-------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendations for the Implementation of Ballot Measure 67,
Medical Use of Marijuana (The text of the guidelines proposed for state
law enforcement officials' compliance with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act,
released today by the Oregon Attorney General's Work Group on Medical
Marijuana - plus a favorable introduction by Dr. Rick Bayer,
a chief petitioner for the ballot measure.)
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF BALLOT MEASURE 67 (MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA)
Proposed by the Attorney General's Work Group on Medical Marijuana
From: "Rick Bayer" (ricbayer@teleport.com)
To: "Rick Bayer" (ricbayer@teleport.com)
Subject: Oregon AG recommendations for implementation of M67
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 12:07:42 -0800
Friends
I have scanned this into my computer and it is below as well as on an
attached Word 95 file. I thought this might be less cumbersome and less
expensive than faxes but please recall that with scanning and changing
format into and out of HTML (rich text), the original formatting will be
lost. Scanning creates errors and I may have missed some typos when
proofreading. Some things, such as page numbers, may seem strange or
irrelevant but it is readable and hopefully you all will find it useful.
The Word 95 file will retain the original formatting.
Personally, I am pleased with the AG recommendations. They seem fair
and they call on police officers to use restraint when considering the
arrest of patients.
If you get asked, my suggested response to the media would go something
like this, "We believe the AG recommendations are fair and we look
forward to working with the OHD to make the necessary rules. Our
primary concern with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act is that the Oregon
legislature not betray voters like they did after the Oregon Death With
Dignity Act was passed." (or similar)
In summary, we are content with AG report, happy with the progress at
OHD, and need to put the legislature "on notice" that if they once again
betray the voters that we will shout it out loud to any media person who
will listen.
As always, thank you for your support. If you have not read the law
lately, please consider this an invitation to go to
http://www.teleport.com/~omr and link to the OMMA and/or the mmj
bibliography.
Finally, please note that like other herbals, patients will usually need
to educate their doctors on mmj. The mmj biblio would be a good place
to start and I especially recommend downloading and giving one's doctor
the _JAMA_ article by Lester Grinspoon from 1995 because it's relatively
short but still fairly comprehensive.
Rick
Rick Bayer, MD, FACP
6800 SW Canyon Drive
Portland, OR 97225
503-292-1035 (voice)
503-297-0754 (fax)
mailto:ricbayer@teleport.com
***
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION
OF BALLOT MEASURE 67 (MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA)
Proposed by the Attorney General's Work Group on Medical Marijuana
I. BACKGROUND.
A. Ballot Measure 67 provides several ways in which a claim of medical
need may be raised by a person suspected or accused of unlawfully
possessing, manufacturing or delivering marijuana. These are:
1. An "affirmative defense" to a charge of unlawful possession or
production of marijuana, which the defendant would be required to prove
by a preponderance of the evidence (Section 6(1); ORS 161.055(2));
2. A "defense" of choice of evils, which the state would be required to
disprove beyond a reasonable doubt (Section 6(3); 01(5 161.055(1); 01(5
161.190; ORS 161.200) 1; and
3. An "exception" from the criminal laws that prohibit possession,
delivery or production of marijuana and related offenses. This exception
applies to persons who have received a medical use permit from the
Oregon Department of Health or who have a pending application for a
permit. Its apparent intent is to preclude even an arrest or citation.
(Section 4).
***
1261.200, Choice of evils.
(1) Unless inconsistent with other provisions of chapter 743, Oregon
Laws 1971, defining justifiable use of physical force, or with some
other provision of law, conduct which would otherwise constitute an
offense is justifiable mad not criminal when:
(a) That conduct is necessary as an emergency measure to avoid an
imminent public or private injury; and
(b) The threatened injury is of such gravity that, according to ordinary
standards of intelligence and morality, the desirability and urgency of
avoiding the injury clearly outweigh the desirability of avoiding the
injury sought to be prevented by the statute defining the offense in
issue.
(2) The necessity and justifiability of conduct under subsection (I) of
this section shall not rest upon considerations pertaining only to the
morality and advisability of the statute, either in its general
application or with respect to its application to a particular class of
cases arising thereunder.
[end of page] 1
B. The "exception" from the criminal laws, and the permit system upon
which it is based, will not take effect until May 1, 1999. (Section 19).
However, both the "affirmative defense" and the choice of evils
"defense" apply to offenses committed on or after December 3. 1998.
(Section 19). These interim recommendations are addressed to medical use
claims that may arise as either an affirmative defense or a choice of
evils defense in relation to conduct occurring on or between December 3,
1998, and April 30, 1999. They do not discuss the criminal law
"exception" or the medical use permit system.
II. PRESUMPTIVE INDICATIONS THAT MARIJUANA IS NOT BEING GROWN,
POSSESSED OR USED FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES.
A. The Need to Make a Presumptive Determination Regarding a Potential
Claim of Medical Use.
Because Ballot Measure 67 prohibits law enforcement officers from
harming, neglecting, injuring or destroying any property connected with
the medical use of marijuana, it places a substantial burden on law
enforcement officers to anticipate potential medical use claims and to
determine their validity in the initial stages of an investigation. If
the district attorney or a court determines that a medical use defense
applies, seized marijuana, and paraphernalia associated with the
production or use of marijuana ("paraphernalia"), must be returned to
the person from whom it was seized. Therefore, before taking any action
that results in the destruction of marijuana or paraphernalia, officers
who are concerned with accommodating those who may have valid claims of
medical use and also minimizing the civil liabilities of governmental
agencies should attempt to establish whether a valid claim of medical
use could be raised.
B. It is strongly recommended that an officer make a presumptive
determination regarding to validity of any actual or potential medical
use claim before making a decision to:
1. Destroy marijuana or paraphernalia;
2. Seize as evidence growing marijuana plants or paraphernalia tat is
likely to deteriorate while in police custody; or
3. Seize property for civil forfeiture.
C. Additionally, although the state is not required to disprove defenses
or affirmative defenses to establish probable cause, 2 it is preferable
that an officer seek evidence
***
2. The "exception" from the criminal laws for medical use permit holders
and applicants, which takes effect on May 1, 1999, may alter the state's
burden in establishing probable cause.
[page] 2
regarding the validity of a potential medical use claim before making a
decision to:
1. Seek a search warrant;
2. Seek an arrest warrant; or
3. Make a warrantless rest.
D. Presumptive Indications.
In most cases, the following circumstances should constitute sufficient
evidence that any medical use claim subsequently raised could be proven
invalid:
1. An admission by the individual that the marijuana was not being grown
or used for a medical purpose.
2. Clear evidence that marijuana was being sold by the individual - for
example, a controlled buy, sales observed by an informant
3. Marijuana packaged for sale in commercial quantities combined with other
circumstantial indicia of ongoing sales, such as scales, packaging
materials, records of drug sales or cash.
III. OTHER (NON-PRESUMPTIVE) INDICATIONS THAT MARIJUANA IS NOT BEING
GROWN, POSSESSED OR USED FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES.
