-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Marijuana Legal Today (The Oregonian notes the Oregon Medical
Marijuana Act and a similar voter initiative in Washington state go into
effect today. Dr. Rick Bayer, principal sponsor of Measure 67, said patients
who were considering using marijuana should first talk to their doctors. "It
will be imperative that the patient educate the doctor. That education won't
be coming from Eli Lilly or Merck." Patients or doctors who want more
information can contact Oregonians for Medical Rights through its Web site,
www.teleport.com/~omr, or its toll-free telephone number, 1-877-600-6767.)
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 10:57:00 -0800
To: AMR/updates list
From: Dave Fratello (amr@lainet.com)
Subject: Oregon: Medical Marijuana Legal Today
Thursday, December 3 1998
The Oregonian
letters to editor:
letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Web: http://www.oregonlive.com/
MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGAL TODAY
* Laws approved by voters in Oregon and Washington to help relieve
pain and suffering go into effect
By Patrick O'Neill
of The Oregonian staff
Beginning today, desperately ill people in Oregon and Washington can
legally smoke marijuana to relieve their symptoms.
Because of laws voters approved last month, users of medical marijuana
can claim immunity from prosecution under the states' drug laws.
The new laws allow people who have certain debilitating diseases,
including cancer and AIDS, to use marijuana to ease pain and nausea.
In Oregon, most of the bureaucratic machinery that will be used to
regulate the use of medical marijuana won't be in place for months. The
state Health Division is responsible for issuing registration cards to the
marijuana users and their caregivers, but the system won't be set up
until May.
Until then, the law, which takes effect today, provides a legal loophole
for users of medical marijuana who are arrested and charged with drug
law violations.
The law provides an "affirmative defense" to criminal charges of
possession or production of marijuana for anyone who otherwise would
qualify to receive a state registration card, says Peter Cogswell, a
spokesman for Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers.
Cogswell said that although the registration card will grant the person
who carries it an exemption from criminal law, the affirmative defense is a
legal maneuver that is used after criminal charges already have been brought.
Law enforcement agencies are struggling to figure out how to enforce
laws against casual use of marijuana while permitting medicinal use.
Myers has convened a group of law enforcement and medical
representatives to draw up a protocol for handling medical marijuana
cases. Cogswell said that by next week the group plans to have a list
of guidelines for law officers to follow when they encounter someone
who claims to be using marijuana for medical purposes.
Dr. Rick Bayer, a Lake Oswego resident and principal sponsor of the
measure, said patients who are considering using marijuana should first
talk to their doctors.
"The patients may need to educate their doctors about medical use of
marijuana," Bayer said. "It will be imperative that the patient educate the
doctor. That education won't be coming from Eli Lilly or Merck," two large
pharmaceutical companies.
Bayer said any patients or doctors who want information about medical
uses for marijuana can contact Oregonians for Medical Rights, the group
that promoted Measure 67, which legalized the drug for medical use. He
suggested contacting the organization through its Web site
(www.teleport.com/~omr) or its toll-free telephone number, 1-877-600-6767.
The laws in both states permit marijuana to be used by anyone who
has been diagnosed with a "debilitating medical condition" and who has
been advised by an attending physician that marijuana might help
alleviate symptoms. Those conditions include cancer, AIDS, multiple
sclerosis and glaucoma as well as severe nausea associated with
chemotherapy.
People who are younger than 18 can use medicinal marijuana on the
advice of their doctors, with the consent of parents or guardians.
Oregon and Washington laws differ on the legal mechanics and on the
amount of marijuana a patient can possess.
While Oregon's law establishes a registration card system, Washington
residents will have to show law officers a letter from their physicians or
copies of their medical records.
Oregon law allows a patient to cultivate a maximum of three mature and
four immature marijuana plants and one ounce of usable marijuana per
plant.
Washington law specifies only that a patient can keep a 60-day supply
of marijuana.
Both states permit a designated caregiver to raise and process marijuana
for the patient.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Oregonians light up as medical marijuana law takes effect (An Associated
Press article on the same subject interviews a patient who uses cannabis
for arthritis, glaucoma and post-traumatic stress from her years as a nurse
in Vietnam.)
Date: Fri, 04 Dec 1998 00:28:49 -0500
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
From: ltneidow@voyager.net (Lee T. Neidow)
Subject: Oregon Police Worried
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org
12/3/98 -- 10:04 PM
Oregonians light up as medical marijuana law takes effect
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - With a deep drag on her glowing pipe, Gail
Willock gave a satisfied stare through her hazy basement. In the 30
years she's smoked marijuana for arthritis and glaucoma, it was
probably her first legal puff.
Willock is among the seriously ill Oregonians who breathed a sigh of
relief Thursday as a new medical marijuana law kicked in that allows
them to puff with impunity.
``I don't feel nearly as criminal as I used to,'' Willock said. ``I don't
expect to have any problems with the local police, but I don't know
about the feds.''
The 48-year-old woman said marijuana cuts her pain in half and
eliminates the spasmatic nightmares triggered by her years in Vietnam
as a Red Cross volunteer.
Willock welcomed the law passed by voters last month, but
bureaucrats are hustling to iron out such details as permits and policing
policies by May 1, when medical marijuana users will receive special
state registration cards.
Until then, they are protected under an affirmative defense provision
written into the law. While police are still able to arrest marijuana users,
suspects can dodge a conviction by having a doctor confirm that the
drug could ease their debilitating illness.
Voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada and Washington last month also
approved measures allowing use of marijuana for medical reasons.
California voters had already approved a similar measure.
Sufferers of AIDS, cancer and glaucoma qualify as long as they don't
sell the drug or use it in a public place. But the Oregon law also
exempts from prosecution people who suffer severe pain, nausea,
seizures and muscle spasms.
That's what has police worried.
``It's open to the potential for abuse,'' said Molalla police Chief Rob
Elkins, who sits on a task force charged with drawing up a police
response to the law.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now, Prosecutors On Lookout
(According to an Associated Press article in the Everett, Washington,
Herald, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterbert said yesterday that his office
will be on the lookout for people trying to abuse the voter-approved law
legalizing the medical use of marijuana. Satterberg said prosecutors
anticipate the biggest problems will involve people who try to defend
large growing operations on behalf of a friend or relative who is sick.)
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 14:22:08 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now, Prosecutors On Lookout
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Source: Herald, The (WA)
Contact: letters@heraldnet.com
Website: http://www.heraldnet.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Daily Herald Co.
Pubdate: Thur, 03 December 1998
Author: Hunter T. George, The Associated Press
MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT NOW, PROSECUTORS ON LOOKOUT
OLYMPIA - Prosecutors in Washington's largest county say they'll be on the
lookout for people trying to abuse the voter-approved law legalizing the
medical use of marijuana. It takes effect today.
But they have no intention of wasting time or resources arresting people who
can prove they're suffering from legitimate diseases, Dan Satterbert, King
County Prosecutor Norm Maleng's chief of staff, said yesterday.
"This was a symbolic initiative. The jails are not filled with cancer
patients who were busted for smoking pot," Satterberg said.
That was good news to JoAnna McKee, co-founder of an underground clinic in
Seattle called the Green Cross Patient Co-op that provides marijuana to the
sick. She estimated that 100 people have called inquiring about how to sign
up for pot since 692 passed.
"We can't handle much more attention," said McKee, who said she provides pot
to about 400 people who brought notes from their doctors. "I've talked to a
couple of sets of people in the past few months that are going to open up
new branches, so to speak."
