Attorney General's Office successfully lobbied the federal government for the $18.2 million grant to address the growing methamphetamine problem in California. Approximately $1.8 million of the grant money is earmarked for the public education campaign. The grant money will also fund the expansion of the California Department of Justice's law enforcement efforts including the hiring of 131 narcotics agents, criminologists and lab technicians statewide. In 1997, the California Bureau of Narcotics (BNE) seized 946 clandestine drug labs and local law enforcement seized 713 labs, totaling 1,659 labs in California. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reports that they seized 1,495 labs nationwide in 1997, including cases they worked on with BNE in California.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Washington Medical Pot Effort Plagued By Feuds (According To 'The Olympian,' Backers Of Initiative 692, Who Are Facing A Thursday Deadline To Qualify For The November Ballot, Say They May Already Have Enough Signatures To Send It To Voters - But Seattle Artist And Multiple Sclerosis Patient Karen Pehoushek, Who Co-Sponsored The Initiative With Tacoma Physician Robert Killian, Said Killian, His Brother, Tim, And The Influx Of Nationally Donated Money Have Destroyed The Effort To Pass The Initiative) From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen - Olympia" (when@olywa.net) To: "Hemp Talk" (hemp-talk@hemp.net) Subject: HT: Daily Olympian - WA Medical pot effort plagued by feuds Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 15:14:01 -0700 Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net WA Medical pot effort plagued by feuds LOST SUPPORT: Karen Pehoushek, the co-sponsor of the current medical marijuana initiative, smokes the drug daily to control her multiple sclerosis. * INITIATIVE: A sponsor withdraws support and others find language and methods disturbing. By Jerry Weatherhogg The Olympian SEATTLE - The co-sponsor of an initiative that would legalize medicinal marijuana has withdrawn her support for the measure. But backers of the initiative who are facing a Thursday deadline to qualify for the November ballot say they already may have enough signatures to send it to voters. Seattle artist Karen Pehoushek, who co-sponsored Initiative 692 with Tacoma physician Robert Killian, said Killian, his brother Tim and the influx of nationally donated money have destroyed its effort to pass the initiative. Pehoushek, 38, said she has used marijuana daily since 1992 to quell leg spasms and to induce sleep to relieve the symptoms of her multiple sclerosis. Although the initiative would legalize her marijuana use, Pehoushek complained Friday of last-minute additions to the initiative's text and what she called a disorganized campaign that has left medicinal marijuana users, including Green Cross activists, in the dark. "It's a fiasco, and I think it was a mistake signing on with the Killian brothers. With these guys, there just has been no forward momentum, no cohesiveness, no meetings called, no information, absolutely not a shred of any involvement," she said. Pehoushek also took issue with a clause in the initiative that would effectively prohibit cooperatives similar to the pot clubs that sprang up in California after medicinal marijuana was approved by voters there. The clubs are places where patients can obtain and use the drug. But Killian said the initiative would be a hard sell to voters without prohibiting pot clubs. He said the clause was added shortly before the initiative petition was filed on Feb. 26. Killian said his campaign polled Washington voters four times during the past year, finding that while up to 75 percent of the people indicated they would support medicinal marijuana, two-thirds would vote against permitting "pot clubs." "This is not about setting up places for people to smoke marijuana openly," Killian said. While he declined to comment how Pehoushek's departure would affect the campaign, Killian said the initiative has plenty of grass-roots support. That support, however, doesn't include members of the Green Cross - a group which distributes marijuana to about 300 patients with the written consent of a physician. Under the initiative, the group would be illegal. "They don't have a patient's perspective on this, and the patients are the only important people in this," Green Cross co-founder Joanna McKee said. Dale Rogers, the patient coordinator for the Green Cross, said the grass-roots effort was lost when paid signature-gatherers from California-based Progressive Campaigns were employed. "I see 16- (to) 17-year-olds wearing hemp shirts collecting signatures and I think, 'That should be activists,' but we've been taken out of the loop," Rogers said. Green Cross member Lee deMou said he wishes the infighting would end. "This shouldn't be an internal fight made public," deMou said. "This is about people being sick, not individual personalities." Killian said the Green Cross' members make up a small portion of the state's medicinal marijuana users - many of whom prefer to remain anonymous and stay detached from the group. He estimates that more than 1,000 people who suffer from ailments such as AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer and glaucoma would benefit from the initiative. 1-692 would shield from prosecution patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses who grow and use marijuana with the consent of a physician. Unlike last year's failed medicinal marijuana measure, 1-692 doesn't mention other drugs or prison policies. The campaign, funded by upwards of $375,000 from out-of-state donors, has received more than 200,000 signatures - well ahead of the 179,284 needed to put it on the ballot, Tim Killian said. Jerry Weatherhogg covers Olympia for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5442.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Two In Washington Plead Guilty To Marijuana Smuggling ('The Associated Press' Says John Benjamin Ricker Of Exeter, New Hampshire, And Jim Garvorcauskas Of Newport, Rhode Island, Who Were Aboard A Marijuana-Laden Sailboat That Burned And Sank Off Neah Bay December 1, Pleaded Guilty June 12 To Importing Cannabis And Racketeering - Sentencing September 11) From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen - Olympia" (when@olywa.net) To: "Hemp Talk" (hemp-talk@hemp.net) Subject: HT: Two in WA plead guilty to marijuana smuggling Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 14:11:52 -0700 Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net Two plead guilty to marijuana smuggling The Associated Press 06/29/98 12:51 PM Eastern SEATTLE (AP) -- Two men who were aboard a marijuana-laden sailboat that burned and sank off Neah Bay have pleaded guilty. John Benjamin Ricker, about 30, of Exeter, N.H., and Jim Garvorcauskas, about 43, of Newport, R.I., pleaded guilty on June 12. Papers in the court of U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly say Garvorcauskas pleaded guilty to importing marijuana and Ricker pleaded guilty to racketeering. They had faced drug and arson charges in a trial that had been scheduled to start today. A third man, Indonesian national Amir Tobing, pleaded guilty earlier to conspiring to smuggle marijuana. The 60-foot sailboat Ok Tedi caught fire and sank Dec. 1 as the Coast Guard approached it in the Pacific Ocean off the northwest tip of Washington. The boat was sailing in the dark without running lights. The Coast Guard recovered 3,768 pounds of marijuana in bales floating in the water. It was said to be worth more than $15 million. The boat had been sailing from Thailand. