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Protest Brings Differing Accounts ('The Oregonian' Describes An Attempt
By African-Americans To Assemble Peaceably In Northeast Portland,
Only To Have Police Shoot Them - The Protest Was Directed Against Police
Who Broke Up A Black Community Celebration At Sellwood Park,
In The Name Of Fighting Drug 'Gangs')
The Oregonian
letters to editor:
letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Web: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Protest brings differing accounts
* Participants say the police reaction reflects continuing harassment, but
officers say the marchers presented a traffic hazard
Wednesday, August 19 1998
By Peter Farrell
and Laura Trujillo
of The Oregonian staff
Travis West said pride would not let him run away when police officers
pointed guns at him Monday night as he tried to leave a protest rally on
Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
The 31-year-old Olympic wrestler and former Self Enhancement Inc. staff
member said that before police ordered the crowd to disperse, he had been
talking to young people, warning them to avoid arrest by moving along.
He went south on the boulevard and came face-to-face with helmeted police
with raised guns, "as if it was a firing squad."
"I couldn't believe they were going to shoot. For what?"
He did not know police were firing what they call less-lethal weapons,
shotguns that shoot a bag filled with lead shot. He was perhaps 50 yards
from the officers when the pouch hit him, breaking the skin on his thigh.
He was stunned but not surprised, he said. Although in pain, he was able to
walk away from the confrontation.
West has known Daniel Binns, who organized the protest Monday, since
boyhood. And he said Monday's confrontation with police, which eventually
drew perhaps 200 people in three different groups to Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard, was not about Binns but about what he called a pattern of police
harassment of Portland's African American population.
As several people in the crowd complained Monday, West said the large number
of police called out represented an overreaction to a peaceful march. The
most common complaint: The police seemed determined not to let Binns throw a
party that they said has become an important annual event.
Police said Monday's march capped weeks of problems between them and Binns
and his friends. The rally started peacefully enough but later became a
hazard, according to police, when marchers impeded traffic and there seemed
to be a danger that some pedestrians would be injured.
Police say they haven't harassed anyone but have reacted to complaints about
noise and acted to quell potential problems after Binns' party last year led
to a shooting.
A march planned for Tuesday evening was called off after organizers met with
police, politicians and community leaders and agreed to work more closely
next year on permits and security for Binns' annual party.
Rep. Margaret Carter, D-Portland, set up the meeting Tuesday at the Portland
Community College Cascade campus for 10 party organizers; Rep. JoAnn Bowman,
D-Portland; Sen. Avel Gordly, D-Portland; Northeast Precinct Cmdr. Derrick
Foxworth; community activist Richard Brown; and several clergy members.
Organizers said they thought the meeting was positive.
"Communication is the key," said James Mathis, 36. "There were mistakes made
on both sides. But as long as we have someone in a position like Derrick
Foxworth, who cares, we can work together."
A dozen people were arrested Monday, including Michael Lawrence Fesser, 26,
who was accused of attempted first-degree assault. Police said Fesser
threatened a police officer and then, as an officer chased a man, Fesser
swerved his rented 1997 red Ford Taurus at the officer. He missed the
officer by about 2 feet. Police later located the car and Fesser.
The protest went for a quarter-mile along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Marchers first went to the Police Bureau's Northeast Precinct and then to
the home of Police Chief Charles A. Moose near King Boulevard and Going
Street, where the crowd halted.
When Binns was arraigned Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court, the
district attorney's office asked that he be ordered to stay away from
Moose's house. Judge Harold Cinniger ordered Binns to stay at least four
blocks away; he lives about five blocks away.
Angel Lopez, representing Binns and Fesser at the brief arraignment, said
Binns would have no public comment about his arrest.
No one was seriously injured in Monday's protest, although West was treated
at a hospital for the injury to his thigh.
Sellwood Park closed
The protest was specifically about how police closed Sellwood Park on Sunday
to prevent Binns from throwing a birthday party there, and then used
officers on horseback to clear Irving Park, where many people barred from
Sellwood ended up.
Police canceled the party and closed the park, saying many of the 2,000
people likely to come were involved in gangs. Since then, many of the
party-goers say they've been harassed by Portland police.
Police say that if Binns had had a permit to play host to Sunday's party in
the park, they would not have canceled it.
"We ask a large group like that to work with us, with security," said Lt.
Cliff Madison, acting information officer for the Portland Police Bureau.
"They would have had security and insurance. But they didn't. A lot can
happen and get out of control."
Madison said police did not harass the group Sunday at Irving Park but acted
to keep the community safe.
"We have too many families and kids there to have them in the middle of this
party with no security," he said.
Police said that initially 50 people showed up Monday near Northeast Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Going Street to demonstrate. They were angry
that they weren't able to have Sunday's party, and some said they were mad
that they weren't allowed to file a complaint Monday afternoon at Northeast
Precinct, although Madison said he could find no record of anyone trying to
file a complaint Monday. Through the evening, the crowd grew to 100 or 150
people.
"It wasn't outrageous, but the potential for something more was there,"
Madison said. "There were bottles and rocks thrown at us."
After Foxworth stood in the center of the road with a bullhorn demanding
that people leave the area, officers stood guard with bean bag guns.
When West and others ran south on the boulevard instead of leaving along
Going as ordered, police stationed at Prescott Street fired four rounds of
the bean bags. The rounds can hit with the same intensity as a baseball line
drive.
Foxworth said police fired because they were unsure whether the protesters
were approaching to harm them.
He said he thinks police have used the bean bags in the past for crowd
control, but he was not sure exactly when. Madison said police had them at
the ready Sunday night.
Foxworth said the Police Bureau will review Monday's protest and shooting
and the events that led up to them.
Moose stayed inside his home during the demonstration, Madison said. "If
someone wants to meet with the chief, we can set it up. But he can't
outshout the crowd. And we thought it might be inciteful for him to come
out," he said.
Moose did meet and talk with Binns on Sunday night after the incident at
Irving Park. "(Moose's) initial thoughts were that Danny was going to go
home that evening, and everything would be peaceful and calm," Madison said.
Police concerned about friends
Madison said police weren't so concerned about Binns -- who hasn't been
arrested since 1990 -- but about his friends invited to the party.
"At last year's party, someone was shot in the mouth," he said. "We had
people coming to the party that the gang team was aware of; we were
concerned," he said. "There supposedly were 2,000 people. Granted, a lot of
people were just going because it was the party, the place to be."
Police said Binns, who has told police he is 37 and other times 31, has been
arrested in the past on charges of cocaine possession, fourth-degree
assault, probation violations, concealed weapons and other similar charges.
His friends, some of whom showed up at the arraignment, said all that is in
the past.
Vanessia Crawford, a friend of Binns' and a salon owner in Northeast
Portland, said Binns has been a personal friend. "To me," she said, "he is a
very sweet person, a very cool friend I can talk to and get advice."
Crawford, 25, said she has known Binns about 10 years. She has been to
previous birthday parties but did not try to attend the party on Sunday and
generally did not know the party side of Binns. Problems at the birthday
parties, she said, depended on who attended. "I don't think it all reflects
on him."
Binns is not a gangster, Crawford said. He knows members of gangs, she said,
but "he is pretty much cool with everybody. That gangster stuff is hockey puck."
Mathis, also a friend of Binns', called police differences with Binns
personal. "He is a good person. Everyone has a past," Mathis said, adding
that Binns had not been in trouble from some years. "Daniel is a friend of
the community."
He said the annual event has had its own crowd control. "We have always
provided security," with about 100 men taking part. The shooting last year,
he said, was 11 blocks away from the party.
Moose should know that the event "has always been a peaceful gathering."
Marshall Richmond, Binns' nephew, said the protesters just wanted police to
treat their event the same.
"Whites have the Beer Fest and The Bite, even the carnival (Rose Festival
fun center) comes once a year," he said. "Every event that comes to Oregon
isn't perfect. Somebody's going to get pushed or shoved, like at the
carnival there was a stabbing.
Crawford also criticized the media attention given the incidents Sunday and
Monday. "When they see a black person trying to do something, they always
try to down the black person," she said. When whites are involved in crimes
or difficult situations, Crawford said, "There's not that much publicity."
Staff writers Dionne D. Peeples, Dan Hortsch and Art Marroquin contributed
to this story.
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The West Hills Cocaine Caper (The 'Willamette Week' Version
Of Yesterday's News About An Upper Crust Portland Cocaine Dealer)
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
Tel. (503) 243-2122
Fax (503) 243-1115
Letters to the Editor:
Mark Zusman - mzusman@wweek.com
Web: http://www.wweek.com/
Note: Willamette Week welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or
fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street
address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to
letters of 250 words or less.
August 19, 1998
The West Hills Cocaine Caper
* A year after the celebrated drug bust, investigators begin to unravel what
really happened.
BY MAUREEN O'HAGAN
mohagan@wweek.com
Just over a year ago, certain members of the exclusive Multnomah Athletic
Club broke into a major sweat.
The treadmills hadn't been amped up, and the sauna wasn't stuck on high.
Instead, a number of these well-to-do Portlanders were worried because a
cocaine dealer named Michael Hipps had been busted. With that late-May
arrest, not only were their drug supplies cut off, but their futures were in
jeopardy as well.
