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

Phone Bank Needs You (Floyd Ferris Landrath Of Portland NORML
And The American Antiprohibition League Seeks Volunteers To Make Phone Calls
Urging Voters To Oppose Measure 57, The Recrim Bill, Measure 61,
Setting Minimum Sentences For Some Crimes And Increasing Sentences
For Repeat Offenders, And To Support Measure 57, The Oregon Medical
Marijuana Act)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 02:28:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anti-Prohibition Lg (aal@inetarena.com)
To: AAL@inetarena.com
Subject: Phone Bank Needs You

Portland Area Activist News -- Tuesday, Sept. 8, 1998

Voter Power & Antiprohibition League

"NO" on 57+61, "YES" on 67

PHONE BANK

READY TO BEGIN OPERATION

Now that the US West strike is over and thanks to John Sajo and Voter
Power, the phones are in. The list is hot and the room is cool.

Now all we need is you.

Here's an opportunity to help a good cause and have a good time in
the process. All you have to do is talk to people, people who already
support and agree with you.

There's no pressure to sell anything or even change people's minds.
We're educating and motivating supporters to make sure they are
registered to vote at their current address, to make sure that they
know about "NO" on 57+61, and "YES" on 67. When we get closer to the
election we'll also help people fill out their ballots, direct them to
their polling place and do whatever we can to make sure we get their
vote.

The phone bank is located in Southeast Portland, calling starts at
6:30 p.m. and runs to about 9:30 p.m. on week nights, noon to 9p.m. on
weekends (if I get enough help so we can do the Market too). The bank
will run through November 2nd. So if you have a evening to spare and
want to help spread the word please give me a call and we'll make it
happen. Come on now. Make 20 calls and I promise you'll be high just
on the contact... it's intoxicating to make a difference, empower a
supporter.

Thank you.

Floyd Ferris Landrath - Director
American Antiprohibition League
503-235-4524

P/S: You can also make calls from home. Please email me for details.

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Vote For A Supreme Court That Puts Your Rights First ('Seattle Times'
Columnist Michelle Malkin Notes Voters In Washington State Get To Elect
Their Supreme Court Justices, Unlike In Oregon, But Ratings
By Traditional Groups Such As The Seattle-King County Bar Association
Provide Little Information About Where The Dozen Candidates Vying For Three
Open Seats Next Week Stand On The Proper Relationship Between
The Government And The Governed - So Malkin Reviews An Alternative Set
Of Ratings Provided By The Libertarian-Oriented Northwest Legal Foundation,
Which Includes A Strong Endorsement Of Incumbent Richard Sanders,
The Lone Supporter Of Ralph Seeley's Constitutional Challenge
To Washington's Ban On Medical Marijuana)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-Hemp Talk" (hemp-talk@hemp.net)
Subject: HT: Vote for a Supreme Court that puts your rights first
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 18:48:54 -0700
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

Copyright (c) 1998 The Seattle Times Company
Posted at 06:47 a.m. PDT; Tuesday, September 8, 1998
Michelle Malkin / Times staff columnist
Vote for a Supreme Court that puts your rights first

YOUR property. Your taxes. Your privacy. Your freedom.
These are just a few small reasons to cast informed votes for state Supreme
Court candidates in next Tuesday's primary election. If some political
theorists are to be believed, much of the electorate picks judicial
candidates based on the pleasant ring of their names.

But you wouldn't pick your own personal lawyer or your kids' baby-sitter
that way, would you? Why settle for the eeny-meeny-miny-moe method of
selecting the powerful panel of men and women who are sworn to uphold your
constitutional rights?

Three seats on the state's highest bench are up for election; a dozen
candidates are running. Ratings by traditional groups such as the
Seattle-King County Bar Association provide little information about where
those candidates stand on the proper relationship between the governed and
the governors.

But this year, an alternative set of ratings provided by the libertarian
Northwest Legal Foundation (NLF) gives voters the views of a citizens
committee less impressed by a lifetime of schmoozing in legal and corporate
circles than by a demonstrated commitment to individual rights:

Position 6. Incumbent Richard Sanders, a former NLF member, scored an
"exceptionally qualified" rating from the group. It is richly deserved. The
NLF committee headed by Tacoma lawyer Rich Shepard was "extremely impressed
with Justice Sanders' consistent and principled judicial philosophy, and his
willingness to zealously advocate it in the face of personal attacks from
various quarters of the legal community."

Sanders is the first judge to distribute an exhaustive list of his written
opinions to voters. His remarkable lone dissent in Seeley vs. State of
Washington, in which the majority ruled against the late cancer patient
Ralph Seeley's right to smoke physician-recommended medical marijuana, may
be the single most widely read (and cherished) opinion ever produced by the
court. Whether supporting the privacy rights of a dying man, upholding the
people's right of referendum or defending the constitutional reasonableness
of term limits, Sanders has shown a vigorous and noble commitment to the
rule of law.

Sanders' sole opponent, assistant attorney general Greg Canova, earned a
"not qualified" rating from NLF. "Canova failed to respond to written
questions or an invitation to interview. Thus, the committee was unable to
discern Canova's judicial philosophy, except that his record indicates that
he favors `good government' over individual rights."

A hot-headed career government bureaucrat, Canova's campaign offers "no
assurance that he would be able to control himself on the court and not
further fracture an already splintered court."

Position 5. Only one of the three candidates in this race earned the NLF's
highest ranking - incumbent justice Barbara Madsen. Moderate and diligent,
she was rated by the organization as "exceptionally qualified" because it
was "impressed with her understanding of the dynamics of the Supreme Court,
the importance she placed upon an independent judiciary and with her
friendly manner."

Position 1. The race to fill retiring justice James Dolliver's seat is the
most contested on the court, drawing seven candidates in all. My choice,
Seattle attorney Kris Sundberg, scored a "highly qualified" rating from NLF:
"Mr. Sundberg believes the Supreme Court needs to adopt a more common-sense
approach to its decision-making, and to stop allowing politics to influence
its decisions. Volunteer counsel for three Supreme Court challenges to the
Mariners stadium, Sundberg impressed the committee with his "respect for
constitutional principles and willingness to preserve them."

Front-runner Hugh Spitzer, a well-connected Seattle bond lawyer, garnered a
"not qualified" ranking from NLF. The committee observed that while Spitzer
advocates a "non-political" court in public appearances, his campaign
co-chairs and statewide endorsers read like a "who's who" of Washington
insider politics.

Spitzer's campaign received an early $8,000 loan from fellow bond king Jay
Reich of Seattle's Preston, Gates and Ellis. The candidate earned more than
$300,000 in 1996-97 as a bond, real-estate and special investment counsel
for the government.

His firm's governmental clients total more than 200 public entities from
Aberdeen to Yakima, with almost every known FPD, PHD, PUD, port, county,
city, sewer, school and water district in between.

While his lips now promise constitutional conservatism, Spitzer's pen says
otherwise. In a 1979 column for the defunct Seattle Sun, Spitzer called the
state constitutional ban on public expenditures for private projects a
"perennial ogre" and discussed techniques to "escape" the prohibition.

His methods have been used to secure your tax dollars for stadiums, garages
and countless constitutionally suspect public projects. The NLF committee
concluded "that Mr. Spitzer's judicial philosophy favors expedience over
principle."

There is no stronger reminder of the importance of these three races than in
Article I, Section I, of the state Constitution: "All political power is
inherent in the people, and governments derive their just powers from the
consent of the governed, and are established to protect and maintain
individual rights."

That power is too precious to be squandered; the rights at stake are too
fundamental to be left to chance. By supporting a Sanders-Madsen-Sundberg
slate, voters can tip the scales of justice in favor of the taxpayer over
the tax usurper, and the citizen over the state.

Michelle Malkin's column appears Tuesday on editorial pages of The Times.
Her e-mail address is: malkin1@ix.netcom.com.

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

Seven Is A Crowd In Supreme Court Race (A Different Account
In The Tacoma 'News Tribune' Of The Candidates Competing
For One Of Three Open Seats On The Washington Supreme Court)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" 
To: "-Hemp Talk" 
Subject: HT: 7 is a crowd in Supreme Court race
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 18:52:47 -0700
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

7 is a crowd in Supreme Court race
Dolliver's retirement touches off wide-open battle for Position No. 1

Peter Callaghan; The News Tribune

The wide-open race for position No. 1 on the state Supreme Court has
attracted the most candidates with the widest variety of motivations for
running.

There's the trial court judge, the law professor, the anti-stadium activist
and the property rights proponent.

And then there are the three lawyers who hope lightning will strike -
again - and put an unknown on the state's court of last resort.

Only if one of the seven wins more than 50 percent of the vote on Sept. 15
will the race be decided in the primary. Most likely, the top two
vote-getters will move onto the general election ballot Nov. 3.

The free-for-all was sparked by Justice James Dolliver's decision to retire
after 23 years on the Supreme Court. The 73-year-old jurist would have faced
the court's mandatory retirement age of 75 in the middle of his next term.

As soon as Dolliver announced his retirement, two candidates were ready to
go for his seat. Hugh Spitzer, a private practice attorney and teacher at
the University of Washington School of Law was first. An expert on state
constitutional law, Spitzer said he wants to be a force for civility and
consensus building on a court with a reputation for division.