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 11.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Marijuana Legalization Among Proposals For Arkansas Fall Ballot (A United Press International Article Says Only That The Ballot Initiative Would 'Legalize Marijuana') Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 23:41:56 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US AR: WIRE: Marijuana Legalization Among Proposals For Arkansas Fall Ballot 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: UPI Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 Note: Headline by Newshawk MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION AMONG PROPOSALS FOR ARKANSAS FALL BALLOT (LITTLE ROCK) - Property owners are attempting to collect more than 72,000 signatures to put a constitutional amendment on this fall's ballot which would eliminate property taxes in Arkansas. The amendment would replace the almost $1 billion collected every year from property taxes with a 1 7/8 percent sales tax increase. Half of the sales tax revenue would go to public schools, which now get 80 percent of property tax revenues. County and local government would get the rest of the sales tax money. If approved in November by voters, Arkansas would become the only state in the country with no real estate or other property tax. Governor Mike Huckabee says the proposal would be ``absolutely devastating to the Arkansas economy.'' Eliminating the property tax is one of more than a dozen proposals being proposed for this fall's ballot, including one to legalize marijuana. Petitions with the signature of 10 percent of the voters in the last statewide election must be submitted to the Secretary of State's Office by July 3. About 58,000 signatures are needed for an initiated act and about 78,000 are needed for a constitutional amendment.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Tobacco Firm Admits Addiction Knowledge (According To 'The Orange County Register,' The 'News And Record' Newspaper In Greensboro, North Carolina, Reported Sunday That The 33 Million Papers Released This Year As Part Of A Tobacco Trial In Minnesota Include Some From Greensboro-Based Lorillard Tobacco Company Officials Who 'Suggested' That Customers Smoked Because They Were Addicted To Nicotine, That High School Students Were The Company's 'Customer Base' And That The Company 'Studied' Ways To Elevate The Delivery Of Nicotine And 'Considered' Developing A Brand Aimed At Image-Conscious Teen-Agers) Date: Wed, 01 Jul 1998 00:03:42 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US: Tobacco firm Admits Addiction Knowledge Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: John W.Black Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: letters@link.freedom.com Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: 29 Jun 1998 TOBACCO FIRM ADMITS ADDICTION KNOWLEDGE Lorillard Tobacco Co. officials in Greensboro, N.C. suggested in confidential documents that its customers smoked because they were addicted to nicotine and that high school students were the core of its customer base, the News & Record of Greensboro reported Sunday. The documents, among the 33 million papers released this year as part of the tobacco trial in Minnesota, also show that Greensboro-based Lorillard studied ways to elevate the delivery of nicotine and considered developing a brand aimed at image-conscious teen-agers. Lorillard so far has eluded the national spotlight. Experts say that may be because of its relatively small - 9 percent - share of the U.S. cigarette market. Lorillard makes Newport, Kent and True cigarettes.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Theater Review - Reefer Blandness ('The Chicago Tribune' Doesn't Think Much Of 'Pot Mom,' The New Play By Justin Tanner Of California, Who Also Wrote 'Still Life With Vacuum Salesman') Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 17:01:38 -0400 To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org) From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US: Theater Review: Reefer Blandness Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net) Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: tribletter@aol.com Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/ Pubdate: 29 June 1998 Author: Richard Christiansen, Tribune Chief Critic Section: Tempo REEFER BLANDNESS `I'm tired of trying to make this work," shouts Richard, the beer-bellied truckdriver, and out he walks, taking his dog Skipper and his stash of marijuana with him. At this point, near the end of "Pot Mom," you may be thinking that Richard, not the smartest man in the world, is nonetheless the brightest character in this play. By then, however, he and the audience have gone through several scenes of high-decibel shouting and wisecracking, fueled by endless smoking of joints and drinking of booze. And all to little purpose. Justin Tanner, the show's author, is a Californian who has developed something of a cult in Los Angeles with a play list that includes such piquant titles as "Still Life with Vacuum Salesman." "Pot Mom"--which, like most of his work, was first presented at CAST Theatre in Los Angeles--had Laurie Metcalf in its original production and is lucky to have her and a terrific cast for its Chicago transplant in the Steppenwolf Studio Theatre. Tanner says just about all he has to say in his first, long scene, in which Patty (Metcalf), about to go back to work after nine months on unemployment compensation, is celebrating the end of her "vacation" by doing drugs with her lusty, pot-smoking companion, Michelle (Rondi Reed). Soon, they are joined in Patty's decrepit Southern California bungalow (perfectly realized by scenic designer Mark Netherland) by her bellicose boyfriend, Richard (Tom Irwin, with greasy hair and tattoo), and her three teenage children from hell (Zoe Perry, Katie Cassis and Johnny Galecki). A little later on, two zonked-out rockers (Matt Roth and Brendan Smith) and two visiting country club princesses (Carey Peters and Dado) join the cast of caricatures, adding their zaniness to the proceedings; but by then, Tanner has pretty well shot his wad in character and plot development, and it all starts to sound the same. To give credit where it's due, the author has uncorked many nifty California jokes for his cast to deliver. For example: Troy, Patty's randy son (neatly played by Galecki), who works in a movie theater, says, "I'm an usher, but I want to direct." Director Wilson Milam, playing traffic cop on this expressway of quarrels, confrontations and shouting matches, moves the actors briskly and funnily through their paces. And the actors, reeling from living room to kitchen and back again, go through their routines with tremendous skill and gusto. (On Saturday night, Reed slammed into the kitchen with such force that she broke a couple of slats in its swinging door.) Perhaps Metcalf and company were drawn to this material because it reminded them of the good old days, when they were tearing up the stage at Steppenwolf with "Coyote Ugly" and "Killers," roaring, red-meat plays with juicy, far-out characters. They're still in fine form, and Metcalf, as always, is a pleasure to watch. This time, however, instead of gnawing on a slab of raw beef, she's biting into a veggieburger.
