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

Patient Advocates Want Viagra Back On Oregon Health Plan List
(According To 'The Associated Press,' A Group Of Men Who Say They Need
Pfizer's New Drug For Impotence Plan To Argue Thursday Before The Oregon
Health Services Commission That It Was Wrong To Reclassify Impotency
As A Psychological Rather Than A Medical Condition And To Take It
Off The List Of 574 Illnesses Covered By Oregon's State-Funded
Health Insurance Plan For Poor People)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Patient advocates want Viagra back on Oregon Health Plan list

The Associated Press
8/26/98 7:50 PM

By AMALIE YOUNG

Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Patient advocates said Oregon Health Plan officials
were "penny wise and pound foolish" when they decided to stop covering the
impotency drug Viagra -- pushing the pills out of reach for low-income men.

A group of men who say they need the drug plan to argue Thursday before the
Oregon Health Services Commission that the panel was wrong to reclassify
impotency as a psychological rather than a medical condition and take if off
the list of 574 covered illnesses.

They contend impotence is caused by such conditions as multiple sclerosis,
diabetes, cancer or spinal cord injury.

"Impotence is anything but a laughing matter to men and their families,"
said Harold King, a 77-year-old prostate cancer patient who spoke at a news
conference organized by the Oregon Campaign for Patient Rights.

The group's chairman, Dr. Jim Davis, said impotence, if left untreated, can
lead to depression and have a profound affect on relationships with spouses
and children.

Viagra, approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in March, had
been covered by the Oregon Health Plan until the decision was made in June
to no longer pay for the $10 tablets. The change takes effect Oct. 1.

Darren Coffman, director of the commission, said the change was merely a
correction of a ranking error. "Unless there is some other information that
would be a compelling reason to make a change, I am not sure that any change
would be made," he said.

The Legislature could override the commission's decision, but that is not
likely, said Hersh Crawford, director of Oregon's Medicare program.

Either way, the patient advocates say, the cost of covering Viagra is not
the issue. Of the 340,000 people covered by the plan, only about 10 percent
are men.

"They are being penny wise and pound foolish," said Dr. James Hancey, who
said covering Viagra would actually save money by preventing later treatment
of depression caused by impotency.

Two lawmakers backed state coverage of Viagra during Wednesday's news
conference.

State Sen. Jeannette Hamby of Hillsboro, a former nurse, said the Oregon
Health Plan has always focused on improving the quality of life. "If it adds
to their quality of life, then we've covered it."

Added Rep. Frank Shields of Portland: "We're not just here advocating for
young studs to have their fun -- we're talking about health."

(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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

Viagra Death Toll Up To 69 By July (The Bend, Oregon, 'Bulletin'
Cites US Food And Drug Administration Figures On Pfizer's New Drug
For Impotence - The Real Toll Could Be As High As 123
Out Of More Than 3.6 Million Prescriptions For Viagra
Dispensed Between Late March And July Of This Year)

From: cwagoner@bendnet.com
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 20:52:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: DPFOR: Viagra death toll up to 69 by July
To: dpfor@drugsense.org
Sender: owner-dpfor@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfor@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/

This article appeared in the Bend Bulletin, Bend, Oregon on August 26th
1998, Page: A-3, Section: News Briefs.

Viagra Death Toll Up To 69 by July

WASHINTON- The Food and Drug Administration says 69 Americans taking the
impotence pill Viagra died between late March and July, with 46 of these
cases linked to cardiovascular incidents.

In a summary issued this week, the FDA said it has actually received
reports of 123 patients who died after getting a prescription for the drug.
But of these reported incidents, 12 concerned foreign patients, 30 came
from unvarifiable sources and 12 involved cases where it was unknown if the
drug had been used.

The FDA said more than 3.6 million prescriptions for Viagra were
dispensed between late March and July of this year. Of the 69 confirmed
deaths, the cause of death was unknown for 21 patients, two had strokes and
46 had cardiovascular events, including 17 cardiac arrests.

The median age among those who died, based on ages provided for 55 of
the patients, was 64.

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

War On Drugs Slammed At The Seattle Hempfest ('The Queen Anne/Magnolia News'
In Seattle Covers Last Weekend's Festival At Myrtle Edwards Park)

Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 15:10:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: Vivian (viv@hemp.net)
To: hemp-talk@hemp.net
Subject: HT: AROD: Local coverage of Seattle hempfest (fwd)
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 09:28:03 -0700
From: "kevin b. zeese" (kevzeese@laser.net)
Reply-To: arodemo@drugsense.org
To: ARO (aro@drugsense.org), ARO Demonstrations (arodemo@drugsense.org)
Subject: AROD: Local coverage of Seattle hempfest

Friends:

In addition to the Seattle Post Intellegencer and local news shows the
Seattle fest was covered in local community papers. Here is an article
which shows that festivals can produce useful news.

Kevin

Article from Seattle's "Queen Anne/Magnolia News" of August 26th, 1998,
front page and second page.

***

War on Drugs slammed at the Seattle Hempfest
by Russ Zabel

Fewer people were actually smoking marijuana at this year's Seattle
Hempfest in Myrtle Edwards Park than last year, according
to Seattle Police Department spokeswoman Christie-Lynne Bonner.

One felony and two misdemeanor arrests were made, 30 people smoking pot
were identified and released, and 35 park-exclusion orders were issued, she
said. "Overall, it was a pretty mellow event," Bonner added.

But the political rhetoric was anything but mellow as festival organizer
Vivian McPeak slammed existing marijuana laws from the
main stage between sets featuring several local bands.

"The current U.S. drug-law policies - commonly referred to as the War on
Drugs - is a flagrant violation of basic human rights, sovereignty of the
human body, and a national disgrace to the principles of free choice and
human dignity," he said.

Describing it as a mockery of justice, McPeak also said those convicted
of drug offenses sometimes face stiffer penalties than murderers or rapists
and later lose lifelong privileges of student aid and welfare rights.

Warming up to the subject, McPeak also charged that excessive fines,
jail sentences and forfeitures exclusively levied against drug offenders are
unconstitutional and an unreasonable assault on the Bill of Rights.

"In fact," he added, "forfeiture laws are so liberally applied as to
constitute theft in many cases. Victimless crimes are punished
by the destruction of entire families, and (by) the incarceration of
decent, non-violent, and often productive human beings."

The November Coalition, a Colville, Wash. based organization focusing on
the plight of jailed drug offenders and their families, followed the same
theme. November Coalition director Nora Callahan said the government tells
people the drug war is being waged for the sake of the children.

"The Drug War is a fraud," Callahan said on the Ralph Seeley Memorial
Stage. Seeley, a cancer patient and attorney who died last spring,
unsuccessfully sued Washington State over his right to smoke marijuana to
alleviate the debilitating effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

"There are 2.5 (two and a half) million children in this country with
one or both parents in prison on drug charges." Callahan went on to say. She
also said more drugs are crossing the borders into the United States than
there were 30 years ago when the Drug War began.

Callahan also pointed to several state initiatives that would legalize
medical use of marijuana - including I-692 in Washington - as evidence
public opinion is shifting about the issue. "It's time we stop the war," she
added.

Kevin Zeese, an East Coast attorney working with the November Coalition,
said politicians are using drugs as a scapegoat. "Our kids are being robbed,"
he added. "Instead of the truth, we get DARE (Drug Awareness and Resistance
Education)."

Zeese also noted the numbers of people in jail for drug offenses has
skyrocketed in the last several years. In Texas, he said for example, 25
prisons have been built recently while only one university was. "The U.S. is
becoming the prison nation of the world," Zeese said.

Other uses of hemp were promoted at the festival, as well. Hemp cookies,
hemp clothing, hemp lollipops, and hemp soda pop were for sale, none of
which contained the psychoactive ingredients of marijuana, the vendors said.

Although none was available, Hempen Ale - which uses marijuana seeds in its
ingredients - was one of the major sponsors of the Hempfest, and vice
president of operations Steve Nordahl said the brewery supports industrial
uses of hemp. As for medical or recreational use of marijuana, "We can't take
any stand on that," he said.

The Washington Hemp Education Network, which also had a booth at the
festival, provides information about both industrial and medical uses of
marijuana.

