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Smith, Wyden Seek Funds To Fight Growing Drug Traffic In Oregon
('The Associated Press' Says Oregon's Two US Senators, Republican
Gordon Smith And Democrat Ron Wyden, Have Asked The Clinton Administration
To Designate Oregon As A 'High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area,'
A Special Category That Would Make The State Eligible For $3 Million
To $5 Million In Federal Funds To Beef Up Enforcement - But No Mention
Is Made That The Cost To Local Taxpayers Of Prosecuting And Incarcerating
Such Offenders Would Likely Exceed The Federal Donation)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: OR Senatoras seek funds to fight drugs
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 22:03:52 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Smith, Wyden seek funds to fight growing drug traffic in Oregon

The Associated Press
10/02/98 4:37 PM Eastern

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Oregon's two U.S. senators are seeking federal funds to
combat drugs in the state, which they say has emerged as one of the nation's
leaders in drug trafficking and drug use.

U.S. Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden have asked the Clinton administration
to designate Oregon as a "high intensity drug trafficking area" a special
category that would make the state eligible for $3 million to $5 million in
federal funds to beef up enforcement.

"Particularly in rural Oregon, and southern Oregon to be exact, the meth
labs and drug trade moving through our state are shocking," Smith said.

Positioned on the Pacific Rim, Oregon has become a major conduit for drug
traffic up and down Interstate 5, Smith said. It also has become a place
where manufacturers and growers produce marijuana, methamphetamine and
hallucinogenics for distribution to states as far away as Hawaii, North
Carolina and Florida, he said.

"We just don't want any drug trafficker to find a safe harbor in Oregon," he
said. "We want to tighten the noose around drug dealers in our state."

Smith and Wyden wrote a joint letter to Gen. Berry McCaffery, head of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, seeking the special drug enforcement
designation.

In the letter, the senators said crackdowns in populated areas have sent the
drug trade into rural communities where it's harder to detect.

"In these areas, limited law enforcement resources are stretched over large
areas of land, allowing drugs to continue flowing unchecked through the
state," the senators wrote.

Smith said the new designation request has the backing of local law
enforcement agencies as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and
the U.S. Attorney's Office in Portland. Oregon's Attorney General's Office
offered its support as well.

A number of recent large drug busts in towns such as Silverton, northeast of
Salem, underscore the need, said Kristen Grainger, executive assistant to
Attorney General Hardy Myers.

"There's definitely a problem here," she said. "It's been documented in the
media and by law enforcement."

In their letter, Smith and Wyden argued that a marked increase in drug use
has accompanied the rise in drug production and dealing. While seizures of
meth labs rose dramatically in the 1990s, the number of juveniles in drug
treatment programs "has increased at an alarming rate, from 1,742 in 1991 to
4,028 in 1996," the letter stated.

Additionally, a study released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy
indicated that 27 percent of women arrested in Portland tested positive for
heroin and related opiates, the highest usage in the country, according to
the letter.

If Oregon gets the official designation as a major drug state, federal
dollars would pay for a plan to battle the trafficking, Smith said. The plan
would involve federal enforcement agencies coordinating with local police,
sheriffs and state police to crack down on the illegal drug trade.

California and Washington already qualify for the extra federal funding,
Smith said, as do a number of Rocky Mountain states.

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

State Seeks Aid To Fight Drugs (The Version In 'The Register-Guard'
In Eugene, Oregon)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 22:45:36 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OR: State Seeks Aid To Fight Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Olafur Brentmar
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Author: HARRY ESTEVE

STATE SEEKS AID TO FIGHT DRUGS

Oregon has become one of the nation's leaders in drug trafficking and drug
use, and it needs federal help to combat the problem, the state's two U.S.
senators said Thursday.

Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden have asked the Clinton administration to
designate Oregon as a "high intensity drug trafficking area" - a special
category that would qualify the state for $3 million to $5 million in
federal funds to beef up enforcement.

"Particularly in rural Oregon, and Southern Oregon to be exact, the meth
labs and drug trade moving through our state are shocking," Smith said by
telephone from Washington, D.C.

Positioned on the Pacific Rim, Oregon has become a major conduit for drug
traffic up and down Interstate 5, Smith said. It also has become a place
where manufacturers and growers produce marijuana, methamphetamine and
hallucinogenics for distribution to states as far away as Hawaii, North
Carolina and Florida, he said.

"We just don't want any drug trafficker to find a safe harbor in Oregon,"
he said. "We want to tighten the noose around drug dealers in our state."

Smith and Wyden wrote a joint letter to Gen. Berry McCaffery, head of the
Office of National Drug Control Policy, seeking the special drug
enforcement designation. In the letter, the senators said crackdowns in
populated areas have sent the drug trade into rural communities where it's
harder to detect and stop.

"In these areas, limited law enforcement resources are stretched over large
areas of land, allowing drugs to continue flowing unchecked through the
state," the senators stated in the letter.

Smith said the request for the new designation for Oregon has the backing
of local law enforcement agencies as well as the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration and the U.S. attorney's office in Portland. The state
attorney general's office offered its support as well.

"We support any efforts to bring additional resources to bear on what we
perceive as a growing problem," said Kristen Grainger, executive assistant
to Attorney General Hardy Myers.

A number of recent large drug busts in towns such as Silverton, northeast
of Salem, underscore the need, Grainger said. "There's definitely a problem
here. It's been documented in the media and by law enforcement."

In their letter, Smith and Wyden argued that a marked increase in drug use
has accompanied the rise in drug production and dealing. While seizures of
meth labs rose dramatically in the 1990s, the number of juveniles in drug
treatment programs "has increased at an alarming rate, from 1,742 in 1991
to 4,028 in 1996," the letter stated.

Additionally, a study released by the Office of National Drug Control
Policy indicated that 27 percent of women arrested in Portland tested
positive for heroin and related opiates, the highest usage in the country,
according to the letter.

If Oregon gets the official designation as a major drug state, federal
dollars would pay for a plan to battle the trafficking, Smith said. The
plan would involve federal enforcement agencies coordinating with local
police, sheriffs and state police to crack down on the illegal drug trade.

California and Washington already qualify for the extra federal funding,
Smith said, as do a number of Rocky Mountain states.

"Oregon has been too long without assistance, fighting alone against the
national and international drug traffickers," Smith said.

"It's time for the federal government to stand up to the drug dealers who
prey on Oregon's youth," Wyden added in a news release. "We're calling on
Gen. McCaffery to give our police officers all the help he can to protect
our communities and drive the drug traffickers out of our state."

Copyright (c) 1998 The Register-Guard

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Students Walk Out To Protest Jail Spending ('The Orange County Register'
Says Thousands Of High School Students In The Bay Area Community
Of San Leandro Left Their Classrooms And Took To The Streets Thursday,
Responding To News That Under Governor Pete Wilson's Administration,
California's Budget For Higher Education Has Shrunk By 3 Percent
While Corrections Spending Has Jumped 60 Percent)

From: John W.Black
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 10:58:50 -0700
Size: 20 lines 679 bytes
File: v98.n856.a01
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n856.a01.html
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/

STUDENTS WALK OUT TO PROTEST JAIL SPENDING

Thousands of San Leandro area high school students left their
classrooms and took to the streets Thursday, protesting that the state
is spending too much on jails and not enough on schools.

Students from about 10 schools marched about a mile through
town.

The protest come amid reports that under Gov.Pete Wilson's
administration, California's budget for higher education has shrunk by
3 percent while corrections spending has jumped 60 percent.

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

Leftists Set To Battle The Lock-'Em-Up Mentality (San Francisco Examiner
columnist William Wong says the international conference on the growth
of the prison industrial complex last weekend at the University of California
at Berkeley was a throwback to the radical 1960s. But restoring some balance
to the law-and-order discourse, as the critical resistance meeting tried to do,
is a step whose time has come.)

Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 13:16:10 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: OPED: Leftists Set To Battle The Lock-'Em-Up Mentality
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 02 Oct 1998
Author: William Wong
Note: William Wong is an independent journalist and Examiner columnist.

LEFTISTS SET TO BATTLE THE LOCK-'EM-UP MENTALITY

A CONFERENCE last weekend at the University of California at Berkeley was a
throwback to the radical 1960s. Even though Cal maintains a liberal image,
there are large, if not overwhelming, numbers of centrists and conservatives
now.

So an international conference on the growth of the prison industrial
complex - concerning not only the number and size of our prisons, but
America's growing reliance on the prison system as a solution for society's
ills - seemed both a natural and counter-intuitive to our current political
climate.

Called "Critical resistance: Beyond the prison industrial complex," the
conference drew some 3,000 people, surprising organizers since only 1,200
had registered in advance. I was at the Sunday afternoon closing plenary
session, and if that one session typified the three-day conference, one is
left wondering whether the radical left and liberals - pariahs in our New
World Order of global capitalism and conservatism - are beginning to mount a
spirited comeback.

Angela Davis, the longtime prison-reform activist and leftist theoretician,
was one of the conference's principal organizers. She was joined at the
closing session by another icon of the '60s left - Bernadine Dohrn, a former
Weather Underground leader who now works on children and family issues.
Geronimo Pratt, a Black Panther who was granted a new trial after spending
25 years in prison on a murder conviction, was also there.

They and other speakers roused the crowd with inspirational messages that
were part 1960s rhetoric about struggles and movements, and part New Age
talk.

Pratt reflected on the need for leftist reformers to give strokes to
colleagues. Left and liberal groups are famous for trashing one another over
sometimes arcane points of dogma, and for personality and ego conflicts.

Whether the emotional send-off to conferees to continue fighting against the
spread of the prison industrial complex will yield progress is anyone's
guess. Given our current political culture, one can't be too optimistic
about changing the will of the American people, for whom leftist radicalism
is all but anathema.

This is not to say that prison reformers ought to give up. America needs to
be reminded of what we stand for as a nation when our willingness to finance
more prisons outstrips our willingness to help needy people before they get
into trouble. It is much easier to ignore the fact that the number of
Americans in local jails and in state and federal prisons has risen almost
60 percent since 1990. Many Americans now favor a "lock 'em up and throw
away the key" approach.

Prison reformers and others who object to punishment as our society's
preferred strategy for dealing with people who break our laws are clearly
fighting an uphill battle. Just consider the November elections for
governor, U.S. senator, and state attorney general.

