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Was Prison Probe A Whitewash? ('The San Francisco Examiner'
Suggests California Governor Pete Wilson And Attorney General Dan Lungren,
Arch Enemies Of Medical Marijuana, Improperly Stymied An Investigation
Into Murders And Other Crimes By Guards At Corcoran State Prison)
Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 17:24:59 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Was Prison Probe A Whitewash?
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)
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: 4 July 1998
Authors: Mark Arax And Mark Gladstone, Los Angeles Times
WAS PRISON PROBE A WHITEWASH?
CORCORAN, Kings County - For seven years, California turned a blind eye to
the deadliest prison in America, where 50 inmates were wounded or shot dead
by guards.
Gov. Wilson and the man who wants to succeed him, Attorney General Dan
Lungren, finally examined Corcoran State Prison last year. The result was a
whitewash - a pair of investigations that never probed a single fatal or
serious shooting, the Los Angeles Times has found.
The Wilson administration blocked efforts to investigate brutality by
officers and mismanagement by top officials in the Department of
Corrections, according to investigators assigned to a special corrections
team.
The agents said the powerful prison guard union, which has contributed
nearly $1 million to Wilson and Lungren since 1990, was allowed to stymie
almost every attempt to question key officers about a broad range of
alleged crimes at Corcoran.
"The union and the governor's office ran the investigation," said Jim
Connor, the corrections agent who supervised the team. "We would try to
question a witness, and the union was there blocking us. The (union) even
told us how many interviews we could do, and our bosses in Sacramento
backed them. This was no independent inquiry. It was just a sham."
Top state officials deny any coverup, although aides to Wilson and Lungren
concede that their administrations didn't do nearly enough to watch over
the nation's most violent prison. The union president declined to talk.
In the middle of California's cotton fields, this prison is where 43
inmates were wounded and seven were killed by officers firing assault
rifles from 1988 to 1995. While local and state watchdogs looked the other
way, rival gang members were pitted against each other and watched over by
guards - then shot if they didn't stop fighting.
But the governor's point man on the 1997 probe ordered corrections
investigators to steer clear of the shootings and the policies sent down
from Sacramento that led to the violence, according to agents.
Investigators were told they could not compel key officers to talk about
their knowledge of any brutality or coverups, including firsthand accounts
that problem inmates purposely were locked into a cell and subjected to
repeated rapes by an inmate enforcer nicknamed the "Booty Bandit."
The attorney general investigated only one case of alleged brutality and
possible coverup by a union official. Lungren's top investigator then took
a higher-paying job with the Corrections Department, the agency he was
assigned to investigate.
Wilson declined requests for an interview, but his top aides said they were
surprised to hear that agents were hamstrung in their attempts to
investigate the prison.
"Was there a whitewash or coverup from the governor's office? No,
absolutely not," said Sean Walsh, Wilson's press secretary. "Was there a
whitewash or coverup from the Department of Corrections? =8A This is the
first we've heard of a conspiracy or attempt to cover up."
Whitewash denied
Lungren said any insinuation of a whitewash was "a bunch of crap." When
asked why his office had delved into just a single case, he cited an FBI
probe into civil rights abuses at Corcoran that has been going on since 1994.
"We weren't going to duplicate or interfere with what the feds were engaged
in," Lungren said. "It's a matter of not screwing up another investigation."
But federal authorities say their probe was focused on one shooting death
and that there was a broad range of alleged misconduct at Corcoran, enough
to keep both state agents and the FBI busy.
The Times has obtained 10,000 pages of internal corrections reports and has
interviewed dozens of guards, investigators and others whose accounts
provide new and disturbing details of Corcoran's violent breakdown and
coverups. The investigation shows a pattern of neglect at every level.
From the day Corcoran opened in 1988, the escalating violence failed to set
off any alarms.
Toothless probes
And when the Corrections Department and attorney general finally did step
in - seven years after the first death - their probes were either so
restricted or toothless that it became virtually impossible to ferret out
wrongdoing.
"I've been an investigator for 10 years, and no one has ever told me before
that I couldn't talk to certain important people and couldn't pursue
certain key leads," said Ben Eason, another supervisor on the corrections
team.
The twin state probes ended last year without criminal charges being filed
against a single officer.
Considerable energy was spent trying to dig up dirt on whistle-blowers, the
officers who had reported brutality to the FBI, according to interviews and
the internal reports.
In the end, state officials found only isolated incidents of staff
misconduct at Corcoran, even though a federal grand jury in February
charged eight officers with setting up fights for "amusement and blood sport."
Unusual step
Federal prosecutors have taken the unusual step of accusing corrections
officials and union representatives of trying to thwart the FBI and cover
up wrongdoing.
The California Correctional Peace Officers Association contends it is
ridiculous to believe that officers at Corcoran engaged in a pattern of
abuse that was covered up with union help.
Union President Don Novey did not respond to requests for interviews over a
two-month period.
Several inmates sued the state in 1992 for staging scores of fights
involving the same rival boxers. In each case, the Corrections Department
was defended by the civil arm of Lungren's office.
Attorney General Lungren said it wasn't until 1996 that a pattern of inmate
lawsuits raised serious questions about Corcoran among his top staff.
"Sacramento knew the level of violence," said Steve Rigg, a former
lieutenant who also cooperated with the FBI. "We assumed that they would
read the numbers and say something is terribly wrong here and take
appropriate corrective action. Instead, we continued to bait inmates into
fights and then shoot them for throwing punches."
In fall 1996, after stories in the Los Angeles Times and then CBS's "60
Minutes," Wilson's staff met with then-corrections Director James Gomez and
devised a plan. Corcoran would be the focus of a pair of investigations by
the Corrections Department and the attorney general.
Boring deep
By this time, two FBI agents had spent two years boring deep inside
Corcoran. The focus of the federal grand jury was the 1994 shooting death
of inmate Preston Tate, a 25-year-old gang member from Los Angeles killed
by a guard during a fistfight.
State officials said it was out of deference to the federal probe that they
hadn't investigated Corcoran two years sooner.
Investigator Eason said he put aside his doubts and took the job out of
respect for Brian Parry, a longtime corrections investigator who would
direct the team from Sacramento. Parry had chosen Jim Connor, a corrections
investigator from Southern California, to oversee day-to-day movements.