Hipps, it turns out, had kept his customers' names and phone numbers in
several address books. Looking through the books, authorities found listings
for doctors, lawyers, stockbrokers and other professionals, some of them
members of the Multnomah Club, according to the cops' almost gleeful public
statements.
Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Dave Peters was the first
well-known Portlander to fall. Finding Peters' direct-dial work phone number
in one of the so-called "black books," police in September searched his
house. They found cocaine residue and marijuana.
"This is the tip of what may turn out to be a very prominent iceberg," The
Oregonian editorialized at the time. "Peters' tragic experience serves as a
reminder that the drug problem is not limited to the young, unfortunate or
ill-informed. And it also indicates that the prominent cannot necessarily
escape the consequences of involvement with drugs."
Michael Hipps once told an informant, "We run a pretty straight deal. ... We
can keep you happy."A year later, however, it would appear that the
prominent have escaped the consequences. Of course, the dealers were
punished: This week, Hipps received a 16-month prison sentence, and in July,
Adam Wylie, Hipps' sometime partner, received 13 months. Yet none of the
other well-to-do buyers listed in the black books has been prosecuted,
although many have been interrogated.
Behind the scenes, however, law enforcement authorities have been building a
case that may eventually put even more affluent people behind bars.
Willamette Week has learned that the investigation has grown significantly
and now involves the Internal Revenue Service, as well as the Portland
Police Department. In July, a federal grand jury issued a secret indictment
charging three people--the owner of a Portland bed and breakfast, a Napa,
Calif., wine merchant and his wife--with an extortion plot that allegedly
cost Hipps $55,000. Additionally, a Portland CPA has been implicated in a
money-laundering scheme with Hipps-a scheme in which other Portlanders may
have been involved.
The case still isn't over. Authorities have renewed their interest in the
black books and are again interviewing alleged customers with vigor. While
it's highly unlikely that any of them will be charged for merely using
drugs, authorities say they may issue indictments for those whose crimes are
more serious.
Michael Hipps is by no means the biggest cocaine dealer in Portland, but his
arrest sent shock waves through the West Hills crowd. Now, a year after the
investigation began, it has developed
as many twists and turns as Skyline Boulevard and includes "scenery" that's
just as fascinating.
If he hadn't spent his time selling drugs, Michael Hipps would have made a
great corporate manager. At 6 feet 3 inches, he has an imposing presence,
although his sweatshirt-and-shorts style of dress reveals an easygoing
demeanor. With a master's in business administration, Hipps also had an air
of Republican toughness about him. Forty-eight years old and unmarried, he
was never a strong supporter of social programs. He is said to believe that
people should pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Friends say he has a
harsh attitude towards criminals--but only those of the violent sort.
Until the early '90s, Hipps ran his own business, Sterling and Associates,
which provided financial consulting services to small companies.
In 1994, he got another offer. For several years, according to federal court
documents, Hipps had been buying cocaine from [name removed], a North
Portland man who, as a cover, claimed to own a landscaping business. By the
early '90s, [name removed] reportedly wanted out of the drug trade. So, just
like a dentist who might sell his practice before retiring, [name removed]
allegedly decided to sell his client base--his list of drug customers--to Hipps.
"I've never seen that before," says Sgt. John Cordell, the Drug and Vice
Division officer who broke the case against Hipps.
After being introduced to [name removed] clients, Hipps took over, building a
healthy business. He later enlisted the occasional help of a partner, Adam
Wylie. According to police, by 1997 they had developed an impressive list of
customers. "These guys were pretty damn unique," Cordell says. "They were
dealing with prominent people in Portland."
Their service was top-notch, too. Hipps maintained a strict noon-to-nine,
six-days-a-week schedule and would gladly make deliveries--but not at
taverns and not to groups of people. Sometimes he'd arrange to meet his
customers in the parking lot at Zupan's Market at the foot of the West
Hills, where exchanges of drugs for money would take place on the leather
seats of Saabs and BMWs. Never interested in being a Hollywood-style drug
kingpin, Hipps sold his cocaine in small quantities and chose his customers
wisely so as not to attract attention. At the same time, he did well enough
to buy a condo in Breckenridge, Colo. Cordell says Hipps claimed to have
sold an ounce or two of cocaine each week, although Cordell believes the
amount to be somewhat higher. If what Hipps says is accurate, he would have
grossed between $54,000 and $208,000 a year.
"Hipps was a good businessman," Cordell said. "It wasn't as though you were
meeting somebody in a dark alley. He would deliver it to you, your home,
your business. He provided a service in that regard."
Being at heart a businessman rather than a street-smart dealer, Hipps
couldn't have been more surprised when the police came knocking on his door.
Something about John Cordell makes him different from most other Portland
cops. Maybe it's his style. A slim, balding man of 47, he has the slow and
meticulous approach of a solitary rock climber, plotting every move with a
single goal in mind. As many cops will attest, he is one of the more dogged
members of the force.
"He's a hard-working guy who doesn't like to let go," says one Portland cop.
As a drug and vice officer Cordell has taken down his share of dealers, but
until he stumbled onto Hipps he never made any headline-grabbing busts. "It
was the case of a lifetime," says one defense lawyer who is involved with
the case. In June of this year, after two decades on the force, he was
promoted to sergeant and reassigned to East Precinct.
Cordell got to Hipps with the help of an informant, which is common practice
in investigations of more sophisticated drug dealers. "It's more difficult
to get into those circles than somebody on a street corner," Cordell says.
"I've always been interested in developing an informant into those circles."
Ray Carpenter was Cordell's man. Although authorities won't reveal any
details about Carpenter, they will concede that he has helped the Portland
Police Bureau several times in the past. In April of 1997, Cordell had
Carpenter looking for cocaine connections. Carpenter came across Hipps after
a Southwest Portland realtor gave him the dealer's pager number.
(Authorities have refused to reveal the name of the realtor.)
In April 1997, Carpenter called the pager and reached Adam Wylie, who by
chance was filling in for Hipps that day - one of just a dozen or so
occasions on which Wylie acted as Hipps' emissary. That's where the the
drug-dealing duo got into trouble. Normally, Hipps wouldn't sell to a total
stranger. In this case, Wylie assumed that Hipps knew Carpenter. And when
Carpenter later contacted Hipps, Hipps assumed Carpenter was a friend of
Wylie's.
Over the next few weeks, Carpenter wound up buying drugs from Hipps three
different times, according to police reports.
By May, Cordell had enough evidence to obtain a search warrant for Hipps'
apartment at 2320 SW Cactus Drive. According to a police report, authorities
found 212 grams of cocaine. They also found $10,000 in cash, numerous
business documents and the now-infamous black books.
The documents and address books gave Cordell and IRS special agent Michael
Maney enough work to keep them busy for months.
Although they had both been working in Portland for years, Maney and Cordell
had never met. Michael Hipps brought them together.
By coincidence Cordell was digging into the Hipps case around the same time
Maney was investigating [name removed], 36, who moved from Portland to
Napa with his wife, [name removed], in 1995.
[name removed] tax statements didn't match up with his lifestyle.
Between 1993 and 1994, [name removed] claimed to net less than $6,500 from his
landscaping business, the only source of income he reported, according to
court documents. In 1995, [name removed] finances were so poor that he was
represented by a public defender when he was charged with Assault IV. (He
had accidentally run over a cop's foot after the cop had given him a ticket.
He later plead no contest to reckless endangering, a lesser charge, and was
sentenced to probation.)
Maney now thinks [name removed] landscaping business was a front, according
to court documents. [name removed] owned landscaping equipment and a truck, but
"the truck never moved," Maney's search warrant affidavit quotes a friend as
saying. Another friend allegedly told authorities he only knew of one job
that OPI Landscaping had completed: [name removed] own yard at 1610 North
Portland Blvd.
For a guy who a never seemed to work, according to a neighbor, he lived
pretty well.
When [name removed] left Portland for Napa, he had to rent a trailer just to
carry his collection of wine, some 2,500 bottles, federal court documents
say. Financial statements filed by [name removed] show he owned $15,000 in
stamps and $40,000 in art, according to those same documents. In Napa,
[name removed] bought a house for $175,000 and spent thousands on renovations.
He now runs a wine shop there.
Authorities now believe that at least some of [name removed] money came from
drugs. They came to this conclusion after talking with Michael Hipps.
By last summer, Hipps knew he was in serious trouble. The U.S. Attorney's
office was looking to prosecute him in federal court, where the potential
sentence was significant. In order to avoid those federal charges, Hipps
agreed to talk.
His confession was startling. "I've been in this business a long time," said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire M Fay. "There's not too much that surprises
me. But there is kind of a different twist on this whole thing."
According to court documents, [name removed] did more than just sell Hipps his
drug-dealing business. He also allegedly told Hipps that he had been paying
off a Portland police officer for protection. Hipps would have to keep up
those payments if he wanted to avoid prison, [name removed] reportedly said.
Hipps complied. Over the course of the next year or two, he received four
different extortion notes, which police reportedly found when they searched
Hipps' house. One doubled the monthly payments from $500 to $1,000; another
demanded a $6,000 holiday bonus; the third demanded a summer cash bonus of
$12,500, and the fourth demanded an additional $10,000 in cash. In all,
Hipps sent 59 money orders to two different Portland post office boxes,
leaving the payee's name blank, according to court documents. In total, he
sent the unnamed cop $55,000.
