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The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 58
(The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News
And Calls For Action)
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 05:39:07 -0400
To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 58
Sender: owner-drc-natl@drcnet.org
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 58 -- September 11, 1998
A Publication of the Drug Reform Coordination Network
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(202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail
drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.
NOTE: The new book offer mentioned last week and originally
scheduled for last Tuesday has been rescheduled for this
Sunday night. Stay tuned!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. A Note to Our Readers
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#note
2. US-Trained, "Incorruptible" Mexican Anti-Narcotics Squad
Widely Corrupted
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#corrupted
3. ALERT: McCollum Drug Act Would Further Militarize Andean
Drug War
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#andes
4. Texas Paper Releases Scathing Pentagon Review of
Esequiel Hernandez Shooting
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#hernandez
5. Whitman, AIDS Council Still at Odds Over Needle Exchange
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#whitman
6. Fayetteville City Council Rejects Random Drug Testing
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#drugtesting
7. New Jersey Supreme Court Finds Right to Jury Trial in
Forfeiture Cases
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#jurytrial
8. March To Stop The Drug War, Berkeley, CA, 9/26
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#march
9. First-Ever Global Conference on How To Legalize Cannabis
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#globalconf
10. Attention College Students!
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#U-net
11. NY Attorney General Candidates Admit Past Marijuana Use
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#nycandidates
12. Patient's Glaucoma Justified Medical Marijuana Use,
Cultivation, Canadian Judge Rules
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#canada
13. EDITORIAL: Long, Hot Summer
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#editorial
***
1. A Note to our Readers
Well, summer is over, and while we hope that everyone had a
relaxing season, there is much to be done this fall. So,
while many of you were enjoying vacation and weekends at the
beach, DRCNet has made some major changes, including several
new lists, a major overhaul of our web sites, a great
opportunity for students to get active, and much more which
you will be hearing a lot about in this issue of The Week
Online and over the next few weeks.
In addition, while the weather begins to cool off, things in
the reform movement are really heating up. And because the
movement is entering such an important phase, it is vital
that you, the people who understand the enormity of the
damage being done in the name of the Drug War, step up your
efforts and make your voices heard. DRCNet enters this new
season nearly 7,000 strong, with plans in place that could
increase our numbers many-fold. If you think you can help
us in that mission, please get in touch and we'll send out
email sign-up sheets or help you in any other way possible.
Remember, the more people that we can reach in your state,
the more impact your efforts will have.
Our first action alert of the fall went out early yesterday
morning, regarding the possible parole and release of Will
Foster, originally sentenced to 93 years, and who has spent
more than two years in jail, suffering from rheumatoid
arthritis and separated from his family for cultivating
medicinal marijuana. So far, more than 120 of you have
written to let us know that you did take action on behalf of
Will Foster, in response to our alert. Thank you! You'll
be interested to know that in response to the flood of phone
calls, the governor's office has set up a special voice
mailbox just for calls about Will Foster.
If you have not yet taken a moment to write, fax or call
Governor Keating of Oklahoma in response, please consider
doing so today. We are committed to increasing our response
rate significantly in the coming months, but that will only
happen if YOU take a moment to respond, with a letter, phone
call, fax or email, when an action alert arrives in your in-
box. Your voice IS important, and politicians, the media
and other decision-makers DO take notice. The Will Foster
case is indicative of that, and we, as a movement, are only
just beginning to flex our political muscle. (If you missed
the alert, you can access it on our web site at
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/9-10.html.)
Please note that article three of this issue is another
action alert, opposing a bill in Congress that would further
arm Latin American militaries in the name of the drug war,
militaries that in some cases have appalling human rights
records and even sponsor death squads to deal with
dissenters. The source country strategy on which this bill
is based has failed -- not partially, but completely -- to
reduce the global availability of opium or cocaine -- and in
its wake has fueled political instability and sometimes
outright civil conflict in these nations that are struggling
to establish democracy against a history of dictatorship.
An article in issue #43 of The Week Online --
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/043.html#bolivia -- describes a
personal tragedy that resulted directly from the U.S.
government's fraudulent Andean drug war. Take some of the
excitement you've shown for the Will Foster case, and use it
to mobilize on this alert as well. Your action here -- less
directly but just as surely -- will help prevent more
innocent people from falling victim to the war on drugs.