But team members said it was clear that neither Parry nor Connor was in
charge. The man directing the probe was Del Pierce, a former head of the
Department of Motor Vehicles and a trusted Wilson troubleshooter.
"We couldn't go here, and we couldn't go there," said Connor, who
supervised the team. "We couldn't touch the shootings. We couldn't follow
the leads. If a lead took you to the ivory castle - someone high up in
corrections - that lead was turned off by Pierce."
Pierce confirmed that he focused the probe on the newspaper allegations,
but said he never told investigators they couldn't pursue wrongdoing by top
brass.
But Connor and other investigators were troubled by the presence of Deputy
Director of Corrections Eddie Myers, who had made his feelings clear about
violence at Corcoran and the FBI probe, according to a deposition by former
warden George Smith. He told Security Housing Unit staff members in a 1994
meeting that he backed them fully and didn't believe the allegations.
Guards' union role
The investigators said they knew the role the guards' union had played in
clamping down on past inquiries at Corcoran. They had watched the union
under president Novey ride the prison construction wave, growing from a
kind of social club into one of the more powerful forces in the state, with
a rank-and-file 27,000 strong.
The governor's top aides said the union never came to them to influence the
investigation.
The corrections team trudged on, uncovering over the next four months
evidence to support allegations of beatings, torture, missing reports and
coverups by top Corcoran brass, according to interviews and reports
detailing their work. And yet none of these cases resulted in criminal
prosecution.
There was one area, however, where the state team clearly had a green
light: digging up dirt on officers working with the FBI. The team generated
more than 1,000 pages of information regarding whistle-blowers.
After spending more than $500,000 and employing 15 agents to canvass the
state, corrections officials ended up investigating and disciplining only
one officer involved in a shooting: Richard Caruso, who was docked 90 days
pay for firing wood blocks at an inmate in 1993, a shooting that resulted
in no injuries.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Court Bars Leniency Pledge to Witnesses ('Washington Post' Version,
Yet More Complete)
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 1998 13:16:09 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: AP: Court Bars Leniency Pledge to Witnesses
Court Bars Leniency Pledge to Witnesses
Attorneys Say Denver Ruling Will Hamstring Prosecutors, Help Defense
Associated Press
Saturday, July 4, 1998
The Washington Post, Page A02
DENVER, July 3-A federal appeals court has ruled that it is illegal for the
government to promise leniency to witnesses in exchange for testimony. The
decision could hamstring prosecutors and help Timothy J. McVeigh in his
appeal.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 3 to 0 ruling Wednesday
that the practice amounts to buying testimony.
The court said its decision will not "drastically alter" the government's
practices, but prosecutors and defense lawyers disagreed.
"This is a bombshell," Denver defense attorney Larry Pozner told the Denver
Post. "This hits the government right where they live. This is how the
government is operating, and we have said for 40 years, if you say to
somebody in criminal trouble, 'I'll give you a free pass, or I'll let you
go if you tell me the story I want to hear,' they'll tell you whatever they
need to say to get out of trouble."
The decision could have implications for McVeigh's appeal, since the
government's star witness in the Oklahoma City bombing case, Michael
Fortier, testified against McVeigh after cutting a deal with prosecutors.
"Somewhere tonight there is indigestion in the Department of Justice," said
Stephen Jones, McVeigh's former attorney.
Two of the judges who made the ruling -- Circuit Judges Paul J. Kelly Jr.
and David M. Ebel -- are assigned to McVeigh's case.
A decision on McVeigh's appeal is expected this summer. He is awaiting
execution for the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people.
Mike Norton, former U.S. attorney in Denver, said that if the appeals
court's decision stands, it will have "a tremendously negative impact on
the government's ability to investigate and prosecute crimes by groups --
conspiracy, drug trafficking, money laundering, securities fraud and health
care fraud."
Norton said prosecutors routinely work their way up the chain of command in
a criminal organization, offering immunity or plea bargains to lower-level
participants in exchange for testimony against their superiors.
In the ruling, Kelly said such deals violate federal law.
"The government may still make deals with accomplices for their assistance
other than testimony, and it may still put accomplices on the stand; it
simply may not attach any promise, offer or gift to their testimony," the
court said.
The law states that anyone who directly or indirectly "gives, offers or
promises anything of value to any person for or because of testimony . . .
shall be fined . . . or imprisoned for not more than two years, or both,"
Kelly said.
"One of the very oldest principles of our legal heritage is that the king
is subject to the law. King John was taught this principle at Runnymede in
A.D. 1215, when his barons forced him to submit to Magna Carta, the great
charter that imposed limits on the exercise of sovereign power."
The ruling applies only to federal cases in the 10th Circuit, which
includes Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
In Washington, Justice Department spokesman Bert Brandenburg said the
decision is "under review." Other department officials predicted that it
would almost certainly be appealed. If the department appeals to the
Supreme Court and does not prevail, however, the decision could affect
federal cases nationwide.
The decision came in the case of a Wichita woman who allegedly was part of
a cocaine trafficking ring. The woman's conviction was based in large part
on the testimony of another person involved in the conspiracy, Napoleon
Douglas.
The appeals court said Douglas was promised leniency in exchange for his
cooperation and testimony. Leniency is something of value, wrote the court,
and therefore illegal as part of a deal for testimony.
The government did not specifically tell Douglas that it would seek a
reduced sentence for him but promised it would not prosecute him for other
offenses and would tell both the sentencing judge and his parole board
about his cooperation, the court said.
"The obvious purpose of the government's promised actions was to reduce his
jail time, and it is difficult to imagine anything more valuable than
personal physical freedom," Kelly said.
(c) Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
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Camping Out For The Right To Assemble ('The Los Angeles Times'
Covers The Annual Gathering Of The Rainbow Family
At Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Near Carnero Lake, Arizona)
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 21:22:57 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US AZ: Camping Out For The Right To Assemble
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: Sat, 4 Jul 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: Julie Cart, Times Staff Writer
CAMPING OUT FOR THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE
Culture: 20,000 Rainbow Family Members Celebrate Freedom In National Forest.
Government Calls Fest Illegal.