Each of the following circumstances is strongly indicative that marijuana
use is not for medical use, but these circumstances should be evaluated
in light of the other evidence:
1. A number of plants or a quantity of dried marijuana that
significantly exceeds the quantities described in Section 7(1) of
Ballot Measure 67 (i.e., four immature plants, three mature plants and
up to one ounce of marijuana for each mature plant "if the person is
present at a location at which marijuana is produced", or up to one
ounce of marijuana at other locations);
2. Efforts to divert electrical power for growing marijuana; or
3. History of arrests or convictions for marijuana offenses.
Before basing critical decisions upon information obtained from a
confidential informant, however, carefully evaluate whether taking the
proposed action would later require that the identity of the informant
be disclosed.
[page] 3
IV. INVESTIGATING ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL CLAIMS OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA USE.
A. Seeking Evidence of a Debilitating Medical Condition.4
1. Why is the individual growing or possessing marijuana? (This should
be an open-ended question that does not suggest a specific answer.)
2. If the individual claims medical use:
a. Has the individual submitted documentation to the Oregon Health
Division?
b. Has the individual ever been diagnosed with a "debilitating medical
condition"? What condition(s)? When?
c. What is the name of the individual's doctor(s)? How long has the
individual seen the doctor? What is the name and address of the clinic,
hospital or health organization where the doctor is employed? Has the
individual's doctor indicated that marijuana may mitigate the effects of
the individual's condition? If so, does the individual have valid,
written documentation from his or her physician? What were the doctor's
instructions? Will the individual sign a waiver to release his or her
medical records?
d. How long has the individual suffered front the condition? What are
the symptoms for which the individual uses marijuana? Why does the
individual prefer to use marijuana instead of other medical practices?
***
4 Section 4(i)(b) of the measure requires that an individual have a
"debilitating medical condition" in order to engage in the medical use
of marijuana. Section 3(2) of the measure defines "debilitating medical
condition" as:
(a) Cancer, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus
or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, or treatment of these
conditions;
(b) A medical condition or treatment for a medical condition that
produces, for a specific patient, one or more of the following:
(i) Cachexia;
(ii) Severe pain;
(iii) Severe nausea;
(iv) Seizures, including but not limited to seizures caused by epilepsy; or
(v) Persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to spasms
caused by multiple sclerosis; or
(c) Any other medical condition or treatment for a medical condition
adopted by the [health] division by rule or approved by the division
pursuant to a petition submitted pursuant to section 14 of this Act.
[page] 4
e. How much marijuana does the individual use? What volume does the
individual use on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis?
3. Does the individual have a history of arrests or convictions for
marijuana offenses?
B. Seeking Evidence of Sales.
1. Is there evidence that the individual has been engaging in the sale
of marijuana: scales, packaging materials, records of drug sales, cash?
2. Is the size and. sophistication of the grow operation consistent with
personal use? Did the individual divert electrical power?
3. How long has the individual been growing marijuana? (In other words,
has the individual been growing marijuana since before the effective
date of Ballot Measure 67?) Where did the individual obtain his or her
paraphernalia?
4. Determining the Individual's Financial Resources.
a. Is the individual (or individual's spouse or partner) employed? Wit
whom? How long? What is the individual's (spouse or partner's) monthly
or yearly income from this employment?
b. Does the individual have other sources of income: rental property,
stocks, bonds, legal settlement, inheritance? How much? What is the name
and address of the source? Did the individual declare this income when
filing state and federal tax returns?
c. What are the individual's (or individual's spouse or partner's)
debts? Does the individual (or spouse or partner) own his or her own
borne, vehicle(s) or business? Is the individual's home or business
mortgaged? Does the individual have any other outstanding loans or
debts: car loans, credit cards, judgments, unpaid taxes? What is the
name and address of the individual's lenders and other debtors? What is
the rate of repayment?
V. SEIZURE AND DISPOSITION OF MARIJUANA OR PARAPHERNALIA -MITIGATION
OF POTENTIAL CIVIL DAMAGES.
In every case, a prudent officer should seek consent from the
appropriate person before destroying marijuana or paraphernalia
associated with the production or use of marijuana. When such consent
cannot be obtained, the officer must decide how to handle marijuana and
[page] 5
paraphernalia that the officer has probable cause to believe it is
contraband or evidence of criminal conduct:
A. When the Officer Has a Presumptive Indication That No Valid Medical
Use Claim Can Be Raised (see discussion above under section II).
Under these circumstances, an officer will usually be justified in
seizing and disposing of marijuana and in seizing and thereafter seeking
a destruction order for paraphernalia. This may include the seizure and
destruction of all marijuana (see discussion above under section II).
B. When the Officer Does Not Have a Presumptive Indication That Any
Claim of Medical Use Would Be Fraudulent.
Each of the following procedures has been suggested and considered, but
the Work Group was unable to arrive at a consensus with respect to any
one of them. It is recommended that each jurisdiction arrive at an
appropriate local policy:
1. Seize only enough small cuttings of marijuana to conduct confirmatory
testing. Document the extent of the grow through photography or
videotaping. Do not harvest or otherwise destroy growing plants and do
not seize or destroy paraphernalia.
2. If there are more growing plants than the number specified in Section
7(1) of Ballot Measure 67 (three mature plants and four immature
plants), harvest all plants in excess of the specified number, but do
not seize or destroy paraphernalia.
3. If there are significantly more growing plants than the number
specified in Section 7(1) of Ballot Measure 67, harvest all growing
plants and seize all paraphernalia (on the assumption that the medical
use defense will not be valid as to any part of the grow).
C. Marijuana Grown on Public Lands or on Private Property Without the
Owner's Consent.
Under these circumstances, an officer usually will be justified in
seizing and disposing of marijuana and in seizing and thereafter seeking
a destruction order for paraphernalia.
[end of page] 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Corruption In The System (The San Mateo County Times
rewrites the recent favorable review of "The Prison-Industrial Complex"
in The Atlantic Monthly, by syndicated columnist Molly Ivins.)
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 14:20:17 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Corruption In The System
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Tom O'Connell, MD
Pubdate: Wed, 9 Dec 1998
Source: San Mateo County Times (CA)
Contact: eangsmc@newschoice.com
Website: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/alameda/smct/
Copyright: 1998 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Columnist: Molly Ivins mollyivins@star-telegram.com
Note: The superb referenced article, which is from the Atlantic Monthly, is
posted, in three parts, at:
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a04.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a05.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1114.a01.html
CORRUPTION IN THE SYSTEM
In the current issue of `The Atlantic Monthly' is "The Prison-Industrial
Complex," a major investigation of just how out of control and increasingly
corrupt the system is. But in order to understand the mistakes we're making
in responding to the cry for more prisons, you first have to understand why
we think we need them.
Eric Schlosser reports:
"The prison boom in the United States is a recent phenomenon. Throughout
the first three-quarters of this century the nation's incarceration rate
remained relatively stable, at about 110 prison inmates for every 100,000
people. In the mid-1970's the rate began to climb, doubling in the 1980's
and then again in the 1990's. The rate is now 445 per 100,000: among adult
men it is 1,100 per 100,000. During the past two decades roughly a thousand
new prisons and jails have been built in the United States. Nevertheless,
America's prisons are more overcrowded now than when the building spree
began, and the inmate population continues to increase by 50,000 to 80,000
a year."
Among Schlosser's other findings:
* The proportion of offenders being sent to prison each year for violent
crimes has actually fallen during the prison boom. In 1980, about half the
people entering state prison were violent offenders; in 1995, less than a
third had been convicted of violent crime.
