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

Pain Relief For Dying Patients Not Congress' Decision (An Op-Ed
In 'The Houston Chronicle' Says The Attempt In Congress To Stymie
Oregon's Unique Assisted Suicide Law With The Lethal Drug Abuse
Prevention Act Of 1998, Introduced Last Month By Representative Henry Hyde
And Senator Don Nickles, Both Republilcans, Would Put A Damper
On Progress Now Being Made In Providing Pain Relief To Dying Patients)

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 12:11:49 -0700
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US TX: OPED: Pain Relief
for Dying Patients Not Congress' Decision
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Author: Ronald A. Carson

PAIN RELIEF FOR DYING PATIENTS NOT CONGRESS' DECISION

WHEN a dying patient complains of unbearable pain, the doctor needs to be
able to provide relief without fear of being sanctioned. People at the end
of life have a right to treatment of moderate pain as well, since
persistent discomfort erodes the quality of those last weeks and months,
which should be a time for contemplating life's meaning, achieving a sense
of closure and exchanging love with family and friends.

Gradually, care for the dying has been improving. Public interest in
hospice and other alternatives to sterile, high-tech hospital intensive
care were on the rise. Barriers to effective pain treatment were beginning
to come down. Then last month Congress got into the act with a proposal to
require the federal Drug Enforcement Administration to revoke the DEA
license of any physician who intentionally causes a patient to die. If it
becomes law, the Lethal Drug Abuse Prevention Act of 1998, introduced by
Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and Sen. Don Nickles, R-Okla., will put a damper
on progress now being made in providing pain relief to dying patients.

If the politicians who crafted this legislation truly want to prevent
physician-assisted suicide, they're taking the wrong approach. Fear of
unrelieved pain ranks among the main reasons people give for requesting
help ending their lives.

In the wake of last year's Supreme Court decision that physician-assisted
suicide was a matter for the states, legislatures around the country are
taking up that issue. Regardless of where one stands on the question of
whether physicians should be permitted to help dying patients voluntarily
end their lives, a consensus is growing that doctors should be able to ease
patients' passage. What worries people most is the prospect of dying in
misery. With good family support, good nursing care and adequate pain
control, dying in misery is not necessary.

Adequate pain control has been an option since 1989 when Texas became the
first state to pass an Intractable Pain Act, which authorizes physicians
who are licensed by the Board of Medical Examiners to prescribe or
administer dangerous drugs or controlled substances to treat intractable
pain. Not that passing a law necessarily solves problems, but it can pave
the way to solutions. The reluctance of physicians generally to relieve
dying patients' pain is widely documented. Doctors need to be informed
about what the law says and to be confident that they will not be punished
for practicing state-of-the-art end-of-life care. State medical boards are
bringing their members' knowledge of the use of opioids for effective pain
control up to date.

The art and science of palliative care -- the comprehensive management of
the physical, psychological, social, spiritual and existential needs of
patients -- are being introduced into medical and nursing school curricula
and continuing education programs. Public awareness of the need for
end-of-life planning is growing.

Choosing the right course when the choice is between prolonging life and
maintaining life's quality happens one patient, one family member, one
doctor at a time. More people are realizing how important it is to talk
with those closest to the patient and with the doctors about how the
patient wants to be treated when the end is near. The ham-fisted proposal
before Congress would stymie such developments.

When a dying patient says the pain is unbearable, the doctor needs to be
able to provide comfort without fear of sanction. These very personal
decisions should remain in the hands of those who have the biggest stake in
their outcome -- patients and their families and the doctors and nurses
entrusted with the patients' care.

Carson is director of the Institute for Medical Humanities at the
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

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

Monday March To End The Drug War (A Seattle Activist Provides Details
About The Monthly Rally Against The War On Some Drug Users,
Beginning 6 PM Monday, August 3, At The Statue Of Liberty On Alki Beach)

From turmoil@hemp.net Tue Jul 28 10:14:50 1998
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 09:41:54 -0700 (PDT)
From: turmoil (turmoil@hemp.net)
To: Tony - Media Liason Hempfest (tony@hemp.net)
Cc: march@hemp.net
Subject: Press Release fom Monday March to End The Drug War

What: Monday March to End The Drug War
Theme: Families March to End Prohibition
When: 6:00pm Monday, August 3rd
Where: Meet at the Statue of Liberty, on Alki Beach, in West Seattle

The third March in a summer series of monthly Marches is geared
toward educating people about how drug prohibition has not only failed
to protect our children, but has in itself been the largest cause of the
violence we experience in our streets.

Come learn what some judges, police chiefs, and other members of
our citizenry feel is the way to reduce the harm that drug addiction
inflicts on our society. Let's take back the streets and demand that the
violence ends! Beginning at 6:00pm, Monday August 3rd at the Statue of
Liberty in West Seattle's Alki Park, the march will head along Alki
beach, and will return to the picnic shelter for a Family Style Picnic
and rally. Families are encouraged to attend!

Prohibition creates and insures a black market for drugs. As
long as an ounce of drugs is as valuable as an ounce of gold, the gold rush
is on! It's an economic force that is simply unstoppable. We, the
citizens of the United States, and especially our children, have been
put in the middle of a battlefield, and it's been named "The Drug War."

Prohibition causes most of the harm typically associated with drug
abuse. Death from overdose is most often due to varying strength and
purity of unregulated drugs. An addict is unlikely to seek treatment
for fear of imprisonment, or loss of public assistance. The price of
drugs is artificially inflated by the Black Market, so large amounts of
money are needed to feed the addiction, often forcing people to turn to
drug dealing, property crimes, and prostitution. Most drug related
deaths are from the violent crime associated with selling or buying
drugs. Ending Prohibition would virtually put the drug dealers and gangs
out of business.

There are currently 12,000,000 orphans of the drug war, with either
one or both of their parents in prison. Most times the parent was
successfully employed, and supporting their family, before they became
arrested for a non-violent drug law violation. These children are
becoming increasingly disenchanted with our system of Justice in this
country that holds their loving parent incarcerated with mandatory
minimum sentences, while some rapists and murderers are released far
sooner. Consider these costs with the following example:

Will Foster, an army veteran, was sentenced to prison for a total of
93 years in Oklahoma for growing a 5'x5' square room full of marijuana
he was using for his rhematoid arthritis. Will was self employed as a
Computer Programmer, and was successfully supporting his wife and three
children. Incarcerating him for just ten years would cost around
$300,000.00. His wife is now working two jobs to support their children.
The children never see their father, and hardly see their mother.
Suppose the mother decides to go on public assistance to help her raise
her children? How much will it cost to support the family? What
resentments will these children grow up with? They will resent our
government that has ruined their life.

Several Presidential Commissions have been set up to study the
violence and crime associated with drug use, and to measure the
effectiveness of needle exchange programs to reduce further HIV
transmission from IV drug users. In the first commission,
decriminalization of drugs was advised as a way to end much of the
violent crime in society. The commission that studied the needle
exchange recommended the government fund clean needle programs, to far
reduce new transmissions of the HIV virus. The advice of these
commissions has been ignored. How is it better for our children to
dismiss the wisdom of these commissions?

music@hemp.net
Seattle Music Web
turmoil@hemp.net
http://seattlemusicweb.com
music@hemp.net
Seattle Music Web
turmoil@hemp.net
http://seattlemusicweb.com

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

Re - Monday March To End The Drug War (Noting The Focus Of This Month's Rally
In Seattle Is On The Impact Of The Drug War On Families, A List Subscriber
Cites The Source For The Statistic That 2.4 Million American Children
Have Parents Incarcerated For Illegal-Drug Offenses)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 06:36:22 -0400
To: turmoil (turmoil@hemp.net), hemp-talk@hemp.net
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: Re: HT: Re: Fw: Press Release
Monday Marches To End the Drug War (fwd)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

At 12:45 AM 7/29/98 -0700, turmoil wrote:
does anyone have a source for this...

http://www.drugsense.org/factbook.htm

Among the 1.4 million substance-involved inmates are parents of 2.4 million
children, many of them minors.

Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University, Behind Bars: Substance Abuse and America's Prison Population,
New York, NY: National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia
University (1998), Foreword by Joseph Califano.

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

Drug Tests For Granite Falls Athletes End In The Fall (The Everett,
Washington 'Herald' Says The Granite Falls School District
In Snohomish County Is Concerned About A Potential Legal Challenge
And Will Stop Giving Random Drug Tests To Student Athletes Next Fall -
The District Claims The Program Helped, Since Twelve Students
Told A Drug Counselor They Were 'Staying Clean' Because Of It)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:16:30 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US WA: Drug Tests For
Granite Falls Athletes End In The Fall
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Source: The Herald, Everett (WA)
Pubdate: Tuesday, 28 July, 1998
Contact: letters@heraldnet.com
Website: http://www.heraldnet.com/
Author: ERIC STEVICK Herald Writer (stevick@heraldnet.com)

DRUG TESTS FOR GRANITE FALLS ATHLETES END IN THE FALL

School district concerned about some legal issues

GRANITE FALLS -- The Granite Falls School District will stop giving
random drug tests to student athletes next fall despite findings that
suggest the tests have reduced student drug use.

The American Civil Liberties Union requested documents from the school
district about its policy earlier this year, which prompted the
district to seek separate legal opinions from its attorney and
insurance company.

"We have two different legal opinions ... that caused us enough
concern that we felt that the legal basis for our policy was in
question," said Gary Wall, the school district superintendent.

It was the only public school district in Snohomish County and one of
a handful across the state to require the urinalysis as a
drug-screening procedure.

The school board adopted the policy last summer after divided
community debate. Some parents and students argued that it was a
blatant invasion of privacy, an erosion of constitutional rights and
discriminated against athletes. Other parents strongly endorsed the
policy saying it was a necessary step to keep teens off drugs.

Drug-testing policies in other states have withstood constitutional
challenges, but Washington doesn't have the same legal precedence,
Wall said.

Granite Falls, a rural school district with a tight budget, did not
want to become a test case in Washington.

"We did not want to be the ones to pay the freight," Wall
said.

The school board adopted the drug-testing program last summer for a
one-year trial run. It will let the policy lapse July 31.

District officials say the policy was meant to be preventative rather
than punitive. Students who tested positive were not suspended from
school. They could continue to practice with their teams but were
excluded from participating in athletic events for a month.

Over three sports seasons, 94 random drug tests were given to
students. Eighty-eight turned up negative, three were positive. There
were flaws in the testing procedures with the other three.

"Our data says that the program has been, we think, successful in
deterring the use of illegal drugs," Wall said. "We know we have got
some kids help who would not have got help otherwise."

Twelve students told the school's drug and alcohol counselor they were
"staying clean" because of the testing, according to a district report.

The cost of the drug tests was well within the $3,000 budget, school
officials reported. The fee was $18.50 to test for 11 drugs and
alcohol when the district began the trial period last year.

The ACLU has been monitoring the Granite Falls policy and has had
discussions with other school districts across the state that
considered but decided not to adopt drug policies, said Jerry Sheehan,
legislative director for the ACLU in Seattle.

Sheehan called the tests "a suspicionless search of the body," one of
the main reasons the ACLU objects to them.

"Certainly, we are pleased with this outcome," Sheehan said
Monday.

You can contact Eric Stevick by phone at 425-339-3446

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

Snohomish School District Drops Drug Testing For Athletes
('The Seattle Times' Version)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 17:42:06 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US WA: Snohomish school
district drops drug testing for athletes
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Tuesday, 28 July, 1998
Author: Nancy Montgomery, Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau

SNOHOMISH SCHOOL DISTRICT DROPS DRUG TESTING FOR ATHLETES

The first Snohomish County school district - and one of the first in the
state - to randomly test student athletes for drugs and alcohol has decided
a year later to do away with the practice.

Granite Falls School District board members this past weekend abandoned the
policy, which was eagerly adopted only last July, for fear of a costly
legal battle they might not win.