CARNERO LAKE, Ariz.--Don't be misled by the dope smoking, the incessant
drumming, the incense haze and the twirling dancers.
This is nothing less than a Constitutional Convention, a referendum on the
right to assemble.
To many, the 27th Gathering of the Tribes for World Peace and Healing is a
freaky, funky, smelly assemblage of anarchists, Druids, tree-worshiping
Pagans and latter-day hippies. They call it Weirdstock.
To the 20,000 members of the Rainbow Family camped here in the
Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, this annual Fourth of July weekend event
is about the right to live without interference on what is, after all,
public land.
The U.S. Forest Service, along with other law enforcement entities, does
not see it that way. They see a significant environmental impact over 1,100
acres, a high incidence of unlawfulness and an illegal use of national
land. As they have every summer for more than a quarter century, the
Rainbow Family is facing off against an assortment of armed officers,
defending themselves only with smiles, offers of herbal tea and dogma
heavily reminiscent of the founding fathers' cry for personal freedom.
Allen Firesong, who has been coming to gatherings for 20 years, said the
event is about a sense of community.
"It's the energy of the people," he said. "It's the same whether it's 300
or 30,000. We just take care of each other. . . . You have to experience it
to know what it's all about. It's an experiment in living peacefully
together. To have everybody fed, everybody happy, treat everyone's feelings
so that they are valuable and important."
A Weeks-Long Rock Concert Aside from its political statement, the gathering
looks pretty much like a weeks-long rock concert. Once the site was
selected, members began to arrive as early as mid-June. They scouted the
forest, located at an elevation of 9,000 feet on the Arizona-New Mexico
border, just west of Springerville.
The Forest Service was here then too. Its national incident team was
organized a year ago to handle the Rainbows, who represent the largest
single recreational users of federal forests. Local towns are affected by
the gathering; the assembly is now the largest city, by far, in Apache
County.
The presence of so many people without a permit is being challenged in U.S.
District Court. The Rainbows respond that they have a right to peaceable
assembly, and find it especially relevant to do so on the Fourth of July.
The gathering, said a 21-year-old from Arkansas named Never, is about being
an American: "Ya know, when I was at home for the Fourth, we never talked
about what the holiday was about. Here, we are celebrating what it is to
live here [in America] . . . our freedoms."
Still, they have been engaged in a running battle with authorities for
decades. Among the concerns: * Traffic from more than 4,000 vehicles making
their way to the remote site. Already scores of citations have been issued.
Rainbows say they are being harassed by local police, who pull over
vehicles for minor violations and use the stop as a pretext to search for
drugs.
* Garbage from the gathering is expected to reach more than 25 tons, which
the family will collect and dispose of. There are recycling bins around the
site, all trash is bagged and even the Forest Service admits the group has
an exemplary record for leaving sites clean.
* Water, or lack of it, is a problem. Family members are trucking in water
daily and "borrowing" from a local spring. The shortage has meant that
water must be used sparingly for cooking, cleaning of utensils and washing
hands. Only. Officials say local businesses have removed the handles from
their outdoor taps to prevent Rainbows from stealing water. Family members
say locals have helped by donating water.
* Dogs. There is an estimated one dog per three people. After last year's
gathering in Oregon, more than 100 dogs were left behind.
* Fires. There is an open fire ban in effect. Intermittent storms have not
lessened the fire danger. In fact, forest officials fear lightning-caused
blazes. As in most regards, the Family prefers to police itself. Rainbow
fire wardens prowl the site in search of open fires.
* Environment. There are no bathrooms for the 20,000 Rainbows, who have dug
slit latrines. This has caused concern about ground water contamination. In
addition, rangers say the ground is severely compacted by foot traffic and
will require about a year to recover. Rainbows say they minimize impact on
the trails and re-seed meadows. Within the various camps, signs are posted
regarding respect for the streams, forest and grasslands.
Interestingly, these messages are invariably affixed by nails hammered into
trees.
Operating by Consensus Through it all, the Rainbow philosophy of "whatever"
prevails.
The vast, leaderless collective operates on a consensus system, and is
adamant that it has no hierarchy. There are Rainbows all over the world,
and the whereabouts of the national gathering is made known by word of
mouth and the Internet.
Their anarchist's bent notwithstanding, the gatherings are highly
organized. Rainbows are not so counterculture that they don't provide a
media tent, a sophisticated system of radio checkpoints and a highly
vigilant group watching the "front and back doors."
Drake, who was among the first family members to set up camp, said: "It's
amazing to be one of the first people to go into the area and look around
and say, 'This is a good place for my family.' "
The various camps spill across vast meadows, stands of pine and aspen trees
and over stream beds. Trails lead from camp to camp, such as Teepee Camp,
Barbarian Camp for teenagers, Kiddie Camp for children with swings and
puppet shows and the ever-present A Camp, for those who care to drink.
According to Rainbow Rap 151--from the set of guidelines for the
gathering--"It is the tradition in our family to discourage alcohol use at
the gathering. The gathering is a prayer and peace sanctuary, not a
tailgate party."
But being an inclusive group, the family allows A Camp, which by mutual
agreement is located on the edge of the gathering--because family members
strive to keep alcohol at a distance from the main camp and, as one A
Camper noted: "We want to be a reasonable keg-hauling distance from the
road."
The site is fully self-contained. There are about a dozen kitchens, as well
as a highly efficient bakery that uses mud ovens. There is a medical tent,
a lost and found, outgoing mail and message center.
Although Rainbows are commonly perceived as aging hippies, in practice the
gathering is intergenerational. The most common fashion look is long
dreadlocked hair, strings of beads and a flowing dress or skirt. The women
are even more elaborately clothed.
There are few rules. Clothing is optional, sex is free, no weapons are
allowed, the use of hard drugs is discouraged, but marijuana--green
energy--is everywhere.
The atmosphere is redolent with the dense, sweet smell of marijuana,
mingled with incense, dust, and, overwhelmingly, body odor. Some family
members have been here for two weeks, and the combination of high
temperatures and precious little water have made this gathering a highly
fragrant one.
With more than 70 arrests in the last week, the Rainbows also are often
portrayed as scofflaws.
In fact, trouble attributed to the gathering is often caused by others.
Last week, three Phoenix men not affiliated with the group were arrested
for assaulting an officer, and on weapons and drugs charges.
