-------------------------------------------------------------------
Not Guilty Plea In Exotic Drug Case (A lengthier San Jose Mercury News
version)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 02:31:37 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Not Guilty Plea In Exotic Drug Case
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Copyright: 1998 Mercury Center
Author: Mercury News Wire Services
NOT GUILTY PLEA IN EXOTIC DRUG CASE
Prunedale man says he grows khat as medicine
The first person in this country arrested for growing khat, a rare and
exotic stimulant, claimed on Thursday he was cultivating the leafy plant for
medicinal purposes.
Musa Ahmed Gelan, 40, a Prunedale convenience store owner, pleaded not
guilty in U.S. District Court in San Jose to a charge of manufacturing a
controlled substance.
His attorney, Donald Foley, said Gelan wants to fight the charge because he
was growing it to help control his diabetes. A legal resident of the United
States, Gelan immigrated from Yemen several years ago and was unaware the
plant was illegal, Foley said.
These people are from countries "that have laws against alcohol, but
occasionally chew khat," he said.
At the time of the raid on Gelan's property, Monterey County sheriff's
investigator Sgt. Terry Kaiser said there was evidence Gelan had distributed
the drug, which he said sells for $800 per kilogram on the street. He said
4,840 pounds of khat were seized from Gelan's house.
Foley denied the distribution allegation. "Not at any time was it furnished
for anyone else," he said.
The leafy, reddish khat -- pronounced "cot" -- is popular with people in
Ethiopia, Somalia, Tanzania and the Middle Eastern country of Yemen. It's
used by stuffing wads of the leaves in your mouth and chewing throughout the
day. Users say it produces a mild euphoria.
Khat is illegal in the United States because, according to federal drug
laws, it contains an amphetamine-like substance in the same category as
heroin.
Foley said his client acquired the plants from khat growers around the
country for cultural and medicinal purposes.
"He had no idea anything was illegal about this," said Foley. "The plants
are part of his ethnic background."
Gelan was busted in September, when federal and state authorities raided his
quarter-acre field and seized more than 1,000 plants.
Drug enforcement officials said it was the first outdoor khat plantation
discovered in the United States.
Contains potent narcotic
When growing, or within 48 hours of harvesting, khat contains a potent
narcotic called cathinone, said Drug Enforcement Agency spokeswoman Evelyn
James.
"The fact that these plants were being grown and contained cathinone makes
it a felony," she said.
If convicted, Gelan could face up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1
million fine.
There is little precedent in this country in khat cases, and none for
cultivation.
Foley said Gelan sought his help because he represented the first California
resident to be arrested for khat possession. In that case, a Berkeley
businessman had a quantity of khat flown from New York to be used at his
daughter's wedding.
Federal agents followed the shipment from the East Coast to Berkeley and
arrested the man, whom Foley declined to name.
Foley said he and prosecutors were so unfamiliar with khat laws that they
were unsure how to proceed with the case. The man eventually pleaded guilty
to a misdemeanor charge of possession of a controlled substance and received
no jail time or fine.
Other cases
Two years ago, Jeremy Rankine of London was caught smuggling 70 pounds of
khat through Pittsburgh International Airport. He pleaded guilty in a plea
bargain and was sentenced to less than a year in custody.
And in April, Mohamud Abdi, 33, of New York was arrested during a traffic
stop on the New Jersey Turnpike after state police found a suitcase with 100
pounds of khat in his car.
Sgt. Ron Kushner said that Abdi's charge of possession of a controlled
dangerous substance was downgraded because that khat had lost its potency.
"As the drug gets older, it becomes less illegal in New Jersey," he said.
Gelan's trial is expected to begin in March.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas reporter was murdered in Mexico, authorities say
(The Dallas Morning News says an autopsy shows Philip True,
the Mexico City correspondent for the San Antonio Express News,
was strangled and may have been sexually assaulted before his death.
The newspaper says American law enforcement sources "privately" suspect
drug smugglers.)
From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: TX reporter murdered in Mex
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 21:36:46 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Texas reporter was murdered in Mexico, authorities say
12/18/98
By Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News
MEXICO CITY - A Texas journalist whose body was found in the wilds of
western Mexico was murdered, autopsy results showed Thursday, and some
American law enforcement sources privately suspect drug smugglers.
Philip True, 50, the Mexico City correspondent for the San Antonio Express
News, was killed in a remote corner of Jalisco state, where gangs of
marijuana and heroin traffickers have grown in strength in recent years. He
was strangled, Jalisco medical examiner Mario Rivas Souza said.
Sources at the Express-News, said there is also some evidence that the
journalist may have been sexually assaulted before his death.
"He could have stumbled onto something he wasn't supposed to see," one
source said. "Drug trafficking or something."
Although U.S. diplomatic sources said they hadn't seen any evidence of a
sexual assault, some American drug-trade experts said the possibility is
very real.
It isn't unusual, they say, for Mexican traffickers to use sexual abuse as a
tool of interrogation.
"Sexual torture is a favorite method of Mexican traffickers," said Phil
Jordan, former director of the El Paso Intelligence Center, jointly run by
the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI and other agencies. "And if
they tortured Philip, the only reason they would do it is to find out if he
was working for the DEA, the CIA or some other agency."
DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena and DEA pilot Alfredo Zavala were
tortured before being murdered in Mexico in 1985. Agent Camarena's injuries
included three broken ribs and a broken right arm, and doctors suspected he
had been sexually assaulted.
Mr. Zavala was also sexually assaulted before being buried alive and
suffocating, a DEA autopsy report said.
In another chilling case in Mexico in 1985, two other Americans - Alberto
Radelat, a 32-year-old dental student from Fort Worth, and John Walker, a
36-year-old aspiring novelist - were killed after unwittingly walking into a
private party hosted by notorious trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero.
Desperados, a 1988 book about drug trafficking in Mexico, said that the drug
lord's men beat and kicked the two Americans, then Mr. Caro Quintero and
eight of his underlings "stabbed them with knives and ice picks for more
than half an hour."
Mr. Caro Quintero is in prison after being convicted of ordering Agent
Camarena's torture and slaying.
Mr. True had left for the rugged Sierra Madre Occidental on Nov. 29. On
Wednesday, a Huichol Indian told authorities there was a body at the bottom
of a ravine near a village called San Miguel Huaisita. Rescuers went to the
scene by helicopter but found only blood stains. The body was later found
half buried about a 30-minute walk away.
"The Huichol Indians are very religious. They may have seen the body and
dragged it away to bury it," said Jose Ramirez, a spokesman for the attorney
general in Jalisco state.
Mexican forensic experts say they suspect that Mr. True had been dead for
more than 10 days. They said the journalist was strangled to death, most
likely by a bandanna found around his neck.
Mr. Ramirez said he did not know whether Mr. True had been sexually
assaulted.
After the body was found, U.S. officials and many of the writer's colleagues
suspected that Mr. True may have slipped and fallen to his death.
Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo ordered state officials in Jalisco and
neighboring Nayarit on Thursday not to spare any expense in carrying out a
full investigation.
"The Mexican government condemns the violence and expresses sorrow over the
death of American journalist Philip True," the president's office said in a
statement.
Some of Mr. True's friends have speculated that he may have been robbed.
There has been no word as to whether the camera and backpack he was carrying
has been found; Jalisco officials said his watch and two rings were on the
body when they recovered it.
Carolina Garcia, managing editor of the Express-News, said the newspaper is
sending two staffers to Mexico to continue looking into the case.
"We are going to pursue this investigation very doggedly," she said.
She said she has not confirmed whether Mr. True was sexually assaulted but
called for "a full-scale investigation."
Jalisco was ranked fifth and Nayarit eight in drug cultivation in 1996, but
the growing of marijuana and poppies - used to make heroin - has been on the
rise, said Ignacio Rodriguez, a Mexican journalist who covers the drug
trade.
"I've been out there and been in little Podunk villages where there are
locals wearing huge gold necklaces and other jewelry," he said. "These guys
are smugglers and growers. Philip could have crossed paths with them. It
could have just been bad luck. He was in the wrong place, seeing something
they didn't want him to see."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas Lawyer Battles Highway Department, Anti-drug Police
(A Dallas Morning News article in The San Jose Mercury News
says Pat Barber of Colorado City, Texas, erected a big billboard
on his ranch at the edge of town next to Interstate 20 saying, "Just Say NO
to Searches! 915-728-5505." Law enforcement officials were not amused
and the Texas Department of Transportation said the billboard violated
the Highway Beautification Act and threatened to fine Barber $1,000 a day
if he didn't remove it. "Nobody wants to see us turn into a Third World
police state," says Barber. "Police may want it, but people don't want it.")