On Nov. 3, more than 1.1 million Washington voters approved the measure that
allows people with certain terminal or debilitating diseases such as cancer
and AIDS to grow, possess and use marijuana for relief. It also seeks to
protect physicians who recommend pot to patients.
The measure passed 59 percent to 41 percent. It becomes law after Secretary
of State Ralph Munro certifies the election results today.
Similar measures passed in Alaska, Arizona, Oregon and Nevada.
Maleng opposed the initiative on the grounds that some sections were vague
and could cause problems for law enforcement.
Satterberg said prosecutors anticipate the biggest problems will involve
people who try to defend large growing operations on behalf of a friend or
relative who is sick.
The new law allows patients to assign a "care giver" who can grow marijuana
on their behalf, but the agreement must be in writing and cannot be applied
retroactively after an arrest, Satterberg said.
Other problems are expected as patients, physicians and law enforcers try to
figure out how much pot constitutes a 60-day supply, the amount specified in
the law.
"What's likely to happen is people who are aware of the law will try to
stretch it to cover their commercial or recreational activity," Satterberg
said. "It will probably fall in that category of you know it when you see
it."
The Seattle family physician who sponsored I-692 said he's working to help
patients, physicians and law enforcers to understand the law's limits.
"We're planning to work with the Washington State Medical Association and
with sheriffs and police chiefs to do seminars at their next meetings so we
can teach them the difference between medical and recreational use, from our
perspective," Dr. Rob Killian said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now Prosecutors On Lookout
(A lengthier version in The Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 16:12:49 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Marijuana Law Takes Effect Now Prosecutors On Lookout
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: 03 Dec 1998
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Contact: editpage@seattle-pi.com
Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/
Copyright: 1998 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
MARIJUANA LAW TAKES EFFECT NOW PROSECUTORS ON LOOKOUT
Prosecutors in Washington's largest county say they'll be on the
lookout for people trying to abuse the voter-approved law legalizing
the medical use of marijuana. It takes effect today.
But they have no intention of wasting time or resources arresting
people who can prove they're suffering from legitimate diseases, Dan
Satterberg, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng's chief of staff, said
yesterday.
"This was a symbolic initiative. The jails are not filled with cancer
patients who were busted for smoking pot," Satterberg said.
That was good news to JoAnna McKee, co-founder of an underground
clinic in Seattle called the Green Cross Patient Co-op that provides
marijuana to the sick. She estimated that 100 people have called
inquiring about how to sign up for pot since Initiative 692 passed.
"We can't handle much more attention," said McKee, who said she
provides pot to about 400 people who brought notes from their doctors.
"I've talked to a couple of sets of people in the past few months that
are going to open up new branches, so to speak."
On Nov. 3, more than 1.1 million Washington voters approved the
measure that allows people with certain terminal or debilitating
diseases such as cancer and AIDS to grow, possess and use marijuana
for relief. It also seeks to protect physicians who recommend pot to
patients.
The measure passed 59 percent to 41 percent. It becomes law after
Secretary of State Ralph Munro certifies the election results today.
Similar measures passed in Alaska, Arizona, Oregon and
Nevada.
Maleng opposed the initiative on the grounds that some sections were
vague and could cause problems for law enforcement.
Satterberg said prosecutors anticipate the biggest problems will
involve people who try to defend large growing operations on behalf of
a friend or relative who is sick.
The new law allows patients to assign a "care giver" who can grow
marijuana on their behalf, but the agreement must be in writing and
cannot be applied retroactively after an arrest, Satterberg said.
Other problems are expected as patients, physicians and law enforcers
try to figure out how much pot constitutes a 60-day supply, the amount
specified in the law.
"What's likely to happen is people who are aware of the law will try
to stretch it to cover their commercial or recreational activity,"
Satterberg said. "It will probably fall in that category of you know
it when you see it."
The Seattle family physician who sponsored I-692 said he's working to
help patients, physicians and law enforcers understand the law's limits.
"We're planning to work with the Washington State Medical Association
and with sheriffs and police chiefs to do seminars at their next
meetings so we can teach them the difference between medical and
recreational use, from our perspective," Dr. Rob Killian said.
Killian said he'd like to see the state Department of Health or Gov.
Gary Locke acknowledge the will of the voters and issue guidelines to
help implement the law.
But he said the governor's office declined his request for a meeting.
And Health Department spokeswoman Filiz Satir said the agency has no
plans to issue any guidelines for now.
"I feel like there's a vacuum. No one else is going to do it, so I'll
do it," Killian said.
The governor's office had no comment yesterday.
Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, one of Washington's leading anti-drug advocates
who helped lead the charge against the initiative, urged law enforcers
to make it "crystal clear" that abuse will not be tolerated.
Satterberg said the law is designed to provide a legal defense for
patients and physicians who meet the criteria. There's nothing for the
government to "implement," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pot for pain (An MSNBC story broadcast by KHQ-6 in Spokane, Washington,
notes Sam Diana, who uses a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis,
is awaiting sentencing in federal court for a marijuana conviction. Despite
voters' approval of Initiative 692, Spokane police say they will arrest
anyone who dares to smoke marijuana and will let judges decide who is legal
and who is not.)
Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 19:17:07 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Reply-To: compassion23@geocities.com
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
Subject: US WA MSNBC MMJ: Pot for pain
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org
Source: MSNBC Spokane WA KHQ-6
Contact: CyberCenter@khq.com
Website: http://www.msnbc.com/local/KHQ/
Pubdate: December 3, 1998
POT FOR PAIN
SPOKANE, December 3 - Washington State's new medical marijuana law took
effect Tuesday. The law requires a doctor's approval and it provides for a
60 day supply.
Q-6 News talked with one man who is in the middle of a marijuana battle. Sam
Diana is confined to a wheelchair because he has multiple sclerosis.
"I wake up in the morning hating myself for having this. I get out of bed
and fall down," says Diana.
[Sidebar: Sam Diana has used prescription drugs for his multiple sclerosis
but he says nothing works like marijuana.]
He has used prescription drugs for his multiple sclerosis but he says
nothing works like marijuana. "It helps me better than a sleeping pill and I
don't wake up with a drug hangover."
Diana has lived with multiple sclerosis for 32 years and has been in a
wheelchair the last three years.
He is awaiting sentencing in federal court for a marijuana conviction.
Spokane Police say people will be arrested if they smoke marijuana. It will
be up to a judge to decide whether they were smoking it for medical reasons
or not.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated 500 Pounds Of Pot Were Stolen From Burn Pile
(According to The Arizona Daily Star, Sergeant John Sanders
of the Pima County Sheriff's Department said a tip from a confidential
informant and an examination of the amount of ash left at an incinerator
have led him to conclude that thieves made off with about 500 pounds
of a seven-ton load of marijuana transported by US Customs Service agents
from El Paso to Tucson for incineration.)
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 08:26:04 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US AZ: Estimated 500 Pounds Of Pot
Were Stolen From Burn Pile
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Thursday, 3 December 1998
Source: Arizona Daily Star
Contact: letters@azstarnet.com
Website: http://www.azstarnet.com/
Author: Tim Steller, The Arizona Daily Star
ESTIMATED 500 POUNDS OF POT WERE STOLEN FROM BURN PILE
By Tim Steller The Arizona Daily Star
Investigators estimate that thieves made off with about 500 pounds of
a 7-ton load of marijuana at a southside incinerator last month.