------------------------------------------------------------------- When Clinics Gave Away Heroin ('The Baltimore Sun' Responds To A Recent Proposal To Establish A Heroin Maintenance Program In Baltimore With A Brief And Rather Biased History Of Heroin Maintenance In New York And Its Prohibition As A Result Of The 1914 Harrison Narcotic Act) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 21:54:04 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US MD: When Clinics Gave Away Heroin Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Rob Ryan Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Contact: letters@baltsun.com Website: http://www.sunspot.net/ Pubdate: Jun 29 1998 Author: Scott Shane WHEN CLINICS GAVE AWAY HEROIN Policy: Supplying addicts in the interest of public health and safety is not a new idea and has been tried -- in this country, in this century. Appalled at the crime and degradation resulting from drug addiction among the inner-city poor, public health officials take a radical step: They open a clinic where addicts can come and get their heroin free. The year is 1919. "The Clinic has served a humanitarian purpose in that it has provided a place for a careful physical examination, advice as to needed medical treatment and careful oversight of the progress of the drug disease," wrote New York's health commissioner, Dr. Royal S. Copeland, in January 1920. The Worth Street Clinic, then open for just eight months, had served 7,000 addicts, cut out the "wicked profiteering" of illicit drug suppliers, improved addicts' health and reduced crime, the doctor asserted. And it was not alone: From 1919 to 1925, some 40 clinics across the United States legally supplied addicts with heroin, morphine and cocaine. History, that great recycler, may be preparing to stage an updated version of that experiment. Drug-policy reformers met recently in New York City to hear about the claimed success of a three-year Swiss program of "heroin maintenance." Baltimore's health commissioner, Dr. Peter Beilenson, and drug-abuse experts at the Johns Hopkins University raised the possibility this month of a research trial aimed at luring hard-core addicts into treatment by offering them heroin. Politicians rushed to denounce the idea. They may not have known it, but their objections, too, were an echo of the past. In 1920, busloads of tourists stopped to gawk at the young men standing in New York's "dope line." Patients conned doctors out of extra doses, which were resold on the street. Plans to wean addicts from drugs by gradually reducing doses failed. In March 1920, health authorities, under pressure from the federal government, closed the New York clinic after less than a year. "Physicians should not be permitted, under the guise of treatment, to prescribe narcotics for such indulgence," they wrote. "The only hope is cutting off the supply of drugs as completely as possible." Nearly eight decades later, the old ambition to "cut off the supply of drugs" remains the core of American narcotics policy. But the drug supply has never been bigger, and some public health officials are again tempted by the radical idea of providing addicts with heroin. Most Americans assume drug abuse began with the rebellious youth culture of the 1960s. But the problem, and the debate over solutions, are far, far older. "People say, `Go look at the Swiss experience,' " says David N. Nurco, a veteran Baltimore drug-abuse researcher. "I say the Swiss should look at our experience." Nurco remembers interviewing in the late 1970s an elderly addict -- a safecracker by trade -- who had received narcotics from the New York clinic in 1919. "He said that for him, it was a good thing," Nurco recalls. "But he said the clientele ruined it. They'd steal the typewriters and the rugs. They'd send their girlfriends in to get extra drugs." Given the scale of drug abuse today, it may come as a surprise that the rate of opiate addiction in the United States at the turn of the century was probably at least as high. Then, an estimated 250,000 Americans out of a population of 76 million were dependent on opium, morphine and heroin, which existed in over-the-counter medications, according to Dr. David F. Musto, a drug historian at Yale University. Indeed, opium and morphine addiction were so widespread that when heroin was first put on the market by the Bayer Pharmaceutical Co. exactly a century ago, in 1898, some doctors enthusiastically promoted it as a cure for addiction to the older drugs. Bayer chemists had developed diacetylmorphine chiefly as a cough suppressant for victims of pneumonia and tuberculosis; they named it "Heroin" from the German word for "heroic," applied to powerful drugs. But by 1903, medical journals were questioning Bayer's claim that heroin was not habit-forming. By 1910, police were reporting recreational use of heroin, chiefly by young white men, mostly in New York, near Bayer's supply houses. In 1914, Congress banned non-medical narcotic use with the Harrison Narcotic Act. But lawmakers failed to clarify whether doctors could legally maintain a patient indefinitely on heroin or other drugs. A class of unscrupulous "dope doctors" emerged, living off addicts by writing as many as 200 prescriptions a day for heroin, morphine and cocaine. In 1919, at the urging of government lawyers, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the law by ruling that such addiction maintenance was illegal. Police moved swiftly to shut down the prescription mills, cutting off the drug supply for thousands of addicts. That was when health authorities, in New York and elsewhere, opened drug clinics to head off a crime wave. "They thought, `Oh, my gosh, we'll have a black market, we'll have desperate addicts committing crimes,' " says David T. Courtwright, a historian of narcotics at the University of North Florida. Many of the clinics, says Baltimore writer Jill Jonnes, author of a 1996 history of U.S. drug culture, "were aimed at genteel, middle-class addicts who got on drugs through medical treatment." Such was the case, for instance, in Shreveport, La., where the chief of police declared the clinic "a model that should be copied over the entire United States. It has practically eliminated the bootlegger who deals in narcotics." In New York, far more of the addicts were recreational users with criminal records -- gang members, gamblers and prostitutes roughly resembling heroin addicts of today, Jonnes says. "The neighborhood was very unhappy, because hundreds of addicts were hanging out, waiting for their drugs," Jonnes says. Controls were lax. When Col. Levi Nutt, the federal drug czar of his day, stood in line, he had no trouble getting supplied with drugs. By 1921, sometimes under pressure from Nutt's Treasury Department agents, most clinics had shut down. The last one, in Knoxville, Tenn., closed in 1925. On occasion since then, the maintenance option has been raised. A 1972 paper by the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs assessed its pros and cons, declaring that "it might be possible to virtually eliminate the organized black market." But whatever the medical merits, the prospect of taxpayers paying for addicts' drugs has proved political anathema. Courtwright, the historian, says he believes outright legalization of drugs would be a catastrophe. But he nonetheless thinks the government took a costly wrong turn when it closed the clinics and in effect turned the narcotics trade over to organized crime. "The crucial question was whether medical personnel would be allowed to offer addicts a legal supply of drugs," he says. "After 1919, the government said no. I think that was a serious mistake."