Then came King County Superior Court Judge Faith Ireland, 15 years on the
bench. She finished third in a race for the Supreme Court in 1994 and is the
only judge and the only woman in the field.

Next in was Kris Sundberg, a Mercer Island attorney who has helped challenge
the legality of spending tax dollars for news stadiums for the Mariners and
Seahawks. The former board member of Citizens for Leaders with Ethics and
Accountability Now has used his entire campaign to criticize Supreme Court
rulings that the stadium deals are constitutional and not subject to citizen
referendums.

Filing week in July brought four candidates who hadn't announced before
then. Doug Smith of Everett is most familiar to state voters, having lost a
Supreme Court race in 1996 to Justice Charles Johnson. The one-time aide to
former President Gerald Ford has been an active opponent of state growth
management laws he thinks abridge private property rights.

The others are newcomers who are waging minimal campaigns with no outside
contributions. They are Glen Prior of Graham, James Foley of Raymond and
Eric Nielsen of Seattle.

Johnson may be the inspiration for the final three. He too waged a
low-budget campaign against better known opponents yet won a seat on the
court in 1990.

Here's a look at the candidates:

Hugh Spitzer leads two lives.

By day he's an attorney specializing in municipal finance. That is, he helps
state and local government borrow money and sell bonds to pay for public
projects such as roads, schools and other civic buildings. By night, he
teaches budding lawyers at the UW law school.

His academic specialties are state constitutional law and Roman law. His
expertise on the state constitution has led to publication of scholarly and
general interest articles on the areas where the state constitution gives
citizens greater rights and protections than the U.S. constitution.

Spitzer admits he's less of an expert on how to get elected to the Supreme
Court.

"I'm working hard," he said. "But no one knows how to do it. I'm just
getting my name out and what I've done."

His campaign has two focuses: bringing some legal order to the top court and
using the office to promote a greater understanding of the courts to average
voters.

Spitzer thinks he can help the justices work better together, not
necessarily to reach unanimous opinions but to come out with decisions that
state the law clearly and fairly.

"I care about a neutral, nonpartisan court," Spitzer said.

Faith Ireland likes to point out that she's not only the only woman in her
race, but the only judge. To her, both are important distinctions.

"On the Superior Court, I've tried hundreds of civil cases in every area of
the law and my track record with over 2,000 criminal defendants is such that
I'm the only candidate endorsed by all three statewide law enforcement
organizations," Ireland said.

The Seattle native said one of the most important jobs of a justice is to
decide which cases are accepted for review and which are not. Of the 1,500
cases sent to the Supreme Court each year, the justices agree to hear 150 or
so.

"One of the important things it does is to decide what to decide," Ireland
said.

Ireland said the current court is divided between those who want to decide
cases narrowly and those who want to make more sweeping pronouncements. She
said her philosophy is to make the most narrow decision possible and leave
broader policy statements to the Legislature.

"Jurisprudence should be incremental rather than take giant pendulum
swings," she said.

And Ireland said she would like to work on the more mundane but vital issue
of court administration - adequate funding, good computer systems, proper
training of judges and court workers.

Kris Sundberg was sure that the state Supreme Court would find that the
Legislature violated the constitution when it approved a bill to build a
stadium for the Seattle Mariners.

First, lawmakers had declared a new stadium an emergency - "necessary for
the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety." That made
the stadium plan ineligible for a voter referendum.

Second, Sundberg was sure the stadium deal violated the constitution's ban
on the giving away of public assets to private companies. Written to block
subsidies for the railroads, the provision is designed to protect taxpayers.

But the court found that the stadium was legal and constitutional. Sundberg,
a volunteer lawyer against the stadium, decided to try to change the members
of the court by running himself.

"Are the courts to be an independent branch of government or a lap dog of
the Legislature?" Sundberg said.

"When you're sitting around and wondering why we don't have enough money for
police overtime, why we don't have enough money for libraries, why don't you
think about the fact that the courts are letting government spend $2 billion
over 20 years for these projects?"

While Sundberg's complaint is against the current court, he aims some of his
concerns at Spitzer, who helps government put together so-called
public-private partnerships.

Doug Smith should be familiar to state voters. Not only did he receive
600,000 votes in 1996, he has run for the U.S. Senate, Congress and
Snohomish County executive.

"My definition of integrity is standing up when the world's against you but
you think you're right," Smith said. "Maybe that's why I haven't had much of
a career in politics beyond the Ford administration."

As a political candidate, Smith was an economic conservative and an
anti-abortion advocate. Running for judge, Smith has expressed concerns that
the courts have whittled away the rights of individuals against government
power.

As an attorney, he lost a Supreme Court appeal brought by a group of
property owners in Snohomish County. They wanted to submit the county's
growth management plan to voters, but the top court said that since the
county was following the orders of the Legislature, its plan wasn't subject
to referendum under the county's home-rule charter.

"The public is very much aware of and is confused about the relative power
of government as opposed of the rights of the individual," Smith said. "My
goal would be to get a balanced court that balances the relationship between
the government and individuals."

Smith wouldn't be able to complete a full term on the court before bumping
into the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Glen Prior is frank when asked why he's running.

"It's a good job," he said.

But he goes on to say that he loves liberty and the court has a role in
preserving that liberty.

"Every time we have new laws - ridiculous laws - they take some liberty away
from us," said Prior, who practices law in Fife.

Prior takes issue with Ireland's contention that being a trial judge is the
best qualification for being a Supreme Court judge. He notes that eight of
the 16 chief justices of the U.S. Supreme Court had no court experience. And
of the current nine state Supreme Court justices, four had no prior
experience as judges.

Prior's earlier venture into public issues came in 1995 when he sued the
Fife School District on behalf of his daughter. He claimed that the district
was in violation of the state constitutional requirement to educate all
students because a teachers strike had lasted one month.

Prior is a former percussionist in the Detroit Symphony and a bagpiper. He
lost a race for Pierce County Superior Court in 1997.

James Foley has a well-known surname but isn't related to former congressman
Tom Foley. He said he's running because he's always wanted to be on the
Supreme Court. He pledges to bring common sense to the bench.

The jack-of-all-legal trades is one of a handful of lawyers in Pacific
County. In addition to a private practice, he has been a city and port
attorney. He was an unsuccessful candidate for county judge in 1993.

Eric Nielsen is an appellate attorney with 16 years experience. His campaign
has been late-starting and minimal.

Nielsen has said he thinks his experience preparing cases and arguing them
before appeals courts gives him the ability to sit on the other side of the
bench.

"I have briefed and argued hundreds of appeals court cases, more than all
the other candidates combined," he wrote in the judicial voters' pamphlet.

Staff writer Peter Callaghan covers politics. Reach him at 253-597-8657 or
by e-mail at pjc@p.tribnet.com

***

Supreme Court candidates
Faith Ireland
Seattle, age 55

Family: husband Chuck.

Occupation, experience: King County Superior Court judge, private practice.

Education: University of Washington, Willamette University law school,
Golden Gate University.

I'm running because: "I'm different from the other candidates, not just
because I am the only woman. I am the only candidate with judicial
experience."

Reach her at: 206-669-6114, 1301 Fifth Ave., Seattle 98101.

***

Glen Prior
Graham, age 44
Family: wife Rosa, three children.

Occupation: private practice attorney.

Education: Eckerd College, Seattle University law school.

I'm running because: "This is a good job. I am qualified. I love liberty."

Reach him at: 253-926-8931

***

Douglas Smith
Everett, age 69
Family: four grown children.
Occupation, experience: private practice, special assistant to President
Ford, deputy prosecutor for Yakima County, U.S. Navy

Education: Whitman College, University of Washington law school.

I'm running because: "I have been a very strong defender of the constitution
and I think one of the most important functions of the court is how to
enforce the law to protect everyone's individual rights, property rights and
constitutional freedoms."

Reach him at: 425-258-4539

***

Hugh Spitzer

Seattle, age 49

Family: wife Ann, three children.

Occupation, experience: Private practice attorney, professor UW School of
Law, legal counsel to Seattle Mayor Charles Royer, legislative assistant to
Seattle City Council.

Education: Yale, University of Washington law school, University of
California (masters in constitutional theory).

I'm running because: "I'm the right person for this court at this particular
time. I'm a consensus builder, I'm a listener, I'm a leader."

Reach him at: 206-447-1992, PO Box 75448, Seattle 98125; homepage:
www.hughspitzer.com

***

Kris Sundberg

Mercer Island, age 48

Family: wife Nancy, one child.

Occupation, experience: private practice, assistant city attorney for
Newport News, Va., administrative assistant for chief judge of U.S. District
Court in Washington, D.C.

Education: University of Washington, William and Mary law school.

I'm running because: "I see judicial erosion of the constitution in our
state courts and I'm the only candidate willing to talk about it."

Reach him at: 206-726-2989, 9015 Holman Road N.W., Suite 4, Seattle 98117;
homepage: www.sundberg.wa.net

***

James Foley

Raymond, age 43

Family: wife Nancy, three children.

