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Re - America's Drug Warrior (Six Letters To The Editor
Of 'The San Diego Union Tribune' Criticize The Newspaper's
Recent Staff Editorial Praising The US Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey,
For Trying To Spread Misinformation Abroad)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 10:56:12 -0700
To: Editor@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: PUB 5 LTES San Diego Union Tribune - McCaffrey
Cc: tjeffoc@sirius.com
San Diego Union Tribune
Circulation 385,000
Ad value $3,873 (all 6 LTE's)
The following LTE's were all published in the San Diego Union Tribune as a
result of the outstanding efforts of many MAP letter writers in response to
our recent FOCUS Alert. I got a call from the Trib yesterday to confirm my
authorship. When I expressed surprise that they were printing my letter (It
was quite harsh) the person I talked to said "We had to print some of these
letters. We got lots of them."
It is worth noting that the original article praising McCaffrey's Euro trip
was only 479 words. The published LTE's combined represent 671 words. Yesss!
I believe this is the first time the Trib has ever published out of area
LTE's. This is significant because it indicates the paper is in phase 2 of
our oft proven "conversion process." The Trib started out completely pro
drug war. After 2 years of fairly constant LTE's they are changing to
"sometimes" pro drug war. The next phase will be "rarely" pro drug war.
Which will be another win in our column.
BTW My letter at least was severely edited. The collection of 6 letters,
however, made the points that needed making quite well.
Thanks once again to all who participated. You are making a difference.
***
Letters to the Editor
San Diego Union Tribune
July 29, 1998
***
The drug czar's journey resulted in embarrassment
Re: "America's drug warrior -- McCaffrey commits truth during European
tour," (Editorial, July 24).
Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey is a "stand-up guy" only in the many comic gaffes
he committed in relation to his European "fact-finding tour":
He pronounced the Netherlands drug policy an "unmitigated disaster" before
he had even set foot in the country, much less been presented with evidence
of their many successes.
He proclaimed the Netherlands a much more violent country than the United
States, citing an erroneous murder rate as "proof." "That's drugs" he said.
When it was pointed out that the murder rate in the United States is
actually 4.5 times higher than in the Netherlands, he gave no consideration
to their nonviolent, nonpunitive, police managed soft-drug policy or
medically managed hard-drug policy as positive factors. Rather he credited
everything from the quality of public education to health care coverage.
Drug policy couldn't possibly be a factor for our country being more violent.
In the wake of McCaffrey's trip, the Dutch press pronounced U.S. drug
policy an "unmitigated disaster." And to our embarrassment, our drug czar
had given them ample evidence.
LYNN CAROL San Diego
***
It is interesting that your newspaper's respect for McCaffrey had led to
your emulating his strategy for drug use prevention: contorting the facts
until they say what he wants them to say.
Believe it or not, the countries with the harshest anti-marijuana laws also
have the highest percentage of young users; Ireland is the best example,
where marijuana use among teens is almost three times that of Holland.
You refer to McCaffrey as a "real leader," when in fact he is a man
desperately fighting a losing war on drugs which has led him to using
increasingly ridiculous "statistics" to get his message across, a message
that only gets harder to swallow when it is delivered by a man who is a liar.
DEVIN SHOECRAFT San Diego
***
In your editorial in which McCaffrey is praised for his gutsy put-down of
the Netherlands for its drug policies, a statement is made that teen use of
marijuana is up 100 percent, and teen use of cocaine, heroin and LSD is up
150 percent; we're talking here of drug use in the United States, not in
the Netherlands.
If our own drug policies produce such a miserable result, how can we so
smugly put down the policies of another country?
R.E. MOSELEY San Diego
***
There are few papers in the country that could be so uninformed or
purposely misleading as to call Drug Czar McCaffrey's trip to Holland a
success. To insinuate that McCaffrey "committed truth" is not only wildly
inaccurate but supports the general for getting his facts wrong. In
virtually every category, the Dutch have shown that their policies are
superior to ours.
That McCaffrey was roundly criticized for his numerous inaccuracies by
Dutch officials, and for this paper to report otherwise, not only flies in
the face of facts but puts a complete reverse spin on what most papers
accurately reported as at least a blunder by McCaffrey.
MARK GREER Porterville
***
It seems that Robert Scheer's article on the drug war, "Fighting a drug war
with bad statistics" (Opinion, July 24), cites statistics while your
editorial states, "McCaffrey commits truth."
I recall a professor at Cal State Northridge stating, "If you want facts,
study mathematics; if you want truth, study philosophy." I believe it's all
about money, and while there is nothing proprietary about marijuana, there
is no money to be made. On the other hand, alcohol produces taxes, profits,
violence, medical bills, premature death, spousal abuse, divorce, attorney
fees, thousands of highway fatalities, etc.
Say no to drugs; say yes to booze!
BRAD LARSON Oceanside
***
Your unbelievable endorsement of Barry McCaffrey's trashing of simple truth
before, during and after his recent European junket confirms my long-held
suspicion that your anonymous editorial writer(s) are as contemptuous of
truth as McCaffrey himself, or, for that matter, Joseph Goebbels.
In their cases, however, at least their names are known.
THOMAS J. O'CONNELL, M.D. San Mateo
***
Mark Greer
Media Awareness Project (MAP) inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/
http://www.mapinc.org
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Blowing It By Blowing Grass? (The Television Columnist
For 'The San Jose Mercury News' Expects Controversy Next Month,
When The Fox Network Will Premiere Its New Fall Sitcom, 'That '70s Show,'
Which Includes A Scene In Which Three Of The Show's Main Characters
Are Stoned From Smoking Marijuana In The Basement)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:43:12 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US CA: Blowing It By Blowing Grass?
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: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 28 Jul 1998
Author: Ron Miller, Mercury News Television Editor
BLOWING IT BY BLOWING GRASS?
PASADENA -- IN THE 1970s, it was routine to see comical scenes in movies
where hip young boys and girls were getting high smoking pot. Meanwhile, on
TV, Richie Cunningham and the kids down at Arnold's Drive-In were acting
out their retro-1950s ``happy days'' with soda pop and malts.
But now that TV is starting to do retro 1970s sitcoms, will America still
think doing dope is funny? We're about to find out.
Next month, the Fox network will premiere its new fall sitcom ``That '70s
Show,'' which includes a scene in which three of the show's main characters
are stoned from smoking marijuana in the basement. We don't actually see
them toking on a joint, but we see them trying to clear the air of smoke
when a grown-up appears.
More important is the fact we see them giddy and goofy from the pot,
obviously quite pleased with the rosy glow it has given them. When one
teenager talks to his parents a few minutes later, we see the wall shifting
around behind them because we're seeing them through his eyes.
We're not supposed to be shocked. We're supposed to be laughing ourselves
silly. Message: Smoking pot is cool, especially when your folks don't catch
on.
Though the general public hasn't seen ``That '70s Show'' yet, the buzz
about it already has Fox running slightly scared. Fox Entertainment Group
President Peter Roth has asked the producers to come up with a scene that
will amount to a ``cautionary note'' to soften the blow for the millions
who probably won't find the scene funny. The show's old title -- ``Feelin'
Alright'' -- also has been dropped, no doubt because it seemed like coded
language for ``That Getting Stoned Show.''
Executive Producer Bonnie Turner clearly doesn't like the idea: ``We're
still talking to Peter. The last thing we want to do is contrive a
situation, because then it won't look like an honest show. The show is not
about drugs.''
``We're still wrestling with it,'' her husband and fellow executive
producer, Terry Turner, told TV critics. The Turners and the other
executive producer, Mark Brazill, still don't quite know how they're going
to show the consequences of smoking marijuana on that same episode, which
is expected to be the premiere show, on Aug. 23. It airs right after ``The
Simpsons,'' the animated series loved by kids, teens and adults.
Why put such a scene in a situation comedy on a Sunday night, the night
that traditionally has the largest viewing audience, especially at a time
when millions of Americans are deeply concerned about the use of drugs by
their children?
The Turners, who do ``3rd Rock From the Sun'' for NBC, say it would be
ridiculous to try doing any kind of program about 1970s teenagers without
showing some of them smoking grass.