Sgt. John Sanders of the Pima County Sheriff's Department said he
arrived at that conclusion through a tip from a confidential
informant, and by examining the amount of ash left at the
incinerator.
The marijuana disappeared Nov. 17, after it was transported by U.S.
Customs Service agents from El Paso to Tucson for incineration.
The agents delivered the load to a southside incinerator used for the
disposal of seized drugs, but they left before it finished burning.
The next morning, incinerator employees reported the
burglary.
``My estimate is that it had burned for about eight or nine hours,''
Sanders said. ``That's why I think only about 400 or 500 pounds has
been missing. There was a lot of ash. It had burned a lot.''
The informant reinforced that conclusion and pointed investigators to
a remaining portion of the load, Sanders said. Investigators this week
recovered 50 pounds of marijuana they believe was part of the original
load.
Sanders would not specify where agents found the marijuana, except to
say it was on the south side of the Tucson area.
Five hundred pounds ``is still a lot of marijuana,'' Sanders
said.
He estimated it would be worth around $350,000 in Tucson, and more on
the East Coast. The entire 7-ton load would have been worth around $10
million.
The original load was comprised of many smaller seizures from West
Texas and New Mexico, customs spokesman Roger Maier said. Customs
officials shipped it to Tucson because there is no usable incinerator
in El Paso, he said.
The burglary occurred sometime between 5 p.m. Nov. 17, when the
employees left, and 6:30 the next morning, Sanders said.
``Our investigation is very intense, and we are still hotly pursuing
the culprits,'' he said.
Sanders said he does not suspect that customs employees involved in
the incineration took part in the burglary.
Customs internal affairs investigators are sharing interviews with the
agents involved, but the Sheriff's Department will not interview them,
he added.
Ten customs employees involved in the incineration were placed on paid
administrative leave last month. They remained on paid leave
yesterday, Maier said.
After the burglary, Customs Service Commissioner Raymond Kelly
convened a narcotics destruction task force, Maier said.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Focus Alert No. 90 - Dallas Morning News on "Speed"
(DrugSense asks you to write a letter to The Dallas Morning News
about yesterday's misleading and sensational article on "Nazi" meth labs
in northern Texas.)
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 15:07:53 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense FOCUS Alert #90 12/3/98 Dallas Morning News on
"Speed"
PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE
DrugSense FOCUS Alert #90 12/3/98
Dallas Morning News on "Speed"
***
The Dallas Morning News Needs your help. They are making assumptions and
claims about meth labs that border on the ridiculous. The closing paragraph
of the article below demonstrates how far out of touch these folks are. A
quick letter correcting any of the fallacies in the article below or one
that points out that methamphetamine production is an outgrowth of
prohibition of other less dangerous drugs might help get the DMN back on
track and will certainly send a strong message that fear mongering is not
good reporting.
***
PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID ( Letter,
Phone, fax etc.)
Please post your letters or report your action to the MAPTalk list if you
are subscribed. To subscribe see:
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm
or by E-mailing a copy directly to MGreer@mapinc.org
This enables us to learn from each other. Your letter will be posted to
MAPTalk and, if published will be added to our published letters archive of
over 1,100 published letters and articles at:
http://www.mapinc.org/lte/
***
CONTACT INFO
Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com
letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
***
Original article
Makeshift methamphetamine labs spreading in N. Texas
Dallas Morning News
Pubdate: 12/02/98
Email: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
By Curtis Howell
The Dallas Morning News
[Snipped to avoid duplication - follow the link. - ed.]
***
The Drug War - Worse Than Meth Labs
Dear Editor
Your article "Makeshift methamphetamine labs spreading in N. Texas" (DMN
12/2) is the latest in a litany of articles that promote fear, perpetuate
inaccuracy, and provide little in the way of sensible alternatives for our
failed, expensive, and ill-conceived "War on Drugs."
Methamphetamine is the predictable dangerous outgrowth of our generations
old pipe dream of a "drug free America." Prohibition encourages drug use
and we need only revisit the days when drugs of all types were completely
legal to realize it. The incarceration, interdiction, and freedom eroding
model represented by the drug war is a proven abject failure. Per capita
drug use of all kinds was never lower in this country than prior to our
attempts to prohibit them.
When you think about it this is pure logic. Who is selling drugs and why?
Crooks are selling drugs for money. When they need new customers they
predictably go after our children. If you want to reduce or eliminate this
situation take away the profit and regulate the distribution. Otherwise
what you have is the antithesis of control, an unregulated black market.
As counter intuitive as it may seem to be, a sensible drug control policy
is the first step towards solving rampant and escalating drug use.
I must also address the foolish statement of Lewisville Investigator Dan
Coltrain who said (referring to methamphetamine) "Once it's got you, it's
got you. I've never worked with anyone who's gotten off. They always go back
to it."
This would mean that everyone who ever tried "speed" is permanently
addicted for life. I personally could provide you with thousands of
exceptions upon request. The statement is not only logically idiotic but
specifically designed to foster fear in a largely uninformed public.
Let's get a little more logic and a little less sensationalism into our
discussions on drug policy.
Mark Greer
(contact info)
WRITE AWAY!!
***
DrugSense Needs Your Help!
Would YOU like to create an occasional Focus Alert? Use the outline above,
select a recent important article from http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/
Add your own text, suggestions, and sample letter. Then forward it to
MGreer@mapinc.org with Focus Alert Draft in the Subject.
We will forward it to thousands of volunteer letter writers usually within
24 hours.
This is a great way to increase awareness and coverage on the issues YOU
deem important and frankly we can use the help.
***
Mark Greer
Executive Director
DrugSense
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.drugsense.org
http://www.mapinc.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
School Board To Ask The US Supreme Court To Reinstate Drug Testing
(The Indianapolis Star says the school board in Anderson, Indiana,
voted Tuesday night to appeal a US 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling
to the Supreme Court, seeking to reinstate the school corporation's drug
testing policy. Board member Irma Hampton Stewart, who is a lawyer,
cast the only dissenting vote, which could entail legal fees
close to $60,000.)
Newshawk: aslinn@indy.net (aslinn)
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Dec 1998
Source: Indianapolis Star (IN)
Contact: stareditor@starnews.com
Website: http://www.starnews.com/
Copyright: 1998 Indianapolis Newspapers Inc.
Author: John M. Flora
SCHOOL BOARD TO ASK THE U.S. SUPREME COURT TO REINSTATE DRUG TESTING
The Anderson School Board's decision to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to
reinstate the school corporation's drug testing policy could mean legal fees
close to $60,000.
That figure assumes the justices would agree to hear the case.
Board member Irma Hampton Stewart, who is a lawyer, cast the only dissenting
vote as the board decided Tuesday night to appeal a U.S. 7th Circuit Court of
Appeals ruling to the Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeals has ruled unconstitutional a policy that requires a drug
test for students suspended three days or more for rule infractions.
Indiana Civil Liberties Union lawyer Ken Falk challenged the Anderson policy
after the Dec. 10, 1997, expulsion of Anderson High School freshman James R.
"Buddy" Willis II.
Buddy, now 16, was suspended for fighting with another student. Under a
policy adopted in August 1997, Buddy was ordered to take a drug test when
he returned to school Dec. 19.
Buddy refused the test and was barred from school for the rest of the 1997-98
school year while Falk and school lawyers fought about the constitutionality
of the policy.
The policy is modeled on one adopted in early 1997 at Carmel and is based on
a presumed link between misbehavior and drug use.