Occupation, experience: private practice, attorney for Port of Willapa
Harbor, attorney for City of Raymond, public defender, Peace Corps.

Education: Western Washington University, University of Puget Sound law
school.

I'm running because: "The people of Washington need to have confidence in
their Supreme Court. They need to know that when rulings are made, they are
not only made with legal knowledge, but with a large dose of common sense."

Reach him at: 360-942-2114, PO Box 206, Raymond 98577.

***

Eric Nielsen

Seattle, age 45

Family: married.

Occupation: private practice, assistant director of Washington Appellate
Defenders Association.

Education: The Evergreen State College, University of Puget Sound law
school.

I'm running because: Says his experience as an attorney specializing in
appeals would help on the courts. Says appeals courts are vital in order to
check the power of government.

Reach him at: 206-364-8317, 6016 N.E. Bothell Way, Suite 108, Seattle 98155.

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March To End The Drug War In Berkeley On September 26
(A List Subscriber Forwards A Notice About A Saturday Afternoon Rally -
Don't Miss The Planning Session September 21)

Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 13:20:22 -0700
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
From: "Adam J. Smith" (ajsmith@drcnet.org)
Subject: [Fwd: March to End the Drug War in Berkeley on Sept 26th]
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

Hey gang,

Just thought I'd pass this along. Feel free to help them get the word
out... and, for all of you out there in the Bay Area, contact info appears
at the bottom.

- adam

>
>Dear Drug Peacemakers,
>
>Thought that some of you may be interested in joining or helping
>with the following event:
>
>MARCH TO END THE DRUG WAR
>SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1998
>at 1PM, HASTE & TELEGRAPH AVE.
>BERKELEY
>
>There has been a 6% increase of people in prison population and a 3%
>increase of people on probation or parole in 1997. These increases
>have been at the same annual rate since the late l980's. There are,
>at the present, over 1.7 million people in prison. of the total number
>of adults in the U.S, one percent are incarcerated and 3% are on
>probation or parole. The incarceration rate of 645 per 100,000 of
>all the people in the U.S., which is 10 times higher then most
>European countries (Holland's incarceration rate is 59).
>
>What's even worse from a man's point of view, is that the figure is
>almost doubled or 1229 per 100,000 men, because men constitute 94%
>of those people going to jail. Even a more appalling figure is the
>incarceration rate of 3822 per 100,000 of African-American men, which
>now make up half of the prison population in the U.S. In California,
>African-American men between the ages of 18 to 29, are 3% of the
>state's population but are 40% of the prison inmate population!
>
>How are these unfortunate statistics related to the Drug War? Well
>over 60% of present convictions are due to the drug war. In Berkeley,
>it is high time to demand a moratorium on drug arrests and a
>discussion of alternatives to the costly drug war policies. The drug
>war is a war on people!
>
>The March to End the Drug War is being organized by The Committee to
>End the Drug War, Green Panthers, Rosebud Archive Project, November
>Coalition, Cannabis Action Network, Alameda County Peace and Freedom
>Party, Gina Sasso, member of Berkeley Labor Commission, former
>candidate for City Council, Jon Crowder, human rights activist,
>candidate for Mayor of Berkeley, Michael Diehl, human rights
>activist, Michael Delacour, Boilermakers Union #549, candidate for
>Mayor of Berkeley.
>
>Please call (510) 649-0874 about a planning meeting on Sept. 21, or
>for more information.

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

Heroin Blamed In Anti-Drug Activist's Death ('The Dallas Morning News'
Says 24-Year-Old Elliot Lizauckas, Who Had Finished The Dallas-Based
Homeward Bound Drug-Treatment Program Last Spring And Had Begun
To Impart A 'Don't Start' Message To Youngsters In His Home Town
Of Allen, Texas, Was Found Dead Saturday In North Dallas)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 12:25:32 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: Heroin Blamed In Anti-Drug Activist's Death
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: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com
Pubdate: Tue, 8 Sep 1998
Author: Joy Dickinson, Morning News Staff

HEROIN BLAMED IN ANTI-DRUG ACTIVIST'S DEATH

When Eleanor Bronschidle talked to her 24-year-old son, Elliot "Eli"
Lizauckas, on Saturday afternoon, Mr. Lizauckas was full of excitement, full
of plans, full of life.

"He was saying he was going to make me so proud of him, finish school, pay
back everything he owed me," Ms. Bronschidle said. "I thought, 'Oh, we made
it. We finally made it.' "

She was wrong.

Saturday evening, a friend of Mr. Lizauckas' found him dead in his North
Dallas apartment, apparently of a heroin overdose. Syringes and capsules
were found in the apartment, according to a police report.

Mr. Lizauckas' death shocked relatives and friends who had seen him battle
back from a drug problem that began several years ago and start taking his
"don't start" message to young people in his hometown of Allen.

"We had no idea, no sign at all. But that's the nature of that beast
[heroin]," said Mr. Lizauckas' stepfather, David Liles of Allen.

Although Allen hasn't received the same publicity for drug problems as its
neighbor to the south, Plano, residents said Mr. Lizauckas wasn't the only
young person there fighting against the pull of heroin, cocaine and other
drugs.

Eighteen young people with Plano connections have died of heroin overdoses
since September 1994. In July, a 50-page federal indictment for dealing
heroin and cocaine in Plano was issued against 29 people, 16 of them
students in Plano schools.

In Allen, though, "people say, 'That's Plano, that's not our kids,' " said
Vicki Jamieson, a parent who knows many of the affected families. "But it
is. They're having a lot of problems up here, too. A lot of tragedy."

More than a dozen teens gathered at the Jamieson house Monday to grieve for
Mr. Lizauckas, Mrs. Jamieson said.

"They're struggling pretty hard with this," she said. "I think they think
that trying to help other people, dealing with the media, that maybe Eli was
doing that too soon and that's what pushed him over again. They're resentful
of that."

Mrs. Jamieson's son, Jeramy, died three years ago at age 21 of complications
from an enlarged heart. Jeramy, who was Mr. Lizauckas' best friend, had some
minor drug problems, but Mrs. Jamieson said they didn't cause his death.

"I do think that a lot of the kids in the group they [Jeramy and Eli] grew
up with, the ones who turned to heroin and other drugs, did so after
Jeramy's death. They had so much grief and no way of dealing with it."

Mr. Liles said his stepson had minor drug problems, "pot and that kind of
thing," beginning at age 16 or 17.

Mr. Liles said Mr. Lizauckas' problems with more deadly drugs began "when he
started hanging with older kids from Allen and Plano. I think they decided
to just go a little deeper, and before they knew it, they were caught."

From all outward appearances, though, Mr. Lizauckas seemed to have wriggled
free of the trap. He had finished the Dallas-based Homeward Bound
drug-treatment program last spring, was living in a Dallas apartment and was
enrolled at Richland College, taking classes toward a career in computers.
He was also working part-time at a Blockbuster Video.

He also had started working with parents and teens who were having similar
drug problems.

"He did a Channel 8 town-hall meeting, and he did a eulogy for one of his
friends who died of heroin," Mr. Liles said.

His mom, Ms. Bronschidle, said her son seemed to be doing fine.

"I could tell that he was fighting so hard," she said. "His eyes were
crystal-clear, bright blue and the whites of his eyes were so clear.

"I felt like I'd had a 1,000-pound weight lifted off of me. There was no way
I thought he'd take a wrong turn again. . . . Now all I want is to be with
him, but I can't because I have other children."

Mr. Lizauckas' younger brother and step-siblings are having a tough time
dealing with his death, Mr. Liles said.

"They're kind of mad at him because they know it's preventable," he said.
"We've been very open with them because they need to know this can be the
end result of making a bad decision.

"No matter how hard he tried, it came back and got him in a weak moment.
Once you've started on heroin, every day you wake up, it's a crisis. You're
doing well, and it knocks you back down. It's a battle every day, every
night."

In addition to his mother and stepfather, Mr. Lizauckas is survived by his
brother, Timothy Kent Bronschidle, stepsister, Stephanie Liles, and
stepbrother, Steven Liles, all of Allen; grandmother, Norma Catland of North
Tonawanda, N.Y.; and several other relatives.

The family will receive guests from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Turrentine
Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, Highway 75 at Exit 37 in McKinney. The funeral
will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Turrentine Jackson-Morrow.

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

Drug Seizure Laws Ripe For Abuse ('The Cincinnati Enquirer' Surveys
How Prohibition Agents And Illegal Drug Sellers Use The Forfeiture Laws
In Different Ways - Small-Time Possession Offenders And Innocent People
Never Charged With Any Crime Get Taken Most Often)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:26:38 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OH: Drug Seizure Laws Ripe for Abuse
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: Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
Contact: http://Enquirer.Com/editor/letters.html
Website: http://enquirer.com/today/
Pubdate: Tue, 08 Sep 1998
Author: Anne Michaud - The Cincinnati Enquirer

DRUG SEIZURE LAWS RIPE FOR ABUSE

Police tactics bring cries for reform

On New Year's Eve, Adam Townley sold marijuana to an undercover police
officer. He would end up paying for it with his car.