In 1996, Hipps finally learned the truth. There was no dirty cop. Instead,
he allegedly found out from a customer that [name removed] had concocted the
scheme himself. When Hipps confronted [name removed], [name removed] allegedly
threatened to expose him as a cocaine dealer. He also allegedly told Hipps
that for a final payment of $3,000, the demands for money would stop.
When authorities traced the money orders, Hipps' story seemed to check out.
The [name removed] had spent 52 of the 59 money orders, sometimes using them
to pay their mortgage or for renovations to their Napa house, according to
court documents.
The [name removed] allegedly weren't the only ones to profit from Hipps'
payments. Two friends, Paul Oliver and Archie Lanning Blanks Jr., let
[name removed] use their post office boxes in exchange for a cut of the
proceeds, according to an affidavit filed by Maney. Oliver, a North Portland
handyman, earned $200 for forwarding 10 money orders from his post office
box to [name removed] in California. Blanks, who until last year managed the
restaurant in the Mallory Hotel--and who, in 1997, bought Northeast
Portland's White House Bed and Breakfast with a partner--allegedly did the
same, earning an undisclosed amount for forwarding 44 money orders.
Last month, a federal grand jury issued a secret indictment charging [names removed] with mail fraud, money laundering, receiving the
proceeds of extortion and drug conspiracy. (The indictment has become public
since [name removed] July arrest.) Blanks was charged with mail fraud, money
laundering and receiving the proceeds of extortion. Oliver has not been
charged with any crime.
Blanks referred all questions to his lawyer, Steve Houze, who declined to
comment. Oliver would not answer WW's questions about the case.
The [names removed] did not return several WW phone calls, but [name removed] told The San Francisco Chronicle, "These are just stories from a
convicted drug dealer ... [Hipps is] full of baloney. [The indictment] is a
bunch of bull. These people in the federal government think they have a case
against us. Well, that remains to be seen." Their first scheduled appearance
in U.S. District Court is Sept. 10.
With the federal indictment, Maney had answered a lot of questions. But the
investigation still wasn't complete.
In order to be successful, a drug dealer needs two things: a regular
supplier and a way to disguise his income.
"Hipps knew he couldn't gain financially from dealing cocaine if he couldn't
get cocaine," Cordell said. "He also knew he couldn't gain financially if he
couldn't launder his cash."
Cordell says Hipps had both ends sewn up. He allegedly got his cocaine from
Shawnee Arbogast and her boyfriend, Fidel Cortez-Hernandez, both of
Washington County. As part of his deal with authorities, Hipps gave up his
supplier's identity and led police to Arbogast last December. Arbogast and
Hernandez were charged in Washington County with distribution of a
controlled substance. Earlier this year Arbogast was sentenced to two years
probation, and Hernandez received 22 months in prison.
Hipps enlisted friends to help him disguise his cash, according to Cordell.
The dealer's own documents allegedly helped to prove it.
Among Hipps' papers, Cordell found a promissory note for $60,000 signed by
David Tarlow, a certified public accountant. To the drug investigator, the
document was curious. Cordell decided to ask the Portland Police Bureau's
financial investigator for help.
In July, the police talked to Tarlow at the downtown accounting firm in
which he was a partner and asked him why a drug dealer owed him so much
money. He had a plausible explanation. According to a police report, Tarlow
told authorities that he lent Hipps $60,000 in 1996 to help Hipps buy a
condo in Breckenridge. Tarlow said that although he hadn't received any
payments from Hipps on the loan, he did receive a $9,000 loan fee. In
addition, Tarlow said he received a trust deed on the property.
Hipps told a different story.
To make the cash he earned from selling drugs look like legitimate income,
Hipps allegedly told authorities he got help from Tarlow. From statements in
federal court documents and police reports, it appears that Hipps gave
Tarlow $69,000 in cash and asked him to launder it. Tarlow allegedly
complied, taking the cash and giving Hipps a check in exchange.
It's unclear how Tarlow may have accomplished this task. As an accountant,
Tarlow didn't regularly deal in large amounts of cash, according to his
former partner, Ron Stefani. Therefore, doing the obvious--depositing the
money in his own bank account and writing a check on it--probably would have
looked suspicious. What was Tarlow's alleged technique? Police won't say for
sure. But it's reasonable to assume that if he couldn't do it alone, he may
have gotten help from other moneyed Portlanders.
Five months after he was first contacted by police, Tarlow told Stephani
that he was resigning from the firm "for personal reasons." Stephani says
Tarlow now works as a lumber broker.
Tarlow hasn't been charged with a crime. His lawyer, Norman Sepenuk, refused
to comment on the case.
Sitting behind bars in Snake River Correctional Institution, Adam Wylie, who
assisted Hipps in selling cocaine, is not an unbiased observer in this war
on West Hills drug dealing. But he makes an interesting argument as to why
the efforts may have been misdirected.
The way he tells it, he sold cocaine on just 10 to 15 occasions. Even the
cops say that most of his customers were occasional users, not addicts, and
they had developed their fondness for the drug long before he made his
deliveries. The deals were done discreetly, so they didn't affect the city's
livability - a common complaint about other drug dealers.
"I'm still kind of struggling with who's the victim in this, except for the
people I've let down," he said. "Are any of Hipps' customers victims? Does
the state of Oregon feel like a victim?"
Wylie was by no means a high-level dealer. He had no prior convictions, held
a full-time job and has a family, including two young daughters. Under state
sentencing guidelines, he could have gotten probation. Yet he was sentenced
to 13 months in prison, a comparatively long sentence for someone with that
profile.
Wylie says his sentence is the result less of his behavior than of the
public frenzy surrounding the bust. The involvement of a deputy DA didn't
help matters, either. "My attorney said, Adam, you don't mess with the West
Hills crowd. Because you're perceived to have done that, you're probably
going to do some time."
Cordell has little sympathy. "Wylie's an intelligent man, has a pleasant
personality, is educated and had a substantial income," he says. "So what's
the excuse?
Besides, Cordell thinks that the law shouldn't let middle-class white guys
slide. "I think a lot of wannabe drug dealers aspire to be the wealthy
sophisticated drug dealer they see on TV. It's my belief that we need to go
after that image because it is that image which causes a lot of these
youngsters out there to try and emulate that."
***
Hipps normally sold cocaine by the sixteenth of an ounce for between $65 and
$125. He sold the drug not in balloons, as is common today, but in
1980s-style paper folds.
Most cocaine on the street is sold in smaller quantities; a half gram might
cost $40. (One-sixteenth of an ounce is 1.7 grams.)
After his arrest, Dave Peters went through a five-week intensive outpatient
treatment program.
Police won't prosecute Hipps' customers for drug use based merely on their
inclusion in the black books. Law enforcement would need to mount an
investigation, an expensive proposition that wouldn't be worth the effort.
[name removed] was sentenced to three years in prison in 1983 for theft and
burglary. He was also convicted of harassment in 1991.
Authorities say that several of their targets had something in common: They
were all tall. Hipps, Wylie, [name removed] and Blanks are all over six feet
two inches.
Although police say Hipps and Wylie sold in small quantities to maximize
their profit, neither had the lifestyles of some of their customers.
Officer John Cordell says, "Not all persons in the black books are
associated with drug activity. The vast majority are, but there are some who
are not."
[name removed] faces several years in federal prison for each count of
the indictment. He may lose his Napa house and some of his possessions under
federal forfeiture laws.
***
Lead Story Sidebar - Crime and Punishment
So far, a number of people have been ensnared in the West Hills cocaine
caper, and there could be more to come. Here's a look at the comparative
guilt and punishment of some of them
The Charges
Michael Hipps: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a felony
Adam Wylie: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine, a felony
Dave Peters: Attempted possession of cocaine, a violation
Hipps' Other Customers: None
The Story
Hipps had a financial consulting business, but police say that in recent
years cocaine dealing has been his full-time job. Although he didn't live a
lavish lifestyle, he earned at least $69,000 from selling cocaine.
Wylie was painted in headlines as a big-time drug dealer, but he says that
isn't accurate at all. Instead, according to court testimony, Wylie was a
friend and customer of Hipps'. But he was also a cocaine addict, snorting at
least one-sixteenth of an ounce of the stuff daily. Wylie held a full-time
job as a salesman but in 1997 agreed to fill in for Hipps when Hipps took
occasional days off. Wylie told the court that he did this 15 times, mainly
to get his hands on drugs to feed his habit. He claims he didn't make any
money dealing drugs and that he used any cash he did earn to buy drugs.
When officer John Cordell found Peters' name in Hipps' little black books,
he was dumbstruck. Peters was one of Multnomah County's toughest deputy
district attorneys. Cordell later found evidence of Peters' drug use,
including cocaine residue, in his curbside trash.
The names of between 50 and 100 of Hipps' customers were listed in several
address books found in his apartment. A federal search warrant affidavit
says they include stockbrokers, a doctor, a property manager, two
manufacturing representatives, an aerospace subcontractor and a newspaper
employee. Many of them have been interviewed by authorities.
The Sentence
On Monday, Multnomah County Circuit Judge Julie Frantz sentenced Hipps to 16
months in prison, chastizing him for "infus[ing] this society with an
unknown but substantial quantity of illegal drugs." Hipps didn't speak at
his sentencing, but his attorney, Whitney Boise, says he got into the
business because he was addicted to cocaine.