And please, send copies of your correspondence, or just a
note letting us know what actions you've taken, to alert-
feedback@drcnet.org (or just reply to this message). Your
feedback will help us document our impact and give our
donors and potential donors confidence that their support is
building a potent force for change. Can we get another 100
letters on this one?
(A long-standing alert that is still important is helping
promote the book Drug Crazy -- a book which happens to give
a devastating account of the war on drugs in the Andes,
among other topics, and which promotes groups in the
movement through an Internet appendix, especially DRCNet.
This exciting book by DRCNet advisory board member Mike
Gray, author of the China Syndrome among other credits, is
capable of changing the debate on drug policy if only it
goes big. See http://www.drcnet.org/wol/057.html#slate for
some background and suggestions for what to do.)
So welcome back from vacation, and get ready to act.
Because YOU represent the leading edge of the next great
political and social movement in the history of the United
States, and of the world. The Drug War is beginning to
crumble, but after decades of violence, profits, repression
and injustice, it will not go down without a fight.
***
2. US-Trained, "Incorruptible" Mexican Anti-Narcotics Squad
Widely Corrupted
More than 80 members of an "elite counter-narcotics" force
within the Mexican Army are under investigation for
corruption, and more than a dozen have already been charged
or detained. According to the Washington Post, more than 40
of the troops have been removed from their station at the
Mexico City Airport due to allegations that they have taken
hundreds of thousands of dollars for shepherding drug
shipments as well as illegal aliens past customs.
The special force, which goes under its Spanish-language
acronym GAFE, came into existence in 1996 in response to
frustrations over corruption within both the police and
military structures in Mexico. Many of the officers
involved (around 10% of the total personnel) in the program
were brought to the U.S. for training at a cost of over $28
million to U.S. taxpayers, according to the Post. The
corruption in Mexico was so ingrained, in fact, that over
the past two years, both the nation's Drug Czar and the
brother of former President Salinas have been implicated.
Lt. Colonel Darley at the U.S. Pentagon told The Week
Online, "None of (the most recent report) is wholly
unexpected. In fact, what we've seen is that anything
touched by drugs and drug money becomes corrupted. It's not
just a Mexican problem, we see the same thing all over the
world. Even here, you can look at the problems in the
Florida police force, in the New York police force. So it's
not a matter of saying that Mexico is a corrupt society.
There are millions of Mexicans who hate the drug
trafficking, and there are plenty of honest politicians and
military personnel and police, many of whom have died
fighting against it."
"No one, and this certainly includes the Department of
Defense, believes that this (the drug trade) is a problem
that will be solved militarily. What it comes down to is a
moral issue, and moral choices that are made by individuals.
But having said that, we do feel that we are having some
impact. We've intercepted tons of drugs which were
therefore kept off the streets. But if you ask, 'can we
stop the flow through interdiction,' the answer is no. But
you can't just throw up your hands. It's a matter of
registering disapproval through our actions and, if nothing
else, there's value in fighting the good fight. And, if you
look at the destruction that drugs do to our society, this
is certainly a good fight."
But some critics disagree with that moral equation.
Eric Olson of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
told The Week Online, "International counter-narcotics
efforts have been singularly ineffective in large part
because they are so militarily-focused. The U.S. has tried
to fight this problem as a war. Specifically, when we look
at Mexico, the military was brought more deeply into anti-
drug efforts because of the perception that the civilian
police were widely corrupted and that the military was not.
The fact is, however, as indicated by these recent reports,
that the process of counter-narcotics itself is corrupting.
And so if the Mexican military wasn't corrupted before, it
is now. Also, by putting more responsibility in the hands
of the military, we have further weakened civilian
institutions there, which is the opposite of what we should
be striving for in our foreign policy, which would be to
build and strengthen civil institutions.
"The Mexican military is problematic in that it is not a
transparent and accountable institution. When they commit
human rights violations, as they are prone to do, it is
nearly impossible to hold them accountable to civilian
authorities."
"The broader view, of course, is that anyone who has taken
an objective look at our international counternarcotics
policy has concluded that it doesn't work. What we need,
clearly, is a much broader public debate on the issue and a
focus on harm-reduction here at home."
You can visit the Washington Office on Latin America on the
web at http://www.wola.org.
