-------------------------------------------------------------------
Planting Evidence ('Willamette Week,' Portland's Leading Spokesman
For The Law Enforcement Community, Ignores The Sick And Dying
Who Would Benefit From Measure 67, The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act,
In Order To Emphasize The Unfounded Fears Of Cops That 'Virtually Every'
Small-Time Pot Grower Will Be Able To Find A Physician Willing To Endorse
His Or Her Use Of Cannabis, Begging The Question, 'So Why Are We Busting
So Many Sick People,' And Ignoring The Experience In California,
Where Non-Medical Prosecutions For Cannabis Increased After Proposition 215)
Sept. 30, 1998
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
Tel. (503) 243-2122
Fax (503) 243-1115
Letters to the Editor:
Mark Zusman - mzusman@wweek.com
Web: http://www.wweek.com/
Note: Willamette Week welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or
fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street
address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to
letters of 250 words or less.
illustration by STAN SHAW
Planting Evidence
* Local prosecutors say the proposed medical-marijuana law would pose big
problems for law enforcement.
BY MAUREEN O'HAGAN
mohagan@wweek.com
If Multnomah County prosecutors are to be believed, the state police academy
had better be prepared to start teaching classes in horticulture.
According to a recent analysis by the Multnomah County District Attorney's
Office, the proposed medical-marijuana law poses all sorts of problems for
police and prosecutors.
Under Measure 67, people with "debilitating medical conditions" would be
allowed to possess and grow marijuana to help treat their illnesses. The
measure requires the Oregon Health Division to issue medical-marijuana
permits to people who present notes from their doctors saying that marijuana
may help with their condition. Show the permit to the police, and, if you
have less than one ounce of usable pot and no more than seven (four mature
and three immature) plants, they're supposed to go away.
That sounds pretty clear, but Mark McDonnell, who heads one of two drug
units in the district attorney's office, says the law presents all sorts of
loopholes and complications. Two of his points, outlined in the analysis,
have the most credibility.
First, McDonnell says, the measure allows people with debilitating illnesses
to claim the medical defense even if they don't have the permits at the time
they're busted. Others who are not ill may be growing marijuana for a sick
friend, which is allowed under the measure. In either case, the measure
allows a person to avoid conviction if it can be established that the pot
was being used to treat a medical condition.
According to McDonnell's analysis, "persons who have never obtained, or even
applied for, a marijuana-use permit can wait until the day of trial and
claim for the first time that they suffer from a debilitating medical
condition."
If the measure passes, McDonnell expects more and more marijuana defendants
to claim that they were using or growing pot for medical purposes. "We'll
likely see it in virtually every case," he says, "except where it's a
marijuana sale to an undercover officer [the measure prohibits sales] and
large commercial grows where not even a defense attorney could argue medical
necessity with a straight face."
Lawyers who represent marijuana defendants agree that the defense will
probably be used frequently, both by people with real health problems and by
others with bogus medical claims.
"I think it's in people's nature, if they're in trouble, to try to get out
of trouble," says defense lawyer Pat Birmingham. "Sure there's going to be
people that try to abuse it."
"Theoretically, I believe it is a defense that could be used," says defense
lawyer Michele Kohler, although she believes that it will only be effective
in cases in which the person is legitimately and obviously ill.
McDonnell's second point is that even if prosecutors can weed out bogus
claims, the law would suck up resources. The measure, he says, prohibits
authorities from "harming" or "neglecting" any property seized by the police
until the defendant's case has been resolved. McDonnell says the provision
includes the plants themselves.
"As a result," the analysis says, "the police will be required to maintain
and care for all growing marijuana plants they seize until the defendant's
case is finally resolved."
McDonnell, who says that last year 7,917 marijuana plants were seized by
local police, pictures a vast police greenhouse filled with the budding plants.
David Fidanque, the director of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil
Liberties Union, which helped write the measure, says the provision was not
designed to protect plants but other property that may be seized as part of
a marijuana case.
"I think it's a ludicrous reading of the statute," he says. If the courts do
require police to care for growing marijuana plants, he adds, "I think we
would be the first ones to support a clarification of that statute."
To the district attorney's office, the bottom line is that the law is
difficult to enforce. "The measure puts the police and prosecutors in the
untenable position of trying to enforce a law with huge loopholes,"
McDonnell says. "What the measure really intends to do, under the guise of
medical purposes, is to legalize marijuana or make it extremely difficult to
prosecute these cases."
While the district attorney's analysis is being criticized by proponents as
an attack on medical-marijuana users, it does not directly oppose the
measure. "Personally, I don't think half the DAs care one way or another,"
says Kohler. "But professionally it's their duty to uphold the law."
***
[these paragraphs were laid out in a separate column in the online version
of this story:]
Over the past three years, there have been just 19 cases in which marijuana
defendants in Multnomah County claimed their pot was for medical purposes.
In some of these cases, the charges were dismissed.
"I think it's in people's nature, if they're in trouble, to try to get out
of trouble. ...Sure there's going to be people that try to abuse it." --Pat
Birmingham
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Judge tosses out medical usage defense; pot grower (The Union,
published in Grass Valley, California, describes a Proposition 215 case
in which a Lake Wildwood man was convicted Tuesday of growing marijuana
for sale after a judge ripped the heart out of his medical-marijuana defense.
However, J. Tony Serra, the lead defense attorney for Ronald Enos, 54, said
"This submission allows us to appeal every issue and, in the meantime,
Mr. Enos is free.")
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 07:47:48 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Judge tosses out medical usage defense; pot grower
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Theresa Taylor
Pubdate: 30 Sep 1998
Source: The Union (Grass Valley and Nevada City, CA)
Contact: johns@theunion.com
Webform: http://www.theunion.com/forms/lteform.html
FAX: (530) 477-4292
Mail: Letters to the Editor, The Union, 11464 Sutton Way
Grass Valley, CA, 95945
Website: http://www.theunion.com/
Author: James Nash
JUDGE TOSSES OUT MEDICAL USAGE DEFENSE; POT GROWER CONVICTED
A Lake Wildwood man was convicted Tuesday of growing marijuana for sale
after a judge ripped the heart out of his medical-marijuana defense,
cutting short what was expected to be a colorful test case of California's
medical pot law.