Candidates from both major parties are crawling all over one another to
prove to voters they are toughest on crime. Either by implication or
explicitly, major party candidates favor the continuation of the prison
industrial complex that last weekend's conferees object to. Other than
standard platitudes about improving public education, there is almost no
talk about more public attention to drug and alcohol treatment programs,
family services or other human-resources initiatives to turn around
potentially troubled young lives before they fall into the law-enforcement
abyss.

Californians ought to be embarrassed that corrections takes up a larger
percentage of the state budget than higher education. And aren't we bothered
by the fact that the state prison guards' union has grown so powerful that
it can demand, and get, a huge pay raise from Gov. Wilson?

Reviving weary 1960s chants may not be original, but restoring some balance
to the law-and-order discourse, as the critical resistance meeting tried to
do, is a step whose time has come.

1998 San Francisco Examiner Page A 23

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

Group Revives Anti-Pot Effort ('The Rocky Mountain News'
Says Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan Will Lead The Opposition
To The Medical Marijuana Initiative Sponsored By Coloradans
For Medical Rights)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 13:12:39 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CO: Group Revives Anti-Pot Effort
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Fratello (amr@lainet.com)
Source: Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Contact: letters@denver-rmn.com
Website: http://insidedenver.com/news/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998
Author: John Sanko Rocky Mountain News Capitol Bureau

GROUP REVIVES ANTI-POT EFFORT

The campaign to fight a medical marijuana proposal is slowly getting back
into shape.

However, some of its key players -- who once thought the issue was off the
ballot -- are now gone themselves. And the leader of the effort, Arapahoe
County Sheriff Pat Sullivan, admits it's tough getting money and an
organization back into shape.

"Right now, we're just a bunch of volunteers and we only have five weeks to
go," Sullivan said Thursday. "The big money is on the other side."

Last April, former U.S. drug czar Bill Bennett and Colorado's law
enforcement leaders gathered at the Capitol to oppose legalizing marijuana
for medical purposes.

But then Secretary of State Vikki Buckley ruled that petitions to put the
issue on the Nov. 3 ballot lacked sufficient signatures.

Another reversal came Sept. 11, when Denver District Judge Herbert Stern
ordered the measure back on the ballot after the signature-checking methods
in Buckley's office were challenged.

"We were severely handicapped," Sullivan admits now. "Having it off the
ballot during the month of August doesn't help fund-raising or organization.

On top of that, there's still a question whether it will remain on the
ballot. A battle is being waged in the Colorado Supreme Court.

"It's a shaky proposition for people to invest money in fighting an issue
when they don't even know if it will be on the ballot," Sullivan said.

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

Five Indicted In Death At Arizona Youth Ranch ('The Los Angeles Times'
Says An Arizona Grand Jury Thursday Indicted Five Former Employees
Of Arizona Boys Ranch For Manslaughter And Child Abuse, Charging
That The Four Camp Workers And A Staff Nurse Were Responsible
For The March 2 Death Of Nicholaus Contreraz, A 16-Year-Old Offender
From Sacramento, California, At The Paramilitary-Style Boot Camp)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:06:05 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US AZ: 5 Indicted In Death At Arizona Youth Ranch
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Pubdate: 2 October 1998
Author: JULIE CART, Times Staff Writer

5 INDICTED IN DEATH AT ARIZONA YOUTH RANCH

Courts: Former employees are accused of manslaughter and child
abuse in the case of a California offender whose complaints of illness
were reportedly dismissed.

An Arizona grand jury Thursday indicted five former employees of
Arizona Boys Ranch, charging that the four camp workers and a staff
nurse were responsible for the March 2 death of a Sacramento boy at
the paramilitary-style boot camp for juvenile offenders.

The indictments by the panel in Pinal County, southeast of Phoenix,
were the first criminal charges in the 7-month-old case, which has
brought about legislative changes, stricter licensing standards and
tougher oversight guidelines. The fallout from the death has also all
but closed the 50-year-old juvenile rehabilitation facility, which has
a national reputation.

The people charged were among those who worked most closely with
16-year-old Nicholaus Contreraz, who died while being physically
punished. The boy was cleared for rigorous exercise, despite repeated
complaints to the nurse that he was ill.

Indicted were camp nurse Linda Babb and four "work specialists" -
Geoffrey Sean Lewis, Montgomery Clayton Hoover, Michael
Martin Moreno and Troy Michael Jones. Four of the defendants live in
Tucson, and Hoover is from Sierra Vista, about 60 miles southeast of
that city. Each was charged with one count of child abuse and one
count of manslaughter, and faces a maximum penalty of 12 1/2 years in
prison for each count. Arraignment was scheduled for Oct. 23.

Officials at the program--based in Queen Creek, about 30 miles
southeast of Phoenix--had no comment Thursday.

In the past they have characterized Contreraz's death at their Oracle
facility, north of Tucson, as a tragedy and blamed it on the actions
of a few employees who were then suspended.

Children's rights advocates and others were outraged by the death--the
second at the ranch, which has had more than 100 child abuse
complaints lodged against it in the last five years. Thursday's
decision did not completely appease the Contreraz family, which has
sued the Arizona agency that licensed the ranch.

Contreraz's grandmother, Connie Woodward of Sacramento, told the
Associated Press that the administrators who tolerated abuse should
also be held accountable.

"It's a great feeling, but it's not enough yet," she said of the
indictments. "At least we know they're not gonna just slap their hands
and walk away." Cathy Sutton, whose daughter died while attending a
Utah wilderness camp and monitors such boot camp deaths nationwide,
echoed that sentiment.

"They fire the staff and think they've taken care of the problem," she
said. "But administrators never seem to be held accountable."

Contreraz had been sent to the camp after stealing a car and running
away while in custody. The slender teenager spent the last week of his
life complaining of chest pain and difficulty breathing, but had been
identified by the staff as a malingerer and punished more when he
complained, authorities said.

When the boy sought medical attention, the camp nurse repeatedly sent
him back out with approval to engage in the stringent exercise
required of troublesome juveniles, according to a sheriff's report.

His condition worsened and he began to defecate on himself and vomit
frequently, the report said.

Among the indicted staff were those who the report described as having
belittled the youth, made him sleep in soiled underwear, made him eat
dinner while sitting on a toilet and ordered him to carry a trash
basket filled with his soiled clothes and his own vomit.

Contreraz eventually collapsed and died. The medical examiner
pinpointed the cause of death as empyema, a buildup of fluid in the
lining between the lungs and chest cavity. Contreraz was also
suffering from strep and staph infections, pneumonia and chronic
bronchitis. The coroner noted 71 cuts and bruises on the boy's body.

Contreraz's gruesome punishment and death sparked a debate in both
Arizona and California.

California had a policy of sending juvenile offenders to out-of-state
facilities that did not meet its own state licensing requirements.
Lawmakers in Sacramento have since passed legislation discouraging
out-of-state placements and begun bringing home about 1,000 juveniles
from facilities around the country.

The loss of California youths was a severe blow to Boys Ranch, which
relied on the state for three-fourths of its enrollment.

Since Contreraz's death, the seven-campus ranch has closed five sites
and laid off dozens of employees.

The Arizona Department of Economic Security in August denied the ranch
an operating license, citing a "pattern of abuse" in the Contreraz
case and attacking the program's core philosophy of physical restraint
and hands-on confrontation. The state agency also announced that 17
former staff members were being placed on the Arizona Child Abuser
Directory based on their treatment of Contreraz and others.

The ranch has appealed the ruling and this month replaced Bob Thomas,
the program's longtime president.

The FBI is continuing its own investigation of the death.

Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times.

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

Case With Flawed Evidence Dismissed (The Los Angeles Times version)

Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 02:32:49 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OK: Case With Flawed Evidence Dismissed
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Rosenfield
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998

CASE WITH FLAWED EVIDENCE DISMISSED

VINITA, Okla.--A judge dismissed a driving-under-the-influence case Friday
against a black man who was busted with what turned out to a bag of
organically grown herbs.

District Judge Harry Wyatt dismissed the case against George Singleton in
the midst of the trial, saying prosecutors hadn't presented enough evidence
for the jury.

Among other things, blood tests showed no evidence of any intoxicating
substance in Singleton's blood. The only prosecution witness was a trooper
who wrote in his report that Singleton was unsteady on his feet and had
bloodshot eyes and slurred speech when he was pulled over.

Singleton's lawyer had claimed that the only reason police pursued the
charge was that Singleton is black and has hip-length dreadlocks.

"It makes us look like a bunch of rednecks," defense attorney James Hadley
said of the case. "This guy was being persecuted rather than prosecuted."

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Alvin Lavender pulled over Singleton, 49, of
Dummerston, Vt., in February, saying he was weaving and speeding.

Lavender seized a bag of what looked like marijuana, but it turned out to be
rosemary and another herb, mullein, that Singleton said he uses to treat his
tuberculosis. The blood tests turned up negative, too, but prosecutors
pursued driving-under-the-influence charges anyway.

The witnesses for the defense included a jailer who said Singleton did not
appear intoxicated when he was booked Feb. 27.

If convicted, Singleton could have gotten a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Singleton helped found Hope-LA-USA in 1992, a national group that tries to
get teen-age gang members involved in organic gardening. He was returning
from working with gangs in California when he was arrested.

Outside the courthouse Thursday, more than a dozen people protested the
trial.

Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

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

Missing Drug Officer 'Went Bad,' Police Fear ('The Houston Chronicle'
Says Houston Police Have Embarked On A Frantic Search For Rex Gates II,
A Former Undercover Prohibition Agent Last Seen Buying Crack Cocaine)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Missing drug officer `went bad,' police fear
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:43:55 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

8:58 PM 10/2/1998

Missing drug officer `went bad,' police fear

By S.K. BARDWELL
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle

Houston police have embarked on a frantic search for an ex-narcotics officer
who may be abusing drugs and who authorities fear may pose a danger to his
former fellow officers.

At the South Central Patrol Substation, where Rex Gates II worked as an
undercover narcotics officer, bulletins have gone up bearing his picture and
the warning, "THIS MAN IS NO LONGER AN OFFICER."