David Edwards, a retired pathologist and doctor from Olympia staffing the
booth, said he supports the medical use of marijuana. "I think it's barbaric
that patients are being denied a safe and effective drug because of
politics," he said of grass.

Edwards also faulted the government for denying that marijuana has medical
uses while, at the same time, blocking any scientific studies that would
prove otherwise.

A number of speakers at the Hempfest praised marijuana for it's medical
effects, and they included McPeak, who had a firsthand account. His father -
who was suffering from cancer - stayed with him for his final days, McPeak
said.

"My father showed up weighing 85 pounds at six foot tall looking like a
skeleton, looking like Death," McPeak said, "The first three days, he
couldn't hold down an egg, and I knew he was going to die that week. I
made my dad marijuana brownies," he said to a roar of approval from the
crowd.

"I said, 'Dad, you're really skinny. This is not candy; this is medicine.
Take one and see how it works." McPeak said he then went shopping and came
back to find his father had eaten four big pieces. "You know what my father
said to next?" McPeak asked the crowd. "He said, 'Take me to KFC.' "

His father bought pasta, sauce, and some ice-cream that day, came home, ate
a full serving and kept it down, McPeak said. "And he lived three months
longer than the doctors said was possible."

"I did it before, I'll do it again, and I encourage you to do it," McPeak
said of providing marijuana to sick people. "I'm talking about easing
suffering and saving life. Am I a criminal?" he asked the crowd. "Noooo,"
the crowd roared back.

"It's time to change the laws," McPeak said. "This is disgusting," he said of
current drug regulations. "It's a disgrace; it's a national atrocity."

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

Retire The Idiot (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Francisco Bay Guardian'
Urges California Voters Not To Elect As Governor The State's
Current Attorney General, Dan Lungren, Nemesis Of Proposition 215)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 23:08:54 -0700
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: R Givens (rgivens@sirius.com)
Subject: DPFCA: PUB LTE: Retire the Idiot
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

Scored another bullseye in ABL (anybody but Lungren) campaign. Keep those
cards and letters coming. I hear Danny is trailing by 12% so far. Let's see
if we can't make that a 20% deficit by election day. Lungren is AGAINST a
lot of things, but is not FOR anything. We can't afford to have this man in
politics anymore. Let's make this his Waterloo.

Write a couple of ABL letters to the California papers every week.
R Givens

***

Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Source: San Francisco Bay Guardian
Contact: letters@sfbayguardian.com
Website: http://www.sfbayguardian.com/

Since Proposition 215 passed, Dan Lungren has insisted that the voters
didn't understand what we were doing and certainly didn't mean to really
legalize medical marijuana. Since then Lungren has tried to invalidate the
voters' will using the full opposition of the Attorney General's Office.

Mr. Lungren seems to think that two years of unrelenting opposition to
medical marijuana for his own personal reasons will somehow change the
opinion of the electorate. That alone shows insufficient intelligence to
govern the state. What an idiot.

On Election Day, I'm going to be one of many millions of Californians who
let Lungren know that we understood exactly what we meant by voting for
Prop. 215 by sending this inane jackass into retirement!

Redford Givens
San Francisco

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

Judge Drops Drug Charge, Lashes Former US Attorney
('The San Francisco Examiner' Says US District Judge Justin Quackenbush
Ruled Tuesday That Former US Attorney Michael Yamaguchi Had Engaged In
'Reckless Disregard' For The Constitutional Rights Of Alleged Oakland
Cocaine Kingpin Anthony Flowers, And Dismissed The Most Severe Charge
Against Flowers - Operating A Continuing Criminal Enterprise, Which Carried
A Mandatory Minimum Sentence Of 20 Years In Prison)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 17:02:54 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Judge Drops Drug Charge, Lashes Former U.S. Attorney
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, 26 Aug 1998
Source: San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com
Author: Seth Rosenfeld OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

JUDGE DROPS DRUG CHARGE, LASHES FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY

Says Prejudicial Comments Made To Press Tainted Jury

In withering remarks from the bench, a federal judge dropped a major drug
charge after concluding that the U.S. attorney's office in San Francisco
made prejudicial comments about the infamous case to the press.

U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush ruled Tuesday that former U.S.
Attorney Michael Yamaguchi engaged in "reckless disregard" for the
constitutional rights of alleged cocaine kingpin Anthony "Ant" Flowers.

The senior judge said Yamaguchi violated both professional rules and his
admonition not to discuss the 1996 prosecution. The former prosecutor, he
said, had commented on the case and re-released an earlier press release on
it, which, the judge said, was a shocking "parade of horribles."

On that ground, Quackenbush dismissed the heaviest charge against Flowers:
operating a "continuing criminal enterprise" - that is, supervising an
illegal drug ring - that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years
in prison.

The U.S. attorney's office declined to comment on the ruling, as did
Yamaguchi's lawyer, Jerrold Ladar.

Maureen Kallins, Flowers' lawyer, said the judge's action was "brave and
honest . . . and hopefully a message will go out to prosecutors that they
have to play by the rules."

The ruling was the latest turn in a troubled case that has been cited as
one of the reasons Yamaguchi did not receive a federal judgeship and
resigned as U.S. attorney effective Monday. His successor, Robert S.
Mueller III, appeared at the hearing.

In taking what he said was unusual action, the senior judge, visiting from
Seattle, exercised his supervisory powers over court conduct.

He noted that in the first part of trial, he had instructed Yamaguchi to
make no further public comment on the case. The prosecutor had told a
reporter that though his office brought fewer cases than did other
districts, they were more serious, and cited the Flowers case.

At the end of part one in December 1996, Flowers was convicted of
conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine in Oakland. Four
other men also were convicted.

At this point - before the jury began part two of the trial, on the
continuing criminal enterprise charge - Yamaguchi faxed to three reporters
a summary of the verdict in phase one and a copy of a press release issued
more than two years earlier when Flowers was first charged in the case. The
release said a street gang run by Flowers was in "a bloody war" with rival
drug gangs.

But the judge found Tuesday that evidence of that had not been admitted at
trial. And, Kallins said, "My client has never been charged with violence
in his life."

This - along with Yamaguchi's comment to a reporter that the crackdown on
Flower's gang was partly responsible for a "big drop" in Oakland's homicide
rate - tainted the jury, the judge said.

A juror read one of the resulting news stories and phoned the judge, who
then questioned the jurors and found that some had engaged in misconduct by
reading or discussing news accounts.

On that basis, he last year reversed the convictions from part one of the
trial. The 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated them, though
further appeals by Flowers's lawyer are pending. On Tuesday the judge
separately dismissed charges of running a criminal enterprise, money
laundering and possessing illegal profits. And he criticized the U.S.
attorney's office for not having admitted its errors earlier.

1998 San Francisco Examiner

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

Drug Czar Seeking Unity In Plan For Guarding Border ('The Dallas Morning News'
Says General Barry McCaffrey Met With Border Officials In El Paso, Texas
And New Mexico Tuesday To Begin Firming Up His Plan, Which Centers On
The Creation Of A 'Border Czar' To Coordinate Efforts Along The Entire
US-Mexico Border)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 18:54:01 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: U.S. Drug Czar Seeking
Unity In Plan For Guarding Border
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Source: Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com

U.S. DRUG CZAR SEEKING UNITY IN PLAN FOR GUARDING BORDER

EL PASO (AP) -- U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey met with border
officials Tuesday to begin firming up his plan to create a more
uniform, unified frontier against the international drug trade.

McCaffrey traveled from this West Texas urban center, which has one of
the state's busiest international bridges, to a barren New Mexico
desert to discuss the needs of the federal agencies on the front line.

He plans to use the information he gathers to refine his plan, which
centers around the creation of a "border czar" to coordinate efforts
along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

There is a need for someone who can "integrate all the infrastructure
planning so that we end up with a common way of operating against a
common threat," McCaffrey said.

"Drug criminals work the 2,000-mile border and the (seas). They've got
to get across someplace and if it's not good someplace they'll go
someplace else where it is good."

The border czar plan, to be presented to President Clinton this fall,
is aimed at eliminating soft spots in the enforcement net and pushing
traffickers away from current hot corridors such as the El Paso-Ciudad
Juarez area.