***
3. ALERT: McCollum Drug Act Would Further Militarize Andean
Drug War
Personnel at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
have informed us that a bill being voted on the floor on
Congress this coming Wednesday (9/16) will dramatically
increase the flow of dollars and equipment to Latin American
militaries for drug fighting. The "Western Hemisphere Drug
Elimination Act," sponsored by Rep. Bill McCollum (R-FL) and
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) would authorize $2.3 billion over
three years for equipment (mostly military hardware),
personnel and training.
In the House, the bill has the solid support of the
Republican leadership, and he sponsors are so confident,
they have decided to bring the bill to the floor under
"suspension of the rules." This is a technical procedure
whereby "non-controversial" proposals can be brought to a
vote in an expedited fashion, but must pass by a 2/3
majority instead of the usual 50%. This means that the bill
can be defeated if its opponents muster 145 votes instead of
the usual 217.
Please call or fax your U.S. Representative, and ask him or
her to oppose the McCollum Drug Act and the expansion of the
failed Andean drug war. You can reach your Representative
(or find out who your Representative is) through the
Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. (You can also
use http://www.house.gov/writerep/ to look up the office
contact info online.)
Points you can use, courtesy of WOLA:
* By offering this bill under suspension, the sponsors
intend to rush it through Congress without sufficient
debate. This should be a time to debate and re-evaluate
current U.S. antinarcotics policy. Instead, the sponsors
plan to authorize a lot of money on a policy that has had
absolutely no success.
* By offering military equipment and training to Latin
American police and militaries with questionable human
rights records, the bill undermines fundamental U.S. foreign
policy goals of supporting democracy and human rights. Such
a policy can also embroil the United States in brutal
counterinsurgency wars. The equipment and training received
by anti-drug forces can be easily used for counterinsurgency
purposes. In the case of Colombia, for example, many
Members of Congress reduce guerrillas and drug traffickers
into one enemy, the "narcoguerrilla," thereby erasing the
line between counternarcotics and counterinsurgency - but in
doing so they ignore the army's and right-wing
paramilitaries' ties to the drug trade. In Mexico, the same
units receiving U.S. counternarcotics training are operating
in Chiapas, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.
* By training Latin American militaries in anti-drug police
work, the United States is encouraging them to perform
domestic law enforcement duties prohibited of the U.S.
military. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "there
is little proof that the involvement of [Mexican] soldiers
in police work has helped stem the flow of drugs. But there
is growing evidence that this controversial program has led
to serious human rights abuses."
* The bill pours billions of dollars into counternarcotics
programs that have produced only failure. Rep. McCollum
claims that if you "prevent drugs from entering the country,
..you drive up the price of drugs. Drive up the price of
drugs and you save lives." But supply reduction, as this is
known, has actually had the paradoxical result of increasing
prices, thus attracting new producers and distributors to
the market, and eventually driving prices back down again.
The U.S. government has already spent more than $25 billion
on interdiction programs and efforts to disrupt drug
production in "source countries," but prices for a pure gram
of both heroin and cocaine (as measured in 1994 dollars)
have declined markedly in the last 15 years.
Consider these startling statistics about U.S.
counternarcotics aid to Latin America:
* For Latin America overall, U.S. government funding for
antidrug efforts has increased more than 150 percent over
the last ten years; yet by the U.S. State Department's own
estimates, coca cultivation is 11.7 percent higher and opium
production has doubled over that time period.
* U.S. antidrug efforts have failed most spectacularly in
Colombia, the largest recipient of U.S. counter-drug
assistance (a total of nearly one billion dollars to date).
Yet over the last decade, total drug production in Colombia
has risen an estimated 260 percent. Coca production in
Colombia has more than tripled, making Colombia the world's
leading coca producer. Only four years ago, no heroin was
produced in Colombia; it now ranks third in the world in
poppy cultivation and fourth in heroin production.
For further information on the Western Hemisphere Drug
Elimination Act or the impact of counternarcotics policy on
human rights in Latin America, contact Eric Olson, Winifred
Tate, or Laurie Freeman at WOLA, (202) 797-2171.
***
4. Texas Paper Releases Scathing Pentagon Review of Esequiel
Hernandez Shooting
Some drug war tragedies can never be undone. One such
tragedy is the death of Esequiel Hernandez, shot by a United
States Marine on an anti-drug patrol on the U.S.-Mexico
border at Redford, Texas. A recently released internal
Pentagon report has cleared the Marine, Cpl. Clemente
Banuelos, of wrongdoing, but made scathing criticisms of
practices that led to the shooting. Retired Marine Maj.
