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

Rainbow Confab Concludes ('The Arizona Republic' Says A Crowed
Estimated At 22,000 By The Forest Service Attended The Annual Gathering
Of The Rainbow Family This Weekend At Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest -
Including A Lot Of Drunk Party Crashers Who Took Advantage
Of The Group's Leaderless Ethos)

From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: "MN" (mapnews@mapinc.org)
Subject: MN: US: AZ: Rainbow Confab Concludes
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 11:14:55 -0500
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Sun, 05 Jul 1998
Source: Arizona Republic (AZ)
Contact: http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/letter.shtml
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/news/
Author: Barry Burkhart

RAINBOW CONFAB CONCLUDES

SPRINGERVILLE - At daylight Saturday, the crescendo started to build.

Many members of the Rainbow Family began to gather at a now grassless site
called the Ring of Prayer where they would remain silent and pray for peace.

At high noon they would break their silence and celebrate, officially ending
the Rainbow Family of Living Light National Gathering.

A mixed group, these Rainbows. They run from very old to very young. It
seemed like every guy with a long gray beard was there except the members of
ZZ Top. The hippie era continues to live a life of its own.

By 8 a.m., 50 or 60 were seated, silently meditating in the Ring of Prayer.

By 11 a.m. the number had swelled to about 2,000, according to a Forest
Service employee who flew over the area.

As noon approached, about 30 children in the camp at Carnero Lake northwest
of here began a parade into the Circle of Prayer. The crowd started chanting
an ohm-like noise, holding hands and lifting them into the air.

This was not your usual religious crowd. Some were naked or only partly
covered. Others shared marijuana. Some were taking pictures. Most of the
Rainbow people never made it to the prayer circle.

After new arrivals Friday night, the Forest Service estimated the total
number of people in camp at 22,000.

At noon, the prayers were over and the crowd broke into cheers, hugged one
another and began partying. The climax of the event was the circle, but the
gathering officially closes on Tuesday after a council selects a state for
next year's event.

Tim Freebird of Arkansas, a Shanti Sena (or peace seer) for the Rainbows,
said that doesn't mean everyone will evacuate.

"Some hangers-on will just stay around for a while," he said. "A pretty
large number will stay to clean up the grounds and replant areas where
grasses were damaged."

John MacIvor of Springerville, a district ranger in Apache-Sitgreaves
National Forest where the event was held, said damage so far has been
considerable.

"You can plant grass, but you never know if it'll take," he said. "The
resource damage will last a long time, but we don't know exactly how long.
No one has looked at it yet."

From early morning until noon, the camp was quiet. Voices were lowered, and
there almost was total silence in the Circle of Prayer area.

At the nearby information center, John Roadrunner was in a unique situation.
He was there to provide information, but he wouldn't talk.

He wrote notes. This is the 14th straight year he has remained silent on
Circle of Prayer day.

"It's really interesting to be in the nerve center of the Rainbow camp
silently," he wrote.

Of all the things in camp, Freebird said he was most pleased with the Kids
Village, an area of camp set aside for children.

"Parents take turns taking care of other people's children, so all the
parents have some free time," he said. "And you also don't hear parents
yelling at children."

Almost continuous cooking operations take place in the Kids Village.

"There're usually things kids can eat with their fingers," Freebird said.

There was some discontent with A Camp, however. That is an area set aside
for drinkers.

A man who called himself Zig and said he came from Albuquerque was
especially critical.

"We gave them an area to camp and drink, but they agreed to stay in that
area and police their own people," Zig said. "They haven't done either one.
They cause us more trouble than any other group."

Zig did admit that he's partial to pot, rather than alcohol. "It's not a bad
habit like alcohol and some of those drugs," he said.

Even Freebird, a soft-spoken, seemingly diplomatic man, had trouble doing
his Shanti Sena duties Friday night, thanks to A Camp.

On Saturday morning, he talked to an irate man who was thrown out of the
camp of some exuberant beer drinkers when he objected to the fire they had
built. Because of dry weather, campfires have been banned.

Freebird went to the camp that night and ask the men to douse the fire. They
berated him, and he left, too.