Eager to gain ownership of Mr. Townley's two-door 1990 Nissan -- taken
during his arrest -- Fairfax police agreed to a deal in which two counts of
drug trafficking against the 20-year-old from Union Township in Clermont
County were reduced to a lesser charge.

Police holding drug-raid loot Mr. Townley got his freedom. The police got
the Nissan.

The exchange, though perfectly legal under drug forfeiture law, raises
questions about the legitimacy of such tactics and the zeal with which some
police agencies pursue material goods enjoyed by the drug dealers they
arrest.

Clermont County Sheriff A.J. "Tim" Rodenberg, a former prosecutor, calls it
"let's-make-a-deal justice."

"It almost looks like a person is buying his way out of a punishment," he
said. "Say you catch a different person doing the same thing a month later,
and he doesn't have a car to turn over. So he's got no bargaining chip."

Mr. Townley's case and scores of others illustrate how drug forfeiture laws
are in need of change, say lawyers and experts in Ohio and nationwide.

The laws allow police to seize property that is thought to be a tool of a
crime -- such as Mr. Townley's Nissan -- or things that may have been
bought with profits of drug dealing, such as houses, jewelry and boats. The
property is converted to cash at auction. Cash is also commonly seized.

The prosecutor and law enforcement agencies share the proceeds, and they
use the money to pay for more investigations, arrests and prosecutions.
Millions of dollars are at stake in Ohio alone, and the incentive for
police to seize property is just too strong, some argue.

This incentive can cause problems:

Police can seize property that appears to be disproportionate to the crime.
In one case, Cincinnati police took $8,500 from an Avondale woman who had a
small amount of marijuana in her apartment.

Because most forfeiture cases are heard in civil court, low-income people
who challenge a forfeiture have no right to a court-appointed attorney.
Challengers must prove their innocence. In criminal court, the burden of
proof is on the government.

Law enforcement can win a civil property forfeiture even if the defendant
is found not guilty of the crime that led to seizing the property.

John Murphy, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys
Association, defended the last point.

"There may not be enough to convict on drug trafficking because the burden
of proof may be much higher, but the court may be satisfied that these are
the proceeds of drug money," he said.

The criticism of drug forfeitures is not unique to Cincinnati or Ohio. At
the federal level, a coalition including defense lawyers and conservative
organizations is fighting to strengthen defendants' rights.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys would have courts
appoint attorneys for people who cannot afford them and would shift the
burden of proof to law enforcement. Law enforcement would have to show by
clear and convincing evidence the seized property is connected to drug
dealing.

In the Townley case, the agencies that approved the deal -- Fairfax police
and the Hamilton County prosecutor's office -- shared the proceeds. By
longstanding agreement with local police agencies, the prosecutor takes 20
percent.

Fairfax Police Chief Richard Atkins said his office turned the case over to
the prosecutor, and he could not answer for the outcome. "As far as how the
prosecutor's office handles these cases, I have no control over that," he
said.

But he did say throwing a car into a plea bargain was common, and he did
not find the result unfair.

"You talk about fair. Is it fair for this guy to come into Fairfax and sell
our people drugs?" Chief Atkins said.

Defense attorney Raymond Faller, who represented Mr. Townley, contends
Fairfax police, not the prosecutor, were the ones pushing for the car. (He
advised Mr. Townley not to be interviewed or photographed for this story.)

James Harper, chief deputy prosecutor, defended the deal and said Mr.
Townley had retained an attorney, knew his rights and should not have felt
pressured to give up the car.

"We are not in the business of squeezing property out of people. If you're
going to take a plea, fine," Mr. Harper said. "This fellow apparently
thought that what he was doing was in his own best interest because he was
guilty.

"That's what the plea means: "I was selling drugs out of this vehicle.' "

Property is used in plea bargaining every day in courtrooms here, said
Cincinnati defense attorney Thomas Miller. Once, in Texas, he turned it to
his client's advantage.

The client had been driving a rental car when he was arrested with a large
amount of cocaine. When it became clear the local sheriff wanted the car,
Mr. Miller said, his client bought it and used it to bargain.

"We kept this guy out of jail," he said, "for a $15,000 car."

Innocent people hurt

People who feel safe from a drug-related arrest or seizure may be surprised
to learn about Juanita Hazley, a 32-year employee of the U.S. Postal
Service.

In July 1997, she lent one of her two cars to her son, Robert Chappell Jr.
She thought he was using it to travel to his job at a delivery service and
to visit Children's Hospital Medical Center, where his 10-month-old son was
dying.

With such family trouble, it never occurred to Ms. Hazley that her son,
then 31, would be meeting a customer to sell crack cocaine. The customer
turned out to be a police informant wearing a hidden microphone.

Springfield Township police seized the car, a 1985 Nissan, arguing that Ms.
Hazley knew her son was dealing drugs. Police would have to release the car
if Ms. Hazley could show she knew nothing of the crime.

"I'm not that kind of parent. If he's selling drugs, don't do it around
me," she said during an interview at her Forest Park apartment. The
nine-month court battle cost her $2,500, but she won.

"It was more the principle than the car," Ms. Hazley said. "How can you
take something of mine like that?"

Autos seized often

The financial stake in recovering drug assets is high.

Cincinnati police collected $1.2 million in 1996, the latest year for which
the department could provide figures. The Hamilton County sheriff's office
received $425,521 in 1997 and the county prosecutor $233,294.

Cars are by far the most frequently seized property. Some are sold at
auction, and police use others as official vehicles.

One Cincinnati defense lawyer, Stephen Felson, said the horse trading for
those assets is blatant. He once saw a note attached to a forfeiture case
that informed the judge that the police needed the vehicle in question for
undercover work.

David Smith, a national expert on forfeitures, said such incentives lead to
bad seizures.

"The department benefits," said Mr. Smith, a former deputy chief of asset
forfeiture for the U.S. Department of Justice. "Most forfeitures are OK in
terms of proof, and most people don't have a problem with taking away the
proceeds of drug profits.

"There are bad cases. There's a big incentive for (police) to make bad
seizures, to take the law into their own hands, in effect." Drug dealers
have gotten wise to this incentive, said former Assistant Police Chief Ted
Schoch of the Cincinnati Police Division, who oversaw drug forfeitures
until July, when he took over the police training academy.

"The crooks have gotten smarter. They lease cars rather than buy. They use
a rental car that wouldn't be worth our while to take," he said. "The great
thing is when we find a paid-for vehicle." But do police sometimes go too
far? In one developing case, three lawyers have charged that Cincinnati
police are shaking down residents, mostly in Over-the-Rhine and Walnut
Hills, taking their money and charging them with misdemeanor marijuana
possession.

The confiscated cash in six cases ranged from $1,131 to $8,500, according
to the lawsuit filed June 24 in U.S. District Court by
constitutional-rights lawyer Scott Greenwood and brothers Stephen and
Edward Felson. The brothers share a law practice.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, names nine Cincinnati police
officers and the city as defendants. The lawyers want police to give back
the money along with attorneys' fees.

But mostly, these lawyers said, they want the practice to stop. It twists
the intention of drug forfeiture law, Mr. Greenwood contended, which is to
target drug dealers.

"These people aren't even charged with trafficking," he said. "People who
possess (marijuana) for personal use are not the dealers," he said.

Stephen Felson said such cases often go unchallenged. Many people can't
afford a lawyer and they do not want to make themselves targets of police
retaliation. He claims police focus on poor, black neighborhoods for these
reasons.

"Most of these cases are defaulted because the person doesn't want to deal
with it," Mr. Felson said. "Kiss it goodbye, almost." Karl Kadon, a deputy
city solicitor for Cincinnati, said he thinks police were investigating
drug crimes in each incident cited. He said the city is conducting its own
investigation into the allegations because of the lawsuit.

Money from a Bible

Even a defendant who is acquitted of the crime and challenges the
forfeiture commonly pays something to law enforcement.

Defense lawyer Victor Dwayne Sims said he represented an elderly woman
whose boyfriend was a suspected drug dealer. Cincinnati police picked him
up at her apartment and confiscated her possessions: a couple of purses and
$1,500 she kept in her Bible.

Police found a Valium in her purse and charged the West End woman with drug
abuse. The woman was cleared of the charge but lost her subsidized
apartment, which had rules about drug use among tenants. Police returned
all but about $200, which the police kept, Mr. Sims said.

"We had to bargain to get her money back. A lot of times, it's like a
compromise: You keep some property and return some," he said.

Like other defendants in property forfeiture cases, the woman had to prove
she had some way of obtaining money, other than by dealing drugs. In this
case, she had a job.

The case left Mr. Sims with a sour taste for forfeitures, he said. "It's
not about guilt or innocence," he said. "They deprive people of their
property rights before they've had an opportunity to be heard. That's
inherently unfair."

U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee,
has prepared a bill that would reform asset forfeiture in all its forms.
There are more than 100 federal statutes authorizing forfeiture, for such
things as money laundering, contraband and abandoned property in addition
to drug crimes.

His legislation is up against opposition from the Justice Department and a
collection of law enforcement groups.

"The Department of Justice is trying to block this; the police chiefs are
allied against this," said Mr. Smith, the former justice department
official. "They see it as an assault on their pocketbooks."