"Basically, we got two letters from two different attorneys. Both of those
letters gave us concern that if (the policy) was challenged in court, that
. . . there'd be some doubt as to the success," said district
Superintendent Gary Wall.

"When you get a letter from your insurance company and your own attorney,
then you have to make a decision: Are you willing to spend the money or
not? Our board chose the not."

Although no lawsuits on the matter were pending, the letter from an
attorney for the district's insurer, Puget Sound Risk Co-op, said the
company would not cover legal fees if the district were sued over the
policy, leaving the 1,825-student district to foot the bill itself.

"I don't think the taxpayers in Granite Falls should be paying half a
million (dollars) for a legal action," said Bob Quarterman, School Board
chairman.

The decision was a strictly financial one, said Quarterman, who called the
one-year trial run of random drug testing a success.

"We had the best year we've ever had," he said. "One student set a state
record in the high jump. Our girls team went to state for baseball. In
track, we had seven girls go to state. The basketball team almost went to
state."

The policy made sports teams more cohesive, Quarterman said, and forced
students to decide whether they'd rather play sports or do drugs.

Only three athletes - two girls and one boy - tested positive for drugs
last year, Wall said, and were subject to a 30-day suspension from
competing. "We had at least two parents who were very, very grateful. This
opened up their eyes," Wall said.

"And we had student athletes who were not using drugs because of the
policy; they told us that. We also had student athletes referred to
treatment because of the policy, and athletes who, because of the policy,
referred themselves to treatment to help them to keep off drugs. I think
our data show there was no doubt we were helping kids."

In contrast to district officials' regret over the decision, officials at
the state American Civil Liberties Union were enthusiastic.

"We're very pleased," said Jerry Sheehan, state ACLU legislative director.
"It's the appropriate thing for them to be doing constitutionally."

The ACLU has maintained that random drug tests at school violate state
constitutional protections against unreasonable searches, despite a 1996
U.S. Supreme Court ruling which allowed testing of student athletes.

"All courts that have looked at the question have clearly said a drug test
is a search, so there's no argument about that," Sheehan said. "And the
Washington Supreme Court in a case (several years ago) we brought against
the Renton School District said very clearly the government, and that
includes school districts, is prohibited from search without cause."

Sheehan said as far as the ACLU was aware, just one school district in the
state - Burlington-Edison in Skagit County - was continuing random drug
testing. A flurry of districts considered such policies last year, then
backed away. Granite Falls was the fourth district to conduct such tests.

"We had a discussion last year, a pretty vigorous one, with Northshore and
they backed off," Sheehan said. "Also the Blaine School District; their
insurer told them the same thing."

Blaine dropped its plan to test last October. That district also is insured
by Puget Sound Risk Co-op.

Nancy Montgomery's phone message number is 425-745-7803. Her e-mail address
is: nmon-new@seatimes.com

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

Comments From Peter McWilliams In Federal Custody (Co-Defendant
Todd McCormick Passes Along A Heartbreaking Note From The Celebrated Author
And Medical Marijuana Patient/Activist, Held Pending Trial
By The Federal Government, Which Is Denying Him His AIDS Medications -
McWilliams Denies All Charges)

From: "Todd McCormick" (todd@A-VISION.COM)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Comments From Peter McWilliams In Federal Custody
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 15:02:35 -0700

United States of America vs. Peter McWilliams

(Comments From Peter McWilliams In Federal Custody)

It is difficult to briefly respond to a nine-count, 41-Page, Federal Grand
Jury Indictment containing 182 "overt acts", but I shall do my best. As
several readings of the Indictment has my mind swimming with numbers, I
shall use numbers to respond:

1. I have never sold a drug in my life. I have never asked or authorized
anyone to sell a drug. I have never profited from any drug deal, ever.

2. I use medical marijuana to treat the nausea caused by my AIDS
medications. If I do not keep the medications down, I will not live.
Medical marijuana, for me, is a matter of life and death.

3. I had not used marijuana or any other illegal drug for decades prior to
my March, 1996 diagnosis of AIDS and cancer (Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma).

4. I am a 49-year-old (as of August 5th) writer and publisher with more than
30 books to my credit and 5 appearances on the New York Times Bestseller
List. Titles include How to Survive the Loss of a Love, Hypericum &
Depression, How to Heal Depression, You Can't Afford the Luxury of a
Negative Thought, DO IT, Life 101, and Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do (a
book openly critical of the drug war and the DEA). This is how I make my
living. (See http://www.mcwilliams.com)

5. I paid Todd McCorrmick to write a book, not to grow and sell medical
marijuana. I admitted to being the money behind the Bel Air "medical
marijuana mansion" (as the press dubbed it) the same day Sheriff Block
stated at a press conference in July, 1997 as he announced Todd McCorrmick's
arrest, "He bought the mansion with drug money!"

6. It was because I came forth with the truth so quickly in July, 1997 that
I find myself in Federal custody in July, 1998. The DEA concluded I was a
"Drug King Pin" and then worked backwards to prove itself right. It has
used discarded gossamer wings to do so.

7. Todd McCorrmick's book, How to Grow Medical Marijuana, would have been
online this week, had it not been for my arrest on July 23, 1998.

8. On December 17, 1997, 9 DEA and IRS agents came into my home, handcuffed
me, went through every piece of paper I own, and took away my computer
containing almost 2 years worth of work on medical marijuana. William F.
Buckley Jr. said of this in his column, "It is as though they carried off
the printing presses of the New York Times."

9. I am a vocal and occasionally effective proponent of medical marijuana
and that is why I am in jail. I am the publisher of The Medical Marijuana
Magazine Online (http://www.marijuanamagazine.com) and had discussed medical
marijuana on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, CBS Radio Network, TIME, Los Angeles Times,
and dozens of others. I have testified before The National Academy of
Sciences and before Senator John Vasconcellos' 1998 Medical Marijuana
Committee.

10. In my address before The Libertarian National Convention on July 4,
1998, my plea was for medical marijuana to be available to all who need it.

11. At no time did I violate Proposition 215, now The Compassionate Use
Act of 1996, or better, California Law, 11362.5. This is not The United
States of America vs. Peter McWilliams; it is The United States of America
vs. The People of California, whose political will is being trampled-on by
the Federal Government.

12. California Attorney General Dan Lungren has not upheld his oath of
office to defend the laws and the citizens of California against all
comers--including the Federal Government. Indeed, as the Orange County
Register editorialized recently, Lungren "Aided and abetted" the federal
forces.

13. While in federal custody, I was denied my AIDS medication--which must be
taken without fail six-times-a-day, a regimen I have followed scrupulously
for 28 months--for more than 5 days. Already, a mutation of the AIDS virus
maybe replicating within my body, one that science cannot treat, one that
may kill me. In other words, my government has already taken my life for the
crime of treating my life-threatening illness--a treatment approved by my 4
physicians and by 56.4% of the California Electorate.

14. Yes, I attempted to cultivate my own medical marijuana, in my own home,
for my own use, using seeds purchased from a staff member of The Los Angeles
Cannabis Buyers Club. Immediately after Todd McCorrmick's arrest in July,
1997--the first Federal California medical marijuana arrest since the
passage of Proposition 215 eight months earlier--I "caused the dismantling
of the indoor marijuana grow" and donated "grow-lights and other equipment
to The Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers Club." (Quotes from The Indictment)

15. In other words, the moment the Federal Government actually did something
about medical marijuana in California, I was out of the growing
business--the first such attempt in my life--and I have not returned. I
donated (not sold) all my equipment to the only seemingly federally approved
marijuana grow operation in California--The Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers
Club, now The Los Angeles Cannabis Cultivators Club. The club is still in
business, still using my lights, and harvesting more marijuana per month
than I had ever attempted to grow in my life.

16. Any sales I planned were to be legal sales, through a non-profit
organization I had established before Todd McCorrmick's arrest, The Medical
Botanical Foundation. The foundation lies dormant--waiting for the Federal
Government to come to its senses... waiting for the voters of California to
tell Washington "We voted, and we mean it."

Peter McWilliams
In Federal Custody (with no bail-out in sight)
July 28, 1998

Contacts:

Todd McCorrmick @ 323-650-4906
Ed Haisha @ 323-650-9571 x125

"One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." - MLK

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

Peter McWilliams Denied AIDS Medication For Four Days! (An Action Alert
From The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project Urges You To Write
To California Media To Publicize The Inhumane Pretrial Treatment
Of The Medical Marijuana Patient/Activist/Defendant)

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 10:02:37 -0600 (MDT)
From: "Colo. Hemp Init. Project" (cohip@levellers.org)
To: "Colo. Hemp Init. Project" (cohip@levellers.org)
Subject: Feds Deny AIDS Medication to McWilliams

From: Todd McCormick (todd@a-vision.com)
Subject: Peter McWilliams Denied AIDS Medication For Four Days!

Peter McWilliams Denied AIDS Medication For Four Days!

Arraignment On Federal Medical Marijuana
Charges Monday At 8:30 AM, Los Angeles.

JULY 27, 1998 / LOS ANGELES, CA: Writer-Publisher Peter McWilliams is being
denied his AIDS medication while in Federal custody. McWilliams was arrested
at his home at 6:00 AM on July 23, 1998 by seven DEA agents for Federal
medical marijuana violations. McWilliams has not been given his AIDS
medication since he was arrested.

"At the Bail Hearing, the Prosecutor, Fernando Aenlle-Rocha, assured the
judge I would receive my AIDS medication." said McWilliams on Sunday still
in Federal Custody. "I have not."

McWilliams was diagnosed with AIDS and Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a result of
the AIDS, in March, 1996. He has been taking the combination therapy of two
anti-viral and one Protease Inhibitors since that time. Medical experts warn
that noncompliance with the six-times-a-day treatment could lead to fatal
mutations of the AIDS virus not treatable by medicine.

McWilliams will be arraigned on nine federal counts, all involving medical
marijuana on Monday, July 27th, 1998 at 8:30 AM before Judge George King.

"Of the three vital components of the combination therapy, I have never been
given one of them." said McWilliams in a phone interview from the Federal
Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. "My doctor and every medical
report I have read repeatedly stresses the importance of not missing so much
as a single dose. I have taken my AIDS medication faithfully for 2 and 1/2
years. Now, there is a four day gap in that life-saving treatment."

McWilliams has been a vocal advocate of medical marijuana, an outspoken
critic of the Federal policies jailing sick people for treating their
illnesses, especially since the passage of California's Proposition 215 in
1996.

"The Federal Government has arrested me to silence me." said McWilliams.
"But must it attempt to murder me as well?"

McWilliams has appeared on CNN, ABC News, TIME, CBS Radio Network, MSNBC,
and dozens of other media advocating medical marijuana. He is the publisher
of The Medical Marijuana Magazine online at http://www.marijuanamagazine.com

McWilliams intends to detail his lack of promised medical treatment to Judge
King at his Monday arraignment.

Contact Numbers:
* Todd McCormick @ 323-650-4906
* Ed Haisha @ 323-650-9571 x125


"One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
- MLK

***

From the Colorado Hemp Initiative Project:

If you haven't done it already, please protest this escalation of the
federal goverment's war against patients and violation of human rights.
Your letters of outrage can be sent to the California media, using the
list below to cut and paste into the Blind Carbon Copy (Bcc:) field of
your email program.

More targets for your outrage can be found at:
http://www.levellers.org/toddact.htm

For background on the trials of Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick, see:
http://www.marijuanamagazine.com/toc/toc.htm
http://www.freecannabis.org
http://www.levellers.org/toddtoc.htm

Send copies of your letters to:
Peter McWilliams (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Todd McCormick (todd@a-vision.com)
COHIP (cohip@levellers.org)

***

Write LETTERS TO THE EDITOR of these California newspapers. Express
outrage at the persecution patients in California. Tell them to STOP THE
WAR ON SICK PEOPLE! For help on letter-writing, see the Media Awareness
Project at http://www.mapinc.org.

