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

Confusion begins to surface over medical marijuana law
(The Associated Press version)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Confusion begins to surface over medical marijuana law

The Associated Press
1/9/99 4:15 PM

NEWPORT, Ore. (AP) -- Mike Assenberg says he's just the kind of person
Oregon's new medical marijuana law was designed to protect.

Disabled since being hit by a baseball bat in 1985, he says he is in
constant pain and the marijuana lets him cut down on the painkilling
prescription drugs he takes.

He crossed the line when he tried to light up in a pizza parlor but is
threatening to sue anyway.

David Mahnke, chief executive officer of Abby's Legendary Pizza, says he
sympathizes with people in pain.

But as for smoking it in Abby's?

"It's absolutely forbidden," Mahnke said. "I don't think it's a good idea
for small children, sitting in a family restaurant, to be around people
smoking medicinal marijuana."

The tiff is an early indication of confusion over the meaning of the new law.

Assenberg has threatened to sue Abby's, claiming that both the state law and
the Americans With Disabilities Act guarantee him the right to smoke
marijuana in public.

In fact, Oregon's medicinal marijuana law expressly forbids smoking the drug
in public. And the Americans With Disabilities Act, a federal law, views
marijuana as a dangerous and illegal drug.

The law, passed by Oregon voters in November, allows people who have certain
medical conditions, including severe pain, to use marijuana to relieve their
symptoms and permits them to possess small amounts.

The Abby's incident arose on New Year's Eve, when Assenberg and his wife
went there for dinner.

Assenberg, a Waldport resident, said he asked the manager for permission to
smoke medicinal marijuana and was refused. Assenberg then called Newport
police to report a violation of his rights under the Americans With
Disabilities Act.

Police officers interviewed him and did not arrest him for possession of
marijuana.

Jim Rivers, Newport police chief, said he's not sure of all of the details
of the law.

"I personally haven't read a full draft of it," he said. "I think we handled
the call as responsibly and professionally as possible."

Rivers, like Mahnke, said he has sympathy for people who need drugs to
control pain.

"I'm not interested in arresting people who say they need medicinal
marijuana," he said.

But the U.S. Department of Justice, which oversees the Americans With
Disabilities Act, has no such qualms. To them, marijuana is illegal. Period.

Supporters of Oregon's medicinal marijuana law also say Assenberg has no
right to smoke marijuana in public.

"When we wrote the law, we considered this issue," said Goeff Sugerman,
spokesman for Oregonians for Medical Rights. "We wrote the law so that it
very clearly states that using medicinal marijuana in public places is not
allowed."

Assenberg, 38, says he's been in too much pain to hold a steady job since
1985. His hobby, he said, is helping to locate missing children through a
computer bulletin board he operates.

He said he has offered Mahnke a choice: Settle for $2,000, the amount needed
to buy a new computer, or face a $2 million lawsuit.

Mahnke, whose Roseburg-based company owns or operates 35 pizza restaurants,
recalls the conversation: "I told him he wouldn't be getting a new computer."

(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Cheap, available fertilizer being used to make illegal drug
(An Associated Press with a Salem, Oregon, dateline says anhydrous ammonia,
a cheap, readily available fertilizer, is increasingly being used in the
manufacture of illegal methamphetamine in the Northwest. Sgt. David Dewey
of the Pierce County, Wash., Sheriff's Department, said about 85 percent
of the approximately 165 meth labs uncovered in Washington in 1998
used anhydrous ammonia.)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Cheap, available fertilizer being used to make illegal drug

The Associated Press
1/9/99 3:36 AM

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- It's not a byproduct normally associated with farming,
but anhydrous ammonia, a cheap, available fertilizer, is increasingly being
used in the manufacture of illegal methamphetamine.

It has been a problem in the nation's heartland for some time and is
spreading into the Northwest.

Sgt. David Dewey of the Pierce County, Wash., Sheriff's Department, said
about 85 percent of the approximately 165 meth labs uncovered in Washington
in 1998 used anhydrous ammonia.

Methamphetamine, or "speed," has been manufactured in the past using the
"red phosphorous" method. Restrictions on the ingredients used with this
process, however, have increased user reliance on the farm fertilizer.

Anhydrous, which is created during natural gas processing, is a cheap and
efficient nitrogen source. Tanks of the stuff are found at retailers, in
fields and on rail cars.

Andrew Asher, manager of government affairs for the Agriculture Retailers
Association, said the use of anhydrous to make speed already is a huge
problem in the Midwest. Exactly how huge nobody knows since anhydrous is
available in such large quantities that small thefts can go unnoticed.

A year ago, there wasn't even a mention of the problem at the annual meeting
of the Agriculture Retailers Association, Asher said. At the most recent
meeting it was a major topic.

For meth manufacturers, use of the farming fertilizer is one step in a
process for creating the drug. Near the end of the process, an amber oily
liquid called meth oil is produced. The anhydrous is run through the liquid.
After a few minutes, crystals of the meth start dropping to the bottom of
the solution.

This method produces relatively small quantities. Its advantage is how
quickly a batch can be cooked -- under two hours from start to finish.

A gram of speed from either method can keep a user high for up to 12 hours.
It costs $60 to $80 and there are 28.35 grams in an ounce. Crack cocaine,
which costs about the same, will keep a user high only about 30 minutes.

Asher said the retailers' Anti-Meth Industry Task Force has been looking at
various approaches. One may be to add sulfur to the anhydrous mixture.

(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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

Inmate found hanging in cell (The Associated Press says Oregon prison
officials withheld identification of the inmate pending notification
of his family. The unknown casualty was the fifth inmate in an Oregon
state prison to commit suicide since August.)

Associated Press
found at:
http://www.oregonlive.com/
feedback (letters to the editor):
feedback@thewire.ap.org

Inmate found hanging in cell

The Associated Press
1/9/99 9:54 PM

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- A 23-year-old Oregon State Penitentiary inmate was found
dead in his cell early Saturday morning, apparently after hanging himself.

Officials withheld identification of the inmate pending notification of his
family.

Prison staff found him in his cell in the disciplinary segregation unit
during a routine check at about 12:25 a.m. Saturday, said Perrin Damon,
Corrections Department spokeswoman.

The inmate was not on suicide watch, Damon said. She did not say how he
hanged himself or when he was last seen alive.

Oregon State Police are investigating the death.

The man is the fifth inmate in an Oregon state prison to commit suicide
since August. Two Oregon State Penitentiary inmates, a female inmate at the
Oregon Women's Correctional Center, and a prisoner at Eastern Oregon
Correctional Institute hanged themselves between August and October.

Since these incidents, the state prison system has been on the alert for
suicides.

"Whenever there is a suicide, we always take an in-depth look at the
circumstances, the inmate's mental health, and if something could've been
done to prevent suicides in the future," Damon said.

(c)1998 Oregon Live LLC

Copyright 1997 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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

Medical Marijuana Files Are Admissible - Decision a setback for San Jose
cannabis club (The San Francisco Chronicle says Santa Clara County Superior
Court Judge Diane Northway ruled yesterday in a hearing regarding
the upcoming trial of Peter Baez that prosecutors can use financial records
and 265 patients' confidential medical files seized by police in a search
of the now-defunct Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center.)

Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 10:57:54 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: editor (editor@mapinc.org), DPFCA (dpfca@drugsense.org),
Med Mj (medmj@drcnet.org)
Subject: DPFCA: US CA SF CHRON: Medical Marijuana Files
Are Admissible Decision a setback for San Jose cannabis club
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Pubdate: Saturday, January 9, 1999
(c)1998 San Francisco Chronicle

MEDICAL MARIJUANA FILES ARE ADMISSIBLE DECISION
A SETBACK FOR SAN JOSE CANNABIS CLUB

Todd Henneman, Carolyne Zinko, Chronicle Staff Writers

In a major blow to a San Jose medical marijuana club, a judge ruled
yesterday that patient and financial files seized in a police search of the
club can be used as evidence in an upcoming trial.

Peter Baez, 35, co-founder of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis
Center, faces seven felony counts of selling marijuana to people lacking a
doctor's recommendation, operating a drug house, and grand theft through
housing fraud.

Baez, cousin of folk singer Joan Baez, has said he is innocent. Police
acknowledged he has cooperated in the past by turning in patients with
forged prescriptions.

Defense attorney Gerald Uelmen, a Santa Clara University law professor who
helped represent O.J. Simpson, expressed disappointment with the ruling by
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Diane Northway.

``The message is that anyone who operates a dispensary has rocks in their
head,'' Uelmen said. ``If you open a marijuana dispensary under the San Jose
ordinance and rely on the assurances of police that you'll be allowed to
operate, that assurance is worthless. If they want to treat you like a drug
dealer, they will.''

San Jose police officers searched the club in March after finding a
discrepancy between a patient's medical chart and a doctor's denial that he
had prescribed marijuana for the man.

Officers removed 265 patient files, financial statements and computer
records to copy and examine.

Uelmen, who sought to have the evidence suppressed, argued that the search
violated the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and
seizure and likened the raid to a ``fishing expedition.''

But prosecutors argued that police were authorized under city ordinance to
search for illegal sales at the center.

In court documents, prosecutors said that marijuana sales to five patients
were illegal because none had doctor recommendations.

They also said Baez, who received no salary, used the center's money to pay
for personal expenses such as his water bill and satellite television.

Jesse Garcia, the other co-founder of the club, said that a benefits
counselor from the Visiting Nurses Association AIDS project said that they
could have payments for personal expenses up to $500 made directly to
companies providing services.

Northway ruled that although ``the scope of the seizure exceeded the scope
of the search warrant,'' total suppression of the patient files was not
required.

She said police had sufficient evidence to seize financial records at the
club, but said she needed more time to rule on the computer seizure.

Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker called the ruling a ``total vindication''
for the district attorney and police.

``The judge saw through the hypocrisy, that the defendant wants the benefits
of the ordinance without the burden,'' Baker said.

Defense attorneys still plan to request that the charges against Baez be
dismissed.

The Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center opened in April 1997 after
state voters approved Proposition 215, authorizing the cultivation and use
of marijuana for medical purposes, in 1996.

The center closed May 8.

(c)1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A16

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Baez Loses Key Evidence Ruling (The San Jose Mercury News version)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 17:02:43 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Baez Loses Key Evidence Ruling
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Pubdate: Sat, 9 Jan 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Author: SANDRA GONZALES, Mercury News Staff Writer

BAEZ LOSES KEY EVIDENCE RULING

In a crucial ruling for prosecutors in the criminal case against medicinal
marijuana activist Peter Baez, a Santa Clara Superior Court judge on Friday
refused to throw out key evidence seized during a March 23 raid of his
now-defunct San Jose-based marijuana dispensary.

Attorneys for Baez, the 35-year-old former director of the Santa Clara
County Medical Cannabis Center, had argued the evidence should be tossed out
because police improperly searched the center, going beyond the scope of
their warrant.

But Judge Diane Northway found that police had probable cause to believe a
felony had been committed and had lawfully seized and scrutinized patient
files and financial records. Baez, who has AIDS and suffers from colon
cancer, is charged with five counts of illegally selling and furnishing
marijuana. He is also charged with grand theft and running a drug house.

In making her decision, Northway relied on a 1997 ruling by the San
Francisco-based 1st District Court of Appeal that found Proposition 215 did
not permit commercial operations to sell marijuana.

Attorney Gerald Uelmen, who represented Baez in the latest legal motion,
said afterward that the judge's ruling sent a clear message.

``The message is that anyone who operates a medical marijuana dispensary in
Santa Clara County has to have rocks in their head,'' Uelmen said. He had
argued that the center operated with the open approval of police, city and
the district attorney, who later turned on Baez and labeled him a drug
dealer.

``If you open a medical marijuana dispensary in San Jose and rely on the
assurances of police that you'll be allowed to operate, that assurance is
worthless,'' Uelmen added.

But during the hearing, Northway suggested that the defense wanted it both
ways. ``You want the benefits of the ordinance but not the burdens?'' she
asked.

Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker had argued that Baez's cannabis center
was not a legitimate business and was not protected by Proposition 215
because he had not complied with the ordinance. Among other things, Baker
said, Baez did not have a permit and was accepting patients without
recommendations or approval.

``They used the ordinance to justify opening up the center and then decided
to make up their own rules so they put themselves in jeopardy,'' Baker said
later, calling the ruling a vindication for the police officers who
conducted the search.

Northway's ruling came after four days of hearings over two months that
included testimony from police officers about regulations for medicinal
marijuana in the wake of Proposition 215, the 1996 voted-approved initiative
allowing the creation of such institutions to distribute marijuana to
seriously ill patients with a doctor's recommendation.

Uelmen argued the March 23 search was a violation of the Fourth Amendment,
which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and that
authorities had no right to seize all 265 patient files because they
suspected one patient file did not contain a physician's recommendation. But
Baker argued one illegal sale of pot was sufficient to trigger the search of
the center.

Police contend sales to five members of the center were illegal because none
had obtained a doctor's recommendation. They also allege that Baez was using
center money to pay for such personal expenses as his home satellite
television bill. He was also charged with grand theft because, prosecutors
say, he received a $14,000 federal housing subsidy that stipulates he have
no other income.

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

David Herrick update (An Orange County list subscriber forwards news
from the medical marijuana patient and former sheriff's deputy
in San Bernardino County, California, sentenced to four years in prison
for distributing a quarter ounce of medicine to authorized patients. Includes
a letter from California NORML to Attorney General Bill Lockyer,
asking him to review the case, and instruct his office to file a brief
which reflects his stated intention to follow the will of the voters
in implementing Prop. 215.)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 10:39:26 +0100
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: Ellen Komp (ekomp@slonet.org)
Subject: DPFCA: David Herrick update
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

I just heard from Dave Herrick. He is the prisoner who has served two and a
half years of his four-year sentence for aiding and abetting Mervin Chavez
of the Orange County Co-op. He has been moved from Wasco (finally) and can
be written, sent news, (and, he says, visited) at:

David Herrick P-06857
Salinas Valley State Prison
E-2-114
PO Box 1070
Soledad, CA 93960-1070
(This is a more complete address than I originally posted to some of you)

Dave wrote me on December 16, his 49th birthday and the second one he spent
in custody. "I miss you guys, I miss my kids, I miss my freedom, but no one
is going to get me to quit now. If anything comes of it that is positive,
then it has been worth every minute."