------------------------------------------------------------------- Hemp Can Be Regulated (Staff Editorial In 'The Lexington Herald-Leader' Endorses Industrial Hemp For Kentucky) Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 18:55:29 -0400 To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org) From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US KY: Editorial: Hemp Can Be Regulated Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Joe Hickey (agfuture@kih.net) Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 Source: The Lexington Herald-Leader Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/ HEMP CAN BE REGULATED Industrial hemp is grown in Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Germany and many other countries. Our strongest allies allow production of hemp while at the same time enforcing drug laws. Police in these countries report that hemp farming poses no barrier to drug-law enforcement. Permits to grow hemp are issued by the government and fields are monitored by the department of agriculture. Anti-drug fervor should be held at bay on this issue so that Kentucky farmers can earn an honest living growing a valuable crop. When hemp is a legal crop in Kentucky, our government will have no problem regulating it. After all, isn't that what our government does best? Hemp will be closely watched wherever it is grown.
------------------------------------------------------------------- One More Major Study Online (Cliff Schaffer, Webmaster For The World's Largest Online Library Of Information On Drugs And Drug Policy, Has Posted 'Drug Addiction, Crime or Disease?' By The American Bar Association And American Medical Association) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 22:45:56 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: One more major study online Drug Addiction, Crime or Disease? by the ABA and AMA is now online under Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy. Thanks to Rufus King for contributing this to the online library. Watch for more great stuff coming from the Rufus King collection. Clifford A. Schaffer Director, DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy http://www.druglibrary.org P.O. Box 1430 Canyon Country, CA 91386-1430 (805) 251-4140
------------------------------------------------------------------- National Association Of Police Organizations Files Amicus Curiae Brief To US Supreme Court (US Newswire Says The NAPO Today Submitted A Legal Brief In The Case Of Patrick Knowles V. State Of Iowa, A Fourth Amendment Vehicular Search And Seizure Case In Which The Defendant Refused To Permit A Search That Turned Up Some Marijuana And A Pipe) Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 23:17:47 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US: National Assn. Of Police Organizations Files Amicus Curiae Brief To U.S. Supreme Court 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: U.S. Newswire Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 NATIONAL ASSN. OF POLICE ORGANIZATIONS FILES AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF TO U.S. SUPREME COURT WASHINGTON, June 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Today, the National Association of Police Organizations, Inc. (NAPO), representing more than 4,000 police unions and associations and over 220,000 sworn law enforcement officers from across the nation, submitted a legal brief in support of law enforcement officers in the case of Patrick Knowles v. State of Iowa, a Fourth Amendment vehicular search and seizure case. This case directly bears on the authority of law enforcement officers to protect themselves and the public by conducting a search for weapons, whenever they stop a motor vehicle for a traffic violation and issue a citation instead of making an arrest (assuming there is authority to do both). NAPO and its members have a significant interest in the resolution of this case. The Iowa State Police Association is a member of NAPO, with approximately 3,000 police officer members, whose safety during traffic stops will be impacted by the Court's decision. In addition, NAPO is vitally concerned with the impact that this case will have on the safety of law enforcement officers throughout the nation. NAPO's amicus brief provides the Court with the perspective of the police profession and an insight into the serious danger inherent in routine traffic stops. BACKGROUND: FACTS OF THE CASE On March 9, 1996, Officer Ronald Cook of the Newton, Iowa, Police Department stopped the vehicle of Petitioner in this case, Patrick Knowles, for speeding. The officer checked the Petitioner's driver license and determined that there were no outstanding arrest warrants. The officer issued Knowles a speeding citation and then conducted a search of both Knowles and the passenger compartment of his vehicle. During that search, the officer found a pipe and some marijuana under the driver's seat. Knowles was subsequently convicted of possession of marijuana and keeping marijuana in his vehicle. The officer issued a traffic citation and conducted this search as incident to that citation, pursuant to Iowa Code 805.1. That special provision allows law enforcement officers to issue a citation in lieu of making an arrest, as long as the officer initially has the grounds for an arrest. Under the statute, the issuance of a citation in lieu of an arrest or continued custody does not affect the officer's authority to conduct an otherwise lawful search. Knowles moved to suppress the admissibility of the seized evidence, claiming that the search violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The following facts were undisputed: (1) The officer stopped Knowles for speeding, an offense for which he could be arrested; (2) Officer Cook had probable cause for the stop, based on the excessive speed, but had no probable cause or suspicion to believe that Knowles was involved in any other criminal activity; and (3) Knowles did not consent to the search of his vehicle. The trial court rejected Knowles' motion to suppress the incriminating evidence, and he was then convicted. On appeal the Iowa Supreme Court upheld his conviction, stating "an election by the officer to pursue a lesser intrusion, such as issuing a citation, may be conditioned on certain aspects of detention and search that are conducive to the officer's safety." Knowles has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys have jointly submitted an amicus curiae brief on his behalf, arguing against the constitutionality of this Iowa code provision and searches conducted under it. SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS IN NAPO'S AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF "Traffic stops are inherently dangerous and risky and pose a significant threat to the physical safety of law enforcement officers. Stopping a motor vehicle constitutes one of the least predictable and potentially most dangerous duties of a law enforcement officer. Each traffic stop presents a situation where an officer, usually alone and without any other officer support, must confront unknown individuals, who may be hiding weapons or concealing evidence. It is not uncommon for routine traffic stops to escalate into violence, without any prior warning to the officer," said Robert T. Scully, NAPO's executive director. In fact, tens of thousands of officers have been assaulted. From 1987 through 1996, there were 4,333 law enforcement officers assaulted through use of weapons during traffic stops and pursuits. And since the advent of the automobile, hundreds of officers have been feloniously killed by drivers or other occupants of vehicles involved in traffic stops or pursuits. Under the Fourth Amendment, the reasonableness of a stop and search of a vehicle and its driver stop rests on the balance between an individual's right of privacy and the public's significant interest in the safety of its law enforcement officers. In Maryland v. Wilson (upholding the right of officers to order passengers out of vehicles), the Supreme Court recognized that officer safety during a vehicle stop is the crucial "public interest" factor in analyzing the reasonableness of searches and seizures. (In Maryland, the Court cited statistics