Gates, who joined the Police Department in February 1991, disappeared in
mid-September and wasn't seen at work for two or three weeks, said officers
who worked with him. Those officers said, his wife had left him, their
Spring-area home was empty, and Gates cannot be found.

On Sept. 25, another officer who had worked with Gates spotted the
32-year-old buying crack cocaine.

Gates convinced the other officer he was "back on the job," said sources,
and was allowed to leave with six rocks of crack.

But the encounter disturbed the other officer. Sources in the department
said Gates, who sported the long hair and sloppy clothing common among
undercover officers, looked dirty and sick, and seemed to be searching for
something in his car while he talked with the other officer.

The officer took his concerns to South Central Lt. Carl Driskell, who
confirmed the worst: Gates had tendered his resignation a day earlier.

In hindsight, some officers fear what Gates was looking for in his vehicle
was a gun, in case the other officer hadn't allowed him to leave with the
crack he had purchased.

After the sighting of Gates, the bulletin that can be seen all over the
South Central station was released and a search was mounted for Gates, who
remained at large Friday.

The officer who talked with Gates Sept. 25 identified the drug dealer from
whom Gates was buying crack and who now may be the department's only link to
the former officer.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the dealer is also an informant
who knew Gates was undercover and sold him drugs in front of others to
protect Gates' identity.

Houston police spokesman John Cannon declined to address specifics of the
case because it is under investigation.

Cannon acknowledged, though, that the resignation tendered by Gates Sept. 24
was accepted by the department. He also said that an internal investigation
had been initiated into allegations that Gates had impersonated an officer.

One source said the department also will have to review cases Gates was
involved in "because no one knows for sure when he went bad."

Gates isn't the first narcotics officer lured by drugs, but that didn't
garner much sympathy for him among fellow officers, none of whom wished to
be identified.

"It's a real shame," one officer said. "But you can't do that. You make a
decision which side of the line you're going to stand on. You can't straddle
the line."

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

Perry Gives Campaign Speech At City Anti-Drug Lunch - Organizers Say Event
Was Not Meant To Be Political ('The Houston Chronicle' Says Republican
Lieutenant Governor Nominee Rick Perry Delivered A Campaign Message
At The Drug-Free Workplace Awards Luncheon In Houston Friday,
Pledging Tough Sentences For Drug Dealers)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: TX Gov candidate a rabid drug-fighter
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:46:32 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

9:07 PM 10/2/1998

Perry gives campaign speech at city anti-drug lunch
Organizers say event was not meant to be political

By ARMANDO VILLAFRANCA
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle

Republican lieutenant governor nominee Rick Perry was given an exclusive
opportunity Friday to deliver his campaign message at a luncheon
co-sponsored by the city of Houston, which also donated the use of the
Wortham Center for the event.

Perry, now the state's agriculture commissioner, spoke almost entirely about
his campaign issues, including his new anti-drug strategy, in an address at
the Drug-Free Workplace Awards luncheon.

Officials with the luncheon co-sponsors, the Drug-Free Business Alliance and
Houston Crackdown, the mayor's anti-drug office, had stressed that the event
was to acknowledge anti-drug advocates for their work in keeping drugs out
of the workplace.

"This issue is not about politics and it's not a political event," said
Becky Vance, executive director of Drug-Free Business Alliance, a nonprofit
organization prohibited from taking sides in political races.

Perry's speech, however, was publicized by his campaign and centered on
tough sentences for drug dealers, teen-age drug abuse and public education.
He did not address workplace drug abuse issues until the end of his address,
and then only briefly.

Perry told the crowd of more than 200 that children must be taught the right
choices to make when it came to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

"Their behavior leads to out-of-wedlock birth, sexually transmitted diseases
and a host of social problems," he said.

He also told the crowd that the use of drugs among eighth graders has
tripled; among 10th and 12th graders, it has doubled since 1977. He said
parents can no longer send mixed signals to children and issued a zero
tolerance approach to marijuana use.

"The state of Texas must never legalize or decriminalize marijuana or any
other illegal drug for medicinal or any other purpose.

"Parents should not be put in a position of having to explain why grandma,
it's okay for her to use marijuana for her glaucoma but you can't while
you're boating out in Lake Texoma. We don't want to ever have to explain
that in Texas," Perry said.

He later acknowledged that the event gave him a prime opportunity to get out
his message.

"The best market in the state of Texas for getting the message out
regardless of whether it's Texas wine or an anti-drug message, Houston,
Texas, is the absolutely best market in the state to get one's message out,"
he said.

Ray Andrews, Houston Crackdown executive director, said the luncheon was
never intended to be political and that organizers had no control over what
Perry would say in his address.

Donald Hollingsworth, executive assistant for public safety and drug policy
office, said Perry had been chosen by the Drug-Free Business Alliance
because he was a businessman.

When asked what criteria was used in selecting Perry, Hollingsworth could
only cite his experience as a businessman and his anti-drug stance.

Democratic lieutenant governor nominee John Sharp, who is the state
comptroller and has struck similarly tough stances on drug use, was not
invited, Sharp spokesman Kelly Fero said.

Vance declined to comment on why Perry was selected to speak at the
luncheon. When asked if Sharp was invited, Vance would not say whether he
had been specifically invited, but she said she "was sure" he received an
invitation.

"I'm sure that he was on our list. We invited every politician in the state
of Texas," she said. No other candidates were present.

David Dewhurst, the event chairman who is also the Republican nominee for
land commissioner, said he had no role in the selection process. He said he
first learned of Perry's selection a week ago. His opponent, state Rep.
Richard Raymond, D-Benavides, did not attend.

"They simply asked me to lend my name as a chair and to do some minor
fund-raising for this important event," he said. "I played no role
whatsoever and I was not involved in the selection of the recipients or the
guest speaker."

Dewhurst, who introduced Perry, used the event as a opportunity to get in a
word on a campaign issue when he spoke about the $8.5 billion drain drug
abuse has on the state through loss of productivity, lives and health costs.
He said that amount of money lost could easily have paid for teacher pay
raises. Dewhurst has promised to be "the education land commissioner."

As co-sponsors of the event, Mayor Lee Brown's anti-drug office provided the
publicity and other preparations for the event and donated the use of the
foyer of the Wortham Center, which rents for $200 an hour.

A booking agent for the theater said the minimum cost for use of the
upstairs foyer for a luncheon, including set-up time, is usually about
$1,500.

In his speech, Perry unveiled a portion of his anti-drug policy which
includes a get-tough policy on drug dealers who hide behind children. "Adult
drug pushers who use children to infiltrate our schools and deliver illegal
substance are going to be punished with a minimum 25 years in prison, no
deal, no parole.

"It's important that we send a message to those who are poisoning our
children and communities that they are no longer going to hide behind the
law. They're not going to hide behind our children to escape long
sentences," he said.

Perry also emphasized the need to strengthen the fundamentals in education.

"Improving our public schools, it's got to be our state's No. 1 priority.
That's why I'm going to be working with Governor Bush to increase public
school funding by $3.6 billion, including funding for teacher pay and
class-size reduction," he said.

He also spoke of his support of rewarding specialized reading teachers with
a $5,000 pay increase, with incentives of up to $2,000.

Other issues included earmarking $45 million to encourage nonprofit groups
to go into public schools after hours to establish after-school centers.

***

When away, you can STOP and RESTART W.H.E.N.'s news clippings by sending an
e-mail to majordomo@hemp.net. Ignore the Subject: line. In the body put
"unsubscribe when" to STOP. To RESTART, put "subscribe when" in the e-mail
instead (No quotation marks.)

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

How About Just An Effective Drug Czar? ('Dallas Morning News' Columnist
Richard Estrada Says General Barry McCaffrey's Latest Brainchild,
The Creation Of A Border Drug Czar, Shows The Soldier's Soldier
Is Well On His Way To Becoming A Bureaucrat's Bureaucrat)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 13:08:50 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: OPED: How About Just An Effective Drug Czar?
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998
Author: Richard Estrada (restrada@dallasnews.com)

HOW ABOUT JUST AN EFFECTIVE DRUG CZAR?

Drug czar Barry McCaffrey is a stand-up fellow when it comes to educating
children about the evils of drug abuse. And he is equally responsible when
he supports programs that help drug addicts kick the habit or when he
resists misguided demands for drug legalization.

But when it comes to staunching the flow of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico
border, the ex-four-star general who once headed U.S. forces in Panama is
proving to be feckless instead of fearless. It is particularly true with
his latest brainchild, the creation of a border drug czar.

That is too bad for American communities that are being inundated by
heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines - either in small shipments
at illegal crossing points or huge ones in so-called NAFTA trucks.

Let's be clear: Mr. McCaffrey is a patriot who served his country in
uniform for decades. He is an honest individual. But it is his intellectual
corruption and his incompetent service as President Clinton's drug czar
that must be confronted. For Texans, this is especially important, since
his passive approach undermines families along the border and drug-plagued
communities farther into the U.S. interior.

When told about outrages committed by Mexican drug smugglers near Eagle
Pass two years ago, Mr. McCaffrey replied that U.S. property owners in the
area would have to wait years before the problem could be resolved. And
when told about huge volumes of drugs smuggled through legal ports of
entry, his immediate response is to deny that inspecting more 18-wheelers
will help matters any.

Conceivably, a Southwestern drug czar may not be quite so bad, of course.
There always is the chance that the individual chosen will do a better job
of coordinating a meaningful challenge to drug smuggling than the national
drug czar.

Yet a truly effective border coordinator - one who oversees interagency
operations and balances cooperation with honest Mexican officials with a
strong challenge to corrupt ones - appears to be the very last thing Mr.
McCaffrey has in mind.

One has only to listen to the specific border czar criteria he is laying
out to grasp the point: In his view, the ideal border czar would be a
lawyer, a politician or perhaps a law enforcement official. He or she would
be popular in the region. And a knowledge of Spanish would be required.

There he goes again. For Mr. McCaffrey to mention lawyers and politicians
before thinking of law enforcement officials speaks volumes about his views
- and the administration's views - on drug enforcement.

A lawyer could do a good job in the post, to be sure. But isn't drug
smuggling the major issue at hand, and doesn't law enforcement experience
provide the United States with a significant edge in challenging the
smuggling? If a lawyer is to be preferred, why not hasten to specify that
he or she be a federal prosecutor?