On Saturday morning, one of the beer drinkers, as he'd threatened to do,
jammed the Rainbows' emergency channel with country-Western music.

Eric Nordquist of Portland, Ore., a free-lance photographer who was helping
at the event, thinks lack of control is a problem.

"There's no head person," he said, "no one in control. . . . I don't think
anarchy is the right word, but I don't know what it is."

There were eight arrests during the day Saturday, seven for motor vehicle
violations and one for a marijuana offense.

Barry Burkhart can be reached at (602)444-8454 or at barry.burkhart@pni.com
via e-mail.

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

Marijuana's Healing Properties (According To 'The Associated Press,'
Scientists At The National Institutes Of Mental Health Have Found A Substance
In Marijuana, Cannabidiol, Which Lacks Any Mind-Altering Effects
But May Be Useful For Protecting The Brain From The Damaging Effects
Of Stroke And Disease, As Reported In The July 7 Issue Of 'The Proceedings
Of The National Academy Of Sciences')

Date: Mon, 06 Jul 1998 00:00:12 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Marijuana's Healing Properties
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: Associated Press
Pubdate: Sun, 05 Jul 1998

MARIJUANA'S HEALING PROPERTIES

A substance in marijuana that does not have any mind-altering effects may
be useful for protecting the mind from the damaging effects of stroke and
disease.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Mental Health found that
cannabidiol appears to protect the brain cells of rats in experiments in
the laboratory, according to a report in the July 7 issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Aidan J. Hampson and his colleagues put cannabidiol into laboratory dishes
with rat brain cells that had been exposed to toxic levels of a brain
chemical called glutamate.

Strokes can cause the release of levels of glutamate that overstimulate and
kill brain cells. So-called antioxidants can protect against this process.
In the experiments, cannabidiol did exactly that, performing better than
vitamins C and E.

The findings suggest, the scientists say, that the substance may be useful
for protecting the brain from strokes, as well as brain diseases such as
Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

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

Book Review - 'Drug Crazy' Challenges Mind-Set Of Policymakers
('The Dallas Morning News' Joins The List Of Mainstream Media
Lavishing Praise On Mike Gray's New History Of The Drug War)

Date: Sun, 05 Jul 1998 18:07:56 -0400
To: rlake@mapinc.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: Book Review: 'DRUG CRAZY' Challenges
Mind-Set Of Policymakers
Newshawk: Bob Ramsey http://www.mapinc.org/DPFT/
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Pubdate: Sun, 05 Jul 1998
Section: BOOKS section of Sunday Reader
Reviewer: Bob Ramsey
Note: Fort Worth financial analyst Bob Ramsey is a board member of the Drug
Policy Forum of Texas. This review is on-line at:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n527.a03.html

Social Issues

'DRUG CRAZY' CHALLENGES MIND-SET OF POLICYMAKERS

Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess, and How We Can Get Out

By Mike Gray / (Random House, $23)

One of these days, somebody is going to make a lot of money writing a book
about the drug war. Mike Gray's Drug Crazy is good enough to be the one.

His style is an easy read. It's refreshing to see the writer of a
successful movie (China Syndrome) take facts and spin them into an emotive
yarn. From the opening chapter, "Chicago: 1995/1925," I was drawn in by his
skillful sequencing. He describes the present, then goes back to
Prohibition and tells the same story with similar developments based on
identical incentives.

He points out the "chilling similarity" of Chicago's neighborhoods in both
decades, just with different drugs and younger faces.

Mr. Gray almost resists editorializing, but about three times in the book
he inserts his message that prohibition is destroying our social fabric.

Chapters are devoted to basics of the drug problem - the history of U.S.
drug laws, the flow of contraband - all revolving around the torrents of
money involved. His alternatives focus on cutting off the money, justified
with such statements as: The rate of heroin addiction has always been three
people per thousand, no matter what the policy toward it.

Mr. Gray interweaves stories illustrating the progression of the drug
business. The downfall of Colombia proceeded from the kidnapping of a
dealer's daughter that united Colombia's traffickers into a cartel, through
thousands of slayings including all anti-cartel Supreme Court members,
until the last incorruptible Colombian justice minister gathered her family
and disappeared into a U.S. witness protection program.