``If we had done a show that was strictly about the clothes and the hair,
it would be a very empty show indeed,'' Terry Turner said. ``It would be
like doing `The Untouchables' and never mentioning Prohibition.''
Much of the story material in the series comes from the producers' own
experiences in the 1970s. They expected the issue to provoke discussion.
``I think there's room for a comedy to create a dialogue,'' Terry Turner
said. ``That's been relegated strictly to dramas in recent years. This is a
historical piece. This is looking back at a set of values that was in
America at the time.''
Like so many shows about teens, this one spends lots of time showing how
the kids try to pull the wool over their parents' eyes. In that same pilot
episode, the main character, Eric Foreman (Topher Grace), is told not to
take the car out of town, so he takes the car out of town, pressured by his
pals into taking them to a rock concert. The prevailing attitude involves
winking at the naturally rebellious ways of 1970s teens because,
presumably, they'll all turn out all right. Terry Turner said he'd prefer
to have the kids in the show learn the disadvantages of smoking grass in a
more natural way, over a period of time, as he did in real life.
``I'll be very honest with you,'' says Turner. ``It showed up in my life
when a girl I was with said, `I wish you wouldn't do that. You're a
complete idiot when you do that.' It was the first time it ever dawned on
me that maybe this was not the right thing to do and it wasn't cool.''
Are we living in a more repressive time for writers because TV pressure
groups are so primed to fight programs that take the ``wrong'' attitude
about certain subjects?
``There's a tendency to blame popular entertainment for the ills of the
culture,'' says Terry Turner. ``I think we might be in one of those waves
right now.''
1997 - 1998 Mercury Center. .
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Dopers Try Again For Legalization ('Arizona Republic' Columnist
And Drug War Hawk David Leibowitz Rudely Characterizes Proponents
Of Proposition 300 And Their Motives, Failing To Note Two Doctors
Would Have To Justify Prescribing A Schedule 1 Substance By Citing
Credible Scientific Research)
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 08:36:38 -0400
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: US AZ: OPED: Dopers Try Again For Legalization
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: Wed, 29 Jul 1998
Source: Arizona Republic (AZ)
Contact: Opinions@pni.com
Website: http://www.azcentral.com/indexmain.html
Author: David Leibowitz
Note: Leibowitz can be reached at 444-8515, or at david.leibowitz@pni.com.
Watch Channel 12 (KPNX) for his commentary Monday and Wednesday at 4:35 p.m.
on "12 News First at Four."
DOPERS TRY AGAIN FOR LEGALIZATION
Again, here come the drug legalizers, with their deep pockets and
half-truths, all manner of lies.
In 1996, they used $1.5 million from a few millionaires to buy Proposition
200 in Arizona. That con was sold as the compassionate "medicalization of
marijuana." The dopers failed to mention their law also "medicalized"
heroin, LSD and several cousins of PCP and meth.
And you thought Walgreens had a field day selling Viagra.
Thankfully, this push to legitimize hard drugs marked the one time in memory
our 90 Dwarfs stood tall: The Legislature trumped Prop. 200 with House Bill
2518. Said law kept it illegal to prescribe pot, heroin, acid, etc., until
Congress or the FDA and DEA signed off on marijuana to fight illness.
This history lesson leads us to Election '98 and the latest pro-drug calumny.
Their new initiative is called Prop. 300. This time, the drug peddlers need
a few hundred thousand dupes to vote "no." That "no" would gut HB 2518, and
implement Prop. 200 in full-flower.
Would allow 116 drugs
Not just "medicalized pot." Prescribed heroin. Prescribed LSD. Prescribed
legitimacy for all 116 Schedule I drugs. All addicts would need are two
quacks to agree in writing, plus some "scientific research" the law never
defines.
As I said, keep that truth in mind. Repeat it over and again: Not pot alone.
Heroin, LSD and 113 drugs besides.
Tell a friend, too, because the dopers have sued the state to strike those
words from an analysis in the election publicity pamphlet and from the Nov.
3 ballot.
"Plaintiffs," they rant in one of two lawsuits, "seek to correct inaccurate,
incomplete and biased language that is about to be printed in the publicity
pamphlet for the upcoming general election, and that grossly distorts the
meaning and significance of a referendum measure to be voted on by the people."
This from the same con artists who used ads starring glaucoma victims to
sneak heroin into the mainstream. The alleged distortion in question:
"(Prop. 200) allowed medical doctors to prescribe 116 Schedule I drugs, such
as heroin, LSD, marijuana and PCP . . . "
Sure, it's exactly true. But that clause -- used twice in the pamphlet's
analysis section and once on the ballot -- strikes the dopers as biased.
Their lawyer, John Tuchi, notes that PCP is a Schedule II drug -- three
derivatives are Schedule I -- and complains that the mere mention of
"heroin" inflames.
The pro-drug solution? Only say "marijuana." Or, better yet, use the phrase
"Schedule I drugs."
Do me a favor, Tuchi. Name a dozen Schedule I drugs.
"No, I can't name what the Schedule I drugs are. . . . I have no idea."
Neither does anyone else, which explains the dopers' lawsuit and campaign
strategy: Keep it vague, keep the electorate uninformed. Then smuggle in a
drug-loaded Trojan horse come Election Day.
Pushers find no shame
Rep. Mike Gardner lobbied the Legislative Council to add that clause to the
analysis. "That's a ridiculous argument, to say the public doesn't have the
right to know that Schedule I drugs also means heroin, LSD and analogs of PCP."
Ridiculous or no, millionaire drug advocates like John Sperling and George
Soros find no shame in shouting it loud. No surprise there. In Washington
state last year, they spent another $1.5 million to float the same
soft-peddling of drugs. Their foes -- outspent 15 to 1 -- seized on the
heroin angle. The prop flamed out, 60 percent to 40 percent.
"They learned from that. They don't want the truth to be used in this
particular battle," says Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley, a member of
Arizonans Against Heroin, the group seeking "yes" votes to sink the dopers'
latest scheme. "It's a fraud. Actually, fraud's too nice a word. It's
another lie."
Sure is. You'd have to be stoned to fall for it. Or on heroin or LSD, or any
one of 116 drugs no one can name.
If the dopers win, you will indeed get that chance.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Some Say Hemp Products Send Wrong Message (A Knight Ridder News Service
Article In The St. Paul, Minnesota, 'Pioneer Press' About The Resurgence
Of Hemp Gives Ample Coverage To The Drug Warriors' Perspective)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 14:50:06 -0500
From: davewest (davewest@pressenter.com)
Reply-To: davewest@pressenter.com
To: DRChemp (drchemp@drcnet.org)
Subject: Pioneer Press 7/29: hemp story
PUBDATE: Wed. July 29, 1998
SOURCE: PIONEER PRESS, ST PAUL
CONTACT: Reader Advocate Nancy Conner 651-228-5446 nconner@pioneerpress.com
LTE FAX: 651-228-5564
WEBSITE: http://www.pioneerplanet.com
[Photo: model in head-to-toe hemp + paper:
CAPTION: "Some say hemp is a versatile crop. Others call it an evil weed.
Whatever it is called, it's in more places than you think. Everything
that this model is wearing and holding is made from industrial hemp: the
hat, shirt, jacket, skirt, socks, shoes and journal . . . even the
purse, teddy bear and keychain."]
HEADLINE: Some say hemp products send wrong message
[How do you get a job writing headlines? - dpw]
AUTHOR: LEE HILL KAVANAUGH
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
KANSAS CITY, MO.
Nestled among the lotions, oils and soaps on a shelf at the Body Shop on
the Kansas City's Country Club Plaza is a 2-foot display that's hard to
miss: An illustration of a familiar-looking leaf, Cannabis sativa L.,
otherwise known as hemp.
Reactions from customers have been mixed -- including one woman who
began crying after she rubbed a smidgen of the hemp lotion on her hands.
"She just freaked out," clerk Micah Schuler said. "She was rushing
around saying, 'I need water! Where can I wash my hands?' She said her
company did drug testing and she didn't want to be fired."
That customer had nothing to worry about, said manager Peggy McEwen,
who explained that the hemp products have negligible amounts of Delta-9-
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.
In May, the British-based company began selling products made from hemp.