Now consider Mr. McCaffrey's emphasis on popularity. Wouldn't it be better
to emphasize professionalism as a requirement, while viewing popularity in
the region as icing on the cake? After all, any number of drug lords on the
Mexican side of the border are popular. It isn't a virtue or a
qualification in and of itself.

Interdicting drugs is an issue of vital concern to the nation as a whole.
Since when do popularity contests in one region of the country count for
much in challenging drug thugs who spread harm everywhere?

And why must a candidate speak Spanish? Sure, that could be a plus. But why
should it be a requirement, especially if a candidate is strong in most
other areas and if many Mexican officials speak English?

Mr. McCaffrey and the Clinton administration once again are playing
politics gratuitously with drug enforcement, and that is irresponsible. The
challenge before the U.S. government is to energetically confront drug
smuggling rather than to appear to confront it.

From the beginning, the Clinton administration has portrayed Mr. McCaffrey
as a soldier's soldier. But the way in which he is championing the border
czar post signals that he is well along in his bid to become a bureaucrat's
bureaucrat.

If Gen. McCaffrey once was committed to winning wars, Mr. McCaffrey is
taking another tack in the civilian world. In Barry's world today, the U.S.
government must remain committed to appearing to be firmly inclined against
drug smuggling.

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

Corrections Employee Charged With Drug Possession ('The Associated Press'
Says Leon R. Martin, A 42-Year-Old Institutional Trade Instructor
At The New Jersey State Prison, Is Charged With Possessing Cocaine
He Allegedly Intended To Distribute Within The Prison's Walls)

From: "W.H.E.N. - Bob Owen" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: NJ Corrections employee charged with coke possession
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 21:57:39 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

Corrections employee charged with drug possession
Associated Press, 10/02/98 21:40

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - An employee of New Jersey State Prison is charged with
possessing cocaine he allegedly intended to distribute within the prison's
walls.

Leon R. Martin, a 42-year-old institutional trade instructor at the prison,
was arrested at 5 p.m. Thursday on the corner of East Hanover and Broad
streets in Trenton after an apparent drug transaction, the state Department
of Corrections said.

Martin was found to be in possession of an ounce of cocaine and a large
amount of cash. He was immediately suspended.

Martin was charged with official misconduct, drug possession, possession
with intent to distribute and possession within a school zone.

State Corrections Commissioner Jack Terhune said internal affairs officers
have been investigating drug use in the prison system, and are determined to
end it.

``The possession, sale or use of dangerous controlled substances in our
correctional system is intolerable,'' he said. ``We were serious when we
began this initiative and we intend to enforce it.

Martin, a Trenton resident, was hired by the corrections department in 1997.

He was being held Friday in the Mercer County Jail in Trenton, pending
arraignment. Bail has not been set.

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

Drug charge dismissed; judge rules search illegal (The Roanoke Times
in Virginia says a Roanoke judge dismissed a cocaine charge against a man
after the police officer in the case ingenuously admitted the man was stopped
and searched because he was a "suspicious white male" walking in a mostly
black neighborhood late at night.)

From: "Bob Owen @ WHEN, Olympia" (when@olywa.net)
To: "-News" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Drug charge dismissed; judge rules search illegal
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 19:41:46 -0700
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Newshawk: ccross@november.org
Source: The Roanoke Times
Pubdate: Friday, October 02, 1998
Online: http://www.roanoke.com
Writer: Laurence Hammack
Feedback: 981-3239 or laurenceh@roanoke.com

Attorney: Roanoke officer went too far
Drug charge dismissed; judge rules search illegal

The officer said he searched the man, in part, because he was a white
man in a mostly black neighborhood late at night.

A Roanoke judge has dismissed a cocaine charge against a man who was
stopped and searched by police simply because he was a "suspicious white
male" walking in a mostly black neighborhood late at night.

The police officer who approached Kenneth Wayne Johnson and patted him
down for weapons - finding instead two small pieces of cocaine - had no
legal justification to conduct the search, defense attorney Ray Ferris
argued. General District Judge Julian Raney agreed, dismissing the
charge against Johnson this week.

Officer J.L. Goad testified that he was working bicycle patrol near the
Lincoln Terrace housing project about 11:30 p.m. June 14, when he
spotted a "suspicious white male" walking alone on Whitten Avenue
Northwest.

Goad said that after questioning Johnson about what he was doing in the
area, he conducted a "safety pat down" for weapons and felt two small
pieces of crack in Johnson's pants pocket. He then charged Johnson with
possession of cocaine.

Asked by Ferris if race played a role in his determining Johnson to be
"suspicious," Goad replied: "That's part of it, yes." He said the area,
time of night and that the adjacent housing project was posted against
trespassing also factored into his decision to confront Johnson.

Ferris conceded that it was not improper for Goad to approach his client
based on his suspicions. Police may question someone during a
"consensual encounter" if they have a reasonable suspicion of
wrongdoing, but they cannot detain or search someone on that basis
alone.

"I think this happens more than people realize, but I think it happens a
lot more to blacks than it does to whites," Ferris said.

Although the initial approach may have been proper, Ferris said, Goad
went too far when he searched Johnson for weapons without probable
cause. "He had absolutely no reason to pat him down."

And the lawyer questioned how Goad could be so sure that the two
"pebbles" he felt in Johnson's pocket were crack before he even saw
them.

"Based on my experience, seven years in the Police Department, in this
area, I identified it as crack. There wasn't a doubt in my mind," Goad
testified.

"You assumed them to be crack because of the part of town he was in, and
that he was a white man walking in the area," Ferris interjected.

"I didn't assume them to be crack; I knew them to be crack," Goad said.

Even though what Goad found was, in fact, determined to be cocaine,
Ferris argued that the charge should be dismissed based on the illegal
search.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Wes Nance did not defend the officer's
actions in court, saying only that he would leave the decision to
Raney's discretion.

"In Goad's defense, his instincts were good," Ferris said after the
hearing.

"The bottom line is that his hunch was correct, the problem was that he
just went about it in the wrong way."

But, he said, "if the police can get away with this, they can stop you
or I the next time."

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

Congress Delays Border Law Vote (An 'Associated Press' Article
In 'The Houston Chronicle' Says Congress Voted Thursday To Delay A Law
That Legislators From States Bordering Canada Feared Could Create
A Traffic Nightmare By Requiring New, Stricter Checks At Border Crossings)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:05:56 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Congress Delays Border Law Vote
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998

CONGRESS DELAYS BORDER LAW VOTE

Lawmakers fear stricter checkpoints would lead to traffic
gridlock

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congress voted Thursday to delay a law that
lawmakers from states bordering Canada feared could create a traffic
nightmare by requiring new, stricter checks at border crossings.

Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich., author of the stopgap legislation, said
he wanted to "provide several more days for Congress to pass a
legislative fix and prevent gridlock at our borders."

The legislation to delay the law until Oct. 15 passed the House by
voice vote and sailed through the Senate without dissent about an hour
later. President Clinton is expected to sign it.

In the next few weeks, lawmakers hope to reach a consensus on a plan
to fix the situation, but there is disagreement over how to accomplish
that.

The provision of the 1996 immigration law requiring stricter border
checks was to go into effect earlier Thursday, but federal officials
said there would be no changes in border inspections in the near
future because it requires massive new systems and staffing.

"Nothing will change with our inspection process," said Elaine Komis,
a spokeswoman for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. "We
don't even have the infrastructure to begin to do this."

The law, known as Section 110, requires use of a computer system that
automatically collects records of all foreigners arriving in and
departing the United States so it can identify those overstaying their
visas.

The INS has done limited testing of a system with several airlines
involving cards with magnetic strips, but the agency is nowhere close
to being able to implement it nationwide. Such a system also would
require large staffing shifts at INS to closely monitor not just
entries into the U.S. -- as is currently done -- but all departures of
non-U.S. citizens.

There are 250 entry points in the United States -- either airports,
sea ports or land crossings, and hundreds of millions of people use
them each year.

While Abraham, head of the Senate immigration subcommittee, pushed to
get the stopgap bill on the Senate floor, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San
Antonio, his counterpart in the House, indicated he favored moving it
quickly through the House.

The sticking point has been getting Senate and House lawmakers to
agree on the details of the more permanent legislative fix. Some are
pushing to repeal the law.

"With just a 30-second inspection required for every border-crosser,
backups at the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit would immediately exceed
24 hours. That would be unbearable, and the border would be
effectively closed," Abraham said.

Smith, on the other hand, has called any repeal a "welcome mat" for
terrorists.

"We can have both better border security and less traffic congestion
at the borders with a one-year delay in putting new border checks into
effect," he said last week.

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

Second-Hand Smoke May Harm Fetus ('The Toronto Star' Says A Study
Reported In The October Issue Of The Journal 'Nature Medicine'
By Dr. Barry Finette, Dr. Richard Albertini And Colleagues At The University
Of Vermont In Burlington, Suggests Babies Born To Mothers Exposed
To Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke Showed Higher Rates Of The Same Kind
Of Genetic Mutation Often Found In Children Afflicted With Leukemia
Or Lymphoma)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 18:20:49 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: Second-Hand Smoke May Harm Fetus
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Pubdate: Friday, October 2, 1998
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/

SECOND-HAND SMOKE MAY HARM FETUS

Cancer-causing mutations are more likely

Pregnant women who are exposed to other people's cigarette smoke might be
raising their fetuses' risk of developing cancer in childhood.

A study found that babies born to exposed mothers showed higher rates of a
kind of genetic mutation in blood cells. This kind of mutation is caused by
a particular enzyme, and it is often found in childhood leukemia and
lymphoma.

Experts say it is the first time scientists have linked second-hand smoke to
genetic mutations in a fetus. Prior research found elevated mutation rates
in fetuses from women who themselves smoked during pregnancy.

The study doesn't show a direct link to cancer. In fact, the specific gene
mutations it monitored are harmless because they occurred in a gene
unrelated to cancer.

The findings suggest only that if a pregnant woman is exposed to cigarette
smoke, the mutation-making enzyme might become more active in her fetus,
raising the risk of hazardous mutations in cancer-related genes.

The study couldn't define how big a risk second-hand smoke might pose, but
it's rare for children to get leukemia or lymphoma at all. Only about 3,000
new cases, mostly leukemia, are expected in the United States this year in
children up to age 14.