The manager of the Safeway in Springerville said he's had no trouble from
Rainbows. Watching his store bulge with family members buying every organic
product he offered, the manager--who asked not to be identified--said his
grungy customers are some of the nicest people he'd met.
He did have to hire a security guard--the locals have been shoplifting, he
said.
Other merchants have padlocked dumpsters to keep family members from diving
for spoiled food.
Rainbow elder Garrick, with his cell phone and edgy New York attitude,
believes authorities have misinformed the public about family behavior.
"For a 20,000-person event, over a holiday weekend, we have a surprisingly
small incidence of violence," he said.
Tim, who makes a living selling tie-dyed clothing, said the younger
Rainbows must be taught the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of
the event. "It's misconstrued as a party by some of the younger people," he
said as he passed a group of scantily clad dancers.
No Agreement on Point of Gathering The problem is that no one agrees about
the nature of Rainbow philosophy and the point of the gathering. Today will
be the highlight: Silence from sunrise to midday and a mass prayer/chant
for peace as the throng is seated in a circle.
"You can feel a sense of God, you can feel the power," Tim said of the
chant. "There have been a lot of positive changes brought by people who
come to places like this and were able to get out of their personal
situations long enough to take a look at the bigger picture."
Holly is an elder Rainbow, with her graying hair matted into spikes. The
family, she said, is all about constitutional rights.
Just like the first Americans.
"I used to wear the business suit, I went to college, I lived that life,"
she said while tie-dying striped officials' shirts for a family football
game. "I want the world to know that we're all not all funky, tripping,
punks."
Outside her tent, the rain had finally stopped and a half-rainbow arced
across the newly blue sky.
Cosmic.
Copyright Los Angeles Times
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Profits Waiting If Hemp Legalized, UK Study Says
(According To 'The Lexington Herald-Leader,' A New 18-Month
University Of Kentucky Study Released Yesterday, 'Economic Impact
Of Industrial Hemp In Kentucky,' Says Hemp Might Be The Best Thing
For Farmers Since Tobacco - John Gilderbloom, A University Of Louisville
Economics Professor Who Wrote A Foreword Endorsing The Study,
Said 'This Is The Premier Study Done On The Impact Of Hemp')
Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 09:50:04 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US KY: Profits Waiting
If Hemp Legalized, Uk Study Says
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)
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Pubdate: Sat, 04 Jul 1998
Author: Janet Patton, Herald-Leader Business Writer
PROFITS WAITING IF HEMP LEGALIZED, UK STUDY SAYS
Not only is industrial hemp a good idea for Kentucky, hemp might be the
best thing for the state to grow since tobacco, according to a University
of Kentucky study of the potential for profit from a crop that farmers in
the state have sued for the right to grow.
"We believe the UK study is a landmark, watershed event," said John
Gilderbloom, a University of Louisville economics professor who wrote a
foreword endorsing the study, Economic Impact of Industrial Hemp in
Kentucky. "This is the premier study done on the impact of hemp."
The 18-month study released yesterday concludes that the present market for
hemp grain and straw in various industries could support the cultivation of
82,000 acres of industrial hemp in the United States, and if Kentucky acts
fast, a lot of that could be grown right here.
"This crop is like a Rip Van Winkle, coming back to wake," said Jake
Graves, president of the Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library, which sponsored
the $23,000 study. Graves and other hemp advocates have been fighting for
almost five years to farm a crop that hasn't been grown legally in the
state since World War II.
"The returns from hemp fall somewhere between tobacco and other crops that
are already grown in Kentucky," said Mark Berger, director of UK's Center
for Business and Economic Research. Berger is co-author of the study with
economists Eric Thompson and Steven Allen. Their study sees a profit of
between $220 and $605 an acre in today's market.
"The potential depends in large part on how many processing facilities
locate in the state," Berger said. There are no facilities that can process
raw hemp straw in the United States.
These findings differ from a 1997 UK College of Agriculture study that did
not see much of a market for Kentucky hemp.
"Worldwide, the hemp market continues to shrink year after year after
year," said agricultural economist Valerie Vantreese, author of the '97 study.
"The European Union heavily subsidizes the hemp market, but it still
remains very, very small," Vantreese said. "Last year, the total trade of
hemp fiber and seed was only about $12 million."
Berger agrees that in developing countries such as China, one of the
world's largest hemp producers, the market for hemp is shrinking. "But in
higher-income, more-developed, more environmentally friendly countries,
it's growing," Berger said.
Vantreese also said that a significant increase in production =96 Kentucky
joining the world market, for instance -- would depress prices.
The new study stresses that the effect as assessed is only at today's
prices, which would probably fall with competition and rise with greater
demand for hemp products.
Allen said the market probably will increase for products people might be
willing to pay a little more for -- things like tree-free paper and
environmentally friendly cloth.
"It has wonderful qualities, but it's not cost-competitive," Vantreese
said. "I firmly believe that we can import from China or the European Union
just as cheaply, if not more cheaply, than what we can produce it for here."
But home-grown hemp might have an advantage with lower transportation
costs, Allen said. "A lot of the demand for the products is from Europe and
North America."
And Berger doesn't think competition from Europe and China would stop
Kentucky farmers from trying.
"If it were legalized tomorrow, I think you'd see Kentucky getting into
hemp in a moderate way," Berger said. "The economic returns are there for
people to take a stab at it, especially as we're looking for alternatives
to tobacco."
Joe Hickey, executive director of the hemp co-op, said the study lays the
groundwork for research to begin.
"Whoever has the industry that can use hemp as a feed stock will attract
the first growers," Hickey said. "Then farmers will ... get into
value-added production."
Gilderbloom said the environmental advantages of hemp, coupled with the
economic benefits predicted in the study, give hemp the edge over other
possible alternatives to tobacco.
"It's the knockout punch for opponents to hemp, including the nation's drug
czar," Gilderbloom said, calling director of national drug policy Barry
McCaffrey "the foremost opponent now of hemp."
Gilderbloom said he hopes the study will be the spark for lawmakers to
re-examine the crop, and serve as the basis for new hearings both in the
state and in Congress.