* The enormous increase in America's inmate populations is the direct
consequence of the sentences given to nonviolent offenders -- mostly drug
offenders. Crimes that in other countries would lead to community service,
fines or drug treatment (or would not be crimes at all) are punished here
with increasingly long prison terms, the most expensive of all possible
options.
* Since 1991, the rate of violent crime in the United States has fallen by
about 20 percent, while the number of people in prison or jail has risen by
50 percent. This leads to a perfectly circular argument by those in the
prison-industrial complex: If crime is going up, we need to build more
prisons; if crime is going down, it's because we built more prisons -- and
building even more of them will drive the crime rate even lower. (For those
of you who missed Sociology I, the crime rate has dropped because the
crime-committing cohort -- those aged 15 to 24 -- is smaller;
unfortunately, it's about to go up again, and so will the crime rate.)
* About 70 percent of prison inmates are illiterate. About 200,000 of the 2
million incarcerated are seriously mentally ill. Sixty to 80 percent of
prisoners have a long history of substance abuse. The number of drug
treatment slots available in U.S. prisons has declined by more than one
half since 1993. Drug treatment is now available to just one in 10 inmates
who needs it.
* Among those arrested for violent crimes, the proportion of African-
Americans has changed little during the past 20 years; among those arrested
for drug crimes, the proportion who are African-American has tripled.
* The number of women sentenced to prison has increased 12 times since
1970; of the 80,000 women now in prison, about 70 percent are nonviolent
offenders. About 75 percent have children.
Schlosser's crucial findings are that the prison-industrial complex is a
set of bureaucratic, political and economic interests that encourage
increased spending on prisons, regardless of actual need. "It is not a
conspiracy, it is a confluence of special interests . . . politicians, both
liberal and conservative, who have used fear of crime to gain votes;
impoverished rural areas where prisons have become a cornerstone of
economic development; private companies that regard the roughly $35 billion
spent each year on corrections not as a burden on American taxpayers but as
a lucrative market; and government officials whose fiefdoms have expanded
along with the inmate population. . . . The prison-industrial complex
includes some of the nation's largest architectural and construction firms,
Wall Street investment banks and companies that sell everything from
security cameras to padded cells available in a `vast color selection.' "
Perhaps the most alarming conclusion is that the prison-industrial complex
is not just a set of interest groups and institutions. "It is also a state
of mind. The lure of big money is corrupting the nation's criminal-justice
system, replacing notions of public service with a drive for higher
profits. The eagerness of elected officials to pass `tough-on-crime'
legislation -- combined with their unwillingness to disclose the true costs
of these laws -- has encouraged all kinds of financial improprieties."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Drug War's Political Climate (An op-ed in The Hartford Courant
by a co-founder of the NORML chapter at Western Connecticut State University
in Danbury says the most damaging aspect of the drug war political climate,
and the one most in need of change, is not the ignoring of evidence,
but the demonization of those who express dissent. The United States
is one of the worst offenders in this category.)
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 20:47:55 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CT: PUB OPED: The Drug War's Political Climate
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Tom Von Deck
Pubdate: Wed, 09 Dec 1998
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Contact: letters@courant.com
Website: http://www.courant.com/
Copyright: 1998 The Hartford Courant
Author: Tom Von Deck
Note: Tom Von Deck is the Co-founder of a chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws at Western Connecticut State
University in Danbury, where he is a senior majoring in mathematics.
Note: In the center in large bold print: "Research is generally ignored in
favor of moral arguments and political posturing"
THE DRUG WAR'S POLITICAL CLIMATE
While members of the marijuana reform movement as well as drug policy
activists may disagree on what types of reform are needed, we all agree on
two issues: opposition to our current all-out war on some drugs and the
people who they are associated with, and the need for an open evaluation of
our current policies that is free of moral demonization.
The former will not be commented on in this writing. However, the latter
issue needs to be addressed in order to open the door for those who are
afraid to express dissent.
A number of major studies of drug policy have been released by government
appointed as well as independent commissions in Canada, the United States,
Australia, the Netherlands, England, and many other places, including
Connecticut.
None of these studies support what we're currently doing with our policies.
The Connecticut Law Revision Commission recommended a variety of reforms
last year, including decriminalization of marijuana possession, and some of
these recommendations were followed by legislation.
However, a positive response to such studies is the exception rather than
the rule.
Drug policy is one of the areas of public policy where research is
generally ignored in favor of moral arguments and political posturing.
President Nixon appointed a commission on marijuana, chaired by former
Pennsylvania Governor Raymond Shafer. When the study was completed and the
policy recommendations were released, the President didn't like what he
saw. So he ensured that the media pay no attention to it. They ignored it.
Since then, the federal government has refused requests for such studies.
The most damaging aspect of the drug war political climate, however, is not
the ignoring of evidence, but the demonization of all who express dissent.
After reading numerous newspaper articles from around the world on these
issues, I can safely conclude that the United States is one of the worst
offenders in this category.
A few years ago, Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders was fired for responding to
a question, saying that legalization should be studied. It was not even for
supporting legalization, but for advocating a study.
That's not all. Advocates of medical marijuana are daily being accused of
being leftover flower children or "drug users" whose sole agenda is to
"legalize all drugs" using a "trojan horse" disguised as medical use.
All who oppose the prosecution of those who find marijuana to be their only
hope are accused of using the sick and dying merely as an excuse to further
this "sinister" agenda. The accusers ignore the fact that the organizations
that have been pushing the recent wave of marijuana related voter
legislation initiatives are generally being run by doctors and AIDS patients.
There is currently a strong need to break the taboo and the stigma that
drug war critics must contend with every day.
The Lindesmith center, a drug policy think tank, recognized this reality
when they purchased two pages of ad space in the New York Times for an open
letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The letter appeared last June
on the first day of the United Nations special session on drug control.
It asked Annan to take the lead in "stimulating a frank and honest
evaluation of global drug control efforts". Among the 500 prominant
signatories: Former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, former
republican US Secretary of State George Schultz, and Walter Cronkite, as
well as health professionals, Nobel Laureates, and members of the criminal
justice system.
It was hoped that the credentials and titles of the signatories would add
some credibility to the argument and destroy the stereotypes. This goal was
achieved in part, but not without an explosion.
The letter sparked a world wide editorial debate in most major publications
and drew intense opposition from many public officials. A Wall Street
Journal editorial suggested that the signatories were bamboozled by the
"legalization" conspiracy, and that "the future of the debate would profit
if all of these people stated publicly whether they themselves use any of
these drugs recreationally"
One of the signers, Nobel-Prize winning economist and former Wall street
Journal columnist Milton Friedman, responded to this point in a published
letter saying "As for myself, I have not done so during the past 85-plus
years. But I make no guarantees for the future".
A.M. Rosenthal from the New York Times also wrote a damning article
claiming that the signatories were "legalizers" camouflaging their secret
sinister agenda to "legalize" drugs (whatever that means).
Retired General Barry McCaffrey, Clinton's drug czar, testified before
congress saying that "There is a carefully camouflaged, exorbitantly
funded, well-heeled, elitist group whose ultimate goal is to legalize drug
use in the United States" and "Through a slick misinformation campaign,
they perpetuated a fraud on the American people...so devious that even some
of the nation's most respected newspapers and sophisticated media are
capable of echoing their falsehoods".