Herrick's case is currently under appeal. As it now stands, the AG's office
in San Diego has until the 18th of this month to respond to Attorney Steven
Gilbert's brief. Gilbert is encouraged that the court has ruled to allow
calendar preference in this case, meaning oral arguement should be heard in
March or April. It will be in Santa Ana, at the 4th appelate division (Case
#G023837). Supposedly two or maybe three of the judges are Brown appointees.

The following letter went out yesterday. Others who want to write to Lockyer
are encouraged to do so. Anyone who needs details on the case, please contact
me.

***

Attorney General Bill Lockyer
PO Box 944255
Sacramento 94244-2550

The membership of California NORML asks your urgent attention to the case
of David Herrick, who has sat in custody for two and a half years for the
"crime" of providing 1/4 ounce of marijuana to two terminally ill
patients. Herrick was a volunteer at the Orange County Patient and
Caregivers Co-op, which provided marijuana to a small number of patients
in exchange for small donations.

After 215's passage, David Herrick, a Vietnam vetran and former
San Bernardino sheriff's deputy, was caught with eight 1/8-oz. baggies of
marijuana marked for distribution to patients only. A 215 defense was not
permitted during his trial, even though the jury sent a note to the judge
after deliberating for an hour asking why the people's mandate was not a
factor in the proceedings. The defense of necessity was also not
permitted. Judge Froeberg ruled that wasting away from
chemotherapy-induced nausea wasn't a "significant evil" and flippantly
stated that Herrick wasn't "Mother Theresa" and therefore the
responsibility for providing medicine to the sick didn't fall on him.

On May 15, 1998, David Herrick was found guilty of two counts of
marijuana sales and was subsequently sentenced to four years in prison.
His case is under appeal (Case #G023837), and the San Diego branch of your
office is preparing a response to Attorney Steven Gilbert's brief, due
January 18. We are asking you to review this case, and instruct your
office to file a brief which reflects your stated intention to follow the
will of the voters in implementing Prop. 215.

We know that you are convening a task force to study this issue,
but this matter cannot wait for that group's recommendations. Every day of
delay is one more that David Herrick sits in prison unjustly. Please
contact us if you require further information.

***

Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 13:15:34 -0800
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: "Tom O'Connell" (tjeffoc@sirius.com)
Subject: Re: DPFCA: David Herrick update
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

Friends:

To back up what Ellen Komp and Jim Rosenfield have written about the plight
of David Herrick, I've been writing to Dave since August and have been
tremendously impressed at the way he's maintaining his compusure and sense
of purpose in the face of the unbelievable indignity of being imprisoned
under truly miserable conditions for what clearly was not a crime. If any
crimes were committe in David's case, it was by the arresting, prosecuting
and judicial authorities who have bent every rule of decency and stretched
their authority to the limit in contriving to use (abuse?) the letter of
the law and put him away for a (maximum) 4 year sentence.

Eric Schou of the Orange County Weekly recently wrote an op-ed in wkich
he called Marvin Chavez, David's associate, the "Man of the Year," for his
travails at the hands Carl Armbrust, the same prosecutor who put David
away. Not to take anything away from Chavez, who has yet to be sentenced,
but I would nominate David, who has been continuously in custody since May
of 1997 as the FORGOTTEN Man of the Year.There is a good chance that
intervention by Bill Lockyer on Chavez' behalf may keep him from serving a
day; no one can give David back the 19 months which have already been taken
away from him by a vindictive, dishonest law enforcement bureaucracy
determined to maintain its grip on power despite the will of California
voters.

It's time to bombard ALL California's newspapers and the AG's office with
mail reminding them of the endorsement which medical marijuana has received
in nine state wide elections over a two year span. We must demand that the
obscene abuses of power by local law enforcememt authorities against
patients and distributors be brought to a screeching halt. The time to act
is now!

Tom O'Connell

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

Plea-Bargain Ruling Reversed (The Associated Press version
in the San Jose Mercury News)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 11:05:49 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Plea-Bargain Ruling Reversed
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jan 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/

PLEA-BARGAIN RULING REVERSED

It's Not Bribery, Federal Panel Says

DENVER (AP) -- A 12-member panel of federal judges has overturned an
appeals-court decision that stunned the U.S. Department of Justice,
ruling Friday that it is not bribery to offer a plea bargain in
exchange for testimony.

The panel reversed an earlier decision by three judges on the 10th
U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who overturned the Kansas conviction of
Sonya Singleton on charges of cocaine trafficking and money
laundering. The three judges said the chief prosecution witness
illegally received leniency in exchange for his testimony.

The decision shocked the Justice Department, which said the ruling
could affect a number of prominent convictions, including those of
Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in the Oklahoma City bombing.
McVeigh and Nichols were convicted in federal court in Denver after
Michael Fortier struck a deal and testified against his former friends
about their plans to carry out the bombing.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in July temporarily withdrew
the ban pending a hearing.

U.S. attorneys argued that to use anti-bribery statutes passed by
Congress to bar deals in exchange for testimony "would not only be a
radical departure from the ingrained legal culture of our criminal
justice system, but would also result in criminalizing historic
practice and established law."

The panel, in a decision written by Judge John Porfilio, said that if
Congress had intended to overturn the accepted practice, "it would
have done so in clear, unmistakable and unarguable language."

Officials are pleased

The reversal pleased Justice Department officials.

"It's a great day for federal prosecutors across this nation," said
Linda McMahan, U.S. attorney for Colorado.

The panel said its ruling would not protect a prosecutor who procures
false testimony, but said that would be covered by other laws.

The three judges in the appeals court ruled that plea bargains, which
have been common practice for years, fall under a federal law against
bribing witnesses.

"If justice is perverted when a criminal defendant seeks to buy
testimony from a witness, it is no less perverted when the government
does so," Judge Paul J. Kelley Jr. said.

Agreeing were David M. Ebel and Chief Judge Stephanie K. Seymour. All
three also sat on the 12-member panel hearing the case en banc.

The three judges ordered a new trial for Singleton. They said the
chief prosecution witness illegally received leniency in exchange for
his testimony.

The three judges, who handle cases from Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, said Congress should rewrite the law if
legislators believe prosecutors should be exempt.

Wasn't expected to stand

Lawyers scrambled to delay other cases affected by the ruling, but
most did not expect it to stand. If the full 10th Circuit Court did
not overturn it, they said Congress would probably amend the law.

Judge Robert Henry, one of the 12 judges who overturned the ruling,
said the problem could arise again.

He said a new law passed by Congress makes government attorneys
subject to state ethical rules.

But Henry said applying bribery laws to plea bargains would be "a
legal absurdity."

"I simply do not believe that congressional intent could have been to
criminalize the widespread and common practice of government lawyers,"
he wrote in a concurring opinion.

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

Court Approves Policy Of Leniency For Testimony
(A different Associated Press version in the Miami Herald)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 21:51:31 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CO: Court Approves Policy Of Leniency For Testimony
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jan 1999
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald
Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald
Author: Associated Press

COURT APPROVES POLICY OF LENIENCY FOR TESTIMONY

DENVER -- (AP) -- An appeals court ruled Friday that prosecutors can offer
plea bargains in exchange for testimony, overturning a court decision that
declared the practice illegal.

The decision last July by a three-member panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals had shocked the Justice Department. That ruling took issue
with the moral and legal underpinning of immunity deals -- critics describe
them as a form of bribery -- and essentially would make criminals of federal
prosecutors who offer them.