"We hope it sparks controversy, because out of controversy comes fact,"
said Andy Graves, president of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative. He is
also a plaintiff in a lawsuit that farmers who want to grow hemp filed in
U.S. District Court in Ashland in May against the DEA and the Justice
Department.
Andy Graves said copies of the study have been sent to national newspapers
and prominent lawmakers, including Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. "These are the
people who might be in a position to convince ... McCaffrey to find a
diplomatic way to change his position."
As for how much support hemp has in Kentucky's General Assembly, "my guess
is none at this point," said Andy Graves, who farms tobacco in Central
Kentucky. But, he said, it's important for lawmakers to realize that
tobacco probably has a limited lifespan.
"Something else needs to happen," he said. "We're not and never have asked
anyone to change drug law. This is not a drug crop."
Tommye Chaney of Ewing agrees. Her grandfather grew hemp on his Fleming
County farm during World War II and now she imports hemp from China to spin
into cloth to sell. She said the only people who don't understand that are
politicians and law enforcement officials. Chaney was one of about 35
people who came to Ashland, Henry Clay's estate in Lexington, for the
study's release.
"I talk to people in Renfro Valley," Chaney said, "People down there are
hungry for something to grow."
Jean Laprise, director of Kenex Ltd. in Ontario, said he sympathizes with
the problems U.S. farmers are having getting government permission to grow
hemp.
Canadian farmers are growing 4,500 acres of hemp this year, including
Laprise's 2,000 acres. Kenex, the largest Canadian importer of seed, has
about 50 farmers under contract, and Laprise said he hopes to double that
acreage next year, if the market permits.
He will harvest his first commercial crop in August, when his $4 million
processing plant in Chatham will begin turning 5,000 tons of hemp into
meal, oil, fiber and hurds for animal bedding and matting for the
automotive industry.
"Even though it's legal in Canada, it's still not that easy," It's
stringently regulated." Laprise said that 10 days ago, Health Canada, the
equivalent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, audited his site,
checking everything from security to inventory control.
"Regulatory officials understand the situation," Laprise said. "We have an
industrial crop growing that's no different from growing tomatoes or
brussels sprouts."
Copyright 1998 Lexington Herald-Leader.
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Hurds Could Be Kentucky Product ('The Lexington Herald-Leader'
Says A Report On The Economic Impact Of Industrial Hemp In Kentucky,
Released Yesterday, Points To Central Kentucky's Proximity To
The Thoroughbred Horse Industry To Suggest Kentucky Farmers
Would Have A Logistic Advantage In Marketing Hemp Hurds
For Horse Bedding, Currently One Of The Major Uses For Hurds In Europe)
Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 09:56:06 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US KY: Hurds Could Be Kentucky Product
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)
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Contact: hledit@lex.infi.net
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Pubdate: Sat, 04 Jul 1998
Author: Janet Patton, Herald-Leader Business Writer
HURDS COULD BE KENTUCKY PRODUCT
Animal bedding is an example of a market for a hemp product that Kentucky
might have a unique advantage in, according to the Economic Impact of
Industrial Hemp in Kentucky, which was released yesterday.
Hemp hurds, from the woody, pulpy middle of the stalk, are often just a
byproduct of processing the plant. When the hemp fibers are removed from
the plant, 68 percent of the plant -- the hurd -- is left.
In England and France, which together grow more than 35,000 acres of hemp,
hurds are primarily used for animal bedding.
Because of Central Kentucky's proximity to the thoroughbred horse industry,
hemp grown and processed here would have a ready-made market, the study
suggests.
"In talking with people in England who've done this for two to three years,
this is a premium product, one that's going to be used on more high-value
horses," said Steven Allen, co-author of the University of Kentucky study
with Mark Berger and Eric Thompson.
"And that's what we have here," added Berger.
Based on Jockey Club figures, Allen, Berger and Thompson estimate there are
77,000 thoroughbreds in Kentucky in any given year; 117,000 thoroughbreds
in Kentucky and surrounding states; and 640,000 thoroughbreds in the United
States.
If 10 percent of these horses switched to the hemp bedding, with each
animal using 180 pounds a week, then each year there would be a yearly
market for 36,000 tons in Kentucky, 55,000 tons in Kentucky and adjoining
states, and 300,000 tons in the U.S.
It would take 12,000 acres of hemp just to satisfy the estimated demand for
the hurd in Kentucky, and 7,000 more acres for the adjoining states.
Because the bedding is bulky, shipping for long distances might erode the
price advantage.
Using American Horse Council figures, the authors estimate there are 4.4
million other registered horses in the United States. It would take an
additional 71,000 acres to make enough bedding if only 1 percent of the
horse owners switched to the hemp hurd bedding.
Wood chips and fine wheat straw, the main types of bedding now used, retail
for $180 to $240 a ton; hemp hurds could be processed for sale at very
competitive $30 a ton wholesale.
Hemp hurds are also more biodegradable than would chips or straw.
"It's much more absorbent, they say, and produces a better animal bedding,"
Allen said.
Copyright 1998 Lexington Herald-Leader
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Randomised Trial Of Heroin Maintenance Programme For Addicts
Who Fail In Conventional Drug Treatments ('The British Medical Journal'
Reports A Subgroup Of Severely Addicted People Who Failed Repeatedly
In Conventional Drug Treatments Fared Better Than Patients In Conventional
Drug Treatments When They Participated In A Heroin Maintenance Programme
In Geneva, Switzerland - Improvements Included Reduced Use Of Street Drugs,
Better Mental Health, Social Functioning, And Reduced Illegal Activities)
Date: Sat, 04 Jul 1998 16:01:43 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: UK: BMJ: Randomised Trial Of Heroin Maintenance Programme For
Addicts Who Fail In Conventional Drug Treatments
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Source: British Medical Journal (UK) BMJ 1998;317:13-18 ( 4 July )
Contact: bmj@bmj.com
Website: http://www.bmj.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 04 Jul 1998
Webform: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletter-submit/317/7150/13
Note: Only the table introductions are provided below as the tables would
not reproduce well as email. They are on-line (as of today, which is why we
do not link to articles normally - they may not be good links in a year or
two) at: http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7150/13
Papers
RANDOMISED TRIAL OF HEROIN MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
FOR ADDICTS WHO FAIL IN
CONVENTIONAL DRUG TREATMENTS
Thomas V Perneger, medical epidemiologist, a Francisco Giner, resident, b
Miguel del Rio, fellow, b Annie Mino, head of division. b
a Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Geneva Medical
School, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland, b Division of Substance Abuse,
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, CH-1211 Geneva 14
Correspondence to: Dr Perneger perneger@cmu.unige.ch
KEY MESSAGES
A heroin maintenance programme may be a useful treatment option for
patients who do not succeed in conventional drug treatment programmes
Patients randomly allocated to the Geneva heroin maintenance programme
fared better that patients in conventional drug treatments in terms of
street drug use, mental health, social functioning, and illegal activities
Results of the trial apply only to a subgroup of severely addicted people
who failed repeatedly in conventional drug treatments
This evaluation does not distinguish between the effects of heroin itself
and the effects of other medical and psychosocial services that were
provided as part of the programme
There was less demand for the heroin maintenance programme than anticipated
and most control subjects declined entry into the programme at the end of
the study
***
ABSTRACT
Objective: To evaluate an experimental heroin maintenance programme.