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998
13:55:43 -0800
From:
owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
(MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: Texas
Lawyer Battles Highway
Department, Anti-drug
Sender:
owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media
Awareness Project
http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Source: San Jose Mercury
News (CA)
Contact:
letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Copyright: 1998 Mercury Center
Author: Scott Parks, Dallas Morning News
TEXAS LAWYER BATTLES HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, ANTI-DRUG POLICE
A 1-man fight against searches
COLORADO CITY, Texas -- The signpost on I-20 warns thousands of
travelers that the war on drugs has taken a strange turn here in west
Texas.
This lonely stretch of interstate highway between Abilene and Midland
once seemed an unlikely spot to spawn debates about First Amendment
rights to free speech and Fourth Amendment protections against
unreasonable searches.
But that was before Colorado City lawyer Pat Barber erected a big
billboard on his ranch at the edge of town. Just past the Dairy Queen
and the state prison, it rises from the rocky landscape next to
Interstate 20.
"Just Say NO to Searches! 915-728-5505."
A phone call reveals a tape-recorded message encouraging law-abiding
travelers to "just say no" when police ask to search their vehicles
for drugs during routine traffic stops.
"An innocent citizen . . . should know that when an unreasonable
search request is refused, the officer must let him go," Barber advises.
The message concludes, "Good luck, and have a safe trip."
Law officers were not amused.
"I think it would be fair to say we resented it at first," said
Mitchell County Sheriff Pat Toombs. "But he has a right to his opinion."
Texas Department of Transportation officials also had a problem with
Barber's sign. They said his billboard violated the Highway
Beautification Act and threatened to fine him $1,000 a day if he
didn't remove it.
Barber, 52, filed suit against the highway department. The sign, he
argued, sits on his own property and carries a political opinion that
cannot be censored.
In October, District Judge Suzanne Covington of Austin granted Barber
an injunction, which means the sign can stay up until a trial next
year.
In her order, Covington said Barber "will probably prevail on his
claim that the statute (Highway Beautification Act) as written and as
enforced is an unconstitutional infringement of his rights of free
speech under the Texas and U.S. constitutions."
Highway department officials said agency policy prevents them from
commenting about active court cases.
Barber said his main goal is to create a fundamental debate about
roadside searches. He asks: Do they yield enough criminal cases to
justify intrusions into glove compartments, trunks and luggage of
law-abiding travelers?
"Most people don't know they have a right to say no," he said. "And a
lot of others are afraid to say no. These officers count on that."
Barber conducts a one-attorney law practice out of a historic bank
building in downtown Colorado City. Sharon Barber, his wife, is the
legal assistant.
Colorado City, population 4,600, has seen better times. Barber fondly
disparages it as "a ghost town." Folks said he's never been concerned
about being popular with the chamber of commerce crowd.
In the 1970s, as a county prosecutor, he accused local law enforcement
officers of beating jail inmates. Two police officers were prosecuted
but acquitted.
In the early 1990s, he sued the local school board when his son's hair
length collided with the dress code. He lost before the Texas Supreme
Court.
Now, he's crusading against roadside searches.
"Nobody wants to see us turn into a Third World police state where you
can't walk across the street without a drug dog in your crotch," he
said. "Police may want it, but people don't want it."
Thus far, Barber has aimed most of his barbs at the West Central Texas
Interlocal Crime Task Force, which operates in a 15-county area
surrounding Abilene.
Billy Schat, the task-force commander, said no one has complained
about his interdiction officers and that they have never used threats
or intimidation to get consent to search a vehicle.
"We don't operate that way," he said. "We don't have to. Most people
give permission to search."
Schat's group is one of 47 regional drug task forces funded by the
Texas Narcotics Control Program. The governor's office administers the
program with $26 million a year in federal funds.
Barber's sign and his opposition to roadside searches has had no
effect, Schat said.
"He hasn't affected anything of ours," he said.
The Abilene-area's highway interdiction program and others statewide
generally operate this way:
Officers stop a motorist for a minor traffic violation. The officer
then tries to engage the traveler in conversation and to look for
"indicators" that the car may contain drugs.
Based on a quick assessment, an officer either sends the traveler down
the road with a warning or asks permission to search the vehicle. The
officer does not have to warn the motorist that the right to say "no"
is an option.
"Texas law and U.S. Supreme Court decisions hold that everyone
presumably knows that you don't have to let the cops search your car
or home," said Ted Wilson, a criminal law expert in Houston.
Officers with probable cause -- the smell of marijuana coming from the
car, for example -- don't need a warrant to search the car. And
officers without probable cause cannot pressure travelers into a
consensual search by threatening to detain them while a magistrate
issues a search warrant, Wilson said.
"The law says you cannot coerce someone into allowing a search," he
said. "Once the officer is told `no,' it's over."
Barber said it is impossible to determine the program's effectiveness.
The task force is not required to report how many traffic stops are
made each day, or how many vehicles are searched.
Searches that do not yield drugs are not reported.
"If we ever got an accurate assessment of what they are doing, it
would show an enormous number of people being terrorized and harassed
by an ineffective policy," Barber said. "They can't stop the flow of
drugs. How far do we go to allow them to erode our constitutional
rights in an unwinnable war on drugs?"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drake nurse allegedly stole patient's morphine (The Cincinnati Enquirer
says the woman had a history of substance abuse when a temp agency
placed her at the Drake Center, raising questions about the effectiveness
of an Ohio law requiring background checks for health care workers.
"We arrest a health professional every six days," said Sgt. John J. Burke,
commander of Cincinnati's pharmaceutical diversion squad. About 70 percent
of the health workers the squad arrests are nurses. The rest are pharmacists,
doctors and other health care workers.)
From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Nurse allegedly stole patient's morphine
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 16:25:11 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Newshawk: ccross@november.org
Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer
Pubdate: Friday, December 18, 1998
http://enquirer.com/editions/1998/12/18/loc_drake_nurse.htmlOnline:
Drake nurse allegedly stole patient's morphine
BY TIM BONFIELD
and BEN L. KAUFMAN
A former nurse with a history of substance abuse was indicted this week on
charges of stealing morphine from Drake Center, raising questions about how
thoroughly employers check out their health care workers, especially their
part-time workers.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted registered nurse Leslie
Burchenal on charges she stole morphine intended for a patient and tried to
replace it with tap water. The event occurred Oct. 30, 1997. Ms. Burchenal,
hired through a temporary nursing agency, had been working at Drake on and
off for about a month.
Since the incident, her nursing license has been suspended pending the
outcome of her criminal case. The charges against Ms. Burchenal are based on
one incident involving one patient.
However, the case still raises questions about the effectiveness of an Ohio
law requiring background checks for most health care workers. That's because
Ms. Burchenal managed to get a nursing job with access to narcotic
medications despite a documented history of substance abuse problems
stretching back to the late 1980s.
Despite increasingly strict requirements for background checks, police say
drug-addicted health care workers still find ways to get jobs and get drugs.
"We arrest a health professional every six days," said Sgt. John J. Burke,
commander of Cincinnati's pharmaceutical diversion squad. About 70 percent
of the health workers the squad arrests are nurses. The rest are
pharmacists, doctors and other health care workers.
Ms. Burchenal, 43, got her nursing license from Ohio in 1979. She worked in
Ohio for an unclear amount of time, then moved to Virginia.
According to police and the Ohio State Board of Nursing, Ms. Burchenal's
record of drug problems started in 1987. That year, she was convicted of
felony morphine possession in Culpeper County, Va., and put on probation.
Then in 1988, she was convicted of felony use of a forged prescription in
Newport News, Va. Her nursing license in Virginia was suspended following
the convictions. But she moved back to Ohio sometime around 1990.
The Ohio Board of Nursing caught up with her in 1992, suspending her nursing
license indefinitely because of the actions taken against her by the
Virginia nursing board. At that time, she was given a chance to complete a
drug rehabilitation program. Ms. Burchenal completed that program and was
awarded a nursing license in 1995 with no restrictions.