"We believe that within five years or so we can largely eliminate drug
smuggling across the southwest border," McCaffrey said. "It will then
move to the sea and other areas."

The plan, as outlined Tuesday, focuses on four areas: establishing a
border coordinator's office to create a unified policy; appointing
coordinators at each of the nation's ports of entry to oversee drug
policy and intelligence locally; ensuring agencies have adequate
staffing; and providing technology that will help border officers.

The border coordinator, who will likely be based in El Paso, will be
the linchpin. He or she will be empowered to cut across the many
jurisdictional lines and pull together the nearly two dozen agencies
now charged with different aspects of enforcement.

The different areas include drug interdiction, processing of cargo,
stopping illegal immigration and facilitating legal
immigration.

"I don't think the guy ought to operationally control the border --
directing people to move from one spot to another -- but should do
policy planning," McCaffrey said.

Though the proposal raises questions about some agencies losing some
of their jealously guarded autonomy, McCaffrey said he had already
seen support among different organizations, including Customs and the
Border Patrol.

"The problem will be that every one of these seven departments of the
(federal) government has its own congressional committee, its own
laws, its own budget," he said. "So how do we put together a concept
that they will find attractive?"

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol official and an
enthusiastic supporter of McCaffrey's idea, agreed that getting the
government to accept the idea will be the hardest part.

"I think that's going to be one of the main challenges that we're
going to face," said Reyes, D-El Paso, who briefly joined McCaffrey's
tour. "I know the main challenge is being able to create a mandate to
do it. Once it's mandated, it will be done."

Critics questioned the need for such a move, however.

"Why does the drug czar need to hire someone else to do his job? How
many sub-czars are needed to win the war against drugs?" asked U.S.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, who chairs the House immigration
subcommittee.

"The administration should confront drug smugglers with more Border
Patrol agents, not an election-year public relations campaign."

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

Drug Czar Meets With Border Officials ('The Associated Press' Version)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Drug czar meets with border officials
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 21:13:54 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Drug czar meets with border officials
McCaffrey refining proposal for efforts against trafficking
08/26/98
Associated Press

EL PASO - U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey met with border officials Tuesday
to begin firming up his plan to create a more uniform, unified frontier
against the international drug trade.

Mr. McCaffrey traveled from this West Texas urban center, which has one of
the state's busiest international bridges, to barren New Mexico desert to
discuss the needs of the federal agencies on the front line.

He said he plans to use the information he gathers to refine his plan, which
centers on the creation of a border czar to coordinate efforts along the
entire U.S.-Mexico border.

There is a need for someone who can "integrate all the infrastructure
planning so that we end up with a common way of operating against a common
threat," Mr. McCaffrey said.

"Drug criminals work the 2,000-mile border and the . . . [seas]. They've got
to get across someplace, and if it's not good someplace, they'll go
someplace else where it is good."

The border czar plan, to be presented to President Clinton this fall, is
aimed at eliminating soft spots in the enforcement net and pushing
traffickers away from current hot corridors such as the El Paso-Ciudad
Juarez area.

"We believe that within five years or so we can largely eliminate drug
smuggling across the southwest border," Mr. McCaffrey said. "It will then
move to the sea and other areas."

The plan, as outlined Tuesday, focuses on four areas: establishing a border
coordinator's office to create a unified policy; appointing coordinators at
each of the nation's ports of entry to oversee drug policy and intelligence
locally; ensuring that agencies have adequate staffing; and providing
technology that will help border officers.

The border coordinator, who will probably be based in El Paso, will be the
linchpin. He or she will be empowered to cut across the many jurisdictional
lines and pull together the nearly two dozen agencies charged with different
aspects of enforcement.

Those different areas include drug interdiction, processing of cargo,
stopping illegal immigration and facilitating legal immigration.

"I don't think the guy ought to operationally control the border - directing
people to move from one spot to another - but should do policy planning,"
Mr. McCaffrey said.

Though the proposal raises questions about some agencies losing part of
their jealously guarded autonomy, Mr. McCaffrey said he had already seen
support among different organizations, including the U.S. Customs Service
and the Border Patrol.

"The problem will be that every one of these seven departments of the
[federal] government has its own congressional committee, its own laws, its
own budget," he said. "So how do we put together a concept that they will
find attractive?"

U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, a former Border Patrol official and an
enthusiastic supporter of Mr. McCaffrey's idea, agreed that getting the
government to accept the idea will be the hardest part.

"I think that's going to be one of the main challenges that we're going to
face," said Mr. Reyes, D-El Paso, who briefly joined Mr. McCaffrey's tour.
"I know the main challenge is being able to create a mandate to do it. Once
it's mandated, it will be done."

Critics questioned the need for a border coordinator, however.

"Why does the drug czar need to hire someone else to do his job? How many
sub-czars are needed to win the war against drugs?," said U.S. Rep. Lamar
Smith, R-San Antonio, chairman of the House immigration subcommittee.

"The administration should confront drug smugglers with more Border Patrol
agents, not an election-year public relations campaign."

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

Texas Executes Man For 1988 Murders ('The Associated Press'
Says Reputed Marijuana Smuggler Genaro Ruiz Camacho Was Executed By Injection
In Huntsville, Texas, Wednesday For Murdering A Man Who Unwittingly Stumbled
Into A Kidnap Plot That Also Left A Woman And Her 3-Year-Old Son Dead)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Texas Executes pot smuggler for 1988 Murders
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 20:26:13 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Texas Executes Man for 1988 Murders

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP)--A reputed marijuana smuggler was executed by
injection Wednesday for the murder of a man who unwittingly stumbled into a
kidnap plot that also left a woman and her 3-year-old son dead.

The three slayings in 1988 were among at least five that authorities linked
to Genaro Ruiz Camacho, 43, who police said ran a drug ring that brought
marijuana from Mexico and who used killings to keep people in line.

``He was such a vicious murderer he scared off his own people,'' Sue
Korioth, an assistant district attorney in Dallas, said.

Camacho was condemned for the May 1988 shooting of David Wilburn, 25, who
stopped by the home of a neighbor soon after Camacho and his gang members
had arrived there to collect a heroin debt.

Wilburn was ordered to the floor and shot immediately in the head. The
neighbor escaped, but a woman at the house, Evellyn Banks, 31, and her
3-year-old son, Andre, were abducted. The mother and child were shot three
days later.

Camacho had seemed cheerful while greeting witnesses he invited to watch him
die. He called two daughters and a former wife by name and repeatedly said
he loved them.

``I'll be with you,'' he said. ``I'll be waiting for you in heaven. I love
you all.''

Camacho was the 12th convicted killer to be executed this year in Texas.
Last year, a record 37 executions were carried out.

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

Study Questions DARE Program ('The Houston Chronicle'
Says An Independent Report By University Of Houston Social Sciences Professor
Bruce Gay, Released Wednesday, Found Houston's $3.7 Million-A-Year
DARE Program May Not Be Working In Steering Youngsters
From Substance Abuse)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: TX Study questions DARE program
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 21:00:05 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

9:23 PM 8/26/1998

Study questions DARE program
It's `only marginally successful' in steering youth from drug abuse

By JULIE MASON
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle

An independent report released Wednesday found Houston's $3.7 million-a-year
DARE program "only marginally successful" in steering youngsters from
substance abuse.

The study, by University of Houston social sciences professor Bruce Gay,
suggests the Drug Abuse Resistance Education curriculum in local schools may
not be working.

"There is very little compelling evidence to suggest that the primary goal
of the DARE program is being reached at a statistically significant level,"
Gay concludes.

The results track other U.S. studies that have similarly questioned the
effectiveness of DARE, an anti-drug and anti-alcohol program started in Los
Angeles in 1983 and currently taught in an estimated 10,000 cities
worldwide.

About 27,000 fifth-graders and 24,000 seventh-graders participate in DARE
programs in Houston.

The Houston Police Department's DARE program costs $3.7 million a year to
operate, including $3.3 million to pay the administrative cost of salaries
and benefits for the 63 involved officers.

Earlier this year, Mayor Lee Brown rebuffed highly skeptical City Council
members who sought to cut the DARE funding in the city budget.