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

Drugs Taint An Annual Round Of Gay Revels ('The New York Times'
Notes A Man Attending The 'Morning Party' Dance Benefit On Fire Island
For An Organization Called The Gay Men's Health Crisis 'Overdosed And Died'
August 16 After Apparently Taking Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, Or GHB,
And Says 'Many' Gay Men Are Questioning The Propriety Of Such Benefits,
Which 'Seem To' Inspire The Kind Of Drug Consumption 'Widely Thought'
To Increase The Likelihood Of Unsafe Sexual Behavior And The Spread Of AIDS)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 21:05:40 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NY: Drugs Taint An Annual Round Of Gay Revels
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: hadorn@dnai.com (David Hadorn)
Pubdate: Tue, 8 Sep 1998
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Author: David Bruni

DRUGS TAINT AN ANNUAL ROUND OF GAY REVELS

NEW YORK -- It began in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic as a
relatively modest affair, a respite for the living and remembrance of
the dead that was held in daylight, so that even the ill might be able
to go, and it was given a double-edged title resonant of grief.

A decade and a half later, the Morning Party has evolved into a
glamorous social event that attracts hordes of gay men to Fire Island
and reliably raises enormous sums of money for Gay Men's Health
Crisis, perhaps the United States' most respected AIDS service
organization.

This year's gathering, on Aug. 16, was no different. About 4,500 men
went, $450,000 was raised and a good time was had by many.

But the hangover has been formidable, underlining the way the event
has become an albatross around the health group's neck and a flash
point in an increasingly bitter debate over the alliances between AIDS
service organizations and a network of dance-oriented fund-raisers at
which a substantial number of participants are high on drugs.

In the predawn hours leading up to this year's Morning Party, a
35-year-old man from Bronxville overdosed and died.

In the three weeks since, many gay men are again questioning the
propriety of the group's endorsement of a party that seems to inspire
the kind of drug consumption widely thought to increase the likelihood
of unsafe sexual behavior and the spread of AIDS.

``It gives the organization not only money but future clients,'' said
Troy Masters, the publisher of LGNY, a twice-monthly newspaper for
lesbians and gay men in New York. ``In a way, it's like a
self-perpetuating machine.''

Criticism of this kind has been aimed at Gay Men's Health Crisis for
several years. In 1996, a man was evacuated by helicopter from the
Morning Party after slipping into a drug-induced coma.

But the complaints seem to be taking on a heightened urgency with the
proliferation around the country of other large-scale gay dance
events, some of which funnel part of their profits to AIDS service
organizations.

These events have come to be known as ``circuit parties'' because they
are linked by similar music and because some of them attract the same
core crowd, lavishly muscled and wealthy enough to buy plane tickets
and plenty of drugs like cocaine, Ecstasy and ketamine, or ``special
K.''

In addition, the chemicals taken by a few of the men who attend
circuit parties has expanded recently to include a liquid anesthetic,
gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, that has been implicated in a string of
medical emergencies at circuit parties this year. GHB is extolled by
some as an aphrodisiac.

Suffolk County law-enforcement officials said that GHB appeared to
have caused the death of Frank Giordano, 35, at the Pines on Fire
Island around 4 a.m. on Aug. 16, seven hours before the Morning Party
officially began on a stretch of beach nearby.

Three other men at the Pines who apparently took the same batch of GHB
were taken to hospitals on Long Island, treated and released,
law-enforcement officials said. Several people who attended the
Morning Party said that one of the three men made it back to the Pines
in time to join the festivities.

``People are partying harder than ever with substances that are more
volatile than ever,'' said Alan Brown, a management consultant from
New Haven, Conn., who annually attends about two dozen circuit
parties, from Montreal to Miami, and recently sat on a panel at a gay
physicians' conference in Chicago to discuss health issues relating to
the events. ``People have been leaving parties in ambulances routinely
for three years now.''

Brown and other gay men familiar with circuit parties emphasized that
many men who attend the events use illegal drugs infrequently, if
ever, and that the vast majority of gay men have never been to any of
the parties.

Officials of Gay Men's Health Crisis, which stages (and profits from)
the Morning Party, said that educating the minority of gay men
involved in the party circuit about the perils of drugs is a principal
reason the organization remains committed to the event, which they
said would occur with or without the group's involvement.

Jeff Soref, who was president of the board when the organization began
to assume full responsibility for coordinating the event in the early
1990s, said, ``GMHC does need to be involved in harm reduction, and it
does need to be where the community is.''

Others stressed that during recent years the organization had
intensified its efforts to rid the Morning Party of illegal drugs,
distributing written warnings. Many people who attended the Morning
Party this year said that drug use was noticeably less prevalent and
conspicuous than in the past.

Ronald Johnson, the organization's managing director for public
policy, said that linking the GHB overdoses that occurred more than
eight hours earlier to the event was gratuitous.

But critics said that the Morning Party, like other circuit events,
has spawned several days of revelry around it, and cannot divorce
itself from those often reckless festivities.

``If GMHC officials don't think they have some responsibility for the
overdoses, they're kidding themselves,'' said Michael Trovato, 41, who
spends summer weekends on Fire Island.

Many gay men said the organization could do prevention work at the
party without sponsoring it. Several said they had stopped donating
money to the organization because of its affiliation with the
gathering. Johnson said he had seen no evidence of that.

The circuit embraces New York; New Orleans; Palm Springs, Calif.; and
Pensacola, Fla., though many events have no connection to AIDS
organizations. It usually features shirtless men dancing all through
the night, their energy and euphoria often enhanced by powders or pills.

But what most alarms many gay men and public-health experts is not the
drug use itself but the implications for responsible conduct.

``The extent to which gay men use drugs is a strong, significant
predictor of becoming HIV-positive,'' said Ron Stall, a professor of
epidemiology at the University of California at San Francisco.

Others said that some circuit parties even feature darkened back
rooms, and that a few men who flock to circuit extravaganzas also
attend sex parties before or after the main event and may not adhere
to precautions against HIV transmission.

That has provoked critics into greater anger at AIDS service
organizations around the country for staging circuit parties or
signing on as beneficiaries.

``Circuit parties got the imprimatur of their local AIDS
organizations and, bingo, instant, total respectability,'' said Gabriel
Rotello, author of ``Sexual Ecology: A IDS and the Destiny of
Gay Men'' (Dutton, 1997). ``And the irony of that is just so
awesome.''

To varying degrees, officials with AIDS service organizations that are
involved in circuit parties are wrestling with that accusation, a
process complicated by their difficulty raising money in other ways.
They said that sunny news reports about better treatments for AIDS
have left many individual donors with the mistaken impression that the
epidemic is waning and have discouraged them from giving.

``We are more dependent than ever on special-events fund raising,''
said Bryan Delowery, the events coordinator for the AIDS Information
Network in Philadelphia, which stages a circuit party every January.
The event, called the Blue Ball, raises $125,000, more than 10 percent
of the group's annual budget.

Profits from the Morning Party, for which tickets cost $100 apiece,
account for a much smaller percentage of GMHC's annual budget of $25
million. But proponents of circuit parties said the case for them
transcends the economic vitality of AIDS service organizations that do
crucial work.

They said that many gay men attend the events not to indulge chemical
or sexual appetites but simply to bask in an environment free of the
bigotry they face elsewhere in society.

Critics counter that circuit parties have an impact beyond their
perimeters, idealizing dangerous habits in a manner that has
particular influence over young gay men.

The experience of Jeffrey W. supports that viewpoint. He said that
when he moved to Manhattan after graduating from college a few years
ago, he ``had no desire to be part of a drug and intense sex culture.''

But he said conversations with other gay men and glossy ads in some
periodicals piqued his curiosity, and even left him with the
impression that the circuit scene was the very definition of gay identity.

``I figured if there were 5,000 other men who are considered the upper
crust in the gay world doing this, it must be all right and it must be
the norm,'' said Jeffrey, who spoke on the condition that his last
name not be used. ``I experimented quite heavily with drugs, and I
began to be unsafe.''

One such moment occurred in December. Several months later, Jeffrey
said, he tested positive for HIV.

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

Chemical In Fluoridated Water May Cause Violent Behavior
(According To 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education,' Roger D. Masters,
An Emeritus Professor Of Government At Dartmouth College,
Explained His Evidence Friday At The Annual Meeting Of The Association
For Politics And The Life Sciences, That Silicofluoride, A Chemical Used
To Fluoridate The Drinking Water Of 150 Million Americans, May Unwittingly
Foster Violent Behavior And Cocaine Use By Causing People To Absorb
More Lead, Which Blocks The Action Of Calcium Atoms In Fostering
The Production Of Neurotransmitters In The Brain)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:11:17 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Chemical In Fluoridated Water May Cause Violent Behavior
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Source: Chronicle of Higher Education, The (US)
Contact: editor@chronicle.com
Website: http://chronicle.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 8 Sep 1998
Author: Vincent Kiernan

CHEMICAL IN FLUORIDATED WATER MAY CAUSE VIOLENT BEHAVIOR, COCAINE USE,
SCHOLAR SAYS

A chemical used to fluoridate the drinking water of 150 million Americans
may unwittingly foster violent behavior and cocaine use in some of those who
drink the water, a scholar said Friday at the annual meeting of the
Association for Politics and the Life Sciences.