However, any employer who called to check her credentials would have been
told that Ms. Burchenal had a history, said Marsha Strauss, compliance
manager for the Ohio Board of Nursing.
Drake Center runs more extensive background checks on full-time employees
than required by state law, said spokesman Guy Karrick. The center regularly
uses temporary nurses to fill in for vacations and when people leave for
other jobs.
However, Drake Center expects the temporary agencies to run checks on the
personnel they offer.
Neither Mr. Karrick nor Ms. Strauss could say whether a background check had
been made on Ms. Burchenal before she started working at Drake.
On Oct. 30, 1997, police say, Ms. Burchenal obtained three premeasured doses
of morphine sulfate from a drug cart. Ms. Burchenal falsely reported that
one dose was given to the patient, another was broken and the third was
refused by the patient.
Police say a nurse who was asked to help Ms. Burchenal verify the disposal
of a partial dose of the morphine noticed something unusual, then notified
her boss.
Drake started an internal investigation and called in the police. Tests
revealed one of the tubes had been emptied and refilled with tap water.
"This is an example of Drake Hospital doing the right thing," Sgt. Burke
said. "This is the way it is supposed to work."
The patient, who has since died of unrelated health problems, may have
missed some pain-killing doses of morphine, but probably was not injected
with tap water. The main risk of being injected with a small amount of
unsterile tap water instead of morphine would be the chance of an infection,
said Dr. David Waterhouse, a Cincinnati oncologist familiar with giving
patients morphine.
While the pharmaceutical diversion squad regularly arrests nurses for
stealing narcotics, Ms. Straus of the Ohio Board of Nursing said those
arrests should be put in perspective.
"There are more than 180,000 nurses in Ohio (including RNs and LPNs)," she
said. In fiscal 1998, ended June 30, the Ohio Board of Nursing took action -
either revocation, suspension, or placing special restrictions - in 185 drug
or alcohol-related cases.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealer's house is officer's - Drug conduit's forfeited Hilltown Twp. home
is sold to Philadelphia policeman (The Morning Call, in Allentown,
Pennsylvania, gives a quick history of Bucks County District Attorney
Alan M. Rubenstein's campaign since 1986 to forfeit people's homes
for illegal-drug-related offenses. It's still not clear though how
Ralph Mirarchi is able to afford a $315,000 house on a policeman's salary.)
From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: Cop get's dealer's house
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 16:23:27 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net
Newshawk: ccross@november,org
Online: http://www.mcall.com:80/html/news/quaktwn/43113.htm
Dealer's house is officer's
Drug conduit's forfeited Hilltown Twp. home is sold to Philadelphia
policeman.
12/18/98
By LISA KOZLESKI
of The Morning Call
Irony is rarely lost on Bucks County District Attorney Alan M. Rubenstein,
and when he learned who would be buying a sprawling Hilltown Township home
that had been forfeited by a major player in a busted Bucks County drug
ring, he savored the moment.
The new owners of the four-bedroom, six-bathroom home on a
three-quarter-acre lot on Brinkley Drive are Ralph Mirarchi, an 18-year
veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department, and his wife, Linda.
The couple purchased the house for $315,000 from the district attorney,
moving in Thursday after the settlement.
''I must say I enjoy the irony of the fact'' that a former police officer
purchased a home that had been forfeited by a man Rubenstein described as
''a major conduit for dope in the Central Bucks area.''
Thursday's sale netted more than $27,000 for the county's drug forfeiture
fund and will be used to finance operations like the 17-month
multi-jurisdiction investigation that culminated in September with the
arrest of David Campbell and six cohorts.
Law enforcement officials recovered 289 pounds of cocaine while busting that
drug ring, which was the largest seizure of cocaine in the history of Bucks
County.
The sale of the Brinkley Drive home marked the 16th such forfeiture since
Rubenstein implemented the county's drug forfeiture program shortly after
taking office in 1986.
The previous 15 sales were all done in public auction and netted more than
$845,000 after all liens were paid off with the $1.96 million the 15 sales
grossed.
Those funds are combined with cash seized from drug dealers and to date have
brought in $4.2 million, according to Rubenstein.
''The dope business is very lucrative,'' Rubenstein said. ''It just has a
terrible retirement plan.'' Campbell, who told police he was a plumber, had
lived in the home with his wife and their two small children since November
1997. Rubenstein said the home was purchased with money made from the sale
of narcotics and, as such, was eligible for forfeiture.
Although most forfeitures take place after a drug conviction is made,
Rubenstein said Campbell agreed to give up the home and $99,000 found in a
small safe in the master bedroom when police searched the home. He did not
comment on whether agreeing to the forfeiture would prompt a more lenient
sentence if Campbell is convicted. Campbell, 32, could face up to 15 years
in prison if convicted on all the drug charges.
Unlike most forfeitures, which are sold through public auction, the home was
sold through a Doylestown real estate agent because officials feared sale at
public auction might not bring in enough to pay for the $270,000 outstanding
mortgage and closing costs.
Four of the county's 15 previous home forfeitures took place in Upper Bucks.
They include: The Hilltown Township home that belonged to Terry Besch at
1971 Cherry Lane after he was sentenced to 2-6 years in prison in 1991 on
drug charges. That home sold for $75,431, and netted $37,716 for the drug
enforcement fund.
A 24-acre East Rockhill Township property that belonged to Alan
DeCristoforo, who was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison in 1994. The property
sold for $22,000 and netted $17,535.
The Hilltown Township home belonging to Thomas and Margaret Harrington at
2121 Rickert Road after he was sentenced to 1-4 years and she to 1-23 months
in prison in 1991. The home sold for $133,000 and netted $22,000.
A 138-acre horse farm in Springfield Township known as Wingait Farms that
belonged to George Reitz, who was sentenced to 7-20 years in prison. That
property sold for $966,000 and netted $404,964, the largest home forfeiture
received in the history of the state, according to Rubenstein.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Teen Drug Use Steady In 1998 (The CNN/Associated Press version)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 12:30:15 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: WIRE: Teen Drug Use Steady In 1998
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jim Galasyn
Pubdate: 18 Dec 1998
Source: CNN (US)
Contact: cnn.feedback@cnn.com
Website: http://www.cnn.com/
Copyright: 1998 Cable News Network, Inc. A Time Warner Company
Author: Associated Press
TEEN DRUG USE STEADY IN 1998
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Teen-age use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs
remained stable for a second straight year after years on the rise,
with younger teen-agers even less likely to have used drugs over the
past year, according to a government report being released Friday. The
annual report offers a comprehensive look at drug, alcohol and
cigarette use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders. With a few exceptions,
it paints an optimistic picture of American teen-agers, according to a
summary of the findings provided by a Clinton administration official
on condition of anonymity.
The Monitoring the Future survey, which has tracked teen-age drug use
since 1975, asks nearly 50,000 teen-agers questions about drug use and
attitudes and offers the first look at adolescent drug use in 1998.
Teen-agers were surveyed anonymously at 422 schools across the country
over the 1997-98 school year.
The findings were being released Friday by Donna Shalala, secretary of
the Health and Human Services Department, and Barry McCaffrey,
director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"This consistent progress gives reason for optimism," McCaffrey said.
"It demonstrates that our balanced approach -- focusing on preventing
children from turning to drugs, treating drug addicts, and breaking
trafficking organizations -- works."
He added, "Our commitment must be to continuing to make progress
through a 10-year generational effort to lock in and build on today's
gains. If at any point during this long-term process we let down our
guard or squander our momentum we risk repeating with today's youth
the wasted mistakes of past generations."
Last year's report found drug use stabilizing for the first time after
several years on the rise. It also found more adolescents disapproving
of drug use.
This year, the survey finds a drop in the number of 8th and 10th
graders reporting the use of any type of illegal drug. Use among high
school seniors was steady.
Overall, 35 percent of 10th graders said they had used drugs during
the past year, down from 38.5 percent in 1997. Use among 8th graders
in the past year dropped to 21 percent from 23.6 percent.
Use of marijuana, by far the most popular drug, dropped among 10th
graders, with just under 40 percent saying they had smoked pot at some
point in their lives. Marijuana use was steady among 8th and 12th graders.
More young teen-agers said there was a "great risk" in trying
marijuana once or twice, up to 28.1 percent from 25.3 percent among
8th graders. A full 45 percent of them said there was great risk in
occasional pot smoking, also up from 1997.