The ruling was put on hold until the full Denver-based appeals court could
decide. In its majority opinion Friday, a 12-member panel wrote that if
Congress had intended to overturn the accepted practice, "it would have done
so in clear, unmistakable and unarguable language."

The reversal pleased Justice Department officials.

"It's a great day for federal prosecutors across this nation," said Linda
McMahan, U.S. attorney for Colorado.

The three judges who made the earlier ruling also sat on the 12-member panel
and dissented in Friday's reversal.

The case centered on the Kansas conviction of Sonya Singleton on charges of
cocaine trafficking and money laundering. The three judges said the chief
prosecution witness illegally received leniency in exchange for his
testimony, violating federal law against bribery witnesses.

"If justice is perverted when a criminal defendant seeks to buy testimony
from a witness, it is no less perverted when the government does so," said
Judge Paul Kelley.

The Justice Department said the practice is common, noting that Timothy
McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted in the Oklahoma City bombing based
on testimony from Michael Fortier, a former Army buddy who struck a deal.

The three judges had ordered a new trial for Singleton and said Congress
should rewrite anti-bribery laws if legislators believe that prosecutors
should be exempt.

Lawyers scrambled to delay other cases affected by the ruling, but most did
not expect it to stand. If the full 10th Circuit court did not overturn it,
they said Congress would likely have amended the law.

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

Plea-Bargain Ban Reversed By Full Court (The Philadelphia Inquirer version)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 11:08:12 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Plea-Bargain Ban Reversed By Full Court
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jan 1999
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright: 1999 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Contact: Inquirer.Opinion@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Author: Steven K. Paulson

PLEA-BARGAIN BAN REVERSED BY FULL COURT

A U.S. Court Of Appeals Three-Judge Panel Called Immunity Deals Illegal
Last Summer.

DENVER -- An appeals court ruled yesterday that prosecutors can offer
plea bargains in exchange for testimony, overturning a court decision
that declared the practice illegal.

The decision last summer by a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 10th Circuit had shocked the Justice Department. That
ruling took issue with the moral and legal underpinning of immunity
deals -- which critics describe as a form of bribery -- and
essentially would have made criminals of federal prosecutors who
offered them.

The ruling was put on hold until the full Denver-based appeals court
could decide. In its majority opinion yesteray, a 12-member panel
wrote that, if Congress had intended to overturn the accepted
practice, "it would have done so in clear, unmistakable and unarguable
language."

The reversal pleased Justice Department officials.

"It's a great day for federal prosecutors across this nation," Linda
McMahan, U.S. attorney for Colorado, said.

The three judges who made the earlier ruling also sat on the 12-member
panel, and dissented in yesterday's reversal.

The case centered on the Kansas conviction of Sonya Singleton on
charges of cocaine trafficking and money laundering. The three judges
said that the chief prosecution witness illegally received leniency in
exchange for his testimony, violating federal law against bribing witnesses.

"If justice is perverted when a criminal defendant seeks to buy
testimony from a witness, it is no less perverted when the government
does so," Judge Paul J. Kelley Jr. said.

The Justice Department called the practice common, noting that Timothy
McVeigh and Terry Nichols were convicted in the Oklahoma City bombing
based on testimony from a former friend who struck a deal.

The three judges had ordered a new trial for Singleton, and had said
that Congress should rewrite anti-bribery laws if legislators believed
that prosecutors should be exempt.

Lawyers scrambled to delay other cases affected by the ruling, but
most did not expect it to stand.

If the full 10th Circuit court did not overturn the ruling, Congress
would likely amend the law, they said.

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

Re: Singleton reversal (A list subscriber posts a URL
leading to the full text of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision. Plus
list subscriber commentary.)

Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 13:13:12 -0800
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
From: R Givens (rgivens@sirius.com)
Subject: Re: Singleton reversal
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

Jerry Sutliff wrote:

>Somehow I "lost" the attachment to the post about the Singleton reversal.
>Please, would the person who posted it repost it to me. I'm looking forward
>to reading the court's twisted logic on what may become the most important
>case on drug law in the last 10 years.

http://lawlib.wuacc.edu/ca10/cases/1999/01/97-3178.htm

I'm not a legal scholar by a long shot, but their argument seemed to boil
down to the notion that the rules simply don't apply to the Government.
They twist the meaning of the word "whoever" around to where it means
everybody else BUT the Government is subject to the law. Their argument is
so ridiculous that even grade school kids won't accept it. Their use of the
dictionary when it clearly opposes their position is a clear indication of
diseased minds at work.

The decision never addresses the issue of simple justice for defendants.
The possibility of false convictions resulting from paid witnesses is not
mentioned.

These lying judges invent a circular argument that claims there is one set
of rules for the Government and another set for everyone else. They have to
resort back to the King's Law in Britain for a precedent! They say the
Government cannot be prohibited from violating the right to a fair trial
simply because they ARE the Government and because they've been doing it
since the days of divine right kings. Constitution be damned, royal
traditions must be maintained, these blind judges claim.

Despite the fact that the law makes no exemptions for Federal prosecutors,
the judges ruled that the statute couldn't possibly apply to them. In other
words, it's OK for the Government to subborn perjury!

This court put their stamp of approval on an enormous lie. So much for
"liberty and justice for all" in the 10th Circuit Court.

It's quite an admission that criminal prosecution must rely on perjury to
convict people.

It's all bullshit!

R Givens

***

Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 19:48:02 -0500
From: Tim Sheridan (sparky@navpoint.com)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Singleton Reversal
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

"Gerald (Jerry) Sutliff" (gsutliff@dnai.com) writes:

>I'm looking forward
>to reading the court's twisted logic on what may become the most important
>case on drug law in the last 10 years.

Well I posted this before but here's the short version to save you the
trouble.

While the law prohibits bribery of witnesses (and presumably extortion
of defendants to plead guilty) the court ruled that congress did not
explicitly intend that edict to apply to prosecutors. Instead, the court
claims the law only prevents regular people and defense lawyers from
bribing and extorting subjects of the court.

I call this the clown suit rationale because it's like saying there is
no law against killing someone in a clown suit. (Or, more to this case,
no law against killing if the assailant is wearing a clown suit.)

It would surprise me greatly if there were not some standard law school
term for this. Go figure.

Tim Sheridan

***

From: rgivens@SIRIUS.COM
Date: Sun, 17 Jan 1999 12:02:41 -0800
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" 
Subject: re: Singleton
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

>re: Singleton reversal
>
>>It would surprise me greatly if there were not some standard law school
>>term for this.
>
>Qualified immunity might cover the part about procecutors going
>to jail for compensating witnesses for testimony. But it doesn't
>mean that the tainted evidence should be admissible in court.
>
>>Does this mean that federal prosecutors are allowed to break any federal
>>law, as long as Congress didn't specifically say it applies to them?
>
>Yes. If Congress had intended those laws to apply to prosecutors,
>they would have explicitly said so. See Singleton v. State of Kansas.

It's interesting that the Supremes resort to laws used to support divine
right kings in settling a matter of citizen's rights.

Why should laws intended to permit the sovereign to do anything he/she
pleased have any weight in American courts? The whole thrust of the
constitution is to restrict the rights of the government in favor of the
citizen. Hence this decision spits in the eye of the founding fathers who
would have never allowed a royal privilege to settle an issue of citizen
rights. That's why we had a revolution.