Gen. John T. Coyne found that the marines on patrol were not
adequately trained for a law enforcement-type operation, and
that the missions "appears to have been viewed at every
level of Marine Corps command as more of a training
opportunity than a real world deployment," among other
observations. The Marine Corps has disputed the findings
in a written response.
The San Antonio Current has obtained a copy of the Coyne
report and posted it on the web, with a detailed article
discussing the shooting and related issues. You can read
the article at http://www.metrotimes.com/border.html and the
Coyne report at http://www.metrotimes.com/coynereport.html
on an affiliated paper's site.
Visit the Esequiel Hernandez photo gallery at
http://www.mapinc.org/DPFT/hernandez/gallery/.
***
5. Whitman, AIDS Council Still at Odds Over Needle Exchange
- Taylor West
The New Jersey Governor's Council on AIDS has hit a brick
wall in their attempts to persuade Governor Christine Todd
Whitman to consider needle exchange programs as a way to
help alleviate the state's growing AIDS epidemic. The
Council announced Wednesday the temporary suspension of its
focus on the legalization of needle exchange for drug
addicts, following Chairman David Troast's receipt of an
unsolicited letter from the Governor reiterating her
absolute opposition to such programs. Troast stated his
plan to form a panel to respond to the Governor's letter and
consider whether the Council should back away from the issue
of needle exchange more permanently.
The Governor's Council on AIDS first gained public attention
in 1996, when they openly opposed Governor Whitman's stance
against needle exchange. Since that time, they have
continued to advocate needle exchange programs to Whitman,
but with no measurable success. New Jersey has the third
highest statewide AIDS infection rate in the country, and
half of those cases can be attributed to injection drug use.
However, the state's laws against the possession and
distribution of syringes remain unusually strict, and needle
exchange activists operating illegally have been arrested,
tried, and convicted in New Jersey courts.
In her August 5th letter to Troast, Governor Whitman
restated her unwavering refusal to support the use of needle
exchange programs as HIV prevention. She cited her concerns
that the programs "seem" to encourage illegal drug use and
"send the wrong message to our children" as the major causes
for her opposition. She also encouraged the Council to
focus instead on slowing the spread of AIDS among minority
females and teenagers. (It may be worthwhile to note that
the Centers for Disease Control lists the number one cause
of AIDS for minority women as "injection drug use".)
New Jersey activist Diana McCague, director of the Chai
Project in New Brunswick, wasn't surprised to hear of
Whitman's latest unwillingness to consider needle exchange.
"I used to get really upset and agitated to hear the
inflexibility coming out of the Governor's Office. Now
there isn't much to do but shake your head. Once again,
Governor Whitman is showing that she has no idea what the
lives of regular people in New Jersey are like."
Members of the New Jersey legislature are pressing on in
their attempts to bring a bill legalizing needle exchange
through the chambers. Michelle Jaker, a legislative aide
for Sen. Joseph Vitale, cosponsor of one of the bills,
admitted that the Governor's continued opposition "certainly
makes it more difficult" to get such legislation passed.
"We're hoping to bring about more awareness of the issue by
having this bill in the Senate," she said Thursday.
Meanwhile the Governor's Council is undecided as to how to
proceed following this latest setback. Riki Jacobs, a
member of the Council and the executive director of the
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation in New Brunswick, recognized the
apparent irreconcilable nature of Governor Whitman's
opinions but wondered, "If we stop talking about this, does
this mean we can't discuss any issues that might be
controversial or politically unfavorable?" Jacobs said she
felt the Council would continue to advocate needle exchange,
despite the Governor's apparent resolve against it.
Chai Project director McCague had a different suggestion for
the Council. "I think they ought to resign," she stated
Thursday. "What are they there for? They're handpicked by
the Governor to inform and advise her on AIDS issues. If
she's going to refuse to listen to their advice over and
over, they aren't being allowed to do what they were brought
together for."
"Governor Whitman is again exposing her ignorance and total
lack of compassion. For fear of being labeled soft on
drugs, she's more than willing to sacrifice drug users,
their families and their communities to the AIDS epidemic."
***
6. Fayetteville City Council Rejects Random Drug Testing
On Tuesday, September 1, the city council of Fayetteville,
Arkansas rejected a proposal which would have subjected the
council to random drug tests. The proposal, sponsored by
Alderman Trent Trumbo, died for lack of a second.