Anderson Schools attorney David Gotshall said he expected the board would
file its petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court by mid-January.
He estimated the petition will cost $15,000 to $18,000 in legal and filing
costs. If the justices decide to hear the case, Anderson's legal costs could
soar by an additional $40,000, he said.
"Although we have no assurances," Gotshall said, "Carmel has indicated a
willingness to consider helping with legal costs. We're hopeful they will
participate."
"We figured this was going to happen," said Buddy's father, James R. "Randy"
Willis. "We thought they would appeal. . . . We welcome it. It takes four
justices to say, 'Yes, we want to hear it.' I don't think that will happen,
but even if it does, I think we're going to win."
Falk contends the link between breaking school rules and student drug use is
not strong enough to override Fourth Amendment constitutional guarantees
against unreasonable search.
A U.S. District Court judge in Indianapolis had disagreed. But a panel of
three appeals court judges subsequently agreed with Falk's argument.
Since the ruling, Carmel and several other central Indiana school districts
have withdrawn or modified their versions of the policy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Eye At The Keyhole (A staff editorial in The Chicago Sun-Times
says Tuesday's ruling by the US Supreme Court - that short-term visitors
to a private home have no reasonable expectation of privacy - again
has narrowly interpreted privacy rights. The decision further erodes
the widely held expectation that one's home is one's castle and an inviolable
bastion of privacy, and that those protections extend to one's invited guests.)
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 21:44:41 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US IL: Editorial: Eye At The Keyhole
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Dec 1998
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Contact: letters@suntimes.com
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/index/
Copyright: 1998 The Sun-Times Co.
EYE AT THE KEYHOL
The Supreme Court again has narrowly interpreted privacy rights, ruling on
Tuesday that people who visit someone's home only briefly or to do business
do not have the same protection against police searches as do overnight
guests. The ruling - that such visitors have no reasonable expectation of
privacy - no doubt will give comfort to those who want to expand police
rights to search suspected criminals. However, it further erodes the widely
held expectation that one's home is one's castle and an inviolable bastion
of privacy, and that those protections extend to one's invited guests.
In a 6-3 vote, the high court reversed the Minnesota Supreme Court and
reinstated the convictions of two men for trafficking in cocaine. In a 5-4
vote, the justices made a controversial distinction between residents'
right to privacy and that same right as it applies to visitors in a
dwelling "simply . . . to do business."
In a ruling just eight years ago, the court found that overnight guests
have an "expectation of privacy" protecting them from warrantless searches
and arrest as proscribed by the Fourth Amendment. Tuesday's ruling makes it
clear that short-term visitors do not share that same privacy right.
The case arose in 1994 after police saw the defendants enter an apartment
in Eagan, Minn., and observed them through closed venetian blinds packing
a white powder into bags. They were arrested a few hours later. Because
the men were in the house for a relatively short time to conduct business,
the court ruled they had no standing to complain about an illegal search.
That is the argument made by the Minnesota prosecutor, who hailed the
ruling as a victory for public safety advocates and a much-needed tool for
police in their fight to keep communities free of drug dealers and other
criminals.
Tuesday's ruling opens to question a wide range of possible scenarios that
might wind up in court. For example, would the two visitors have shared the
host's privacy right if they were blood relatives or close friends - as
well as criminal associates? How long must a visitor remain in a home
before he legally can share the host's protection from unreasonable
searches?
We eagerly await a Supreme Court ruling to clarify these troubling
questions. Otherwise, we share the fear put to paper by Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg: that homeowners who invite guests into their homes - for legal or
illegal purposes - thereby "increase the risk of unwarranted governmental
peering and prying into their dwelling places
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical marijuana group sues over ouster from polling place (The Associated
Press notes Floridians for Medical Rights is suing Duval County's sheriff
and top elections official after being ordered away from a polling place.
Supervisor of Elections Tommie Bell said Wednesday that the group is correct
in arguing it should have been allowed to remain at the polling place
on Nov. 3. She also disputed the claim of a sheriff's spokesman that police
had first checked with her office.)
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 18:35:37 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Reply-To: compassion23@geocities.com
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
Subject: US FL WIRE: Medical marijuana group sues over ouster
from polling place
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org
12/3/98 -- 2:19 PM
MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROUP SUES OVER OUSTER FROM POLLING PLACE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A group advocating legalization of marijuana for
medical purposes is suing Duval County's sheriff and top elections official
after being ordered away from a polling place.
Supervisor of Elections Tommie Bell said Wednesday that the group is correct
in arguing it should have been allowed to remain at the polling place on
Nov. 3. She also disputed the claim of a sheriff's spokesman that police had
first checked with her office.
Floridians for Medical Rights had gone to a church being used as a polling
place to collect signatures for a petition to put the legalization issue on
a future statewide ballot.
``Once we pay our rental to them - the church - that is a public area,'' Ms.
Bell said. ``It is legal for people to have petitions signed.''
Gary Edinger, a lawyer for the medical marijuana group, said police and
elections officials violated members' civil rights by prohibiting them from
collecting signatures.
The group held a news conference Wednesday outside the sheriff's
headquarters after suing in U.S. District Court. Members are not seeking
monetary damages, but they want better trained poll workers and an end to
policies that led police to interrupt the petition drive.
According to the suit, the group set up a table about 150 feet away from the
polling place at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church. All parties agree they
were outside the 50-foot area around polling places where petitions are
forbidden by law.
Group member Scott Bledsoe said he and a few volunteers were repeatedly told
to leave by church members and poll workers. The petition-seekers insisted
they had a right to be there, but they left when Officer Tom L. Martin
arrived and ordered them to go or be arrested.
Harry Reagan, a spokesman for Sheriff Nat Glover, said an internal
investigation determined Martin acted properly and adhered to departmental
policy.
``My understanding is that the officer did consult with the elections
office,'' Reagan said. ``He was told that when the elections office leases
or makes arrangements to use a polling place, they don't lease the entire
property.''
Ms. Bell said her office was not contacted and had nothing to do with the
ouster.
The church's pastor, the Rev. Jack A. Snell, denied he called police but
said he did consult with officers before asking the group to leave. He also
said his action had nothing to do with his views on the medical marijuana
issue.
``I wanted to be assured that we could ask them to leave,'' Snell said.
``The police came by and assured me that they were on our property.''
Copyright 1998 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Geronimo Guilty Of Drug Charge (The Washington Post says raunch-radio host
Don Geronimo, half of the "Don and Mike" afternoon show, syndicated
to 58 stations in 30 states, was found guilty yesterday of marijuana
possession and pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a 90-minute trial
in Fairfax County General District Court. The marijuana was found after
Geronimo tried to bolt from the scene and an officer drew a gun on him.
Prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia, asked that Geronimo be sentenced
to jail because he already has a 1996 conviction for possession of cocaine.)
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 17:53:26 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US DC: Geronimo Guilty Of Drug Charge
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: December 3, 1998
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company
Page: D1
Author: Tom Jackman, Washington Post Staff Writer
GERONIMO GUILTY OF DRUG CHARGE
Radio Host to Be Sentenced Today for Marijuana Possession
Syndicated raunch-radio host Don Geronimo, half of the "Don and Mike"
afternoon show, was found guilty yesterday of marijuana possession and
pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a 90-minute trial in Fairfax
County General District Court.
The marijuana was found only after Geronimo tried to bolt from the
scene and an officer drew a gun on him, the officer testified yesterday.