Many first-time drug offenders get probation, but Wylie got whacked with 13
months in prison. He mainly has Hipps to blame. Police found just a tiny
amount of cocaine in Wylie's house, but authorities hammered Wylie with a
"commercial drug offense" charge by calling him and Hipps co-conspirators.
Consequently, the drugs found at Hipps' house (more than 7 ounces) were, by
extension, Wylie's problem, too.
Because Wylie is a British citizen, he will be deported at the end of his
sentence. His wife and two children will probably leave the country to join him.
Peters was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay $150 in fines and fees.
He also resigned from his job and is now working at the criminal defense
firm Squires and Lopez.
He was the only person named in the black books to be targeted with an
investigation for drug use. Was he singled out?
As an officer of the court, Peters should be held to a higher standard than
the average citizen, according to District Attorney Mike Schrunk.
There have been no charges filed against these drug users, although several
have reportedly entered treatment programs as a result of the investigation.
They've even avoided public embarrassment. WW submitted several
public-records requests for access to the names listed in the black books,
but authorities have repeatedly denied them. Assistant U.S. Attorney Claire
M. Fay, who is prosecuting the [name removed] case, justifies the denials by
saying that the matter is still under investigation. "I think it's prudent
for me not to disclose who those folks are," she told WW. But that excuse
doesn't make much sense. The U.S. Attorney's office does not prosecute
people for drug use.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Crime Chicago Style ('The Chicago Tribune' Interviews A Conservator
At The Illinois State Archives Who Thinks The Most Interesting Documents
She's Seen Are The Chronicles Of 'Homicides And Important Events'
Meticulously Kept By The Chicago Police Department During Alcohol Prohibition
From 1920 To 1930 - The Homicides From 1870 To 1910 Fit Into One Book,
The Homicides From 1911 To 1920 Fit In Another, But It Took Three Separate
Books To Register The Mayhem In Chicago's Roaring '20s - 'Oh My God,
The Spousal Abuse - The Women Trying To Kill Themselves And Their Children
. . . To Actually See It All In Print, It Just Boggled My Mind,'
Said Archivist Dottie Hopkins)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 10:38:16 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US IL: Crime Chicago Style
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Young
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Section: Tempo, P. 1
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 19 Aug 1998
Author: Charles M. Madigan
Note: This story reflects on crime in the past in Chicago. Note the changes
in the volume and types of crimes during the era of alcohol prohibition
during the 1920s.
CRIME CHICAGO STYLE
SPRINGFIELD -- In her 18 years as an archival conservator in the lab at the
Illinois State Archives, Dottie Hopkins has saved a bundle of very
important documents. But she says she has never handled anything as
interesting as the three fat books that sit in front of her on this bright
weekday morning.
They are "Homicides and Important Events" of the Chicago Police Department
from 1920 to 1930.
The era gave Chicago its image as gangster capital and machine-gun mecca
for an unbelievable collection of thugs and victims ranging from Al Capone
all the way down to this unfortunate man: unidentified male age 25,
Mexican, Found in River slip at 23rd and Sangamon Sts., with gunshot and
stab wounds in body. Committed by unknown persons at unknown place. Motive
unknown.
That was one case on one day: Nov. 11, 1922.
The bureaucratic reason for the books is obvious. They list victims
alphabetically and provide a good synopsis of what happened to each of
them, along with the disposition of the cases, where that was available.
It's all here, everything from the St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1929. Feb.
14. Schwimmer, Reinhardt -- Age 29 -- One of the seven Moran gangsters who
were lined up facing a brick wall and mowed down with machine guns and
shotguns) to strong evidence that murdering newborns was disturbingly
common, judging from the dozens of reports of bodies of infants found in
the trash or in public outhouses.
The books, and two from 1870 to 1920 that have already been repaired and
returned to the department, read like movie scripts. They contain thousands
of stories, a chronicle of the way we actually were during one of the most
tumultuous periods in Chicago history.
Fresh from the streets, summarized by some clerk with perfect handwriting
and an educational background that obviously emphasized sentence structure,
punctuation and complete thoughts, however dark they might have been, the
books amount to unfiltered news. A sergeant in police records said she
didn't know whether the books continued beyond 1930, but suspected the
department shifted to filing regular homicide reports instead of keeping
big running logs.
"In all honesty," says Hopkins, "some records I have restored were more
valuable, but nothing has been more interesting. You can't put these books
down."
Read on.
***
1930. Sept. 14. Spano, Angelo, alias Jack Costa. Age 29. Alleged bodyguard
of Joe Aiello, north side gang leader, fatally shot at 11:55 p.m., 9/13/30,
in the courtway of the Fernwood Apartments, 4056 Sheridan Rd., just as he
stepped out of the doorway, by a fusilade of shots from an automatic rifle
and a shotgun fired from a second floor apartment from where a vigil had
evidentally been kept by several men who were seen to escape from the rear
of the building. Accompanying Costa was an unknown man, "Fred," who escaped
and a woman, Margaret Reardon, with whom he lived there. It is believed she
`put him on the spot.' On 9/18/30 she was held by the coroner as accessory
and two men who rented the ambush apartment and gave the names of Wm Moore
and Wm Evans are wanted. 38th Dist. Sept, 1930. No Bill on Reardon.
***
The Archives got the books from the Chicago Police Department at 11th and
State Streets, where it found them sometime in the 1980s when it was making
a routine visit as part of its unending search for interesting things to
save forever.
The department asked whether the books might be salvaged. The state said sure.
They were in terrible shape. The paper crumbled in your hands, Hopkins
said, and certainly would not have been able to withstand much more
handling.
As she removed each of the old pages, cleaned them, de-acidified them,
sealed them and prepared them for remounting, she found herself reading
more and more about bloody murder in Chicago and wondered what it must have
been like.
She saw reports of many botched abortions that led to homicide charges,
along with little stories about crazy people who heard voices that told
them to do a great deal of harm.
All the homicides from 1870 to 1910 fit into the first book. All the
homicides from 1911 to 1920 fit in the second. But it took three separate
books to register the mayhem that was taking place in Chicago's roaring
'20s.
"I'm trying to clean these things, but I find myself putting the eraser
down. I'm thinking, `Oh my God, the spousal abuse. The women trying to kill
themselves and their children . . . to actually see it all in print, it
just boggled my mind," said Hopkins.
***
1928. Dec. 31. McGovern, Hugh `Stubby' -- age 32, deceased and Wm "Gunner"
McPadden were shot to death at 2 a.m., 12/31/28, in the Grenada Cafe, 6800
Cottage Grove Ave., by George Maloney, who came in, spoke a few words to
them, whipped out a gun and killed them both. Maloney was arrested
immediately after the shooting, without resistance, and on 12/31/28 was
held by the coroner. 7th Dist. 1/22/30-Nolle prossed. McGoorty." (Nolle
prossed means there is no prosecution.)
***
The organized crime entries in the books are obvious because of the many
references to gangs and the kinds of issues and weapons that were involved.
What is so overwhelming about them is their abundance, a sign that there
was a lot of activity on Chicago's streets way down beneath the crime-boss
level.
There were drive-by shootings, elaborate ambushes that would involve
multiple "machine gun" nests and many players. Apparently, a lot of
criminals owned soft-drink parlors during the 1920s, and sometimes they
were dangerous places to be in the middle of the night.
***
1930. April 20. Special, Joseph -- Age 28 -- Deceased, Walter Wakefield and
Frank Delre, partners in a soft-drink parlor at 2900 So. Wells St., all
alleged members of the Capone gang, where shot to death at 4 a.m., 4/20/30,
at that address by a lone gunman who escaped. The next day, a squad from
the State's Attorney's Office lay 8 hours in wait for one Frank Delbano,
alias Dale, whom they captured, in a flat at 3011 N. Halsted St. His gun
was identified through ballistics as the weapon used in these killings. On
4/24/30 he was held by the coroner. 3 Dist.
1930. Oct. 23. Aiello, Joseph -- age 39, Ital., married, gang leader and
partner of `Bugs Moran' was riddled with machine gun bullets in front of
205 N. Kolmar Ave., when he left the home of Pasquale Prestigiocomo, alias
Presto, to enter a cab. The fire was opened up on him from a `machine gun
nest' in a flat across the street, 202 Kolmar Ave., and when he attempted
to escape to the rear of the Presto home was felled from fire from a second
nest from a window at 4518 West End Ave. Presto, who was his business
partner and in whose home he had been rooming (it is believed in hiding)
was booked 10-28-30 as accessory, but on 1-29-31 the case was nolle prossed
by Padden before the inques. closed.
1929. Apr. 24. Brady, Frank -- age 32 -- Shot to death at 8:55 p.m.,
4/24/29, in his dentist office at 2059 W. Madison St., in full view of his
patients, by two unknown men who escaped. Deceased had had connections with
gangsters and `dope' may be the cause of the shooting. 27 Dist.
***
These gangland slayings seem to pop up every few pages.
Between them, the police department kept a meticulous file of the kind of
murders most people probably never even heard about, slayings sparked by
everything from mundane love trouble to insanity to vendettas or a brush
with the police.