Councilman Ray Driscoll, who led the attempt to reduce DARE funding by 50
percent, said Wednesday the UH report vindicates his sentiments about the
program's effectiveness.

"I would like to see at least half of that money go to assessing other
programs -- because there are other programs out there that work," Driscoll
said. "Regardless of what the powers that be are saying, this program looks
like it's not working."

Brown and Police Chief C.O. Bradford said they remain strongly behind DARE,
with Bradford saying he will use the study's results to fine-tune the
program to better serve children.

"Marginally successful doesn't mean woefully a failure to me," Bradford
said. "I'm pleased with the report in that it does not indicate the program
is a failure."

Brown noted the study found that four of DARE's 12 objectives were being
achieved through the program.

"DARE does work," said Brown, former national drug policy adviser to
President Clinton. "We are going to work toward finding better ways to make
DARE more effective."

The study is based on an analysis of 1,771 surveys distributed at 23 schools
in the Houston Independent School District. The ethnic breakdown was 54.6
percent Hispanic, 21 percent black, 18 percent Anglo and 6.5 percent other.

Survey-takers compared students' attitudes and opinions before and after
participating in DARE, with those of youngsters who did not participate in
DARE.

The report noted, however that DARE's primary objective -- "to prevent or
reduce drug abuse and violence among children and youth" -- may start off
with a major obstacle in the form of early drug use among kids.

Among students surveyed prior to participating in the DARE program --
generally, fifth-graders -- 15 percent had tried drugs, 18 percent had tried
tobacco and 32 percent had tried alcohol.

When survey-takers returned at the conclusion of the DARE program in May to
measure responses again, they found that drug usage was up 29 percent,
tobacco usage up 34 percent and alcohol increased 4 percent.

"While it is true that, even before participating in the DARE program, a
significant number of children were already experimenting with controlled
substances, some habitually," the report notes, "the DARE program was unable
to encourage its own participants, while in the program, to prevent or
reduce drug abuse."

Councilman Carroll Robinson, calling such "marginal success" insufficient,
questioned what DARE is providing the city for the money.

"I think there is going to be some support on council to look at the level
of funding," Robinson said. "It's good to rally kids, but if you want to
solve problems, you have to get beyond the rally and the rah-rah."

The report notes using police officers as DARE instructors did not have a
consistently positive effect on students in the program.

Prior to DARE, 22 percent of students in the schools offering DARE said they
thought officers were "mean." After taking part in DARE, 26.7 percent of
students said officers are "mean."

But, the report noted, in the control group of students not participating in
DARE, 48 percent said they thought police were mean during the first round
of surveys, while 33 percent said so in follow-up surveys.

"This type of response was unpredicted and makes the issue more, rather than
less, ambiguous," Gay noted.

The report did find some areas where DARE is effective. The four objectives
where DARE made a positive difference include changing beliefs about drug
use, learning ways to say no, managing stress and making decisions about
risky behaviors.

Less successful were: Considering consequences, understanding the effects of
drugs, building self-esteem, learning assertiveness, nonviolent ways to deal
with anger, handling media influences, positive alternatives and resisting
gangs.

Bradford said one strong possibility is starting DARE education in the
fourth grade, rather than fifth, and targeting specific schools for DARE
curriculum.

"Perhaps the children most at risk are not being helped early enough," he
said, adding "some need it more than others."

Councilman Rob Todd, who stopped short of withdrawing his longtime support
of DARE, questioned the survey's methodology, noting that Houston has many
other school districts not included in the report.

"I don't think that anyone has said DARE is perfect," Todd said. "I do think
the city needs to craft some approach to fight the drug problem in this
city, particularly when it comes to kids."

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

Cumberland County Jail Medical Staff Defend HIV Drug Policy
(An Excerpt From A 'Boston Globe' Article Says AIDS Patient David McNally
Is Suing Jail Officials In Maine For Denying Him Anti-HIV Medications -
The Opinion Of Jail Personnel Caught Practicing Medicine Without A License
Is Described As 'Complete Nonsense' By McNally's Doctor)

Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 05:38:47 EDT
Errors-To: jnr@insightweb.com
Reply-To: friends@freecannabis.org
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
Sender: friends@freecannabis.org
From: "ralph sherrow" (ralphkat@hotmail.com)
To: Multiple recipients of list (friends@freecannabis.org)
Subject: forwards including friends

From: FilmMakerZ@aol.com Save Address Block Sender
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 14:55:54 EDT
Subject: PWA suing jail for denying him anti-HIV medications

Here's an interesting excerpt about someone who is suing because he was
denied his medications in jail:

"Cumberland County Jail Medical Staff Defend HIV Drug Policy"
Boston Globe Online (08/26/98)

In Maine, Cumberland County Jail medical personnel suggest that
David McNally, a former inmate, may have been denied anti-HIV drug
treatment because he had missed some doses prior to his imprisonment.
McNally is suing the jail's medical department--specifically, Prison
Health Services, a Tennessee-based organization hired by the
jail--claiming that they withheld medication for three days while he was
imprisoned.

In a statement to county commissioners, medical officials assert
that the continuation of treatment after interruption in HIV patients
could increase subject risks. McNally's physician, Dr. Owen Pickus,
said, "They're suggesting in some obtuse fashion that starting the
treatment back would do some kind of harm. That's complete nonsense."

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

Parolees Given Surprise Drug Test ('The Associated Press'
Notes Surprise Urine Tests Administered By The Rhode Island Department
Of Corrections Will Result In 28 Of 78 Parolees Going Back To Prison -
The Idea Was To Save Money By Complying With Federal Requirements
For Crime Fighting Grants, But The News Service Doesn't Mention
The Final Estimated Loss In State Revenue, Nor That The New Prisoners
Will Be Classified As Parole Violators Rather Than Drug Offenders)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: RI Parolees given surprise drug test
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 20:21:21 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Parolees given surprise drug test
Associated Press, 08/26/98 07:58

CRANSTON, R.I. (AP) - The letters from the Department of Corrections told 78
parolees to report to the prison for a special program.

The 74 people who showed up probably didn't have urinating in a cup in mind.

As part of a crackdown on drug use by parolees, the state has instituted its
first comprehensive testing of parolees to meet federal requirements for
crime fighting grants. The state faced the possibility of losing grants if
it failed to enact a drug testing program for its 611 parolees.

In the tests Tuesday night, 24 people failed. Those who refused to attend
also faced arrest.

It appeared many of the parolees did not expect to face a drug test. One man
brought a lunch, another some pornographic magazines. A woman who brought
her baby was told she could go home.

Those whose urine samples failed the test were detained pending a hearing
before the Parole Board.

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

Decline Is Seen In Legal Help For City's Poor ('The New York Times'
Says That Three Years After New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's
Administration Instituted Changes It Said Would Improve Legal Services
For The Poor And Save Money For Taxpayers, An Eight-Member Committee
Appointed By The Appellate Division Of The State Supreme Court Has Released
A Report, Unidentified By The Newspaper, That Concludes The Quality
Of Legal Help For Indigent Defendants In Manhattan Is Actually Getting Worse)

From: MLetwin@aol.com
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 16:14:04 EDT
Subject: Giuliani Attack on Indigent Defense Representation

Decline Is Seen in Legal Help for City's Poor

By DAVID ROHDE
The New York Times
Aug. 26, 1998

NEW YORK -- Three years after Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's administration
instituted changes it said would improve legal services for the poor and
save money for taxpayers, a court-appointed panel has concluded that the
quality of legal help for indigent defendants in Manhattan is actually
getting worse.

The report said two factors have combined to overwhelm the system: a record
increase in the number of people arrested in Manhattan under the city's
crackdown on quality-of-life crimes and a decrease in the Legal Aid
Society's budget. The study said services provided in Manhattan by Legal
Aid, the nonprofit group that handles roughly 60 percent of indigent
defendants in the borough, failed to meet minimum standards for good
representation, and it urged changes in the system.

The report found that Legal Aid lawyers in Manhattan were overworked,
handling an average of 650 cases each in the 1997 fiscal year. Legal Aid
lawyers frequently did not show up in court, the report said, and indigent
clients sometimes spent all day waiting in a courtroom -- or jail cell --
only to have a substitute Legal Aid lawyer arrive and postpone, or
mishandle, the hearing.