California Newspapers (compiled by Jim Rosenfield: jnr@insightweb.com)
cctletrs@netcom.com (Contra Costa County Times Calif.)
chronletters@sfgate.com (San Francisco Chronicle)
feedback@smctimes.com (San Mateo Times)
letters@blk.com (BLK, LTE's)
letters@examiner.com (San Francisco Examiner)
letters@latimes.com (Los Angeles Times)
letters@link.freedom.com (The Orange County Register)
letters@modbee.com (Modesto Bee)
letters@news.latimes.com
letters@sfbayguardian.com (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
letters@sjmercury.com (San Jose Mercury News)
letters@TheReporter.com (Vacaville Reporter)
letters@uniontrib.com (San Diego Union Tribune)
mail@newtimes-slo.com
opinion@bakersfield.com
opinion@sacbee.com
pdletters@aol.com (Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
triblet@angnewspapers.com
tribletter@aol.com
viewpoint@asucla.ucla.edu (Daily Bruin UCLA Viewpoint)
voice@villagevoice.com

***

Re-distributed as a public service by the:
Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
P.O. Box 729, Nederland, CO 80466
Vmail: (303) 448-5640
Email: (cohip@levellers.org)
Web: http://www.welcomehome.org/cohip.html
http://www.levellers.org/cannabis.html
"Fighting over 60 years of lies and dis-information
with 10,000 years of history and fact."
ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?

***

To be added to or removed from our mailing list,
send email with the word SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE in the title.

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

Medical Marijuana Advocate Pleads Innocent To Conspiracy Charges
(The MSNBC Version On Los Angeles' KNBC)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 17:39:51 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Medical Marijuana Advocate
Pleads Innocent To Conspiracy Charges
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: KNBC - MSNBC affiliate in Los Angeles
Contact: msnbc@tvsknbc.nbc.com
Website: http://www.msnbc.com/local/KNBC/default.asp
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATE PLEADS INNOCENT TO CONSPIRACY CHARGES

LOS ANGELES, July 27 - A Los Angeles medical marijuana advocate pleaded
innocent Monday to charges that he conspired with several others to grow
massive amounts of the drug to sell to Cannabis Buyer's Clubs.

Peter McWilliams, who claims he is suffering from AIDS and cancer, is
accused of conspiring with Todd McCormick to supply the clubs, which
distribute marijuana to those who say they use it as medicine.

McCormick, another medical marijuana advocate, was arrested nearly a year
ago, after authorities discovered 4,116 marijuana plants growing in his
rented Bel-Air mansion. McCormick was charged last year with one count of
manufacturing marijuana.

He and six others are set to be arraigned next week on the new conspiracy
charges, and David Richards, who also is accused in the alleged scheme, was
arraigned Monday with McWilliams. In court, McWilliams, an outspoken
Libertarian said he no longer had an attorney and planned to represent
himself.

He also claimed that he is being denied a complicated regime of drugs he
takes to treat his AIDS virus. After some prodding by U.S. Magistrate Judge
Virginia Phillips, McWilliams agreed to hire an attorney.

A status conference was set for Aug. 24 in front of U.S. District Judge
George King. Last week, McWilliams was granted $250,000 bail. So far, he
hasn't come up with the money to post it.

Meantime, Assistant U.S. Attorney Fernando Aenlle-Rocha said he hopes
officials from the Metropolitan Detention Center will "take steps to remedy
the problem" of the defendant not receiving all of his medications. Linda
Thomas, a spokeswoman for the downtown lockup where McWilliams is being
held refused to discuss the case.

She did say that the policy is to provide inmates with doctor-prescribed
medications "consistent with community standards."

McWilliams claims he is not being given all of the medications that go into
his "cocktail," a strict regimen of as many as 30 pills a day that must be
taken a specific times.

According to Dr. Ronald Mitsuwasu, the director the UCLA AIDS Clinic
Research Center, the "very potent anti-HIV drugs require they be given on
schedule without missing doses or their effectiveness will wear off."

"While I don't know the particulars of this case, these drugs are the
common therapy for HIV-infected patients," he said. "Failing to take them
properly can jeopardize the patients well-being."

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

Oakland May Back Medical Pot Providers ('The Sacramento Bee'
Notes The Oakland City Council Is Expected Tonight To Make
Designated Providers Of Medical Marijuana 'Officers Of The City,'
Giving Them Legal Immunity From Criminal And Civil Actions)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:36:57 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Oakland May Back Medical Pot Providers
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: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Contact: http://www.sacbee.com/about_us/sacbeemail.html
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Pubdate: July 28, 1998
Author: Lesli Maxwell Bee Correspondent

OAKLAND MAY BACK MEDICAL POT PROVIDERS

OAKLAND -- The Oakland City Council is expected tonight to make designated
providers of medical marijuana "officers of the city," giving them legal
immunity from criminal and civil actions.

Robert Raich, attorney for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, said
the city's support should block the federal government's efforts to shut
down the pot club.

"This will hopefully blast a hole right through the Controlled Substances
Act," said Raich, who is representing the club and its executive director,
Jeff Jones, in the pending federal lawsuit.

The ordinance, which is to get a final vote tonight, is believed to be the
first such measure in California. Council members easily passed it 8-1 last
week in the first of two required votes.

If approved again, the ordinance becomes effective in seven days.

Since the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which legalized pot for medical
uses in California, there have been a number of legal cases testing the
boundaries of the new law. Both state and federal officials have moved to
shut down cannabis clubs in several cities, arguing that such retail
outlets are not legal under the proposition.

The Oakland club defied a federal shutdown order issued in May, and several
other court challenges to actions elsewhere are pending.

Oakland is acting to make authorized marijuana retailers "officers of the
city," whom the Controlled Substances Act protects from liability when
"lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance
relating to controlled substances."

"We have always had a lot of support from our City Council," said Jeff
Jones, the club's director. "Now I hope we will have a guarantee that
residents in Oakland will have safe access to medical marijuana."

Ignacio De La Fuente was the only council member against the ordinance.
"There's no control . . . no real certification, no way to track (sellers)
and no way to know if this is a loophole that will allow people to abuse
the program," he said.

Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams expressed concern that the ordinance
may open the city to liability if any of the designated associations are sued.

But Councilman Nate Miley suggested that the city examine the possibility
of setting up its own distribution program as a way of decreasing liability.

Right now, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative is the only designated
distributor of medical marijuana, although the ordinance can apply to any
authorized cannabis provider.

Jones said his cooperative serves about 1,800 patients.

Raich said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against the
Oakland cooperative before its Aug. 14 court date.

Copyright 1998 The Sacramento Bee

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

Oakland Set To Protect Medical Marijuana Providers
(The Scripps-McClatchy News Service Version)

Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 02:53:19 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Wire: Oakland Set
To Protect Medical Marijuana Providers
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: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Scripps-McClatchy News Service

OAKLAND SET TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROVIDERS

OAKLAND -- The Oakland City Council is expected Tuesday night to make
designated providers of medical marijuana ``officers of the city,'' giving
them legal immunity from criminal and civil actions.

Robert Raich, attorney for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, said
the city's support should block the federal government's efforts to shut
down the pot club.

``This will hopefully blast a hole right through the Controlled Substances
Act,'' said Raich, who is representing the club and its executive director,
Jeff Jones, in the pending federal lawsuit.

The ordinance, which is to get a final vote Monday night, is believed to be
the first such measure in California. Council members easily passed it 8-1
last week in the first of two required votes.

If approved again, the ordinance becomes effective in seven days.

Since the 1996 passage of Proposition 215, which legalized pot for medical
uses in California, there have been a number of legal cases testing the
boundaries of the new law. Both state and federal officials have moved to
shut down cannabis clubs in several cities, arguing that such retail outlets
are not legal under the proposition.

The Oakland club defied a federal shutdown order issued in May, and several
other court challenges to actions elsewhere are pending.

Oakland is acting to make authorized marijuana retailers ``officers of the
city,'' whom the Controlled Substances Act protects from liability when
``lawfully engaged in the enforcement of any law or municipal ordinance
relating to controlled substances.''

``We have always had a lot of support from our City Council,'' said Jeff
Jones, the club's director. ``Now I hope we will have a guarantee that
residents in Oakland will have safe access to medical marijuana.''

Ignacio De La Fuente was the only council member against the ordinance.
``There's no control ... no real certification, no way to track (sellers)
and no way to know if this is a loophole that will allow people to abuse the
program,'' he said.

Oakland City Attorney Jayne Williams expressed concern that the ordinance
may open the city to liability if any of the designated associations are sued.

But Councilman Nate Miley suggested that the city examine the possibility of
setting up its own distribution program as a way of decreasing liability.

Right now, the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative is the only designated
distributor of medical marijuana, although the ordinance can apply to any
authorized cannabis provider.

Jones said his cooperative serves about 1,800 patients.

Raich said he plans to file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against the
Oakland cooperative before its Aug. 14 court date.

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

A Religious Exemption For Marijuana (A News Release Seeking Support
For The New American Church Association, An Association Of People
Representing Various Churches And Religious Traditions Who Publish
'Holy Smoke' And Advocate The Establishment Of A Religious Exemption
For The Sacramental Use Of Marijuana And Peyote)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 12:53:20 +0000
To: drctalk@drcnet.org, tgdd@drcnet.org, maptalk@mapinc.org,
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: Forwarded Message

From: swtlight@snowcrest.net
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 08:27:27 -0700 (PDT)
To: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: Religious Exemption

A RELIGIOUS EXEMPTION FOR MARIJUANA

The New American Church Association advocates the establishment of a
religious exemption for the sacramental use of marijuana and peyote,
regardless of ethnic heritage, religious affiliation or medical condition.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court (Oregon vs. Smith, 1989), "Each state
has the right to exempt any controlled substance for religious use."
Therefore, the NACA is sponsoring a ballot initative that would provide a
religious exemption for marijuana in the state of California.

Please note: the NACA is not a church. It is an association of people who
represent many different churches and religious traditions. Our members and
supporters hold in common the belief that marijuana and peyote are sacred
plants that lift our spirit and facilitate communication with The Great
Spirit. We thank God for good medicine, and hereby request freedom of
religion for all the people who are using marijuana wisely and well.

The NACA maintains a free online journal, HOLY SMOKE, which provides
testimonials and teachings for respectful use. Information on the NACA and
the ballot initiative is also available by mail.

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO PREVAIL -- tax deductible donations, membership fees,
roadwork, signature collection, good will and ideas.

Respectfully Yours,
Guy Mount, Roadman

NEW AMERICAN CHURCH ASSOCIATION
16625 Heitman Road
Cottonwood, CA 96022
Email: swtlight@snowcrest.net
Telephone/FAX: (530) 529-5392 (7am-6pm PST)
http://www.snowcrest.net/swtlight/naca.html

HOLY SMOKE: Free Online Journal of the NACA
http://www.snowcrest.net/swtlight/holysmoke.html

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

'Drug War' Needs Overhaul (An Op-Ed In 'The Arizona Daily Star'
By Robert Whitcomb, Editorial-Page Editor Of The Providence, Rhode Island
'Journal-Bulletin,' Says Two-Thirds Of Anti-Drug Resources In America
Are Devoted To Punishment, Which, Rather Than Solving The Social
And Economic Problems Of Addiction, Causes Even More Problems,
And Notes The Array Of Interests, Including Politicians, Who Benefit
From Counterproductive Policies)

Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:22:12 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US AZ: Editorial: 'Drug war' needs overhaul
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Source: Arizona Daily Star
Contact: letters@azstarnet.com
Website: http://www.azstarnet.com/
Pubdate: July 28, 1998
Author: Robert Whitcomb
URL: http://www.azstarnet.com/public/dnews/0728cv1.html

'DRUG WAR' NEEDS OVERHAUL

So "the war on drugs" rages on. The United Nations recently had a
conference extolling various failed strategies for battling this scourge,
drug czar Barry McCaffrey has announced new initiatives, and the tough
rhetoric continues from the usual politicians.