The work was presented in the October issue of the journal Nature Medicine
by Dr. Barry Finette, Dr. Richard Albertini and colleagues at the University
of Vermont in Burlington.

It's an important finding that requires follow-up study, says Frederica
Perera, director of Columbia University's Centre for Children's
Environmental Health. A fetus is "exquisitely sensitive" to exposure to many
toxins, including those in tobacco smoke, because the defence systems
present in adults are still developing, she says.

The study involved 24 newborns from non-smoking mothers. Half were born to
women who said they had been exposed to other people's smoke at home, at
work or in both places. The other half were born to women who reported no
such exposure.

The researchers inspected white cells in blood from the placenta. They
looked for mutations in a gene called HPRT. This gene has nothing to do with
cancer, but researchers used it as an indicator of how often particular
kinds of mutations had occurred generally in the newborn.

The key finding pertained to a kind of genetic splicing carried out by an
enzyme called V(D)J recombinase.

Normally, the enzyme helps the immune system prepare to fight a variety of
germs. But when the enzyme makes a mistake, it can set the stage for cancer.

The study found that HPRT mutations produced by the enzyme appeared at a
higher rate in the smoke-exposed group, at 34 per cent of all mutations
counted versus 20 per cent.

When researchers counted only mutations that deleted large chunks of genetic
material, the difference was 67 per cent versus 37 per cent.

Finette says he suspects substances in cigarette smoke make fetal DNA more
vulnerable to mutations by the enzyme.

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

Prohibition Particulars, 1920-1933 (The Santa Maria Times in California
lists a few interesting statistics documenting America's ignoble experiment.)

Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 05:37:10 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Prohibition Particulars, 1920-1933
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison
Source: Santa Maria Times (CA)
Contact: Fax: 1-805-928-5657
Pubdate: Friday, Oct. 2, 1998
Section: Time Out, page B-2
Contact: Santa Maria Times
PO Box 400
Santa Maria, CA 93456-0400

PROHIBITION PARTICULARS, 1920-1933

1. M.D.'s - Made $520 million prescribing whiskey

2. New York - Had 32,000 speakeasies

3. Deaths from bad liquor - 11,700 in 1927

4. Bible - Edited to delete all drink references

5. Agents fired for larceny - 760

6. First agent indicted - Ten days after prohibition began

7. Liquor in government warehouses - Fifty gallons to start*

* By the end of prohibition they house 30 million gallons

Source: World Features Syndicate

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

Hemp BC Raided September 30 (A News Bulletin From 'Cannabis Culture' Magazine
About The Third Assault By Cops In Nine Months Gives A Vivid Account
Of Police Brutality And Political Oppression In Vancouver, British Columbia)

From: creator@drugsense.org (Cannabis Culture)
To: cclist@drugsense.org
Subject: CC: Hemp BC Raided Sept 30
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 14:26:18 -0700
Lines: 161
Sender: creator@drugsense.org
Reply-To: creator@drugsense.org
Organization: Cannabis Culture (http://www.cannabisculture.com/)

HEMP BC RAIDED YET AGAIN

Third raid in nine months.
Police use violence to remove peaceful protestors.

By Dana Larsen, Cannabis Culture Magazine

On September 30, 1998, Hemp BC was raided yet again by Vancouver Police. At
about 6:30pm police officers entered the store and ushered out all staff
and customers.

A crowd quickly gathered in front of the store, as employees sat in the
street to block traffic.

Hemp BC owner Sister Icee was searched and the money in her pockets was
confiscated. All of the money was also taken out of the till. In total,
about $10-15,000 in merchandise was seized.

Local residents Seus and Daniel came to the store with video cameras and
began filming and interrogating the police. By the end of the night there
were at least 40 police there, some estimated as high as 80 officers in
total. Dozens of police cars and motorcycles were parked all over the area.

The police presence and people in the road stopped buses from getting
through. People got off the buses, and one eyewitness estimated that "about
60 people" from the buses joined the crowd of onlookers and protestors.

PEACEFUL RESISTANCE & POLICE BRUTALITY

Local activist David Malmo-Levine soon arrived on the scene and organized
the crowd to sing songs and peacefully protest the raid.

Seus and David Malmo-Levine then went around the the back alley door of
Hemp BC. David found a broken TV and a discarded armchair in the alley, and
used them to block the alley door from opening. He then had a seat and
began reading out loud from the arguments in his current appeal against his
earlier charges of trafficking through the Harm Reduction Club.

The police were unable to get through the door, and so had to go all the
way around to physically drag David off of the chair and to force the small
crowd out of the alley. Those with cameras were shoved and threatened with
arrest.

David returned to the front of the building, where someone had found a
back-alley couch and had placed it on the sidewalk in front of the store.

David sat on the couch, along with Hemp BC employee Chris Hill. Former
employees Ian and Tracy sat on the back of the couch.

Although the couch was not directly impeding the officers from invading
Hemp BC or carting out its goods, the police wanted a large, clear area
around them, and so police asked Tracy to move away from the couch on the
sidewalk.

Tracy ignored the police officer, and so, according to eyewitnesses and
videotape, police officers grabbed her and body-slammed her onto the
concrete. Another cop put his knee on her back and pulled back her arms for
the handcuffs. She was then dragged away.

David Malmo-Levine was being held and hugged by Chris Hill. Police were
trying to pull David from the couch but could not, so one officer punched
Chris in the kidneys three times, until he finally let go of David.

David described the cuffs as "torture devices, like pepper spray. They dig
the cuffs into your bones, causing seething pain makes you want to comply."

Video footage shows David being dragged by his handcuffs about 30 feet
along the sidewalk. He described this as "an excrutiating 'please stop now'
kind of pain."

More than 24 hours after the raid, David still described his hands as
"tingling and numb."

PROTESTOR CHOKED UNCONSCIOUS

During this time Seus went to the small grocery store across the street and
bought some eggs. He came out and people took the eggs from him. He
returned to the store for more eggs, came out, and put the eggs down on the
ground. Although Seus did not throw any eggs, some eggs were thrown. Anne
Drennan and a few police officers were allegedly hit with eggs. After
yelling at the cops with eggs at his feet, Seus was suddenly assaulted by
between 5-8 undercover officers.

The police did not identify themselves, and Seus resisted going with them.
They tried to force him into a paddywagon but he used his feet to almost
walk up the side of the truck as they held him. They threw him on the
ground and then tried again, but they still couldn't get him into the truck.

One officer then grabbed Seus by the neck while other cops held Seus. The
officer held Seus' neck tightly until Seus passed out. When he went limp
they applied handcuffs and leg-cuffs to the unconscious Seus. Eyewitnesses
describe how the cop who strangled Seus continued to hold his head tightly
against his chest so that he couldn't breathe and would remain unconscious.

Unconscious Seus being tossed into the police wagon. Once Seus was in the
police vehicle he was driven to the nearby police station. Seus described
how, still dazed and having trouble breathing from his attack, he was
forced to hop from the van to the booking room, under threat of being
dragged by his cuffs if he didn't.

Seus fell unconscious during the booking process, and he was rolled around,
searched and questioned while unconscious and semi-conscious.

After being held for two hours, Seus was released into an ambulance where
he was taken to St Paul's hospital.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Media coverage of the raid was fairly substantial. VTV gave live coverage
of the raid, and it was the lead story on all local news that night.

Hemp BC opened for business immediately after the police left, and opened
the next day as usual.

JUSTIFYING THE RAID

Vancouver Police spokesperson Anne Drennan was on the scene, and she
justified the raid by telling the media that "We have, in the past, dealt
with situations where there has been major trafficking of marijuana seeds
from these locations, and that's something we feel very strongly about."

Of course, Drennan didn't mention that marijuana seeds have not been sold
from Hemp BC for over seven months, since Marc Emery sold it to Sister
Icee. During the last April 30 raid there was no evidence of marijuana seed
sales. Hemp BC does not sell marijuana seeds, and neither does the Cannabis
Cafe.

This kind of misinformation is typical of Anne Drennan, who is the subject
of a lawsuit from Sister Icee. Anne Drennan has previously told the media
that marijuana buds are sold at Hemp BC, and that underage youths smoke
marijuana there. Yet neither Hemp BC nor the Cannabis Cafe sells marijuana,
nor do they allow it to be sold on the premises. They also have a strict
"over 18" policy.

PHOTOGRAPHS ONLINE

For numerous photographs of the raid, information updates and media
clippings, please visit http://www.hempbc.com/

GOVERNMENT AND MEDIA

Please contact these people to express your outrage:

Mayor Philip Owen: mayorandcouncil@city.vancouver.bc.ca
tel: (604) 873-7621 -- fax: (604) 873-7685

Vancouver Police Department: vpd@city.vancouver.bc.ca
tel: (604) 665-3081.

Vancouver Sun: sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Vancouver Province: provedpg@pacpress.southam.ca
Vancouver Echo: editor@vanecho.com
Vancouver Courier: editor@vancourier.com
Georgia Straight: editor@straight.com

***

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***

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Write to: 324 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, CANADA, V6B 1A1
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-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruling Saves Cartel From US Trials ('The San Francisco Chronicle'
Says Colombia's Highest Court Ruled Yesterday That A Law
Reinstating Extradition Cannot Be Applied Retroactively,
Saving The Cali Drug Cartel's Jailed Leaders From Trials
In The United States)

Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 12:11:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Colombia: Ruling Saves Cartel From U.S. Trials
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: tjeffoc@sirius.com (Tom O'Connell)
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Fri, 2 Oct 1998

RULING SAVES CARTEL FROM U.S. TRIALS

Bogota - Colombia's highest court ruled yesterday that a law reinstating
extradition cannot be applied retroactively, saving the Cali drug cartel's
jailed leaders from trial in the United States.

The Constitutional Court, in a 5-to-4 - decision, said that only Colombian
citizens indicted for crimes committed abroad after the law took effect in
December 1997, can be extradited.

The United States has requested the extradition of four jailed Cali cartel
principals, including brothers Miguel and Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, who
were captured in 1995 and later convicted in Colombia of drug trafficking
and other crimes.

Although the country signed a 1979 extradition treaty with the United
States, Colombian leaders enacted legislation that nullified the pact. Under
intense U.S. pressure, Colombia's congress reinstated extradition last year.