Fairfax District Judge Lorraine Nordlund said she found the facts of
the case sufficient to prove Geronimo's guilt, but postponed
sentencing until this afternoon. Fairfax County prosecutors asked that
Geronimo be sentenced to jail because he already has a 1996 conviction
for possession of cocaine.
Geronimo, 40, whose real name is Michael L. Sorce, declined to comment
after the trial, and he did not testify. Nor did he take to the
airwaves yesterday. A taped version of the "Don and Mike" show aired
on WJFK (106.7 FM), the Fairfax station that syndicates the show to 58
stations in 30 states. Locally, it is one of the top two shows in
afternoon drive time.
Ken Stevens, the WJFK general manager, said last night he could not
comment until he had spoken to Geronimo.
Police said that Geronimo was stopped the night of Aug. 5 after
Officer Donald McAuliffe saw him driving his 1997 Toyota Supra at 75
mph in a 35-mph zone in Great Falls. McAuliffe testified that after he
pulled the car over, Geronimo "jumped out of his vehicle and
approached me."
The officer told Geronimo to get back in his car, which Geronimo did.
McAuliffe approached the car, and said he smelled marijuana. He said
Geronimo told him he'd been smoking a cigar.
McAuliffe said he called for a backup officer. While he waited,
McAuliffe said, "Mr. Sorce [Geronimo] picked up his ashtray, shoved it
out the car door window and dumped it out." He said Geronimo also was
"making furtive movements inside the vehicle."
As the officer got out of his car, he said Geronimo got out of his car
again. McAuliffe said he asked Geronimo if he had any drugs or
weapons, and that Geronimo identified himself as a radio personality.
Then, Geronimo began looking around, McAuliffe said.
"I told him, 'Don't think about running,' " McAuliffe testified. "I
asked him to put his hands on the trunk. He ran towards the front of
his car, a gesture I thought meant he was fleeing. I ordered him to
stop, and drew my service weapon."
He said Geronimo stopped by the front of his car, and returned to the
trunk area. As McAuliffe handcuffed him, he said Geronimo told him,
"The marijuana is in my eyeglass case between the seats."
A drug-sniffing dog soon arrived, and police found an aspirin bottle
inside the eyeglass case. Lab reports showed it contained 4.6 grams of
marijuana. Blood tests found very little marijuana in Geronimo's
system. Geronimo then spent the night in the Fairfax County jail.
Stephen A. Best, Geronimo's lawyer, argued that the results of the
search should not be used as evidence. McAuliffe's arrest was illegal,
Best said, arguing that the officer had no reasonable suspicion to
arrest Geronimo.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mark C. Simmons said the combination
of Geronimo's actions and the drug suspicions were enough to cause the
officer to fear for his safety, and Nordlund agreed. She said Geronimo
was trying to run, and "the only thing that brought him back is the
fact the officer drew a gun on him."
Geronimo pleaded guilty to reckless driving, and Nordlund found him
guilty of possession of marijuana. Simmons noted that Geronimo already
had been convicted of cocaine possession and was allowed to complete a
program that erased the conviction from his record. He recommended a
short jail term, "in light of the fact he's been involved with drugs
before."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
An Unholy Alliance (Washington Post columnist Steve Twomey
discusses the ironies implicit in the Clinton Administration's support
for the disenfranchisement of voters in the District of Columbia
and the quashing of Initiative 59, the DC medical marijuana initiative,
by conservative Republican US Representative Robert L. Barr Jr. Clinton
came into office gushy for statehood as a way to end two centuries
of congressional control of the city.)
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 1998 03:33:12 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US DC: An Unholy Alliance
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Frank S. World (compassion23@geocities.com)
Pubdate: December 3,1998
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Washington Post Company
Page: B01
Author: Steve Twomey (twomeys@washpost.com)
AN UNHOLY ALLIANCE
You wouldn't think President Clinton would support a single thing Rep.
Robert L. Barr Jr. does, including breathe, given that the Georgia
Republican and member of the Judiciary Committee craves presidential
impeachment probably more than he craves waking up next to a $100
million winning Powerball ticket.
But in court papers filed three days ago, Clinton's Justice Department
not only rose to a complete defense of Barr's legislation that
mothballed an election in the capital last month, it suggested that
Congress acted "sensibly" in committing electoral homicide.
My guess is the presidential praise won't douse Barr's lust for
impeachment, but at least it lets Washingtonians know that Clinton,
who came to office gushy for statehood as a way to end two centuries
of congressional control of the city, is capable of saying anything.
Then again, we knew that.
How did Congress act?
"Sensibly," Clinton's team says in its court papers.
It is now sensible to strip some Americans of the right to an
election.
It is now sensible to get all misty about what a great country we are,
what a beacon of freedom, and simultaneously to tell residents of that
great country's capital that it shall be illegal to express their
feelings at the polls about an issue being debated nationwide.
The issue is marijuana, specifically Initiative 59, which asked
District residents whether doctors in the city should be allowed to
prescribe it legally to ease the pain of those with severe illness.
It's an idea that just passed in five states -- each of them blessed,
like the other 45, with self-rule -- but it's an idea that apparently
offends Barr, who warned in House debate about "these drug
legalization people."
Powerless to invade Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington
state to stop their marijuana referenda and round up their drug
legalization people, at least Barr managed to pull the leash of the
District dog, proposing a successful amendment forbidding the city to
spend funds to supervise and count the Initiative 59 segment of the
Nov. 3 election.
Unfortunately, the city's ballots had been printed already, so
electors still got to vote yea or nay on marijuana on Election Day.
But the outcome isn't known, because the election board hasn't asked
its computer for the result. To release it, the board fears, might
represent spending and anger Congress, which probably wouldn't bother
to put the disobedient city officials on trial. It'd send them
straight to Leavenworth.
And so the outcome sits hostage in the dark, awaiting an effort by the
American Civil Liberties Union and others to convince the federal
courts -- the one branch of government that hasn't deserted
Jeffersonian ideals yet -- that the other two are guilty of
un-American activity.
In aiding and abetting Barr, Clinton's folks didn't have much choice.
Traditionally, the executive branch defends the laws of the
legislative. But it doesn't have to enjoy it. Clinton's brief, far
from expressing reluctant disgust, makes killing an election seem no
biggie: The Constitution says Congress, where no District resident has
a voting voice, has Mussolini-esque power over the capital. It can
block any local law any time, the brief said, and rather than waiting
until medical marijuana was legalized and nixing it, Congress saved
itself the trouble by simply stopping the election.
"It has sensibly prohibited the use of public funds to conduct an
election on Initiative 59," the Justice Department brief said.
Tossing residents a bone, Justice didn't object to releasing the
results, given that Congress acted too late to stop the vote. But it
made clear they would represent only information, not law. They'd
represent public opinion, not election results Congress has to
confront, and their release would stem merely from the quirky facts of
the situation. Generally, canceling a District election seems just
fine to Justice.
It's Not Fine. It's Censorship.
Not liking the topic, Congress engaged in prior restraint, taking from
residents of the city the right to express themselves, which is what
an election is, the collective speech of a community. The Constitution
may give Congress the power to overturn the results of that speech --
a law -- but it shouldn't be able to muzzle the speech itself. A
democracy functions only with free debate.
The real issue is not drug legalization.
The real issue is not whether Congress has constitutional power over
the city.
The real issue is how this democracy continues to justify depriving
several hundred thousand citizens of the same rights and status as all
other citizens, even as they pay the same taxes and fight the same
wars.