But the news was not all good among 8th graders. There was an increase
in the number who had tried crack or cocaine, with 3.2 percent having
tried it at some point and 2.1 percent using it in the past year.
Crack use among older teen-agers was steady.
Also, fewer 8th graders said they disapproved of people taking LSD or
saw great risk in LSD use.
The survey, conducted for the government by the University of
Michigan's Institute for Social Research, also found:
-- Use of heroin, a drug on the rise in recent years, stable across
all the age groups.
-- Some declines in the use of inhalants and LSD.
-- A drop in cigarette smoking from last year -- an all-time high _
among high school seniors, with 22.4 percent smoking daily. That still
was higher than the low point of 17.2 percent in 1992. Black
teen-agers continue to have the lowest smoking rates, with just under
15 percent of black seniors saying they smoked in the past month.
-- Continued stable use of alcohol among 8th and 10th graders. After
increasing among 12th graders last year, it was stable among them,
too, this year.
About seven in 10 sophomores said they have drunk alcohol. There was a
drop in the number of those who reported having been drunk at some
point.
The government gauges teen-age drug use twice each year: once through
this school-based survey, and a second time as part of a survey at
homes that looks at drug use among both teen-agers and adults.
The household survey shows significantly smaller percentages of
teen-agers using drugs, perhaps because teen-agers are being surveyed
at home where their parents' presence might influence answers.
This year's household survey, released in August, showed an increase
in drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds, led by rising marijuana
smoking, though the overall percentages were still lower.
But the administration official noted that, taken together, several
surveys in the last two years have pointed to a slowdown in illicit
drug use
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Wiseman Noble cancels all Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre projects
(A company press release from Wiseman Noble, the research-based events
and publications company in Vancouver, British Columbia, whose aim is to
facilitate change through consensus, cites financial losses. Wiseman Noble
produced seven events across Canada related to hemp and non-wood fibres
since 1997, and published eight issues of Commercial Hemp magazine.)
From: "ralph sherrow" (ralphkat@hotmail.com)
To: ralphkat@hotmail.com
Subject: Fwd: Wiseman Noble cancels all Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre projects
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 21:24:41 PST
From: events@wisenoble.com (events)
Reply-To: "events@wisenoble.com" (events@wisenoble.com)
To: "'events@wisenoble.com'" (events@wisenoble.com)
Subject: Wiseman Noble cancels all Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre projects
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 19:03:51 -0800
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wiseman Noble cancels all Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre projects
Vancouver, December 18th, 1998 - Wiseman Noble Sales and Marketing Ltd.
announced today that they will not be proceeding with any Hemp and
Non-Wood Fibre projects at this time, citing financial constraints and
considerable debt associated with losses. As a result, Wiseman Noble
will not be producing the Commercial & Industrial Hemp Symposium III:
Market Catchers, the Non-Wood Fibre Symposium II, or the Non-Wood Fibre
Journal, projects previously announced.
"We believe Commercial Hemp Magazine should continue to be published for
Canadian farmers and industry, provided a non-partisan group could take
it on," states President of Wiseman Noble, Sotos Petrides. " The
Commercial Hemp team is keen on continuing to work on this publication
and with hope, a government or non-profit funding mechanism can be found
to facilitate the continuation of this very important resource."
Jason Freeman, Director of Sales, adds, "The Commercial Hemp team is
eager to continue providing accurate information to its readership. Over
the past two years, Commercial Hemp has helped facilitate infrastructure
for the hemp industry. I am excited about the future of hemp in North
America and the role of this valuable publication."
"There is a continuing need for Commercial Hemp," states Arthur Hanks,
Editor. "With a legal crop grown and harvested in Canada in 1998, the
hemp adventure is just starting. We have taken risks with our publishing
and conference projects, and we know there is still much more work to be
done."
Wiseman Noble is a research-based events and publications company whose
aim is to facilitate change through consensus. Wiseman Noble has
produced seven events across Canada related to hemp and non-wood fibres
since 1997, as well as publishing eight issues of Commercial Hemp
magazine, which features provincial and specialty pages and reports on
regional hemp initiatives.
"It has been a great pleasure working on Hemp and Non-Wood Fibre related
issues and Wiseman Noble has experienced a great deal of success and
notoriety as a result," states Petrides. " Wiseman Noble will continue
to deliver research and to produce events relating to emerging
industries and pending legislative change."
An official announcement will be made in January 1999, relating to the
future of Commercial Hemp magazine. Petrides has also announced his
intention to sell Wiseman Noble hemp and non-wood fibres research to
interested stakeholders.
For those interested in an upcoming agricultural trade show in British
Columbia, the Pacific Agriculture Show will be held in Abbottsford, BC
on February 17-19th, (Contact JGS Events at (604) 291-1553). For those
interested in an upcoming hemp event, please contact Bob Lamonica of the
Santa Cruz Hemp Expo, to be held March 20-21at (831) 457-2670
For more information about Wiseman Noble and Commercial Hemp,
[WN1] please contact:
Sotos Petrides,
President, Wiseman Noble
302-505 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 2R1
PH: (604) 662-8600
Fax: (604) 662-8621
Jason Freeman
Director of Sales, Wiseman Noble
302-505 Hamilton Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 2R1
PH: (604) 662-8600
Fax: (604) 662-8621
Arthur Hanks
Editor,Commercial Hemp
909 Windermere St.
Vancouver, BC
V5K 4J6
H: (604) 255-4332
Fax: (604) 662-8621
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Illegal Drug Trade Is Tool Of Power Elite (An op-ed
in The Victoria Times-Colonist, in British Columbia, by Jim Hackler,
a professor of sociology at the University of Victoria and the author
of "Crime and Canadian Public Policy," says it is difficult for Canada
to have a sensible drug policy when its neighbor, the United States,
the most powerful country in the world, supports the drug trade and then lies
about it. Clearly, enough powerful people are benefiting from the current
drug policy that it will be hard to develop intelligent alternatives.)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 02:31:24 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: PUB OPED: Illegal Drug Trade Is Tool Of Power Elite
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (Canada)
Contact: jknox@victoriatimescolonist.com
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Author: Jim Hackler
ILLEGAL DRUG TRADE IS TOOL OF POWER ELITE
It is difficult to have a sensible drug policy in Canada when the most
powerful country in the world supports the drug trade and then lies about
it. Three illustrations will suffice.
First, the Central Intelligence Agency has a long career in drug dealing.
The agency was embarrassed when the bank that was laundering its money in
Sydney, Australia, and its private airline for flying drugs were exposed.
There was less concern when the world realized the CIA routinely helped
dictators to get their cut of the drug profits. This was seen as necessary
to keep these ruthless leaders co-operating with American business and
squelching left-wing activities.
If a dictator didn't co-operate, such as Noriega from Panama, charging him
with drug dealing was logical. Deceitful perhaps, but who cares when you are
dealing with dictators?
Thus, when former CIA director, George Bush became vice-president and was
given the task of "co-ordinating" drug enforcement, one could be assured
that the drug business would thrive.
Secondly, the tobacco companies like this setup. The most smuggled product
in the world is tobacco (not heroin, marijuana, or other banned substances).
Tobacco companies have been known to establish smuggling routes. Naturally,
they swear this is not true, just as they swore before Congress that they
did not know that tobacco was addicting.
One tobacco company in Canada has vastly increased its production to keep
those Canadians wintering in Florida happy. The fact that most of those
cigarettes don't get smoked in Florida, but get smuggled back into Canada,
isn't their fault.
Since the smuggling routes for tobacco are well established, isn't there
room for a little heroin and cocaine? Conclusion: Tobacco companies support
the illegal drug trade.
Thirdly, financial institutions find it profitable to launder the huge sums
of money from the drug trade.
Like the Swiss bankers who were oblivious to the funds stolen by the Nazis
from the Jews, or the presidents of tobacco companies who denied that
cigarettes could cause cancer, bankers were completely unaware that all that
money could possibly come from illegal sources. Selective inattention is
well developed among those in leadership positions.
When a politician calls for a "war on drugs" he/she is either stupid or
dishonest. You choose. Clearly, enough powerful people are benefiting from
the current drug policy that it will be hard to develop intelligent
alternatives.
The primary damage arising from the drug trade is not from the drugs
themselves. Heroin and cocaine do less damage than tobacco and alcohol, but
that is another debate. Smokers are not criminalized. Harassed perhaps, but
they remain accepted members of society.