But much of the drug epidemic will continue until the military rhetoric and
strategies are dropped and government officials and the public come to
accept publicly what many of them must already know privately: Drug abuse
is basically a medical problem, and criminalization of drug use mostly
serves to create a black market in which the biggest winners are the most
vicious criminals - white- collar and otherwise.

So rather than pouring most anti-drug efforts into prevention and
treatment, two-thirds of anti-drug resources in America are devoted to
punishment, which, rather than solving the social and economic problems of
addiction, causes even more problems, such as the high cost of
incarcerating individuals who are sick. (Indeed, many individuals benefit
from the criminalization of drugs, including the companies building and
staffing the prisons holding drug addicts.)

The latest silliness was the June 10-11 U.N. conference in New York, aimed
at formulating ways to battle the global drug trade. The conference came up
with such old ideas as trying to cut drug production in poor nations
(whence comes much of the drugs) by encouraging peasants to plant
alternative crops, or by other (sometimes bizarre) economic-development
schemes, such as financing the construction of factories in drug-crop
areas, and/or by throwing in a rural hospital or two as bait.

This won't have much of an effect because the cultivation of such raw
materials as poppies (for heroin) and coca (for cocaine) is so lucrative
that when it is discouraged in one area, either by generous financing of
alternative crops or by military or police action, it moves next door.

Money is very fungible in today's world, and the profits to be procured
from drugs are very high, to no small extent because of prices being
elevated by America's obsessive campaigns to restrict supply and punish
users and dealers. Cash from the streets gets pumped quickly into the
world's banking system and moved in and out of dummy corporations.

Indeed, there are entire jurisdictions - Panama, the Bahamas, the Cayman
Islands, and so on - that have become conduits for drug money. And the
money they handle swiftly makes it into the coffers of numerous legitimate
businesses in the United States and other Western nations. Everyone along
the line benefits richly from the continuation of the war on drugs.

No government has shown itself willing to take on the international
bankers, lawyers, accountants and others who keep the worldwide drug-
money-laundering industry well-oiled.

And it is difficult to see how effective over the long-run media campaigns
against the use of illegal drugs could be in an America whose ads are
constantly touting the benefits of psychotropic drugs, be they alcohol,
coffee or Prozac. Everything in our "feel better fast" culture works toward
encouraging drug use.

No blustering from Gen. McCaffrey, or U.N. meetings, would do nearly as
much to diminish the worldwide drug industry as would drug
decriminalization in America, far and away the heaviest user nation. When
will a major public figure have the courage to say that?

And when will a major public figure have the courage to tout, for instance,
such reasonable approaches as using methadone in place of incarceration for
addicts of heroin, which is rapidly becoming the most serious drug problem
again?

Methadone is far and away the best available treatment in terms or reducing
illicit heroin use and associated crime, disease and death. As the National
Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine stated: "Methadone maintenance
has been the most rigorously studied modality and has yielded the most
incontrovertibly positive results. . . . Consumption of all illicit drugs,
especially heroin, declines. Crime is reduced, fewer individuals become HIV
positive, and individual functioning is improved." Much too reasonable, I
guess.

"The Drug War" will no longer be "necessary" when heroin and other
currently illegal drugs are made available to addicts on doctors'
prescriptions, while a stepped-up media campaign citing the health risks of
illegal drugs discourages young people from becoming addicts. (But a
caveat: Strident demonizing doesn't work. Not only do people not believe
it, such demonizing can increase the appeal of drugs to young people
through the paradox of glamorization. This is probably happening now with
cigarettes.)

It often seems there is too much money to be made by an unholy alliance of
dealers, bankers and lawyers (and those who make money off the
proliferation of prisons) to hope that such a reasonable policy can be put
into place anytime soon.

But perhaps the people are ahead of the politicians. After all, voters in
1996 in Arizona backed an initiative allowing doctors to prescribe any drug
for legitimate medical purposes, and mandating treatment, not jail, for
those arrested for illegal drug possession. If only the people's leaders
had such common sense.

Robert Whitcomb is editorial-page editor of the Providence (R.I.)
Journal-Bulletin.

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

Attorney Pleads Guilty To Drug-Related Charges
('The Midland Reporter-Telegram' Says Odessa, Texas, Defense Attorney
Jose Antonio 'Tony' Chavez Copped A Plea Monday To Helping
A Marijuana Dealer)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:05:42 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US TX: Attorney Pleads Guilty To Drug-Related Charges
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@mapinc.org)
Source: The Midland Reporter-Telegram
Contact: jpatterson@basinlink.com
Website: http://www.mrt.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Author: Alice Ashmore

ATTORNEY PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG-RELATED CHARGES

PECOS - A plea agreement from Odessa defense attorney Jose Antonio "Tony"
Chavez was filed Monday in the U.S. District Clerk's Office in Pecos.

Chavez was indicted on drug-related charges by a federal grand jury in
Pecos on June 12.

According to the plea agreement, Chavez will plead guilty to one count of a
42-count, multiple-defendant indictment.

Chavez is pleading guilty to count 27 of the indictment, which charges
Chavez with "knowledge that offenses against the United States had been
committed by Raul Gardea-Luna, that is, possession of marijuana with intent
to distribute."

The agreement states that Chavez acted as an accessory after the fact, and
"did provide comfort, relief and assistance to Raul Gardea-Luna in order to
hinder and prevent his apprehension, trial and punishment."

Chavez's involvement stems from two marijuana transactions from the Mexican
border into the Midland/Odessa area, according to court documents. The
marijuana transactions took place in January 1997, and totaled 581 pounds,
less packaging.

As a result of his plea agreement to the felony offense, Chavez could
forfeit his right to practice law.

"That is the normal procedure, that when an attorney is convicted of a
felony offense that the state Bar will initiate revocation proceedings,"
said State District Judge John Hyde. He added that attorneys can seek to
have their license restored after five years, and must pass the state bar
exam again.

The plea agreement states that Chavez will receive a two-point upward
adjustment in his sentence (according to federal sentencing guidelines) for
"abuse of a position of trust or special skill."

It was also determined that Chavez was entitled to a three-point downward
adjustment "because of his acceptance of responsibility under the terms of
this plea agreement."

Guilty pleas were also filed on behalf of Raul "Pinqui" Gardea-Luna and his
wife, Josie Ann Gardea. The indictment alleges that Gardea-Luna was a
smuggler/trafficker of controlled substances from Mexico into the United
States.

A guilty plea was also entered by Moises "Boy" Hernandez, a private
investigator for the Chavez law firm. Hernandez also pleaded guilty to
count 27 of the federal indictment.

U.S. District Judge Lucius D. Bunton III is scheduled to sentence the four
Aug. 3 in Pecos.

After his sentencing on count 27 of the indictment, the remaining charges
against Chavez will be dismissed. He was named in eight counts, including
conspiracy, obstructing justice and laundering the proceeds of drug
transactions.

Adrian Chavez, Tony Chavez's son, had previously told the Reporter-Telegram
that the charges were not true and that he expected his father to be
vindicated.

The son claims that his father was implicated by a disgruntled client who
made false allegations to authorities. Tony Chavez had represented the
woman in a drug case in which she was convicted.

c. 1998 The Midland Reporter-Telegram

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

Sioux Indians Vote To Challenge DEA On Hemp (A Press Release
From The Oglala Sioux Tribe In South Dakota Says The Tribal Council
Today Enacted An Ordinance Reviving The Legal Distinction
Between Industrial Hemp And Marijuana, Setting The Stage
For Land-Based Economic Development On The Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation And A Legal Challenge By The Tribe In Federal Court)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 11:04:34 -0500
From: davewest (davewest@pressenter.com)
To: davewest@pressenter.com
Subject: Sioux Indians Vote To Challenge DEA on Hemp

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dateline: July 28, 1998

Sioux Indians Vote To Challenge DEA on Hemp

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, S.D. - Today in its regular quarterly
session, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council enacted historic legislation on
industrial hemp. An ordinance amending the tribe's penal code relating
to the plant was adopted by the vote of 8 - 4, reviving the legal
distinction between industrial hemp and marijuana. "This sets the stage
for land-based economic development on the reservation and probably a
legal challenge by the tribe in federal court" observed Joe American
Horse, spokesman for the ordinance.

Introduced through the judiciary committee, the legislation was debated
for almost two hours before its adoption. "The council voted to support
and endorse sound ideas put forth by community landowners," said Loretta
Cook afterwards. She is president of the Slim Butte LUA (Land-Use
Association) which had sought the measure over a two-year period.

The Ordinance was passed despite a letter to the tribe from the Drug
Enforcement Administration claiming that industrial hemp cultivation
would violate federal law. Supporters of the Ordinance cited a study by
the Vermont state legislature revealing that more than 99% of the
"marijuana" located and destroyed by the DEA (at an annual cost of $500
million) is actually feral industrial hemp having extremely low levels
of THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) and no psychoactive
potential. Much of the feral hemp escaped cultivation during World War
II's Hemp for Victory campaign.

"The mere fact that hemp is growing wild is an inescapable reminder that
industrial hemp was once a cornerstone of agriculture in America," said
Thomas J. Ballanco, a West Point graduate and attorney who drafted the
Ordinance. He also commented that, "Asking the DEA for advice about
industrial hemp is like asking Donald Trump for advice about Indian
gaming issues."

"Tribal sovereignty over land and precise language regarding the hemp
plant are the issues involved," commented American Horse.

Tom Cook, Hemp Project Director
Slim Butte Land-Use Association
Tel: 308 432 2290
E-Mail: slmbttsag@bbc.net

ORDINANCE N0. _______

ORDINANCE OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBE
(An Unincorporated Tribe)


ORDINANCE OF THE OGLALA SIOUX TRIBAL COUNCIL AMENDING THE
OGLALA SIOUX TRIBAL PENAL CODE RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL HEMP.

WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe recognizes that industrial hemp is a safe
and profitable commodity in the international marketplace and is grown
in more than thirty countries including Canada, France, England, Russia,
China, Germany and Australia, and

WHEREAS treaties signed between the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the United
States government acknowledge that the tribe retains the right to grow
food and fiber crops from the soil, and

WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe recognizes that industrial hemp was a
viable and profitable crop grown in the Pine Ridge region when the
treaties were entered between the United States and the Oglala Sioux
Tribe, and

WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks to develop sustainable, land-based,
economic opportunities for tribal members, and

WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe recognizes that there is a consistent,
predictable, genetically based difference between the varieties of
Cannabis sativa that produce marijuana and those that produce industrial
hemp and that the difference is based on the amount of
tetrahydrocannabinol present in the plant, and

WHEREAS law enforcement agents and farmers can learn to readily
distinguish between the different varieties of Cannabis sativa, and

WHEREAS the Oglala Sioux Tribe seeks to maintain its current policy of
prohibiting the use and proliferation of marijuana on the reservation,
and

WHEREAS international treaties and trade agreements including the 1961
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the North American Free Trade
Agreement [NAFTA] and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT]
specifically classify industrial hemp as a commodity that is separate
and distinct from any narcotic, and

WHEREAS the law enforcement policies of the United States government are
inconsistent, severely overburden industrial hemp agriculture, and do
not adequately carry out the original intent of Congress regarding
industrial hemp and marijuana; now

THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED, that the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council does
hereby expressly reserve and retain jurisdiction to enact legislation
relating to industrial hemp agriculture and amends the Oglala Sioux
Tribe Penal Code to clarify its policy allowing agricultural and
economic development while retaining its existing policy against
marijuana, and

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that any members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe who
wish to harvest or cultivate industrial hemp must first organize, or
join an existing, land use association. Each land use association
making use of industrial hemp will then appoint, and arrange for the
compensation of, a liaison who will file a quarterly report to the Land
Committee of the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, delineating with
specificity the industrial hemp acreage to be cultivated and/or
harvested, the end products to be manufactured and the progress since
the previous report. The liaison will serve as the interface between
the land use association, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council and any
interested law enforcement agencies, and

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that the Oglala Sioux Tribal Penal Code, Title 9,
Section 106. - Marijuana and Section 106.00 - Controlled Drugs and
Substances are amended as follows:

a) TITLE 9, SECTION 106. - MARIJUANA is amended to read:

Any Indian who shall plant, grow, cultivate, harvest or gather, sell,
barter, or give away or have in possession any Marijuana shall be deemed
guilty of an offense and upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to
labor for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or to a fine not to
exceed three hundred and sixty dollars ($360.00), or to both such fine
and imprisonment, with costs.

b) The definition of "Marijuana" in TITLE 9, SECTION 106.00 (e) is
amended to read:

"Marijuana" -- All parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis whether
growing or not; the seeds thereof, resin extracted from any part of such
plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or
preparation of the plant, its seeds, or its resin THAT CONTAINS ONE
PERCENT OR MORE CONCENTRATION OF TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL BY WEIGHT.
MARIJUANA DOES NOT INCLUDE INDUSTRIAL HEMP AS DEFINED IN THIS SECTION.

c) The following definition of "Industrial Hemp" shall be added to TITLE
9, SECTION 106.00 as appropriate:

"Industrial Hemp" -- All parts and varieties of the plant Cannabis
sativa, both indigenous and imported, that are, or have historically
been, cultivated and harvested for fiber and seed purposes and contain a
tetrahydrocannabinol concentration of one percent or less by weight.

and,

BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED that all ordinances, resolutions, policy letters,
memoranda of understanding or agreement and any other official documents
created by, or entered into by, the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council that
relate to marijuana are hereby amended to encompass the distinction now
created in TITLE 9, SECTION 106.00.