***
1930. Sept. 12. Sobieraj, Alex -- Age 15 -- Burglar: Fatally shot at 2:40
p.m. 9/12/30, while running away, east on Ogden Ave., near the Juvenile
Home, attempting to escape from Patrolman Michael J. Mullens of the 8th
Dist. Deceased was being taken to the home and while going up the stairs in
Mullins' custody, tripped him, causing him to fall, and then ran. Mullins
fired at him but not with the intention of inflicting a fatal wound. On
9/13/30 Mullins was exonerated by the coroner who pronounced it accidental.
23 dist.
1928. April 8. Overton, John C. -- Age 35 -- Colored. Shot to death at 4:45
p.m. 4/8/28, at the Onward Christian Soldiers' Colored Lodge. 3rd Fl. 6 W.
44th St., while blindfolded and being initiated by Albert Clark. Clark's
part was to snap an empty gun at the neophite. This time the gun was
loaded. Leonidas McDonald, J.F. McCray, Shedrick Branch and Washington
Branch appear to have had a grudge against Overton and had connived on him,
substituting a bullet for the customary blank. On 4/5/28 the last four
named were held by the coroner for murder and Clark was exonerated and on
4/26/28 discharged by Judge Helander. 5th Dist. May 1928. No bills on
McCray, Shedrick and Washington Branch. 8/21/28 -- McDonald acquitted --
Klarkowski.
1928. Sept. 13. Bradley, Constance -- age 70 -- Murdered at 9:30 p.m.
9/6/28, in her home, 845 Grace St., by her apparently insane spinster
daughter, Adelaide Bradley, age 43, who struck her on the head with some
chinaware and strangled her with a cord from the table lamp `because voices
at the window told her to do so.' On 9/7/28 Adelaide was held by the
coroner, 38 Dist. 9/20/28 -- To Dunning Asylum--J. Sullivan.
1929. Mar. 18. Grabski, Klemens -- Age 18 -- Accidentally fatally shot at
9:20 a.m. 3/18/29, on the rear porch of his home, 2027 Charleston St., by
his mother, Helen Grabski, who was examining a gun which the boy said he
had found. On 3/19/29, Mrs. Grabski was exonerated by the coroner. 32 Dist.
1930. May 8. Sciortino, Dominick -- age 55 -- Shot to death at 7:30 p.m.
5/8/30, in the living room of his home at 1233 Carmen Ave., by two unknown
men who looked like Italians. He was not robbed. Deceased had received
`blackhand' letters and at this time was living alone, having sent his
family to live with a married daughter, refusing to explain his act. 40
Dist.
***
Among the most troubling of the pages in the book are those that come last,
where the police department recorded long lists of dead infants, many of
them found in public restrooms or trash bins. Almost all of the conditions
are the same. Newborns are found with their throats slashed or with their
umbilical cords cut and untied.
***
1922. Aug. 7. Unknown. Female Baby -- New Born. Found in wastebasket in
ladies lavatory at the La Salle St. Depot. Coroner's verdict: `Criminal
neglect at time of birth.' 1A Dist.
1923. Feb. 28. Unknown. Baby Boy. Age 1 Day. Found dead in rear of 1603
Fullerton Ave. Criminal neglect at time of birth.
1923. Mar. 20. Unknown. Baby Girl. Found dead in alley west of 73rd St. and
Hoyne Ave. wrapped in a blanket. Neglect at time of birth. 11th Dist.
1924. May 9. Unknown. Baby Boy. 1 or 2 days. Found dead on railroad tracks
150 Ft. south of Madison St. (19th Dist) wrapped in newspaper, throat cut.
Infanticide.
1924. Mar. 27. Unknown. Male infant. 2 days. Found dead in ashcan in rear
of 5476 Woodlawn Ave. by Mrs. Herman Weaver. Infanticide by some unknown
person. 4 Dist.
1924. July 18. Unknown. White Infant. Found dead wrapped in newspaper in
women's toilet room of the I.C.R.R. Station at 63rd St. and Dorchester Ave.
Death caused by stabbing with a hat pin or needle by some unknown person.5
Dist.
***
All of this was so absorbing for Hopkins that by the time a reporter
arrived to talk to her about the books, she had already inserted dozens of
little pieces of paper between the pages that carried the cases that
interested her the most.
"What I think about all of this now is that nothing has really changed,"
she said. " . . . I didn't think there would have been so many abortions
then, but then you think about why. I guess women just didn't have much of
an alternative."
The records section at the police department is eager to get its books
back. They are the only source of information available on very old
murders. The people in records won't let you look at them, but they will
use them to find specific information about killings.
Archives Director John Daly said he wants to try to make arrangements with
the Chicago Police Department to have some kind of ceremony when the books
are eventually returned because of their historical value.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
US Launches Covert Program To Aid Colombia (According To
'The Dallas Morning News,' Several Sources Who Spoke On Condition
Of Anonymity Said That Tens Of Millions Of Taxpayer Dollars Are Going Into
Covert Operations Across Southern Colombia Employing US Special Forces,
Former Green Berets, Gulf War Veterans And Even A Few Figures From Covert
CIA-Backed Operations In Central America During The 1980s - Some Have Been
Involved In Direct Combat With Colombian Guerrillas)
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 20:59:37 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: U.S. Launches Covert Program to Aid Colombia
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Paul Wolf (paulwolf@icdc.com)
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com
Pubdate: Wed, 19 Aug 1998
Author: Tod Robberson
U.S. LAUNCHES COVERT PROGRAM TO AID COLOMBIA
Military, mercenaries hired, sources say
BOGOTA -- A major offensive by leftist guerrillas this month has dealt a
serious blow to U.S. anti-narcotics efforts in the primary cocaineproducing
areas of Colombia, according to participants in U.S.-directed jungle
operations here.
The guerrillas' rapidly expanding military might also is raising difficult
policy problems for Washington about how to bolster the Colombian armed
forces while avoiding the appearance of becoming enmeshed in a
counter-insurgency war.
It remains unclear how extensive the damage is to U.S.
intelligence gathering, anti-narcotics and other operations in southeastern
Colombia, where hundreds of guerrillas overran armed forces bases two weeks
ago. But since the rebel offensive began Aug. 3, a U.S. Embassy spokesman
said, there has been a "strategic redeployment" of all American personnel
working under government contract in the zone of conflict.
The spokesman declined to give specifics, but up to 100 Americans
reportedly had been deployed in the area, mainly at a large armed forces
and police base in San Jose del Guaviare, 180 miles southeast of Bogota.
U.S. intelligence and anti-narcotics sources say the Clinton administration
has responded to the guerrilla threat by launching a multimillion-dollar
covert program --employing mercenaries, private contractors and active-duty
military personnel-- to support the Colombian armed forces. They say the
program, which involves live-combat training among other activities, goes
well beyond the stated U.S. mission of fighting drug traffickers in
Colombia.
Critics in Washington question whether such a program could be designed to
skirt congressional restrictions on aid to Colombia, particularly when U.S.
training, equipment and combat support might be going to army units linked
to human rights abuses.
U.S. Ambassador Curtis Kamman declined an interview request to discuss any
such U.S. activities here.
Several sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that tens of
millions of taxpayer dollars are going into a covert operations across
southern Colombia employing, among others, U.S. Special Forces, former
Green Berets, Gulf War veterans and even a few figures from covert
CIA-backed operations in Central America during the 1980s. Some have been
involved in direct combat with Colombian guerrillas, the sources said.
Financial support
Since 1990, according to a February report by the Government Accounting
Office and other official data, the United States earmarked more than $830
million in counternarcotics support to Colombia. Of that, however, only
one-third went directly to anti-narcotics assistance, while the remaining
two-thirds went for military-related expenditures, the GAO report said.
Colombia is slated to receive another $208 million starting next year.
By contrast, the U.S. Southern Command estimated that in 1995 alone, the
largest guerrilla group here, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, earned $647 million from protecting drug labs, airstrips and
illicit-crop plantations.
U.S. officials concede that the increased involvement of guerrillas in
trafficking activities has made the U.S. mission in Colombia more
complicated.
"We would be remiss to not underscore the depth of concern we have," said
White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey during a visit here Aug. 7. "The
facts of the matter are that the FARC is heavily involved in protecting,
transporting and, in some cases, operating drug labs. It's given them such
an enormous source of wealth that, arguably, their firepower, their pay
scales, their intelligence services are more sophisticated than that of the
[government] forces that guard this democracy."
International human rights groups argue that the linkage between the
guerrillas and drug traffickers has allowed Washington to expand covert
counterinsurgency operations in Colombia without having to face public or
congressional scrutiny, particularly on human rights issues.
Since much of the money spent by the U.S. government in Colombia is covert
aid, it does not have to be reported publicly, the rights groups say.
"The lack of transparency really is the key," said Robin Kirk, who monitors
Colombia for Human Rights Watch/Americas. "More or less, the Defense
Department can spend its chunk of money as it sees fit, and it's impossible
to know where it's going. The amount of CIA money being spent in Colombia
is impossible to find out."
Carlos Salinas, of Amnesty International in Washington, said he faced
similar roadblocks in attempting to get an accounting of U.S. military
activities during a recent visit to the U.S. Embassy here.
"We were struck by the adamant refusal to provide any details that would
lead to a transparent view of U.S. military activities in Colombia," he
said. "Of course, the inevitable question that arises is, if indeed nothing
wrong is going on there, what is there to hide?"