In the wake of a 1994 strike by Legal Aid lawyers, the Giuliani
administration set out to break what it called Legal Aid's monopoly and
invited other nonprofit groups to bid for contracts to represent the city's
poor as court-appointed lawyers.

Over the last two years, city officials have taken funds away from Legal
Aid and awarded them to a half-dozen new groups that won contracts to
represent about 30 percent of the indigent clients across the city. The new
groups each agreed to represent a set number of clients, while Legal Aid
agreed to handle the rest. 

But with a record number of court cases flowing into the system, Legal Aid
has ended up handling the same number of cases it did in 1994 with a budget
that is 30 percent smaller. Working conditions and morale are so poor at
Legal Aid, the report said, that many of its best lawyers are moving to the
new nonprofit groups.

Michele Maxian, director of Legal Aid's criminal division, said the society
was still providing quality legal services for the poor but that the new
system would not work without more financing. "An infinite number of cases
for a finite amount of money is not working for us," she said. "We and the
city need to look at how we do our contract."

But Steven Fishner, Giuliani's criminal justice coordinator, said the new
system was working. The problem, he said, is a lack of efficiency and a need
for better management at Legal Aid. "We think the system is functioning very
well," he said. "Competition is a good thing. It will make the Legal Aid
Society into a better organization."

The authors of the report, an eight-member committee appointed by the
Appellate Division of State Supreme Court, emphasized that the problems the
panel found involved defendants facing misdemeanor charges and that clients
facing more serious charges like murder were being well represented by Legal
Aid lawyers. They also said that in the Bronx, the other borough studied,
Legal Aid was providing adequate services for all of its clients.

City and court officials noted that the report was advisory and said the
city faced little threat in the short term of being forced to modify its new
system. The most likely source of a confrontation, they said, would be a
class action suit in federal court by Legal Aid clients contending that the
system effectively deprives them of their right to a court-appointed lawyer,
but no such suit has yet been filed.

The report said that along with its contract with Legal Aid, the city pays
New York Defender Services $4.5 million a year to handle 12,500 cases; the
Bronx Defenders, $3.6 million to handle 10,000 cases, and the Center for
Appellate Litigation, $1.4 million to handle 200 appeals.

Legal Aid Society spokeswoman Pat Bath said the group signed a new contract
this summer that commits it to handling all clients not covered by other
nonprofit organizations across the city until 2000. But each year the group
renegotiates its budget, which has shrunk from $79.3 million in fiscal 1994
to $52 million in fiscal 1999.

Defense lawyers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Legal Aid
officials were divided over whether the society should limit the number of
clients it takes on in order to improve service. If it set a limit, the
society would be relinquishing its role as the city's primary provider of
court-appointed lawyers, they said.

Defense lawyers have long asserted that the new system was an attempt by
Giuliani, a former prosecutor, to eliminate Legal Aid and weaken the
political power of court-appointed lawyers by dividing them among several
nonprofit groups.

But Fishner said the administration's goal was to strengthen both the
system and Legal Aid. He said competitive bidding was already making Legal
Aid a more dynamic organization and praised the group for management changes
it has already made. But he said the group needed to do more.

Fishner said Legal Aid spends more per case than other nonprofit groups, a
claim that Ms. Maxian of Legal Aid disputed.

Klaus Eppler, the lawyer who headed the court-appointed committee, declined
to comment on the bulk of the report but said a permanent staff should be
set up to monitor the new system. "It's important that we keep our eye on
the ultimate goal," he said, "which is that every defendant not just have
some minimal representation, but quality, professional representation."

Wednesday, August 26, 1998
Copyright 1998 The New York Times

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

Defense Attorneys 'Decided To Go For The Hail Mary Pass' ('The Roanoke Times'
In Virginia Describes The Jury Acquittal Of O'Neil Henry, Busted
On Interstate 81 In Wythe County While Driving A Truck Loaded With Just Under
A Ton Of Marijuana That Prohibition Agents Valued At $6.5 Million,
The Largest Highway Seizure Of Pot In State History)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 12:00:05 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US VA: Defense Attorneys 'Decided to go for the Hail Mary Pass'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: Roanoke Times (VA)
Contact: karent@roanoke.com
Website: http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/index.html
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Author: Mike Hudson - The Roanoke Times

DEFENSE ATTORNEYS 'DECIDED TO GO FOR THE HAIL MARY PASS'

Man caught with trailer load of pot found not guilty

The defendant claimed he never got out of the cab when the second load --
the pot -- was put on the truck.

Defense attorneys David Boone and Michael Morchower have done enough drug
cases to know this one sounded like a loser.

In March -- on a Friday the 13th no less -- their client had been caught on
Interstate 81 in Wythe County driving a tractor trailer loaded with just
under a ton of marijuana.

State police estimated its street value at $6.5 million, and called it the
largest highway seizure of pot in Virginia history.

What's more, a drug agent maintained that the truck's driver, a Jamaican
immigrant who now lives in New York, had admitted knowing that the
plastic-wrapped bundles of marijuana had been stuffed in the back of the
truck alongside a load of mangos from Texas.

"We felt we were doomed," Boone said.

Boone and Morchower, both Richmond attorneys, told their client that juries
almost always believe police officers, and they rarely turn loose a
defendant when huge amounts of drugs are involved. If he pleaded guilty, he
could get as little as six years in prison. If he went to trial and lost,
he was looking at 12 to 14 years.

"Ninety-nine percent of my clients would have folded," Boone says. "I would
have folded."

But O'Neil Henry wouldn't give in. He swore he didn't know about the pot in
back of the truck. He wanted to take his case to a jury.

On Monday in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, Boone said, he and Morchower
"decided to go for the Hail Mary pass" -- they argued that the state
trooper had changed his story about Henry's "confession."

On Monday evening, after less than three hours behind closed doors, the
jurors announced their verdict: Not guilty.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Giorno said he doubts that defense
attorneys' efforts to attack the state police agent's testimony was the
"make-or-break issue" in the case.

At least one juror, Lloyd A. Young of Roanoke, agreed. "I don't think that
made any difference. They pick on them poor police officers -- like they're
the ones on trial."

Young said he simply believed Henry's testimony that he never got out of
the cab when his tractor trailer's second load -- apparently the shipment
of pot -- was put on the truck.

"It was a crazy trial," Young said. "I just don't think there was enough
evidence to convict him."

A co-defendant, fellow New Yorker Dennis A. McCarthy, 35, is scheduled for
trial today.

Henry, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, didn't have a criminal record
before he was arrested this past spring in Wythe County. He has driven a
delivery truck for the New York Times for the past seven years, and says he
occasionally picked up extra money as a long-distance driving partner with
McCarthy.

He said he and McCarthy took on a three-quarters' load of mangos in Texas
along the Mexican border and then filled the rest of the trailer with a
second load arranged by a man that McCarthy talked to at a truck stop
farther north.

Henry claimed in court that he stayed in the cab while the second cargo was
loaded. With the doors open, he said, he couldn't see what it was, and
McCarthy never told him.

Just before noon March 13, Henry was behind the wheel and McCarthy was in
the sleeper when State Police Sgt. H.F. Wray spotted an illegal blue light
bulb on the back of their cab.

He pulled them over, ran a license check and found that both of their
driver's licenses had been suspended for failing to pay fines.

Wray asked if he could search the truck. He said both agreed.

By then, Special Agent Andrew Metro had arrived. Wray opened the back of
the trailer and saw stacks of black clothing bags. He drew his gun and
ordered the truckers down on the ground, and Metro handcuffed them.

Wray opened one bag and found bales wrapped in plastic. He slit one open
and found marijuana inside.

Metro said in a police report that when he questioned Henry about 45
minutes later, Henry told him: "I'm not sure where we were when we picked
up the marijuana. I wasn't paying attention to where."

Boone says he told Henry last week that the case looked bad for him, but
Henry told him: "I'll trust in God."