"I view this resolution as dangerous political
grandstanding, an invasion of the privacy of every alderman"
Alderman Kit Williams, a former U.S. Army officer told the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Trent Trumbo spoke with The Week Online:
"I introduced this measure because I have a problem with
double standards. We test our fire and police personnel,
and beginning next year we will be randomly testing every
student in our public schools. The reaction that I've had
from my constituents is, 'why are we getting tested but you,
who make the rules, don't have to submit to tests.' That
came from a number of sources, including students, and I
didn't have a good answer for them."
Trumbo continued, "I have a lot of respect for the people
with whom I serve on the council, we're all friends and if
they think that random drug testing is an invasion of their
privacy, I can understand that. But it seems to me that you
then have to consider whether you ought to be mandating that
someone else submit to something that you find objectionable
when it pertains to you."
Regarding the city's plan to randomly drug test its
students, Trumbo added:
"Personally, I think that testing students might well be
beneficial, in that it gives kids a way to say no, to resist
peer pressure. But I didn't think it was right to test only
those students who participate in extra-curricular
activities, the way we have it right now, without testing
everyone. Again, that's a double standard. And I would add
that the reason that I support the testing of students at
all is that the results are completely confidential. We
offer help and counseling. This isn't about catching people
and getting kids in trouble, its about finding out who may
need help and then offering it to them."
Alderman Kit Williams, who strongly opposed the measure,
told The Week Online, "I can certainly understand Alderman
Trumbo's concern over double standards, but two wrongs, in
this case two invasions of privacy, certainly don't make a
right. I'm opposed to random drug testing under any
circumstances. If there's cause, or if, in the case of a
driver there's an accident, okay. But to test someone
without cause, to me, is improper. Until this vote, I
wasn't really aware of the new policy for students, which is
under the direction of the board of education, not the city
council. My son recently graduated from high school here.
He was a swimmer and he made good grades. He was never
tested, and I'm not sure he would have objected, but I sure
as heck would have."
Williams continued. "Now, we're under federal mandate to
test our drivers, but here we are looking to expand that
program to include a whole bunch of new city employees.
Anyone whose job is 'safety sensitive', and let me tell you
that the city plans to interpret that very broadly. I know
that the supreme court has ruled on this, and that they have
been generally supportive of testing, and I tend to think
that they have it wrong. But there's a difference between
what is legal and what constitutes good policy. The
constitution defines only the outer limits of governmental
power."
"I was a prosecutor in this state for over five years,"
Williams, who is now a defense attorney concluded. "And let
me tell you that my experience taught me that the drug which
causes the most problems, the most violence and the most
suffering in our state is alcohol. Hands down."
***
7. New Jersey Supreme Court Finds Right to Jury Trial in
Forfeiture Cases
New Jersey's highest court last week affirmed a lower court
decision giving people whose property had been forfeited by
authorities the right to a jury trial in their quest to get
it back. The ruling affects more than 2,500 New Jersey
residents whose cases are either pending or on appeal, as
well as all future cases. Last year alone, New Jersey
police seized $16.9 million in property. That money is
added to the budgets of local law enforcement agencies.
More than 80% of people who have their property seized
nationwide are never charged with any crime.
The underlying case involved Lois McDermott, a 67 year-old
woman whose 46 year-old son used her 1990 Honda in
connection with a drug deal. Elizabeth Macron, McDermott's
attorney argues that not only did her client have nothing to
do with the crime, but that she never even gave her son
permission to use the car. John T. Paff of the organization
Forfeiture Endangers American Rights (FEAR) told the Newark
Star-Ledger "I think (the decision) will go a long way
toward restoring some sanity."
You can visit FEAR on the web at http://www.fear.org.
***
8. March To Stop The Drug War, Berkeley, CA, 9/26
On Saturday, September 26, activists will gather at 1:00 pm
at the corner of Haste and Telegraph Ave. for a March
Against the Drug War. The march is sponsored by The
Committee To End The Drug War, Cannabis Action Network,
Alameda County Peace and Freedom Party, November Coalition,
Jon Crowder, candidate for Mayor of Berkeley, and the
Rosebud Archive Project, among others. There will be a
planning meeting on September 21. For further information,
please call (510) 649-0874.
(Other upcoming events were listed two issues ago at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/056.html#events.)