I am not arguing for outright legalization of all drugs but we should be
aware that it is the criminalization of drugs that produces the following
problems:
1) Great wealth is provided for the very vicious criminals. They must be
willing to murder, bribe, and exploit the young. The police will protect
their interests by eliminating competition from minor players in the drug
business. This enables the big dealers to expend into other businesses with
offers that are hard to refuse (such as a broken kneecap).
Waste disposal can be a profitable business if your ethics permit the
pouring of contaminants into sewers or putting them into fuel oil to be sold
to hospitals and schools. Then the smoke will spread the toxic materials
over the surrounding area.
2) Drugs corrupt the police. As one police chief told researchers at a major
criminology conference, it is not a matter of "if" but "when" police
officers will be bribed by drug dealers. In larger police forces, drug
traffickers can start with all sorts of minor help, such as information etc.
The slippery slope to corruption has been well greased.
3) Very young juveniles are used to carry drugs and money. Because they are
carrying valuables, they are inclined to carry guns. You know the result.
4) Unwise behavior and risk-taking on the part of young people is
criminalized. Most of us would agree that experimenting with many of these
substances, including tobacco and alcohol, is risky. But young people who
survive their adventures with smoking, partying vandalism on Halloween,
bungee-jumping etc. become reasonable adults who delight in telling stories
about their youthful adventures.
Those involved with illegal drugs, which are not inherently worse than legal
ones, face severe risks to their life chances because of societal responses.
(Have you heard parents say they were only drinking booze, not smoking
marijuana?) Criminalizing reckless behavior has not prevented it, but it has
increased the social damage.
What to do? Harm-reduction strategies show some promise, but the first step
is to recognize the hypocrisy and dishonesty that drive drug policies in
North America.
Jim Hackler is adjunct professor of sociology at the University of Victoria.
The author of "Crime and Canadian Public Policy", he is currently doing
research on small court systems in Western Canada.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Cannabis Ifs And Butts (The New Zealand Herald says that after eight months
of deliberation, the New Zealand parliament's health select committee
released its report on the mental health effects of cannabis yesterday.
"Based on the evidence we have heard in the course of this inquiry,"
the committee concluded, "the negative mental health impact of cannabis
appears to have been overstated . . . . Cannabis should be viewed as a lesser
threat to cognitive functioning than alcohol." The committee said the
evidence also suggested that cannabis did not cause behavioural difficulties,
rather that cannabis was frequently used by youths who misbehaved.
Neither was it a cause of suicide.)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 02:31:27 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: New Zealand: Cannabis Ifs And Butts
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: hadorn@dnai.com (David Hadorn)
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Contact: editor@herald.co.nz
Website: http://www.herald.co.nz/nzherald/index.html
Copyright: New Zealand Herald
Author: Eugene Bingham
CANNABIS IFS AND BUTTS
Marijuana use may be inching towards decriminalisation.
After eight months of deliberation, a parliamentary committee has blown away
the smoke and found that the fire may not be as bad as first thought.
The health select committee tabled its report into the mental health effects
of cannabis yesterday, finding that the drug has probably been unduly
criticised.
"Based on the evidence we have heard in the course of this inquiry," the
committee concluded, "the negative mental health impact of cannabis appears
to have been overstated, particularly in relation to occasional adult users
of the drug."
Pro-cannabis campaigners are already touting the report as a breakthrough.
"It shows there has been a shift both in public opinion and the opinion of
Parliament," Chris Fowlie, a spokesman for the group Norml, said yesterday.
But the committee has been careful that it does not underplay the serious
consequences of use of the drug for some people.
"Evidence received in the course of this inquiry has raised serious doubts
about commonly held beliefs about cannabis," wrote the committee.
"Moderate use of the drug does not seem to harm the majority of people
though we do not deny the serious impact cannabis use may have on certain
individuals, particularly those with schizophrenia or those with a
vulnerability to psychotic illness."
The chairman of the committee, Brian Neeson, said the inquiry found that
there was inadequate research into some areas.
"We are concerned that cannabis use may accelerate the onset of
schizophrenia in predisposed individuals and may be a complicating factor in
the treatment of people with mental illnesses.
"We found that treatment services for people with drug-related mental
illnesses are inadequate.
'We have recommended that the Government address this issue through funding,
the greater provision of facilities, workforce development and better
service coordination."
The other MPs on the committee were Shane Ardern, Phillida Bunkle, Judy
Keall, Annette King, Roger Maxwell, Tukoroirangi Morgan, Katherine O'Regan,
Jill Pettis and Ken Shirley.
The committee noted that cannabis was the third most popular recreational
drug after alcohol and tobacco.
"While the abuse of any drug is undesirable, we accept that people will
continue to use drugs," says the report. "Therefore, this inquiry has not
focused on the legality of cannabis use but has concentrated on its mental
health effects."
In its conclusions, the committee noted that many of the 70 submissions
stated that the mental health risks for adult users was low.
"A number of submissions made the point that risks posed by cannabis are
currently less than those posed by alcohol. The weight of available evidence
suggests that long-term heavy use of cannabis does not produce severe or
gross impairment of cognitive function.
"Evidence received during the inquiry supports the view that there can be
subtle cognitive impairment in cannabis users."
In this respect, the committee drew to a large extent on the work of Wayne
Hall of the Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, who was
commissioned to report on scientific research in this area.
He found that long-term use of cannabis may cause subtle impairment in the
higher cognitive functions of memory, attention and the organisation and
integration of complex information.
"Hall and the Health Funding Authority pointed out that cannabis should be
viewed as a lesser threat to cognitive functioning than alcohol."
The committee said the evidence also suggested that cannabis did not cause
behavioural difficulties, rather that cannabis was frequently used by youths
who misbehaved.
Neither was it a cause of suicide.
The 18 recommendations contained in the report call for increased funding of
research, particularly among Maori, and for greater provision and
coordination of services to help people seeking drug treatment.
It was also believed that a change in the law may help to draw more people
who need help.
Some submissions told the committee that the criminal status of cannabis
heightened paranoia and anxiety.
Those who develop problems are less likely to seek help because they use an
illegal substance and may spiral into alienation, anti-social behaviour,
criminality, mental illness or violence."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Britain Is Drugs Capital Of Europe (Britain's Independent says the 1998
Annual Report on the State of the Drugs Problem in the European Union,
carried out by the European Commission, shows that the war against drugs
is being lost, and that proportionately more people in the United Kingdom
use cannabis, ecstasy, amphetamines and solvents than in any other country
in Europe.)
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 23:53:18 +0000
To: vignes@monaco.mc
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: Britain Is Drugs Capital Of Europe
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Copyright: Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Author: Jason Bennetto, Crime Correspondent
BRITAIN IS DRUGS CAPITAL OF EUROPE
MORE PEOPLE in the United Kingdom take drugs than any other country in
Europe, an international survey has found.
Drug users in the UK are the biggest consumers of cannabis, ecstasy and
amphetamines. In addition, British youngsters were the highest abusers of
solvents, with 20 per cent of 15- and 16-year-olds having sniffed dangerous
substances.
The study of all 15 members of the European Union, makes depressing reading
for law enforcers and drugs agencies in the UK.
It also highlights a number of European trends that include a rise in
amphetamine and cocaine abuse, as ecstasy falls in popularity, as well as
the spread of heroin from large urban areas to rural ones and smaller towns.
On the positive side, the incidence of new AIDS cases is falling sharply,
although the number of people contracting the liver disease hepatitis C
from sharing equipment used to inject drugs is rising.
The 1998 Annual Report on the State of the Drugs Problem in the European
Union, which was carried out by the European Commission, shows that the war
against drugs is being lost. It says the availability of heroin, although
only used by about 1 per cent of the population, is increasing in some EU
countries, including the UK, and warns that "several countries report
heroin smoking by new groups of young people, both from socially integrated
populations and from minority groups." The study estimated that between 0.2
and 0.3 per cent of the EU population is addicted to heroin - about 900,000
people.
Seizures of cannabis, while increasing fourfold from 1985 to 1994, have
stabilised and it remains the number one drug of choice.
The popularity of the dance drug ecstasy may have peaked. It has been tried
by as few as 0.5 per cent of the population in Belgium to 3 per cent in
Britain. Deaths from ecstasy are relatively rare, says the report.