Needless to say, the court didn't address the abuse of citizen's rights
this policy promotes. Citizen's rights are irrelevant where royal law is
concerned.

The Supreme court is a jackass outfit that usually upholds whatever
political credo that got them there. They cannot even stick with the
accepted definitions of the English language in making their decisions.
Will they force a revision of our dictionairies to accomodate their
hypocrisy? Their pretense to be wise judges of the law is one of the
biggest legal fictions.

R Givens

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

It's Time To Honestly Review Drug Policy (A letter to the editor
of the Standard-Times, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, from a Barnstable
town councilor, says it has become obvious that, like alcohol prohibition
before it, the policy of criminalizing drug use, and particularly marijuana
use, has created far more harm to the user and society than the use
of such substances ever could.)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 20:24:16 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: PUB LTE: It'S Time To Honestly Review Drug Policy
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times
Pubdate: 9 Jan 1999
Author: Richard D. Elrick, Centerville

IT'S TIME TO HONESTLY REVIEW DRUG POLICY

I agree with almost everything Robert Whitcomb said in his Jan. 1 editorial
commentary attacking the "drug war" as a failure.

As a father, attorney and elected official (Barnstable town councilor) it
has become obvious to me that, like alcohol prohibition before it, the
policy of criminalizing drug use, and particularly marijuana use, has
created far more harm to the user and society than the use of the
substance(s) ever could.

I would, however, question Mr. Whitcomb's opinion that mandatory or
coercive treatment should be relied upon to wean the users of their drugs.
The history of substance abuse treatment programs makes clear that those
who are most likely to maintain their sobriety are those who have made the
decision themselves that the substance abuse must end.

It is especially cruel and indefensible to be incarcerating marijuana users
when both the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health
Organization have concluded that marijuana is one of the least dangerous
drugs, legal or otherwise, and creates less of a public health danger than
either alcohol or tobacco.

It is time to honestly look at how the present drug policy, with its focus
on exaggerated rhetoric and reliance on prohibition over regulation, has
failed. Unless we are willing to objectively evaluate our options,
including various de-criminalization strategies, we will never find the
best solution to the problems of substance abuse. We must change the drug
war from a jobs program for the drug warrior bureaucracy to a model of
education and treatment -- the approaches most of the medical experts
(rather than the politicians) tell us are the only truly effective and
moral solutions.

RICHARD D. ELRICK, Centerville

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

School crossing guard charged with selling cocaine while on duty
(The Associated Press says a 39-year-old woman in Magnolia, New Jersey,
was arrested Thursday afternoon after she sold cocaine to undercover
prohibition agents for the third time in a month.)

From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: NJ crossing guard charged with selling cocaine
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 17:25:45 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

School crossing guard charged with selling cocaine while on duty

Associated Press, 01/09/99 18:49

MAGNOLIA, N.J. (AP) - A school crossing guard has been charged with dealing
cocaine from her post near a parochial school, authorities said.

Susan Uhler, 39, of Magnolia, was arrested Thursday afternoon after she sold
cocaine to undercover officers three times since last month, said New Jersey
State Police spokesman John Hagerty.

Uhler was on duty helping children cross a busy intersection near St.
Gregory's School when the cocaine transactions occurred, Hagerty said. She
was wearing her uniform.

Hagerty said state police learned of her alleged activities while
investigating other drug activity in the area.

Uhler was charged with distributing cocaine. She was jailed on $40,000 bail.

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

Guard Charged In Drug Sales (The Philadelphia Inquirer version)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 11:12:39 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US PA: Guard Charged In Drug Sales
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sat, 09 Jan 1999
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (PA)
Copyright: 1999 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Contact: Inquirer.Opinion@phillynews.com
Website: http://www.phillynews.com/
Forum: http://interactive.phillynews.com/talk-show/
Author: John Way Jennings

GUARD CHARGED IN DRUG SALES

A Magnolia school crossing guard was arrested and charged with selling
cocaine on three occasions to an undercover officer while in uniform
and helping children from St. Gregory's Parochial School across a busy
intersection. Susan Uhler, 39, of the 100 block of Evesham Avenue in
Magnolia, was arrested about 5 p.m. Thursday at her crossing station
at White Horse Pike and Evesham Avenue, said John Hagerty, a state
police spokesman.

She was charged with possession and distribution of cocaine and was
being held in the Camden County Jail on $40,000 bail.Hagerty said
state police detectives from the Narcotics and Organized Crime South
Unit in Bellmawr learned of Uhler's alleged drug-dealing while
conducting an independent investigation last month.

On Dec. 22, an undercover detective approached Uhler at her crossing
guard station, struck up a conversation with her, and purchased three
bags of powdered cocaine for $20, Hagerty said. Authorities said the
trooper made a similar purchase for the same amount from Uhler on
Monday. Two days later, investigators said the undercover detective
bought a quarter-ounce of cocaine for $210.

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

Tonight! Prohibition on the History Channel (A list subscriber
forwards information about "Prohibition: Thirteen Years
that Changed America," on cable television. Plus a URL where you can
view the documentary later on the web.)

Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 19:57:05 -0500
To: drctalk@drcnet.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: TONIGHT! Prohibition on The History Channel

Thanks to a tip from Peter McWilliams:

http://www.historychannel.com/ontv/index.html

Eastern Standard:

8:00 PM - 11:00 PM Prohibition Thirteen Years that Changed America. A look
at how prohibition affected average Americans. Features George Remus, a
teetotaler who made millions with his liquor plant, and Senator Morris
Shepherd, a key supporter of prohibition who owned a whiskey still. (cc)
[TV PG]

Central:

7:00 PM - 10:00 PM Prohibition Thirteen Years that Changed America.

Mountain:

10:00 PM - 1:00 AM Prohibition Thirteen Years that Changed America.

Pacific:

9:00 PM - Midnight Prohibition Thirteen Years that Changed America.

For those out west, check in to MAP CHAT for comments of those watching it
now!

Richard Lake
Senior Editor; MAPnews, MAPnews-Digest and DrugNews-Digest
email: rlake@DrugSense.org
http://www.DrugSense.org/drugnews/
For subscription information see:
http://www.MAPinc.org/lists/
Quick sign up for DrugNews-Digest, Focus Alerts or Newsletter:
http://www.DrugSense.org/hurry.htm

***

Information on the state and topic discussion lists supported by DrugSense
is at: http://www.drugsense.org/lists/

***

University Drug Policy Forum - UDPF is an email discussion list where
students and faculty members can educate themselves and others about the
War on Drugs. We hope to inspire activism at local campuses. You may sign
up at: http://www.drugsense.org/udpf/

***

The FACTS are at: http://www.drugsense.org/factbook/

***

We also sponsor an interactive chat room for activists. Point your web
browser to: http://www.mapinc.org/chat/

And join the discussion. The chat starts at about 9:00 p.m on Saturday and
Sunday night Eastern time.

***

From: "Rolf Ernst" (rernst@fastlane.net)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Prohibition / History Channel
Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 22:40:18 -0600
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

The first episode of 'Prohibition - 13 years that changed America' is up at
http://www.legalize-usa.org.

I hope to have the other two episodes up by tomorrow.