Communities that use a fluoridation agent known as silicofluoride have
higher rates of violent crime than communities that use an alternative
method or do not fluoridate their water, said Roger D. Masters, an emeritus
professor of government at Dartmouth College.

He based his conclusions on a series of statistical analyses of the
characteristics of communities in Massachusetts and Georgia. Mr. Masters
said that previous work by other researchers suggested that the statistical
pattern may reflect the way silicofluoride in water causes people to absorb
more lead.

The lead blocks the action of calcium atoms in fostering the production of
neurotransmitters in the brain -- such as dopamine and serotonin -- that
appear to suppress violent behavior, he said. Thus, the silicofluoride
ultimately is responsible for more aggressive behavior among people who
drink the water that has been treated with silicofluoride and whose diets
are lacking in calcium, he said.

Calcium deficiency is more common among black people than among white
people, which might help explain racial patterns of violent behavior, he
said.

In one of his studies, Mr. Masters found that residents of 25 Massachusetts
communities that used silicofluorides were more likely to have elevated
levels of lead in their blood than were residents of 25 other Massachusetts
communities that did not. Myron J. Coplan, a retired chemical engineer who
has collaborated with Mr. Masters, told The Chronicle that silicofluoride
was less expensive than the only other widely used fluoridation agent.

Mr. Masters' analysis of 129 rural counties in Georgia also found that
communities that used silicofluoride had elevated rates of cocaine use. Lead
in the brain because of silicofluoride may be the link in that case as well,
he said: cocaine addiction appears to be tied to low levels of dopamine in
the brain, and lead in the brain depresses dopamine levels.

Use of many other drugs is unrelated to dopamine, and the Georgia
communities that had silicofluoridated water had no increase in the use of
such drugs -- such as Valium, marijuana, and PCP -- he said.

Mr. Masters said his study may challenge the common view that drug abuse and
violent behavior are caused by a "moral defect" in the individual. In the
case of silicofluoridated water, he said, the government may share in the
responsibility for violence in society. "It is governments that determine
what goes into our water supply," he said.

Copyright 1998 by The Chronicle of Higher Education

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

Party's Over For US Teens Trying To Drink In Tijuana (An 'Associated Press'
Article In 'The Seattle Times' Says A Year After Operation Safe Crossing
Supposedly Began A Crackdown On 'Border Binge Drinking,' About 20 Percent
Fewer Americans Are Entering Mexico To Drink This Year Than Last Year
From San Diego)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Party's over for U.S. teens trying to drink in Tijuana
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 18:51:04 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Copyright (c) 1998 The Seattle Times Company

Posted at 07:17 a.m. PDT
Tuesday, September 8, 1998

Party's over for U.S. teens trying to drink in Tijuana

by Michelle Koidin
The Associated Press

TIJUANA - American teenagers once loved this border city's neon-lit,
disco-infused nightclub strip - a lawless playground that served up tequila
shots and all-you-can-drink specials, no matter your age.

These days, the party's coming to a sobering end.

Public-health advocates, together with police on both sides of the border,
are celebrating the first anniversary of their crackdown on border binge
drinking, dubbed Operation Safe Crossing.

While many San Diego-area college students - most too young to drink legally
in California but old enough to get drunk in Mexico - still proclaim the
Avenida Revolucion strip an ideal party destination, authorities are pleased
with the progress they've made stopping high-schoolers.

Because of ID checks at the U.S. border, fewer would-be partyers are heading
to Revolucion's 30-odd bars and discos, which translates into fewer fights
and fewer drunken drivers, officials say.

About 20 percent fewer Americans are going to Tijuana to drink this year
than last year, said James Baker, executive director of the San Diego-based
Institute for Health Advocacy, an organization studying the problem.

San Diego and state police have worked harder to enforce the law barring
Americans under 18 from crossing the border without parental permission.

On Friday night, the start of the Labor Day weekend, 99 minors were detained
for trying to cross the border, and letters were sent to their parents. On
Saturday night, 140 minors were denied entrance to Mexico.

"When we went down a year-and-a-half ago, you could see 14- and 15-year-old
American kids drinking," Baker said. "Now it's uncommon to see that, and
that thrills me."

More than 50 officers - federal, state and local police - kept drunk
Americans on their way home from fighting or getting into their parked cars
on the U.S. side of the border.

On the Mexican side, Operation Safe Crossing entails keeping Americans under
18 - the legal drinking age in Mexico - out of bars by fining owners who
allow them inside and by sending city inspectors from club to club for spot
ID checks. That means some Americans end up showing their IDs three times:
at the border, at the bar door and again inside.

Authorities also persuaded bar owners to take down cheap-drink promotion
signs.

"Far fewer are going and far fewer are coming back intoxicated," San Diego
police Capt. Adolfo Gonzales said. "Within the last year, we've seen fewer
fights, fewer assaults, drastically fewer rapes."

Tijuana bar employees can now take a course on how to recognize a fake
American ID card. Over the summer, bartenders participated in workshops
teaching them to refuse service to drunk patrons.

"We have much more control now," said Arnulfo Palomera Hernandez, a program
inspector. "With respect to the past year, we have 60 to 70 percent fewer
minors in the bars."

The new series of ID checks worked to stump three disappointed 17-year-old
San Diego high-school girls on Friday night; while they managed to cross the
border using fake IDs, they couldn't get into any of the discos. They still
found a bar willing to serve them, however.

"The cops let us in but the clubs won't," one girl in a drunken stupor
complained. "The clubs are harder to get into than the border," another
said, staggering.

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

Dangerous Times For Mexico's Writers (A 'Washington Post' Article
In 'The International Herald-Tribune' Says In The Last 16 Months,
Four Mexican Journalists Have Been Killed At The Behest
Of Illegal Drug Sellers, Corrupt Police, And Old-Style Political Bosses,
And Scores More Have Been Attacked, Threatened Or Intimidated,
Making The Period One Of The Most Violent In A Decade)

Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 11:49:43 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Mexico: Dangerous Times For Mexico's Writers
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Peter Webster
Pubdate: Sept 8, 1998
Source: International Herald-Tribune
Contact: iht@iht.com
Website: http://www.iht.com/
Author: Molly Moore, Washington Post Service

DANGEROUS TIMES FOR MEXICO'S WRITERS

MEXICO CITY---For nine months, Homero Aridjis, a Mexican poet and
international spokesman for freedom of expression, has not stepped out
of his house without the bodyguards that shadow him everywhere: to
poetry readings, to lunch with friends, to walk his dog.

Now, the telephone warnings that prompted the Mexican government to
assign guards to the president of PEN International, a global writers'
organization, have escalated with new and more chilling death threats
that reflect a pattern of increasing violence against Mexican writers
and journalists.

"Despite the enormous political opening in the last two years, it is
still extremely dangerous to be a journalist in Mexico," said Jorge
Zepeda, presldent of the Society of Journalists, one of two new
Mexivan watchdog organizations recently created to assist journalists
and publicize attacks against them.

Many journalists argue that it is the growing independence and power
of the Mexican media, fed partly by reforms in Mexico's one-party
political system, that have provoked the surge in attacks and threats
against journalists and photographers in the past two years. Once
largely pawns of the govemment, many newspapers and magazines are
professionalizing their staffs and pursuing aggressive investigations
of drug cartels and official corruption.

In the last 16 months, four journalists have been killed in Mexico in
job-related slayings. Scores have been attacked, threatened or
intimidated, making the period one of the most violent for journalists
here in a decade, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists.

In 1997, threats against joumalists were up 55 pereent over the
previous year with 187 assaults, threats and acts of intimidation, a
Mexican group, Network for the Protection of Journalists, reported.
The attacks have been waged by drug cartels, corrupt law enforcement
officials and old-style political bosses, according to Mr. Zepeda, who
said his organization was attempting to "convince Mexican society that
an attack against a journalist is an attack against the whole society
and its right to he well-informed."

Many of the attacks appear to have been related to the journalists'
aggressive reporting. Benjamin Flores Gonzalez. editor of the
newspaper La Prensa in San Luis Rio Colorado, on the U.S. border, was
shot and killed on the front steps of his office in July, the target
of drug traffickers angered by his unflinching coverage. A Mexico City
joumalist was murdered last year and five others abducted, reportedly
by police officers who resented their coverage of corruption. The
authorities have made few arrests.

The telephone threats received by Mr. Aridjis, one of Mexico's
best-known writers and a frequent government critic, have been
particularly troubling to journalistic organizations hecause of his
high-profile position as president of PEN International, the
prestigious London-bascd organization of poets, novelists and othel
writers.

"Homero Aridjis becomes a lightning rod because of his visibility,"
said Joel Simoll of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The New York-based PEN American Center wrote in a letter last week to
President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico: "We suspect that whoever is behind
these calls is trying to inhibit Mr. Aridjis's activities as a writer,
International PEN president, and an editorial page columnist."

"Previous threatening phone calls also occurred within weeks of a
public appearance by or press interview wih Mr. Aridjis regarding
human rights in Mexico and contemporary dangers faced by writers," it
added.