The use of amphetamines (speed) and cocaine appears to be on the increase.
Speed has been used by 9 per cent of the UK population - the highest level
in the EU. The report says: "Despite rising concern about ecstasy in recent
years, it is amphetamines that may increasingly dominate the market in
synthetic drugs in the future."
British teenagers aged 15 and 16 are top of the league for cannabis use -
with 40 per cent having tried the drug - compared with Finland and Portugal
where about 4 per cent have indulged. Britons are also among the highest
users of amphetamines, hallucinogens and ecstasy.
Crack, a highly addictive cocaine derivative, is found in only a small
number of countries - Britain, the Netherlands and France.
On the law enforcement side, seizures of cocaine, heroin and amphetamines
have continued to increase in the past year while the amount of cannabis
has tailed off slightly. The UK accounted for more than a fifth of cannabis
seizures.
Trafficking routes remain unchanged. The Balkan route from Asia is used
primarily to supply Europe with heroin, whilst the route across the North
Atlantic from South and Central America remains the most popular for
transporting cocaine.
There has been an increase in the production and trade in synthetic drugs,
such as ecstasy, especially in eastern Europe.
Morocco and Pakistan are major suppliers of cannabis resin along with
Colombia, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand and most recently Albania.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Gambians Arrested For Drug Crimes (A translation of an article
from Dagens Nyheter, in Sweden, says the illegal heroin and khat trade
in Stockholm is growing at an immense rate - despite the most repressive
anti-drug laws in Europe - with police alleging that 400 of the county's
900 Gambians are involved.)
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 07:30:24 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Sweden: Gambians Arrested For Drug Crimes
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Abel B
Pubdate: Fri, 18 Dec 1998
Source: Dagens Nyheter
Contact: kjell.nilsson@dn.se
Copyright: 1998 Dagens Nyheter
Website: http://www.dn.se/
Author: Kjell Nilsson
Translation by: Abel B
Stockholm. GAMBIANS ARRESTED FOR DRUG CRIMES. Heroin trade.
400 of the county's 900 Gambians are involved in drug trade in Stockholm
according to the Police.
The Drug trade in Stockholm is growing at an immense rate. County police
commissioner, Leif Jennekvist, gave an alarming picture of the situation
this Thursday. He points out the African nation Gambia to be responsible
for as good as all of the heroin trade, he also revealed that Somaliska
Foreningen (The Somalian Association) in Stockholm has pleaded to the
prosecutors office to take immediate measures against the strong increase
in the use of Khat. Khat is an amphetamine preparation that is chewed to
the size of a golf ball and which is now flooding, not only Sweden, but
also entire Europe. "Somaliska Foreningen doesn't want the Khat problem
here in Sweden," Jennekvist says. They are scared for their fellow
countrymen, and don't want Swedish youths to get in contact with the drug.
In Somalia, located in eastern Africa, khat is somewhat of a national drug.
It consists of tobacco like leaves that are chewed - in what seems like an
eternity. According to division chief Jan Andersson there is one plane
landing in London a week, with the controversial drug in its baggage space.
Couriers take over, and are sent out in Europe, carrying as much as 15kg of
the drug. "It is a risk free smuggling," Andersson informs. Khat is
strongly habit-forming and has a bracing effect. No arrests have yet been
made in the sale of the drug in Stockholm. That Somaliska Foreningen acts
with preventive purposes is of course appreciated by the Police management.
Khat trade is yet in its infant stage. And the heroin trade at Sergel
plattan (Stockholm's major drug scene) and in Stockholm's most vulnerable
suburbs is at a whole different level. Jan Andersson has made a unique
survey and there exists today no doubt that as good as all of the trade is
organised by a number of heads from Gambia. Andersson has formed a picture
with identified heads and the branches these men have. A unique and yet
scary picture. "It is an organised, mob-like activity, and I am prepared to
take possible diplomatic consequences that the identification of the
Gambian nation can mean. We have names, transactions and we have today,
above all, 48 in custody who have taken part in the heroin trade in
different ways," says Jennekvist.
According to the County's Police department there is about 900 Gambians in
Stockholm's county today. And about 400 of these are active in the heroin
trade, as couriers and dealers or in a different way. They are controlled
by a number of heads, of which several have Swedish citizens. The City is
divided in different districts, based on the subway networks reach. The
trade takes place partly at "plattan", and partly in connection to some of
the larger subway stations. Jennekvist paints up a frightening scenario.
The organization recruits new abusers all the time. Every fifth capsule is
free is a well-known sales trick. The dealers keep the capsules in their
mouths, under the upper lip, and in case of an arrest the capsule is
quickly swallowed. It is the beginning of a complicated process and where
our technical division is put in a trying job. Several narcotics
investigators, and unit chiefs, that Dagens Nyheter has been in touch with
testifies of a miserable situation. Goran Eriksson, reconnaissance chief of
the southern division and drug fighter since 1972 resembles Stockholm to a
drug trade supermarket. "We "serve" the entire northern region and parts of
the southern land. There the Malmo division takes over. We are experiencing
a break in the trends; there have never been so much drugs in Sweden as it
does now. We get to pay a larger price for a Europe without borders. The
seizures we do have the characteristics of a fire-brigades turn out. We are
always a step behind, that is the frightening truth," Goran Eriksson says.
For the year 1999 the authorities signal for an improvement of the
organization, the reconnaissance groups are going to get better leadership,
there is going to be more narcotics officers out on the streets along with
other resources and strengthening measures. "I am positive to the idea, the
way it is now all my surveillance officers have to stop what they are doing
by 1 am. It is an overtime stop, but the dope and its dealer never rest,"
Eriksson finishes.
Facts/Heroin and Khat:
* Trade organization: Approximately 400 Gambians, living in Stockholm's
county, can all be linked with the open heroin trade according to County
Police commissioner Leif Jennekvist. Khat is distributed via London, a
trade that Somaliska Forreningen wants to end.
* The drug situation in Stockholm: Worse than ever and a steep climbing curve.
* Proposed measures: Jennekvist proposes "the Danish model". A form of
proclaiming a state of emergency that gives authorities the right to
intervene with every Gambian that resides in a public environment, public
squares and subways.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 71 (The Drug Reform Coordination
Network's original summary of drug policy news and calls to action, including -
Diana McCague sentenced for syringe exchange - including McCague's statement
to the court and links to prior coverage of the Chai Project; Action opportunity:
protest on steps of New Jersey Statehouse; Bills seeking to decriminalize
marijuana, legalize medical marijuana and legalize hemp cultivation to be
introduced in New Hampshire legislature in 1999; Patient who was denied liver
transplant for using medical marijuana dies; Media spotlight: drug smuggling
by U.S. Marines a growing problem; and an editorial by Adam J. Smith,
Unrighteous indignation.)
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 04:06:11 -0500
To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #71
Sender: owner-drc-natl@drcnet.org
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #71 -- December 18, 1998
A Publication of the Drug Reform Coordination Network
-------- PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE --------
(To sign off this list, mailto:listproc@drcnet.org with the
line "signoff drc-natl" in the body of the message, or
mailto:lists@drcnet.org for assistance. To subscribe to
this list, visit http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.)
(This issue can be also be read on our web site at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html. Check out the DRCNN
weekly radio segment at http://www.drcnet.org/drcnn/.)
PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the
contents of The Week Online is hereby granted. We ask that
any use of these materials include proper credit and, where
appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If
your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet
requests checks payable to the organization. If your
publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use
the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification
for our records, including physical copies where material
has appeared in print. Contact: Drug Reform Coordination
Network, 2000 P St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036,
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drcnet@drcnet.org. Thank you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Diana McCague Sentenced for Syringe Exchange (Including
McCague's Statement to the Court and Links to Prior
Coverage of the Chai Project)
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#sentenced
2. ACTION OPPORTUNITY: Protest On Steps of New Jersey
Statehouse
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#protest
3. Bills Seeking to Decriminalize Marijuana, Legalize
Medical Marijuana and Legalize Hemp Cultivation to be
Introduced in New Hampshire Legislature in 1999
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#newhampshire
4. Patient Who Was Denied Liver Transplant For Using Medical
Marijuana Dies
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#plotner
5. MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Drug Smuggling by U.S. Marines a
Growing Problem
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#marines
6. EDITORIAL: Unrighteous Indignation
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/071.html#editorial
***
1. Diana McCague Sentenced for Syringe Exchange
Diana McCague, founder of the Chai Project of New Jersey,
was sentenced this week (12/17) for the crime of
distributing clean syringes to addicted individuals in New
Brunswick. This was the second time that McCague had been
arrested and convicted of the same charge.