Regards

Rolf

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

Hastert Seeks to Make Education a Hill Priority (The Washington Post
says the new speaker of the US House of Representatives, J. Dennis Hastert,
in his first public appearance since taking over Wednesday
from Newt Gingrich, announced a $2.5 million grant to expand public school
drug and safety programs.)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 17:42:45 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WP: Hastert Seeks to Make Education a Hill Priority
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: DrugSense
Pubdate: Sat, 9 Jan 1999
Source: The Washington Post
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Page: A03
Contact: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://washingtonpost.com/
Author: David S. Broder and Kari Lydersen, Washington Post Staff Writers
Note: Broder reported from Washington; Lydersen, from Chicago.

HASTERT SEEKS TO MAKE EDUCATION A HILL PRIORITY

'Not a New Passion' for Teacher-Turned-Speaker

The new House speaker, J. Dennis Hastert, yesterday signaled a radically
different Republican approach to education, an issue Democrats have
successfully used in recent years to batter the GOP.

Hastert (R-Ill.), in his first public appearance since taking over
Wednesday from Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), used school events in Chicago and
suburban Elgin and Aurora to announce a $2.5 million grant to expand public
school drug and safety programs.

A former high school history teacher and coach, Hastert vowed to make
education a priority on the congressional agenda -- and to do it on a
bipartisan basis. "This is a time when we need to come together to get
results," the speaker told students at the Crawford First Alternative High
School in Chicago. "This is not a new passion for me."

As a negotiator in last year's end-of-the-session budget deal, Hastert
helped protect the school safety and drug money, aides said. As speaker, he
is determined to put Republicans aggressively onto the education issue, a
major concern for voters, by pushing programs to help both public and
private schools, give states more flexibility in the use of federal aid,
create new savings vehicles for education expenses and reform the major
federal school assistance program.

Hastert also plans to meet as soon as next week with Chicago Roman Catholic
Cardinal Francis George to explore ways to ease the financial crisis that
threatens a shutdown of some parochial schools.

Four years ago, when Gingrich led the first Republican majority in the
House in 40 years, the GOP unsuccessfully pushed a bill to abolish the
Education Department -- a stand the Democrats never have let the voters
forget. Last year, President Clinton scored more political points off the
GOP by making money for a start on hiring 100,000 new teachers his
bottom-line demand in bargaining over the budget.

Exit polls in last November's elections showed one-fifth of the voters
named education the most important issue; no other subject was mentioned
that often. Among those voters, 66 percent said they voted for Democratic
congressional candidates; only 32 percent said they voted for Republicans.

Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, said yesterday that many GOP
governors and gubernatorial candidates "either won on the education issue
or played it to a draw" with their Democratic opponents. "But on the
federal level, we're still trying to overcome the backlash for trying to
abolish the Department of Education."

Clinton, who has championed school programs since his first election as
governor of Arkansas 20 years ago, will push again this year to expand the
hiring of new teachers and provide federal aid for school construction and
modernization.

But Hastert, according to aides, is determined to match him step for step,
if not dollar for dollar.

On Thursday, Clinton was joined by Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the
chief executive officer of Chicago schools, Paul Vallas, at a White House
ceremony announcing that his new budget will call for tripling aid to
after-school programs, to $600 million.

Yesterday, Daley and Vallas were at Hastert's side as he delivered the
grant money. Daley, a Democrat who is friendly with the new speaker,
praised Hastert's assistance and Vallas said, "He's been there for us
consistently."

On Capitol Hill, aides said Hastert and Rep. William F. Goodling (R-Pa.),
chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, plan to launch the
year with an "ed-flex" bill easing regulatory requirements on federal aid
programs, backed by governors of both parties, as a way of demonstrating
that education measures can attract bipartisan majorities.

Hastert, in his Wednesday speech accepting the speaker's gavel, threw his
support behind a bill that would consolidate 31 categories of grant
programs into a $2.7 billion block grant, with the goal of "getting more
dollars into the classroom." It passed the House last September but never
came to a vote in the Senate.

Republicans also plan to push initiatives creating tax-deferred education
savings accounts and voucher programs for low-income families to use in
sending youngsters to private and parochial schools. Both were strongly
opposed by the White House and most congressional Democrats in the last
Congress.

While Hastert emphasized education as "a bridge issue" between the parties
in his remarks yesterday, Republican political strategists said they are
also mindful of the political stakes in 2000 for the GOP.

Mike McKeon, Hastert's pollster, said after-school programs that provide
alternatives to street gangs are increasingly important to parents whose
working hours often do not coincide with the normal school day -- the same
point Clinton stressed at the White House on Wednesday.

Republican strategists also said the voucher proposal -- ardently opposed
by teachers unions allied with the Democratic Party -- gives the GOP a way
to reach Catholic voters, Latinos and middle-class African American
families who use -- or would like to use -- parochial schools.

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

Pressured FDA Seeks More Funds (According to an Associated Press article
in the San Jose Mercury News, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
says it's 500 employees short and $165 million in the hole because of
six years of budgets that didn't keep up with inflation. The Clinton
administration is seeking an extra $30 million to hire 60 more inspectors.)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:52:36 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Pressured FDA Seeks More Funds
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Pubdate: Sat, 9 Jan 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/

PRESSURED FDA SEEKS MORE FUNDS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration is seeking to infuse
more cash into the agency that monitors the safety of food and drugs
because of worries it's losing the ability to fully safeguard
Americans' health.

The Food and Drug Administration says it's $165 million in the hole
because of six years of budgets that didn't keep up with inflation.
It's short 500 employees, and needs more specialized scientists to
evaluate increasingly complex therapies. Its inspectors can check the
safety of only a fraction of medical and food factories every year.
And its research, which helps ensure new products are safe, has been
slashed.

``We cannot do everything that is expected of us,'' FDA Associate
Commissioner Linda Suydam told industry lawyers recently, in an
unusually stark admission.

But it's unclear whether Congress, which has long battled the agency
over issues such as tobacco, will go along.

Clinton officials say more FDA money is a priority this year, but
won't yet give a total. The first chunk: An extra $30 million that
would increase food safety by hiring 60 more inspectors and better
monitoring foods imported from abroad.

The agency is responsible for $1 trillion in products -- from drugs,
medical devices and donated blood to foods and cosmetics -- that
Americans use daily.

Even as it sounds an alarm, the agency insists consumers shouldn't
panic. It has reshuffled enough resources to deal with serious health
threats and properly approve new medicines, its two top jobs.

But it has been under intense congressional pressure to approve new
drugs faster. Consumer advocates charge that is dangerous and point to
controversial drugs like the impotence pill Viagra, arguing it won
approval with too little warning of deadly side effects.

In a new report to Congress, the FDA details numerous gaps in other
duties, including inspecting manufacturing plants and monitoring drug
side effects.

``The Congress and the American public have said they want smaller,
more efficient government. I think the FDA has certainly recognized
and responded to that,'' said Deputy Commissioner Michael Friedman,
who ran the agency the last two years.

But with an increasing workload that demands ever more expertise, ``we
face some really formidable challenges,'' he said.

An influential Republican lawmaker was more blunt: ``Let's face it,
the FDA is underfunded,'' Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said in a recent
speech. ``The administration and indeed the Congress is going to have
to take a hard look at what we are asking the FDA to do, and with what
resources.''