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

Judge Okays Ill Man's Marijuana Use ('The Vancouver Sun'
Says Stanley Czolowski Of Vancouver, British Columbia, Who Was Charged
With Growing And Trafficking In Three Kilograms Of Marijuana,
Argued Successfully That Marijuana Is The Only Substance That Allows Him
To Combat The Crushing Pain And Nausea Caused By Glaucoma
And The Prescription Drugs He Takes For It - In A Decision That Appears To Be
The First Of Its Kind In Canada, Provincial Court Judge Jane Godfrey Granted
A Discharge Both For Possession And Trafficking To Czolowski, Who Was Selling
His Home-Grown Pot To The Compassion Club, An Illicit Medical Marijuana
Dispensary)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:23:57 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: Judge Okays Ill Man's Marijuana Use
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Vancouver Sun (Canada)
Contact: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/
Pubdate: Tue, 8 Sep 1998
Author: Rick Ouston

JUDGE OKAYS ILL MAN'S MARIJUANA USE

A Vancouver man who, police say, grew up to $50,000 worth of marijuana in
his basement has been granted a discharge by a judge who believed his
argument that he used the drug to battle glaucoma.

Stanley Czolowski, charged by police with producing and trafficking in
three kilograms of marijuana last August, admitted he was guilty but
successfully argued that marijuana is the only substance that allows him to
combat the crushing pain and nausea that are side-effects of his condition
and the prescription medications he must ingest.

In the transcript of a decision released to his lawyer, John Conroy, late
last week and obtained exclusively by the Vancouver Sun, provincial court
Judge Jane Godfrey said she accepted that Czolowski used and trafficked in
the restricted drug.

The litany of problems suffered by 44-year-old Czolowski because of his
condition -- including pressure in the eyeball, deteriorating vision,
nausea from other drugs, lack of appetite and crushing fatigue -- was a
powerful argument against banning marijuana from people who use it
medicinally, she said.

"I have heard from the accused and I have read the material that is filed
in terms of what his daily existence is like, and I have no difficulty
whatsoever in understanding his personal motivation and I have extreme
sympathy for his personal situation," she said.

In a judgment that appears to be the first of its kind in Canada, she
granted him a discharge both for possession and trafficking. Czolowski was
selling his home-grown pot to the Compassion Club, a Vancouver group that
distributes free or low-cost marijuana to people suffering from diseases
ranging from glaucoma to cancer, AIDS and epilepsy.

An Ontario justice ruled in December that Canada's marijuana laws unfairly
denied the right of a Toronto epileptic to an effective medication for his
condition, but Terry Parker had been charged only with possession, not
trafficking.

In the Vancouver ruling, Judge Godfrey took the Parker decision into
consideration, saying the judge in that case had ruled that denying Parker
possession of marijuana did little or nothing to enhance the state's
interest in better health for a member of the community.

She wrote: "I have considered the facts before me and the case law and in
all of the circumstances I am satisfied it's not contrary to the public
interest, notwithstanding the volume involved, and certainly it's in the
interests of the accused to grant him a discharge, and I do so conditional
on his entering into a probation order to keep the peace and be of good
behaviour for a period of one year. Those are the only terms of the order."

Godfrey also noted that her stance on pot applied only to medicinal marijuana.

"I should indicate that I consider this case to be unique on its facts,"
she said. "This is not an open invitation to others to follow the accused's
approach, absent medical problems of their own."

Lawyer Conroy, who has also represented clients arguing a constitutional
challenge of the country's pot laws, told the court he would try to get a
doctor to prescribe marijuana to Czolowski, a way to circumvent the federal
law restricting access to narcotics and other drugs from general use.

Court was told that police raided Czolowski's rented Marpole home in August
1997, acting on a tip. In the basement they found hydroponic equipment, 14
full-size pot plants, 20 small plants from five to 30 centimetres tall and
28 infant plants a few centimetres tall. Police estimated the value of the
plants at $35,000 to $50,000.

Czolowski, a freelance photographer and silversmith, produced medical
evidence at his trial showing he suffers from a type of glaucoma called
open-angle, which causes deterioration of vision, a condition he believes
he inherited from his father, Ted, who also worked as a photographer and
suffers glaucoma.

Although he receives no criminal record and was given no jail time or fines
-- marijuana cultivation can be punishable by up to seven years in prison,
while the maximum penalty for trafficking is life -- police did seize and
retain about $2,500 worth of growing equipment, Czolowski's wife, Trudy
Greif, said.

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

No Token Presence ('The Edmonton Sun' Says Edmonton Cops Were 'Disgusted'
By The Sight And Smell Of Stoned Teens At Yesterday's Annual Hempstalk
On The Lawn Of Alberta's Seat Of Power, And Will Recommend The Festival
Lose Its Right To Use The Grounds Around The Legislature's Band Shell)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 12:25:32 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: No Token Presence
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Edmonton Sun (Canada)
Contact: sun.letters@ccinet.ab.ca
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/
Pubdate: Tuesday, September 8, 1998
Author: Bernard Pilon, Edmonton Sun

NO TOKEN PRESENCE

Cops concerned by number of teens at legislature pot party

Cannabis worshippers used to getting high on legislature grass may have to
find a new home for their yearly pot party.

Edmonton cops, disgusted by the sight and smell of stoned teens at
yesterday's annual reefer madness on the lawn of Alberta's seat of power,
will recommend Hempstalk's annual home base go up in smoke.

"Our liquor laws don't allow anyone under 18 to drink in public but here,
we're noticing a lot of teens doing illegal drugs and I don't have the
resources to do anything about it without starting a riot," Sgt. Garet Bonn
said.

"We'll tell the province a large group of youngsters appear to be
partaking," Bonn said from the site of Hempstalk '98.

"Quite possibly, (bureaucrats) may not be so willing to allow this event on
their property next year."

For three years, pot backers and users have flocked to the legislature band
shell to hear speakers rail against anti-pot laws as punitive and
hypocritical, given that harmful cigarettes and booze are legal and generate
billions in tax revenue.

Cops - who typically turn a blind eye at these rallies - got tough with two
kids caught smoking weed just outside an informal non-enforcement zone.

The duo was served with what Bonn would only describe as "court documents"
related to pot possession - but not before a swarm of angry tokers
surrounded the arresting bicycle officers and the handcuffed pair.

"The whole crowd took exception to us dealing with two people smoking
marijuana. They wanted us to let them go. It got quite tense for a few
minutes," Bonn said.

Hempstalk '98 organizer Troy Stewart, who owns the True North Hemp Co.
clothing store at 10760 Whyte Ave., blamed overzealous cops for the fracas.

"This isn't a protest or a rally. It's a festival," Stewart said.

Some 250 people took in what Stewart dubbed "a celebration" of the cannabis
plant, a day-long bash that included a joint-rolling competition and a
pro-pot speech by Saskatchewan multiple sclerosis patient Grant Krieger.

Krieger has been in court several times on trafficking charges for buying
the only item he claims curbs the disease's debilitating effects.

"We want people to come here, smoke a little herb and have a good time,"
said Stewart, who is also a director of the Cannabis Relegalization Society
of Alberta.

Welder and tattoo artist Bill Schmidt celebrated his 27th birthday by
getting high and chortling that for one day, at least, cops weren't going to
bust peaceful dope-smokers.

"It's great to come out, smoke some pot in the fresh air and not get (grief)
for it," Schmidt said after lighting up.

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

Drink Still The Bane Of Youth ('The Age' Says The First National Survey
Of Mental Health And Wellbeing In Australia, Carried Out In Mid-1997
By The Australian Bureau Of Statistics, Found More Than 10 Per Cent
Of Younger Australians Had A Drinking Problem, And Substance Abuse Disorders
Were Relatively Common Among The Australian Population As A Whole)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 19:21:54 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Drink Still The Bane Of Youth
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Ken Russell
Pubdate: Tue, Sep 8, 1998
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Contact: letters@theage.fairfax.com.au
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Author: Andrew Darby

DRINK STILL THE BANE OF YOUTH

More than 10 per cent of younger Australians have a drinking problem,
according to the most detailed survey yet conducted on the nation's
common mental disorders.

The extent of alcohol abuse disorders among 18 to 34-year-olds is
twice that of other drugs. This age group is said to be the worst
affected of all by alcohol and other drugs.

The first national survey of mental health and wellbeing found
substance abuse disorders were relatively common among the Australian
population as a whole. But the findings also challenged perceptions
alcohol abuse among the young could be dismissed as a phase.

``The young are not only drinking, they are experiencing serious
problems as a result,'' said Dr Maree Teesson from the National Drug
and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

Details of the substance abuse data collected in the survey of 10,600
adults carried out in mid-1997 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics
were released yesterday at a national mental health services
conference in Hobart.

Dr Teesson said a disorder was assessed under World Health
Organisation guidelines as occurring when a person had three or more
indicators of problems, such as impaired physical control, withdrawal
symptoms like hangovers, a need for larger doses, or the taking of a
substance despite physical problems.

Disordered people may be seriously drug-dependent or just making
harmful use of a substance, but often this abuse was present in people
who had other mental disorders such as depression.