C E R T I F I C A T I O N


I, the undersigned, as Recording Secretary of the Oglala Sioux Tribal
Council, hereby certify that this Ordinance was adopted by a vote of:
_8_For; _4_Against; and _1_ Not Voting, during a REGULAR SESSION held on
the _28_th day of JULY, 1998.

***

Theresa Two Bulls, Secretary
Oglala Sioux Tribe

A T T E S T

***

John W. Steele, President
Oglala Sioux Tribe

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

US Suppression Of Debate Is Monkey On Nation's Back (An Excellent Column
In 'The St. Paul Pioneer Press' By David Morris Criticizes The Willful Ignorance
Of Prohibitionists Such As The Drug Czar And The American Media,
Noting Reformers Have Much More Scholarship Backing Them, Citing The Schaffer
Online Library And Other Sites On The Internet - But Suggests The War
On Some Drug Users Is A War Against Evil And Not Amenable To Reason)

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 08:45:03 -0500
From: davewest (davewest@pressenter.com)
Reply-To: davewest@pressenter.com
To: Mapinc (editor@mapinc.org)
Subject: David Morris: "U.S. suppression
of debate is monkey on nation's back"
SOURCE: St. Paul Pioneer Press
PUBDATE: July 28, 1998
SECTION: OPINION, 7A
CONTACT: Reader Advocate Nancy Conner
651-228-5446
nconner@pioneerpress.com
LTE FAX: 651-228-5564
WEBSITE: http://www.pioneerplanet.com

[See attached for cartoon that accompanied column, with caption:
"Americans who believe that our drug policy is doing more harm than good
lack the power and resources of the drug prohibitionists. But they make
up for it in scholarship."]

U.S. suppression of debate is monkey on nation's back

DAVID MORRIS COLUMNIST

On July 9, before he left on what his office called a "fact-finding"
tour to the Netherlands, U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey declared
the Dutch drug policy "an unmitigated disaster." The stunned Dutch
ambassador responded: "I must say that I find the timing of your remarks
[rather astonishing], six days before your planned visit ... [to gain]
firsthand knowledge about Dutch drugs policy and its results."

But McCaffrey didn't become a four-star general by backing up. He
called a press .conference to justify his conclusion. "The murder rate
in Holland is twice that in the U.S.," he announced. The exasperated
Dutch explained that their murder rate is actually half that of the
United States.

The McCaffrey affair got little play here, perhaps because we don't
expect the man who runs our drug program to know what he is talking
about. For the Dutch, facts are important because their drug policy is
pragmatic. They don't believe in implementing an anti-drug program that
does more harm to society than drug use.

The U.S. program, on the other hand, is a war against evil. You
don't do a cost-benefit analysis on a holy war.

The McCaffrey affair received little public attention, but it
generated an awful lot of Web traffic from people who, in some detail,
compared the Dutch situation with our own.

The U.S. drug-fighting budget has soared from about $1 billion in
1980 to more than $17 billion this year. We arrest 650,000 Americans a
year for possession of marijuana, up 300 percent since 1980. Largely
because of drug arrests, we have the highest imprisonment rate of any
industrialized country, seven times higher than that of the Netherlands.
Each year the police confiscate the property of hundreds of families
simply on suspicion of drug use. Motorists are randomly stopped on the
roads for drug searches. Millions of people have their bodily waste
analyzed for possible drug use. And still our young people use drugs at
a higher rate than do the Dutch.

The case for an apology from McCaffrey seemed powerful. To get the
other side of the story, I connected with the Web sites of our leading
drug-fighting agencies. I was looking for some solid justification for
the official position. Astonishingly, I found none.

The Drug Enforcement Administration's own Web site has nothing
(www.usdoj.gov/dea). The DARE site (www.dare-america.com) boldly
announces to visitors that 'There's a lot to learn here." There's not.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America (www.drugfreeamerica.org.), the
conduit for the new $2 billion antidrug advertising program, is even
more self-congratulatory: "Welcome to the most complete and accurate
compilation of information about drugs on the Web." Tbe site does have a
button that says "resources for parents." Click on it and weep.

Only Drug Watch (www.drugwatch.org) makes even a token attempt to
buttress its position with facts. At times, that attempt verges on the
bizarre. A key piece of evidence for them is a British study, which
tells us that a 17-year-oId boy "was hospitalized with bleeding from his
mouth and skin. Blood tests suggested anticoagulant therapy of some
kind. Despite the boy's denial, his family found a potent rodent killer,
Brodifacoum, which is 100 times more toxic thnn Comadin, a prescription
drug used for blood thinning. After medical and psychiatric treatment
over the next six months, the patient admitted he learned to smoke
marijuana laced with rodent poison from friends at a party."

Americans who believe that our drug policy is doing more harm than
good lack the power and resources of the drug prohibitionists. But they
make up for it in scholarship. Indeed, they seem to believe that simply
by presenting facts, they will convince the policy-makers.

The motto of one Web site declares "Just Say Know." My favorite
information fount is the remarkable Schaffer Library of Drug Policy
(www.druglibrary.org/schaffer). The nation owes a debt to Clfford
Schaffer, who has painstakingly mounted the full text of scores of
studies. Here you can examine the 3,281 page, seven-volume report of the
1894 Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, which concludes, "moderate use
produces practically no ill effects." Or read in its entirety the 1930
Wickersham Commission Report on Alcohol Prohibition, or the 1944 Mayor
LaGuardia Cornmission report on marijuana, or the 1982 report by the
National Academy of Sciences, or the 1988 ruling by the DEA's own chief
administrative law judge, who, after two years of hearing both sides,
called the government's policy toward medical marijuana "unconscionable."

Want to know what is really going on in Europe? Click on Mr.
Schaffer's links and open a door to a spirited continental debate
unencumbered by the debilitating moral overtones of America's
nonconversation. And then make your own decision.

Morris, a local author, lecturer and consultant, can be reached at 1313
Fifth St. S.E., Suite 306, Minneapolis, Minn. 55414.

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

Court Denies Appeal By Advocates Of Medical Use Of Marijuana
('The Associated Press' Says The Maine Supreme Judicial Court On Tuesday
Upheld Rulings By A Lower Court And The Secretary Of State
Invalidating Thousands Of Signatures Because Circulators Weren't Residents
Or Weren't Registered To Vote - Mainers For Medical Rights Vowed To Continue
Collecting Signatures For A 1999 Referendum)

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 21:16:46 GMT
From: Dave Fratello (amr@lainet.com)
Subject: AP: Maine init. loses court appeal

Associated Press, July 28, 1998

COURT DENIES APPEAL BY ADVOCATES OF MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

By Jerry Harkavy

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Activists seeking to legalize the use of marijuana
for limited medical purposes vowed Tuesday to press ahead with plans for a
1999 referendum after Maine's highest court rejected an appeal that would
have put the measure on the ballot this November.

Mainers for Medical Rights had challenged the state's constitutional
requirements that circulators of initiative petitions be residents and
registered voters in Maine.

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court on Tuesday upheld rulings by a lower
court and the secretary of state that the group failed to collect enough valid
voter signatures to force a referendum this year.

In its unanimous opinion, the supreme court concluded that the residency
provision was justified and did not violate the right to free speech
guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution.

``Residence enhances the integrity of the initiative process by ensuring that
citizens initiatives are brought by citizens of Maine,'' the opinion stated.

``Because the circulators are the persons who verify that the signature and
residence of petitioners are accurate, the residency requirement provides
the state with jurisdiction over the circulators and makes the circulators
easier to locate if there is a question as to the validity of the signatures
collected.''

Noting that the petitioners were given three years to gather the required
signatures, the justices said they failed to demonstrate any need to employ
nonresidents as circulators.

Because the number of signatures invalidated on the basis of the circulators'
residency was sufficient to keep the question off the ballot, the court did not
address the voter registration requirement.

Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky hailed the decision as a step toward
ensuring that the initiative process is carried out by Maine residents rather
than out-of-staters.

``The trend in other states has been for national organizations to come in
and spend an enormous amount of money to gather signatures to place an
issue on the ballot,'' he said, noting that Mainers for Medical Rights
received $250,000 from a California-based organization.

Stephanie Hart of Readfield, director of Mainers for Medical Rights,
expressed disappointment at the court's ruling.

Hart said only three of the 250 people who circulated petitions were found to
be nonresidents: a University of Maine student, a sailor at the Brunswick
Naval Air Station and someone who had recently moved to Maine and
planned to permanently settle in the state.

``We still believe that the signatures of Maine voters collected by these three
circulators should have counted,'' Hart said.

Mainers for Medical Rights submitted petitions containing 68,330 signatures,
but a review by the secretary of state found that 22,507 were invalid. That
left the group with 5,308 fewer signatures than the 51,131 needed.

Its court challenge focused on the 1,033 signatures struck down because
circulators were not Maine residents and the 4,347 signatures deemed
invalid because circulators were not registered to vote.

State officials said referendum organizers could continue to collect
signatures in hopes of placing their question on the ballot in 1999. Hart said
petitioners planned to resume the campaign and collect the remaining
signatures needed to force a referendum.

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

Diet Doctor's Indictment Surprises To Wealthy Community
('The Associated Press' Says The Federal Government Indicted
Suburban Philadelphia Physician Donald J. Rosato Last Week
For Selling 120 Valium Pills And Nearly 3,000 Tablets Of Phendimetrazine,
A Diet Drug, To Three Female Undercover Officers Between March 1995
And September 1997 For More Than $2,000)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen - Olympia" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Diet doctor's indictment surprises to wealthy community
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 17:41:15 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Diet doctor's indictment a surprise to wealthy community

By Amy Worden
Associated Press
07/28/98 02:39

CHESTER SPRINGS, Pa. (AP) - For years, Donald J. Rosato has been a dashing
fixture at fox hunts and charity balls, well-known for his philanthropic
deeds.

In the tony suburbs of Philadelphia, Rosato also built a reputation as a
caring, responsible diet doctor, trimming the waistlines of the wealthy with
his signature weight-loss program - "Streamline on the Mainline."

But authorities say Rosato, 63, was actually dispensing thousands of diet
pills, tranquilizers and other prescription drugs to patients who didn't
need them.

"The law says if a doctor dispenses or distributes drugs outside the usual
course of practice and not for legitimate reason, he's no different then a
street dealer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ewald Zittlau said. "No matter who
walked into his office they'd get pills."