At her first trial, in 1997, the judge called McCague "a
modern day Joan of Arc" and said he'd be proud to have her
as a daughter, though he claimed he was bound by the law and
found her guilty, fining her $500 and suspending her
drivers' license for 6 months.
This time, however, McCague was given a 90 day suspended
jail sentence, plus fines of $750, another six months'
license suspension and 100 hours of community service, which
the judge has indicated he wants her to serve for the local
DARE program.
"50,000 people in New Jersey are infected with the HIV
virus" McCague told The Week Online. "Of those, half were
infected by sharing a syringe, and another 25% were infected
because they are the sexual partner or the child of an IV
drug user. So what we are saying is that three fourths of
New Jersey's HIV infections could have been prevented by the
availability of sterile syringes."
The suspended sentence means that if McCague is caught with
a syringe again, she faces certain jail time. Suspending
her drivers' license was also painful because McCague has
earned much of her income in recent years driving a cab.
The community service will be problematic, she said, because
100 hours will be difficult to spare for someone who is
struggling to make ends meet. But the suggestion that she
might have to serve that service in the DARE program was the
most shocking of all.
"I don't know, and even the judge doesn't know, whether he
can make me do my service for DARE. I'll tell you though
that I will not be made to say anything that I don't
believe. If they want me to go into schools and do drug
education, however, I'm going to go in there and tell the
truth. And truth has nothing to do with what the state
means when it talks about drug education."
Since her most recent arrest, the Chai Project has stopped
exchanging syringes, though they are still doing outreach,
providing condoms and legal safe drug use equipment, as well
as providing information and treatment referrals. But if
McCague has decided to obey the law of New Jersey, that
doesn't mean that she respects it, or the people who write
or enforce it.
"The facts being what they are, there is simply no excuse
for the denial of sterile injection equipment to addicts.
It's very simple: this law is killing people. Those in the
legislature who support the law are murderers, the governor,
who refuses to change the law, is a murderer, and the people
who enforce this law are murderers. No one can dispute the
fact that there are people in New Jersey right now who are
addicted, who are sharing needles, and who are contracting
HIV because we are no longer out there doing exchange.
Those people are going to die. Plain and simple. And this
law, and those who wrote and enforce it, are responsible for
those deaths."
"They're throwaway people, according to the state" she
added. "It's sad, but their lives apparently aren't as
valuable as the political points that our esteemed governor
is trying to make for herself."
McCague has provided DRCNet with her statement to the Court:
The Chai Project's mission is -- and always has
been -- to reduce the harm of substance use and
sexual activity. Always mindful of harm and the
causes of harm, we have been diligent in asses-
sing the effects of our activities. What sense
would it make to work to reduce some harm only
to produce other harm which might not otherwise
have occurred? There is no evidence of our
activities ever having caused damage -- either
to an individual or to our community. The
prosecutor may argue that the simple act of
defying the law is harmful because it undermines
the moral authority of the law. Assistant
Prosecutor Bill Lamb made this argument before
the appellate division in my first case and more
recently in an op-ed piece that was published in
the Home News Tribune. If this argument is
accepted, we must define the activities of many
Americans as having been harmful - including
participants in the Boston Tea Party, those who
facilitated the freeing of slaves via the
Underground Railroad, Susan B. Anthony who voted
when it was illegal for women to do so, and Rosa
Parks who refused to give her seat on the bus to
a white man.
I am not so arrogant as to rank myself among
these incredibly courageous people. In fact,
there are many activists in the United States
who have taken exactly the risks that I have
taken in order to save the lives of drug users
and their families by giving out clean syringes
in defiance of the law. It is their lead that I
have followed during the past five years --
though with radically different results: to date,
no one who has been arrested in the U.S. for
dispensing syringes in an effort to protect the
public health has been punished to the degree
that I have -- including those who have been
charged and convicted more than once. Further-
more, in every city and/or state where people
have taken the lead on this issue by getting out
onto the street to save lives, the government --
sometimes local authorities and sometimes state
authorities -- has always followed by making
syringe exchange legal. I was hopeful that my
government would follow as others have and would
acknowledge that the statute which I am accused
of violating was never intended to condemn drug
users and their loved ones to chronic disease
and death. What's more, I thought my government
would surely acknowledge that the statute was
never intended to punish those who were engaged
in emergency prevention efforts.
In April of 1996, when I was arrested on this
charge for the first time, my resolve was
strengthened. I would continue no matter what.
In August of 1997 my commitment was further
reinforced when, during my trial in this very
courtroom, I admitted that the Chai Project's
activities had continued. Judge Brenner did
not admonish me to stop -- in fact he commended
our work by calling it noble. I believed then
that, armed with the truth, my personal forti-
tude could withstand the power of the state.
Recently, however, the state has unleashed its
power in greater measures.
The seizure of the Chai Project's van, the
establishment of a high bail, and the threat of
a felony charge have had their intended effect
-- my resolve has been broken, and consequently
I have announced publicly through the press and
in other forums that I will no longer distribute
syringes and that as long as the Chai Project is
running under my direction, the organization
will refrain from this activity as well. I
would add that this was a difficult and painful
decision; I am convinced that what we have been
forced to discontinue is a public health service
that has saved lives.
I believe there is no purpose then, to punishing
me to a greater extent than the criminal code
requires. Certainly I've received the intended
message and responded clearly. Indeed, everyone
watching this situation has gotten the message --
further violations will result in ever harsher
sanctions. Despite the fact that much political
mileage would be gained were I to be sentenced to
a jail term I know that it would be contrary to
my own best interests and the interests of the
Chai Project and those it serves for me to be
incarcerated.
The Chai Project continues in its mission to
reduce the harm associated with drug use and
sexual activity by engaging only in legal
activities. We continue to practice Harm
Reduction, which compels us always to act
peacefully and non-judgmentally. We will continue
to distribute safer sex and legal safer drug using
materials and information. We will continue to
support our participants as they seek out other
services, including drug treatment. We will
continue to educate our participants and the
community about how to be as healthy and safe as
possible under current conditions. In fact, since
our ability to collect used and potentially deadly
syringes has been removed, we have established a
plan to work with the New Brunswick Police
Department to clean up inappropriately discarded
syringes under the supervision of law enforcement
officials -- resulting in the continued
protection of our community from accidental
needlesticks.
For us to continue our work and to function at the
most efficient possible level I must be present
and available, I must be able to drive, I must be
able to move about at will.
Finally, I ask for leniency for my own sake. It's
been months since I've known a sense of joy or
contentment -- I'm exhausted and broke. My family
and friends worry about my ability to endure
additional stress and hardship. Over the past
three months, an inordinate amount of my time and
resources have been focused on these legal
difficulties: I want to get back to my work and
move forward; I want to fulfill my part in the
mission of the Chai Project.
Previous DRCNet coverage of the Chai Project:
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/069.html#chaiproject
ALERT: Show of Support Needed for New Jersey Needle
Exchange, 12/4/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/061.html#chaibust
New Jersey Needle Exchange Busted Again, 10/2/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/058.html#whitman
Whitman, AIDS Council Still at Odds Over Needle Exchange,
9/11/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/052.html#chaiproject
NJ NEP Workers' Conviction Upheld in Appeals Court, 7/31/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/048.html#njpoll
On Polling Numbers and Syringe Exchange in New Jersey,
7/2/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/030.html#chaiproject
Needle Exchange Volunteer Arrested in New Jersey, 2/20/98
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/019.html#chai
NJ Needle Exchange Continues Legal Battle, 11/15/97
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/016.html#mothers
Mothers March on New Jersey State Capitol, 10/24/97
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/009.html#editorial
Needle Exchange is Still Illegal... but That Doesn't Make it
Wrong, 8/29/97
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/007.html#chai
Media Alert: Needle Exchangers Convicted, 8/15/97
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/8-13-1.html
Action Alert: Needle Exchangers Convicted, 8/13/97
http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1996/3-19-2.html
URGENT: Prosecutors Targeting NJ Needle Exchange Program,
3/19/96
For the latest information on the extent of injection-
related AIDS in the African American and Latino communities,
read the Dogwood Center's Health Emergency 1999 report,
online at http://www.drcnet.org/healthemergency/.