showing the danger to officers, which were taken directly from NAPO's amicus curiae brief filed in that case.) Iowa Code 805.1(4), allowing for searches incident to a citation, is a reasonable effort by the State of Iowa to reduce this danger to police officers during traffic stops in a less intrusive manner than a full custodial arrest. Past Supreme Court cases authorize searches of persons and vehicles incident to an arrest based on probable cause, even before an actual arrest occurs. The purpose of such searches is to discover weapons (in order to disarm the driver) and to preserve evidence (to prevent its destruction). The application of the Iowa statute recognizes that a law enforcement officer is exposed to a potentially dangerous situation whenever the officer stops and detains a vehicle, based on probable cause that a traffic violation has occurred. The statute is also based on the realization that this danger exists at the onset of the stop and detention, regardless of whether the officer eventually decides to make a formal arrest or issue a citation in lieu of an arrest. The brief urges the Supreme Court to recognize that the ultimate charging decision made by the police officer (an arrest or a citation) should not determine the validity of a search of the driver and the passenger compartment. Limiting searches during traffic stops to only when there is an eventual arrest would significantly increase the risk of harm to law enforcement officers in Iowa, whenever they issue a citation instead. The distinction between a search incident to an arrest and a search incident to a citation is meaningless in the context of officer exposure to significant danger. Accordingly, searches incident to a citation instead of an arrest advance a significant public interest in protecting officer safety and are reasonable under the Fourth Amendment. Thus, any weapon seized or evidence of crime uncovered during such searches is properly admissible in a criminal case, as was the evidence of criminality discovered in defendant's vehicle in this case. Furthermore, issuing a traffic citation is significantly less intrusive on the public than an arrest. A requirement that an actual arrest must occur before a search for weapons or concealed evidence can take place would deter law enforcement officers from proceeding in this less intrusive manner and result in more arrests for traffic offenses. The Iowa statute follows a more reasonable approach by giving officers needed flexibility, and thus benefits the citizens of Iowa. In the brief's conclusion, amicus curiae National Association of Police Organizations, Inc. urged the Supreme Court to apply the doctrine of searches incident to arrests to issuances of citations in lieu of arrests during traffic stops, given the substantial public interest in officer safety, and to thereby affirm the judgment in this case of the Iowa Supreme Court. The National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO) is a coalition of police unions and associations from across the United States that serves in Washington, D.C. to advance the interests of America's law enforcement officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. Founded in 1978, NAPO now represents more than 4,000 police unions and associations, over 220,000 sworn law enforcement officers, 3,000 retired officers and more than 100,000 citizens who share a common dedication to fair and effective crime control and law enforcement.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Some Issues That Led To NBA Lockout ('The Associated Press' Says One Of The Issues In The Labor Dispute Between National Basketball Association Players And Owners Is The Owners' Desire To Drug Test The Players For Marijuana Use)Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 23:48:03 -0400 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US: WIRE: Some Issues That Led To Nba Lockout 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: (AP) Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 SOME ISSUES THAT LED TO NBA LOCKOUT Some of the collective bargaining issues that led to the lockout announced Monday by the NBA: SALARY CAP: The current ``soft'' salary cap is $26.9 million per team, which may be exceeded when teams re-sign their own veteran free agents. The owners want to install a ``hard'' cap, which could not be exceeded, tied to a designated percentage of basketball-related income. The players have proposed a tightening of the cap if salary expenditures rise significantly above their current level. LARRY BIRD EXCEPTION: This is the rule that allows teams to re-sign their own veteran free agents regardless of salary cap constraints. The league has proposed phasing out the exception. The players want to retain the rule in its current form. ROOKIE SCALE: All first-round draft choices now must sign three-year guaranteed contracts that cannot be extended until two years have passed. The league has proposed a five-year rookie scale with a right of first refusal for at least one additional year. The union is not strongly opposed to longer rookie contracts. SHRINKING MIDDLE CLASS: Almost 20 percent of the players are earning the minimum salary of $272,500, usually because two or three players on each roster are taking up most of the cap space. The players want a salary scale for veterans with increased minimums based upon years in the league. DRUG POLICY: Only heroin and cocaine are covered in the current drug agreement. The league would like to add provisions dealing with marijuana and alcohol abuse. The union has resisted changes, saying the league's most recent proposal places all players under increased scrutiny, penalizing them for the transgressions of a few.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Experts Worry Border Patrol Agents Exceeding Their Authority ('The Associated Press' Notes The US Border Patrol Is Creating Controversy In Arizona By Using Unconstitutional Search And Seizure Tactics) Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 20:03:00 -0400 To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org) From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: US: Wire: Legal Experts Worry Border Patrol Agents Exceeding Their Authority Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: DrugSense Source: Associated Press Pubdate: Monday, June 29, 1998 LEGAL EXPERTS WORRY BORDER PATROL AGENTS EXCEEDING THEIR AUTHORITY BISBEE, Ariz. (AP) -- Bisbee nurse Glen Goerdt says he's been stopped by U.S. Border Patrol agents in southeastern Arizona several times, including two occasions in which the agent asked him to open the trunk of his car. Goerdt says he knew such a search would require a warrant, but he also knew there was nothing incriminating in the trunk. ``I guess I wanted to show I was a good American and that I was clean. Besides, I was in a hurry and I just wanted to get it over with,'' says Goerdt. ``But I've always wondered what would happen if I'd said no.'' But to some legal experts in Arizona, Goerdt's decision to comply with the agent's request is worrisome. Experts say the encounter highlights an increasing trend: agents are acting beyond their authority in the border region. ``The Border Patrol claims broad rights of search and seizure that go far beyond what the Constitution allows. But a Border Patrol agent can ask you your citizenship and that's about it,'' said Ivan Abrams, a former assistant U.S. attorney who is now a defense attorney in Cochise County. To do anything more, Abrams said, the agent must have the cooperation and permission of the individual he's stopped, or must establish probable cause to make an arrest. Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union, agreed. She noted that the agency benefits from a public perception that its officers have the authority to stop and search people in the vicinity of the border. Like a security search at an airport, the border stop has come to be viewed by many as the cost of protecting society. Eisenberg said the erosion of this area of civil rights has been aided by legislation and court decisions that have expanded the definition of probable cause and increased the admissibility of questionably gathered evidence. Ed Pyeatt, an assistant chief of the Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said agents are trained to deal with the public in a friendly and courteous manner that elicits people's cooperation, but they are also trained about the requirements of the law. He said the agency receives few complaints regarding vehicle searches and does not believe it is a problem. ``Our ladies and gentlemen are very well trained to recognize reasonable suspicion and probable cause,'' he said. The authority of U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officers, which include the Border Patrol, begins at the border points of entry. There, immigration inspectors and U.S. Customs agents share the responsibility of greeting all U.S.-bound people with questions aimed at determining citizenship and eligibility for legal entry into the country. The legal authority of immigration officers to act without a warrant away from the border is described in Title 8 of U.S. Code 1357, which empowers INS officers and employees to interrogate a suspected illegal entrant as to his right to remain in the United States. The code also authorizes the agent to arrest anyone who in his presence or view is entering or attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, or who he believes is in the country illegally. The same portion of the code contains provisions that allow immigration officers to board and search buses, trains, airplanes and other vehicles within a ``reasonable distance'' of the border. Within 25 miles of the border, immigration officers may ``have access to private lands, but not dwellings, for the purpose of patrolling the border to prevent illegal entry.'' Abrams said he normally advises his clients to respond to agents' questions on citizenship, but that they not cooperate further or agree to a voluntary search. A vehicle stop is always more of a confrontation because of the Fourth Amendment requirement that agents establish a reasonable suspicion of a crime before pulling a vehicle over. ``The agent has the right to inspect portions of the vehicle's passenger compartment, mainly areas accessible to the passengers, to ensure there is not a weapon present,'' said Pyeatt.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Copter Crash ('The Orange County Register' Says Nine Mexican Soldiers And Two Police Crewmen Were Killed Sunday During A 'Drug Eradication Mission' Near Chilpancingo, 130 Miles South Of Mexico City) Date: Wed, 1 Jul 1998 11:37:05 -0700 To: mapnews@mapinc.org From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: Mexico: Copter Crash Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: John W.Black Source: Orange County Register (CA) Contact: letters@link.freedom.com Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 COPTER CRASH A police helicopter on a drug-eradication mission crashed in Mexico's southern Guerrero state, killing the craft's two-man police crew and nine soldiers, authorities said Sunday. Army and police teams were investigating the cause of the crash, which occurred near Chilpancingo, 130 miles south of Mexico City.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Gonzo Drug Czar (Staff Editorial In 'The Ottawa Citizen' Ridicules General McCaffrey's 'Bitter, Paranoid Attacks' Against Reformers During His Recent Testimony Before A US Senate Committee) From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod) To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com Subject: Canada: Editorial: Gonzo drug czar Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 08:25:34 -0700 Lines: 69 Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org Source: Ottawa Citizen Contact: letters@thecitizen.southam.ca Pubdate: Monday 29 June 1998 Gonzo drug czar If the world-wide war on drugs has a commander-in-chief, it is President Bill Clinton's "Drug Czar," retired general Barry McCaffrey. Those who still support the failed policy of drug prohibition should note the latest musings of their leader. Testifying before a U.S. Senate committee, Gen. McCaffrey sounded as if he were auditioning for a part on the X-Files when he claimed, "There is a carefully camouflaged, exorbitantly funded, well-heeled, elitist group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug use in the United States." The general's comments followed the publication the previous week of a two-page newspaper ad calling for an end to the war on drugs. The letter was signed by more than 500 prominent individuals from around the world, and included subversives like George Shultz, Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State, former UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, Nobel-laureate Milton Friedman, and journalist Walter Cronkite. The general's Senate audience knew exactly what and whom he was getting at. Was this petition "carefully camouflaged"? It was organized -- quite openly -- by the Lindesmith Center. That this American institute is funded by billionaire financier George Soros is well-known. And Mr. Soros is hardly a shadowy character: His philanthropic efforts, including assistance for former communist countries making the transition to freedom, have been impressive. He deserves better than the general's innuendo. What about the claim that the legalization movement is "exorbitantly funded"? Exorbitant is a relative thing. The United States spends $30 billion a year on its drug war and accompanying propaganda. Relative to that $30 billion, its funding is insignificant. As for the charge of elitism, that is an example of the worst sort of political rabble-rousing, a cheap shot not worth comment. But the drug-warrior-in-chief wasn't done. He went on to tell the Senate that drug reformers had, "Through a slick misinformation campaign, E [perpetrated] a fraud on the American people, a fraud so devious that even some of the nation's most respected newspapers and sophisticated media are capable of echoing their falsehoods." In other words, it's inconceivable that journalists could look at the facts and reasonably come to a conclusion different than the general's. Every publication that disapproves of drug prohibition -- among them National Review, The Economist, and yes, this newspaper -- has simply been duped by the conspiracy. General McCaffrey's bitter, paranoid attacks, coming as they did hard upon the UN conference on drugs and the debate about drug prohibition that it prompted, exposed just how empty the drug warriors' case really is. Bereft of evidence, belied by experience, drug prohibitionists have few rational arguments to make -- so they insult, vilify, and denounce. It's an old rule in politics: When the facts are against you, throw mud in their eyes. Copyright 1998 The Ottawa Citizen
------------------------------------------------------------------- Fungus To Kill Drug Poppies Under Study ('The Chicago Tribune' Version Of Yesterday's News) From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) To: "MN" (mapnews@mapinc.org) Subject: MN: UK: Fungus To Kill Drug Poppies Under Study Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 08:23:48 -0500 Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/ Newshawk: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net) Pubdate: 29 June 1998 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Contact: tribletter@aol.com Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/ FUNGUS TO KILL DRUG POPPIES UNDER STUDY LONDON, BRITAIN -- Britain and the United States are funding biological research aimed at developing a virulent fungus that destroys opium poppies, the raw material for heroin. The Sunday Times of London reported that the two nations are sharing the $500,000 cost of the research program. The research is being conducted at a laboratory in Uzbekistan "to find out whether the project is viable," a British Foreign Office spokeswoman said over the weekend. According to the paper, scientists at Uzbekistan's state genetics institute have drawn up plans to make enough fungus to infect thousands of acres of opium poppies in central Asia. It said the fungus also could be used against poppies in Southeast Asia and South America. Myanmar traditionally has been the biggest supplier of poppies, but cultivation has spread more recently into Afghanistan and Colombia.