Every year, the number of new products the FDA evaluates rises by 12
percent. The products are getting more complex, including technologies
like genetically engineered drugs. In recent years, threats such as
new viruses and food poisonings have risen.

The agency's budget is $1.1 billion, up from $800 million in 1993. Six
years of inflation and the increased workload mean the FDA actually
has a $165 million shortfall, Friedman estimates.

Congress allows the agency to charge drug makers fees that hire
reviewers of prescription medicines. Similar fees pay for quality
inspections at mammography clinics.

But money for other areas has lagged: There are delays in reviewing
new foods and cheaper generic drugs. An aging population is using more
powerful drugs and medical devices, yet the FDA estimates it detects
only 10 percent of injuries caused by improper use or unexpected side
effects.

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

2 Dead Mexican Police Found Near Brownsville (The Houston Chronicle
says the bodies of a retired commander of the Federal Judicial Police
in Mexico City, and an active member of the agency, were found Friday
morning on the banks of the Rio Grande, in Texas. The two Mexicans
had been the subject of a search since they were reportedly abducted
in Mexico on Dec. 27.)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:29:23 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: 2 Dead Mexican Police Found Near Brownsville
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: adbryan@onramp.net
Pubdate: Sat, 9 Jan 1999
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: James Pinkerton

2 DEAD MEXICAN POLICE FOUND NEAR BROWNSVILLE

BROWNSVILLE -- The bodies of two Mexican federal police officers,
tortured and shot execution style, were found Friday morning on the
banks of the Rio Grande, authorities said.

Cameron County Sheriff's Maj. Gus Reyna said the two men were found
near a commercial nursery south of the Brownsville city limits at 11
a.m. Friday by U.S. Border Patrol agents on routine patrol.

The two Mexican lawmen had been the subject of a search since they
were reportedly abducted in Mexico on Dec. 27. Reyna said a truck
belonging to one of the officers was found in the parking lot of the
Amigoland shopping mall in Brownsville on Jan. 1. The mall is one
block from the river.

Reyna said both men appeared to have broken legs and had been shot in
the backs of their heads.

"Until we get a full autopsy report we won't be able to confirm or
know exactly what injuries they sustained," Reyna said.

Reyna identified the agents as Joel Raul Rodriguez, 28, and Jose
Eleazar Hernandez, 45, both of Mexico City.

Hernandez was a retired commander of the Federal Judicial Police in
Mexico City, and Rodriguez was an active member of the agency, Reyna
said.

Reyna said blood was found near the bodies, but he could not confirm
where the Mexican officials were killed.

FBI agent Brenda Burton said FBI agents are processing the men's truck
for evidence as a courtesy to Mexican police officials, and have
offered assistance to the sheriff's office.

"Right now, were still working the investigation and have not made a
determination as far as a motive is concerned," Reyna said. "We're
working with Mexican authorities, U.S. Border Patrol agents and FBI
agents."

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

Hemp Grower's Qualifications Questioned (The Toronto Star follows up
on the case of Hemp Agro International being charged with marijuana
cultivation in Nicaragua. Paul Wylie, the Canadian horticulturalist
with the industrial hemp company who's been jailed in Nicaragua for 18 days,
supposedly obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Guelph,
but the school says it's never heard of him.)

Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 10:45:45 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Hemp Grower's Qualifications Questioned
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Pubdate: Sat, 9 Jan 1999
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Page: A16
Copyright: 1999, The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Author: Kerry Gillespie, Toronto Star Staff Reporter

HEMP GROWER'S QUALIFICATIONS QUESTIONED

University Hasn't Heard Of Jailed Man

The claimed alma mater of Paul Wylie, the Burlington hemp grower who's
been in a Nicaraguan jail cell for 18 days, has never heard of him.

Wylie's nephew Grant Sanders, president of Hemp Agro International,
which has been charged with growing marijuana instead of hemp on a
57-hectare state-sanctioned farm, claimed Wylie earned a doctorate in
horticulture from the University of Guelph.

But according to university records Wylie, 45, has never attended the
University of Guelph, or received any degrees there, said spokesperson
Lori Hunt.

Desmond Cobble, one of the five British Columbian investors wanted on
drug charges along with Sanders, Wylie and Nicaraguan Oscar Danilo
Blandon, said he had been told that Wylie had a Ph.D. and had been
involved in the hemp industry for more than 20 years.

Wylie's sister-in-law, Linda Wylie, said she didn't think he had
attended university, and had only recently started working with hemp.

Canadian hemp growers contacted by The Star said they have never heard
of Wylie.

Nicaraguan officials allege the Canadians grew 150 million kilograms
of marijuana, calling it the largest such operation ever in Central
America.

The Canadians are claiming they were growing nothing more than
industrial hemp, a strain of Cannabis sativa which doesn't have the
high levels of the mind-altering chemical THC found in marijuana.

Hemp Agro said they had contracts for their first hemp crop -- oil and
fibre -- already lined up.

The Star requested evidence of verifiable contracts but Sanders
refused to provide them, citing confidentiality concerns. Even under
assurances of complete anonymity for the other companies involved,
Sanders said he wasn't able to provide any documents.

At the preliminary hearing, Nicaraguan authorities said the plant they
tested had 1.6 per cent THC -- far above the 0.3 per cent that would
be allowed for hemp growers in Canada, but still well below a level
that could be sold as a drug, said U.S. attorney Don Wirtshafter, who
testified at the hearing.

The cultivation of hemp became legal in Canada in March 1998 after a
60-year ban. Hemp is not cultivated legaIly in the United States.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, which doesn't recognize a difference
between hemp and marijuana, may have pushed the Nicaraguans to take
action, Wirtshafter said.

The involvement of Blandon, who financed Nicaraguan Contra rebels in
the 1980s by importing cocaine into America, may have been another
strike against the Canadians, he said.

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

Alone and accused in a Nicaraguan prison - Guelph man in hemp case
talks of jail ordeal (The Toronto Star publishes a jailhouse interview
with Paul Thomas Wylie, the Canadian horticulturalist employed by Hemp Agro
International who has been charged in Nicaragua with growing marijuana,
not hemp. It has already been admitted, by the American embassy in Managua,
that members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency were involved in inspecting
the property and the crop.)

Date: Sat, 09 Jan 1999 13:48:37 -0500
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Dave Haans (haans@chass.utoronto.ca)
Subject: TorStar: Alone and accused in a Nicaraguan prison
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Source: The Toronto Star (Canada)
Pubdate: Saturday, January 9, 1999
Pages: A1, A16
Website: http://www.thestar.com
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Author: Rosie DiManno, Toronto Star Columnist

Alone and accused in a Nicaraguan prison

Guelph man in hemp case talks of jail ordeal

MANAGUA - In the visitor room at the La Modelo prison, there are four
Boston rocking chairs placed around a coffee table. A small ice box hums in
the corner. Ashtrays have been provided.

It is all quite civilized.

When the prisoner enters the room, the warden rises to shake his hand.
``You have visitors,'' he says, to the accused narcotics felon. ``They've
come all the way from Canada. Would you like to speak to them?''

The prisoner nods his head enthusiastically and the warden takes his leave.

Paul Thomas Wylie, the 45-year-old horticulturalist from Guelph, lowers
himself carefully into a chair and rocks gently.

He does not appear unduly discomforted, after almost three weeks in jail,
most of that time spent in solitary confinement at another holding facility.