Ronald Enos, 54, faces up to six months in jail after prosecutors and his
San Francisco defense attorneys reached a deal to convict Enos on one of
three counts pending against him.
The Nevada County district attorney's office agreed to drop charges of
cultivating marijuana and stealing electricity to power his indoors growing
operation.
Tuesday's deal - which occurred after a lengthy pretrial battle, but before
a jury could be seated - will allow Enos' lawyers to appeal a ruling by
Superior Court Judge Frank Francis that struck down Enos' claims that he
needed marijuana to relieve his chronic pain, and that state laws on
growing medical marijuana was too vague to prosecute him.
"Without a defense, our best bet is to appeal the judge's decision," said
J. Tony Serra, Enos' lead defense attorney. "This submission allows us to
appeal every issue and, in the meantime, Mr. Enos is free.
"If we were lucky enough to win on appeal, this case would have
broad-ranging consequence for all people who are similarly situated," said
Serra, a prominent San Francisco defense attorney and marijuana
legalization activist.
Police arrested Enos in July after finding 91 marijuana plants growing in
buckets in two rooms of his home. Enos said the marijuana was intended for
his personal use and to sell at cost to cannabis clubs, which, under state
law, may distribute the drug to people with certain medical conditions.
However, prosecutors said they were prepared to present evidence that Enos
profited from his growing operation and that, as a consequence, he couldn't
claim a legitimate case under Proposition 215, the voter-approved medical
marijuana initiative.
"We're happy with the result," said county Assistant District Attorney Ron
Wolfson. "We had a trial in the form of motions, essentially an entire
trial in the pretrial phase. We are anxious and interested, as the (state)
attorney general is, in seeing this case go up on appeal so that we can get
resolution to some of the issues that were raised."
Wolfson said the district attorney's office was able to get a conviction on
the most serious charge - growing marijuana with intent to sell - and that
the lesser charges probably wouldn't have made a difference in Enos'
sentence. Wolfson credited staff in the district attorney's office and the
Nevada County Sheriff's Department for their homework leading to Enos'
conviction.
Serra said he was optimistic that he could win the case on appeal because
Judge Francis' ruling Monday was the first decision denying a Proposition
215 defendant a "due process" case - a claim that the state's marijuana law
was so confusing that it shouldn't be used to prosecute someone. State law
is clear that people with certain medical conditions may be prescribed
marijuana to relieve their symptoms, Serra said.
"You can't legalize milk and outlaw the cow," he said.
Enos' trial promised to be an entertaining spectacle. The defense attorneys
- a prominent group of San Francisco marijuana advocates - had subpoenaed
attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren and his
former rival for state office, Dennis Peron, who ran the cannabis club to
which Enos sold his goods.
Prosecutors were prepared to tear into the cannabis club with evidence that
it, far from being a benevolent helper of the chronically ill, was more
like a commercial operation.
"We are confident that the possibility that any particular juror might have
voted for the law (Proposition 215), they would have easily distinguished
the facts in this case from what the law allowed," Wolfson said.
[Sidebar]
FAMOUS "ROBIN HOOD" DEFENSE LAWYER BREEZES THROUGH COUNTY COURT
Nevada County got only a taste of the tactics of J. Tony Serra, the
self-styled "Robin Hood" defense lawyer whose clients have included a Black
Panther leader, a Symbionese Liberation Army member and a woman who shot to
death a man accused of molesting her son.
Serra, a charismatic trial attorney based on San Francisco's waterfront,
said he agreed to represent Lake Wildwood pot grower Ronald Enos at no cost
because the lawyer believes that marijuana should be made fully legal.
Enos, soft-spoken and methodical in his testimony, couldn't have presented
a starker contrast to his lawyer, whose graying ponytail swayed as the
defender dramatically enunciated arguments.
No Nevada County jury ever had the chance to witness Serra's style
first-hand. Assistant District Attorney Ron Wolfson, who handled the Enos
case, said he would have relished the chance to match wits with the
legendary attorney and pot advocate.
"It would have been a very interesting case to try," Wolfson said.
Serra has represented Black Panther leader Huey Newton, Symbionese
Liberation Army member Russel Little, molestation-revenge killer Ellie
Nesler, American Indian activist and accused killer Bear Lincoln and a
group of Humboldt County logging protesters whose eyes were swabbed with
pepper spray by sheriff's deputies.
So why Enos?
"I've been doing this from Haight-Ashbury onwards," Serra said of defending
accused marijuana growers and users. "For 30-plus years, I've been a
marijuana activist and believe that it should be wholly legalized."
Serra, who has a doctor's license to use marijuana to relieve job-related
stress, said he decided to try the Nevada County case because Bay area
prosecutors aren't as aggressive in pot cases.
"The Bay area is very tolerant, and they won't prosecute anything," he
said. "If this had been in the Bay area, this probably would have washed
out before the trial."
Serra calls himself a "Robin Hood" lawyer because he uses fees collected
from his wealthier clients to represent poorer people at no cost.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Drug War's No Failure (John Jonik, a columnist for The Anderson Valley
Advertiser in Boonville, California, says the war on some drug users has
succeeded in massively enriching the Prison Growth Industry, in creating a
"holy" distraction from real crimes against people and their environment
perpetrated by corporate and government entities, and has generated a lot of
other little-discussed benefits that go unrecognized by "the left.")
THE DRUG WAR'S NO FAILURE
Newshawk: d9 http://www.civilliberties.org/
Pubdate: Wed, 30 September 1998
Source: The Anderson Valley Advertiser (Weekly; Boonville, CA)
Contact: ava@pacific.net
FAX: 707/ 895-3355
Mail: 12451 Anderson Valley Way, Boonville, CA 95415
Columnist: John Jonik
Note: We at MAP were at first a little skeptical about this item. Our
newshawk has assured us that it was published, and words capitalized as
shown. He writes "Indeed there are *several* independent, and community
sponsored news sources in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties that have regular
and often excellent reporting and commentary on drug policy issues." We
hope that more of these items will be sent to editor@mapinc.org
THE DRUG WAR'S NO FAILURE
In a recent issue [of the AVA] there was some quote that, once again,
suggested that the "War on Drugs" is a failure.