***
9. First-Ever Global Conference on How To Legalize Cannabis
Experts from around the world gathered in London last
weekend (9/5 - 9/6) to tackle the question that they see as
the next logical step in the growing movement for cannabis
law reform under the title, "Regulating Cannabis: Options
for Control in the 21st Century".
The conference was hosted by Release, a UK-based drug
information organization, and The Lindesmith Center
(http://www.lindesmith.org), a NY-based think tank on drug
and drug policy issues. The conference featured scientists,
doctors, lawyers and academics from across Europe, Australia
and North America who discussed issues such as taxation, age
restrictions, advertising and marketing limits within a
legal but regulated paradigm.
Mike Goodman, director of Release, told The Guardian (UK)
"Most prominent scientists, medical professionals and policy
experts agree that alternatives to cannabis prohibition need
to be developed to both prevent further harm and protect
individual civil liberties."
Rob Kampia, legislative director of the US-based Marijuana
Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org), told The Week Online,
"Previously I had not spent a whole lot of time looking into
the marijuana policies and reform efforts in other
countries, because the U.S. congress doesn't care what's
happening in other countries. While I still believe that
Congress doesn't care, I found the conference to be useful
in that it provided a menu of strategies and tactics that we
can use in the U.S. to bring about the end of marijuana
prohibition."
***
10. Attention College Students!
Labor Day has come and gone which means that summer is
definitely over. Here at DRCNet, that means that its time
to re-open our campus-based U-net discussion list for
current and potential drug policy activists.
If you are a college or grad student who would like to
become more involved in the movement for drug policy reform,
both on a campus-wide and on a national level, or, if you
are currently active but want to significantly broaden the
scope and impact of your efforts, U-net is for you.
U-net is an email discussion list where you will interact
with activists on campuses nationwide, share ideas and
strategies, learn how to strengthen your media efforts and
find new ways to make a difference. Launched during the
Spring '98 semester, U-net attracted participants from over
70 schools in just a few months. This year, we are hoping
to reach 125 different campuses and to provide not only a
forum for discussion but a central meeting place to plan
activism that will resonate far beyond your campus. Some of
our plans include:
* Ways to offer your members an easy means of staying
connected with the movement -- even the ones who don't come
to meetings!
* "College Reform Spotlight" A special section of the
DRCNet web site devoted to campus-based activism, issues
that affect students and ways to get involved. (Due to a
technical snafu, the Spotlight isn't online as of this
writing -- but it's going up this AM, and will probably be
up and running by the time you get this e-mail -- check it
out at http://www.drcnet.org/U-net/.)
* A monthly e-zine highlighting campus activism and
activists, as well as campus drug policies, around the
country.
* Opportunities for dedicated activists to become regular
reporters for The Week Online and for the student monthly (a
great way to build a portfolio of published materials).
* Media skills support: How to write a press release that
will get noticed, who to send it to, how to get reporters
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***
11. NY Attorney General Candidates Admit Past Marijuana Use
Three out of the four Democratic candidates for New York
Attorney General, the highest law enforcement post in the
state, have admitted that they smoked marijuana in their
youth. Eliot Spitzer, Catherine Abate and Evan Davis have
all confirmed prior use of the Schedule I substance, while
the fourth candidate, Oliver Koppel, will not comment at
all.
Davis' use seems to have negatively impacted his memory, as
he says, "Maybe three, four times, something like that, in
the late 60's, mid-60's, maybe early 70's -- I can't
remember the dates -- I smoked marijuana... I never bought
it, it was always at parties." Abate, a Vassar College
student and anti-war activist in the 60's, admits to smoking
it but says that she now tells her 19 year-old son to do
otherwise. Spitzer, a Princeton grad who has promised, if
elected, to abolish New York's draconian Rockefeller drug
laws, fessed up. "Absolutely. With pride, at the time."
Mike Zabel, spokesman for incumbent Republican Dennis Vacco,
who opposes even the medicinal use of marijuana, cut off
inquiring journalists on the issue. "Never" he said.
***
12. Patient's Glaucoma Justified Medical Marijuana Use,
Cultivation, Canadian Judge Rules
(reprinted from the NORML Weekly News, http://www.norml.org)
September 10, 1998, Vancouver, British Columbia: A
provincial court judge in Vancouver recently ruled that a
patient's medical need for marijuana shielded him from
criminal drug charges.