It is oft said that any District resident who doesn't like his or her
lot can move, that full representation on the floor of Congress and
freedom from congressional meddling in the minutiae of local life
await the disaffected just beyond the District's borders.
Let us leave aside whether relocation is a practical option for
thousands of people living on the margins who might not have the spare
cash to pick up and move. Let us, instead, pose the issue a different
way:
How can anyone -- Clinton, Barr, the rest -- defend on moral grounds
having an island of authoritarian rule from which residents must
escape like Third World refugees to taste the ideals of their own nation?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Customs Service drug searches prompt horror tales, lawsuits (The Associated
Press says the US Customs Service strip-searched hundreds of airline
passengers last year and transported 675 to hospitals for X-ray inspections,
usually in handcuffs, and some were detained for days without being allowed
to call a lawyer or family members, but only about a fourth were caught with
illegal drugs. Sixty percent of those pulled aside last year for body
searches or X-rays were black or Hispanic.)
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 11:29:19 -0500
From: Scott Dykstra (rumba2@earthlink.net)
Reply-To: rumba2@earthlink.net
To: Scott Dykstra (rumba2@earthlink.net)
Subject: CanPat - Customs Service Drug Searches Prompt Horror Tales
and Lawsuits... (It's about damn time!)
Sender: owner-cannabis-patriots-l@smtp.teleport.com
12/3/98 -- 1:36 AM
Customs Service drug searches prompt horror tales, lawsuits
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attempting to ferret out drug smugglers, the
Customs Service strip-searched hundreds of airline passengers last year
and transported 675 to hospitals for X-ray inspections, usually in
handcuffs.
Some were detained for hours, even days, without being allowed to call
a lawyer or family members. About a fourth of them were caught with
drugs.
The other 73 percent - tourists returning home, business travelers,
foreign visitors - were clean.
``I was humiliated - I couldn't believe it was happening,'' said
Gwendolyn Richards of Chicago, who is suing Customs over a
five-hour ordeal in which she was strip-searched, X-rayed, and
subjected to a pelvic exam. ``They had no reason to think I
had drugs.''
Customs officials say tough tactics are necessary to catch the growing
number of smugglers who swallow cocaine-filled balloons, insert
packages of heroin into their body cavities, even hide drugs in a hollow
leg or under cover of a fake pregnancy.
``We still have a major drug problem in this country,'' Customs
Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in an interview Wednesday. ``We
have to do this.''
But, on the heels of lawsuits and complaints to Congress, the agency is
reviewing some of its search policies.
The review comes after a several lawsuits and complaints from travelers
who say they suffered abusive treatment and hours of confinement. For
instance:
-A Florida mother contends her baby was born prematurely because
Customs officials forced her to take a prescription laxative when she
was seven months' pregnant. In a lawsuit filed last month, Janneral
Denson, 25, said she was taken from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International Airport in 1997 and shackled to a hospital bed for two
days so inspectors could watch her bowel movements. She says her
son, born 12 days later, suffered damage.
-Two Jamaican-born U.S. citizens each filed a $500,000 claim in
September over body cavity searches and X-rays in Tampa, Fla. One
of the women learned afterward she was pregnant and agonized that
her fetus might have been harmed, according to their attorney, Warren
Hope Dawson. The baby was born healthy. Customs policy requires a
pregnancy test before a woman is X-rayed, but Dawson said the
pregnant woman was not tested.
-A 51-year-old widow returning from an around-the-world trip was
held for 22 hours at a San Francisco hospital, X-rayed and given the
same powerful laxative. Amanda Buritica of Port Chester, N.Y., won a
$451,001 lawsuit in February. A Boston nurse, Bosede Adedeji, won
$215,000 in a similar lawsuit in 1991.
Acknowledging that searches ``can get pretty traumatic,'' Kelly said
Customs is experimenting with new technology that might reduce the
number of body searches. Kelly, who took office Aug. 4, said the
agency also has increased training for inspectors and hired a consultant
to help smooth its interactions with travelers.
Richards, who is black, and many others who have sued Customs have
alleged they were targeted because of their race. Sixty percent of those
pulled aside last year for body searches or X-rays were black or
Hispanic, Customs figures show. Thirty-three percent of Hispanics who
were searched were found to have drugs compared with 31 percent of
blacks and 26 percent of whites.
Kelly said race isn't a factor. ``There are higher risk countries and
higher risk flights,'' he said. ``Those flights may be more populated by a
particular ethnic group.''
Last year, the Customs Service seized 858 pounds of cocaine and 803
pounds of heroin attached to or inside international air travelers' bodies,
officials said. More than 70 percent of the heroin seized at airports was
smuggled that way.
Customs officials note that fewer than 2 percent of the 68 million fliers
who pass through Customs each year have their luggage opened. Far
fewer - about 49,000 people - are personally searched, usually with a
pat down.
The 1,772 strip searches last year ranged from people told to remove
their socks to passengers like Richards who were ordered to take off
their underwear and bend over. Strip searches are performed by
officers of the same gender.
The Customs review found only 19 passengers who were subjected to
pelvic or rectal exams by doctors while inspectors watched - although
lawsuits suggest there were more. Drugs were found in 12 of those
cases.
Congress and courts have given Customs broad authority to search for
drugs, weapons and other illegal imports.
The Supreme Court ruled that Customs officers at airports and border
crossings don't need the probable cause or warrants that police need
to search possessions. Customs officers can perform a strip search based
on ``reasonable suspicion'' that someone might be hiding something
illegal.
A Customs handbook obtained by The Associated Press advises
officers that reasonable suspicion usually requires a combination of
factors, including someone who: appears nervous, wears baggy
clothing, gives vague or contradictory answers about travel plans, acts
unusually polite or argumentative, wears sunglasses or acts sick. Race
isn't cited.
Inspectors say they keep detainees from making calls so that drug
associates aren't tipped off. Handcuffs are used to protect the officers.
Generally, if someone is held for eight hours or more, a federal
prosecutor is notified.
Richards is among more than 80 black females who filed a class-action
lawsuit claiming they were singled out for strip searches at O'Hare
because of race and gender.
The plaintiffs include a 15-year-old girl, a mentally retarded woman,
and a woman who uses a wheelchair. Many decided to sue after seeing
news reports on Chicago's WMAQ-TV about strip searches of black
women.
The agency is exploring alternatives to strip searches. In a test at Miami
and New York airports, some passengers selected for strip searches
are given the option of having an X-ray instead. The service is also
studying new imaging technology that shows things hidden under
people's clothes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Customs Service Drug Searches Prompt Outrage, Lawsuits (A slightly different
Associated Press version in The Orange County Register)
Newshawk: John W. Black
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Orange County Register
Pubdate: 3 Dec 1998
Author: Connie Cass, The Associated Press
CUSTOMS SERVICE DRUG SEARCHES PROMPT OUTRAGE, LAWSUITS
Complaints: Innocent Travelers Say They Were Unfairly Stripped, Prodded And
Humiliated, But Officials Cite 'Reasonable Suspicion.'
Washington- Returning to Chicago from Jamaica, Gwendolyn Richards was plucked
from a line of air travelers by a Customs Service inspector and ordered into a bare,
windowless room. During the next five hours, she was strip-searched,
handcuffed, X-rayed and probed internally by a doctor.
The armed customs officer who led Richards in handcuffs through O'Hare
International Airport and drove her to a hospital for examination suspected
she might be smuggling drugs. They found nothing.