Design: Randomised trial.
Setting: Outpatient clinic in Geneva, Switzerland.
Subjects: Heroin addicts recruited from the community who were socially
marginalised and in poor health and had failed in at least two previous
drug treatments.
Intervention: Patients in the experimental programme (n=27) received
intravenous heroin and other health and psychosocial services. Control
patients (n=24) received any other conventional drug treatment (usually
methadone maintenance).
Main outcome measures: Self reported drug use, health status (SF-36), and
social functioning. Results: 25 experimental patients completed 6 months in
the programme, receiving a median of 480 mg of heroin daily. One
experimental subject and 10 control subjects still used street heroin daily
at follow up (difference 44%; 95% confidence interval 16% to 71%). Health
status scores that improved significantly more in experimental subjects
were mental health (0.58 SD; 0.07 to 1.10), role limitations due to
emotional problems (0.95 SD; 0.11 to 1.79), and social functioning (0.65
SD; 0.03 to 1.26). Experimental subjects also significantly reduced their
illegal income and drug expenses and committed fewer drug and property
related offences. There were no benefits in terms of work, housing
situation, somatic health status, and use of other drugs. Unexpectedly,
only nine (38%) control subjects entered the heroin maintenance programme
at follow up.
Conclusions: A heroin maintenance programme is a feasible and clinically
effective treatment for heroin users who fail in conventional drug
treatment programmes. Even in this population, however, another attempt at
methadone maintenance may be successful and help the patient to stop using
injectable opioids.
***
INTRODUCTION
Many harmful consequences of heroin use stem from the illegal status of
street drugs.1-3 Drug substitution programmes may alleviate these
consequences,4 but not all addicts benefit: many continue using street
drugs, others drop out, others never enrol. Addicts may fail in oral
substitution programmes because they need the "high" caused by heroin
injection or the ritual of preparing and injecting the drug. Programmes
which provide intravenous heroin may reach such addicts.5-12
In Switzerland several programmes involving provision of intravenous
opiates were started in 1992-5. 13 14 Most were evaluated in a before and
after design. Only the Geneva heroin maintenance programme was conceived as
a randomised trial: eligible addicts were randomised either to immediate
admission or to a 6 month waiting list during which time they could receive
any other available drug treatment. The research question was whether the
experimental programme would improve participants' illegal drug use,
health, and social functioning.
METHODS
Study design and sample
This randomised trial compared outcomes at 6 months in patients allocated
to immediate versus delayed admission to the heroin maintenance programme.
The planned sample size was two groups of 40 patients. Programme and study
procedures were approved by ethics committees in Geneva and Berne.
Eligibility criteria were residence in the canton of Geneva since June
1994, age 20 years, addiction to intravenous heroin for 2 years, daily
consumption of opiates, social distress or poor health or both, due to drug
use, two or more previous unsuccessful attempts at drug treatment,
participation in evaluation, and giving up driving on starting heroin
maintenance.
Information about the programme was disseminated through drug abuse
treatment centres. Interested people were screened on the telephone by a
psychiatrist (FG), and those who seemed eligible were invited to an initial
visit. During this visit the psychiatrist confirmed the patient's
eligibility, explained programme procedures, obtained informed consent,
performed the baseline assessment, and allocated the patient to either
immediate or delayed admission by using computer generated random numbers
placed in sealed envelopes.
Experimental Programme
The programme clinic was established in September 1995 by the division of
substance abuse, Geneva University Hospitals, in central Geneva. Staff
included a psychiatrist, an internist, a social worker, five nurses, and a
secretary.
Patients attended usually three times daily. The dose of heroin was
established by the psychiatrist on the basis of patients' needs. Patients
were instructed in safe intravenous injection practices and could inject
the drug themselves. After the injection patients were observed for about
30 minutes. If a patient was intoxicated on arrival the usual dose was
halved. Oral opiates (methadone or morphine sulphate) were introduced
whenever patients wanted only one or two injections a day or if they had to
travel. Patients addicted to benzodiazepines received clorazepate
substitution treatment; all patients received psychological counselling,
HIV prevention counselling, social and legal support services, and somatic
primary care.
Control Treatment
Subjects in the control group were encouraged to select any drug treatment
programme available in Geneva, were enrolled immediately whenever possible,
and were given priority for admission to heroin maintenance after 6 months.
Outcome Variables
Outcome variables were consumption of street heroin and other drugs,
frequency of overdoses, risk behaviours for HIV infection, numbers of days
ill in past month, use of health services, health status, work status,
living arrangements, quality of social relationships, monthly living and
drug related expenditures, sources of income, and criminal behaviour. The
questionnaire (unpublished, based on addiction severity index) was
developed by the federal evaluation team, to which we added items to
explore specifically the past 6 months, including risk behaviours for HIV
infection, and the SF-36 health survey.15
ANALYSIS
The trial was analysed on an intention to treat basis. For continuous
outcome variables we assessed changes over time by the Wilcoxon matched
pairs test and differences between groups in change scores by the
Mann-Whitney U test.16 For dichotomous variables we used the McNemar's test
for before and after comparisons16 and tested the homogeneity of McNemar's
odds ratio to compare groups.17 When all changes were in the same direction
we compared proportions of individual subjects who changed status. Only
exact tests and confidence intervals were used.