"This case is significant because a judge, not known to be
lenient in this Province, was nevertheless persuaded that it
was... not contrary to the public interest to grant [the
defendant] a conditional discharge" for possessing
marijuana, said NORML Legal Committee member John Conroy,
who argued the case. The judge was clearly influenced by
the "nature of the defendant's motives, namely self
medication, and the absence of any harm to others by his
conduct," he said.
Defendant Stanley Czolowski, who uses marijuana medicinally
to treat glaucoma and nausea, faced charges of cultivating
marijuana and possessing the drug for the purpose of
supplying a local medical marijuana dispensary. The Crown
dropped the trafficking charge in exchange for a guilty plea
to the cultivation charge. Judge Jane Godfrey exercised
judicial discretion when sentencing Czolowski and gave the
defendant only one year probation. Godfrey based the
mitigated sentence on the fact that Czolowski grew marijuana
solely for medical purposes.
"I have heard from the accused and I have read the material
that [details] what [the defendant's] daily existence is
like, and I have no difficulty whatsoever in understanding
his personal motivation and I have extreme sympathy for his
personal situation," Judge Godfrey said. "I have considered
the facts before me and ... am satisfied it's not contrary
to the public interest ... to grant [the defendant] a
discharge."
Czolowski will not have a criminal record if he successfully
completes his probation. This decision is the latest in a
series of recent Canadian court rulings distinguishing
medical marijuana users from other criminal offenders.
***
13. EDITORIAL: Long, Hot Summer
The passage of Labor Day traditionally signifies the end of
summer, and for the people of Oklahoma, who have suffered
through scorching, searing, record-breaking heat, relief
cannot come soon enough. But daily temperatures in the
triple digits have not been the only factor in equating the
Sooner State with hell this year. There is also the case of
Will Foster. Foster, a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer
arrested in 1996 for cultivating and using marijuana to ease
his pain, began the summer as he had the previous two,
serving an astounding 93-year prison term for his victimless
"crime". But now, just as the end of summer portends a
break in Oklahoma's Hades-like weather, there is a chance
that Will Foster will gain reprieve from his own hellish
odyssey.
At the time of his arrest, Foster was 38 years-old, was sole
proprietor of a growing computer software business, and was
living with his wife Meg, and three children. An anonymous
tip brought more than a dozen police, both state and county,
to their home, and, after kicking in the door and holding
the family, including a seven year-old girl, at gunpoint,
spent the next four hours tearing apart everything the
Fosters owned. They found Foster's garden under lock and
key in a converted bomb shelter under the house. More than
60 plants, many of them just inches tall, were seized.
The state offered Foster a deal. Twelve years for him and
ten for Meg. But Foster, a former U.S. Army MP, would not
agree to any terms which would result in jail time for Meg.
Instead, he went to trial and Meg was forced to testify
against him in return for her freedom. Local attorneys
could not remember the last time that anyone had taken a
drug case to trial in Tulsa county. Foster was about to
find out why.
Despite Foster's condition, and owing to the fact that the
state of Oklahoma does not recognize a medical necessity
defense for the possession of marijuana, Stuart Southerland,
his attorney, decided not to call a doctor to the stand in
his defense. Neither did he call Will to the stand.
Despite an absence of evidence that Foster had ever sold
marijuana (he admitted to sharing some with a friend in his
home, and with Meg - police found a total of $23 in the
house) the prosecutor painted Foster as a scourge and a
menace to society. "Pick a number, any number" he urged
jurors during closing arguments, "and add two or three
zeroes to it. Make sure that this man never walks free in
our community again." And they did.
Seventy years for cultivation. Twenty years for possession
in the presence of a minor (his daughter). Two years for
intent to distribute, and an additional year for failure to
have a state tax stamp for his crop. Ninety-three years for
a man who had never so much as been accused of hurting a
soul. Long enough to insure that he never breathed free
again. Longer, in fact than Oklahoma has been a state.
Just months after Foster's sentencing, another story emerged
from Oklahoma. This time a man who had admitted guilt in
the beating death of his four year-old child was sentenced
to four years in a plea bargain deal. The outcry was so
great that the state's Governor, Frank Keating, wrote an op-
ed in an Oklahoma newspaper blaming the short sentence on a
lack of prison space and calling for money for more to be
built. Still, Will Foster sat in jail, taking up a space
that was not being used for a violent, dangerous criminal.