His account of Mexico describes the wave of violence and corruption moving
north like killer bees. Prospects for stopping it are grim since "the
income of the drug barons is greater than the American defense budget."
Victory is so remote that "after a seventy-year battle against illegal
narcotics, it is now possible to walk out the door of the White House and
do a drug deal across the street."

Mr. Gray approaches prohibition's alternatives by describing what other
countries have tried. His centerpiece of the "British System" is the story
of Maureen, an Irish woman in her mid-30s "who could easily be taken for a
businesswoman or a teacher." Her heroin addiction cast her and her three
children into dire circumstances. The British practice of heroin
maintenance changed her life instantly, and Mr. Gray portrays her
experience in terms that ring gut-level true.

Mr. Gray closes by noting that drug policy is the first area to be
dramatically affected by easy information access on the Internet, and he
appends an annotated list of Internet addresses. For the first time in 80
years of drug prohibition, people with access to all sides of the
discussion can inform themselves. And Mr. Gray's very readable book is a
good start.

(c) 1998 The Dallas Morning News

Reposted to this list by:
Richard Lake
Senior Editor; MAPnews, MAPnews-Digest and DrugNews-Digest
email: rlake@MAPinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/drugnews/
For subscription information see:
http://www.MAPinc.org/lists/
Quick sign up for DrugNews-Digest, Focus Alerts or Newsletter:
http://www.DrugSense.org/hurry.htm

The FACTS are at:
http://www.drugsense.org/factbook.htm

The Drug War Clock is at
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm

"DRUG CRAZY: How We Got Into This Mess and How We can Get Out," is a
gripping and dramatic review of the drug war over the last 100 years. It is
being published by Random House. From the opening scene, a shoot out
between police and drug gangs in Chicago, the book draws you in with human
stories, amazing revelations and the whole sordid history of the drug war.
More at: http://www.drugsense.org/crazy.htm

We also sponsor an interactive chat room for activists. Point your web
browser to: http://www.mapinc.org/chat/

And join the discussion. The chat starts at about 9:00 p.m on Saturday and
Sunday night Eastern time. Folks drop in and leave as their time allows
over about a three hour period. No special software required.

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

Drug Exports Drop But Local Consumption Rises (Inter Press Service
Says The Amount Of Land In Peru Used For Coca Growing Has Fallen
By 40 Percent To 50 Percent In Recent Years, But Prices Have Also Fallen)

Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 18:07:28 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Peru: WIRE: Drug Exports Drop
but Local Consumption Rises
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: Inter Press Service
Pubdate: 5 Jul 1998

DRUG EXPORTS DROP BUT LOCAL CONSUMPTION RISES

LIMA, (Jul. 5) IPS - While the production and export of Peruvian cocaine
paste has fallen in volume in recent years, this gain has been offset by a
growth in its use in Peru itself.

The amount of land used for coca growing has fallen by 40 to 50 percent in
recent years, as planes flying the drug from secret jungle airstrips have
been intercepted en route to Colombia, where the coca is processed for
shipment to Europe and the United States.

The country's 14 main drug trafficking groups continue to export cocaine,
say the authorities, but have cut their buying price to meet the extra
costs of shipment by land or river, to Brazil and Colombia.

The result is a coca surplus on the ground in Peru that local traffickers
are now pushing onto the local market -- which they have generally ignored
in the past -- to make up their lost incomes.

The National Epidemiological Study on Drug Use, organized by Cedro, the
most important non-governmental organization working in drug use prevention
in Peru, found that illegal drug consumption involving marijuana, cocaine
and opium has risen. The study's "frequent use" index of drug taking has
risen from 7.7 percent in 1995 to 12.6 percent today.

Not only that, Cedro notes that drug use has become "democratized." The
cheapest drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine past, which has a frequent
use index of eight percent 4.7 percent respectively, are increasingly used
in both poor urban areas and rural districts.

The more expensive cocaine chlorohydrate, with a 3.2 percent frequent use
measure, remains a drug of the middle classes and dubbed "the drug of the
rich." It costs between five and eight dollars a gram. Cedro's study
includes a map of the areas in Lima where cocaine is processed.