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

Drugs Laws To Copy US And Ireland (The Times, in Britain,
says the British drugs trade is estimated at £9.9 billion annually, but only
£5 million were seized under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act last year,
so Jack Straw is somehow implementing asset forfeiture laws that will place
the burden of proof on alleged sellers of illegal drugs.)

Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 18:12:28 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Drugs Laws To Copy Us And Ireland
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Source: Times, The (UK)
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Pubdate: Fri, 02 Oct 1998
Author: Richard Ford

DRUGS LAWS TO COPY US AND IRELAND

THE clampdown on criminals who live in luxury with no visible income is
being adapted from American tactics used to break the power of the Mafia.

It is an admission that previous efforts to seize criminals' assets have
failed. Only UKP5m was seized under the Drug Trafficking Offences Act last
year, but the drugs trade is estimated at UKP9.9 billion annually. Under
existing law, assets can be seized only after a conviction, and many
criminals transfer them to their families or associates.

In the US the 1970 Racketeer and Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act
has been credited with 23 Mafia convictions since 1981. It reversed the
burden of proof, so that suspects had to account for their assets.

Mr Straw has also examined similar legislation passed in the Republic of
Ireland in 1996 in the aftermath of the murder of the crime reporter
Veronica Guerin. There, the Criminal Assets Bureau, employing police
officers, revenue officials and social welfare officials, can seize the
proceeds of crime even where there has been no criminal conviction.

The owner must show that the property was not gained from crime. The police
and revenue have also been permitted to exchange information.

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

The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 61 (The Drug Reform Coordination
Network's Original Summary Of Drug Policy News And Calls For Action,
Including - DRCNet Passes 7,000 Mark, Eyegive Revenues Soaring; New Jersey
Needle Exchange Busted Again; DRCNet Hits The Airwaves With Syndicated Weekly
Program; McCaffrey Seeks Expansion Of Methadone Treatment; Senate Mulls
Whether To Prohibit Possession Of Large Amounts Of Cash By Travelers; Police
Corruption In UK At 'Third World Levels'; Hemp BC And Cannabis Cafe Raided
Again, City Council Hearing Postponed; California Supreme Court Rules On
Parolee Searches; Imprisonment For Legal Cooking Herbs In Oklahoma; Report
From Oregon; And An Editorial By Adam J. Smith, General McCaffrey Stands Up
For Methadone Maintenance - What Does He Want, A Medal?)

Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 12:41:28 -0700
To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 61
Sender: owner-drc-natl@drcnet.org

The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 61 -- October 2, 1998
A Publication of the Drug Reform Coordination Network

-------- PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE --------

(To sign off this list, mailto: listproc@drcnet.org with the
line "signoff drc-natl" in the body of the message, or
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this list, visit http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.)

(This issue can be also be read on our web site at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html.)

PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the
contents of The Week Online is hereby granted. We ask that
any use of these materials include proper credit and, where
appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If
your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet
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publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use
the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification
for our records, including physical copies where material
has appeared in print. Contact: Drug Reform Coordination
Network, 2000 P St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036,
(202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail
drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. DRCNet Passes 7,000 Mark, Eyegive Revenues Soaring
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#progress

2. New Jersey Needle Exchange Busted Again
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#chaibust

3. DRCNet Hits the Airwaves with Syndicated Weekly Program
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#drcnn

4. McCaffrey Seeks Expansion of Methadone Treatment
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#methadone

5. Senate Mulls Whether to Prohibit Possession of Large
Amounts of Cash by Travelers
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#stealcash

6. Police Corruption in UK at "Third World Levels"
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#ukpolice

7. Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe Raided Again, City Council
Hearing Postponed
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#hempbc

8. California Supreme Court Rules On Parolee Searches
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#parolees

9. Imprisonment for Legal Cooking Herbs in Oklahoma
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#dwd

10. Report from Oregon
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#oregon

11. EDITORIAL: General McCaffrey Stands Up for Methadone
Maintenance -- What Does He Want, a Medal?
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#editorial

***

1. DRCNet Passes 7,000 Mark, Eyegive Revenues Soaring

From 3,800 at year's beginning, DRCNet's rapid response team
(this mailing list) has now surpassed the 7,000 mark and
continues to grow rapidly. But to truly build our numbers
to the level at which political leaders must take note, we
are going to need to amass the financial resources to
promote and recruit for the organization. You can help in
at least two ways.

1) Join DRCNet: Over 1,050 of you have made a donation of
some size to DRCNet. Thank you! Your money goes further
than you think, as each month we report to our major donors
on how many new members have come on board and how much
members have donated, and the more they see that you have
the confidence to invest in DRCNet, the more they will be
confident to invest. Donate $35 or more to the
organization, and you will receive a free copy of the
gripping new volume, Shattered Lives, Portraits from
America's Drug War. (Visit http://www.hr95.org to see more
of what this important new book is about.) To donate, use
our form at https://www.drcnet.org/cgi-shl/drcreg.cgi
(encrypted transmission, especially for credit card
donations), or http://www.drcnet.org/cgi-shl/drcreg.cgi (no
encryption, recommended you print it out and mail in with a
check), or just send your check or money order to: DRCNet,
2000 P St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036. Please
note that contributions to DRCNet are not tax-deductible.
If you wish to contribute beyond the basic membership dues
and are looking to make a deductible gift, you can support
our educational work through a tax-deductible donation to
the DRCNet Foundation.

2) Earnings from the eyegive online fundraising program have
soared to over $40 per day! This is a significant amount of
revenue for a non-profit our size, so our heartfelt thanks
to the more than 500 of you have made this possible through
your participation. If you don't know about eyegive, point
your browser to http://www.eyegive.com/html/ssi.cfm?CID=1060
to find out. If you've signed up but not kept up, you can
make it easy by selecting http://www.eyegive.com as your
browser's home page. You can earn valuable dollars for the
cause, just by pointing and clicking on the eyegive home
page whenever you feel like it, up to fives times a day.
And yes, we have gotten checks from them, in the right
amounts, it's legit!

A non-monetary and essential way to increase our political
effectiveness, of course, is to respond to our action alerts
yourself. (The next article has one, in fact.) And don't
forget to let us know by sending us a note at alert-
feedback@drcnet.org.

***

2. New Jersey Needle Exchange Busted Again

Life-saving services to persons at risk for disease and
injury were abruptly "canceled" by law enforcement officers
on Tuesday evening, September 29, 1998. For the third time
in two years, workers at a Chai Project syringe exchange
site were arrested. Diana McCague, founder and Executive
Director of the Chai Project, and another volunteer were
arrested at 8:10pm. Both were charged with possession and
intent to distribute hypodermic syringes in violation of
statute 2C:36-6. Incident to the arrest, officers seized
the project van, thereby taking away the project's primary
tool for distribution of life-saving materials and
information.

"It's as if they wanted to make sure that this arrest did as
much damage and put as many New Jersey residents at risk as
possible," McCague told The Week Online. "Do they think
that a whole bunch of people are going to wake up this
morning and decide to kick their heroin addiction because
they don't have a clean needle? No. They're going to use
whatever is available because they're addicted and that's
the nature of addiction. And many of them will be putting
themselves, their loved ones and their future children at
risk for no other reason than Governor Whitman thinks it's
good politics to kill drug users."

As with the arrest of McCague and another project volunteer
in April 1996, the raid occurred during a period of
increased public attention to the issue of syringe exchange.
Earlier this month, Governor Whitman sent a letter to her
own Advisory Council on AIDS, demanding that they cease
discussion of syringe exchange.

"Whitman is apparently not satisfied with an inhumane policy
that condemns injection drug users and those they love to
preventable but deadly diseases, she wants a gag on public
debate around this critical public health issue," said
McCague. "Whitman wants drug users, their partners, and
their children to die in silence."

Gene Herman, a spokesman for Governor Whitman's office, told
The Week Online that the action had nothing to do with the
recent publicity surrounding Whitman's stance against
syringe exchange and that the decision to arrest McCague was
made at the local, rather than the state level.

Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Ronald Kercado was
waiting at the New Brunswick police station when McCague was
brought in, to lobby for a high bail. Bail for McCague was
set at $7,500 without the usual allowance for ten percent
cash payment. McCague was treated as a "flight risk"
despite the fact that she is a native New Brunswick resident
and despite the fact that she has spent the past two years
dutifully appearing in municipal and state courts on her
previous charges.

WRITE NOW: DRCNet urges our readers to make themselves
heard regarding this arrest. In particular, since the Chai
Project also delivers bleach kits and condoms to at-risk
populations, it is important that they get their van back to
continue at least this part of their work. Letters should
go to the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office, 1 JFK
Square, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 and to Governor Christine
Todd Whitman, Statehouse, West State St., Trenton, NJ.

You can also send a letter to one or more of the newspapers
that covered the bust. You might want to point out the
absurdity of New Jersey officials wasting taxpayer's money
arresting people who are working to limit the spread of
deadly (and expensive) disease. Or that with organizations
such as the American Medical Association, the World Health
Organization and the US Department of Health and Human
Services endorsing syringe exchange as sound public health
policy, the New Jersey state government is apparently still
living in the dark ages even as AIDS rages within its
borders. Write to:

The Newark Star-Ledger
1 Star-Ledger Plaza
Newark, NJ 07102-1200

Trenton Times
500 Perry Street
Trenton, NJ 08618

Asbury Park Press
3601 Highway 66
Neptune, NJ 07754

Remember that most published letters to the editor are under
200 words, and most papers required an address and phone
number in order to consider a letter for publication.
Please send copies of your letter to DRCNet at 2000 P St.,
NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036, fax to (202) 293-8344,
or e-mail your letter or a note informing us that you've
written a letter, to alert-feedback@drcnet.org.

***

3. DRCNet Hits the Airwaves with Syndicated Weekly Program

We are pleased to announce the inception of our new radio
show, the Drug Reform Coordination Network News (DRCNN).
DRCNN is a weekly 4-6 minute radio show, featuring the top
stories from the front lines of America's expensive
and destructive Drug War. Broadcast quality DRCNN is
available free to interested stations, producers and radio
show hosts at http://www.drcnet.org/drcnn.