------------------------------------------------------------------- 'No One Demands Cocaine In The Grocery Store' (Translation Of An Article In 'Dagens Nyheter' In Which The 12 Swedes Who Joined Hundreds Of Other World Leaders In Signing An Open Letter Opposing The Global Drug War Respond To Swedish Social Minister Margot Wallstrom's Demand That They Explain Themselves) Newshawk:: Psykedeliska Bokhandeln (order@psykedelbok.se) Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 11: 07:44 +0100 Source: Dagens Nyheter Contact: dnet@dn.se Website: http://www.dn.se/ Authors: PETER CURMAN, author; HANNS von HOFER, assistant professor; LEIF LENKE, PhD; INGEMAR REXED, judge; JERZY SARNECKI, professor; SUNE SUNESSO N, professor; HENRIK THAM, professor; PER OLE TRC4SKMAN, professor Translation: Olafur Brentmar and John Yates "NO ONE DEMANDS COCAINE IN THE GROCERY STORE" The Swedes who signed the New York Times drug war proclamation answer Social Minister Margot Wallstrom: "Specify your accusations of drug liberalism". Social Minister Margot Wallstrom demands in her DN guest editorial 21/6 that the twelve Swedes who signed a proclamation on narcotics policy submitted to the UN Secretary General should "Come forwards and explain more clearly what it is they are really after". The proclamation was signed by 650 people from around the world, among them were former UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, chairman of international Pen, several current and former presidents, ministers and parliament members as well as Nobel laureates, high court judges and prominent researchers. The proclamation has not yet been seen by Swedish newspaper readers, although those who signed it have been characterized in the media as ignorant, deceived, ambiguous, cowardly and more. In order to clarify what we have said and not said, we here cite the letter. The proclamation concerns the global situation and not necessarily any individual country. "On the occasion of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in New York on June 8-10, 1998, we seek your leadership in stimulating a frank and honest evaluation of global drug control efforts. "We are all deeply concerned about the threat that drugs pose to our children, our fellow citizens and our societies. There is no choice but to work together, both within our countries and across borders, to reduce the harms associated with drugs. The United Nations has a legitimate and important role to play in this regard -- but only if it is willing to ask and address tough questions about the success or failure of its efforts. "We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself. "Every decade the United Nations adopts new international conventions, focused largely on criminalization and punishment, that restrict the ability of individual nations to devise effective solutions to local drug problems. Every year governments enact more punitive and costly drug control measures. Every day politicians endorse harsher new drug war strategies. "What is the result? U.N. agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade. This industry has empowered organized criminals, corrupted governments at all levels, eroded internal security, stimulated violence, and distorted both economic markets and moral values. These are the consequences not of drug use per se, but of decades of failed and futile drug war policies. "In many parts of the world, drug war politics impede public health efforts to stem the spread of HIV, hepatitis and other infectious diseases. Human rights are violated, environmental assaults perpetrated and prisons inundated with hundreds of thousands of drug law violators. Scarce resources better expended on health, education and economic development are squandered on ever more expensive interdiction efforts. Realistic proposals to reduce drug-related crime, disease and death are abandoned in favor of rhetorical proposals to create drug-free societies. "Persisting in our current policies will only result in more drug abuse, more empowerment of drug markets and criminals, and more disease and suffering. Too often those who call for open debate, rigorous analysis of current policies, and serious consideration of alternatives are accused of 'surrendering.' But the true surrender is when fear and inertia combine to shut off debate, suppress critical analysis, and dismiss all alternatives to current policies. "Mr. Secretary General, we appeal to you to initiate a truly open and honest dialogue regarding the future of global drug control policies - one in which fear, prejudice and punitive prohibitions yield to common sense, science, public health and human rights." Margot Wallstrom contends that the Swedes who signed this proclamation are drug liberals and support the legalization of narcotics, that they make unreasonable assertions about the costs of the war on drugs and are lacking in alternatives. Let us address these accusations. Regarding legalization, the issue is not raised in the proclamation. The question of whether one is for or against the legalization of narcotics is moreover of no interest as long as Margot Wallstrom does not specify what she means. No one demands cocaine at the grocery store. In Sweden methadone is legally prescribed and until 1988 use of drugs was not a criminal offence. Does this mean that we have or have had legalisation in Sweden and that Parliament is or has been "drug liberal"? Margot Wallstrom says that we are making unreasonable assertions when we say that the war on drugs is more damaging than the actual drugs. Examples of the costs of the drug war are given in the proclamation. In the USA for example the prison population has risen four-fold, mainly because of long sentences for drug offences. Today the USA has 1.7 million prison inmates in relation to population, more than ten times as many as in Sweden. Under the slogan "a drug free society" Sweden has, since the beginning of the 1980s, begun forced treatment of abusers, taken more than 40 000 compulsory urine and blood tests and prison sentences for drug crimes have more than doubled. The Swedish researchers who signed the proclamation can find no evidence in their research for the success of this kind of policy. We who signed the proclamation are worried about the suggestions for an even more repressive drug policy which have been proposed. Widar Andersson, adviser to the Prime Minister, has said "freedom of speech ought to be denied to those who covertly or openly propagandize for narcotics" and Carl Bildt and Gun Hellsvik have recently demanded that the police should be given the power to administer emetics, advocated urine analysis for minors and life sentences as solutions to the drug problem. Does the Social Minister find it pertinent to demand that these Swedes should step forward and explain themselves? We are also worried about the rising death rate among drug users in Sweden, which now exceed 200 per year, and wonder if this is connected to the criminal justice orientation in Swedish drug policy. A country like the Netherlands, with a more liberal policy, has noticeably lower death rate from a European perspective. And even if causal relationships and comparisons with other nations are always open to discussion, we think that one cannot just ignore the Swedish death rate in the drug debate. We are accused of not providing any alternatives. It might be considered enough of an alternative