This myth is perpetuated in just about every good, decent and half-decent
publication. It has become a tenet of faith for the left. It is incorrect.
It is an indication of an inability of the left to scope things out from
the viewpoint of the opposition.
The War on Drugs is a FLAMING SUCCESS.
It has massively enriched the Prison Growth Industry;
it gives cops the pretense to stop minorities, bohemian types, or anyone
who doesn't look like a servant of the Corporatocracy;
it offers a scam excuse to send the US military to all sorts of "trouble
spots" in the Western Hemisphere;
it gave Bush the pretense to keep US military presence in Panama; it
enriches the suppliers of the military equipment for the Drug Warriors;
it gets lots of votes for authoritarian politicians from the Puritanical,
fundamentalist religious retrogrades within the population; it gives "law
enforcement" agencies source of income via forfeited property so that
corporations don't have to chip in with equitable taxes;
it creates a "holy" distraction from REAL crimes against people and their
environment perpetrated by corporate and government entities;
it gives the manufacturers of untested or barely-tested synthetic
pharmaceuticals a virtual monopoly of the market;
it keeps hemp out of the hands of farmers so that trees can be stolen from
the public for paper and building material;
it leaves many farmers with little option but to turn land over to
developers or ag-biz;
it gives an excuse to search and monitor citizens who are traveling;
it eliminates the good example of hemp as a non-toxic, pesticide-free
agricultural product; it removes great numbers of "disobedient" people from
voting roles;
it allows kids to be kicked out of public schools;
it leaves pesticide-drenched cotton and synthetic fabrics as the materials
of use for most of the population;
and by its cruelty, ignorance and gross insensitivity to humanity, it
terrorizes the entire population to all the better limit opposition to the
business-uber-alles authorities.
The War on Drugs, especially on marijuana, STILL benefits the alcohol
industry which was one of the promoters of the prohibition in the first
place. And booze is just about the prime excuse for the intense police
presence on the highways... "for our protection," of course, like most
authoritarian policies.
Corporations that benefit greatly are: pharmaceuticals, the
oil/petro-chemical industry, logging, pulp, paper, chlorine, pesticides,
security, military contractors, private prisons and all prison
construction, cotton, corporate farming, waste disposal, liquor, insurance,
developers, energy (hemp being a source of biomass-energy) and the
corporate media that enjoys various business relationships with all of the
above.
The War on Marijuana is so zealously waged NOT because the narcs want to
protect us from ourselves and from natural plants but because pot is a BIG
competitive threat to some of the most powerful (and most toxic and
environmentally-destructive industries).
The War on Drugs has also succeeded in weakening the left/progressive side
by making many afraid to open their mouths about the horrors caused by the
campaign.
Many fear being accused of SEEMING to be "potheads" or "drug pushers" or
WORSE, "relics of the 60s."
Many fear being investigated by the feds it they utter a peep of complaint
and, therefore, do harm to their own integrity and trustworthiness.
Many fear losing their base of economic support from the white middle-class
if they too openly condemn the Drug War oppression of black or Latino people.
And the inevitable violence, money-laundering, tax evasion and other
spin-off crimes created by the illegality of the drug business gives the
authorities MORE excuses to "get tough" and intensify their war.
And sadly, many community groups are convinced to JOIN the authorities in
their War on Drugs out of desperation in dealing with the EFFECTS of the
prohibitions.
Pretty nifty, no?
What to do?
Well, at LEAST check the campaign funding of all officials who "fight
drugs" and the economic backers of groups who do the same. Look for
bankers, insurance companies and other investors too.
At least expose the ECONOMIC motives for their insane, oppressive programs
and expose their hypocrisy when they tolerate and facilitate TRULY harmful
crimes against people or their environment.
Any prosecutor, legislator or judge who has an interest in the businesses
which benefit by drug prohibition MUST be required to recuse themselves
from active participation.
Any prosecutor, legislator or judge who has religious bias against natural
"drugs" must also be asked to disqualify themselves from official capacity.
It's a Constitutional issue.
At the same time, do NOT help corporate authoritarians by perpetuating the
idea that the War on Drugs is a Failure and, therefore, insane. People tend
to be DEFERENTIAL to insane maniacs.
They OBEY them out of fear of insane retaliation. And the more people who
get the idea that Law Enforcement agencies are stupid morons, the more who
will end up in their clutches when they assume the authorities are stupid
morons who can be easily scammed.
The system is SMART and has NOT created the insane-LOOKING "war on drugs"
by accident.
Remember that the most effective terrorism, for the purpose of controlling
the population, is the most arbitrary and unjust.
What harmless, socially-beneficial citizen would be controlled if only
HARMFUL criminals were prosecuted?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Urban Farmer Uses State Constitution In Court ('Minneapolis Star-Tribune'
Columnist Doug Grow Describes The Appearance Tuesday Of Thomas Wright
Before The Minnesota Supreme Court, Where The Marijuana Cultivator Argued
That His Conviction For Possession Of Marijuana With Intent To Sell
Violated Article 13, Section 7 Of The State Constitution, Which Says,
'Any Person May Sell Or Peddle The Products Of A Farm Or Garden
Occupied And Cultivated By Him Without Obtaining A License')
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 18:17:09 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MN: Column: Urban Farmer Uses State Constitution In Court
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Chris Wright (TCW@genesis-computer.com)
Pubdate: Wednesday, 30 Sep 1998
Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune (MN)
Contact: http://www.startribune.com/stonline/html/userguide/letform.html
Website: http://www.startribune.com/
Columnist: Doug Grow, Star Tribune
Note: Our newshawk writes: "If you could help bring attention to this
landmark case being fought in Minnesota I would be grateful." Done!
Doug Grow: URBAN FARMER USES STATE CONSTITUTION IN COURT
The Urban Farmer had his day in court Tuesday and it did not appear to go
well.
The Urban Farmer is Thomas Wright. In the summer of 1996 he was growing his
crop of choice, marijuana, in his Minneapolis home. It was an excellent crop.