The United Nations is now planning to draft international legislation that
would criminalize opposition to the drug war (Let's see the Land of the
Free get away with that one).
In summary, don't let anyone tell you that the war on drugs is only a
metaphor. It's a war. Just remember the words of James Reston: "...In any
war, the first casualty is common sense, and the second is free and open
discussion."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Press Clips - Joint Effort (The Village Voice, in New York,
paints an ugly portrait of media hacks who crashed an election-night
party in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project,
and pestered guests for marijuana.)
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 18:08:11 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: MMJ: Column: Press Clips: Joint Effort
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: kevzeese@laser.net
Pubdate: 9 - 15 Dec 1998
Source: Village Voice (NY)
Contact: editor@villagevoice.com
Website: http://www.villagevoice.com/
Copyright: 1998 VV Publishing Corporation
Columnist: Press Clips by cynthia cotts
Note: The Weekly Standard website is at http://www.weeklystandard.com/ and
their email address is editor@weeklystandard.com
JOINT EFFORT
Matt Labash, a staff writer for the conservative magazine The Weekly
Standard, has made it a trademark of his journalism to infiltrate left-wing
gatherings and ridicule them. So when Labash received an invitation to an
election-night party for medical marijuana supporters, he couldn't resist.
He called the Marijuana Policy Project, the D.C.-based lobbying group that
was hosting the party, and talked to MPP director of communications Chuck
Thomas.
"Will we see people smoking pot there?" asked Labash.
"No one will be smoking pot," Thomas recalls telling him, "but we can
introduce you to patients who use it for medical purposes, if you need a
photo."
The night of November 3, some 200 people attended the MPP party at Food for
Thought, a bar-restaurant near Dupont Circle. The mood was festive, as exit
polls were indicating strong voter support for medical marijuana referenda
in Washington, D.C., and several states. Around 11:30, as party goers were
drinking, dancing, and watching election returns on TV, Labash arrived with
David Bass, the deputy publisher of The Weekly Standard, and ordered a
couple of beers.
MPP volunteer Whitney Painter approached the two men, who stood out with
their slicked hair and suits. After a few minutes, she says, she realized
"they were on a mission. All they wanted to know was, could I buy pot for
them, did someone there have some, how much did I smoke. I said, 'You're
not going to find any marijuana here. That's not what this is about. It's
about sick people going to prison."'
Painter steered Bass and Labash to Chuck Thomas, whose account of the
interview follows. One of the two said, "You said there would be people
with pot here. How can we go about getting some?"
Thomas explained that the law had not yet gone into effect, but that when
it did, marijuana would be available to people who were seriously ill and
had a doctor's recommendation.
One of the reporters said, "But we listen to Cypress Hill! We watch Cheech
and Chong! How can we get some pot?"
Thomas answered, "If you have concerns about medical marijuana, tell me
what they are, and I'll try to address them."
Then Labash said, "Dave likes to smoke pot," upon which Bass gave Labash a
stern look. Labash said, "But Dave, you've smoked in front of me." Labash
was probably joking, but Thomas did not like being mocked. "I've done
hundreds of interviews," he says, "and this was the weirdest ever. They
were asking tabloid-quality questions, really just fishing and not catching
anything."
After midnight, the two journalists continued to buttonhole party goers.
After about 10 people complained to MPP executive director Robert Kampia
that they were being asked for pot, he decided to put an end to it. His
account follows. Kampia walked up to Bass and Labash mid interview, saying,
"Have you asked anyone here for marijuana, in any way, shape, or form?"
"No," said one.
"Sort of," said the other.
"That's it!" Kampia said. "You're out of here!"
"We're the media," said one. "You can't tell us to leave!"
According to one observer, David Bass puffed up his chest and joked that he
was a marine. Then a rumble broke out, as Kampia grabbed Bass by the lapels
and pushed him. "His beer went flying, his friend lunged at me, and all
kinds of Marijuana Policy Project people dived in the middle," recalls
Kampia. When the dust cleared, the two reporters were gone.
Thomas and Kampia are still fuming about the incident, which they recounted
to the Washington Post, to no avail. "It didn't occur to them that any of
us could be sincere," says Kampia. "They were sure this was a facade so we
could deal drugs in the back room, rather than a legitimate political issue."
Labash calls the story ludicrous. "I may have jokingly inquired about the
propensity of medical marijuana activists to use marijuana at their medical
marijuana party, but in absolutely no way did I attempt to procure
marijuana, medical or otherwise," he says. The November 16 Weekly Standard
ran a series of election-night vignettes, but not a word about the party at
Food for Thought.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
City Hearing about Cannabis Cafe turns into Kangaroo Court (Vancouver Sun
columnist Ian Mulgrew says the city council hearing Tuesday in Vancouver,
British Columbia, regarding Hemp BC's business license turned into
a farcical kangaroo court.)
From: creator@drugsense.org (Cannabis Culture)
To: cclist@drugsense.org
Subject: CC: HempBC Hearing at City Hall
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 22:58:56 -0800
Lines: 176
Sender: creator@drugsense.org
Reply-To: creator@drugsense.org
Organization: Cannabis Culture (http://www.cannabisculture.com/)
City Hearing about Cannabis Cafe turns into Kangaroo Court
Vancouver Sun
sunletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Wednesday, Dec 9, 1998
By Ian Mulgrew
Vancouver city council's war against those who would make the city into
an Amsterdam on the Pacific, particularly the owners of the Cannabis
Cafe, turned into farce Tuesday.
Councillor George Puil, who was filling in for Mayor Philip Owen
(absent because of foot-in-mouth disease), and city lawyer John Nelson
turned what was ostensibly a hearing to determine if the cafe should
get a business licence into a kangaroo court.
Even two of his fellow councillors were astounded at the travesty that
occurred.
"Out to lunch," said Nancy Chiavario.
"Ridiculous," muttered Alan Herber.
The 20 or so spectators hurled worse epithets after a three-hour
display of municipal hubris.
At issue was the city's refusal to grant a 1998 business licence to
Shelley Francis, who operates Sister Icee's Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe
at 307 West Hastings Street.
These establishments were formerly owned by Marc Emery, who was a thorn
in the side of Owen and the police department because of his
pro-marijuana activism. (Owen wasn't in the chair or even present
because comments he made to a reporter forced him to remove himself
from the hearing because of the appearance of bias.)
Rather than cleaning up the crack dealers at Main and Hastings, police
chose to devote the time of undercover police officers to target
against Emery, whose upscale, trendy operations offered coffees,
snacks, hemp products and the illicit herb.
Faced with criminal charges and continuing police harassment, Emery
sold his businesses to Francis. Although she signed an agreement with
the city promising not to sell, promote, or facilitate the sale of
marijuana and has met the necessary requirements for a business permit,
Francis finds herself being persecuted, too.
City staff, for instance, hired an auditor to check whether she was
paying GST or PST, even though those taxes are completely outside
municipal jurisdiction.
When the business licence hearing was originally scheduled - so staff
could justify their egregious behaviour and Francis could make her case
- she found herself being damned by evidence gathered in a criminal
case, launched against her for selling drug paraphernalia such as pipes
and rolling papers.