On Friday, Boone and Morchower got a fax from Giorno. The prosecutor said
he had been going over the evidence with Metro, and Metro had informed him
of a new piece of information: "I was advised by Agent Metro that when Mr.
Henry was lying on the ground ... after marijuana was found, he made a
spontaneous statement that, 'This was my first time, I knew we shouldn't
have done it.'"

Boone said he and Morchower were perplexed that this seemingly damning
statement had not been included in previous police reports, or passed on to
the prosecutor until the Friday before the trial.

But on the witness stand, Metro said that Giorno's fax was inaccurate:
Henry hadn't just blurted it out -- he had made the statement only after
Metro began questioning the two men as they lay on ground. This was an
important point, because Henry hadn't yet been read his rights.

And, Metro testified, Giorno didn't have the wording of the statement right
either -- Henry had actually said "We should not have done it. I needed the
money."

Metro said it was all just a misunderstanding between him and Giorno.

Giorno said in an interview later that he takes full blame for any
confusion: "I don't believe that Andy Metro was attempting to mislead me or
anyone else."

When Henry's turn to testify came, he claimed he hadn't said anything to
Metro while he was on the ground. And he said his later statement about
"when we picked up the marijuana" had been based on what the officers had
told him -- that there was pot in the truck.

At 8:15 p.m. Monday, the jury indicated it had a decision. Henry was
sobbing -- Boone says his tears were splashing onto the defense table -- as
he waited for the verdict.

Then Henry's brush with the law, which had begun on a Friday the 13th, was over.

Outside the courtroom, he turned to Boone and told his lawyer: The jury had
acquitted him on his 37th birthday.

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

Success Is Unacceptable If It's Not Our Way ('The Los Angeles Times'
Prints An Excerpt From Mike Gray's Book, 'Drug Crazy,'
Describing A Successful Heroin Maintenance Program In Liverpool, England,
Shut Down By The Narco-Imperialistic United States After It Was Publicized
On America's '60 Minutes')

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 19:06:11 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Success Is Unacceptable If It's Not Our Way
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: Mike Gary

SUCCESS IS UNACCEPTABLE IF IT'S NOT OUR WAY

Drugs: A U.K. clinic helping heroin addicts live decent lives is
closed after U.S. enforcers object to its unorthodox approach.

Maureen was a 19-year-old Irish redhead when she married a rich kid
from Manchester who gave her three children and introduced her to
heroin. A few years later he decided to run off with a younger woman,
so he left Maureen with the kids, no money and a serious heroin habit.

For the next several years, she moved the kids from one
bed-and-breakfast to another, supporting herself with prostitution and
shoplifting, all the time frantically chasing the dragon. Like most
addicts, she tried to kick the habit repeatedly without success.

Finally the authorities were breathing down her neck and she knew she
was about to lose her children. Desperate, a friend steered her to a
clinic in suburban Liverpool, where her life was instantly
transformed.

John Marks, a bearded Welsh psychiatrist who ran the clinic, examined
her and determined that she was indeed a heroin addict.

So he wrote her a prescription for heroin and told her to come back in
a week.

Almost unbelieving, she took the slip of paper to the pharmacist up
the street and he filled it without batting an eye. As she stood at
the counter staring at the small round container of pure heroin, an
odd sensation washed over her. The auger of panic that had been
twisting her gut every waking moment for a decade was spinning down.
For the first time in memory, she had a tiny bit of brain space that
wasn't focused on how to get the next fix. It began to dawn on her
that it no longer made any difference whether she could get the cash
or whether her dealer would show up or whether the stuff was any good
or whether cops would beat her to it.

As she slipped the package into her purse, she caught a glimpse of
herself in the glass and for the first time in 10 years she stopped to
take a serious look. She was stunned. Then she glanced down at her
children, and she said, "Oh, my God." In an instant, the morality that
had been instilled in her as a child came flooding back: "I felt so
disgusted." Over the next weeks and months, her dose was stabilized at
a point that allowed her to function without suffering withdrawal, and
within a year her life had been completely turned around. She had a
job, her kids were in school, and she was talking about going back to
college. The paper John Marks handed her almost nonchalantly turned
out to be a passport out of hell.

Unfortunately, the Liverpool clinic--one of the last of the old
British heroin maintenance programs--was featured on a CBS "60
Minutes" broadcast and U.S. drug enforcers went into
convulsions.

The success of the clinic--a 90% drop in the local crime rate, zero
cases of AIDS, moving people off welfare rolls into productive
jobs--flew in the face of American drug war orthodoxy.

Marks was warned by friends in the Home Office that the
U.S. Embassy was exerting tremendous pressure to shut him down, and in the
end they were successful. The 450 patients Marks had been serving were
kicked into the street and told to find a detox program where they
could learn to give up their evil ways. "Two years later," said Marks,
"25 of the addicts were dead." And what of Maureen, the heroin user
with three children who planned to go to college? "I saw Maureen the
other day," said Marks. "She was desperate, back to criminality; a lot
of her friends are back in prison. She's on the streets. She saw me in
passing and asked if I could take her back on. Her doctor tried to
refer her to me, but the Health Authority refused to defray the
costs." And so the state, in its righteous determination to set
everything straight, has managed to teach Maureen and her children a
lesson.

It's one they won't soon forget.

Mike Gray Is the Author of "Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess and How We
Can Get Out" (Random House, 1998), From Which This Is Excerpted.

Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times. All Rights Reserved

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

McGwire's Spiked Swing Raises Health Questions ('The Chicago Tribune'
Tries The Fear-Mongering Approach To Baseball Star Mark McGwire's
Use Of Androstenedione)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 11:57:05 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: McGwire's Spiked Swing Raises Health Questions
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)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Author: Rick Morrissey and Bruce Japsen
Section: Sec. 1, p. 1

McGWIRE'S SPIKED SWING RAISES HEALTH QUESTIONS

Eleven weeks ago, or 24 home runs ago in Mark McGwire time, General
Nutrition Centers sent an internal memo to the managers of its 3,700 stores
nationwide.

The message was brief and direct: Don't sell androstenedione, an
over-the-counter nutritional supplement. Even though no definitive studies
had shown any dangerous side effects from androstenedione, GNC was
increasingly concerned about a product that was purported to raise
testosterone levels and thus enhance physical performance. Its own review
of scientific literature had raised questions.

"The decision was made on the lack of suitable short- and long-term
research demonstrating the safety of the product at various intake levels
and concern about the potential impact of product abuse," GNC said in a
June 9 memo obtained by the Tribune. "It was concluded that up through this
time, the use of androstenedione without risk of adverse events cannot be
demonstrated."

The memo, confirmed by company officials, only adds to the debate
surrounding McGwire, the St. Louis Cardinals' star who along with the Cubs'
Sammy Sosa is pursuing Roger Maris' single-season home run record.

McGwire has acknowledged that he regularly takes androstenedione, a
substance that when taken orally is broken down by the body into
testosterone, the male sex hormone.

Producers of the supplement say it enhances energy and, in tandem with
exercise, encourages muscle growth.

Critics say the supplement is too new to understand fully and could have
harmful side effects. The voices are loud on both sides.

"I think potentially it is dangerous," said Dr. Gary Wadler, who has
written extensively on performance-enhancing drugs. "I think it's different
from other dietary supplements for a specific reason: It's a steroid
hormone that is converted in the body into testosterone."

"If somebody like a Mark McGwire is taking 100 milligrams a day, I don't
expect him to have any untoward side effects," said Dr. Robert Goldman, the
chief medical officer of the International Medical Commission.

In the meantime, McGwire might want to consider something else about
androstenedione.

It doesn't work very well, if at all.

At least that's the conclusion of Tim Ziegenfuss and Lonnie Lowery, who are
among a handful of researchers examining androstenedione. They recently
found that the substance increases blood testosterone levels about 15
percent, which they say is statistically irrelevant.

"I wouldn't take this androstenedione any further in our research than what
I've taken it," said Ziegenfuss, an associate professor of exercise
medicine at Eastern Michigan University. "I don't think it would benefit
performance right now at the dose we studied--100 milligrams."

If anything, Ziegenfuss said, McGwire is taking the wrong compound. The
more potent pick is androstenediol, the next generation of androstenedione
and one that raises blood testosterone levels about 45 percent, he said.
That, too, is sold over the counter.