His beard is a little bit ungroomed but he's not otherwise the worse for wear.

At least not for a man who's been shot at, thrown into jail, repeatedly
robbed by his fellow inmates, denied all reading material, forbidden to use
the phone or write to his family, kept isolated from his
non-English-speaking lawyer, forced to use a latrine that is no more than a
hole in the floor of his three by four metre cell, taken to his single
court appearance wearing only his underwear, and threatened with a 30-year
prison sentence.

``I'm in a foreign country, locked away incommunicado, and surrounded by
dangerous people,'' says Wylie, as his Boston rocker tips back and forth.
``And I've done absolutely nothing wrong.''

This is a familiar mantra for incarcerated individuals. But Wylie is, at
the moment, the most infamous accused felon in the entire Nicaragua prison
system. He's also the only Canadian in the entire Nicaraguan prison system.

On Dec. 23, as he sat in the back seat in a cab headed down a dusty local
road some 25 kilometres east of Managua, Wylie saw a Toyota suddenly veer
into the taxi's path. When the cab driver attempted to reverse, the taxi
was surrounded by a group of men on motorcycles. Because Wylie had the
staff payroll on his lap, he assumed this was a robbery.

``That's what the cab driver thought too,'' he told The Star yesterday.
``These guys had all pulled out their guns and they were pointing them at
us.''

The cab driver tried again to make an escape. ``That's when they started
shooting at us. They blew out two tires. Man, it was a bad scene.''

The armed assailants had no interest in the cab driver. They let him go.
But they shoved Wylie into the Toyota and sped off towards Managua, where
he was deposited into a small cell in the local lock-up, with an overhead
lightbulb that burned constantly. ``It was only then that I realized these
guys were the police,'' says Wylie.

Twenty-four hours later, Wylie was taken to court, clad just in his
underwear, and formally charged with growing marijuana - 57 hectares of the
stuff.

It was the largest marijuana bust in Nicaraguan history.

Down a weed-infested country road, across a baked-dry creek bed where
volcanic rock protrudes, and over the hump of a hill.

A sweet-faced policeman, AK-47 slung about his neck, throws up his arm in a
halt motion.

No entry here, the officer says, positioning himself against a barbed-wire
gate that leads into a parcel of property that has been entirely burned
out, charred to the roots and tilled over. Bits of crop are still
smouldering in the distance and, when the stiff breeze changes direction, a
familiar sweet smell assaults the nostrils.

If one inhaled deeply, on the spot, one might get a fairly nice buzz.

Police think this is where Wylie and his cohorts - six other Canadians and
a notorious Nicaraguan who has been identified as a former drug trafficker
and member of the Nicaragua Contra rebel movement - had set up shop for
themselves in a wildly ambitious pot-growing scheme.

Wylie, the only one of the seven accused who was actually seized and
arrested (the six others were conveniently out of the country), says: Lies,
all lies.

According to Wylie, and other stakeholders in Hemp-Agro International, this
plantation was a fully-licensed, fully-certified enterprise, operating with
the knowledge and permission of the Nicaraguan government, in the
production of hemp for strictly commercial/industrial purposes - primarily
hemp oil for use in the manufacture of cosmetics.

It has already been admitted, by the American embassy in Managua, that
members of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency were involved - at Nicaragua's
request - in inspecting the property and the crop.

``From what I understand, the police had been watching the place for a
number of months,'' says John Adams, the Canadian consul in Managua, who
has visited Wylie three times since his arrest.

``We have no knowledge about this (plantation). We didn't know it was
there. Wylie had never registered with the consul here, although I believe
he did drop by on one occasion. Personally, I don't know how extensively
the Americans were involved (in the raid). There have been a lot of rumours.''

Adams stresses that the Canadian consulate has no role in what happens
next, other than to see that Wylie is not mistreated. The consul has been
trying, for example, to have Wylie moved to another, less oppressive and
restrictive area of the Modelo prison.

Adams, who's been at the Nicaraguan consulate only since last August, made
a further observation: ``Here, you're guilty until you can prove your
innocence. That's the way the law works. And this has been front page news
ever since the raid occurred.''

Hence, there is no bail procedure available for Wylie. The presiding judge
can take as long as she wants, as investigators go about their business.
But it can be months before the investigation is done.

``He may be here . . . for a while,'' says Adams.

``What Wylie has been telling us since the beginning is that this is not
marijuana. He's adamant about that.''

Paul Wylie has a way of talking. Hippy style. Laid back, way back. He
admits he is a child of the '60s, love beads and all, who smoked pot back
in the groovy days, the Janis Joplin days, but that was a long time ago.

``In those days, we were out to change the world. It was a revolution, man.''

He admits to one conviction for possession of marijuana, but says he
otherwise devoted himself to becoming a scientist.

It was the hemp plant, says Wylie, that turned him on - as a scientist.
``This is a remarkable plant. It's so overwhelming. You just can't ignore
it.'' He moved to Nicaragua 14 months ago to work for his nephew Grant
Sander, president of Hemp-Agro.

The soil in Nicaragua is perfect for hemp growing because of the volcanic ash.

``I realized we would be able to get two cycles of growth per year.

``We had 25 local people working for us. The plantation was never a secret.

``The government knew we were here - they're the ones who had given us all
the proper certificates.''

Wylie shares a cell with a drug trafficker who ``at least speaks English.''

But otherwise he complains that the existence is hideous.

``It's archaic. They steal my food. They steal my clothes. I'm surrounded
by murderers, the worst people you can imagine. Very bad people.''

Yet outwardly, Wylie doesn't seem all that distressed. He appears, in fact,
to be altogether mellow. Kind of like a marijuana mellow.

``The Nicaraguans have this expression: Be tranquilo. That's how I'm trying
to be. Tranquilo.''

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

Mexican Drug Officials Found Dead (UPI notes the fate
of two more prohibition agents from a country
where the historical association between the illegal-drug culture
and peace movement never existed.)

Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 20:35:28 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Mexico: Wire: Mexican Drug Officials Found Dead
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: 9 Jan 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

MEXICAN DRUG OFFICIALS FOUND DEAD

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Jan. 9 (UPI) - Autopsies are planned on the bodies of
two abducted Mexican anti-drug officials found on the banks of Rio Grande
at Brownsville.

Cameron County Sheriff's Maj. Gus Reyna said U.S. Border Patrol agents
found the corpses of Jose Aleazar Hernandez, former director of Mexico's
National Institute to Combat Drugs, and his nephew, Joel Raul Rodriguez,
Friday just outside Brownsville city limits.

Both men's legs were broken and they had been shot in the back of the head
after they were abducted in Matamoros with their van, across the U. S.
border from Brownsville, on Dec. 27.

Reyna said no motive in the slayings was readily apparent.

The 44-year-old Hernandez and his 27-year-old nephew were both members of
the Federal Judicial Police.

Their van was found abandoned in Brownsville on New Year's Day, but the
discovery was not reported immediately.

An infant belonging to Rodriguez who was also abducted was returned the
same day unharmed but reports conflict on how the 1-year-old boy was
returned to his family.

FBI agent Brenda Burton said FBI agents were helping examine the van for
evidence, and they offered other assistance to the Cameron County Sheriff's
office.

Reyna said Mexican officials, the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol are
participating in the investigation.

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

[End]