"I was humiliated - I couldn't believe it was happenings," said Richards, who
is black and has joined a civil-rights lawsuit against the Customs Service.
"They had no reason to think I had drugs."
Richards, 27, isn't alone.
Last year, officers ordered partial or full strip searches or X-rays for
2,447 airline passengers, and found drugs on 27 percent of them, according
to figures compiled by the Customs Service.
Customs officials say tough tactics are necessary to catch the growing number
of smugglers who swallow cocaine-filled balloons, insert packages of heroin
into their body cavities, or even hide drugs in a hollow leg or under the
cover of a fake pregnancy.
"We still have a major drug problem in this country," customs Commissioner
Raymond Kelly said in an interview Wednesday. "We have to do this."
Richards and others who have sued the Customs Service have alleged that they
were targeted because of their race. Sixty percent of those pulled aside last
year for body searches or X-rays were black or Hispanic, customs figures
show. Thiry-three percent of Hispanic who were searched were found to have
drugs, compared with 31 percent of blacks and 26 percent of whites.
Kelly said race isn't a factor. "There are higher-risk countries and
higher-risk flights," he said. "Those flights may be more populated by a
particular ethnic group."
Last year, the Customs Service seized 858 pounds of cocaine and 803 pounds
of heroin attached to or inside international air travelers' bodies,
officials said. More than 70 percent of the heroin seized at airports was
smuggled that way.
Acknowledging that searches "can get pretty traumatic," Kelly said customs is
experimenting with new technology that might reduce the number of body
searches. The review comes after several lawsuits and complaints from
travelers who say they suffered abusive treatment and hours of confinement.
For instance:
A Florida mother says her baby was born prematurely because customs officials
forced her to take a prescription laxative when she was seven months
pregnant. In a lawsuit filed last month, Janneral Denson, 25, said she was
taken from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and shackled
to a hospital bed for two days so inspectors could watch her bowel movements.
She says her son, born 12 days later, suffered damage.
Two Jamaican-born U.S. citizens each filed a $500,000 claim in September over
body-cavity searches and X-rays in Tampa, Fla. One of the women learned
afterward that she was pregnant, and agonized that her fetus might have been
harmed, according to their attorney, Warren Hope Dawson. The baby was born
healthy. Customs policy requires a pregnancy test before a woman is X-rayed,
but Dauwson said the pregnant woman was not tested.
A 51-year-old widow returning from an around-the-world trip was held for 22
hours at a San Francisco hospital and given a powerful laxative while
inspectors watched her bowel movements. Amanda Buritica of Port Chester,
N.Y., won a $451,001 lawsuit last February against the Customs Service.
A Boston nurse, Bosede Adedeji, won $215,000 in a similar lawsuit in 1991
after she was stopped at Logan International Airport as she returned from
visiting her sick son in Nigeria. A judge ruled that the officers lacked
sufficient suspicion to subject her to an X-ray and pelvic exam.
Customs officials note that less than 2 percent of the 68 million fliers who
pass through customs each year have their luggage opened. Far fewer -
49,000 people - are personally searched, usually with a pat down. Strip
searches are performed by officers of the same gender.
The customs review found 19 passengers who were subjected to pelvic or rectal
exams by doctors while inspectors watched. Drugs were found in almost
two-thirds of those cases.
Congress and courts have given the Customs Service broad authority to search
for illegal imports.
The Supreme Court ruled that customs officers at airports and border
crossings don't need the probable cause or warrants that police need to
search possessions. Customs officers can perform a strip search based on
"reasonable suspicion" that someone might be hiding something illegal.
A customs handbook obtained by The Associated Press advises officers that
reasonable suspicion usually requires a combination of factors, including
someone who: appears nervous, wears baggy clothing, gives vague or
contradictory answers about travel plans, acts unusually polite or
argumentative, wears sunglasses or acts sick. Race isn't cited.
Customs officers can detain people for hours, even days, without allowing
them a telephone call to a lawyer or relative or charging them with a crime.
Inspectors say they keep detainees from making calls so drug associates
aren't tipped off. Generally, if someone is detained for eight hours or more,
a federal prosecutor is notified.
Richards is among more than 80 black females who filed a class-action lawsuit
claiming they were singled out for strip searches at O'Hare because of race
and gender.
The agency has hired an outside contractor to review how inspectors deal with
the public, and is exploring ways to make the system less hostile.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Tossounian Is A Hero (A letter to the editor of The Kitchener-Waterloo
Record, in Ontario, says Jeannette Tossounian, a Kitchener dispenser
of medical marijuana, is like Florence Nightingale, or those who helped Jews
escape from Nazi death camps.)
Date: Sun, 06 Dec 1998 22:18:40 -0500
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: PUB LTE: Tossounian Is A Hero
Reply-To: medmj@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org
Newshawk: seedling@golden.net (Starr)
Source: Kitchener-Waterloo Record (Canada)
Contact: recordletters@southam.ca
Website: http://www.southam.com/kitchenerwaterloorecord/
Copyright: Kitchener-Waterloo Record 1998
Author: Pat Dolan
Pubdate: Thursday, 3 Dec 1998
Section: Letters to the Editor
Note: The article this PUB LTE references is at:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1122.a04.html
TOSSOUNIAN IS A HERO
Philip Jalsevac's Nov. 28 article, Illegal Medicine, was inspiring.
Kitchener residents have every reason to be proud of the Record and of
Jeannette Tossounian, their own native Florence Nightingale. She has the
kind of concern for others which moved those who risked all during the war
years to help Jews escape the death camps.
Tossounian is an example of selfless heroinism who will send an enduring
and inspiring message to young people everywhere for her courage, her
survival, her message, her life.
To her -- and, symbolically, through her to Lynn Harichy and the others of
that precious band, those few unacknowledged, oft misunderstood, frequently
maligned dedicated ones -- I return the blessing so dearly bought, so
freely bestowed.
Pat Dolan
Vancouver
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Parents 'Grew Drugs For Kids' (The Courier-Mail, in Australia,
says a Queensland couple accused of supplying marijuana to their children
allegedly told police they did so to prevent them from buying drugs
elsewhere. Police also will claim that homegrowing the drugs allowed
the parents to know what type of drugs their sons were taking, as well as
controlling their drug intake, stopping them from stealing and sneaking
around the house.)
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 16:52:11 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Parents 'Grew Drugs For Kids'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: kenbo01@ozemail.com.au (Ken Russell)
Pubdate: Thu, 3 Dec 1998
Source: Courier-Mail, The (Australia)
Page: 3
Contact: cmletters@qnp.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.thecouriermail.com.au/
Copyright: News Limited 1998
PARENTS 'GREW DRUGS FOR KIDS'
A QUEENSLAND couple accused of supplying marijuana to their children
allegedly told police they did so to prevent them from buying drugs
elsewhere.
Police will allege the couple from Marsden, in Logan City, grew
marijuana at home and their three children regularly smoked marijuana
in their bedrooms.
Police will allege that they found a pipe and marijuana at the
couple's house and cuttings of a plant in the backyard.
They also will allege that the marijuana was grown for personal use
and so that the children, two of whom were aged 13 and 14 at the time,
would not buy drugs somewhere else.
Police also will claim that homegrowing the drugs allowed the parents
to know what type of drugs their sons were taking, as well as
controlling their drug intake, stopping them from stealing and
sneaking around the house.
The couple, who cannot be named to protect their children's identity,
are conjointly facing seven drug-related charges.