to demand change in an inhuman, expensive and ineffective policy. It usually is considered reasonable in other policy areas. One man-year in a closed prison in Sweden costs more than 1/2 million skr (US $62,500) and the most effective use of the police might not be in the collection of urine samples from already known drug users. Our alternative originates from the premise that the drug problem is not a new phenomenon separate from the old usual ones - alcohol abuse, street prostitution and habitual criminality. It is concerns the same groups and is about marginalization and alienation. The official political focus on the narcotic substance itself hides the real reasons for drug abuse such as unemployment, poverty, urban decay and inequality. And even if one focuses on drugs, is it then really narcotics which are the all over-shadowing problem? An article in the same newspaper, next to Margot Wallstrom's guest editorial, started with the words: "Drunkenness, fights, rape, drownings and knife murders. That is the summary of midsummer celebrations around the country." Now Margot Wallstrom might contend that the social and employment policy factors are obviously important and in no way conflict with the repressive aspect of narcotics policy. The important outcome of the UN meeting is said to be that now, partially building upon the Swedish example, efforts to reduce demand are to be accentuated. We agree that this change in perspective is positive. The determining factor however is how demand is to be reduced, i.e., how to get addicts to stop using drugs. In Sweden care and rehabilitation have been reduced, extra personnel in schools have been withdrawn and youth unemployment has increased drastically during the 1990s. The hallmark of Swedish drug policy has come more and more to be the police slogan "It is going to be tough to be a drug abuser". For Margot Wallstrom the UN has just made a breakthrough and decided upon a sound program. The global fight has just begun. The problem has been that until now we have not waged a war against drugs. In a debate editorial in DN 20.9.1989 the then Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson described the UN's big 1987 political manifestation against drugs and Sweden's proposal to the General Assembly for "A Global plan of action against drugs". And already then the war on drugs had been going on for a long time - in the UN, the USA and other countries. Against this background the proclamation and our demands are very reasonable - that drug policy should be opened up for expertise and dialogue. We would gladly expand, where there is space, on drug policy problems and dilemmas in regards to law-making, efficiency, costs, supernational decision making, democratic principles and not least - humanitarianism.
------------------------------------------------------------------- Booming Trade In Cut-Price Drugs Adds To Nigeria's Woes (The British 'Times' Finds A Novel Reason The Drug War Isn't Working In Nigeria, Said To Be A Transshipment Point For 40 Per Cent To 60 Per Cent Of The World's Heroin, And At Least A Third Of All Cocaine Consumed In Europe - The Success Of Local Police Against Nigeria's International Drug Traffickers Has Led To A Surge In Domestic Drug Use As Traffickers Dump Goods On The Local Market In 'Distress' Sales) Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 10:51:37 -0400 To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org) From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews) Subject: MN: Nigeria: Booming Trade In Cut-Price Drugs Adds To Nigeria's Woes 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: 29 June 1998 Source: The Times (UK) Author: Sam Kiley in Lagos Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ BOOMING TRADE IN CUT-PRICE DRUGS ADDS TO NIGERIA'S WOES HANGING in wooden cages suspended from the ceiling, dancers dressed in belt-length skirts performed high-speed hip jiggles that would have snapped the spines of lesser mortals. A young prostitute fired up a joint coated with cannabis oil, inhaled deeply and sat back to enjoy the heady mix of sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll at Nigeria's most famous nightclub - The Shrine. Outside, street hustlers emerged through a smog of pungent pot smoke, offering harder drugs, heroin and crack cocaine, to punters wandering the dark streets in search of oblivion. In Nigeria, the transshipment point for 40-60 per cent of the world's heroin, and at least a third of all cocaine consumed in Europe, oblivion comes cheap. The discount prices for drugs have caused an explosion of abuse that threatens to undermine the social fabric of a nation already staggering under the weight of decades of military rule, corruption and unemployment. According to the United Nations and international security forces employed in the global war on drugs, Nigeria's drug traffickers have launched a campaign to hook their own people into a cycle of dependency in the name of profit. "In Lagos, lbadan, Port Harcourt and Kano, cocaine and heroin are increasingly easily available and used. To suit the local market conditions, where people do not have much money, drugs have become cheap. They are cut [diluted with inert substances] and made into different grades for the different parts of the market," Shariq bin Raza, the UN's Nigeria-based anti-drug chief, said. The surge in Nigerian narcotics abusers, experts said, was in part caused by local successes in combating the international trafficking industry. These had "forced" the drug lords into "distress sales" in which they dumped goods on the local market to realise some profit, rather than have their goods rot in hideouts which risked discovery. "The Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency [under Major-General Musa Bamayil has made an enormous effort to rid itself of corruption within its own ranks and combat the trafficking problem. The problem is that NDLEA successes sometimes mean that there are more drugs on the local market," Mr bin Raza, of the UN International Drug Control Programme said. Other Western security sources said that Nigerian "mules" - individuals who swallow condoms filled with narcotics to smuggle them into Europe and America were being seduced into dependency so they could be paid in drugs. "The result of this is obvious; the mules want to maximize their own profits, so they sell their drugs on the local market. They create addicts, they are addicts themselves, and suddenly you have a whole new market for drugs," one Western anti-drug security source said. The huge profit margins made by drug smugglers has opened their eyes to vast possibilities in discounted bulk sales to Third World consumers. The collapse of most Nigerian government departments under the late General Sani Abacha, whose plunderous five-year rule ended with his death earlier this month, has meant that no accurate statistics are available for the extent of Nigeria's domestic drug problem. But experts said that it was an epidemic in the making. Isolated diplomatically and squeezed by sanctions against General Abacha, which cut foreign aid, Nigerian anti-drugs campaigners have been hamstrung, and the results are graphic. For many Nigerians, the money being spent on drugs is at the expense of more basic commodities - like food. -------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
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