"Some of the best grown in Minnesota," he said proudly.
But following an anonymous tip to police, Wright was busted, his crop was
destroyed and the Urban Farmer was found guilty in Hennepin County district
court of possession of marijuana with intent to sell. He was fined and
reprimanded but received no jail time.
Many people in such circumstances would have breathed a sigh of relief and
found new crops to plant. But Wright is different from many people. He
seemed to view being busted as an opportunity to prove a constitutional
point.
Wright, 40, spends a lot of time doing such things as reading
constitutions. And it is his belief -- and the belief of his attorney,
Randall Tigue -- that under the Minnesota Constitution it's perfectly legal
for farmers to grow and sell marijuana.
Article 13, Section 7 of the state constitution says: Any person may sell
or peddle the products of a farm or garden occupied and cultivated by him
without obtaining a license therefor . . . .
"I've been preaching for years that Article 13 was there for anyone who
wanted to use it," said Tigue, a frequent defender of unpopular causes.
"It's unrefutable, either legally or logically -- if our judges have the
courage . . . ."
Even Paul Scoggin, the Hennepin County assistant district attorney who
opposed Wright and Tigue in Tuesday's appeal, was intrigued by their
constitutional points.
On the surface, the case has appeal, Scoggin said. "He's not being
frivolous in any shape, manner or form."
Article 13, Section 7 came into existence in 1906, apparently because
Minnesota farmers were outraged by large license fees the city of
Minneapolis was charging them to sell their products on city streets. (At
the time, it should be noted, it was legal to grow marijuana and hemp in
the state. Laws banning marijuana didn't come onto the state scene until
1935.)
Farmers, who had great political clout in the state in 1906, won the
adoption of Article 13. Ninety-two years later, it is the view of Tigue and
Wright that the only way the state legally can ban growth and distribution
of marijuana is to amend Article 13.
"We would welcome nothing more than a proposed constitutional amendment,"
Tigue said. "That would give us a public debate on marijuana in general."
But if Tigue and Wright had any confidence that the Appeals Court would be
moved by their position, the confidence quickly was dashed. From the outset
of the hearing Tuesday morning, the questions of the three appeals judges,
Gary Crippen, Gordon Schumacher and Roger Klaphake, ranged from skeptical
to incredulous to hostile.
Tigue had barely cleared his throat in preparation when one of the judges
fired off a question about whether people can have farms in the basements
or upper floors of their houses in the city.
"Location is irrelevant," Tigue answered, adding that it would be perfectly
permissible for somebody to grow blueberries in his basement and sell them
on the corner.
Tigue started his argument again and another judge fired off a question
about whether farmers could sell "adulterated" beef?" Tigue, growing
slightly exasperated, suggested that Minnesota farmers growing marijuana
"can't sell adulterated marijuana, either."
The judges who were so quick to interrupt Tigue listened closely to the
points put forward by Scoggin, who argued that Article 13 never was meant
to exclude issues such as the health and safety of the people. He also
talked of how constitutions are balancing documents. In Article 1, Section
1, Scoggin noted, the constitution declares that one of the prime reasons
the state exists is to protect the health and safety of the people.
Scoggin concluded that if Tigue and the Urban Farmer want the growth and
sale of marijuana to be legalized they should take their case to the
Legislature, not the courts.
The judges all but applauded Scoggin, though they somberly told Tigue and
Wright that they'd think about the case and come to a decision at a later
date.
"I'd say that was a fairly skeptical court," Tigue admitted at the end of
the hearing. "We were here to see if there was the political will in the
court to do something that it ought to do."
Wright seemed frustrated, though mellow.
"I believe in the constitution of Minnesota," Wright said. "They hold me to
observance of the law, but if I try to hold them to observance of the law,
nothing happens."
(c) Copyright 1998 Star Tribune.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, Number 66 (An Original Summary Of Drug Policy News,
Including The Feature Article, A Review Of The Book 'Shattered Lives'
By Mikki Norris And Chris Conrad; With The Recent Week's News In Review,
Including The Legal Battle Over Constiutional Rights Occasioned By The War
On Drugs, Prisons, The Annals Of Interdiction, Medical Marijuana, And Mexico,
Plus International News - Other Features Include Hot Off The 'Net - Drug War
Graphical Charts Site; Medical Marijuana Petition; E-Thepeople Site;
DrugSense Tip Of The Week - The MapNews Service; Quote Of The Week -
Thomas Jefferson; Fact Of The Week - The 'Gateway Theory')
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:08:13 -0700
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, September 30, 1998, No. 66
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, September 30, 1998 No. 66
A DrugSense publication
http://www.drugsense.org
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
Book Review: Shattered Lives
by Mikki Norris and Chris Conrad
* Weekly News In Review
*Constitutional Guarantees-
Drug Search Barred at Fed Buildings
Editorial: Search for Justice?
Prisons-
In The Joint on The Job
Report: Gap In Education, Prison Funds
Seeing Through the Illusions of the Prison-industrial Complex
Prison Growth Stealing Funds From Schools, Activists Say
Annals of Interdiction-
US General Sees Turning of Corner in Colombia
Admiral James M. Loy, USCG, On the Western Hemisphere
Drug Elimination Act
New Drug Strategy Sought
Medical Marijuana-
UCSF Study Backs Claim Pot Kills Pain
UK - Don't Go Soft on Cannabis
Mexico-
Drug Gangs Devastate Indian Villages In Baja
Salinas Warns Mexico Against Drug Probe
OPED: Mexico Battles Plague of Corruption
Mexico: In Celebration Of Drug Smugglers
International News-
Use Of Crack Increases to Record Level
UK: Drugs Seizures Double
UK: Police in Seven Forces Investigated for Drugs, Bribery and Robberies
Canada: Kids Reported Used As Drug Mules
Australia: Easy Street For Hard Drugs
* Hot Off The 'Net
Drug War Graphical Charts Site
MMJ Petition
E-Thepeople Site
* DrugSense Tip Of The Week
The MAPNews Service
* Quote of the Week
Thomas Jefferson
* Fact of the Week
The "Gateway Theory"
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
Editor's Note: We don't normally insert a book review as our feature
article but we feel that "Shattered Lives" deserved a little
attention. This is a quality publication that puts a face on the drug
war and its victims. It includes pictures of both victims and
families, horror stories, and personal accounts of the devastation
caused by the "War on Drugs" and is a very effective tool for quickly
converting the uninformed, apathetic, or "fence sitters."