RESULTS
Enrolment And Follow Up
Only 73 heroin users (52 men and 21 women, mean age 32 years) applied
between September 1995 and March 1996, and 57 were eligible. Among those
who were not eligible, 12 did not inject heroin regularly, three were not
Geneva residents, three refused to comply with evaluation, and one refused
to give up driving. Six eligible people delayed their decision and never
provided informed consent. Of 51 patients who agreed to participate, 27
were randomised to immediate and 24 to delayed admission. All experimental
group patients and 22 in the control group were reassessed 196 days on
average after enrolment (range 168-248); one person from the control group
filled only the SF-36 questionnaire. The two remaining patients in the
control group were alive at follow up but refused to cooperate.
Baseline Description
Participants (table 1) were typically young men who had been injecting
heroin for an average of 12 years, had attempted eight drug treatments
(range 2 to 21), and had experienced four drug overdoses (range 0 to 30).
They had a high prevalence of mental disorders and health status scores 1-2
SD below population norms.15
Table 1. Baseline characteristics of patients randomly enrolled into heroin
maintenance programme or assigned to 6 month waiting list, Geneva, 1995-6.
Values are means (SD) unless stated otherwise
Treatments Received
One patient allocated to the experimental group never showed up, and
another requested transfer to methadone maintenance after one day on
heroin. The 25 others received intravenous heroin on average on 168 out of
the first 183 days (oral opiates only were given on the remaining days); 20
patients received heroin on more than 80% of treatment days. There were no
medical problems with drug injections. The mean daily dose of intravenous
heroin was 509 mg (quartiles: 400, 480, 630 mg/day) in one to three
injections. Median dose remained stable during the trial (month 1 to 6:
460, 500, 470, 490, 500, and 480 mg/day). Several patients said that they
experienced symptoms of craving before injections but did not mind as they
knew that the next dose of heroin would be delivered on time.
In addition to heroin, all patients occasionally received oral opiates, on
78 days (43%) of 183 (range 8 to 150) days. Furthermore, 16 (59%) subjects
received clorazepate substitution therapy (median dose 60 mg/day).
During the 6 month follow up 19 of 21 people in the control group entered a
methadone maintenance programme, six a detoxification programme, and one a
residential programme. Duration of stay in each programme was not assessed.
Use Of Non-Prescribed Drugs
At follow up only one (4%) subject in the experimental groupthe person who
was never treated but still completed the follow up questionnairebut 10
(48%) in the control group still used street heroin daily (difference 44%;
exact 95% confidence interval 16% to 71%; table 2). All experimental
patients stopped daily use of street bezodiazepines, and their frequency of
overdoses decreased significantly.
Table 2. Impact of heroin maintenance programme on drug use, Geneva,
1995-6.Values are numbers (percentages) of subjects unless stated otherwise
Health Status
No changes were seen for physical problems or admission to hospital in both
groups (table 3). Among patients in the experimental group treatments for
mental problems increased and days with mental health problems decreased.
Self reported severe depression declined in both groups, but severe anxiety
decreased only in the experimental group. Changes in difficulty in
controlling violent behaviour and in the number of suicide attempts
favoured the experimental group.
Table 3. Impact of heroin prescription programme on health problems, use
of services, and HIV related behaviours, Geneva, 1995-6. Values are numbers
(percentages) of subjects unless stated otherwise
Use of condoms remained stable in both groups. Patients in the experimental
group no longer shared injection materials (only the non-attender (above)
continued this practice) and improved disinfection practices.
Health status scores improved more among experimental patients than among
controls (table 4). Differences between groups in before and after changes,
in SD units, were 0.54 (95% confidence interval 0.15 to 1.23) for physical
functioning, 0.45 (0.40 to 1.29) for role-physical, 0.18 (0.63 to 0.98) for
bodily pain, 0.14 (0.08 to 0.37) for general health, 0.22 (0.17 to 0.62)
for vitality, 0.65 (0.03 to 1.26) for social functioning, 0.95 (0.11 to
1.79) for role-emotional, and 0.58 (0.07 to 1.10) for mental health.
Social Functioning
Housing situation improved in both groups (table 5). Both groups remained
stable in their marital situation and occupational status and both
developed more social ties outside the drug scene. Both reported slightly
better relationships with their family and social circle (not shown).
Table 4. Impact of a heroin maintenance programme on heath related quality
of life, measured by means of the SF-36 health survey, Geneva, 1995-6
Table 5. Impact of heroin maintenance programme on social integration and
illegal activities, Geneva, 1995-6. Values are numbers (percentages) unless
stated otherwise
Dependency on "street life" decreased sharply in the experimental group,
less so in the control group. Charges for offences related to drug and
property decreased in experimental patients and increased in the control
group.
Legal income (work, loans, social benefits) remained stable in both groups
(table 6). Income from illegal activities (dealing drugs, commercial sex,
theft) decreased significantly in experimental patients. In particular,
monthly income from dealing drugs went from £1163 to none in the
experimental group and from £1143 to £1774 among controls (P=0.03 for
difference between groups). Living expenses changed little in either group,
but patients in the experimental group reduced their drug expenses about
10-fold whereas those in the control group continued spending similar amounts.
Table 6. Impact of heroin maintenance programme on participants' financial
situation in previous month, Geneva, 1995-6. Values are mean (SD) Swiss
francs (1 Swiss franc=£0.45)
Enrolment Of Controls At Follow Up
Unexpectedly, only nine (38%) of 24 controls enrolled in the heroin
maintenance programme at follow up. Of those who declined, most were
successfully treated in methadone maintenance programmes. Main reasons for
not wanting to start heroin maintenance were a satisfactory personal
situation and the desire to stop injecting drugs.
DISCUSSION
This study suggests that a heroin maintenance programme may be a feasible
and effective treatment option for severely addicted opiate users.
Acceptability was good, as 25 of 27 patients completed 6 months in the
programme on stable doses of intravenous heroin. The existence of the
programme in an urban neighbourhood caused no disturbance. Thus concerns
about feasibility18 need not hamper further evaluation of heroin
maintenance programmes.