Similarly, opium's low 0.01 percent usage rate reflects its fashionability
in the beachside night clubs south of Lima, where young people from the
richest families like to gather.

Maritza Rojas, of Cedro, recognizes the part played in the growth of
domestic drug use by the efficient suppression of international drug
trafficking and the unsold surpluses it has produced.

The surplus has sparked a drop in the local price of basic coca paste,
lowering the price of a fix in the cities and even generating a surge in
the consumption of the drug in the central jungle valleys where coca is
grown, she said.

The growth in consumption of basic cocaine paste among jungle farmers is
worrying experts. The consumption rate among them has risen from 2.5
percent in 1988 to 7.4 percent today.

In Lima, the use of this type of cheap drug -- they are called "ketes" and
sell for the local equivalent of between 10 and 13 U.S. cents -- has grown
from 3.6 percent in 1988 to 5.6 percent this year.

"Given the abundance of drugs at lower prices and quality," said Rojas,
"the small dealers who sell 'ketes' in poor neighborhoods are very
aggressively trying to expand their market, and are even trying to
penetrate the schools, in order to create new addicts among young people
and children.

"This situation is serious because basic paste is not only very addictive,
but it can cause severe damage to the nervous system...almost literally
burning the brain of users."

Cedro is doing a study now on the relation between a rise in drug use and
juvenile violence, including soccer riots and gang fighting in poor areas.

The glut has caused a drop in prices. But it is believed that when supplies
are reduced considerably, prices will rise again, taking advantage of the
local market that has been created.

"We are looking at a drop in production, which we should take advantage of
by increasing and speeding up programs that develop alternative crops, so
producers don't return to growing coca," said Rojas.

"We must also work on prevention and rehabilitation of addicts to reduce
the internal drug market's demand," she said.

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

Cannabis Campaign - Safer Than Many Tranquillisers
(Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Continues Its Weekly Push
For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws By Noting Campaigners
Against The Drug Benzodiazepine, Many Of Whom Have Suffered
From The Side Effects Of Taking The Tranquilliser, Will Argue
At A Conference On Drug Safety To Begin Friday In London
That Cannabis Would Be Far Safer For Doctors To Prescribe,
If Only It Were Legal)

Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 21:31:04 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: UK: Cannabis Campaign - Safer Than Many Tranquillisers
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Pubdate: Sun, 05 Jul 1998
Source: Independent on Sunday
Contact: Email: cannabis@independent.co.uk
Mail: Independent on Sunday, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL
England
Editors note: The IoS Cannabis Campaign has web pages at
http://www.independent.co.uk/sindypot/index.htm
Author: Vanessa Thorpe

CANNABIS CAMPAIGN - SAFER THAN MANY TRANQUILLISERS

Campaigners against the drug Benzodiazepine, many of whom who have suffered
from the ill effects of taking the tranquilliser, are arguing this week
that cannabis would be far safer for doctors to prescribe, if only it were
legal.

As they prepare for a conference on drug safety in London on Friday, which
will examine better ways of warning consumers of the effects of certain
prescribed drugs, former users claim that the harmful and addictive "benzo"
family of pills is still being prescribed in Britain and Wales.

In a letter written to the Medicines Control Agency, members of the
anti-benzodiazepine action group point out that the withdrawal symptoms and
side effects of the drug have been known about now for some time.

"These so-called minor tranquillisers should be given only in a controlled
hospital environment and classified as a Class A drug," said Barry Haslam,
55, a former accountant from Oldham who was prescribed a series of "benzo"
related drugs when he suffered a nervous breakdown.

"I certainly wish I had taken cannabis instead. The tranquillisers have
ruined my memory and were very difficult to come off. A doctor told me
recently that I was on the equivalent of two or three bottles of whisky a
day."

Mr Haslam and his fellow campaigners argue that Home Office Statistics
Bulletins this decade prove that more people died from benzodiazepine usage
than from such drugs as heroin and cocaine. No one, on the other hand, has
ever died as a result of cannabis.

The campaigners concede that the number of prescriptions of benzodiazepine
is going down, but they fear this may be because GPs are prescribing
anti-depressants instead. The Medicines Control Agency contends that
current warnings on the packaging of benzodiazepines are sufficient.