"I was concerned too, when I first heard we would be carrying this
line," McEwen said. "But I ,was misinformed. I'm a parent. And as a
parent you certainly don't want to promote drugs."
The controversy over hemp seems to be growing as fast as wild ditchweed
on back-country roads. As hemp appears in everything from BMW brake pads
to clothing to veggie-burgers and beer, consumers face mounting
contradictory information.
What hemp is - a versatile cash crop or an evil weed - depends on whom
you ask.
Is it marijuana? All marijuana is hemp, but not all hemp is marijuana,
said Paul Mahlberg, a professor at Indiana University in Bloomington and
a molecular biologist who has studied Cannabis for 30 years.
"Hemp and marijuana come from the same plant genus, just like sweet
corn, field corn and popcorn come from the same plant genus," he said.
"But the strain of industrial hemp" - used in consumer products - "has
a much lower concentration of THC."
Low THC means that the plant has high concentrations of cannabidiol,
which is antagonistic to the mind-altering properties of THC. In other
words, smoking a hemp plant with low THC would produce a strong headache
-- and that's all. But it is impossible to verify THC levels without a
chemical analysis, Mahlberg added.
Industrial hemp is cultivated to encourage a woody stalk, so it is
densely planted and often grows to 16 feet. The plants are harvested
within 100 days. Marijuana is cropped to promote a bushy plant with
bigger leaves. It is harvested after 190 days.
Hemp advocates insist marijuana is a distant cousin to industrial
varieties. But the Drug Enforcement Administration just says no. "Hemp
is marijuana, period," said Shirley A. Armstead, a special agent and
public information officer in the St. Louis DEA office. "Ditch
weed[sic,dpw] is marijuana. We do not distinguish between the two. Our
Cannabis eradication program is about eliminating marijuana."
Industrial hemp advocates distance themselves from recreational
marijuana users. In fact, any hemp organization that even hints of
supporting recreational use is denied entry to the North American
Industrial Hemp Council, a group lobbying to change current DEA
restrictions on growing industrial hemp.
Twenty-five countries, including Canada, England, France, Germany and
China, currently produce industrial hemp. Both the North American Free
Trade 'Agreement and "the General Accord on Tariffs and Trade recognize
hemp as an agricultural crop. All members of the Group of Seven
Industrialized Nations permit hemp cultivation -except the United States.
"In the United States we are living on an island of denial, surrounded
by a sea of acceptance," said Erwin Sholtz, chairman of the North
American Industrial Hemp Council. "The rest of the world says yes to
growing industrial hemp, But we stick our heads in the sand and say no,
The federal government has to say it's marijuana because the minute that
it's proved otherwise, their ditchweed eradication program goes out the
window... right along with their money,"
To Leawood, Kansas policeman Mike Pelger, it's more complicated than
that. When Pelger, who is also a DARE (drug abuse resistance) officer,
sees third-graders wearing hemp jewelry, he sees a society sending the
wrong message to children.
Pelger said he has arrested students for marijuana use who often were
wearing hemp products. Using a hemp product is a step away from
advocating marijuana's recreational use, he said.
"There are organizations on the Internet that are promoting hemp where
you can click on their next site and learn how to roll a joint," he
said. "Companies advertise hemp products by playing up the drug aspect
with lots of visuals. That makes it a real attention grabber. There are
plenty of people who buy this stuff because they think it's cute.
"This controversy is hard for adults, it's even more confusing to kids,"
he said. "Hemp products make it very difficult when you're teaching
about the dangers of drug use."
Some advertisers do play up the drug aspect. At the Body Shop, the Hemp
Handprotector package says it "softens your hands without short-term
memory loss." Hemp 3 in 1 Oil is promoted as "the best moisturizer in
the world and we promise you won't get the munchies." Hemp Soap: "No
buzz, great sudz."
The Mill Creek Brewery in Westport sells a beer called 420 Hemp Ale.
Kira Pinsky, a clerk at Gomer's Fine Wine & Spirits in Kansas City, Mo.,
said that she has noticed many young people buying hemp beer there as well.
"There does seem to be a young clientele that is finding out about
marijuana and doesn't understand how hemp is different," she said. "For
example, the 420 beer is named after the code for police officers doing
a drug bust. Now a lot of kids say that '420' is the best time to smoke
dope, whether 4:20 a.m. or p.m."
In a letter to President Clinton last July, the Office of National Drug
Control Policy warned that it had two major concerns with the
legalization of hemp cultivation: It would send the wrong message to
youths, and it "may mean the de facto legalization of marijuana cultivator."
"...Supporters of the hemp legislation effort claim hemp cultivation
could be profitable to U.S. farmers. However, the profitability of
industrial hemp is highly uncertain and probably unlikely," the agency
wrote. "Hemp is a novelty product with limited sustainable value even in
a novelty market."
A $23,000, 18-month economic study by the University of Kentucky's
Center for Business and Economic Research came to a different
conclusion, said one of its authors, researcher Steve Allen.
The study, released July 3, focused on the economic impact that growing
hemp would have on Kentucky farmers. It concluded that at current market
prices, a hemp crop would be second only to tobacco. "We estimated
yields conservatively but if the technology advances, it would grow into
a huge market," Allen said.
John Roulac agrees.
Roulac is the author of the books "Hemp Horizons" and "Industrial Hemp"
and the founder of Hemp Tech, a California consulting firm that tracks
the usage of hemp products around the world.
"Hemp is the Rip Van Winkle of fabric, the aloe vera of the 21st
century," he said. "There are over 25,000 documented uses for it."
Hemp is much more than a novelty product, Roulac added. "How do we know
that it'll be a major crop? We don't. But who ever thought that organic
farming, even 10 years ago, would become the $3 billion to $5 billion
industry it is today?"
And hemp is versatile in more than just farming, Roulac said. "The
most exciting usage for hemp products is using it in composite plastics,
to replace fiberglass," he said. "It's lighter and it's a renewable
resource. Mercedes-Benz, BMW and the Ford: plants in Great Britain are
utilizing hemp in their air bags and brake lining. These companies have
a mandate to make cars by the year 2000 that can be recycled.
"Retail sales of hemp worldwide was $75 million in 1997. It's expected
to rise to $250 million: in 1999. We believe that the hemp industry has
the potential to be a billion-dollar industry in 25 years. It's
definitely coming down the tracks."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Blitz Is Effective Against Drugs (An Op-Ed In 'The Chicago Tribune,'
Whose Fact-Checker Is Apparently On Vacation, By General Barry McCaffrey,
The US Drug Czar, Rationalizing The Government's New $2 Billion
Advertising Campaign For The War On Some Drug Users)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 22:01:22 -0700
From: owner-maptalk-digest@mapinc.org (Maptalk-Digest)
To: maptalk-digest@mapinc.org
Subject: Maptalk-Digest V98 No. 302
Reply-To: maptalk@mapinc.org
Sender: owner-maptalk-digest@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/
Subj: Gen. McCaffrey's ad patronage pays off at the Chicago Tribune
From: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 23:25:32 -0500
MAP people:
I knew it was only a matter of time. Barry McCaffrey got the lead letter in
today's (7/29/98) Chicago Tribune.
Some observations:
1. The Trib has run at least two full-page ONDCP/PDFA ads since the initial
kick-off of the campaign. (There may have been more. I read the Tribune's
print edition with some care every day, but to be honest, I completely
missed the first ad until a friend pointed out to me, so I may have missed
others. So much for spending "billions of dollars on advertising because it
works.")
2. Unlike every other letter I have forwarded to the list from the Tribune
in the past five months or so, this letter was *not* published in the
Trib's online edition. Perhaps just an oversight, but it seems a little
odd. Did the General insist that this be only for local consumption, and
not for those pesky Internet activists?
3. The failure of American drug policy is acknowledged in very explicit
terms, even though it is attributed to a simple lack of advertising:
"Such an initiative is necessary because, even though overall drug use
dropped by half in the last 15 years, teenage drug use rose steeply. Use
among 8th graders nearly tripled during the past five years. During this
period the number of anti-drug service announcements fell by 30 percent,
and many of those aired in time slots that attract few children.
In many areas of the country, drug-related arrests increased dramatically.