"If he's taking androstenedione, he made a bad choice," Ziegenfuss said.
"He's not talking to the right person."

Surely when Abner Doubleday worked to popularize baseball in the mid-19th
Century, he couldn't have foreseen the day when a player would be accused
of considering a medicine cabinet as standard equipment. But that's what
McGwire is faced with as he goes after Maris' record of 61 home runs.
McGwire had 53 as of Tuesday, but his road might have grown a bit rougher
with the accusation that chemicals are helping his ride.

Already in its short life in the United States, androstenedione has had a
troubled existence. Critics say it's a drug. The federal government says
androstenedione is closer to a food and therefore doesn't need to be
regulated. The International Olympic Committee, the NFL and the NCAA have
banned it. Major League Baseball has not. The question is, what exactly is
it?

The substance was introduced in the United States in the summer of 1996 by
Patrick Arnold, a chemist from Seymour, Ill., near Champaign. Arnold had
noticed that a German patent on the supplement didn't cover it being taken
orally, so he began manufacturing it here.

He recently became partners with MetRx, one of the leading health and
nutrition supplement companies in the country. MetRx has combined
androstenedione and androstenediol into one product.

Androstenedione raises the level of testosterone for about an hour after
ingestion. Raising the testosterone level can raise aggressiveness and help
during weight training. In essence, it is tricking the body into making
more testosterone, although in some men it produces an even bigger trick:
It produces estrogen, the female sex hormone.

"Its use is not really as an anabolic agent," said Arnold, 32. "Its use is
more of a pick-me-up, a short-term stimulator of testosterone to perhaps
heighten concentration and aggressiveness prior to an event. With that
usage, we suspect there are little adverse effects, since you're only
having a small increase in testosterone for a very short period of time.
That's generally how most people use the stuff."

But athletes and especially bodybuilders often believe that more is better,
that if 100 milligrams is called for, 300 would be three times better. And
critics especially are concerned about young athletes taking a substance
with such a brief history simply because McGwire does.

"Steroids all have one unique quality: The side effects don't show when
you're taking it," Wadler said. "They show up months, years and decades
later. . . . Example: People who take testosterone years later after
abusing steroids wound up with liver tumors, cholesterol problems,
cardiovascular problems, malignancies. The list goes on.

"Here's a substance that's in that same category, but people who are taking
it are under the belief that it's some innocuous substance. There is no
safety requirement because there are no claims being made that it's a drug.
However, the body is smarter than the FDA. The body recognizes that it's a
steroid hormone and converts it."

Androstenedione retails for between $25 and $40 for a bottle of 60
capsules, depending on the potency. Despite GNC's ban, it is available in
the Chicago area. Sherwyn's Health Food Shops sells it, pointing to medical
journals that say androstenedione hasn't been proved to cause serious
health risks.

"Peer review journals and biochemists have been very conclusive," said
Peter Maldonado, vitamin department manager at Sherwyn's. "It is not a drug
and doesn't prove to have the same health risks as anabolic steroids to
include liver toxicity."

Whether androstenedione is a benign muscle enhancer or a dormant hazard
remains to be seen. Whether it works is also up for debate.

In the end, one expert says, any benefit gained from androstenedione may
lie in what consumers think they will get from it.

"I am reminded of that old Latin business term, `placebo,' which means, `I
shall please,' " said Dr. Alan Rogol, of the Bethesda, Md.-based Endocrine
Society. "There's no proof anywhere that it is effective improving athletic
performance. (But) if you think it's going to help you, it may."

Ziegenfuss' data will be presented at a conference in Finland in November,
well after the home run chase is over. He and his partner are planning to
study the long-term effects of androstenedione on the body. Some wonder if
it won't come too late for McGwire and others who use it.

"Unfortunately, as is normal, athletes are, I'm certain, abusing this
substance and taking tons of it, and we just don't know what the effects
are at this point," Ziegenfuss said.

Meanwhile, the producers of androstenedione aren't complaining about the
McGwire debate. Business is good. Asked whether it helps when organizations
such as the NFL or IOC ban a substance, Arnold said:

"Yes, I'd imagine it does. Even if the substance really has no efficacy,
people will want to check it out."

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

Natural Supplement Boom Is Real, Not Showing Any Signs Of Abating
('The Chicago Tribune' Says Androstenedione, The Testosterone Producing Pill
Taken By St. Louis Cardinals Slugger Mark McGwire, Is Just A Tiny Fraction
Of The Burgeoning Market Ushered In By The Dietary Supplement Health
And Education Act Of 1994)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 19:53:24 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Natural Supplement Boom
Is Real, Not Showing Any Signs Of Abating
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net)
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Author: Bruce Japsen
Section: Front Page

NATURAL SUPPLEMENT BOOM IS REAL, NOT SHOWING ANY SIGNS OF ABATING

Whether they're called natural supplements, herbal vitamins or what
some on Wall Street know as "neutraceuticals," they're part of an
industry generating, by some estimates, $8 billion in annual sales.

From products like Melatonin, which helps induce sleep and is known to
prevent jet lag, to zinc tablets promoted to alleviate common cold
symptoms, these dietary supplements are more than just a passing fad,
industry analysts say. The sports nutrition segment of the supplement
industry is estimated at more than $1 billion.

"Gatorade was one of the more popular and first functional foods
introduced into the sports world, and look at it now," said William
Wong, an equity analyst with Salomon Smith Barney in New York.

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 largely is
responsible for ushering in this new wave of products that include
vitamins, minerals, herbs and amino acids.

Androstenedione, the testosterone-producing pill taken by St. Louis
Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, is just a tiny fraction of the
burgeoning market that falls under the act, which doesn't restrict the
sale of dietary supplements or require a physician's prescription to
purchase these products.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Olympian Labs, one of about eight known
manufacturers of Androstenedione, wouldn't comment when contacted Tuesday.

The four-year-old law set up regulatory standards for the supplements
separate from the Food and Drug Administration, according to the
Congressional Research Service in Washington. The law leaves the
industry largely unregulated when compared with pharmaceutical
manufacturers.

Although Congress has had opportunities to amend the law, the most
recent landmark health legislation--the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996--didn't mention regulation of
supplements or health food stores, the Congressional Research Service
said.

Those who sell the products say there's little need for regulation
because "they are natural," said Peter Maldonado, Vitamin Department
Manager at Sherwyn's Health Food Shops Inc. in Chicago. "Drugs are not
naturally occurring in nature like (supplements) are."

Most supplements simply carry the label acknowledging that they have
not been evaluated by the FDA. The label goes on to say: "This product
is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

The consumer demand for these products is the primary driver behind
the decision by Sherwyn's to expand after operating just one store for
the last 25 years. Maldonado said a "superstore" at an undisclosed
Chicago location will open "very soon."

"We're here to complement the body's natural ability to strengthen its
immunity and longevity," Maldonado said.

As consumers become more health-conscious, the dietary-supplement
market is expected to grow even more.

"People know they have the ability to correct disease and prevent
illness," Maldonado said. "People don't always have to go to a doctor
for an upset stomach when they can take some ginger. Every year, this
business is becoming more monumental."

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

Mayor In Colombia More Like A Fugitive ('The Houston Chronicle'
Says That With Rebels, Paramilitaries And The Army All Fighting For Power
In Colombia's Remote Towns And Villages, Nestor Hernandez And Other Mayors
Have Found Themselves In A Crossfire)

Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 11:52:25 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Colombia: Mayor in Colombia More Like a Fugitive
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Author: John Otis

MAYOR IN COLOMBIA MORE LIKE A FUGITIVE

He fears for his life from left and right

PUERTO ASIS, Colombia -- Just hours after Nestor Hernandez was sworn in as
mayor of this jungle town in southern Colombia, he was abducted by leftist
guerrillas, dragged across the border to Ecuador and tied to a tree.

That was his comeuppance for defying a rebel order banning newly elected
municipal officials from taking office last January. The guerrillas
released Hernandez after 11 days, but his troubles were just beginning.

In February, he earned the wrath of the Colombian army when he accused
officers of collaborating with right-wing paramilitary death squads. A few
days later, two grenades exploded in front of his house.