DRCNN is based on our weekly electronic publication, The
Week Online with DRCNet, and features domestic and
international news and interviews with nationally recognized
experts -- and if you've been enjoying Adam Smith's
editorials, you can hear what they sound like read in his
own voice.

If you are involved with programming at a radio station of
any size, or would just enjoy hearing DRCNet reporting in a
different medium, check it out! DRCNN is uploaded at 6:00pm
every Friday, and each show is appropriate for airing
immediately and for the following week (7 days). Review and
broadcast quality Real Audio or MP3 files can be downloaded
from http://www.drcnet.org/drcnn, or from the GrassRoots
News Network (MP3 only) at http://radio4all.web.net.

***

4. McCaffrey Seeks Expansion of Methadone Treatment

In a speech before the American Methadone Treatment
Association in New York on Tuesday (9/29), US Drug Czar
Barry McCaffrey announced a plan to restructure federal
guidelines on methadone in order to make the treatment more
available to those who need it. While methadone has been
exhaustively studied and is widely hailed as the single most
effective treatment for opiate addiction, it is currently
available to only 115,000 of the estimated 800,000+ heroin
addicts nationwide.

"Methadone treatment is simply not available for Americans
in all parts of the country in a manner called for by
rational drug policy," McCaffrey said. He stated that the
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) which he
heads has set a goal of "adequate methadone treatment
capacity for all of America's opiate drug addicts."

One of the major stumbling blocks to methadone treatment,
aside from its scarcity, are the severe restrictions placed
on its administration. Currently, only special clinics may
distribute it. Clinics often have short hours and many
patients must travel great distances each day to receive
their dose, which is supervised by clinic staff. Dosages
administered by clinics are also often sub-optimal, leaving
addicted patients still struggling with the constant
cravings and withdrawal symptoms that methadone is intended
to ward off.

McCaffrey said that he would like to see private doctors
licensed to prescribe the drug, and standards set for
effective dosages, counseling and care.

While this is not the first time McCaffrey has publicly
called for an easing on restrictions surrounding methadone
treatment (see http://www.drcnet.org/wol/014.html#mm), the
speech took on added significance due to a war of words
taking place between the Administration and Republican Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani of New York, who has vowed to phase out
methadone treatment in the city (see
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/051.html#giuliani).

Dr. David Lewis, professor of medicine at Brown University
and project leader for Physician Leadership on National Drug
Policy, told The Week Online, "Barry McCaffrey's views on
treatment and on methadone in particular have been known for
some time. And while I think that he'll have difficulty in
making the bureaucracy move as quickly as he would like, in
the long run, I don't see why we won't have methadone
distribution from physicians' offices as they do in most
countries in Europe. It's relatively trouble-free and
physicians can be easily trained to do this. He's on the
right track, and he's got science on his side and the
medical establishment as well in terms of the National
Academy of Science and the consensus review panel of the
American Medical Association."

Giuliani, reacting to reporters' questions regarding
McCaffrey's statements, said "This is what the Clinton
Administration and General McCaffrey are advocating: more
people dependent on a chemical."

Studies have consistently shown that up to 90% of people who
are forced off of methadone will relapse into heroin
addiction. Earlier this week, a full-page ad was run in the
New York Times, signed by scores of medical and treatment
professionals touting the effectiveness of methadone over
any other known treatment for opiate addiction, as well as
the fact that methadone allows people to live normal,
productive lives.

In response to Mayor Giuliani's high-profile war on
methadone, Dr. Lewis said, "It really makes me sad, more
than angry. Looking back on anti-methadone history in this
country, mostly during the early part of the twentieth
century, it's surprising that a modern-day politician could
take such a stance. It makes one think that there are other
factors at work here, besides a concern over rational
policies or science and medicine. I think that as this
debate plays out in the public, it will become apparent to
people that on the issue of methadone, Mayor Giuliani's
position is misguided."

(For some interesting background material on this issue, see
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/020.html#methadone, as well as
our recent interview with Dr. Robert Newman, one of the
nation's pre-eminent experts on methadone and addiction at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/051.html#newman. The National
Alliance of Methadone Advocates can be found online at
http://www.methadone.org.

***

5. Senate Mulls Whether to Prohibit Possession of Large
Amounts of Cash by Travelers

(reprinted from the NORML Weekly News, http://www.norml.org)

October 1, 1998, Washington, DC: Legislation introduced in
the Senate recently seeks to allow law enforcement to
confiscate the money of individuals traveling with more than
$10,000 cash.

"This legislation predetermines that anyone possessing large
amounts of cash must be a criminal," charged NORML Executive
Director Keith Stroup, Esq. "It places a presumption of
guilt on the defendant and forces owners to go to court and
prove their innocence if they wish to reclaim their money.
Essentially, this bill seeks to give the government a
license to steal under the guise of fighting the war on
drugs."

The Drug Currency Forfeitures Act, sponsored by Sens. Max
Cleland (D-GA) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), states that
police may seize cash from individuals traveling through
defined "drug transit areas". The bill broadly defines such
areas to mean any port-of-entry, airport, or highway.

"The idea that any American should have to explain to the
police where their money came from is offensive, and the
idea that the police can pocket your money if they don't
like your answers is downright criminal," said Libertarian
Party National Director Steve Dasbach.

The bill currently awaits action by the Senate Judiciary
Committee.

***

6. Police Corruption in UK at "Third World Levels"

British Newspaper "The Telegraph" reports this week that it
is in possession of a confidential document containing the
minutes of a meeting organized by the National Criminal
Intelligence Service (NCIS). In attendance were "10 of
Britain's most senior officers and policy makers."

The document states that "corrupt officers exist throughout
the UK police service" and that the NCIS' intelligence
director indicated during the meeting that "Corruption may
have reached 'Level 2', the situation which occurs in some
third world countries." The document blames the drug trade
and the vast amounts of cash inherent in the black market
for the enormous level of corruption. It states, in part
that "The enormous volume of money that is available to...
drug importers and dealers means that very large sums can be
offered to corrupt officers. Criminals are willing to pay
to ensure their ability to operate."

Equally troubling is that the document suggests that the
officials in attendance are orchestrating and carrying out
something of a cover-up of the situation. The Telegraph
reports that "The confidential document suggests the
Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) formulates a
strategy for dealing with 'adverse publicity'. A month
after the NCIS meeting, David Blakey, the president of ACPO,
formally stated that he and his colleagues believed 'the
true level of corruption in the modern service is extremely
low.'"

***

7. Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe Raided Again, City Council
Hearing Postponed

The Vancouver, British Columbia City Council was set to meet
on September 29th-30th for a "show-cause" hearing regarding
the business licensing of the Cannabis Cafe and Hemp BC
shops, but lawyers for owner Shelley Francis asked that the
meeting be postponed until October 16. (See last week's
story at http://www.drcnet.org/wol/060.html#hempbc.)

On the evening of September 30, the Cannabis Cafe and Hemp
BC were raided by Vancouver police, under a warrant for drug
paraphrenalia. Some $40,000 Canadian dollars worth of
pipes, bongs and other smoking instruments were seized,
according to police. Officers collected identification from
staff and patrons in both stores, but no arrests were made.
Any charges stemming from the raid will be addressed in
summonses.

Within minutes of the raid, a crowd of supporters began to
gather outside the front of the stores, growing to an
estimated 150 people. At one point, according to police,
some of the demonstrators became rowdy. An account on Hemp
BC's web site notes that "at least five people were
arrested," but Vancouver police spokeswoman Anne Drennan
says that the protesters were only removed from the scene.
"We removed seven people," she told The Week Online. "They
were placed into paddy wagons and removed from the scene,
and released without charges."

Constable Drennan said the city had received complaints
about the closure of the street outside the stores due to
the demonstration, but owner Shelley Francis was heartened
by the show of support from the crowd. "The people of
Vancouver do not want to see us shut down," she said.

Asked whether the raid had anything to do with the planned
city council meeting, Constable Drennan said, "Absolutely
nothing at all." She added, "That's not to say that the
information culled from the summonses will not be placed
before the Council."

Ms. Francis said, "Of course, it's all connected. It's all
politically motivated."

Ms. Francis said a June, 1999 court date has been set for
her earlier summonses, also stemming from drug paraphernalia
charges.

Pipes, bongs, and other smoking instruments may be sold
legally in Canada, but are considered "drug paraphernalia"
if they are sold or used explicitly for illicit drug use.
Hemp BC bills itself as an "Advocate, Distributor and
Retailer of Fine Cannabis Goods."

Hemp BC is providing ongoing coverage of this story at
http://www.hempbc.com.

***

8. California Supreme Court Rules On Parolee Searches
- Kris Lotlikar

A ruling this week by the California Supreme Court leaves
prison parolees open to searches for drugs or other evidence
even when there is no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing.
The relating case involved Rudolfo Reyes, who in 1995 had
been recently released from prison. His parole agent at the
time had contacted the Woodlake police and asked them to
check to see if Reyes was under the influence of drugs. The
officers visited Reyes and reported that he didn't appear to
be on drugs. A search of a near by shed found a small
amount of methamphetamine.

Reyes pleaded guilty, but the appeals court overturned the
conviction because the officers searched the shed with no
reasonable suspicion of drug use. On Monday, by a vote of
4-3, the California Supreme Court justices reversed that
decision, hoping to discourage crime by parolees. While
Deputy Attorney General Joel Carey, who specializes in
search and seizure, did not return our call, he was quoted
in the Fresno Bee saying, "It's helpful to keep parolees on
their toes by knowing they can be searched at any time,
except for purposes of harassment."

Catherine Campbell, a criminal defense attorney from Fresno,
questioned the effect this will have on parolee crime,
stating that 80% of parolees end up back in prison on mere
parole violation itself, adding "and now it's going to be
worse," in comments given to the Fresno Bee. Parolees are
felons released from prison who undergo supervision for
three to five years.

Marty Borderick, the executive director of Californian
Attorneys for Criminal Justice, was concerned with the
ruling's undermining of individual rights. Borderick told
The Week Online, "I think it is an outrageous attack on the
constitution. When paroled one does not lose the right to
constitutional protection." The implications expand beyond
just the rights of the parolees. With over 100,000
Californians living in society while on parole, other
citizens will also be subject to searches without a warrant
or reasonable suspicion. "Parolees often live with family
members, who will often be subject to unreasonable
searches," said Borderick.