The charges include supplying a dangerous drug to a minor, producing a
dangerous drug, possessing a dangerous drug and possessing a utensil
used for the smoking of a dangerous drug.
The offences allegedly took place at a house in Marsden between
October 1997 and March this year.
The couple, aged 41 and 46, were not required to appear in Beenleigh
Magistrates Court yesterday and the case was adjourned until February
4 for mention.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hashish Therapy for AIDS? (A translation of an article
from Suedkurier Konstanz, in Germany, says doctors attending
an international medical marihuana convention in Frankfurt
have asked that cannabis be made available via prescription,
just as opiates are.)
Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 12:14:20 -0800
To: mapnews@mapinc.org, mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Pat Dolan (pdolan@intergate.bc.ca)
Subject: Germany: Hashish Therapy for AIDS?
Newshak: Anke Schultz-Gora (asg@fh-konstanz.de)
Source: Suedkurier Konstanz (Germany)
Copyright: Suedkurier Konstanz 1998
Pubdate: 3 Dec 98
Contact: sk-online@suedkurier.de
Website: http://www.skol.de/
Translator: Pat Dolan (from German text)
(Note: Main points only slightly edited. Direct speech given in quotes. pd)
HASHISH THERAPY FOR AIDS?
Experts Request The Legalisation Of Marihuana For The Chronically Ill
Frankfurt - According to medical opinion, Hashish and marihuana in
prescribed doses may help to improve the quality of life for the
chronically ill and for those suffering from AIDS. They should be available
on prescription just as the opiates are. This is what doctors attending the
International 'Medical Marihuana' Congress in Frankfurt have requested.
In most countries the prescription of cannabis products is forbidden . As
Rainer Ullman, chairman of the German Society for Drug Addiction Therapy
explained, the therapeutic effects of cannabis have been known for
thousands of years. It is known to provide a measure of relief for MS
patients who suffer from muscle cramps and spasticity; for cancer patients
suffering from nausea and vomiting, and for the loss of appetite which is
often one of the debillitating side-effects of cancer treatment. Cannabis
has no such unpleasant side effects when prescribed in therapeutic doses.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies, Year 4, Number 40 (A summary
of European and international drug policy news, from CORA in Italy)
Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 12:39:28 +0100
To: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
From: CORA Belgique (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
Subject: CORAFax No. 40 (EN)
Sender: owner-hemp@efn.org
ANTIPROHIBITIONIST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD ....
Year 4 #40, December 3 1998
***
Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies
Edited by the CORA - Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, federated to
- TRP-Transnational Radical Party (NGO, consultive status, I)
- The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War
***
director: Vincenzo Donvito
All rights reserved
***
http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet
mailto:cora.news@agora.stm.it
CORA NEWS
RUSSIA- Nikolaj Khramov, co-ordinator of the Radical Party, says that a
report by the Ministry of Health shows that 90% of AIDS cases are related
to the use of injected drugs. The Government, therefore, is responsible of
not putting into act harm reduction policies.
***
ITALY- PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONING ON THE NEGATED USE OF METHADONE IN PRISON
This questioning has been presented by Senator Pietro Milio of the Lista
Pannella in relation to what happens to drug addicts in the prisons of
Savona and Sanremo.
***
ITALY- AIDS / THE 1st OF DECEMBER HYPOCRACY
CORA accuses the Minister of Health because although officially prisons
guarantee cures for AIDS victims they do not guarantee methadone, which is
the key-substance in prevention, for drug addicts.
NEWS FROM THE WORLD
***
000369 29/11/98
E.U. / ITALY
CONSUMERS
IL GIORNALE
Research by the Italian High Institute for Health that has been performed
in an area of Rome on behalf of the local SERT (Public Service for Drug
Addicts) says that 99.8% of children under 10 are familiar with drugs and
alcohol. More research of the same kind will therefore be performed in
other parts of the capital city.
***
000370 28/11/98
E.U. / IRELAND
CRIME
HERALD TRIBUNE
A Court of Justice in Dublin has condemned a 34-year-old man for the murder
of Monica Guerin, a journalist who was well known for her inquiries on crime
and drug traffic. The man, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment,
pleaded innocent and admitted only to knowing the drug pushers who
actually committed the crime.
***
000374 25/11/98
E.U. / AUSTRIA / VIENNA
HEALTH
DIE PRESSE
Vienna's man in charge of public health, Mr. Rieder, is promoting
research on the benefits that cannabis can bring to cancer and AIDS
patients.
***
000378 02/11/98
E.U. / NL
HEALTH
FRANKFURTER
Research commissioned by the Dutch government indicates that ecstasy
damages the brain. Maybe it does not do so irremediably, but surely for
medium and long periods of time.
***
000371 27/11/98
E.U. / GERMANY
INITIATIVE
FRANKFURTER
The Government of Rhineland-Westphalia has set aside 900,000 DM to create
centres for assisting drug addicts and to begin a program of controlled
distribution of heroin in 9 cities of the region.
***
000377 28/11/98
EUROPE / SWITZERL
INITIATIVE
MISCELLANEOUS NEWPAPERS FROM / 28/11 TO 01/12
73.9% of the citizens who went to vote in the 'Droleg' referenda said NO to
a liberalisation of drugs and to their sale and use under state consent.
Antiprohibitionism and the fear of becoming an international drug
supermarket have won this round.
***
000372 30/11/98
E.U. / GERMANY
LAWS
SUEDDEUTSCHE Z.
Regarding the drug question, Germany's new left-wing Government is
concentrating more on the aspect of health than on the one of public order.
The strategy it is adopting rests upon information, help given to drug
addicts through an official recognition of the existing assistance centres
and a wider attention to the alcohol and tobacco problem.
***
000373 25/11/98
E.U. / NL / AMSTERDAM
MARKET
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 25/11 / LIBERATION 26/11 / LE MONDE 28/11
Owing to their well known tolerant regulations the Dutch have become
Europe's experts on the use of cannabis. In Holland, in fact, 100 tons of
cannabis are produced every year and gets promoted through initiatives like
the 'Cannabis Cup' (21-28 of November), during which connoisseurs may try
75 differnt kinds of marijuana.
***
000375 30/11/98
E.U.
WAR ON DRUGS
DER SPIEGEL
The British police have asked their German, Dutch and Belgian colleagues to
help fight the diffusion on the market of new and very dangerous types of
ecstasy. This goal will be extremely arduous to accomplish, because the
substances in question are, to this day, legal.
***
000376 30/11/98
ASIA / IRAN
WAR ON DRUGS
CORRIERE DELLA SERA
The White House has officially declared that Iran will soon be cancelled
from the list of countries that are indicated as being major drug
producers. This decision has also been promoted by Pino Arlacchi, who also
says that Iran confiscates 75% of the world production of opium and heroin
and has intensified frontier controls with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
***
000379 28/11/98
AMERICA / COLUMBIA
WAR ON DRUGS
THE ECONOMIST
Many bosses of the Cali cartel are in jail, but many also have been
assasinated in prison by their successors. Illegal traffic also involves
parts of the army, and the presence of American DEA agents is sometimes
seen, maybe not unjustifiedly, as a conspiracy.
***
CLIPPINGS
HUNGARY-Two thousand people have demonstrated against the proposed law that
will punish anyone found in possession of drugs with three years of jail.
The Government itself, which is proposing the law, had committed itself to a
more liberal stance on the question.
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[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for Dec. 3-9