Sources here said that the Clinton administration has technically abided by
legal restrictions on the deployment of active-duty military personnel in
zones of conflict by hiring retired Green Berets and other private
contractors to carry out sensitive jungle operations.
"Of course they have to keep it secret," said an intelligence operative
here, who asked not to be identified. "They're up to a lot of things that
they shouldn't be." He did not elaborate.
'Shady past'
Another participant in U.S. operations said he had flown combat missions
over Baghdad during the Gulf War and was involved in covert CIA operations
to assist Nicaraguan Contra guerrillas in the late 1980s. The participant
said he had flown several missions with Eugene Hasenfus, the sole American
survivor of a CIA-backed flight over Nicaragua that was shot down by
Sandinista troops Oct. 5, 1986.
"To get somebody out there to do those operations, you almost have to have
that shady past," said Joe Toft, the former chief of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration in Colombia.
Others working under U.S. contract here have received not only U.S. Special
Forces counterinsurgency training but have attended courses abroad,
including in Russia. There, according to one participant, they were taught
how to use some Russian-made military hardware found in Colombia as well as
counterinsurgency techniques based on Cuban and Russian models of guerrilla
warfare.
Some personnel participating in U.S. operations here are working under a
State Department contract with two private firms based in suburban
Washington: Dyncorp and East Inc. Officials of both companies said they
were not permitted to discuss their operations in Colombia and referred all
questions to the State Department. Officials did not return phone calls.
Both companies officially are providing pilot training and technical
support for Colombian illicit-crop eradication flights, according to U.S.
officials. But one pilot said he had conducted a number of missions that
went well beyond the scope of that definition, including assisting in the
deployment of Colombian counterinsurgency troops.
Shortly before the guerrilla offensive began this month, two East Inc.
pilots were killed near the military base at San Jose del Guaviare. A U.S.
Embassy spokesman said the circumstances of the pilots' deaths were still
under investigation. He could not confirm whether the pilots' bodies or the
plane wreckage had been recovered.
Dyncorp personnel who were based at San Jose del Guaviare before the U.S.
withdrawal said they were under strict orders not to talk to reporters.
The U.S. Embassy has attempted to discourage reporters from delving into
the activities of government-contracted personnel here.
Threats made
One U.S. reporter who attempted to talk to Dyncorp pilots at San Jose del
Guaviare said he was threatened with banishment from the U.S. Embassy if he
ever attempted to approach Dyncorp personnel again. Another reporter said
he was banned from embassy-sponsored briefings after the reporter quoted a
guerrilla leader as saying that U.S. military advisers would now be
targeted for attack.
"I can understand why the embassy would be sensitive to anything appearing
in the press about the civilian group out there," Mr. Toft said. "It's for
the safety of those people. If the guerrillas become aware of them, they
[the Americans] could be targeted."
Ms. Kirk and Mr. Salinas, the human rights activists, said the use of
covert aid and privately contracted personnel is troublesome because it may
permit the U.S. Embassy to circumvent restrictions imposed by Congress on
aid to Colombian military units linked to human rights abuses.
"If we found that the Department of Defense was using private contractors
in ways that are contrary to the intent of the law, that would be cause
for great concern," said Tim Rieser, an aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
"If the administration wants to shift its policy to support
counter-insurgency activities, then it should come to the Congress, and
Congress should debate it."
Under congressional foreign-aid restrictions sponsored by Sen. Leahy,
military units must be "vetted" of officers with spotty human rights
records before those units can receive assistance, such as training and
equipment, administered by the State Department.
Mr. Rieser said previous Pentagon attempts to avoid applying those
restrictions prompted Sen. Leahy earlier this month to draft legislation
requiring compliance. Although the Defense Department has said it would
agree to the proposed law, he said, the CIA rejects such restrictions.
Some U.S. Special Forces troops currently are allowed to participate in
training exercises with Colombian soldiers, both from vetted and unvetted
units, under a Pentagon exchange program in existence since 1991. U.S.
officials said those American troops have not been assigned to combat
roles, although they are authorized to fight if fired upon.
Copyright 1998 The Dallas Morning News
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 60 (A Weekly Summary Of Drug Policy News
From The Media Awareness Project, Including The Drug War Fact Of The Week -
85 Percent Of The Increase In The Federal Prison Population From 1985 To 1995
Was Due To Drug Convictions, According To The US Department Of Justice's
Bureau Of Statistics' 'Prisoners In 1996')
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 12:17:02 -0700
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, August 19, 1998 No. 60
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
In 10 minutes a week you can stay aware and informed on drug policy
developments worldwide.
Consider investing another 10 minutes to write a letter to the editor
using the email addresses provided in this publication.
You CAN make a difference!
***
DrugSense Weekly, August 19, 1998, No. 60
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org/
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
Regulating Cannabis Symposium - London, September 5, 1998
* Weekly News In Review
Drug Policy -
'Drug-War Speak'
OPED: Our Efforts Have Failed Miserably
Springfield Needle Exchange Foes Move To Force November Referendum
Waukegan High School Says No To Drug Tests
Giuliani Orders 5 City Hospitals To Wean Addicts Off Methadone
Updates-
U.S. Agrees To Pay Family In Teen's Border Killing
CIA Role In S.F. Coke Case Disclosed
Hemp Activist Appeals Charge of Contempt While on A Jury
Incarceration-
Time may be right for private prisons
State Will Need Private Prisons, Official Says
When Prisons Bulge, It's Good News
Medical Marijuana-
Prop. 215 Disallowed In Chavez Case
PUB LTE: Feds Target Medical Pot
Marijuana Club Given Official Role in Oakland
International News-
Colombia on the Brink
DEA Chief, Colombian President Patch Up Ties
Anti-Drug Base Destroyed By Colombia Rebels
Colombian Army's Third in Command Allegedly Led Two Lives
Ex-Colombian Minister Seeks Asylum In Costa Rica
Colombia- So Legalise Them?
U.S. Will Help Colombia Coca Growers Switch To Other Crops
* Hot Off The 'Net
Seattle HempFest site and Common Sense Tabloid
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
Drug War Facts - a multi-faceted resource
* Quote of the Week
Thomas Jefferson
* Fact of the Week
Drug Prisoners
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
Editor's Note: We felt that announcing this important symposium would
be a good trade off to our usual weekly feature article.
***
REGULATING CANNABIS
Options for control in the 21st Century
An International Symposium
London, September 5, 1998
Regent's College
Academics, lawyers, policy makers, scientists, public health officials,
drug professionals, criminologists, politicians, policy institutes, law
enforcement agencies, journalists, social scientists, researchers.
The Lindesmith Center and Release invite individuals and organisations,
with a policy or professional interest, to attend a symposium on
options for the regulation and decriminalisation of cannabis. This
symposium will bring together leading experts from Europe, Australia
and North America in the fields of science, jurisprudence, sociology
and government to examine the legal and social implications of
regulating the world's most popular illicit drug. This interactive
conference aims to shed light on optimal cannabis controls and bring a
new maturity and clarity to public debate. Particular attention will
also be devoted to exploring pragmatic opportunities for reform within
the context of prohibition and examining recent constitutional and
judicial developments in the regulation of cannabis.
THE ORGANISERS
RELEASE and THE LINDESMITH CENTER
This is a collaborative event organised by The Lindesmith Center and
Release.
The Lindesmith Center is a drug policy research institute founded in
1994 as a project of the Open Society Institute, a private foundation
that encourages public debate and policy alternatives in complex and
often controversial fields. With offices in New York and San Francisco,
The Center undertakes and supports innovative projects relevant to
drugs, drug users, and drug policies overlooked or ignored in public
discussion and government-funded research.
Release is the UK based drugs and legal advice charity which was
founded in 1967 when it established the world's first ever 24-hour
drugs and legal advice helpline. The organisation's range of innovative
services, pioneering work with young people as well as its commitment
to the civil rights of drug users, has contributed to its unique
credibility in the drugs and legal advice field.
COST
The cost of attendance, including refreshments, lunch and conference
pack, is £75 (sterling). A discount rate of £37 for research students
is available upon request. Delegates are responsible for their own
accommodations but the symposium office at Release is pleased to
assist with details of hotels available at a range of prices.
VENUE
The symposium will be held at The Regent's College Conference Centre,
situated within the formal gardens of London's Regent's Park. The
venue offers a quiet and idyllic setting for the symposium and is only
a half mile away from the arts, entertainment and heritage of London's
West End.
PROGRAM
Regulating Cannabis will explore various models of cannabis control,
both actual and proposed, address legal developments concerning
production, possession and sale and examine UN international
conventions. The meeting is intended not as a platform for advocating
any one solution but rather a forum for considering a range of
effective cannabis control schemes.
Speakers and contributors include *
Robert Ali, Chair of the Australian National Illicit Drugs Expert
Committee.
Martin Barriuso, President of Kalamudia Association.
Professor Lorenz Bollinger, University of Bremen.
Professor Peter Cohen, University of Amsterdam.
Dr. Patricia Erickson, Senior Scientist, Addiction Research
Foundation, Toronto. Benedikt Fischer, Scientist and Coordinator, Drug
Policy Studies, Addiction Research Foundation, Toronto.
Mike Goodman, Director of Release.