***

9. Imprisonment for Legal Cooking Herbs in Oklahoma

Last February, George Singleton was driving home to Vermont
from Los Angeles when he was pulled over by an Oklahoma
state trooper. The officer, who has 12 years of experience
on the force, seized a bag of what he thought looked like
marijuana, decided that Mr. Singleton was driving under the
influence, and noted that the tags on Singleton's license
plates had expired. Singleton was promptly arrested and
taken to a local hospital for blood tests.

The blood tests came back negative for alcohol, marijuana,
cocaine, heroin, and other known intoxicants. The substance
in the bag turned out to be a combination of mullein and
rosemary, herbs that Mr. Singleton uses to treat his
tuberculosis. But Mr. Singleton spent twenty-five days in
jail anyway, and this Thursday completed the first day of a
jury trial in what may be one of the more bizarre examples
of face-saving by a police department in a botched drug
case.

Mr. Singleton is a black man, and wears his hair in
dreadlocks down to his waist. He and his attorney suspect
that this, as much as anything, is why he was arrested in
the first place. "He's not guilty of anything but being
black and having butt-long dreadlocks and driving in
Oklahoma," attorney Jim Hadley of Vinita told the Associated
Press.

Craig County, OK district attorney Gene Haynes hopes that
the arresting officer's report will prove what the physical
evidence did not. "It is an unusual case because of the
fact that we don't have proof of any illegal substance," he
said. "We're continuing to pursue it because we feel he was
under some type of influence that rendered him a danger on
the roadway."

Mr. Singleton was ultimately charged with driving with
expired plates, which carries a maximum fine of $100, and
with driving under the influence of an intoxicating
substance, which carries a fine and a maximum sentence of
one year in jail.

In court this Thursday, his attorney filed a motion to
dismiss, on the grounds that the prosecution had failed to
meet its burden of proof. The judge has taken this under
advisement, and plans to make his decision on the motion
Friday morning. The Week Online will speak with Mr.
Singleton and his attorney Friday afternoon, and an updated
version of this story will be available on our web site at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#dwd.

***

10. Report from Oregon

(As election day approaches, DRCNet correspondent Bear
Wilner will be keeping us abreast of developments from
Oregon as that state prepares to vote on not one, but two
marijuana-related initiatives. The following is his first
report.)

As readers of The Week Online are likely aware, Oregon is
one of five states that will vote on marijuana-related
ballot initiatives this Fall. (Voters will also consider an
initiative in the District of Columbia.) Oregon is unique,
however, in that two such questions will appear on its
November ballot.

The first, Measure 57, began as a bill (HB 3643) that was
passed by the Oregon Legislature and signed into law by
Governor John Kitzhaber, MD on July 2, 1997. The bill's
backers intended to overturn Oregon's 1973 law that
decriminalized the possession of less than an ounce of
marijuana, which was the first such law in the nation.
Currently, possession of under an ounce is treated as a
violation akin to a traffic ticket and is punishable by a
fine of at least $500 but no more than $1000. HB 3643 would
re-elevate the offense to misdemeanor status, with potential
penalties including a jail term of thirty days, a six-month
driver's license suspension, and compulsory drug treatment,
as well as fines.

Furthermore, it would expand law enforcement officers'
abilities to conduct searches in connection with a marijuana
bust; under current law, no arrest is permitted and search
powers are limited during a stop for a violation.

In accordance with a rarely-used state constitutional
provision, citizens gathered enough signatures to suspend
the effectiveness of the new law until a statewide vote
could be held on it. If Measure 57 passes, HB 3643 will go
into effect; if the measure is defeated, it will not. The
Measure 57 campaign has been heated at times but has not
been an overwhelmingly visible presence in the state, as,
for example, have recent initiative campaigns concerning
sexual minority rights. Polls indicate that the measure is
likely to fail, meaning that voters seem to prefer the
status quo.

The campaign against Measure 57 shares space on lawn signs
around the state with the campaign *for* Measure 67, the
Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. Combined efforts aside,
though, it is the latter initiative that has the far higher
profile as Election Day approaches. This proposed law, part
of the nationwide family of initiatives sponsored by
Americans for Medical Rights, would create a statewide
registry of patients whose doctors recommend that the use of
marijuana might help alleviate certain otherwise intractable
health conditions. Such patients would be free to possess
and grow sufficient quantities of marijuana for personal
use. It prohibits public use and driving under the influence.

The campaign for Measure 67 is being led by Dr. Rick Bayer,
a Portland-area physician. He has proven to be an
articulate and thoughtful advocate in numerous public
appearances, including a live call-in show on Oregon Public
Broadcasting radio that matched him with a journalist and a
measure opponent. In a recent appearance before the state
Criminal Justice Commission, Sheriff Dan Noelle of Multnomah
County, which includes Portland, claimed that Measure 67 is
a cynical precursor to efforts to legalize other drugs,
contending that marijuana has no medical effectiveness and
that, in fact, it "contributes to violent and assaultive
behavior." Some of the state's largest newspapers,
including the Albany Democrat-Herald and the Eugene
Register-Guard have editorialized in favor of Measure 67.
Polls show it enjoying the favor of the voters, in line with
similar surveys in other states and nationwide.

Recently, a headline-grabbing development of relevance to
both measures has arisen in the farmland of Western Oregon's
Willamette Valley. On September 15, deputies of the Linn
County Sheriff's Office raided the home and lumberyard of
Bill Conde, a longtime drug policy reform activist. Mr.
Conde has hosted several large festivals on his property in
the last few years that featured live music and speeches by
him and other activists.

Linn County officials contend that marijuana and other drugs
were widely used and sold at these festivals. Mr. Conde's
attorney, Brian Michaels, replies that Mr. Conde's arrest
broke a lengthy history of good relations between him and
the county and was accompanied by clearly unrelated and
disproportionate searches and seizures.

The Conde case has sent a wave of concern throughout the
state. Coming as close as it does to Election Day, it
reminds some reformers of the 1996 raid on the San Francisco
Cannabis Buyers' Club, which directly preceded California's
vote on Proposition 215, the initiative whose passage now
allows the use of medical marijuana in that state. Along
with business records and other materials, lists of names
and addresses that had been gathered for clearly political
purposes are now in the hands of police agencies. In
addition, deputies seized a computer that controlled a large
electronic sign clearly visible from Interstate 5, which
runs directly past Mr. Conde's lumberyard; the signboard
formerly displayed messages like "Vote no on 57. Vote yes
on 67."

***

11. EDITORIAL: General McCaffrey Stands Up for Methadone
Maintenance -- What Does He Want, a Medal?

In a speech before the American Methadone Treatment
Association in New York this week, Barry McCaffrey, the
nation's Drug Czar, reiterated his strong support for the
expansion of methadone treatment and the loosening of
restrictions which make it difficult, and in some cases
impossible, for people to obtain it. He said that it was
desirable to allow doctors to be able to prescribe it so
that patients would no longer be dependent upon a woefully
inadequate system of clinics. He said that standards needed
to be set to ensure that people were able to get adequate
dosages. And he said that methadone is the cheapest and
most effective treatment for opiate addiction known to
medicine. On all counts, he is right.

It is significant that he gave this speech in New York City,
home to the largest population of methadone patients in the
country, and the city where Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has
recently embarked on a one man anti-methadone crusade.
Giuliani has vowed to "phase out" the treatment, beginning
with those slots which are under the city's direct financial
control. Specifically, those serving the poor, the indigent
and the incarcerated. Studies show that nearly 90% of
people who are forced off of methadone will relapse into
heroin addiction. But according to Giuliani, it is immoral
to help people off of one addictive substance, heroin, only
to "enslave" them with another. Abstinence, he says, is the
moral choice. People must be made to live "drug free." And
the science be damned.

Is it odd that Rudolph Giuliani rejects science and
rationality out of hand in favor of dogma and moral fiat?
Perhaps not. Perhaps it is more odd that Barry McCaffrey
does not. McCaffrey, after all, has within the past two
years rejected syringe exchange and the medical use of
cannabis despite firm and growing evidence in favor of both
of these propositions. He continues to advocate, even to
preside over the continued arrest and imprisonment of adults
who smoke marijuana recreationally, despite overwhelming
evidence, including numerous government and scientific
reports, showing that arrest and imprisonment are more
harmful to the user than moderate use. He has lobbied for
billions of dollars for interdiction despite the
government's own findings that such programs have no impact
on the drug trade on America's streets. He has consistently
been more concerned with "sending a clear, no-use message"
than with the health and well-being of those who his
policies affect. So why methadone?

Methadone maintenance is, after all, harm reduction - that
evil phrase that is so often labeled by McCaffrey and his
cohorts as a "smoke-screen for legalization." Methadone
does not make a person "drug free" - on that point Giuliani
is correct. It simply changes the nature of their use and
allows them to live normally, without the destruction
attendant to their old addiction. If McCaffrey were true to
the principles he espouses on other drug policy issues, he
ought to be standing right with the Mayor of New York City,
shoulder to shoulder at the door to the clinic, baseball bat
in hand, sending his no-use message to America's kids.

The fact is that McCaffrey's position on methadone, like his
position on every other drug policy issue, reeks of
politics. McCaffrey is in charge of making sure that the
drug war continues, that the money continues to flow and the
drug warriors stay in business. Plain and simple. But over
the past few years their war has fallen into disrepute.
Respected people, people with credentials and with access to
the media have been publicly questioning the war. And so
somewhere, on some issue, there has to be some give. No one
who knows anything about addiction would stand for the
abolition of methadone on the premise that a "no use"
message should be sent. So he takes on Giuliani, in the
mayor's own city, and in doing so he makes his war look a
little bit more reasonable by comparison.

This week, America's Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey stood up in
favor of the expansion of the single most effective
treatment for heroin addiction known to modern science. All
of us who care about the lives and the health and the
futures of the oppressed and the addicted should be happy.
It was the right thing for him to do. But we should note
that in standing up for rationality, for the lives and the
health and the humanity of our society's most vulnerable
citizens, in standing up for a reduction in the harms of
addiction, he violated every other principle he has
articulated during his stewardship of this insane war.

Adam J. Smith
Associate Director

***

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