Francis has not been convicted of any offence in the last five years
and she has not faced trial yet for breaching a section of the criminal
code whose constitutionality is greatly in doubt. As a result, her
lawyers asked BC Supreme Court to prevent council from jeopardizing her
right to a fair trial by airing evidence related to the questionable
charge.
An agreement was reached whereby Francis agreed to withdraw her
application for an injunction in exchange for the city focusing its
case on specific licensing concerns.
No sooner had Tuesday's hearing begun than it was evident Nelson had no
intention of abiding by the spirit of that agreement. "We are relying
on a literal interpretation of the agreement," he said smugly.
In his presentation, Nelson spent his time documenting Emery's
transgressions and referring councillors to the very police material
that is before the courts.
"The agreement we had with the city is being totally violated," said
ex-councillor Jonathan Baker, one of Francis' lawyers.
The constant objections by her lawyers at the way the hearing was being
conducted were mocked by Chairman Puil's pithy: "Noted."
When he couldn't finish the hearing Tuesday, Puil arbitrarily decided
it would reconvene Thursday.
Although lawyers for Francis and the city had agreed it would be put
over until the New Year, and although councillors were advised by the
clerk's office that it would be put over, Puil waved their complaints
aside. If it isn't finished on Thursday, he said he'd hold hearings on
Christmas Day and he didn't care who could come.
***
Ridiculous. Out to lunch. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Note to Readers: Marc Emery never sold marijuana at his Cannabis Cafe
nor at Hemp BC, although he did and still does sell some of the best
seeds available anywhere. He can be reached for seed orders at (604)
681-4690.
Dan Loehndorf
Assistant Editor
Cannabis Culture Magazine
***
CClist, the electronic news and information service of Cannabis Culture
To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@drugsense.org containing
the command "unsubscribe cclist".
***
Subscribe to Cannabis Culture Magazine!
Write to: 324 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, CANADA, V6B 1A1
Call us at: (604) 669-9069, or fax (604) 669-9038. Visit Cannabis
Culture online at http://www.cannabisculture.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Panama Pull-Out May Hurt DoD's Anti-Drug Mission (Jane's Defence Weekly
says US military counter-narcotics operations in Latin America are expected
to suffer, at least temporarily, when the Department of Defense
pulls its forces out of Panama next year.)
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 13:52:01 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Panama Pull-Out May Hurt DoD's Anti-Drug Mission
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Paul Lewin
Source: Jane's Defence Weekly
Copyright: 1998 Jane's Information Group Limited
Pubdate: Wed, 9 Dec 1998
Website: http://jdw.janes.com/
Author: Bryan Bender
PANAMA PULL-OUT MAY HURT DOD'S ANTI-DRUG MISSION
CARTAGENA, Colombia -- US military counter-narcotics operations in Latin
America are expected to suffer, at least temporarily, when the USA pulls
its forces out of Panama next year.
US authorities have yet to identify new forward operating sites in the
region from which to launch airborne monitoring and detection missions.
Now that negotiations over a future US military presence in Panama have
broken down, the US government has begun lobbying nations in Central and
South America, including Ecuador, Honduras and Peru to establish a series
of small outposts to replace its military bases in Panama. However, those
locations will not be in place by 1 May 1999 when the runway at Howard Air
Force Base in Panama, the primary staging area, is scheduled to shut down.
The USA will then be forced to conduct its counter-narcotics flights from
the continental USA and Puerto Rico, where US Army South, US Special
Operations Command South, air force elements and about 15,000 reserves will
be stationed.
"We would be hard-pressed right now if we got an agreement tomorrow to have
a fully functioning forward operating base on 1 May, which simply says to
do the business we need to do in Latin America, at least initially, we're
going to have to make heavier reliance on operations that initiate from the
continental United States and Puerto Rico and other fixed bases that remain
in the region," such as Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras, Marine Corps Gen
Charles Wilhelm, commander-in-chief of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM),
told Jane's Defence Weekly on 1 December.
This will strain the Department of Defense's (DoDs) ability to maintain a
watchful eye on drug shipments and transit routes and provide help in
eradicating drug production centres, Gen Wilhelm said. Without Panama as a
staging area, the counter-narcotics operations are also likely to cost more
in fuel and other logistics.
"When we commit aircraft to provide radar surveillance they are not
performing the mission while they are en route from a distant base to what
I call the mission box," he said. "They are only effective once they are in
the mission box. If that is a long transit distance then one of two things
are going to occur: you are either going to commit more assets to provide
the same relative level of coverage; or if you try to do that kind of job
with the same number of assets then there is going to be some diminishment
in coverage."
In meetings in Colombia last week, during the third Defence Ministerial of
the Americas meeting, officials from the US Departments of Defense and
State broached the subject of setting up at least two or three forward
operating bases with Ecuador, Honduras and Peru, according to officials
involved in the discussions.
According to Peter Romero, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American
Affairs, various countries in the region were receptive to the idea,
although no formal agreements have been reached. Nevertheless, pressed for
time, the US government wants to move quickly.
The US is looking to establish forward operating locations with maintenance
and housing facilities but no permanently stationed aircraft and no more
than a dozen permanently stationed personnel, mindful of Latin American
sensitivities. The best solution would be one or more of these "lily pads"
in the Caribbean Basin, Central America and in the Andean mountains of
South America, Gen Wilhelm said.
However, the extent to which the DoD can replicate its counter-narcotics
missions from Panama - about 4,000 troops are located at Howard and an
estimated 15,000 anti-drug flights are flown annually - will depend on the
number and location of the forward operating locations, Romero said.
Meanwhile, the State Department will continue to spearhead the negotiations
while SOUTHCOM determines which sites have sufficient infrastructure to
meet US military requirements such as security and affordability.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, No. 77 (The weekly summary of drug policy news
from DrugSense leads with a feature article - Protecting your privacy during
a drug-war strip search. The Weekly News in Review includes such articles
about Prisons as - The prison-industrial complex; Our prisons have bigger
problems; Jail guards smuggled contraband, paper says; and Shipping inmates
no solution. An article about Law Enforcement - Selling lies - win at all
costs series. Articles about Drug Policy include - Eye at the keyhole; School
board to ask the US Supreme Court to reinstate drug testing; Customs Service
drug searches prompt outrage, lawsuits; Book Review of "Whiteout" - The
C(ocaine)I(mportation)A(gency). Articles about Medical Marijuana include -
Groups seek results of marijuana vote; Pot center founder fights charges;
Cannabis buyers' co-op to reopen, but not sell pot; and Rx - marijuana.
International News includes - Cocaine flood raises fears of HIV upsurge;
Congress steps up aid for Colombians to combat drugs; Hitman's victim had
links to drug gang. Hot Off The 'Net focuses on the group Family Watch,
as well as the topic of breaking news stories. The Quote of the Week cites
William Lloyd Garrison. The Fact of the Week - Prohibition Pollutes.)
Date: Wed, 09 Dec 1998 13:18:40 -0800
To: mgreer@mapinc.org
From: Mark Greer (MGreer@mapinc.org)
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, December, 9 1998 No. 77
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, December, 9 1998, No. 77
A DrugSense publication
This newsletter may be read on-line at:
http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/1998/ds98.n77.html
Do you find this Newsletter useful? Can you help us with a donation? Please
see: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm You can donate on-line quickly and
easily! Or see below for other options.