We encourage our readers to both obtain a copy and to consider
"Shattered Lives" as a holiday gift to someone who needs to realize
how the drug war is destroying our country and our freedoms.
"SHATTERED LIVES" (the book)
A wake-up call to every American.
Shattered Lives, Portraits from Americas Drug War
By the creators of Human Rights and the Drug War: Mikki Norris, Chris
Conrad and Virginia Resner
"The federal agents promised that if I refused to help them gain the
information against my husband, they would destroy my life. This they
did."
Amy Pofahl, age 37
Meet Amy Ralston Pofahl, a victim of overzealous law enforcement. They
took her home, her business, her bank savings even her wedding ring. Now
they have her life. Amy is seven years into a 24-year sentence for a
crime she did not commit her estranged husband's conspiracy to import
and manufacture MDMA (ecstasy).
In the name of the Drug War, families are being torn apart, children
orphaned, and homes and property seized as first-time, non-violent drug
offenders are thrown into U.S. prisons, serving harsh sentences of 10,
20 years and longer.
Learn how we got here, the costs and the statistics, and what can still
be done to bring a just end to what has become America's longest war.
In this photo essay, you will see the faces and read the compelling
stories of America's new POWs. Your image of the Drug War may never be
the same...
1998. ISBN 0-9639754-3-9. Paperback. 12 color pages.
Mail check or money order for $19.95 + $3.95 s/h.to:
Creative Xpressions
PO Box 1716, El Cerrito CA 94530
www.hr95.org
Toll-free credit card ordering 888-265-2732
Wholesale/distributor inquiries: 510-215-8326
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Constitutional Guarantees-
***
COMMENT:
Two Ninth Circuit decisions affected police powers; one, which refused
to allow a check for weapons at federal buildings to be routinely
expanded into a search for drugs was a victory for common sense. This
was offset by another case in which the court gave police carte
blanche to perform unannounced searches on parolees. These will, of
necessity, intrude on the privacy of their families or living
companions as well.
***
DRUG SEARCH BARRED AT FED BUILDINGS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Heightened security rules for searches at federal
buildings imposed after the Oklahoma City bombing are
unconstitutionally allowing guards to look for drugs, a federal appeals
court ruled Thursday.
The rules must be narrowed to allow only searches for weapons and
explosives, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in a case from
Hawaii. Officers would still be allowed to seize any contraband they
see in plain view while looking for dangerous objects, said lawyers in
the case.
[snip]
Source: Associated Press
Pubdate: Thu, 17 Sep 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n828.a03.html
***
SEARCH FOR JUSTICE?
A troubling California Supreme Court ruling on Monday could encroach on
Americans' protection from unreasonable searches and seizures under the
U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment.
[snip]
The case under review involves the rights of parolees from prison and
people they associate with.
The ruling enlarges police powers at the expense of private citizens'
rights and, once again, that expansion of power is tied to waging the
war on drugs.
[snip]
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 23 Sep 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n836.a03.html
***
Prisons
***
COMMENT:
A report by the Criminal Justice Foundation directed attention to the
oft-forgotten conflict between higher education and prisons. The
Foundation was headquartered in San Francisco before moving to
Washington; with Berkeley also hosting a symposium on prison issues,
it isn't surprising that Bay Area newspapers produced three excellent
articles on the subject.
One reports on the marked increase in prison labor, one is devoted to
the foundation's report (plus a lame rebuttal from Wilson's office);
the third is an excellent op-ed by Angela Davis. Her detailed analysis
is right on the money; unfortunately her Sixties reputation may lead
some to deny it the attention it deserves. She points out that
continuing prison expansion has the potential to unite many disparate
grass roots organizations in opposition to further expansion.
Finally, a very cogent overview is supplied by a the Chicago Tribune,
which gives a good appraisal of the connection between the report and
the Berkeley conference. Expect incarceration to receive more press
attention as prison rolls increase; especially if gross tax revenues
should diminish.
***
IN THE JOINT ON THE JOB
State prisons staff $155 million-a-year enterprise with inmates
Behind razor wire and lethal electric fences at more than 70 factories
in California lies a hidden industrial empire, churning out an
astonishing array of goods ranging from eyeglasses and flags to chairs
and muumuus.
It makes things that even Sears Roebuck & Co. does not usually stock,
like the ``bear proof'' locker for $425. Many prices are hard to beat -
women's blue jeans for $12.10, men's shoes $31.25, 100 percent cotton
nightgowns for $8.25.
The home of this $155 million-a-year enterprise is the California state
prison system, viewed by most people as the maker of license plates,
not a vast network of modern industrial plants producing 24,000
varieties of 1,800 different items.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: 21 Sep 1998
Page A17
Author: Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n832.a03.html
***
REPORT: GAP IN EDUCATION, PRISON FUNDS
Wilson's Office Calls Study `Drivel'
Under the administration of Gov. Pete Wilson, more state tax dollars
have gone to prisons and corrections than to the state's top two
college systems - a gap that has never been wider in at least 30 years
- according to a study released Tuesday.
The report, which was quickly denounced by Wilson's office, was issued
by a liberal think tank called the Justice Policy Group, and it cited a
growing trend across the United States to spend on corrections, not
instruction.
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 23 Sep 1998
Source: Examiner, The (Ireland)
Contact: exam_letters@examiner.ie
Author: Brian Carroll, Security Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n828.a04.html
***
SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUSIONS OF THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
(Angela Y. Davis is History of Consciousness professor at the
University of California - Santa Cruz and an organizer of the upcoming
conference Critical Resistance: Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex.
An earlier version of this article appeared in Colorlines magazine.)
Imprisonment has become the response of first resort to the problems
facing people living in poverty. Our prisons thus appear to perform a
feat of magic. But prisons do not disappear problems - they disappear
human beings. And the practice of disappearing vast numbers of people
from poor, immigrant, and racially marginalized communities has
literally become big business.