The experimental programme was better than other available treatments in
several respects. Patients on heroin maintenance no longer used street
heroin or street benzodiazepines daily, their mental health and social
functioning improved, and they committed fewer suicide attempts, derived
less income from illegal activities (particularly from dealing drugs),
spent less money on drugs, and committed fewer offences, particularly drug
and property related offences. These results are not only significant but
also important for the participants' health and social functioning.
Our results are more favourable than those of the only previous trial of
heroin maintenance.7 The two studies, however, differ considerably.
Hartnoll's patients were less severely addicted, received fewer supportive
services, could take heroin home, and received only 60 mg of heroin daily.
Evaluation methods also differed: the British researchers relied on
participant observation while we used quantitative tools.
In other outcomes, experimental patients improved over time, but the
difference with patients in the control group was not significant. Examples
include fewer drug overdoses, better housing, better overall health status,
less severe anxiety, and better precautions against HIV. A larger trial
might determine whether heroin maintenance is superior to conventional
treatments in these respects. Improvements experienced by controls suggest
that even addicts who failed repeatedly in the past may benefit from
another trial of conventional drug treatment.
Finally, the experimental programme conferred no advantage in terms of
work, legal income, commercial sex, and use of street drugs other than
heroin and benzodiazepines.
LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
Our study has several limitations. Firstly, this was a small trial, similar
to initial evaluations of methadone maintenance,19-21 which threatens the
reliability of our findings. Secondly, all outcome measures were self
reported, which raises the issue of information bias. Thirdly, because this
study assessed global programme effects it cannot differentiate between
specific effects of heroin administration and those of other medical and
social services, such as mental health care and benzodiazepine
substitution. Our results do not support distribution of heroin without
such services and certainly not legalisation of heroin.3 We cannot exclude
that the benefits of our heroin maintenance programme were entirely
attributable to these additional services. Testing the specific
contribution of heroin injections would require a trial in which all
services but the prescribed opiate would be identical. Nevertheless,
psychosocial services alone would probably achieve little as such
programmes do not retain patients in treatment.22
We imposed no specified drug treatment to subjects in the control group
because only patients who failed repeatedly in conventional treatments were
eligible. We expected that needs and preferences would vary and wanted to
allow several different treatment attempts. This choice was consistent with
our research question (can heroin maintenance improve on existing
treatments?), but it restricts the generalisability of our results as
"existing treatments" differ by location.
Subjects who had never undergone treatment were excluded from Swiss heroin
trials to avoid enrolling patients who could benefit from conventional
treatments. Restriction of eligibility to addicts who had a tendency to
fail in conventional treatments, however, may bias against the control
group. Thus our results do not support heroin maintenance as a first line
treatment of heroin addiction. Eligibility criteria also prevented us from
assessing whether a heroin maintenance programme would attract addicts who
had not considered drug treatment previously.
Finally, interest in the heroin maintenance programme and enrolment in the
trial were less than anticipated. Whether this was due to insufficient
publicity, constraints imposed by the randomised evaluation, or lack of
need requires clarification. Furthermore, only nine of 24 in the control
group, all of whom had requested heroin maintenance at baseline, enrolled
into the programme after 6 months. Thus self perceived need for heroin
maintenance may change over time, particularly when conventional drug
treatment programmes are available.
Our study did not answer all relevant questions about heroin maintenance.
Further research should aim to replicate our findings in larger samples and
in other populations, include outcome variables that are not self reported,
explore the specific contribution of medical and psychosocial services to
overall programme benefits, assess the value of alternative routes of
heroin administration, and examine possible interactions between baseline
characteristics of patients and relative benefit of heroin treatment.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Contributors: TVP (coguarantor) had ultimate responsibility for the
evaluation of the programme; he proposed and finalised the evaluation
design, assisted with data collection procedures and data quality control,
analysed the data, and wrote the paper. FG managed the experimental
programme; he assisted with study design, conducted or supervised data
collection, checked quality of data, discussed implications of results, and
revised the paper. MdR wrote the detailed study protocol, negotiated
acceptability of randomised study with authorities, discussed implications
of results, and revised the paper. AM (coguarantor) had ultimate
responsibility for the experimental programme; she helped with and approved
the study protocol, negotiated acceptability of randomised study with
authorities, discussed implications of results, and contributed to the paper.
Funding: Federal Office of Public Health (Berne, Switzerland), Swiss
National Science Foundation (Berne, Switzerland, career development grant
3233-32609.91 to TVP).
Conflict of interest: None.
REFERENCES
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Britain. London: Tavistock Publications , 1982.
2.Ostini R, Bammer G, Dance PR, Goodin RE. The ethics of experimental
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3.Nadelmann EA. Drug prohibition in the United States: costs, consequences,
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4.Farrell M, Ward J, Mattick R, Hall W, Stimson GV, des Jarlais D, et al.
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5.Koran LM. Heroin maintenance for heroin addicts: issues and evidence. N
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6.Mino A. Scientific analysis of the literature on the controlled provision
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8.Ghodse AH. Treatment of drug addiction in London. Lancet 1983; i: 636-639.
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13.In: Rihs-Middel M, ed. Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. The
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14.Uchtenhagen A. Diversified prescription of narcotics to heroin addicts:
background, design, research plan [in German]. Schweiz Rundsch Med Prax
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15.Jenkinson C, Coulter A, Wright L. Short form 36 (SF-36) health survey
questionnaire: normative data for adults of working age. BMJ 1993; 306:
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16.Armitage P, Berry G. Statistical methods in medical research. 2nd ed.
Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications , 1987.
17.Breslow NE, Day NE. Statistical methods in cancer research. Vol 1. The
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18.Dole VP. Comments on "heroin maintenance". JAMA 1972; 220: 1493.
19.Dole VP, Nyswander M. A medical treatment for diacetylmorphine (heroin)
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20.Dole VP, Robinson JW, Orraca J, Towns E, Searcy P, Caine E. Methadone
treatment of randomly selected heroin addicts. N Engl J Med 1969; 280:
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21.Gunne LM, Grönbladh L. The Swedish methadone maintenance programme: a
controlled study. Drug Alcohol Depend 1981; 7: 249-256.
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Copyright (c) 1998 by the British Medical Journal.
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[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for July 2-8