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
Protecting your privacy during a drug-war strip search
by James E. Gierach
* Weekly News in Review
Prisons-
The Prison-Industrial Complex
Column: Our Prisons Have Bigger Problems
Jail Guards Smuggled Contraband, Paper Says
Editorial: Shipping Inmates No Solution
Law Enforcement-
Selling Lies - Win At All Costs series
Policy-
Editorial: Eye at the Keyhole
School Board To Ask The U.S. Supreme Court To Reinstate Drug Testing
Customs Service Drug Searches Prompt Outrage, Lawsuits
Book Review of "Whiteout": The C(ocaine)I(mportation)A(gency)
Medical Marijuana-
Groups Seek Results of Marijuana Vote
Pot Center Founder Fights Charges
Cannabis Buyers' Co-op to Reopen, But not Sell Pot
RX: Marijuana
International News-
Cocaine Flood Raises Fears of HIV Upsurge
Congress Steps Up Aid for Colombians To Combat Drugs
Hitman's Victim Had Links to Drug Gang
* Hot Off The 'Net
Family Watch
Breaking News stories
* Quote of the Week
William Lloyd Garrison
* Fact of the Week
Prohibition Pollutes
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
***
Protecting your privacy during a drug-war strip search
by James E. Gierach
Do you look like a drug dealer or a drug courier?
If so, don't be surprised if anti-drug agents tread upon your privacy
rights. It could happen to any American but there are steps you can take
to protect yourself.
The first line of defense against drug-war intrusion into your life --
whether visiting Aunt Martha over the holidays or returning from a
Caribbean vacation through New York's Kennedy International Airport or
Miami International Airport -- is not to "look like" a drug dealer or
courier. Narcotics agents have developed -- based upon years of
experience, training, and hit-or-miss success -- what they call
"drug-courier profiles." These profiles are pigeonholes into which drug
agents can place anybody. Unwary citizens may not be sensitized to these
profile "tells" but drug agents are trained specialists.
When a U.S. Customs agent, MEG (Metropolitan Enforcement Group) trooper,
or DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agent sees a person whose appearance,
demeanor or baggage meets a drug-courier "profile," the anti-drug agent
reacts. The hair on the back of the neck stands on end, Adrenalin speeds
to the agent's stomach and the face turns flush. (Not all agents'
reactions fit this profile.) To an educated drug cop, a profile match
engenders suspicion. The trained agent thinks, "Here's a person who is,
or probably might be, a traveling drug-dealer or courier."
If you are a citizen who fits an officer's drug hunch, and the hunch is
susceptible of verbal articulation that "sounds like" one of the written
profiles -- bingo, you lose. "Put your hands on the wall, spread your
feet," "May we look through your personal belongings?" Once you fit a
profile in an agent's mind, you are at full risk of drug-dealer treatment
-- presumed innocent, suspected guilty and handled accordingly.
Considering the risks that attend a drug-war-profile fit, one should ask
oneself, "Self, just what does a drug-dealer courier look like?" Drug
dealers come in all colors, heights, weights, sexes and sizes. Drug
dealers can look "cool" or klutzy, lackadaisical or intense, wealthy or
poor, stylish or slobbish, native or foreign. And therein lies the
problem.
It's hard not to look like a drug dealer. In fact when done well, one set
of drug-courier profiles fits all. Looking at the matter from the drug
agents' perspective, if American commoners could figure out what drug
dealers "looked like," so they could look "straight" to the anti-drug
police, then, so could the drug dealers and couriers.
Therefore, the second line of defense may be more effective than the
first. The second defense against drug agents is to be careful where you
travel.
It is well known that drugs are carried to the United States from Mexico,
South America and the Caribbean like clockwork. Drug police do not know
less than the rest of us. Therefore, a loving husband should think twice
before taking his wife to a drug-rich port of call. A husband must
realize that he must bring his wife home through a U.S. port of entry
such as O'Hare International Airport or other points subject to the
jurisdiction of customs drug-police.
The difficulty with self-imposed travel restrictions, aside from missing
a few dream vacations, is that drug war puts more drugs everywhere.
Therefore, nearly every travel destination -- foreign and domestic -- is
drug suspect. This truism brings us to the third- and last-strike
defense of the weary, drug-free travelers by which the travelers can
protect themselves against privacy intrusion by the drug police and avoid
uninvited bodily- cavity searches.
In October, the government announced that U.S. Customs agents will give
suspected drug couriers an alternative to mandatory strip searches. A
suspect can avoid strip search by consenting to be x-rayed at a hospital.
To civil libertarians and old-time Americans, it may not seem like much
of a concession, but in the prevailing drug-war, strip-search
environment, it's a very decent thing to do.
James E. Gierach
9759 Southwest Highway
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
DRUGNEWS@aol.com
(708) 424-1600
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Prisons
***
COMMENT:
Expansion of the nation's prisons resulting from the drug war has always
been the single issue most likely to force public recognition of the
policy's intrinsic insanity. That this process may finally be underway
is suggested by Eric Schlosser's devastating expose of prison growth in
Atlantic Monthly. The entire text is must reading for all with an
interest in drug reform.
Despite its small circulation, Atlantic Monthly is widely read by
editorial writers and columnists. Molly Ivins joined Cynthia Tucker in
commenting favorably on Schlosser's article. Look for more impact from
this piece over time
THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
Correctional Officials See Danger in Prison Overcrowding.
Others See Opportunity.
The Nearly Two Million Americans Behind Bars --
The Majority of Them Nonviolent Offenders Mean Jobs for Depressed Regions
And Windfalls for Profiteers
[snip]
Today the United States has approximately 1.8 million people behind bars:
about 100,000 in federal custody, 1.1 million in state custody, and
600,000 in local jails. Prisons hold inmates convicted of federal or
state crimes; jails hold people awaiting trial or serving short
sentences. The United States now imprisons more people than any other
country in the world -- perhaps half a million more than Communist China.
The American inmate population has grown so large that it is difficult to
comprehend: imagine the combined populations of Atlanta, St. Louis,
Pittsburgh, Des Moines, and Miami behind bars.
[snip]
Source: The Atlantic Monthly
Copyright: 1998 by The Atlantic Monthly Company
Pubdate: Dec 1998
Volume: 282, No. 6; pages 51 - 77
Contact: letters@theatlantic.com
Webform: http://www.theatlantic.com/letters/edlet.phtml
Website: http://www.theatlantic.com/
Author: Eric Schlosser
Note: This is part 1 of 3.
Part-1: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a04.html
Part-2: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1113.a05.html
Part-3: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1114.a01.html
***
OUR PRISONS HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN ESCAPEES
AUSTIN -- So six prisoners break out of Huntsville, one gets away and the
Texas Department of Corrections responds by suspending a work program for
prisoners. Not that the work program had anything to do with the escape
-- the prisoners were in the recreation yard at the time. But why should
we expect TDC to make any sense? Nothing else about the American prison
system does.
In the current issue of `The Atlantic Monthly' is "The Prison-Industrial
Complex," a major investigation of just how out of control and
increasingly corrupt the system is.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 4 Dec 1998
Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX)
Contact: letters@star-telegram.com
Website: http://www.star-telegram.com/
Copyright: 1998 Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, Texas
Columnist: Molly Ivins is a columnist for the 'Star-Telegram.'