[snip]
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Pubdate: 21 Sep 1998
Page C-1
Author: Angela Davis
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n832.a02.html
***
PRISON GROWTH STEALING FUNDS FROM SCHOOLS, ACTIVISTS SAY
LOS ANGELES -- During the 1960s and early '70s as college students were
protesting the Vietnam War, another movement began pushing its way to
the fore: prisoner rights.
Inspired in part by Angela Davis, the young black militant who was
imprisoned before being acquitted of kidnapping and murder charges in
1972, the movement focused on overcrowding, rapes and other inhumane
conditions in the nation's jails and prisons.
[snip]
Davis, 53, a professor at the University of California at Santa Cruz,
as well as college students and other former prisoners, have scheduled
a conference this weekend at UC-Berkeley titled "Critical Resistance:
Beyond the Prison Industrial Complex" to draw attention to the issue.
The conference is expected to call for a moratorium on prison
construction and a focus on preventive measures to keep people out
of prison.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
Pubdate: 23 Sept 1998
Author: V. Dion Haynes
Section: Metro Chicago
***
Annals of Interdiction
***
COMMENT:
As the implementation of drug prohibition falls increasingly under
military control it's to be expected that, despite what McCzar says,
the "war" in drug war will become less a metaphor and more a realistic
descriptive term. Evidence for this can be found in statements made
last week by two serving officers; first McC's successor as head of
the Southern Command weighed in with an assessment of the Colombian
quagmire which was eerily reminiscent of Westmoreland-. Don't these
guys read history?
The second came from the head of the Coast Guard, who in classic
bureaucratic jargon, told Congress that he loved their concept of
purging drugs from the Western Hemisphere, but needed more dough to do
the job right.
Finally, we have McCzar himself, clearly unwilling to give up the idea
of interdiction, but smart enough not to say anything too stupid. He
seems to be hoping for a high-tech magic bullet which will somehow
detect drugs without slowing the commercial flows that NAFTA demands.
Lots of luck, general.
***
U.S. GENERAL SEES TURNING OF CORNER IN COLOMBIA
KEY WEST, Fla. (Reuters) - The general leading the United States' war
against the Latin American drugs trade said Thursday the situation was
looking better in frontline Colombia, where American personnel have
been helping the beleaguered military against traffickers' armies.
Marine General Charles Wilhelm, commander in chief of the U.S. Southern
Command (SOUTHCOM), said that with a new president and a change in the
armed forces leadership, there were signs Colombia was "turning the
corner."
[snip]
Source: Reuters
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Sep 1998
Author: By Angus MacSwan
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n827.a09.html
***
STATEMENT OF ADMIRAL JAMES M. LOY, USCG, ON THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE
DRUG ELIMINATION ACT
Good morning, Mr. Chairman Grassley, Chairman Coverdell, and
distinguished Committee and Caucus members. It is a pleasure to appear
before you today to comment on Coast Guard drug interdiction and the
proposed Western Hemisphere Drug Elimination Act.
I applaud the Act's goal of strengthening our Nation's counterdrug
effort. This legislation recognizes that the security of our maritime
borders is a critical component of a balanced national strategy to
reduce drug use and its destructive consequences.
[snip]
First and foremost the Coast Guard must be able to maintain current
Services for all mission areas in fiscal year 1999 as requested by The
President. As a 3-year authorization, this legislation could result in
outyear funding risks. Without adequate outyear funding, I will not be
able to operate additional assets or to sustain the operational
increases for assets now in the Coast Guard inventory.
[snip]
Source: Congressional Testimony
Pubdate: 16 Sep 1998
Website: http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/loy.htm
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n834.a06.html
***
NEW DRUG STRATEGY SOUGHT
Director wants single official to coordinate border operations
New York Times WASHINGTON - U.S. border inspectors searched slightly
more than a million commercial trucks and railway cars entering the
United States from Mexico last year. They found cocaine stashed in
cargo compartments on only six occasions, said Gen. Barry McCaffrey,
the White House director of drug-control policy.
[snip]
He said that more efficient cooperation and superior technology were
needed to interdict illegal drugs at the southwestern border and its 24
ports of entry and 39 other sanctioned crossing points.
Buying more sophisticated radar, scanning and night-vision equipment,
he said, would cost a fraction of the $2 billion that the government
already spends annually to combat border smuggling.
"I'm not talking about the Marshall Plan," McCaffrey said. "I'm talking
about better organization."
[snip]
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Pubdate: Sun, 20 Sep 1998
Author: CHRISTOPHER S. WREN
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n831.a09.html
***
Medical Marijuana
***
COMMENT:
Without a doubt, the story of the week was the report from UCSF that
animal studies support the concept that cannabinoids reduce pain by
acting on specific neural pathways in a fashion similar to, but
demonstrably separate from, opioids. This will be pure gold in arguing
for passage of medical marijuana initiatives. The story, broken by the
afternoon Examiner, was picked up around the world; as were comments
by the Marijuana Policy Project. Maybe we're finally seeing some
balance in the coverage of drug issues.
Even though the article from the UK was posted late, the views of
British LEOs dovetail so well with the logic of American sheriffs on
medical marijuana and the need for prisons that I just had to include
it. Clearly the prison-industrial complex is an idea with an international
following.
***
UCSF STUDY BACKS CLAIM POT KILLS PAIN
Research adds to evidence drug is medically useful
A circuit in the brain stem that is switched on and off by the active
ingredient in marijuana is the latest in a mounting pile of scientific
evidence pointing to the drug's ability to kill pain, a new UC-San
Francisco study said Wednesday.
The substance, a synthetic form of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), has an
effect similar to morphine in an area at the base of the skull that is
known to block pain impulses.
Importantly, researchers found that the substance uses a different way
to trigger the blockage, suggesting that marijuana-like drugs might be
developed as effective painkillers without the unwanted side effects of
opiates.
[snip]
Five states and the District of Columbia have initiatives on the
November ballot similar to California's Proposition 215, which allows
seriously ill patients to grow and use marijuana for pain relief, with
a doctor's recommendation, without being prosecuted under state law.