***
2. ACTION OPPORTUNITY: Protest On Steps of New Jersey
Statehouse
On Tuesday, January 12, at twelve noon, citizens of New
Jersey and surrounding regions will gather on the steps of
the statehouse in Trenton to protest Governor Christine
Whitman's intractability on the issue of syringe exchange.
The protest will coincide with Whitman's State of the State
address and will be sponsored by the New Jersey Harm
Reduction Coalition, the New Jersey chapters of the National
Organization for Women and American Civil Liberties Union,
the New Jersey Collegiate Consortium for Health in
Education, ACT-UP Philadelphia, and ACT-UP New York among
others.
New Jersey has the nation's third-highest rate of injection-
related AIDS.
If you are in the area, please make an effort to attend this
one-hour demonstration. Donations to defray transportation
and other expenses are welcome. Checks can be made out the
New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition and sent to NJHRC, P.O.
Box 1459, New Brunswick, NJ 08903.
For further information, call NJHRC at (732) 247-3242.
***
3. Bills Seeking to Decriminalize Marijuana, Legalize
Medical Marijuana and Legalize Hemp Cultivation to be
Introduced in New Hampshire Legislature in 1999
- Scott Ehlers, Drug Policy Foundation
The state that lives by the motto "Live Free or Die" will
decriminalize marijuana, legalize medical marijuana and
permit farmers to grow hemp if Rep. Timothy N. Robertson has
his way. The Democrat from Keene will introduce legislation
in the New Hampshire legislature early next year to
decriminalize the possession of an ounce or less of
marijuana, as well as legislation to permit a patient and
his/her caregiver to possess and cultivate up to three
cannabis plants. The decriminalization legislation will
reduce marijuana possession offenses from a class A
misdemeanor to a violation, the same status as a parking
ticket.
"It's time we put some sense into our drug policies," says
Robertson, who doesn't believe in putting people in jail for
"getting high in different ways than most people."
According to Robertson, current drug policies "haven't
accomplished much except throw a lot of people in prison."
In regard to medical marijuana, Robertson noted that
"California legalized medical marijuana in 1996 and the
world didn't come to an end and everyone hasn't become a
drug addict like Republicans predicted." He believes that
the medical marijuana initiative victories across the
country prove that "politicians have to catch up with the
people" on the medical marijuana issue.
This isn't the first time that Robertson has introduced
legislation to reform New Hampshire's marijuana laws. In the
last House session he introduced similar bills to
decriminalize the possession of 1 1/2 ounces or less of
marijuana and legalize the medical use of the plant. He also
sponsored a hemp legalization bill that passed the
agriculture committee but not the full House.
This year other legislators are doing much of the work on
behalf of the hemp bill so as to separate the issue of hemp,
which is not psychoactive, from the pharmacologically-active
marijuana.
While Rep. Robertson believes there is a good chance that
the hemp bill will pass the House, he concedes that the
marijuana decriminalization and medical marijuana bills will
have a harder time making it through the legislature. He is
hopeful that they will be passed out of committee, though,
because of the momentum created by the drug policy reform
victories around the country.
"The press and the people are becoming more liberal on drug
policy reform issues. It may take a while for these bills to
pass, but I believe it will eventually happen."
(Scott Ehlers is Senior Policy Analyst at the Drug Policy
Foundation, and can be reached at ehlers@dpf.org. Visit
http://www.dpf.org or http://www.drugpolicy.org to find DPF
on the web.)
***
4. Patient Who Was Denied Liver Transplant For Using Medical
Marijuana Dies
- Dale Gieringer, California NORML
California NORML is sorry to note the death of Ed Plotner,
who was removed from a liver transplant list for using
medical marijuana. Plotner, who suffered multiple hepatitis
infections, had used marijuana to combat severe appetite and
weight loss. He was accepted but then dropped by a liver
transplant program which demanded that he pass a drug test
for marijuana.
Unlike other drugs, including cocaine, heroin, and alcohol,
marijuana is not a risk factor for hepatitis. Even though
many patients find medical marijuana is useful -- not only
for weight gain, but also for helping to avoid drugs that
are toxic to the liver -- it is banned in most transplant
programs.
California NORML attorney Eric Shevin attempted to get
Plotner restored to the transplant list, but his efforts
proved too late. After being kept off the list a year, Ed
expired on November 21.
"Ed was a tragic victim of drug testing abuse," says
California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer. "He was killed
by the anti-marijuana bigotry and ignorance of medical
'experts' who should have known better."
Ironically, Plotner, who was from Redding, California, had
sought treatment in San Francisco, where voters
overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana by 80%-20%.
(Dale Gieringer can be reached at canorml@igc.org.
California NORML is online at http://www.norml.org/canorml/.
***
5. MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Drug Smuggling by U.S. Marines a
Growing Problem
Last Sunday (12/13) the Los Angeles Times reported that more
than fifty members of the U.S. military have been
investigated for drug smuggling in recent years. The piece
highlights the realities of prohibition enforcement and the
fact that even the world's strongest military is not immune
from corruption. This was a concern that was voiced
strongly by numerous military leaders during the debate, in
the 1980's, over whether or not America's military ought to
be deployed in service to the Drug War.
You can find the Los Angeles Times article online at
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/UPDATES/lat_marines1213.htm.
***
6. EDITORIAL: Unrighteous Indignation
Adam J. Smith, DRCNet Associate Director
This week, while the House continued to debate articles of
impeachment against the President, Bob Livingston, the
speaker-elect, announced that he had been unfaithful to his
wife of 33-years, conducting a long-term affair. Livingston
indicated that his revelation came under pressure from
unnamed people who had been "investigating" him, and vowed
that he would nevertheless be undeterred from his duty
regarding impeachment.
Bob Livingston was not the first member of Congress to make
an embarrassing admission during this process, and the
rumors around Washington are that as the process continues,
more will follow. It may be that there are people who are
loyal to the President, perhaps people in the administration
itself, who are attempting to use the dark secrets of
President Clinton's Republican inquisitors against them in
an effort to swing votes.
These admissions in advance of imminent disclosure are
nothing new. Several years ago there were a rash of
admissions, by then-speaker Newt Gingrich and Vice President
Al Gore among others, to "youthful experimentation" with
marijuana. Now it's sex.
The problem here is not that our elected leaders are human,
or even somewhat twisted, as no doubt some of them are. The
problem is that despite their own "indiscretions," these
people insist upon passing laws regulating, even prohibiting
the private consensual behavior of others. And they are
willing, even eager to see that the private conduct of
American adults be punished, and punished severely.
Last year in America, approximately 600,000 people were
arrested for the possession of marijuana. Tens of thousands
of others were arrested for the possession of other banned
substances. The majority of those people had not harmed
anyone, save arguably themselves. And every year, from
Capitol Hill, bastion of morality and virtue, comes the call
for harsher sentences, more prisons and greater police
powers in order that the state might better find, sentence
and incarcerate these wayward Americans to the satisfaction
of our elected hypocrites.
No one, of course, is kicking in the doors of our
legislators, or of their well-to-do neighbors, in the hopes
of finding some forbidden substance. In fact, none of the
members of Congress, nor their social and economic peers,
have much to worry about at all from the state-sponsored
terrorism masquerading as vice-law enforcement. Any
invasion of privacy that they suffer now is borne solely of
their own volitional rise to public office, and the circus
that they have created of our political reality. The laws
they pass are for other people. Those of us not upstanding
or trustworthy enough to determine what is best put in our
bodies, or to hold public office.
We have come to a point in our history when our leaders pass
laws which punish humanity itself, with the full force of
the prison state behind them. And the full knowledge that
they themselves, and many of their friends and colleagues,
would fail the test of their own punitive puritanism if only
they were subject to its dictates. Today, in Washington DC,
our leaders are grudgingly confessing to things that would
otherwise become public anyway. These are the same leaders
who, with righteous indignation and contempt for the
weakness of others, have declared war on the private,
consensual acts of the citizens of this nation. These
leaders are sinners beyond redemption. Not for being human,
with all of the messiness that the condition entails, but
rather for having the nerve to legislate while shamelessly
pretending that they're not.
***
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[End]
to the 1998 Daily News index for Dec. 17-23