Email: mollyivins@star-telegram.com
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1121.a01.html
***
COMMENT:
The next two items underscore two hardly novel ideas: first, that large
prison bureaucracies encourage corruption and abuses; second, shipping
of inmates away from their families and into areas of diminished
accountability is a step in the wrong direction.
JAIL GUARDS SMUGGLED CONTRABAND, PAPER SAYS
MIAMI, FLORIDA -- An investigation of Miami-Dade County jails found that
officers helped smuggle contraband to inmates, a newspaper reported
Sunday.
A yearlong, secret probe by police and the FBI claimed that jail officers
looked the other way or took part as marijuana and cocaine were brought
to inmates in exchange for cash, jewelry and sporting equipment, The
Miami Herald said.
[snip]
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Copyright: 1998 Chicago Tribune Company
Pubdate: 30 Nov 1998
Author: From Tribune News Services
Section: Sec. 1
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1107.a05.html
***
SHIPPING INMATES NO SOLUTION
As Wisconsin prison chief Michael Sullivan admits, housing inmates out of
state, originally a stopgap measure, is now a permanent feature of state
corrections policy. That development bodes no good.
[snip]
The Wisconsin Legislature must keep in mind that the congestion problem
is almost entirely of its own making. A rising crime rate is not driving
the problem; in fact, crime is not rising. Rather, the Legislature's
penchant for passing tougher and tougher laws is responsible.
[snip]
Pubdate: Sun, 6 Dec 1998
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 1998, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Contact: jsedit@onwis.com
Fax: (414) 224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1123.a08.html
***
Law Enforcement
***
COMMENT:
It takes an incarceration industry producing a steady stream of
convictions to keep our prison-industrial complex in prisoners. Last
week we introduced a remarkable series, detailing many of the unsavory
deals which prosecutors routinely make with felons in order to obtain
those convictions.
A critical case challenging many of these practices is now wending its
way toward the Supreme Court. Don't get your hopes set too high.
SELLING LIES
By `Jumping On The Bus,' Prisoners Earn Time Off Sentences At
Others' Expense
The business served a small but eager clientele.
From an office in Atlanta, Kevin Pappas, a former drug smuggler, sold
prisoners confidential information gleaned from the files of federal law
enforcement officers or, in some instances, from the case files of other
convicts.
By memorizing confidential data from those files, the prisoners could
testify to events that only an insider might know and help prosecutors
win an indictment or a conviction.
Well-heeled prisoners paid Pappas as much as $225,000 for the
confidential files, and in exchange for their testimony, prosecutors
would ask judges to reduce the prison terms of these new-found witnesses.
Pappas and Robert Fierer, an Atlanta lawyer, called their company
Conviction Consultants Inc., but a group of defense lawyers in Georgia
had another name for it: "Rent-a-rat."
[snip]
Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA)
Copyright: 1998 PG Publishing
Pubdate: Mon, 30 Nov 1998
Contact: letters@post-gazette.com
Website: http://www.post-gazette.com/
Author: Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Note: The series is also being printed in The Blade, Toledo, OH
Contact: letters@theblade.com
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1111.a05.html
Other Segments published last week:
Unique Way Of Solving Mystery
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1112.a02.html
A Question Of Whom To Trust
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1108.a04.html
Fish Tale Was One Of Many Stretches
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1108.a02.html
***
Drug War Policy-
***
COMMENT:
The Supreme Court continued its disgraceful piecemeal surrender of the
Bill of Rights with a typical 5-4 reversal of a lower court ruling which
had the temerity to suggest that people are entitled to some privacy
within their homes. Any mention of "drugs" seems be enough to persuade
the "Supremes" to come down on the side of fascism.
Keeping that fascism in mind, it's difficult to be very sanguine about
the ultimate outcome of the next case, in which a local Indiana school
board is asking for still more authoritarianism.
EYE AT THE KEYHOLE
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.
[snip]
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.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1115.a03.html
***
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.
[snip]
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
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1112.a12.html
***
COMMENT:
The following story is further evidence of how drug policy has eroded
individual liberty in the "land of the Free." The racial overtones are
traditional, the warrantless arrest at the airport is the modern touch.
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.
[snip]
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
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1122.a06.html
***
COMMENT:
Cockburn and St. Clair's expose of CIA skulduggery on behalf of drug
suppliers is probably a very good read. Unfortunately, the Agency has
lied so much about its activities, it will take historians, working at
least 50 years in the future, to begin to reconstruct the truth about
the Cold War, if such is ever possible.
"WHITEOUT," THE C(OCAINE)I(MPORTATION)A(GENCY)
Drug dealing only begins to tell the story of the CIA's handiwork.
If the only thing you know about the US Central Intelligence Agency is
that a 1996 San Jose Mercury News report accusing the CIA of contributing
to the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles was dismissed by government
officials and mainstream journalists as African-American hysteria, you're
likely to take their word for it. The US government helping the Contras
purchase weapons with the proceeds of crack sales by gang members in
South Central Los Angeles?
Yeah, right.
[snip]
Pubdate: Thursday, 19 November, 1998
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Copyright: 1998 Seattle Weekly
Contact: letters@seattleweekly.com
Website: http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Author: Mark Worth
Note: BOOK REVIEW, WhiteOut - The CIA, Drugs, and the Press by
Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair (Verso, $17)
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1116.a05.html
***
Medical Marijuana
***
COMMENT:
While the media in general has yet to awaken to the sweeping election
success of medical marijuana on Nov.2; some sources have noticed and
commentary is starting to appear. The anti-democratic (with a small d)
maneuver of Bob Barr turned the DC fiasco into a public relations plus
for reform, but the overall theme is that despite the election
victories, patients can expect to be hassled everywhere, just like in
California after 215.
GROUPS SEEK RESULTS OF MARIJUANA VOTE
The D.C. chapter of the League of Women Voters and eight other area
organizations filed court papers this week calling for a judge to release
and uphold the results of the Nov. 3 referendum on the medical use of
marijuana.
The groups sided with the American Civil Liberties Union and the D.C.
government, which contend that Congress illegally interfered with the
local election process. At issue is a congressional amendment that bars
the District from spending money on any initiative that would "legalize
or otherwise reduce" penalties for users of marijuana.
[snip]
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
Pubdate: Wed, 2 Dec 1998
Compiled from reports by staff writers Paul W. Valentine, Bill
Miller, David Montgomery, Alan Sipress, Philip P. Pan and Victoria
Benning and the Associated Press.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1108.a01.html
***
COMMENT:
Speaking of California, in San Jose prosecutors still want to send Peter
Baez to state prison to join David Herrick, now serving an unjust
four-year term as the result of a similar "sting" using a phony patient.
Meanwhile the embattled Oakland club continues to show the flag, despite
being unable to provide marijuana to patients.
POT CENTER FOUNDER FIGHTS CHARGES
Search excessive, lawyer argues Trying to avoid a long prison term, the
former operator of Santa Clara County's only medical marijuana center
went to court yesterday in an effort to get his charges dismissed.
Attorneys for Peter Baez argued that San Jose police officers went beyond
the scope of their search warrants in March when they conducted a
``wholesale seizure of records'' by removing all 265 client files from
the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center. They seek to have
evidence from that search suppressed and the charges against Baez
dismissed.