In 1997 more than half the males arrested for any crime in various cities
tested positive for drugs, as did large percentages of males arrested for
property offenses and violent acts. Drug-related admissions at emergency
rooms also increased in many locations."
4. Get ready to grind your teeth. I know I did.
Steve Young
***
Newshawk: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net)
Pubdate: 29 July 1998
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
web: http://chicago.tribune.com
Author: Barry R. McCaffrey
Section: Sec. 1, p. 16
Media blitz is effective against drugs
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Office of National Drug Control Policy has just
launched a national advertising campaign to stop illegal drug use aimed at
young people, 9 to 17 years of age, and the adults in their lives. After
test ads in 12 cities throughout the U.S., the campaign has gone national,
with regional adjustments for target audiences.
In some pilot cities, requests for information related to drug prevention
and treatment increased 500 percent after the ads appeared, and calls to a
national clearinghouse for anti-drug publications rose 300 percent.
An unprecedented $2 billion will be spent during the next five years in
government funds and matching monies pledged by the private sector.
Congress provided $195 million this year for the campaign, which represents
but 1 percent of the total federal anti-drug effort. The $2 billion over
the next five years for the anti-drug campaign compares with the $7 billion
yearly that the alcohol and tobacco companies spend on advertising to
promote their products.
Corporations are willing to spend billions of dollars on advertising
because it works. The electronic media - television, radio, film, videos,
Internet, CD-ROM and multimedia (including print journalism augmented by
color photography) - constitute the strongest educational tools.
Such an initiative is necessary because, even though overall drug use
dropped by half in the last 15 years, teenage drug use rose steeply. Use
among 8th graders nearly tripled during the past five years. During this
period the number of anti-drug service announcements fell by 30 percent,
and many of those aired in time slots that attract few children.
In many areas of the country, drug-related arrests increased dramatically.
In 1997 more than half the males arrested for any crime in various cities
tested positive for drugs, as did large percentages of males arrested for
property offenses and violent acts. Drug-related admissions at emergency
rooms also increased in many locations.
The media initiative is only the beginning of a greater educational
campaign to reach youngsters. Documentaries about the history of drug use,
the impact of narcoterrorism on American foreign policy, and the link
between drugs, crime and the justice system can be supplemented by factual,
dramatic shows about the consequences of substance abuse. Young viewers
would be more likely to shun addictive substances if they were better
informed about the violence associated with this criminal industry and the
health risk posed by drugs.
Today's kids spend more time watching television than attending academic
classes. By high school graduation, youth have seen approximately 15,000
hours of TV compared to 12,000 hours spent in the classroom. Whether we
like it or not, electronic media have revolutionized the way people learn,
much as Gutenberg's printing press and movable type revolutionized
Renaissance Europe.
The idea is not to control young minds. Our purpose is to offer accurate
data that enables maturing individuals to make rational choices. Drugs are
wrong because they hurt people. We cannot stand by idly while toxic,
addictive substances endanger children, family, friends and neighborhoods.
Barry R. McCaffrey
Director
Office of National Drug Control Policy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Judge Allows Short Delay For Elderly Couple To Go To Federal Prison
('The Associated Press' Notes A 79-Year-Old Retired House Painter
In New Haven, Connecticut, And His 72-Year-Old Wife, A Lifelong Homemaker,
Are Going To Separate Prisons In Texas For Five Years Each
For Laundering Money From The Cocaine Business Of Their Son
Who Got A 55-Year Term - Another Son Got Six Years And A Daughter
Got Five Years)
From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen - Olympia" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Judge allows short delay for elderly couple to go to federal prison
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:13:17 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Judge allows short delay for elderly couple to go to federal prison
By Brigitte Greenberg, Associated Press, 07/29/98 10:42
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A judge today granted a last-ditch effort by an
elderly couple to delay reporting to federal prison for helping their son
with his drug-laundering operation.
But U.S. District Court Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford only delayed the
trip to prison until Monday - not the full week that attorneys for the
couple had hoped for.
James Monaco, a 79-year-old retired house painter, and his 72-year-old wife,
Mary, a lifelong homemaker, originally were scheduled to report to separate
prisons this Thursday.
Thompson said he granted the small delay because the U.S. Bureau of Prisons
were late in assigning the Monacos to their prisons and the couple needed
time to make travel arrangements. No further delay was warranted, he said.
The Monacos have been assigned to different prisons in Fort Worth, Texas.
``It's hard to get these old folks to where they've got to go,'' said
attorney Jeremiah F. Donovan, who represents the husband.
Meanwhile, the attorneys also have asked the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in New York to allow the Monacos - who have four children and four
grandchildren - to remain free pending appeal. The earliest the court would
hear arguments on that would be sometime next week.
Earlier this month, Thompson ordered the husband to spend five years in a
prison that has access to medical care, and three years on supervised
release. Mrs. Monaco was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison,
plus three years' supervised release.
The Monacos were convicted in February of hiding millions of dollars of
their son's drug profits.
Defense lawyers portrayed the Monacos as elderly parents in failing health,
blindly devoted to - and cowed by - their son, 49-year-old James R.
``Jimmy'' Monaco. The younger Monaco is serving a 55-year prison sentence in
an Illinois prison for drug trafficking in Florida.
But prosecutors said the parents directed how the money should be spent,
including the purchases of two waterfront homes, a warehouse in Florida and
several cars, a Ferrari among them.
Donovan has said his client is not expected to live more than two years and
must take 10 medications a day for heart troubles, hypertension, diabetes,
kidney problems, arthritis and gout.
Mrs. Monaco has a heart blockage and needs a catheter, and also suffers from
depression, hypertension, numbness in her hands, dizzy spells, and back and
shoulder problems, according to her lawyer, William T. Koch Jr.
Another son, David J. Monaco, 38, was scheduled to go to a prison in
Lewisburg, Pa., on Friday. He was sentenced to 6 years in prison for his
role in the drug operation.
David Monaco was originally scheduled to report to the prison on Thursday,
but the government asked for a one-day delay to allow him and his parents to
attend a settlement conference Wednesday on a civil case. That case concerns
assets the government wants to seize, including the Monacos' Branford home
and their bank accounts.
The Monacos' daughter, Linda DeMaio, 46, a former Middlefield town clerk,
was sentenced to five years in the case. She was to report to a prison in
Alderson, W.Va., on Thursday.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drugs In Sport - Why The IOC Boss Is Not Playing Games
('Sydney Morning Herald' Sports Columnist Matthew Moore Reflects On
The Recent Call By Juan Antonio Samaranch, The President Of The International
Olympics Committee, For A Relaxation In Doping Restrictions, Saying
The Objections To Athletic Doping Are Fine Until You Argue Them Through
To Their Logical Conclusion)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:48:05 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: Australia: OPED: Why The IOC Boss Is Not Playing Games
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Ken Russell
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Pubdate: Wed 29 July, 1998
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Author: MATTHEW MOORE
DRUGS IN SPORT : WHY THE IOC BOSS IS NOT PLAYING GAMES
Australians may be incredulous, but the big man of the Olympics
appears to have decided that if you can't beat drugs in sport, it's
time for some lateral thinking, writes MATTHEW MOORE.
WHEN the sprint champion Ben Johnson tested positive a decade ago now,
the world was stunned. Olympic officials reacted immediately, vowing
to step up their war on athlete doping as the only way to preserve the
ideal of Olympic competition.
This week the president of the International Olympic Committee, Juan
Antonio Samaranch, conceded the war can't be won. Despite all the
noise and all the money and all the dope-testing, more athletes are
using more drugs more often than ever before. Like the US forces in
Vietnam, Samaranch has realised he's fighting an unwinnable war.
This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the remarkable
interview with the Olympic movement's most influential person. Two
full days after the Samaranch interview was published in the Madrid
paper El Mundo, Olympic organisers in Sydney are struggling to
understand how it could be that the Olympic chief has changed his mind
so dramatically on how international sport should deal with drugs.
Samaranch wants two changes. The first is to "drastically" cut the
number of banned drugs and the second is to only ban drugs which
damage the health of an athlete. He specifically said drugs which only
improve performance should not be banned.