An indictment filed last week accuses Rosato of selling 120 Valium pills and
nearly 3,000 tablets of phendimetrazine, a diet drug, to three female
undercover officers between March 1995 and September 1997 for more than
$2,000.

The doctor also allegedly bought 2.3 million doses of prescription drugs
within an 18-month period and distributed them to patients who were often
not told about their addictive properties and were allowed to decide when
their treatment would end.

Dr. Melanie Durkin, who treated two of Rosato's patients for high blood
pressure and heart trouble, told investigators they had to be hospitalized
after taking a "pharmaceutical dietary cocktail" he prescribed for them. She
called the prescriptions inappropriate.

The depiction of Rosato as an unethical doctor contrasts with his image in
southeastern Pennsylvania, where Rosato is often seen driving his four-horse
carriage or his silver Rolls Royce around the countryside.

"We only knew him as generous and kind. If you needed anything he'd step
in," said Sandra Momyer, executive director of Historic Yellow Springs, a
preservation organization. Rosato served on the group's board for 12 years
and donated a significant portion of the $350,000 needed to buy and protect
a historic property.

This is not the first time Rosato has faced legal trouble. In 1975 he
pleaded guilty to ten counts of Medicare fraud and was sentenced to 45 days
in jail.

Rosato's lawyer, Donald Goldman, refused to comment on the case, saying he
did not "want to try it in the newspapers."

But friends and current patients defended him.

"He is a conscientious doctor and I hope nothing happens to his practice or
that he would even be prosecuted," his friend Harriet Margolis told The
Philadelphia Inquirer.

Rosato is scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Philadelphia on
Thursday.

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

Alabama Senator's Son Caught At Airport With Hashish ('The Associated Press'
Says Claude Nevin Shelby, 32, The Youngest Son Of Richard Shelby,
A Republican Who Chairs The Senate Intelligence Committee, Was Arrested
With 13.8 Grams Last Week At Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:22:10 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US AL: Wire: Alabama
Senator's Son Caught At Airport With Hashish
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@mapinc.org)
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Associated Press
Newshawk's Note: I made up this headline as none was supplied

ALABAMA SENATOR'S SON CAUGHT AT AIRPORT WITH HASHISH

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The youngest son of Alabama senator Richard Shelby was
arrested on drug charges last week at Atlanta's Hartsfield International
Airport, customs officials said Tuesday.

Claude Nevin Shelby, 32, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., was taken into custody last
Friday after U.S. Customs Service inspectors using a drug-sniffing dog found
13.8 grams of hashish in his possession, officials said.

Shelby, who had arrived at the airport on a Delta Airline flight from
London, was issued a $500 administrative penalty by Customs officers. After
paying the fine on the spot, he was turned over to the Clayton County
Sheriff's Department for state prosecution.

He was released from the Clayton County jail on Friday, according to a jail
official, who would not give his name. He referred questions on possible
state charges to Clayton County Sheriff Stanley Tuggle, who was not
immediately available.

Shelby's father, a Republican who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee,
said in a statement that he and his family ``are shocked and saddened by the
misdemeanor possession charge against my son and I will stand by him through
this difficult ordeal.''

``However, I do not condone any violation of the controlled substance act,
including marijuana derivatives,'' he said. ``My position on fighting
illegal drugs is well known. It continues to be a priority for me regardless
of personal circumstances.''

Claude Shelby, a real estate investor, is married and has one child.

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

Advocates Urge FDA To Ban Diabetes Drug ('The Dallas Morning News'
Says The Consumer-Advocacy Group Public Citizen Has Cited At Least 26 Deaths
Worldwide, Including 14 In The United States, From Liver Failure Attributed
To Rezulin, And Urged The US Government Monday To Ban The Drug,
Widely Touted As A Way To Help Some Patients Reduce Their Need
For Insulin Shots)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:21:05 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Advocates Urge FDA To Ban Diabetes Drug
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Pat Dolan
Source: Dallas Morning News
Pubdate: Tue, 28 July 1998
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com

ADVOCATES URGE FDA TO BAN DIABETES DRUG

WASHINGTON - Citing at least 26 worldwide deaths from liver failure,
consumer advocates urged the government Monday to ban a diabetes drug
widely touted as a way to help some patients reduce their need for
insulin shots.

The call to ban Rezulin comes seven months after the drug was pulled
off the market in Britain because of liver risks.

The Food and Drug Administration responded Monday that Rezulin offers
an important benefit for Type II diabetics who aren't adequately
helped by other drugs. The problem is that doctors aren't following
repeated warnings to closely test every diabetic to learn whether
Rezulin is harming the liver, so they can stop taking the drug before
it causes permanent damage, the FDA said.

Deaths "have persisted since the first warning, the majority of which
showed there was not proper monitoring," said the FDA's Dr. Florence
Houn, who is overseeing Rezulin. "More education for health-care
providers is needed."

Manufacturer Parke-Davis will send letters Tuesday to 500,000 doctors
saying the FDA last week upgraded its warning for Rezulin: Doctors should
test patients' livers for signs of toxicity monthly for the first eight
months of Rezulin therapy.

Parke-Davis insisted the drug is safe when used properly.

But the consumer-advocacy group Public Citizen said warnings aren't
enough.

"How many more Americans will have to die or require liver transplants
before Parke-Davis and the FDA take action to protect people in this
country by banning the drug?" wrote Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney Wolfe
in a petition filed Monday with the FDA.

FDA records dated June 5 show the agency has reports of at least 21
deaths among Rezulin users, 100 hospitalizations for liver toxicity
and three liver transplants in the first 15 months the drug was sold,
Dr. Wolfe said.

FDA's Dr. Houn said 14 deaths linked to Rezulin involved Americans.
The other seven occurred in Japan, the only other country where
Rezulin is sold, Dr. Wolfe said. Since June 5, five more cases
involving American deaths have been sent to FDA for evaluation, he
said.

1998 The Dallas Morning News

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

Girls' Kidnapping A Sign Of Police Corruption In Mexico (A 'Washington Post'
Article In 'The Seattle Times' Uses The Case Of Three Teen Girls Kidnapped
And Raped By Mexico City Cops To Illustrate Its Case That Most Mexicans
Perceive Police To Make Up The Biggest Criminal Gangs In Mexico)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:39:55 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Mexico: Girls' kidnapping
a sign of police corruption in Mexico
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Tuesday, 28 July, 1998
Author: John Ward Anderson, The Washington Post

GIRLS' KIDNAPPING A SIGN OF POLICE CORRUPTION IN MEXICO

MEXICO CITY - Last week, three teenage girls in this crime-ridden capital
accepted a ride in a police van carrying several uniformed officers,
purportedly after asking them for directions. But instead of providing them
with a friendly lift, the officers allegedly kidnapped the girls - ages 13,
15 and 18 - and took them to a stable used for police horses, where they
held them for four days, repeatedly raping the two youngest.

The girls escaped Thursday; so far, 16 police officers have been arrested
in the case.

The incident has prompted outraged denunciations by citizens, human-rights
activists, politicians and women's groups, who see it as gruesome proof of
an accepted article of faith: In Mexico, the biggest, most dangerous and
feared gangs of criminals often are police officers themselves.

Police corruption not new

After such an "inconceivable" crime, "asking the citizens to have
confidence (in the police) would seem a distasteful joke or a macabre
prank," said Luis de la Barreda, chairman of the city's human-rights
commission.

The incident also emphasizes the role of police corruption in driving an
unprecedented three-year crime wave sweeping Mexico. In fact, most Mexicans
avoid contact with police, considering them uniformed outlaws. "If you look
at the recent crime history, there is no significant case in which on-duty
or former cops were not involved," said Rafael Ruiz Harrell, a leading
criminologist here. "They have been doing it forever; it is all they know
as a way of life."

A citizens' advisory committee on public security created by Mexico City
Mayor Cuauhtemoc Cardenas recently recommended 89 separate investigations
into police corruption - including complicity with organized-crime groups,
extortion rackets and stolen-car, kidnapping and prostitution rings;
bribery; drug trafficking; and credit card and check fraud.

City officials could not say yesterday if they are pursuing any of the
recommendations, but a spokeswoman for Mexico City police said the agency
fires an average of 70 officers a month for corruption.

"We are witnessing the result of a lack of attention to the public security
problem for the last 40 years," said Lucio Mendoza Rios, a member of the
independent Mexican Institute of Organized Crime Studies and one of the
authors of the report. "The borderline between cops and criminals is now
unclear."

Many veteran police officials began their careers in the 1970s in special
units formed to combat leftist guerrilla groups, Mendoza said. "They were
trained in all kinds of `dirty-war' techniques, including torture,
disappearances, kidnapping," he said. "Many continued to use the same
illegal techniques in (civilian) police departments," particularly in
anti-drug squads, he said. "That's why some federal cops later became some
of the most prominent drug lords."

The abduction of the girls

Mexico City officials said that the three kidnapped girls were hospitalized
and given counseling before being returned to their families. Nine police
officers were arrested within a day of the girls' escape, and seven more
were arrested Sunday.

There were conflicting details yesterday about the circumstances of the
alleged July 18 abductions. Authorities said initially that the girls were
kidnapped after they flagged down the police van to ask for directions. But
La Jornada newspaper, citing sealed court records, reported that it was the
policemen who had asked the girls for directions. When the girls refused to
accompany the officers to show them the way, the newspaper reported, the
girls were forced into the van.

It was unclear how many men may have participated in the alleged rapes, but
some of those arrested apparently were cited for knowing what was going on
and doing nothing to stop it. One of those in custody is a police radio
operator; the rest are members of a horseback patrol unit, officials said.
They are being held pending completion of an investigation by the city
attorney.

Police structure built on bribes

In recent months, there have been numerous other sensational cases of
police corruption here. The head of the anti-kidnapping squad in the state
of Morelos, just south of Mexico City, was charged with kidnapping and
murder; the former head of Mexico's federal police was jailed on charges of
protecting the country's biggest drug dealers in exchange for millions of
dollars in bribes; 34 members and officials of Mexico City's most elite
police unit are under investigation in the execution-style slayings of
seven young men late last year; and two weeks ago, one of the city's top
police officials was fired after it was discovered he had previously been
imprisoned for kidnapping.

The prestigious weekly magazine Nexos recently published a blistering
attack on Mexico's criminal justice system that painted police forces as
little more than criminal enterprises. The article, written by a sociology
student who posed as a police cadet and patrolman for a year to write his
thesis about police corruption, depicted an entire police infrastructure
and hierarchy built on bribes.

Police corruption is so ingrained and systemic here that most analysts are
stumped about how to fix it. Some criminologists say that firing corrupt
police officers does not work because judges usually reinstate them. That
happened earlier this year when Mexican courts ordered the attorney general
to reinstate more than half of the 826 federal agents he fired last
December, most for failing drug tests.

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

Pressure Builds For Free Heroin ('The Province' In Vancouver,
British Columbia, Says The Chief Provincial Medical Officer, Dr. John Millar,
In A Special Report On HIV, Hepatitis And Drug Use In The Province,
Will Recommend That Some Addicts Be Offered Legalized Heroin Free
On Prescription As Part Of A Major Anti-Drug Strategy For BC)

Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 21:29:05 -0400
To: DrugSense News Service (mapnews@mapinc.org)
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Canada: Pressure Builds For Free Heroin
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Herb
Source: The Province (Vancouver, B.C.)
Contact: provedpg@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/
Pubdate: Tuesday, July 28,1998

PRESSURE BUILDS FOR FREE HEROIN

The campaign to give junkies free heroin will escalate today.

Some addicts would be offered legalized heroin free on prescription as part
of a major anti-drug strategy for B.C. to be recommended by the chief
provincial medical officer, Dr. John Millar, in a special report on HIV,
hepatitis and drug use in the province.

The prospect of legalized heroin has provoked controversy and even outrage
in some sections of the community.