Steve James, Manager, Victoria Police Cannabis Cautioning Program.
Professor Adriaan Jansen, University of Amsterdam.
Professor Krysztof Krajewski, University of Crakow.
Professor Harry Levine, Queens College.
Mr. David MacDonald, The Australian National University.
Ueli Minder, Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
Dr. John P. Morgan, City College of New York.
Ethan Nadelmann, Director of The Lindesmith Center.
Professor Craig Reinerman, University of California.
Professor Christian Nils Robert, Université de Geneve.
Susanne Schardt, Director Coordination Bureau - European Cities on
Drug Policy.
Professor Eric Single, University of Toronto.
Professor Lynn Zimmer, Queens College.
* The majority of these speakers have confirmed attendance and will be
joined by others not mentioned.
For more information regarding the agenda or supporting literature for
the symposium, please contact Mireille Jacobson at the Lindesmith
Center at (212) 548-0603, ext. 1469 or send an e-mail to
mjacobson@sorosny.org. On these matters as well as for registration
information, please contact Vicki Charles at Release at (44/171)
729-5255, fax (44/171) 729-2599 or send an e-mail to
info@release.org.uk. Background information can also be found on The
Lindesmith Center website, www.lindesmith.org. Registration will be
available on Release's website, www.release.org.uk, as of August 12,
1998.
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Drug Policy -
***
COMMENT:
As the rhetorical war between prohibition and reform heats up, it's
probable that the prohibitionist tactic of vilification of
"legalizers" might stimulate reformers to point out the inherent
dishonesty of their tactics. Paul Bischke's letter is a good model for
the best tone to use: logical, tough, and above all, not strident.
In the same vein, outspoken editorial criticism of both the results
and motives of present policy like this one by James Dickey in the
Denver Post, once unthinkable, are no longer even rare.
Even so, a number of local stories attest to continuing grass roots
support for policy; backlash against needle exchange has produced an
important ballot initiative in Mass.; in Waukegan, reason prevailed
over zealotry, but the rhetoric still favors the "drug free" mentality.
In a supreme display of arrogance, "Doctor" Giuliani overruled the
opinions of qualified professionals and prescribed morality instead of
methadone for New York city's addicts on maintenance therapy.
***
`DRUG-WAR SPEAK'
ST. PAUL - Stephen Chapman rightly chastises Gen. Barry McCaffrey for
formulating public policy on an unfactual basis ("In the drug war,
fantasy beats facts," Commentary, July 23), but he withheld the most
important punch. McCaffrey's misinformation is not random; it is
systematic. Whether it's his disingenuous characterizations of needle
exchange, medical marijuana or drug legalization, McCaffrey does not
misspeak in ways that make America's current drug policy look bad, only
in ways that justify it. Politeness aside, Gen. McCaffrey is a liar.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 1998
Author: Paul M. Bischke, Co-director, Drug Policy Reform Group of Minnesota
Section: Sec. 1, p. 12
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n670.a03.html
***
OUR EFFORTS HAVE FAILED MISERABLY
Aug. 9 - We have spent almost $1 trillion since 1971 fighting the "war
on drugs.'' We have killed innocent people, raided unsuspecting
families, built dozens of prisons, confiscated billions of dollars of
property, violated the constitution, sacrificed our civil liberties
and, through it all, accepted the lies of those with a vested interest
in perpetuating this nonsense.
[snip]
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Contact: letters@denverpost.com
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Pubdate: Sun, 9 August 1998
Author: Robert F. Hickey
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n670.a04.html
***
SPRINGFIELD NEEDLE EXCHANGE FOES MOVE TO FORCE NOVEMBER REFERENDUM
SPRINGFIELD -- Opponents of the city's recently approved needle
exchange program have submitted more than 10,000 signatures to force a
November referendum on the issue.
[snip]
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Pubdate: Wednesday, 12 August, 1998
Author: Associated Press
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n679.a06.html
***
WAUKEGAN HIGH SCHOOL SAYS NO TO DRUG TESTS
In the wake of their decision not to pursue random drug testing of all
Waukegan High School students, Waukegan School District 60 officials
said Wednesday that they are satisfied to continue supporting
drug-awareness programs already in place.
[snip]
Pubdate: 13 Aug 1998
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Author: Sheryl Kennedy
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n692.a02.html
***
GIULIANI ORDERS 5 CITY HOSPITALS TO WEAN ADDICTS OFF METHADONE
NEW YORK - Following through on his promise to overhaul drug treatment
in New York City, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has decided that heroin
addicts treated at city hospitals will generally be allowed to get
methadone for no more than three months, city health officials Friday.
The policy change, which will take place in about 60 days, will affect
2,000 addicts who take methadone, a synthetic drug that has been widely
prescribed to blunt heroin cravings for the last 30 years. Under the
new plan, addicts enrolled in programs at five city hospitals will be
weaned from methadone within three months, instead of taking it
indefinitely as they do now. The programs will continue to offer
intensive counseling and other services after that time.
The mayor has argued that methadone maintenance programs simply
substitute one dependency for another, and that abstinence from drugs
is a more moral and decent approach to curing addiction.
[snip]
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 15 Aug 1998
author: Rachel L. Swarns
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n691.a05.html
***
Updates
***
COMMENT:
Three old stories were updated during the week; the Hernandez family
will receive money for their son's life- hardly a satisfactory
exchange; nor has the government renounced use of the military for
police duty or admitted guilt.
Each new round of official denials of a CIA-Contra-coke connection
seems to be followed by new evidence casting doubt on those denials;
this time it's DOJ's own internal report reported on in embarrassing
detail by the SF Examiner.
Was Gary Webb on to something, after all?
Finally, Laura Kriho's case quietly began its long journey to the
Supreme Court. While our legal profession has found it impossible to
set aside professional hubris long enough to recognize the central
position of juror immunity must occupy in British and American law,
one can hope they and the general public will finally be educated by
the discussion which is sure to be stimulated by this case.
***
SETTLEMENT TOPS $1 MILLION IN SHOOTING BY MARINE
Federal officials agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle the
claims of a Redford, Texas, family whose son was killed last year by a
U.S. Marine on a counter-drug patrol, the family's attorney said
Tuesday.
A second state grand jury, meanwhile, finished deliberations this week
without returning criminal indictments in the death, said Jack
Zimmerman, an attorney for the Marine.
[snip]
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com
Pubdate: 12 Aug 1998
Authors: David LaGesse and Nancy San Martin (DMN)
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n679.a03.html
***
CIA ROLE IN S.F. COKE CASE DISCLOSED
Cables show U.S. attorney helped shield contras in '84
On a hot August day in 1984, a lawyer from CIA headquarters walked into
the office of a federal prosecutor in San Francisco to ask for a favor.
The CIA man was reluctant to give his name or his government
affiliation, the assistant U.S. attorney recalled, and embarked on an
"opaque conversation" about what he called an "uncomfortable situation"
[snip]
The 407-page report by Inspector General Michael R. Bromwich sheds new
light on the controversial refund, saying it resulted partly from the
CIA's "desire to protect the public image of the contras or the CIA"
and thus raised a question of "propriety."
The study confirms that the Justice Department and the CIA withheld
information about the case from a late 1980s U.S. Senate inquiry, a
former Senate investigator said.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: Aug. 10, 1998
Author: Seth Rosenfeld of the Examiner Staff
Section: Page A1
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n680.a05.html
***
HEMP ACTIVIST APPEALS CHARGE OF CONTEMPT WHILE ON A JURY
DENVER - The first juror convicted of contempt of court in over 300
years took her case to the Colorado Court of Appeals yesterday in a
campaign to win legitimacy for the jury-nullification movement.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tues, 11 Aug 1998
Source: Washington Times
Contact1: letter@twtmail.com
Contact2: 3600 New York Ave. NE Washington, D.C. 20002
Website: http://www.washtimes.com/
Author: Valerie Richardson The Washington Times
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n676.a01.html
***
Incarceration
***
COMMENT:
Hard on the heels of news that we have set a record number of
Americans under lock and key, comes fresh evidence that prison
construction still lags the demand, providing opportunity for
fast-growing private prison industry.
The number of inmates in American prisons is not distressing to
everyone; some are even gratified.
***
TIME MAY BE RIGHT FOR PRIVATE PRISONS
State's public prison system under scrutiny
Bans on private prison stall
FLORENCE, Ariz. - Just as Highway 79 greets this prison town sweltering
in the desert, the barbed wire and drab concrete walls of the Central
Arizona Detention Center emerge from a seemingly endless stretch of
cactus and rock.
[snip]
For California, this emblem of the private prison industry is no
mirage. In fact, the Arizona lockup may turn out to offer a glimpse
into what the future holds for the state's already overburdened prison
system.
[snip]
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 1998
Author: Howard Mintz, Mercury News Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n670.a08.html
***
STATE WILL NEED PRIVATE PRISONS, OFFICIAL SAYS
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (AP) - The state needs a private prison under
construction in northern Wisconsin even as it expands its own
penitentiary system, a corrections spokesman says.
"It just keeps increasing," Department of Corrections spokesman William
Clausius said of the inmate population. "In terms of the need for beds,
we would need to build a new prison every year just to keep up."