This was no accidental slip of the tongue, despite the hopes of senior
sports officials around the world, especially in Sydney. Samaranch
gave his interview at a time of overwhelming evidence of widespread
drug use among elite sportsmen and women. To ensure he would be
accurately reported, he elected to be interviewed in Spanish, his
mother tongue.
With the Tour de France crippled by daily drug revelations, Samaranch
knew questions would focus on doping. Given his international network,
he was certain to be aware two American athletes - both medal winners
- were about to be suspended for doping offences. He gave the
interview just as four Chinese swimmers were suspended for two years
for testing positive in Perth this year. Samaranch is still waiting
for the Irish gold medal-winning champion Michelle De Bruin to have
her case heard. He may know of a host more positives in the pipeline.
No matter who tests positive now, though, they will never shake the
world as Ben Johnson did. Drug use in sport has simply become too
widespread, too commonplace, for the world to be surprised any more.
That seems to be the conclusion Samaranch has come to in recent weeks.
What he is advocating is a tactical retreat to a position that can be
more readily, and credibly, defended. Finding this place is the
problem. He will find plenty of support among drug-testing agencies
for a much simpler list of prohibited drugs. Why have hundreds and
hundreds of banned substances, including widely available pain-killers
and cold remedies, when many of them can't even be detected in testing?
That's fine in theory, but reality is more complex. A boxer can take
pain-killers so he won't hurt when he's hit, but surely this makes him
a more dangerous opponent. In the expected outcry following his
interview, Samaranch called a summit at the IOC headquarters in
Lausanne in January where he would like "a clear definition of doping"
to emerge. He is right to identify this need, but he knows how
difficult it will be to achieve. The whole world of doping is full of
inconsistencies and a summit is hardly going to resolve them all.
Ask why doping is banned and you get three common reasons: it gives
athletes an unfair advantage, it is bad for their health and it is a
bad example for the young. That's fine, until you argue these points
to their logical conclusion.
Sure, doping gives you an advantage, but so does high altitude
training, government funding, space-age equipment and sports
psychologists. Why not smooth out some of these bumps as well?
Australia's response to Samaranch has been largely one of incredulity
and anger. He's been condemned for chucking in the towel. But the
evidence is he is responding to a more pragmatic view of drug use that
appears to exist in Europe. For days after the Festina team were
booted out of the Tour de France, spectators called for their return.
Cyclists in the race staged a two-hour strike in support of them.
Perhaps Samaranch has decided drugs are the one issue that can kill
the Games if a workable solution is not found. And he's decided to
have a go at finding it, no matter whom he upsets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Despite Drug Scandal, People Still Cheer Tour De France (A Different
'Associated Press' Version)
From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen - Olympia" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Tour de France drug scandal report
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1998 20:28:42 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Despite drug scandal, people still cheer Tour de France
By Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press, 07/29/98 17:41
AIX-LES-BAINS, France (AP) - It takes only a few seconds, but it's one of
the most cherished and time-honored traditions in France: watching from
along the road while the colorfully clad riders of the Tour de France come
whizzing by.
On Wednesday, however, there was sadness mixed with the excitement as people
in Aix-les-Bains watched the grand cycling race pass through this Alpine
town for the 21st time since it began in 1903. No one could ignore the
doping scandal that has enveloped this treasured event, and is threatening
to unravel it.
"I admire the riders so much - they are all champions," said Danielle
Thullet, a 75-year-old retired teacher. "But I must say, I'm a bit
disappointed in them."
Still, Mrs. Thullet wasn't about to miss the arrival of the riders,
descending from three tough climbing days in the Alps. She cheered when they
finally came, unaware that the race had fizzled during the day, just four
days before its scheduled finale in Paris.
The cyclists, angered by police tactics in an investigation that has left
one team disqualified and subjected five others to police searches,
basically went on strike Wednesday, forcing organizers to cancel the stage
of the race that began in the morning in Albertville.
The riders slowed down through the course, coasting into the finish line two
hours late - and holding hands. Some pulled out in protest, including
France's top cyclist, Laurent Jalabert.
Riders lashed out at police treatment that included strip searches and
officers rifling through personal belongings in their hotel rooms.
"The Tour isn't a game," said Marco Pantani, the Italian who currently leads
the three-week race. "We risk our lives doing the steep descents. It is
inadmissible that the police come into our rooms, look in suitcases, treat a
champion like an assassin."
The scandal began at the outset of the race, when a masseur for the Festina
team was discovered with a carload of performance-enhancing drugs. That led
to the arrest of several team officials and the eventual expulsion of the
team. Now, officials from the Dutch team TVM also are under investigation.
While the fans in Aix-les-Bains didn't belittle the seriousness of doping,
many felt the Tour's riders have been unfairly targeted for an offense many
suspect has long been widespread.
"Everybody knows there's doping in cycling," said bartender Eric Guninand.
"Look at the kids out there," he said, pointing to the children lining the
streets. "It's sad that this event has been spoiled."
At about 7:15 p.m., the crowds in front of the train station finally got
what they'd been waiting for. After a long parade of sponsor's cars full of
dancing employees handing out drinks, hats and flags, the whirring of press
helicopters came into earshot.
Police hurriedly pushed people onto the curb of President Wilson Boulevard.
Then suddenly the riders, all in one pack and shining in their flourescent
outfits, came whizzing through - not at top speed, because of their protest,
but enough to put a smile on the face of 10-year-old Virginie Guiaunnet.
"This is my first time - it was cool!" she said.
One person was already gone when the convoy arrived. Roger Casile, 88, a
retired mapmaker, had put on a suit, grabbed his walking stick, and taken
the train in from nearby Chambery for the arrival. But he had to catch the 7
p.m train back.
"I've seen this race about 20 times," he philosophized. "I'll still be
around next year, and so will the Tour de France."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tour Must Exorcise Drugs Or Be Damned (The Editorializing
'International Herald-Tribune' Version)
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 18:29:34 -0500
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
Subject: MN: France: Tour must exorcise drugs or be damned
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: European, The
Contact: letters@the-european.com ("Shorter letters are preferred")
Website: http://www.the-european.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 29 Jul 1998
Author: Jeremy Whittle
TOUR MUST EXORCISE DRUGS OR BE DAMNED
WITH the arrests following the discovery of steroids in the luggage of
the Dutch team, TVM, and the admission by three of the "Festina nine"
that they took the banned drug EPO, speculation increased that the
remaining stages of this year's Tour de France would be cancelled.
Angry scenes between riders and race organisers and an organised go
slow by the 'peleton' on the Tarascon-Le Cap d'Agle stage of the race
showed the growing sense of anger and frustration.
The Societe du Tour de France and cycling's governing body, the Union
Cycliste Internationale (UCI), are paying the price for failing to
address the growth of the doping culture that now appears to be
inextricably linked with the professional circuit.
Few in the Tour de France convoy would directly blame the riders
themselves for the recent turn of events. Many of them, paid only
modest salaries, suffer relentlessly throughout the long and gruelling
season and are expected to forgo any personal ambition and chance of
success for the sake of the sponsors' exposure.
Despite these sacrifices, it is only the sport's biggest names who are
guaranteed a sponsorship contract for the following year. With the
competition for backers intensified by a hostile economic climate,
many riders are prepared to risk their long-term health in order to
guarantee their livelihood.
At the heart of the current scandal lies the cosy and complacent
relationship between the UCI, the Tour organisation and the pervasive
doping culture that has been tacitly endorsed by the sport itself.
For all its modernising qualities and awareness of marketing, the Tour
orgaisation, fronted by race director and former professional
Jean-Marie Leblanc, an eloquent and intelligent man, has been lagging
behind events and the public mood as the French police forced the pace
of change.
"Jean-Marie Leblanc - hypocrite!" reads one roadside banner as the
Tour headed east from the Pyrenees towards the Alps. Another placard
was more direct. "The Tour of Doping", it said bluntly as Tour stars
Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani rode past.
With the Tour itself now exposed to public derision and with so many
former riders willing to tell their stories of drug abuse, the tired
arguments of Hein Verbruggen, UCI president, that only one per cent of
all dope tests are positive, have been thrown out with the used
syringes. Cycling may finally be coming to terms with the truth.