"I represent a very high risk of danger," said Hernandez, who took refuge
in a friend's apartment after the attack. "No one wants to rent to me. No
one wants to be my neighbor."

With rebels, paramilitaries and the army all fighting for power in
Colombia's remote towns and villages, Hernandez and other mayors have found
themselves in the line of fire.

In the past three years, 29 mayors have been assassinated, mainly by
rebels. Hundreds of town council members have also been killed, kidnapped
or threatened, and many have been forced to resign. In the run-up to
nationwide municipal elections last October, nearly 40 candidates were shot
dead.

"To be a mayor here, you have to really love your community," said Gilberto
Toro, executive director of the Colombian Federation of Municipalities.

Hernandez, 40, says he took the mayoral job with hopes of ending the
violence and bringing jobs to Puerto Asis.

But he acts more like a desperate fugitive than a city hall power broker.
During a recent interview, he wiped the sweat from his face and kept an eye
on the street in front of his friend's apartment in case any strangers came
calling.

He spends half of his $1,500 monthly salary on bodyguards. To fool would-be
assassins, he rents a variety of cars and pickups and constantly sends his
driver on decoy trips.

"I never go to social events," he said. "The bodyguards scare people."

For all his determination, Hernandez lacks a real mandate to carry on his
mayoral duties. Due to guerrilla threats, nearly all of Puerto Asis' 17,000
eligible voters stayed home during last October's election. Hernandez won
with 102 votes. The loser received 55.

"It was horrible," Hernandez said of the election. "The guerrillas were
everywhere. People who voted risked their lives."

Hernandez first learned about political struggle as a university student in
Poland. He earned a scholarship to study oceanography in the Baltic port
city of Gdansk -- the birthplace of the Solidarity labor union, which led
the protests against Poland's Communist government in the 1980s.

With a degree and a Polish wife, Hernandez returned to Colombia in 1987.
But the only jobs in oceanography were in the navy, which rejected
Hernandez because he had studied in the former Eastern bloc. Even today,
people call him "the Pole."

To make ends meet, Hernandez sold fertilizer and pesticides in Puerto Asis,
335 miles southwest of the capital of Bogota in the impoverished state of
Putumayo. The region's main cash crop is coca, the raw material for
cocaine.

Hernandez advised farmers how to use the chemicals to grow more coca
leaves. "If I sold the product, I had to prove to them that it worked," he
explained.

Later, when Hernandez turned to politics, he developed a more critical view
of the drug trade. "None of the profits stay here in the region. What stays
are the problems," he said.

Puerto Asis' reputation as a regional cocaine center attracted the
country's largest guerrilla organization -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia, known by its Spanish initials, FARC. The rebels have financed
their 34-year war against the state, in part, by taxing coca farmers and
providing protection to drug dealers.

The FARC and the smaller National Liberation Army, or ELN, are a dominating
power in about 200 of Colombia's 1,074 municipalities, according to Camilo
Echandia, an adviser to the Colombian government's peace commission. In
these zones, the guerrillas often dictate how city revenues should be
spent; they decide who will be hired for municipal jobs.

In Puerto Asis, local politics became even more complex with the arrival of
the paramilitaries, who are trying to dislodge the rebels. In January and
February, paramilitaries killed 38 suspected guerrilla supporters.

"They had a list of people and just began killing," said Diego Orozco, the
local director of a government program that funds alternative crop projects
for coca growers.

With the body count rising, Hernandez traveled to Bogota to denounce the
killings before the interior minister and the national media. Citing
eyewitness accounts from Puerto Asis residents, Hernandez accused the army
of providing helicopter support for the paramilitaries.

Top army commanders sued Hernandez for slander. But the eyewitnesses, many
of whom feared for their lives, would not agree to testify in court.
Hernandez was forced to publicly retract his statements.

Back in Puerto Asis, someone tossed two grenades at Hernandez's house,
seriously injuring a night watchman.

Some observers suspect that Hernandez agreed to speak out against the
paramilitaries when he was in guerrilla custody. But Hernandez denies that
he cut any deals.

He insists that his survival strategy involves denouncing human rights
abuses on all sides and focusing national and international attention on
his predicament.

"If they kill me, it would have a huge political cost," he says. "That is
my own security."

John Otis is a free-lance journalist based in Bogota.

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

Prisoners Sew Lips Shut To Protest Ecuador's Justice System
('The Associated Press' Says A 51-Year-Old Woman
Arrested For Drug Trafficking Became The 16th Prisoner In The Last
Two Weeks To Sew Her Lips Shut At Ecuador's Guayaquil Prison)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Prisoners sew lips shut to protest Ecuador's justice system
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 19:05:45 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Prisoners sew lips shut to protest Ecuador's justice system

Associated Press, 08/26/98 23:34

GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AP) - Without a sound, Fanny Mejia let a fellow inmate
in an Ecuadorean prison sew her lips shut with a needle and thread Wednesday
to protest the nation's judicial system.

A few dots of blood emerged from her lips, which had been splashed with
disinfectant but not anaesthetized. Television cameras filmed the event in
Guayaquil's prison, but no doctors were present.

Mejia, a 51-year-old Colombian woman arrested for drug trafficking, became
the 16th prisoner in the last two weeks to sew her lips shut. The 10 men and
six women are protesting what they say is the slow pace and unfairness of
justice in Ecuador.

Some 50 prisoners are on a hunger strike in Quito and Guayaquil, Ecuador's
largest cities. They say they have spent more than a year in prison awaiting
trial, and under Ecuadorean law they should be freed.

Ecuador implemented constitutional reforms on Aug. 10. One change is that
the courts have one year after a person's arrest to start a trial. After
that, the prisoner must be released.

More than half the inmates in Ecuador's prisons - about 5,600 of 9,500 -
have served more than a year without being tried.

Ecuador's courts are reviewing cases to decide who should go free, but only
five inmates have been released so far.

Human rights groups have long protested that Ecuador's justice system is too
slow and that its prisons are badly overcrowded.

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

Ecstasy Users Get Mixed Message ('The West Australian'
Says The National Drug And Alcohol Research Centre Will Soon Release
New Safety Guidelines On How Much Fluid Intake Should Accompany Ecstasy Use)

Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 15:39:35 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Ecstasy Users Get Mixed Message
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: kwr01@uow.edu.au (Ken Russell)
Source: The West Australian
Contact: FAX: +61 8 94823830
Pubdate: Wed, 26 Aug 1998
Author: Wendy Pryer

ECSTASY USERS GET MIXED MESSAGE

ECSTASY users will get new guidelines on how much they should drink to ward
off deadly consequences of taking the drug because health experts are
concerned they are getting mixed messages.

A British study published in the Australian Doctor magazine this month warns
ecstasy users not to drink too much while on the drug because it can result
in low blood-sodium levels.

That condition, known as hypnotraemia, can cause the brain to swell.

But National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre researcher Paul Dillon
confirmed yesterday that a survey of ecstasy users conducted by the New
South Wales centre last year showed users had received mixed messages about
fluid intake and were now ignoring advice.

Previously, the advice had been that ecstasy users, who often danced for
hours and sweated a lot, should drink lots of fluids to prevent dehydration,
but it was now known too many fluids were also dangerous.

The centre will soon release new safety guidelines on ecstasy use.

Mr Dillon said because people using ecstasy lost track of time, the advice
would be to sip, not gulp, water after every 12 dance tracks, which took
about an hour.

It would also warn people to drink water and not drink iso-tonic or sports
drinks, which could cause a dangerous jump in blood pressure. Alcohol was
also out.

Mr Dillon said he was concerned that many users of ecstasy believed the drug
was harmless.

Royal Perth Hospital emergency department consultant Tom Hitchcock said some
ecstasy users who came to the hospital were either dehydrated, overhydrated
or suffering from hyperthermia, which was when the body overheated.

"If they take ecstasy and don't drink water they don't sweat, lose control
of their temperature and can suffer severe harm from muscle meltdown," Dr
Hitchcock said.

The hospital treated ecstasy users on most Thursday, Friday and Saturday
nights though the drug was rarely taken in isolation. Many of the problems
were caused by a mixture of alcohol and ecstasy.