While a similar plan has been backed by other medical groups, and some
police officers, other doctors and members of the law enforcement community
are strongly opposed to the idea.

Deputy B.C. medical officer Shaun Peck said it would be "most unfortunate"
if people focused too much on the heroin issue.

The report, details of which were obtained in advance by The Province, also
calls for:

- A major expansion in the use of the heroin substitute methadone to treat
addicts;

- More resources to help provide care for children whose parents are
victims of drug-related sickness;

- A "super-committee" to co-ordinate a provincewide approach to drug
addiction;

- Consideration of the huge economic drain drug addiction and related
illness impose on taxpayers.

Peck, who will deliver the report today in Millar's absence on vacation,
said he was "most anxious to focus on other aspects of the report" than the
heroin trials, particularly the call for more methadone treatment.

Currently in Vancouver, about 215 addicts are prescribed methadone under a
federally approved program administered by the College of Physicians and
Surgeons.

Dr. John Blatherwick, medical director for the Vancouver/Richmond Health
Board, says he hopes to increase that number fivefold this fall using money
provided by the B.C. health ministry to pay for participating doctors' fees.

Provincial concern over B.C.'s growing drug problem has been heightened by
statistics from the chief coroner's office showing 201 drug-overdose deaths
in the first six months of this year. The prediction of 400 deaths this
year would be a record.

Peck said the report will stress not only the deaths, but the effects on
children of parents with the human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis,
and the crime associated with drug use. He said public anxiety about
prescribing heroin for addicts was based largely on misinformation and "it
was certainly not being recommended for everybody."

Controlled heroin had been tried in other countries, he said, and in B.C.
"we want to watch it carefully and [it would only be considered] after an
extension of the methadone program, and even then only with the proper
support programs."

Any experimental prescribing of heroin would first have to be authorized by
the federal government. If such trials go ahead, they would be the first in
Canada.

Blatherwick said "any implication that this [report] is just another push
for legalized heroin" was wrong. "It is a much broader review of overall
strategy," he said.

Giving heroin to addicts for whom methadone does not work "is one of the
things that has to be considered in the overall battle" against drugs, he
said.

Some doctors and drug-addiction counsellors who have seen the provincial
report questioned its findings.

While applauding an extension of the methadone program, they queried
whether the government would come up with the necessary funds for ongoing
recovery treatment.

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

Drug Tests Rock US Track World ('The Toronto Star'
Notes The Canadian Relay Team's Winning Streak May Be Intact
After American Sprinter Dennis Mitchell Was Suspended Indefinitely Yesterday
After Testing Positive For Too Much Testosterone - Olympic Shot Put Champion
Randy Barnes Also Failed A Out-Of-Competition Drug Tests April 1,
According To The International Amateur Athletics Federation)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:35:52 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Drug Tests Rock U.S. Track World
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Pubdate: July 28, 1998
Author: Randy Starkman

DRUG TESTS ROCK U.S. TRACK WORLD

Mitchell's ban may keep Canuck relay team on top

The Canadian relay team's winning streak may be intact after American
sprinter Dennis Mitchell was suspended indefinitely yesterday for drug use.

In a bombshell that rocked the already shaky world of U.S. track and field,
both Mitchell and Olympic shot put champion Randy Barnes failed
out-of-competition drug tests April 1, according to the International
Amateur Athletics Federation.

If the B sample of Mitchell's test is also deemed positive, the Americans
would be stripped of their victory over Canada last Wednesday in the relay
at the Goodwill Games - in which Mitchell participated - and also have to
return the $40,000 in first-place prize money.

Craig Masback, executive president of USA Track & Field, told Associated
Press his group was outraged ``that the IAAF chose to temporarily suspend
two American athletes on the basis of unproven allegations.

Masback said the pair would ``receive the full support of USATF until such
time as it is determined that they have committed a doping offence.''

Canadian relay member Glenroy Gilbert was taken aback by the news.

``Holy smokes. That's unbelievable,'' said Gilbert of Mitchell's test.
``I'd sooner get a victory on the track, but a win's a win. That's what
happens. Your body's got to be clean.''

The Canadians were unbeaten at major track meets dating back to the 1994
Commonwealth Games, including two world championships and the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics.

Gilbert said Mitchell gave no indication that anything was wrong last week.

``It didn't seem like he was bothered by anything or nervous. Not at all.''

That's likely changed now as Mitchell faces a two-year suspension for
testing positive for testosterone.

The testosterone level in Mitchell's sample was not known. The allowable
ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone (another natural substance) is six
to one.

Barnes, the world record-holder, could be banned for life if his B sample
is positive. He was suspended for two years for the steroid
methyltestosterone, detected at a meet in Malmo, Sweden, in 1990. This
time, the substance is androstenedione, a banned nutritional supplement.

Mitchell, 32, has been among the world's top sprinters for a decade and was
considered one of Donovan Bailey's chief rivals at the Atlanta Olympics. He
was a bronze medalist at the 1992 Summer Games, but finished fourth in
Atlanta. His best season came in 1994 when he ran under 10 seconds five
times in six weeks.

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

Two Track Stars Fail Drug Tests ('The New York Times' Version
In 'The Dallas Morning News')

Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 08:20:44 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US TX: OPED: 2 Track Stars Fail Drug Tests
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Pat Dolan
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Dallas Morning News
Section: OpEd
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: www.dallasnews.com
Author: New York Times News Service

2 TRACK STARS FAIL DRUG TESTS

U.S. won't enforce IAAF suspensions

Another drug scandal rocked international sports Monday when track and
field's world governing body announced that two of America's top athletes,
sprinter Dennis Mitchell and 1996 Olympic shot-put champion Randy Barnes,
had been suspended for possible doping offenses.

The U.S. track and field federation said that it would not enforce the
suspensions of Barnes and Mitchell, calling the allegations unproved. The
federation also accused the world governing body of violating the Amateur
Sports Act of 1978, a federal law that entitles American athletes to due
process before they are declared ineligible to compete.

That apparently meant that Mitchell and Barnes remained eligible to compete
in the United States but not internationally. Neither athlete returned calls
Monday seeking comment.

Mitchell and Barnes were given random, out-of-competition drug tests in the
United States on April 1, said Giorgio Reineri, a spokesman for the
International Amateur Athletic Federation, The track's world governing body.

Mitchell, the 1992 Olympic bronze medalist at 100 meters, tested above the
acceptable 6-1 ratio of testosterone, the male sex hormone, to
epitestosterone, a related chemical, Reineri said by telephone from France.
Anything above 6-1 is considered to indicate the use of testosterone as a
muscle-building steroid.

The suspension is particularly embarrassing for Mitchell, 32, of
Gainesville, Fla., who is chairman of the track federation's athletes
advisory committee, which has taken a vocal anti-drug stance. Barnes, the
world record-holder in the shot put, tested positive for a prohibited
substance with steroid-like qualities, Reineri said. The Associated Press
identified the substance as androstenedione, a banned nutritional
supplement. Because he previously was suspended for drug use, Barnes faces a
potential lifetime ban from competition. Mitchell could be suspended for two
years.

Reineri said he thought that only the first of two samples that each urine
specimen is divided into had been tested for each athlete. U.S. laws call
for both samples to be tested and for athletes to be given a hearing before
they are suspended.

"We are outraged that the IAAF knowingly breached our confidentiality rules,
which were put in place to protect those ultimately determined to be
innocent," Craig Masback, president of the U.S. track federation, said in a
statement.

The suspensions came with cycling's Tour de France mired in a doping scandal
of its own, and they were announced on the same day that the International
Olympic Committee called for a world conference next January to reappraise
its campaign against what is believed to be the extensive use by athletes of
banned performance-enhancing substances. The suspensions also followed
controversial remarks reportedly made Sunday by IOC president Juan Antonio
Samaranch. He was quoted in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo as calling for
"drastically" reducing the number of banned substances. He was also quoted
as saying that he did not consider it doping if an athlete used a
performance-enhancing drug that was not believed to be harmful to the
athlete's health.

Samaranch's remarks elicited pointed responses Monday from the Olympic
community. Steve Ovett of Britain, the 1980 Olympic champion at 800 meters,
said it appeared that Samaranch was ready to "throw in the towel" on drug
testing.

Jacques Rogge of Belgium, a surgeon who is vice president of the IOC medical
commission, said it was difficult, if not impossible, to differentiate
between substances that are harmful to an athlete's health and those that
are not.

1998 The Dallas Morning News

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

Olympic Stars Suspended For Drug Abuse ('The Scotsman' Version)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:43:10 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US: Olympic Stars Suspended For Drug Abuse
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: shug@shug.co.uk
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Author: Alf Lennon

OLYMPIC STARS SUSPENDED FOR DRUG ABUSE

TWO of the biggest names in athletics - shot putter Randy Barnes and
sprinter Dennis Mitchell - have been suspended indefinitely for taking
drugs.

Barnes, the 1996 Olympic gold medalist and world indoor and outdoor
record-holder, and Mitchell, the 1992 Olympic 100 metres bronze
medalist, were cited yesterday by the sport's world governing body for
failing drug tests on 1 April.

The Americans are two of the biggest profile athletes to be suspended
from track and field, following Ben Johnson at the 1988 Olympics,
Butch Reynolds in 1990 and Mary Slaney in 1997. Slaney was eventually
cleared, and is running again.

The test results are another blow in the battle against drugs in
sport, coming just a week after the Festina team were thrown out of
the Tour de France when a cache of drug was found in their doctor's
car.

The International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) conducted
random out-of-competition tests that caught both athletes on 1 April.

Barnes tested positive for androstenedine while Mitchell had too great
a concentration of testosterone.

So far only the A samples have been tested. However, that is
sufficient for the IAAF to levy a suspension.

If their B samples an positive, the IAAF will then rule on the
severity of the punishment pending a hearing by USA Track and Field.
If the B sample is negative, they are cleared.

Barnes could be banned for life as this is his second offence. He was
banned for two years starting in 1991 for the banned substance,
methyltestosterone.

This would be the first offence for Mitchell, 32, who was fourth in
the 100m at the Atlanta Oympics in 1996. If found guilty following the
B sample, he would probably receive a two year ban.

The suspensions were handed down last week but were only revealed
yesterday. In Mitchell's case, the suspension came after he competed
at the Goodwill Games last week, where he finished fifth in the lOOm
and was a member of the triumphant United States 4xlOOm relay team,
running third after Jon Drummond and Tim Harden and handing to anchor
Maurice Greene. He underwent a test at the Games, but officials say no
positive samples have been returned.

He had entered a Grand Prix meeting last week that served as a
farewell to Jackie Joyner-Kersee. but did not compete.

IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reneiri revealed that Mitchell had been asked
to "give some medical explanation" for the findings.

"A few days ago, the explanation was received and the doping
commission decided to suspend the athlete," Reneiri said.

Ironically, Mitchell is president of USA Track and Field's Athletes
Advsory Committee, the athletes' voice in the national governing body,
which has taken a hard stance against drugs in sport.

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

Two American Anti-Drug Pilots Dead After Crash In Colombia ('Reuters'
Says The Two Were US Civilians Working For The Texas-Based Dyncorp Aviation
Company, Which Has A Contract With The State Department To Train Colombian
Pilots To Spray Illicit Drug Crops In Colombia - Though No Colombians
Were On Board - A Spokesman For The Drug-War Division Of Colombia's
National Police Was Unable To Say Whether It May Have Been Shot Down
By Anti-Government Guerrillas)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:26:08 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: Wire: Two American Anti-Drug
Pilots Dead After Crash In Colombia
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@mapinc.org)
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Reuters
Author: Karl Penhaul

TWO AMERICAN ANTI-DRUG PILOTS DEAD AFTER CRASH IN COLOMBIA

Two US anti-drug pilots crash - Two U.S. pilots died when their crop-duster
plane crashed during an anti-drug training mission in a jungle region of
southeast Colombia, police said Tuesday.