Verbruggen, who until now has appeared happy to blame all claims of
drug use on embittered or failed riders seeking publicity or revenge,
has finally acknowledged that traditional testing methods have failed.
He can no longer deny that the sport is in crisis. "Cycling is a
tough, very professional sport," said Verbruggen after the Tour stage
to Pau, "and I'm willing to admit that there are a lot more drugs
taken than we currently know about through the one per cent of positive
tests that are recorded. But I don't believe, as some doctors have
suggested, that 99 per cent of professional cyclists are doped."
Verbruggen said that if he thought that such an overwhelming majority
of riders were chemically enhanced, he would give up his job.
"I would not want to be president of such an organisation," he said.
"The problem is that we don't know whether it's 10 per cent of riders,
20 percent of riders or 40 per cent of riders using drugs because we
don't have tests to detect many of these substances. It is terrible,
it is cheating, but it is reality."
Doping is widely believed to have become endemic in professional
cycling in the 30 years since the amphetamine-related death of the
British rider, Tom Simpson, during the 1967 Tour. But in a sport in
which retired riders take up administrative and management roles, the
conspiracy of silence and tacit consent surrounding the use of doping
has become an open secret.
EPO, the blood booster linked to both the Festina and TVM teams, is
only one of several prohibited but undetectable performance-enhancing
products that are said to be in wide use in this year's Tour.
Lille police, currently questioning the Festina team, said that nobody
is above the law. Yet for a sporting institution that is now as much a
part of French cultural life as Bastille Day, the tidal wave of police
investigation has come as a crippling shock.
The Tour hierarchy, blessed with the tradition of an event that fires
the imaginations of spectators and fans around the world, must now
take action to save a race increasingly mired in controversy and scandal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 57 (A Weekly Summary Of Drug Policy News,
Including Part One Of An Original Feature Article By Jeffrey A. Schaler, PhD,
'The Drug Policy Problem')
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 10:26:28 -0700
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, July 29,1998 No. 57
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, No. 57
July 29,1998
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org/
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
THE DRUG POLICY PROBLEM
by Jeffrey A. Schaler, PhD
* Weekly News In Review
COMMENT:
As the drug war heats up, news coverage has increased accordingly,
making a balanced overview of a week's news by arranging 16 or 17
selected articles more of a challenge than ever. This week we're
attempting to include more articles, but shorter excerpts. That
requires somewhat more verbose COMMENTS for coherence. Please bear
with us as we experiment with different formats - if you have a
criticisms or suggestions, e-mail us please.
Drug War: Right Coast Front-
Editorial: Clean Up the DEA
Bill Aims To Reduce Drug Flow To USA
Mayor Aims to Abolish Methadone Programs; Treatment Experts Are
Angered
Drug War: Texas Front-
Grand Jury to Probe Shooting of Mexican
Police Shot Man 12 Times In Raid
29 Indicted In Plano Heroin Ring
Drug War: Left Coast Front-
Take This Plant And Shove It
Medical Marijuana Advocates Accused Of Cultivation For Sale
Oakland Designates Pot Club
Drug War: International Front-
Scottish Prisons Worst In UK for Drug Use
UK - Soldiers Jailed over Drugs Plot
Brisk Trade Exposes Peru Anti-Drug Model
Third U.S. Drug Helicopter Crashes in One Month
Drug Ring Smuggles Kids To Vancouver
AUSTRALIA - $90m Drugs Hidden In Ovens
Drug War: Diplomatic Front-
McCaffrey Still Down On Dutch
America's Drug Warrior
Why Dutch Policy Threatens The U.S.
In The Drug War, Fantasy Beats Facts
Corrections-
Prisoners In Protest Draw Stiff Penalties
A Hopeful Note-
We're Not Getting Job Done On Drugs
* Hot Off The 'Net
New Prohibitionist Site
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
The DrugNews Archive a Sophisticated Tool
* Quote of the Week
Albert Einstein
* Fact of the Week
Crack Sentencing Disparity
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
THE DRUG POLICY PROBLEM
Jeffrey A. Schaler, PhD
Part One
(Editor's note - Parts two and three of Dr. Schaler's article will be
published in future issues.)
Policies are based on values and on explanations for events. To
evaluate the efficacy of our federal drug policy in a comprehensive and
responsible way, we must examine the values and explanations that are
associated with various possible courses of action. To that end, we
must ask and honestly answer a question that challenges the status quo:
What values and beliefs about illegal drugs and drug addiction are
embraced and acted on by the leading drug policy makers, and what are
the alternatives?
The reasoning behind current drug policies is often unstated for moral,
political, economic, and even existential reasons. The reticence of
policy makers on this subject is remarkable, given that the current
institutional forms of the "war on drugs" are justified by the claim
that drugs are destroying the "moral fabric of American society."
Americans tend to take at face value the unproved theories about drugs
that are the foundation of current drug policy. For example, many
Americans accept as fact the theories that drugs cause addiction, that
they cause crime, and that addiction is a treatable disease. Most
people are not aware of the existence of conflicting theories based on
the results of empirical research. Yet abundant and convincing evidence
exists to support the view that illegal drug use has more to do with
choice, values, and expectations than with addiction, compulsion, or
disease (see, for example, Schaler, 1997). With each new class of
students at American University, Johns Hopkins University, Montgomery
College, and Chestnut Hill College, I am asked, "Why weren't we told
about this before?"
Drug policy is always based on explanations for drug use. Because there
are diverse explanations for drug use as an event and these
explanations differ radically from one another, drug policy can be
implemented in ways radically different from current practice. But the
average American citizen, like my numerous college students, has not
been exposed to a range of views on drugs and addiction. The less
people know about the range of theories, the more likely they are to be
influenced by the status of the individuals who present a particular
message (scientists, doctors, public health officials, law enforcement
professionals, politicians, and so on) rather than by the rationality
or irrationality of the message itself. In order to exert democratic
control in the drug policy debate - based on what is being said, not on
who is saying it - Americans need to know the facts about drugs and
addiction. Without complete information they cannot comprehend the
meaning and implications of various proposed policies. Therefore, they
will continue to assume that all qualified professionals in the field
hold essentially the same views.
The prevailing policies can be faulted not only for their disregard of
research but also for fundamental logical errors. The contradictory
reasoning of drug policy makers needs to be subjected to public
scrutiny. For example, many policy makers attribute abstinence from
drugs both to the exercise of free will and to circumstances imposed
from outside the individual, such as drug prohibition. They overlook
the fact that, by definition, self-control cannot be the result of
formal institutional controls backed by the threat of legal punishment.
The same individuals typically assert that drug addiction is
situational - that it is caused by the addict's physiological
disposition or by the drug itself; thus they further contradict their
avowed belief in free will.
When confronted with inconsistencies in their views, people often
produce further theories or beliefs, perhaps to reduce the sense of
dissonance and discomfort, or else they simply minimize the importance
of a contradictory belief or policy. This simply creates more problems.
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Drug War: Right Coast
***
COMMENT:
Across the nation and around the world, America's drug war clanked on
piling up abomination after abomination in pursuit of moral purity.
There was some bad publicity at ground zero, however: the DEA couldn't
balance its books.
Over on Capitol Hill, supportive Congressmen were busy inventing new
ways to spend tax dollars, this one a truly zany, quasi-military
wrinkle for expanding the drug war.
Finally, up the coast, Rudy Giuliani declared war on one of the few
worthwhile federal innovations in drug treatment, a historic legacy
from the days when presidential drug advisors were physicians with a
genuine interest in therapy.
***
CLEAN UP THE DEA
FEDERAL drug agents are diverting money from the nation's war on drugs
to pay for personal high-priced toys - and who knows what else.
According to an outside audit, bookkeepers at the Drug Enforcement
Agency can't track the whereabouts of millions of stolen funds, seized
drugs, or sting money.
[snip]
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jul 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n598.a07.html
***
BILL AIMS TO REDUCE DRUG FLOW TO USA
WASHINGTON - Two Republican members of Congress plan to introduce a
bill Wednesday to spend $2.6 billion over the next three years to
reduce the amount of illegal drugs coming into the country by 80%.
The bill, by Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, and Rep. Bill McCollum,
R-Fla., includes $430 million for 10 radar aircraft to monitor
airspace over the three major cocaine-producing countries - Peru,
Bolivia and Colombia.