[snip]
Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 1998
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact: jsedit@onwis.com
Fax: (414) 224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n673.a07.html
***
WHEN PRISONS BULGE, IT'S GOOD NEWS
EVERY year, the Justice Department releases figures on the nation's
prison population, and they invariably set off a gnashing of teeth by
liberals about the injustice of it all.
[snip]
I tend to rejoice when I see that prisons are bulging. It is evidence,
I think, that government is finally performing one of its fundamental
functions: protecting and safeguarding the population.
[snip]
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: Mon, 10 Aug 1998
Author: Joseph Spear
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n670.a07.html
***
Medical Marijuana
***
COMMENT:
Medical use of Marijuana remained in the news, with California
manifesting polar extremes in acceptance of 215. In the South,
unrestrained repression of activists continued; Marvin Chavez seemed
to get a break when the judge who ruled against mention of 215 handed
the case off; however his judicial crony adopted the same unbelievable
logic.
A particularly outrageous aspect of Peter McWilliams' incarceration
without proper medical treatment is that it's being ignored by the
local media. This LTE by Gary Storck to a Madison, WI paper the only
mention I found in ANY Daily newspaper. For shame.
In the North, the Oakland City Council took innovative and courageous
action by implementing a suggestion first voiced several months ago by
a participant on DRCTalk. The legislation, which makes use of a
provision of the Controlled Substances Act, attracted nationwide press
attention, in marked contrast to McWilliams' plight in federal
detention.
***
PROP. 215 DISALLOWED IN CHAVEZ CASE
Medicinal pot: Activist to stand trial Aug. 24 on drug-sale
charges.
SANTA ANA - A second judge has banned the use of Prop. 215, the
medicinal marijuana initiative, from being argued before a jury in the
defense of activist Marvin Chavez.
Judge Frank F. Fasel said Prop. 215, known as the Compassionate Use Act
of 1996, is flawed, but said the state Legislature - and not the jury -
should make the measure workable.
[snip]
Source: Long Beach Press-Telegram
Contact: speakout@ptconnect.infi.net
Website: http://www.ptconnect.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 15 August 1998
Author: Joe Segura, Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n695.a05.html
***
FEDS TARGET MEDICAL POT
The recent indictment and arrest in Los Angeles of medical marijuana
patient-activists Peter McWilliams, Todd McCormick and others is
nothing but a cynical attempt by federal officials to silence these
outspoken defenders of medical rights.
[snip]
Not only is the federal government trying to silence these defenders of
liberty, but in the case of Peter McWilliams, they are apparently
trying to murder him by denying him his AIDS medications.
[snip]
This cruel and immoral war on medical marijuana patients must stop now.
Gary Storck Madison
Pubdate: Tue, 11 Aug 1998
Source: The Capital Times (WI)
Contact: tctvoice@madison.com
Website: http://www.madison.com/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n676.a03.html
***
MARIJUANA CLUB GIVEN OFFICIAL ROLE IN OAKLAND
LOS ANGELES - Opening a new front in the legal battle over medicinal
marijuana, Oakland leaders Thursday designated the outlawed Oakland
Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative an official arm of the city, thereby
becoming the first municipal government to dispense the drug to
seriously ill patients.
In its new partnership, Oakland is attempting to find its own solution
to the unresolved issue of medicinal marijuana use in California.
Though voters in November 1996 approved a statewide ballot measure
allowing patients to grow and smoke marijuana under certain conditions,
the law has faced repeated challenges from the California attorney
general and the U.S. Justice Department.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 14 Aug 1998
Author: V. Dion Haynes
Section: Sec. 1, p. 1
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n696.a08.html
***
International News
***
COMMENT:
Global drug prohibition policy combines with geography to create both
"producer" and "transit" nations. All are governed by corrupt
governments in one of two molds: weak and controlled by successful
drug criminals, or repressive and indistinguishable from successful
drug criminals. Civil wars are the norm, with the rebels either
financed by drugs or by "taxes" on drugs.
Colombia, a case in point, is obviously sliding deeper into crisis; a
weak Government allied with the United States is increasingly
overmatched by both the cartels and FARC rebels. The following
articles point to a looming catastrophe, one which doctrinaire and
unrealistic American policy is incapable of even acknowledging, let
alone correcting.
***
COLOMBIA ON THE BRINK
BOGOTA-A new president; big guerrilla attacks, yet fresh hopes of
peace; an economy to be revitalised; a new politics to be born; renewed
links with the United States; new tactics in an old drug war: Colombia
faces momentous change
[snip]
Source: Economist, The
Contact: letters@economist.com
Website: http://www.economist.com/
Pubdate: August 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n675.a04.html
***
U.S. DEA CHIEF, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT PATCH UP TIES
BOGOTA, (Reuters) - Top U.S. anti-drugs official Thomas Constantine met
Colombian President Andres Pastrana Thursday in the latest sign that
Washington was recovering its dented confidence in Bogota's commitment
to the drug war.
Constantine, chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), was
making his second visit this year to Colombia, the world's leading
supplier of cocaine and a major player in the high-grade heroin trade.
[snip]
Source: Reuters
Pubdate: 13 Aug 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n688.a07.html
***
ANTI-DRUG BASE DESTROYED BY COLOMBIA REBELS
Offensive: A strong push by guerrillas leaves nothing left of the
nation's largest facility fighting the cocaine trade.
Bogota, Colombia - The faint voice crackled over the two-way radio: The
base has been destroyed. There is nothing left. The police have been
taken away as hostages, and the soldiers,too."
[snip]
Source: Reuters
Pubdate: 6 Aug 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n688.a06.html
***
COLOMBIAN ARMY'S THIRD IN COMMAND ALLEGEDLY LED TWO LIVES
General Reportedly Served as a Key CIA Informant While Maintaining Ties
to Death Squads Financed by Drug Traffickers
For years Colombian Gen. Ivan Ramirez Quintero was a key intelligence
source for the United States. After training in Washington he was the
first head of a military intelligence organization designed by U.S.
experts to fight Marxist guerrillas and drug traffickers,
[snip]
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 11 Aug 1998
Author: Douglas Farah and Laura Brooks
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n686.a07.html
***
EX-COLOMBIAN MINISTER SEEKS ASYLUM IN COSTA RICA
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) - Colombia's former Energy and Mines
Minister, who fled his country after being charged with taking money
from drug traffickers, has sought political asylum in Costa Rica,
officials said on Thursday.
[snip]
Source: Reuters
Pubdate: 13 Aug 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n688.a08.html
***
SO LEGALISE THEM?
No one country on its own can sensibly decriminalise illegal drugs. The
world could collectively, but won't. Yet suppose it did: would Colombia
be better off? Yes, says Ernesto Samper.
It is a qualified yes. He points to the huge harm that drug money has
done to Colombia. To would-be legalisers, that strengthens the case for
change.
[snip]
Source: Economist, The
Contact: letters@economist.com
Website: http://www.economist.com/
Pubdate: 8 Aug 1998
Section: Page 32
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n687.a02.html
***
U.S. WILL HELP COLOMBIA COCA GROWERS SWITCH TO OTHER CROPS
BOGOTA, Colombia, Aug. 13, 1998 - After long refusing to pay for
programs to help Colombia's coca growers switch to legal crops, the
United States is now agreeing to finance alternative development under
this country's new administration.
[snip]
Source: Economist, The
Contact: letters@economist.com
Website: http://www.economist.com/
Pubdate: 8 Aug 1998
Section: Page 32
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n687.a02.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
SEATTLE HEMP FEST AND COMMON SENSE DRUG NEWS TABLOID
Check out the line up of guests and bands for this weeks exciting Seattle
Hemp Fest at:
http://www.seattlehempfest.com
and
http://www.seattlehempfest.com/lineup.html
Seattle is one of the first major events in a series of annual events
that help promote education of the public on drug policy issues.
Besides that it is just plain fun!
This prestigious event will be the first distribution point for the
newly completed Drug Information Tabloid "Common Sense for Drug
Policy." It will be handed out at festivals, college campuses, concerts
and elsewhere nationwide to over 500,000 people between now and
October. This excellent publication is a single point information
resource for getting aware, informed, and involved in drug policy
issues. It includes most important reform organizations and URLs as
well as a wealth of information.
Be sure to attend the Seattle Hempfest if you can and don't miss your
copy of the Common Sense for Drug Policy tabloid.
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
The Drug War Facts collection at:
http://www.drugsense.org/factbook/
is proving to be a very valuable resource indeed. In a recent interview
on Salt Lake City radio station KTKK Mark Greer used the collection to
augment the discussion and to provide facts and cites on a moments
notice by having the web page loaded on his computer screen during the
interview. It may be coincidence but 100% of those calling in to the
show expressed agreement that reform was an idea whose time has come.
This collection of valuable facts can be used in any number of creative
ways. Try logging onto this page the next time you write a letter or
article or just prior to a debate. The convenient index by subject will
provide facts and cites in seconds. Your letters, interviews,
discussions or debates can benefit from regular use and familiarization
of this worthwhile resource.
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
`A society that will trade a little liberty for a little order will lose
both, and deserve neither' - Thomas Jefferson
***
FACT OF THE WEEK
Eighty five percent (85%) of the increase in the federal prison population
from 1985 to 1995 was due to drug convictions.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Statistics. Prisoners in
1996. (Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.)
***
DrugSense 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.
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[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for August 13-19