In a stroke of sheer irony, within a year of Foster's arrest
and imprisonment, two states, California and Arizona,
passed, by significant margins, initiatives which legalized
the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
In addition, while Foster was shuffled from institution to
institution, far from his family, research conducted at the
University of California showed that certain cannabinoids in
the marijuana plant were quite effective in the control of
the pain and inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis. None of
this, of course, would be of any use to Foster, who sat,
under-medicated, behind bars.
Over the past two years, Will Foster and his case have
become a rallying point for people around the country, and
in fact around the world, who have become concerned by the
excesses of America's Drug War. Supporters, united
primarily over the Internet, wrote letters and spread the
word. Foster's case was featured on national and
international television, in magazines and on web sites. No
one, it seemed, could stomach the thought that this man had
been sentenced to 93 years, to death, really, for choosing
to treat his pain in an unauthorized manner.
Foster's family, Meg's family really, dug deep. They hired
the best appellate attorney in the state, and despite the
fact that they are people of modest means, have spent over
$100,000 trying to free Will. Finally, after serious
questions were raised about the validity of the (unsigned)
search warrant, about the veracity of the police claims
regarding the confidential informant (the warrant claimed
that the informant, who was not required to appear at trial,
had bought methamphetamine from the Foster home just days
before the bust, yet absolutely no evidence of
methamphetamine was found, not a trace) and even regarding
the existence of an informant at all, a ruling came down
from the Court of Appeals. In it, the appellate court said
that the sentence handed down to Will Foster "shocked the
conscience," and ordered that the four, consecutively-
running sentences be reduced to a single, twenty-year term.
As it happens, the Oklahoma legislature, during its 1998
term, passed a law called the "Truth in Sentencing Act,"
requiring that violent offenders serve at least 85% of their
sentences before being eligible for parole. But because
they could not decide whether to include non-violent
offenders under the act, and because the bill was considered
late in the short term, the legislature adjourned before
making the decision, thus leaving such offenders out of the
equation. The exclusion, combined with the appellate
decision, made Foster eligible for parole immediately.
The Oklahoma parole board heard Foster's case within weeks
of the appellate ruling, and, noting Foster's condition, as
well as the knowledge of at least one board member of an
acquaintance who benefited from the medicinal use of
marijuana, and the absence of any conceivable threat that
Foster posed to the community, recommended his immediate
parole. Suddenly, summer had broken in Oklahoma.
So now, the recommendation of the parole board is on its way
to the desk of Governor Frank Keating. And the same
Governor Keating who was so justifiably outraged that a
child murderer in his state was able to cop a plea to a
four-year sentence because of a lack of prison space, has
the opportunity to free up a cell, Will Foster's cell, by
releasing a man who has never, in his life, harmed a soul.
Over the past several days, concerned citizens from around
the world have been contacting Keating's office and urging
him to do just that. It would be a victory for the cause of
justice, and would mean the world to Will Foster's family.
Foster's release would herald the coming of the end of
Oklahoma's long, hot summer of oppression. And it would
pull the man himself from the very depths of hell.
Adam J. Smith
Associate Director
***
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[End]
From: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
To: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Subject: Todd McCormick's book on growing
medical marijuana
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 21:50:24 +0100
Hello.
It's finished at last, the book for which I paid
Todd McCormick a $150,000 advance. (This is the
money the DEA claims to prove I am a drug kingpin
by financing Todd's grow operation, completely
ignoring the fact that I have been a publisher for
32 years.)
Please have a look at
www.growmedicine.com
Please tell all your friends and especially the
medical marijuana patients who can use this
information the most.
Take good care.
Enjoy,
Peter McWilliams
***
From: "Todd McCormick" (todd@a-vision.com)
Subject: www.growmedicine.com
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 10:40:29 -0700
www.growmedicine.com
Dear Friends,
My first grow book is finished and available on-line, the file is in Adobe
Acrobat PDF format and is 5.1megs zipped and 6.4megs uncompressed.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free:
http://www.adobe.com/supportservice/custsupport/download.html
For the general public the first half is free and the second half is $4.95,
I hope it helps with the defense fund.
The book will be printed soon and sold for something like $5.95.
If you're interested in reading it and letting others know what you think,
please reply to this message and I will send you a password so you can
download the whole thing free.
http://www.growmedicine.com
Peace and Hempyness,
Todd
"One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
- MLK
to the 1998 Daily News index for September 10-16