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 1998
Source: USA Today (US)
Contact: editor@usatoday.com
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm
Author: Associated Press
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n604.a04.html
***
MAYOR AIMS TO ABOLISH METHADONE PROGRAMS; TREATMENT EXPERTS ARE
ANGERED
As Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani outlined plans to dramatically expand his
workfare program to include drug addicts, he veered unexpectedly from
his prepared speech Monday and announced his desire to abolish all
methadone treatment programs for heroin addicts in New York City.
[snip]
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jul 1998
Author: Rachel L. Swarns
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n601.a05.html
***
Drug War: Texas
***
COMMENT:
Last week, two parallel stories in Texas perfectly illustrated drug
war insanity; in Houston the lone occupant of an apartment was riddled
by police during a warrantless and unjustified drug raid . The man was
armed, but subsequent investigation showed his weapon was never fired
and all 13 wounds- his dozen and a single police flesh wound were from
police bullets. The most chilling comment was by the DA who said not
only were the officers within the law, the victim may have committed a
felony by picking up his gun
Meanwhile, over in Dallas, a much more publicized case involving 29
"dealers" involved in distributing the heroin associated with the
deaths of nearly twenty teens in the affluent Dallas suburb of Plano
were indicted for murder. Some are Mexican nationals who smuggled the
heroin in from Mexico, most are users whose only discernible
difference from the victims is that they survived their drug use. The
government, together with parents and the local press seems intent on
a witch hunt in pursuit of life sentences.
***
GRAND JURY TO PROBE SHOOTING OF MEXICAN
HOUSTON, July 19 (UPI) Officials of the Houston Police Department met
with Mexican Consul General Manuel Perez Cardenas to discuss the fatal
shooting of Mexican national Pedro Oregon in a drug raid on July 12,
which resulted in suspension of the six officers involved.
[snip]
Source: UPI Wire Report
Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jul 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n595.a01.html
***
POLICE SHOT MAN 12 TIMES IN RAID
Autopsy report indicates that nine shots were in the back
Houston police who forced their way into Pedro Oregon Navarro's
apartment without a warrant shot him 12 times, including nine times in
the back, an autopsy showed.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jul 1998
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Author: S.K. Bardwell
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n599.a08.html
***
ARRESTING OFFICERS FOLLOWED RULES
I read the July 18 Viewpoints letters ("HPD's lethal Rambo-ism") and
was disturbed that some members of the public believe the rule about
using deadly force came from my play-book.
[snip]
The Legislature has provided criminal penalties for anyone who prevents
or obstructs a police officer from affecting an arrest or search, even
if that search was unlawful.
If the actor uses a deadly weapon to resist an arrest or search, it is
a felony of the third degree in accordance with the law.
John B. Holmes Jr., district attorney, Harris County
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n605.a08.html
***
29 INDICTED IN PLANO HEROIN RING
Unprecedented Case Alleges Conspiracy In 4 Drug Deaths
PLANO - U.S. prosecutors yesterday announced a precedent-setting
indictment against 29 people, charging them in a "calculated and
cold-blooded" conspiracy that supplied the heroin that killed four
Plano-area young people.
[snip]
Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Contact: letters@star-telegram.com
Website: http://www.star-telegram.com/
Authors: Susan Gill Vardon and Marisa Taylor
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n607.a04.html
***
Drug War: Left Coast-
COMMENT:
While the rest of the nation struggled with guns and heroin, the focus
In California remained where it's been since November, '96: on Medical
marijuana. In a follow up to the brutal judicial treatment of David
Herrick, convicted last week of felony marijuana sale when his medical
necessity defense was disallowed by the Judge, fellow activist Marvin
Chavez prepared to stand trial before a different, but equally hostile
judge in Superior (state) Court.
Also in the Southland, the feds arrested Peter McWilliams to stand
trial with Todd McCormick in what is sure to become a high profile
case, indeed.
In Northern California, a friendly City Council made an important
designation which could eventually hang the feds on their own petard.
***
TAKE THIS PLANT AND SHOVE IT
OC continues war on legal pot
Martyrs don't come much more sympathetic - or willing to suffer - than
Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse
Support Group. He's already been busted twice this year for putting
marijuana into the hands of seriously ill people - including cancer and
AIDS patients - whose doctors prescribed the drug as medicine.
According to a majority of California voters (who passed Proposition
215 in November 1996), that should be legal.
But in Orange County, it's still illegal. And even though prosecutors
understand that Chavez isn't your run-of-the-mill street dealer,
they're determined to treat him just as harshly.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 17 July 1998
Source: OC Weekly (CA)
Contact: webmaster@ocweekly.com
Fax: 714-708-8410
Website: http://www.ocweekly.com/
Author: Nick Schou
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n618.a06.html
***
MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADVOCATES ACCUSED OF CULTIVATION FOR SALE
Todd McCormick, the medical marijuana advocate who says he was growing
pot at a Bel-Air mansion to help relieve chronic cancer pain, was
actually part of a conspiracy to cultivate large amounts of marijuana
for commercial sale, according to a federal grand jury indictment
unsealed Thursday.
The nine-count indictment charges McCormick and eight others with
conspiracy and possession of marijuana for sale. Several defendants,
including McCormick, had been previously indicted.
At the center of the scheme, according to the new indictment, was Peter
McWilliams, 48, owner of Prelude Press, a West Hollywood Publishing
house, who allegedly advanced more than $100,000 to rent The properties
and purchase equipment to grow the plants.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jul 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: David Rosenzweig
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n617.a02.html
***
OAKLAND DESIGNATES POT CLUB
City Council OKs group to distribute medical marijuana
Refusing to back down in the heated battle over medical marijuana,
Oakland is pushing ahead with new policies supporting use and
distribution of the drug - and one member of the City Council is going
so far as to advocate that the city itself take over the job of
dispensing cannabis to patients.
Late Tuesday night, the council authorized the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative to distribute medical marijuana.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
Author: Thaai Walker, Chronicle Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n610.a07.html
***
Drug War: International Front-
***
COMMENT:
One of the keenest insights to arise from a weekly review of drug news
is the extent to which American drug prohibition has been foisted on
the rest of the world. Even though many other nations practice a more
restrained brand of enforcement, they are all paying a price for having
signed on to the lunacy of global prohibition.
It's painfully clear that no one nation will be able to decriminalize
drugs unilaterally unless it's the US.
Last week, as always, there was a remarkable sameness in the headlines
describing folly in action.
***
SCOTTISH PRISONS WORST IN UK FOR DRUG USE
Scottish prisons have a drugs problem that is far worse than those in
England, according to random tests earned out on inmates. An average of
roughly 20 per cent of English and Welsh prisoners are testing positive
for drugs in their bloodstream, but in one of Scotland's jails the
proportion is as high as 46 per cent.
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 22 Jul 1998
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Author: Jenny Booth Home Affairs Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n604.a08.html
***
SOLDIERS JAILED OVER DRUGS PLOT
MEMBERS OF a gang, including five serving soldiers, which plotted to
smuggle drugs worth millions of pounds into Britain from the Continent,
were jailed for a total of 120 years yesterday.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the case was the first to reach the
courts where members of the armed services had been involved in the
organised importation of drugs.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jul 1998
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Mail: 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL England
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n616.a01.html
***
BRISK TRADE EXPOSES PERU ANTI-DRUG MODEL
Sitting in his bare office near the remote Colombian border, narcotics
agent Maj. Renato Solis is in the front line of Peru's globally
acclaimed "revolution" against drugs - and clueless about what to do. A
frustrated Solis is outnumbered by drug traffickers, Colombian
paramilitaries and suspicious villagers.
[snip]
Source: Wire
Pubdate: Mon, 20 Jul 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n598.a01.html
***
THIRD U.S. DRUG HELICOPTER CRASHES IN ONE MONTH
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - A helicopter donated by the United States
crashed in foul weather in a war-torn northern region of Colombia,
killing seven police officers, authorities have reported.