To cannabis advocates like Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy
Project, the study is further proof that the thousands of people with
cancer, AIDS and other diseases who are using the drug to feel better
are on the right track.
"These patients are not stupid and should not be going to jail," Thomas
said.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: September 23, 1998
Author: Ulysses Torassa, Examiner Medical Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n827.a01.html
***
DON'T GO SOFT ON CANNABIS
THE Government is being urged not to legalize the use of cannabis for
medical treatment.
Police chiefs are strongly opposed to the move on the grounds that drug
users will escape prosecution for possession by claiming they are
undergoing treatment.
The Police Superintendents' Association, meeting in Bristol this week,
will ask home Secretary Jack Straw to fund research into the
therapeutic uses of cannabis so that proper controls can be introduced.
It points to the American experience where police have given up
prosecuting drug users in some states because courts routinely accept
medical usage as a defence.
[snip]
The superintendents - the frontline operational managers of the police
service - are also set for confrontation with ministers over plans to
reduce the prison population and save money by finding alternatives to
custodial sentences. The central theme of their annual conference will
be a debate on the subject Does Prison Work? At which controversial
former Director-General of the Prison service, Derek Lewis, will be a
guest speaker.
The president, Superintendent Peter Gammon, is expected to tell the
Home Secretary that prison is the only acceptable penalty for
persistent offenders even if their crimes are not serious.
[snip]
Pubdate: 13 Sep 1998
Source: The Mail on Sunday (UK)
Author: Chester Stern, Crime Correspondent
Contact : letters@mailonsunday.co.uk
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n839.a06.html
***
Mexico
***
COMMENT:
Mexican events continued to embarrass the American drug war; the man
thought to be the main target in last week's shocking mass
assassination was, in addition to being a successful drug trafficker,
also an indigenous person from a tribe with an unsettled relationship
with both drugs and trafficking. That relationship was examined in a
long NYT article.
Exiled ex- President, Carlos Salinas, now living in Dublin reacted
strongly to Swiss allegations (they are investigating banking
violations) of his brother's complicity in drug trafficking. As if
that weren't enough, the article by Holger Jensen describes the
present chaotic state law enforcement agencies south of the border.
A somewhat different perspective is provided by a long article in the
Baltimore Sun describing how narcotrafficantes have come to be revered
as heroes in Culiacan, the smuggling capital of Mexico's wild west.
***
DRUG GANGS DEVASTATE INDIAN VILLAGES IN BAJA CALIFORNIA
SANTA CATARINA, Mexico - After five centuries of killing and pestilence
that began with the Spanish conquest, only a few hundred of Baja
California's indigenous people are left alive. And now they are being
hunted down and killed by drug traffickers. The violence began two
years ago when the leader of an indigenous village that resisted
traffickers' efforts to take over communal lands for drug cultivation
was gunned down, along with another Indian, in an ambush along a rural
road.
While some have resisted, other Indians have been seduced by the quick
fortunes that can reward those who manage desert airstrips or offer
other services to the drug cartels. And that has resulted in a string
of killings in the Indian communities that cling to the arid hills 60
miles south of the California border.
The violence took on horrifying new dimensions last week when two entire
families of Indians from the Pai-Pai ethnic group, along with a household
of neighbors, were dragged from their homes and shot to death in a driveway
in Ensenada, a coastal city to which some Indians have migrated. It was
Mexico's worst incident of drug-related bloodshed in memory.
[snip]
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Pubdate: 26 Sep 1998
Author: Sam Dillon
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n834.a05.html
***
SALINAS WARNS MEXICO AGAINST DRUG PROBE
MEXICO CITY-Former President Carlos Salinas Gortari lashed out from
his self-imposed 0 seclusion Monday, warning Mexico's top justice
officials that they could be implicated in a widening scandal about
drug trafficking during his administration.
Salinas counterattacked after the leak of a report claiming that his
brother Raul virtually ran narcotics traffic in Mexico during the
1988-94 Salinas presidency. That secret report was drawn up by Swiss
police investigating possible money laundering by Raul Salinas.
[snip]
His brother also denies criminal activity. But the secret report
prepared by the Swiss police during their three-year investigation
paints a devastating portrait of Raul. Expanding on previously reported
allegations that he was tied to leading drug traffickers, it reportedly
depicts the former president's brother as a virtual godfather.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: Mary Beth Sheridan, Times Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n823.a04.html
***
MEXICO BATTLES PLAGUE OF CORRUPTION
Mexico is a country where crooked cops are the norm rather than the
exception and the worst of them prey on the capital.
Authorities in Mexico City admit a daily average of 700 crimes
involving weapons and resulting in the deaths of at least six people.
That's the official figure. The Mexican press says it's much higher.
[snip]
About 70 policemen are fired every month for failing drug tests. But
police involvement in the drug trade and other crimes is so routine
that only the most horrific raise public ire.
[snip]
Ideally, says Mexico City's mayor, the only way to reform the force is
to fire all the cops and begin again. But, he points out, "past
administrations have fired thousands and then we just end up with
thousands of armed, unemployed cops on the street, many of whom become
criminals."
[snip]
Source: Santa Maria Times (CA)
Contact: Santa Maria Times PO Box 400 Santa Maria, CA 93456-0400
Fax: 1-805-928-5657
Pubdate: Monday, September 21 1998
Section: Opinion, World View, page A-4
Author: Holger Jensen
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n829.a05.html
***
IN CELEBRATION OF DRUG SMUGGLERS
`Narcoculture': In northwest Mexico, a culture of adoration grows for
narcotics smugglers, who beat the odds by getting their goods across
the border to feed the habits of gringos.
CULIACAN, Mexico - Near the stage at a recent concert by the band Los
Tigres del Norte stand four young men in cowboy boots, large belt
buckles, tight jeans and cowboy hats.
Three are college students - studying computers, architecture and
dentistry - and one is a teacher. But they are dressed like country
boys, as if they were not, in fact, born and raised in Culiacan, a city
of more than 700,000 people, capital of the Pacific coast state of
Sinaloa.