U.S. embassy officials named the dead men as Wayne Mulgrew, of Napa,
California, and Gary Clyde Chestnut, of Leesburg, Alabama. Both were
employed by the Texas-based Dyncorp Aviation company that has a contract
with the U.S. State Department to help Colombia spray thousands of acres of
illicit drug plantations.

Their Turbo Thrush T-65 aircraft was reported missing on Monday afternoon
but was found only on Tuesday morning close to the banks of the Guayabero
River in Guaviare province, said a spokesman for the anti-narcotics unit of
the National Police.

"There was an accident but we don't yet know precisely how it occurred. Two
American pilots died in the crash," a spokesman at the police anti-drugs
base in Guaviare said.

The spokesman declined to say whether the crop-duster may have been shot
down by Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas who operate
across the region.

A statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Bogota confirmed the deaths but
said there was "no indication of hostile activity".

Colombia's U.S.-backed program to destroy clandestine plantations of coca
leaf - the raw material for cocaine - and opium poppies - used for heroin
production - is the most ambitious in Latin America.

Planes used for aerial spraying missions frequently come under fire from
armed gangs and Marxist rebels. Colombian and U.S. authorities accuse the
rebels of widespread involvement in drug trafficking and say they protect
clandestine drug crops - charges the guerrillas deny.

According to U.S. officials about five U.S. civilian pilots are based in
Colombia at any one time training their Colombian counterparts in aerial
spraying techniques.

The Colombian police say part of the teaching process involves the U.S.
pilots flying active spraying missions although U.S. authorities insist the
Dyncorp pilots are only involved in training.

The question of U.S. personnel taking a frontline role in anti-drug
operations is a thorny one because of what some Colombian politicians see as
possible infringement of national sovereignty.

Another U.S. pilot, Robert Martin, was killed in the same area in January
1997 when his Turbo Thrush aircraft crashed during an anti-drug flight. That
accident was blamed on mechanical failure.

Colombia is responsible for about 80 percent of the world's cocaine supply
and is a leading player in the high-grade heroin trade.

Despite intense Colombian and U.S. efforts to destroy illegal drug crops,
the acreage of coca leaf plantations in Colombia increased by about 20
percent in 1997, compared with 1996, and now totals some 196,500 acres
(79,500 hectares).

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

Two US Pilots Die In Colombia Crash ('The New York Times' Version)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:44:11 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: 2 U.S. Pilots Die In Colombia Crash
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998

2 U.S. PILOTS DIE IN COLOMBIA CRASH

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A small airplane crashed into the jungles of
southern Colombia, killing two U.S. pilots who were in the country to help
eradicate drug crops, officials said Tuesday.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman in Bogota identified the men as Gary Clyde
Chestnut, 46, of Leesburg, Ala., and Wayne Harley Mulgrew, 46, of Napa, Calif.

Their Thrush plane, used for fumigating illicit drug crops, went down
during a training flight Monday near the town of San Jose de Guaviare,
about 175 miles southwest of the capital Bogota.

Authorities said they didn't know what caused the crash.

``They enter the gallery of heroes who have given so much to the fight
against drug trafficking,'' Colombian police chief Gen. Rosso Jose Serrano
told reporters.

The wreckage was located Tuesday a few miles outside of San Jose de
Guaviare, where rescue teams arrived to evacuate the bodies.

Leesburg and Mulgrew worked for the U.S.-based Dainco company, which helps
train Colombian pilots to fumigate drug crops, police said.

Leftist rebels control much of the dense jungle in the southern state of
Guaviare, but the U.S. Embassy said in a statement that there was no
evidence linking them to the crash.

In the last four years, seven helicopters and four airplanes used to
fumigate illicit coca and poppy crops have crashed or been shot down by
Colombian guerrillas.

Three U.S. civilian pilots have died in the past 14 months while aiding
Colombia in anti-narcotics operations.

Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company

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

Colombia Tracking $500 Million In Payoffs From Cali Cartel ('Reuters'
Says Colombian Investigators Have Tracked Down About 37,000 Checks
Issued Between 1989 And 1996 That Went From The Cali Cocaine Syndicate
To 13,000 Separate Bank Accounts, Including Those Belonging To Colombian
Politicians, Sports Stars And Journalists, Who Will Now Be Investigated
And Could Face Prosecution)

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:13:48 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Colombia: Wire: Colombia Tracking
$500 Million In Payoffs From Cali Cartel
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: isenberd@DynCorp.com (Isenberg, David)
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Reuters

COLOMBIA TRACKING $500 MILLION IN PAYOFFS FROM CALI CARTEL

* Cali kingpin rats on crippled half-brother

BOGOTA, Colombia- Investigators have tracked down some 37,000 checks worth
more than $500 million paid out by the notorious Cali drug mob to Colombian
politicians, sports stars and journalists, authorities said on Monday.

The checks, issued between 1989 and 1996 -- the golden years of the cartel
once said to be responsible for 80 percent of the world's cocaine supplies
-- were discovered as part of the on-going "8,000 Process" into drug
corruption in Colombian politics.

Sources at the Chief Prosecutor's Department said the recipients of the
checks would now be investigated and could face prosecution depending on the
nature of their links with the drug gang.

Much of the money was paid into 13,000 separate bank accounts, according to
a statement from the prosecutor's department.

Earlier investigations have shown the Cali cartel paid millions of dollars
in bribes and hush-money and for political favors.

The most infamous incident was a $6 million donation of drug money to
President Ernesto Samper's 1994 election campaign.

In a speech to Congress last Monday, Samper conceded dirty money had flooded
into his campaign but insisted he knew nothing about it.

His campaign manager and treasurer were convicted and jailed in 1995 for
allowing drug money into the election campaign and at least 20 other
politicians have been convicted as part of the 8,000 Process investigation

Copyright (c) 1998 Nando.net Copyright (c) 1998 Reuters News Service

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MS Victims To Puff Pot To Test Medicinal Effectiveness
(A Scripps Howard News Service Article In Britain's 'Guardian'
Says Dr. Geoffrey Guy, Chairman Of GW Pharmaceuticals, A Company
He Set Up With A License From The British Home Office To Explore
The Medical Uses Of Marijuana, Told The House Of Lords Select Committee
On Science And Technology In London Tuesday That The First Human Trials
Of The Medicinal Properties Of Marijuana Will Involve Inhaling Substances
Made From The Entire Weed, Not Derivatives - 'I Don't See The Value
In Taking Apart Something That Seems At The Moment To Work')

Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 00:33:02 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: UK: Wire: MS Victims To Puff Pot
To Test Medicinal Effectiveness
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: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author: Sarah Boseley Scripps Howard News Service

MS VICTIMS TO PUFF POT TO TEST MEDICINAL EFFECTIVENESS

The Guardian

LONDON -- The first human trials of the medicinal properties of marijuana
will controversially involve inhaling substances made from the entire weed,
not derivatives, it became clear Tuesday.

Dr. Geoffrey Guy, chairman of GW Pharmaceuticals, a company he set up with a
license from the British Home Office to explore the medical uses of
marijuana, told the House of Lords select committee on science and
technology in London that he expected to move to clinical trials, probably
with multiple sclerosis sufferers, within the next few years. He hoped the
drug would be licensed as a medicine within five.

It became clear during his evidence that he believes it will be difficult to
discover exactly what combination of cannabinoids -- molecules derived from
the plant -- has the pain-relieving, muscle-relaxing effect that sufferers
from MS and other diseases claim they experience when smoking the illegal drug.

Asked about synthesizing the chemicals found in the plant in order to
produce a safe medicine, he said, ``I don't see the value in taking apart
something that seems at the moment to work.''

The British Medical Association, which gave respectability to calls for the
medicinal properties of the drug to be explored, backed the legalization of
cannabinoids -- not cannabis itself -- to treat MS and other conditions.

But there has been a growing lobby in Britain for legalization of marijuana
itself. A number of judges and police officers are among those who think
criminalization is a mistake.

Next year about two dozen volunteers will be allowed to inhale a small dose
of cannabis as part of the first human clinical trials. They will be exempt
from prosecution under the terms of a Home Office license.

Guy said he thought the beneficial effect of the drug occurred within the
first minute of inhaling smoke from a joint, and that the psychotropic
effect came only later once a much larger quantity had reached the brain.

Asked how he proposed to deliver the drug into the patient's system, he
said: ``I have changed my mind five times in the last six months.'' His
current feeling was that inhaling brought fast pain relief.

``The smoking route is very, very intriguing indeed,'' he said. But he was
not proposing any sort of reefer -- it would more likely be ``something
between an aerosol and a vaporizer.'' There were, however, people who
claimed the effects of cannabis lasted longer if they ingested it orally.

Guy has spent some $16 million so far in his marijuana project and has
invested in a Dutch medicinal marijuana breeding company called HortaPharm
BV, which has the biggest ``living library'' of marijuana plants in the
world. GW Pharmaceuticals is about to begin seeding in a secret,
high-security greenhouse complex in the south of England.

Besides helping to lessen pain and spasticity, marijuana is also said to
alleviate nausea in patients taking anti-cancer drugs. There is also
evidence that it may stimulate the appetites of AIDS patients and assist in
the treatment of glaucoma.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)

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

Why All Drugs Should Be Legalised, By Ringo (According To Britain's
'Daily Mail,' Ringo Starr Has Ticked Off The Prohibitionists With A Call
For The Legalisation Of All Drugs In An Interview In 'The Big Issue'
Magazine - The Former Beatle Said Preventative Campaigns Were A Waste
Of Money - 'Why Don't They Just Make It All Legal? He Asked - 'I Don't Think
The Campaigns Of The Government In This Country Or America Are Doing
Anything - I Think It's An Absolute Waste Of Resources, The Way
They're Going About It')

Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 09:58:21 +1000 (EST)
From: duffy@mail.enternet.com.au (Andrew Duffy)
Subject: Daily Mail, UK :WHY ALL DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALISED BY RINGO
To: pot-news@va.com.au
Reply-To: pot-news@va.com.au
Pot News - Hemp SA's On-line News Service
Newshawk: webbooks@paston.co.uk (CLCIA)
Source: Daily Mail, UK
Contact: letters@dailymail.co.uk
Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jul 1998

WHY ALL DRUGS SHOULD BE LEGALISED BY RINGO

Campaigners' Fury at Ex-Beatle

Ringo Starr has enraged anti-drug campaigners by calling for the
legalisation of all drugs. The former Beatle said preventative campaigns
were a waste of money. "Why don't they just make it all legal?" he asked.
"I don't think the campaigns of the government in this country or America
are doing anything. I think it's an absolute waste of resources, the way
they're going about it.

"You go to clubs, everybody's taking stuff, that's how it is. Most lawyers
have inhaled, they've had a joint, they've had a snort, they've had a
drink. Then they carry on with their lives."

"The downside of all that, like Jimi Hendrix, is we have lost a lot of
musicians. But any law wouldn't have stopped him taking it."

His comments, in an interview with The Big Issue magazine to promote his
latest album, drew a stinging rebuke.

"He is absolutely insane if he thinks legalising drugs will help anyone,"
said Ron Alexander, of the drug treatment charity Turning point. !He
would think twice if he saw the thousands of lives that would be ended and
ruined if his views became law."

Starr, who checked himself into an American clinic after a drug and
drink-fuelled fight with his ex-wife in 1988, told The Big Issue: "I'm glad
I'm still vertical. A lot of people don't make it. It's easy for me to
sit with you and reminisce but it's a very chancy life you take when you
take drugs and alcohol."

The first large-scale study into cannabis's ability to relieve pain and
muscle spasm will be held next year. GW Pharmaceuticals has been licensed
by the Home Office to grow up to 20,000 cannabis plants, worth a fortune on
the black market, at a secret greenhouse complex in the south of England.

About 24 patients, including many with multiple sclerosis and spinal
injuries, are expected to take part in the first phase of the trial. They
will breathe in cannabis vapour through specially designed inhalers.