In the year before the survey, 6.5 per cent of all Australians aged 18
or over had an alcohol use disorder, and 2.2per cent abused other
drugs, including cannabis, stimulants, sedatives and opiates. Men were
more likely to suffer than women: nearly three times as often with
alcohol, and twice as much with other drugs.

But the extent of the problem was highlighted by comparing age groups.
Among people aged 55 or older, 4.4 per cent met criteria for an
alcohol use disorder, and just 0.8 per cent for drug use. By contrast,
10.6per cent of people aged 18 to 34 met the criteria for alcohol and
4.9per cent for other drugs.

The survey also discovered sharp differences in social groups likely
to suffer from alcohol and other drug disorders. Unemployed people
were roughly half as likely again to be victims, those who had never
married were three times more likely. Among the least to suffer were
non-English-speaking migrants.

The centre's Professor Wayne Hall said that even adjusting for a
greater prevalence of young people among them, the unemployed and
never-married groups still were more susceptible.

As for non-English-speaking migrants, he said they often came from
cultures that had less of a tradition of heavy drinking and typically
were more hard-working and keen to get ahead. ``Their problems emerge
in the next generation,''Professor Hall said.

The findings are said to be reasonably comparable with surveys done in
the United States, but show that people are still unprepared to seek
professional help for their problems, mainly because of stigmas
attached to them.

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

Futile 'Drugs War' (Three Letters To The Editor Of Britain's 'Independent'
Criticize Statements Made By David Macauley In A Recent Op-Ed Explaining Why
He Quit As The Director Of Scotland Against Drugs)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 20:29:18 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: 3 PUB LTE's: Futile 'Drugs War'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Pubdate: Tue, 08 Sep 1998

Letters to the Editor

FUTILE 'DRUGS WAR'

Sir: Having lost two young patients in the past month from the injecting of
a particularly pure form of heroin that appears to be currently available
on the streets of London, leaving behind an orphaned eight-year-old and
fatherless seven-year-old, I feel extremely angry

David Macauley's article explaining why he quit as the director of Scotland
Against Drugs (Comment, 4 September) said nothing new ("education has to be
at the forefront, availability must be reduced, must shift the culture"
etc) and quitting is not going to help.

We must get away from the "war on drugs" and get into the field of
"peaceful negotiation", as in Northern Ireland. Education has failed our
children, who are dying. Reducing availability has failed. Changing the
culture is a long-term goal, which might ultimately succeed.

We must listen to our youngsters who want desperately to get out of the
grip of heroin and other drugs but cannot, largely because of the
illegality of their action.

We must consider providing locally based, user-friendly, legal, controlled,
specialist outlets for these drugs so that young people can get and
administer their drugs in clinical and social safety. And then we must
provide the rehabilitation facilities in which they can be guided back into
society and in which they can be trained in the skills which will enable
them to make a positive contribution. This approach will immediately reduce
the crime rate, it will put the current providers out of business and it
will reduce the appalling mortality rates from drug use. For the sake of
our children and grandchildren, let's talk about it.

-- Dr Nick Maurice, General Practitioner, Marlborough, Wiltshire

***

Sir: It is a good thing that David Macauley has resigned as director of
Scotland Against Drugs. He criticises the Government for being ineffective
in tackling the drugs problem, but the only positive suggestion he makes is
that "the availability of drugs on our streets must be drastically
reduced". He says, "Enforcement is key."

What on earth does this mean? Enforcement has never worked. It does not
work now and it never will. It is the only thing we have ever tried and the
demand for drugs has continued to escalate.

Mr Macauley is right to criticise the Government: they cannot succeed if
most of their effort is concentrated on enforcement and so little is spent
on helping those whose misuse of drugs causes problems to themselves and
society. Mr Macauley seems to be proposing that we waste further resources
in doing even more of the wrong things.

The only solution is to try to bring drugs under reasonable legal control.
When the criminals cease to have a monopoly over the supply and
distribution of drugs, drug-related crime and deaths will diminish. Then,
harmful use can be openly discouraged and those who have a problem will
come forward and be helped without fear of repression.

-- Mick Humphreys, Creech St Michael, Somerset

***

Sir: David Macauley states that the global drug business represents 8 per
cent of world trade ("the same as the oil business"), that it is
responsible for 70 per cent of thefts in the UK and, that it costs the NHS
a huge amount. He says the profits of the criminal drug business are so
great that serious bank robbery is in terminal decline, and yet he is
against the decriminalisation of drugs.

Why do the UK and US governments continue to ignore the lessons of US
alcohol prohibition between the wars?

-- GEORGE HORNBY, Bournemouth, Dorset

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

Drug Sting Rocks UK Parliament (Britain's 'Times'
Says Joseph Phillip Sebastian Yorke, The 10th Lord Hardwicke, Age 27,
Who Runs A Motor Scooter Shop And Admits He Only Shows Up At The House
Of Lords Twice A Week To Collect His $330 In Attendance Fees, Was Suspended
Yesterday After Allegedly Trying To Sell Cocaine To An Undercover
'News Of The World' Reporter In The Corridors Of Parliament)

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 10:25:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Drug Sting Rocks U.K. Parliament
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Source: Times, The (UK)
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Pubdate: Tuesday, September 8, 1998

DRUG STING ROCKS U.K. PARLIAMENT

Peer allegedly offered cocaine to reporter

LONDON (AP) - One of the youngest members of Britain's House of Lords was
suspended yesterday after allegedly trying to sell cocaine to an undercover
reporter in the corridors of Parliament.

Joseph Phillip Sebastian Yorke, the 10th Lord Hardwicke, could face
expulsion from the Conservative party.

The move follows a report in the tabloid News of the World on Sunday that
the lord tried to sell cocaine to one of its undercover reporters last week
when members of the House were recalled to debate stricter security
legislation after a fatal bombing in Northern Ireland.

Yorke, 27, runs a motor scooter shop and admits he only shows up at the
House of Lords twice a week to collect his $330 in attendance fees.

He said he was "shocked and distressed" by the scandal.

"These articles are serious distortions, and it is my intention to correct
them and address them at the appropriate time and place," he said in a
statement issued by his lawyers.

The Times yesterday quoted an unidentified senior Tory source as saying
Lord Cranborne, the party's leader in the House of Lords, gave Yorke "a
chance to defend himself and clear his name.

"You can take it that he hasn't justified his position at all and such
behaviour will not be tolerated," the Times quoted the source as saying.

'LORD SCOOTY'

The matter will likely be referred to the party's ethics and integrity
committee.

Set up to counter allegations of sleaze, it has the power to expel Yorke
from the party.

Yorke, known to his friends as "Lord Scooty," was just three when he
inherited the peerage from his grandfather, his father having died the year
before.

News reports said he only agreed to take his seat in the House of Lords at
the request of his cousin, Lord Hesketh, a former Tory chief whip.

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

Global Alert For Undetectable Black Cocaine (Britain's 'Independent'
Notes The War On Some Drugs Just Got A Lot More Complicated
And Expensive)

Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 06:27:23 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Global Alert For Undetectable Black Cocaine
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Pubdate: 8 Sep 1998
Author: Phil Davison Latin America Correspondent

GLOBAL ALERT FOR UNDETECTABLE BLACK COCAINE

Colombian drug smugglers have tried most tricks to get their product out of
the country. They have mixed it into coffee sacks, dissolved it in bottles
of whisky and shampoo, paid couriers to swallow it in plastic bags for
later excretion, even encouraged women to hide it in their private parts.

Now, Colombian police are faced with a new smuggling gambit, the use of
"coca negra", or black cocaine. Typically, the mixture is made up of pure
cocaine (40 per cent) with cobalt and ferric chloride, which is said to
make the lucrative drug undetectable even by highly trained sniffer dogs.

Colombian police seized their first shipment of black cocaine last May -
more than 250lb in two containers, bound for Italy from El Dorado airport
in Bogota. Documented as bubble-jet printer cartridges, the containers
passed the police dogs unnoticed and the drugs were uncovered only because
police were already suspicious of the Colombian exporters.

Black cocaine is transformed back to the familiar white powder by being
passed through solvents such as acetone or ether. It has recently been
found in police raids in Germany, the Netherlands and Albania, all in
packages originating from the same exporters, a Colombian police spokesman
said.

Klaus Nyholm, the director of the United Nations drug control programme in
Colombia, said his office had alerted the country's police a few months
earlier to watch out for the black cocaine after UN officials in Asia found
heroin smugglers using a similar technique.

"We had heard reports of it but I never really thought black cocaine
existed," Colombia's police chief, Roso Jose Serrano, said. "What this
shows is that, for good or bad, Colombians have a boundless imagination."

The Brussels-based Customs Co-operation Council put out an alert for black
cocaine to member countries several months ago and, although the shipments
seem to pass by the sniffer dogs, customs agents are confident that the
latest ruse is just a temporary advantage by the smugglers.

"Stopping drugs is also about intelligence work and risk assessment," said
Douglas Tweddle, head of enforcement at the council. "And dogs are of
limited use anyway because their noses get saturated quickly. What this
shows is how innovative the drug smugglers are, but we have already alerted
our network and hope to prevent it becoming a problem."

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

[End]