[snip]
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: 5 December 1998
Copyright: 1998 San Francisco Chronicle
Author: Todd Henneman, Chronicle Staff Writer
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1120.a10.html
***
CANNABIS BUYERS' CO-OP TO REOPEN, BUT NOT SELL POT
Courts: The group will offer hemp products as it appeals a judge's order
barring the sale of marijuana.
OAKLAND--The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative says that it will
reopen Monday, offering hemp products, not medical marijuana. The
organization, which dispensed marijuana to about 2,000 member-patients,
was closed last month && federal judge.
Closure was sought by the Clinton administration's Justice Department,
which said the distribution of medical marijuana, authorized by a 1996
California initiative, violated federal drug laws. The cooperative is
appealing U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's order. Meanwhile, it has
obtained permission from Breyer to reopen for patient services as long as
no marijuana is on the premises. The services will include counseling and
educating members about the medical use of cannabis as well as
"cultivation meetings," the cooperative said.
[snip]
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 Los Angeles Times.
Fax: 213-237-4712
Pubdate: 28 Nov 1998
Author: Associated Press
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1124.a06.html
***
COMMENT:
Dan Baum's piece doesn't dwell on the election; instead, it points out
the real difficulties facing even such a seemingly simple notion as
reclassification of a benign and useful agent to Schedule 2.
RX: MARIJUANA
Initiatives authorizing the medical use of marijuana passed in five
states in the last election. (Another one would have passed in the
District of Columbia, according to exit polls, but it was consigned to
limbo by a blatantly antidemocratic amendment introduced by
Representative Bob Barr forbidding federal funds to be spent tallying the
vote.) On this subject the words of Dr. Lester Grinspoon, a leading
authority on the drug (he is author of Marijuana: The Forbidden
Medicine) and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, are
apropos: "As the number of people who have used marijuana medicinally
grows, the discussion is turning from whether it is effective to how it
should be made available.
[snip]
Pubdate: 14 December 1998
Source: The Nation (US)
Section: Selected Editorial
Contact: letters@thenation.com
Website: http://www.thenation.com/
Copyright: 1998, The Nation Company
Author: Dan Baum
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1118.a10.html
***
International News
COMMENT:
Far off Australia is feeling the impact of aggressive Colombian
marketing of illicit drugs. First they were flooded with cheap heroin
from the golden triangle because it had been displace from North
America Nath America by cheap, pure heroin from poppies grown in
Colombia. Now, Australia is the dubious beneficiary of a cocaine glut in
North America. Ain't interdiction wonderful?
COCAINE FLOOD RAISES FEARS OF HIV UPSURGE
Cocaine has shed its yuppie image of the 1980s, with an epidemic in its
use among heroin addicts, who are injecting the drug, threatening the
stability of HIV rates in Australia.
Cheaper and purer cocaine is flooding Sydney, where it is being sold like
heroin, breaking into new markets in the western suburbs where cocaine
use is just as common as in the more affluent eastern suburbs.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Nov 1998
Source: Australian, The (Australia)
Contact: ausletr@matp.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
Author: Justine Ferrari
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1122.a01.html
***
COMMENT:
Meanwhile, in the culprit country, the military will receive a boost
from macho drug warriors in the US Congress, always delighted to buy
military hardware, especially in a good cause like the drug war.
CONGRESS STEPS UP AID FOR COLOMBIANS TO COMBAT DRUGS
The Clinton administration initially opposed it, and the Colombian
government was taken by surprise. But a recent congressional initiative,
spurred by direct appeals to conservative Republicans by the Colombian
national police, has more than doubled drug-fighting money to Colombia
and made the country a top recipient of U.S. foreign aid.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 01 Dec 1998
Source: New York Times (NY)
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Copyright: 1998 The New York Times Company
Author: Diana Jean Schemo
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1116.a01.html
***
COMMENT:
Northern Europe is experiencing a concerted dose of uncharacteristic
violence, undoubtedly related to drug war competition for market share.
The following was only one of three high-profile drug related "hits"
reported in the European press last week.
HITMAN'S VICTIM HAD LINKS TO DRUG GANG
A FINANCIAL adviser to one of London's most powerful underworld gangs has
been shot dead on his doorstep by a hitman, police said yesterday.
Scotland Yard detectives are investigating links between the death of
Solly Nahome, a Hatton Gardens diamond dealer, and the Adams family. The
clan is credited with extensive interests, including drug trafficking,
across North London.
[snip]
Source: The Times (UK)
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Copyright: 1998 Times Newspapers Ltd
Pubdate: Tue, 1 Dec 1998
Author: Stewart Tendler, Crime Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v98.n1106.a06.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
***
FAMILY WATCH WEBSITE
Founded by Kendra Wright, Family Watch is a network of groups and
individuals concerned about the impact of drug policy on families, women
and children. The goals of the network are to increase communication,
identify opportunities for collaboration and strengthen each of our voices
by joining together in a call for change. They aim to push issues related
to families, women and children to the forefront of the drug policy debate,
and help create progressive policies which preserve the health and
well-being of the family unit and each of its individual members,
particularly the children.
Website: http://www.familywatch.org/
Contact: kendra@familywatch.org
***
DID YOU KNOW?
The hottest breaking drug related news stories are constantly updated and
available with just a few mouse clicks. Stay aware and informed and when
you feel strongly about an article write a letter to the editor. This may
be the single most powerful action the average
See http://www.drugsense.org/ or http://www.mapinc.org/
Both of the above web sites have received numerous awards and
recognition. The latest is from STANTON PEELE who gives it his highest
rating.
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
***
"Enslave the liberty of one human being and the liberties of the world
are put in peril." - William Lloyd Garrison
***
FACT OF THE WEEK
***
PROHIBITION POLLUTES
Since it is illegal to manufacture cocaine, its producers must hide their
facilities in the forests of South America making it impossible to
properly dispose of chemical wastes. It is estimated that the unregulated
manufacture of cocaine results in 10 million liters of sulfuric acid, 16
million liters of ethyl ether, 8 million liters of acetone and from
40-770 million liters of kerosene being poured directly into the ground
in the Andean region, mainly Colombia.
Source: Trade and Environment Database (TED), TED Case Studies: Columbia
Coca Trade, Washington D.C.: American University (1997).
***
DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers
our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do
for you.
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
Please utilize the following URLs
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
and
http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
News/COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell (tjeffoc@drugsense.org)
Senior-Editor: Mark Greer (mgreer@drugsense.org)
We wish to thank all our contributors and Newshawks.
NOTICE:
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest
in receiving the included information for research and educational
purposes.
REMINDER:
Please help us help reform. Send any news articles you find on any drug
related issue to editor@mapinc.org
***
NOW YOU CAN DONATE TO DRUGSENSE ONLINE AND IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE
DrugSense provides many services to at no charge BUT THEY ARE NOT FREE TO
PRODUCE.
We incur many costs in creating our many and varied services. If you are
able to help by contributing to the DrugSense effort visit our convenient
donation web site at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
-OR-
Mail in your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to:
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc.
d/b/a DrugSense
PO Box 651
Porterville,
CA 93258
(800) 266 5759
MGreer@mapinc.org
http://www.mapinc.org/
http://www.drugsense.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for Dec. 3-9