[snip]
The "narcocorrido" has become the favored pop music for much of
northwest Mexico. Ballads - telling of bandits or revolutionary heroes
- have been a part of Mexican folk music for at least a century.
Recently, the "narcoballad" has taken over the genre.
Narcocorridos limn the exploits of drug smugglers - executions,
betrayals, shootouts with the "federales" - bloody events set to a
polka beat and obliviously cheerful accordion line.
[snip]
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Contact: letters@baltsun.com
Website: http://www.sunspot.net/
Pubdate: 21 Sep 1998
Author: Sam Quinones , Special To The Sun
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n823.a10.html
***
International News
***
COMMENT:
English-speaking nations continue to read a litany of drug war
failures in their daily press; record seizures, record drug use, and
record police corruption. The headlines say it all.
***
USE OF CRACK INCREASES TO RECORD LEVEL
RECORD AMOUNTS of crack cocaine, the highly addictive drug, are
available on the streets of Britain, the Home Office and criminologists
have discovered.
[snip]
Cocaine seizures by customs and excise have risen sharply in the past
three years, from 940kg in 1995 to 2,074kg last year.
[snip]
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Pubdate: Mon, 21 Sep 1998
Author: Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n822.a03.html
***
DRUGS SEIZURES DOUBLE
ILLEGAL drugs with an estimated street value of more than UKP6m were
seized by the RUC last year - double the total for the previous year,
it was revealed today.
The RUC Drug Squad recovered UKP 6,614,955 worth of drugs in 1997,
compared to UKP 3,282,110 in 1996 - a rise of over UKP3m.
In comparison, statistics released in Scotland show UKP 9m of drug
seizures last year in an area roughly three times the size of Northern
Ireland.
[snip]
Source: Belfast Telegraph
Contact: editor@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
Pubdate: Mon, 21 Sep 1998
Author: Peter McVerry
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n822.a03.html
***
POLICE IN SEVEN FORCES INVESTIGATED FOR DRUGS, BRIBERY AND
ROBBERIES
MORE than 110 police officers in at least seven forces in England and
Wales are being investigated, or face charges, in an unprecedented
series of anti-corruption inquiries.
[snip]
Superintendent Phil Jones, of Merseyside Police, said the case had
revealed the vulnerability of British police officers to corruption and
the "fabulous" bribes that drug dealers could offer. "Officers have
seen their income decrease sharply as overtime and allowances have been
abolished. At the same time, the money at the disposal of the drug
dealers has become huge. It has not been politically convenient to
accept there is a growing danger of corruption. But this is the
policing issue for the next century."
[snip]
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Pubdate: Fri, 25 Sep 1998
Author: Jason Bennetto and Jonathan Foster
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n837.a02.html
***
KIDS REPORTED USED AS DRUG MULES
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (Reuters) - Honduran children are being used by
drug gangs to peddle cocaine in Canadian cities, a children's rights
group said yesterday.
Casa Alianza officials said several children from Honduras had
swallowed stones of the drug crack, derived from cocaine, and were
seriously ill in Canadian hospitals after being caught by Vancouver
Police.
[snip]
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Pubdate: Sat, 19 September 1998
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n821.a11.html
***
EASY STREET FOR HARD DRUGS
HARD drugs such as heroin and speed are readily available in Adelaide.
Inquiries by The Advertiser suggest most users have "contacts" from
whom they can easily buy drugs such heroin.
Some dealers are also known to sell drugs in and around hotels,
although the risk of being caught is far higher.
[snip]
Source: Advertiser, The (Australia)
Contact: advedit@ozemail.com.au
Pubdate: Sat, 19 Sep 1998
Author: Police Reporters, Jeremy Pudney and John Merriman
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n822.a11.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
Thanks to Tom Paine for the following:
Below is a web page of nothing but CHARTS against the Drug War. It has
clickable LINKS and a clickable TABLE OF CONTENTS. It is a
one-of-a-kind compilation, and it succinctly, quickly, and graphically
exposes the truth about the horrors of the U.S. Drug War. Feel free to
use any or all of it in any way anywhere.
C:\eudora\attach\all charts.v3.default font.htm
***
http://www.E-thepeople.com
As the movement to eliminate criminal penalties for the medical use of
cannabis grows, it becomes even more important for everyone to take
every opportunity they can to speak out. By signing this petition, you
will demonstrate that the American public has passed the point of
tolerance for the persecution of suffering people by denying them
medication that is safe and effective. Please sign this petition and
then pass it on to at least ten more friends. Let me know about your
efforts!
The petition is located at:
http://www.e-thepeople.com/etp2/affiliates/national/fullview.cfm?ETPID=0&PET
ID=50381&ETPDIR=affiliates/national
Login: Thomas
Password: Jefferson
CASE SENSITIVE!
***
The petition above is hosted by E-The People,
http://www.e-thepeople.com a nonpartisan Web service promoting
communication between citizens and government.
At E- The People, you can:
-Send a letter to any one of 140,000 local, state, and federal
officials in 7,000 towns and cities!
-Start a petition to fix a pothole or change a policy, and promote it
on our national site!
-Sign a petition about a cause you care about!
E- The People is sponsored by the Alex Sheshunoff Initiative, an
organization dedicated to the empowerment of communities through
technology.
***
TIP OF THE WEEK
***
The MAPNews Service.
One of the DrugSense missions is to provide you with current news on
drug policy related topics. By visiting and becoming familiar with our
many services you can decide what best suits your needs. It is a
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Subscribe to the weekly at: http://www.drugsense.org/
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http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high
virtues of a good citizen, but it is not the highest. The laws of
necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger,
are of higher obligation."
--Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), U.S. president. Letter, 20 Sept. 1810
***
FACT OF THE WEEK
***
The "Gateway Theory"
The gateway theory takes a statistical association between an extremely
popular behavior, marijuana use, and an unpopular behavior, cocaine use,
and then implies that one causes the other. There is no evidence to this
assertion, and CASA (National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse)
acknowledges that it has not been able to determine if there is any causal
relationship between the two.
Source: Merrill, J. C. &; Fox., K.S., Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana:
Gateways to Illicit Drug Use, New York, NY : The National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse (1994).
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can
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[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for September 24-30