[snip]
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jul 1998
Note: Headline by Newshawk
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n594.a06.html
***
DRUG RING SMUGGLES KIDS TO VANCOUVER
Up to 100 Honduran children have been lured to Canada to work as
narcotics-dealing slaves: `It's like something Charles Dickens wrote'
A professional drug ring is luring underage children from Honduras to
Vancouver, where they are being turned into indentured street-corner
crack dealers.
[snip]
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Sun, 19 Jul 1998
Note: Headline by Newshawk
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n594.a06.html
***
$90M DRUGS HIDDEN IN OVENS
Just after midday last Friday afternoon, outside a town house in South
Wentworthville, a container truck stopped. It was packed with
commercial kitchen equipment: devon slicers, sugar cane pressers, bone
saws, ovens, mincers and meat slicers.
It could have been the makings of the most valuable deli that Sydney
had ever seen but Federal police and customs officers got to the ovens
first, and removed, according to police sources, "enough smack to
satisfy every junkie in Sydney for a couple of months".
[snip]
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Pubdate: Mon 20 July, 1998
Contact: letters@smh.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Author: Greg Bearup
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n595.a10.html
***
Corrections-
***
COMMENT:
This story doesn't fit neatly into any of the week's topics, but it
illustrates too important a trend to ignore: as the prison
population has grown, prisoners' rights to fair and humane treatment
have been progressively reduced.
Read the laundry list of punishments meted out and then consider that
they were imposed for a peaceful 1 1/2 hr demonstration against the
transfer of prisoners to other states against their will.
***
PRISONERS IN PROTEST DRAW STIFF PENALTIES
Peaceful criticism met with solitary confinement
About 150 prisoners who sat down in a Fox Lake prison yard to protest
the state's policy of shipping inmates out of state are being punished
with four months to a year of solitary confinement and other
restrictions. Those who demonstrated June 28 at Fox Lake Correctional
Institution will get fewer visits and phone calls, less recreation and
be allowed fewer possessions in their cells. Their time segregated
from the general prison population also will not count as time served
toward their sentences, said Bill Clausius, spokesman for the state
Department of Corrections.
[snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 23 Jul 1998
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Contact 1: wsjopine@statejournal.madison.com Contact 2: Editor,
Wisconsin State Journal, POB 8058, Madison, WI 53708 Website:
URL: http://www.madison.com/
Author: Scott Milfred Wisconsin State Journal
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n614.a07.html
***
A Hopeful Note-
***
COMMENT:
There's so much news to review each week, we haven't had much space
for LTEs. However, this one is concise, accurate, and directly
addresses the issues of policy and vested interests. That a
conservative paper like the OC Register saw fit to print It is a very
big straw in the wind.
***
WE'RE NOT GETTING JOB DONE ON DRUGS
I support the elimination of the War on Drugs and changing it from a
law enforcement to a medical problem ["The unwinnable war," Opinion,
July 8]. When a public policy clearly does not work,as this has not, it
is important to be able to admit it and try something else. Considering
the billions of dollars that have been spent without stemming the flow
of illegal drugs, let's try another approach to observe the results.
If, after five or ten years, there is no improvement then change and
try something else.Let us not lose sight of the debacle that
Prohibition was.
One major hurdle to overcome is the untold numbers of law enforcement
jobs that have been created that are directly and indirectly related to
the "war" at federal, state and local levels in enforcement and
correctional jobs, as well as in the legal areas of government.
There is also the problem of asset seizure, which results in untold
benefits to only law enforcement agencies. No wonder law enforcement
groups everywhere are against any change in the law; a lot of expensive
equipment, as well as jobs, are dependent on these funds.
Rex Reynolds
Huntington Beach
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Pubdate: 26 Jul 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n621.a06.html
***
Drug War: Diplomatic Front-
***
COMMENT:
Controversy followed McCaffrey back from Europe. Although he sounded
conciliatory just before departure, his criticism of the Dutch resumed
on his return home. He seems to be speaking simultaneously to two
separate audiences; uncaring that the Dutch are hurt and scornful;
intent only on scaring Americans away from even a hint of liberalism.
Anyone familiar with the Japanese fable, Rashomon will understand the
quite different interpretations exhibited in the following four items.
***
McCAFFREY STILL DOWN ON DUTCH
Drugs: He criticizes a new program, designed to keep addicts off the
street, that offers free heroin, housing and other services.
Washington- The Clinton administration's drug policy director Monday
criticized a heroin distribution program in the Netherlands, even after
his disapproving statements over that nations's drug policy angered the
Dutch government last week.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jul 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: Janelle Carter, Associated Press Writer
URL http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n599.a09.html
***
WHY DUTCH DRUG POLICY THREATENS THE U.S.
He said it would be a "fact finding tour," but U.S. Drug Czar, General
Barry McCaffrey, made it clear before he ever left home that he would
bring his own "facts" about Dutch drug policy. He did his best
impersonation of a man "listening" during his few hours here, but in
the end it was clearly a "fact bringing" tour. Dutch officials and
journalists immediately caught him with his evidentiary pants down and
chastised him for making false claims about drug use and crime in the
Netherlands.
[snip]
Source: Het Parool [The Word]
Pubdate: Tue, 21 Jul 1998
Author: Craig Reinarman
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n596.a06.html
***
McCAFFREY COMMITS TRUTH DURING EUROPEAN TOUR
Barry McCaffrey is a stand-up guy. If there were any doubts that the
Clinton administration's drug czar was anything but, he dispelled them
during his recent eight-day visit to Europe.
The highlight of McCaffrey's trip was a stop in the Netherlands, where
the retired army general got to judge for himself the merits of that
nation's liberal drug policies.
McCaffrey was unimpressed. He pronounced the Dutch government's heroin
distribution program an "unmitigated disaster," not the least, he
added, because the program consigns "part of the population to
suffering endlessly from heroin."
[snip]
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Pubdate: Fri, 24 Jul 1998
Contact: letters@uniontrib.com
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n621.a10.html
***
IN THE DRUG WAR, FANTASY BEATS FACTS
It's been said that any prosecutor can convict a guilty defendant--it
takes a great prosecutor to convict an innocent one. But any
responsible prosecutor confronted with convincing evidence that he
indicted the wrong person would immediately move to dismiss the case.
Drug czar Barry McCaffrey doesn't follow the same practice. He issued
an indictment the other day and, after learning the charges were false,
insisted that the suspect was guilty nonetheless. Nothing is going to
get in the way of the drug war, least of all mere truth.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Pubdate: 23 July 1998
Section: Sec. 1, p. 23
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Author: Steve Chapman (schapman@tribune.com)
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n613.a02.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
The latest prohibitionist link is a kind of backhanded compliment to
reformers. Check out: http://www.stopdrugs.org/
It is a pretty blatant rip off of http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/ that
was developed by DRCNet over a year ago.
It is generally about as lame as most prohibitionist sites replete with
scare tactics and very short on facts.
It is also interesting to note that DrugSense and other sites willingly
link to prohibitionist sites but there are no reform links on any pro drug
war sites anywhere. One wonders why this would be? Could it be that truth
and open communications are not on the agenda of drug warriors?
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
The software that enables you to send yourself news articles of
interest from http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ is much more
sophisticated than you might realize at first glance. It is akin to the
"shopping cart" type software that you see on many web sites. It
enables you to search for articles, select and de select items at will
and have them forwarded directly to you via email in an easy to read
format. This is quite a complicated process and has been fine tuned so
that it works seamlessly even for web novices.
Special thanks belong to the many individuals who have helped put the
DrugNews service together. Their efforts and talents are both important
and appreciated. It has taken lots of work by some very dedicated
people to bring this powerful resource to the reform movement.
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
`The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably
by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for
the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot
be enforced.' - Albert Einstein -
***
FACT OF THE WEEK
According to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, only 5.5% of federal crack
defendants are considered high-level crack dealers.
Source: US Sentencing Commission. (1995, February). Special report to
Congress: cocaine and Federal sentencing policy, Table 18. Washington,
DC: U.S. Sentencing Commission.
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
do for you.
News/COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
NOTICE:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
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REMINDER:
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DrugSense provides this service at no charge BUT IT IS NOT FREE TO PRODUCE.
We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you
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checks payable to MAP Inc. send your contribution to:
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[End]
to 1998 Daily News index for July 23-29