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Treasurer Says Cloud Removed (According to the Daily Herald, in Everett,
Washington, Snohomish County Treasurer Bob Dantini said Friday he was
relieved to learn that he would not face criminal prosecution based on his
former fiancee's allegations, including her charge that he used cocaine.)

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:56:43 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Treasurer Says Cloud Removed
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: 23 Jan 1999
Source: Herald, The (WA)
Copyright: 1999 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact: letters@heraldnet.com
Website: http://www.heraldnet.com/
Author: By SCOTT NORTH and JIM HALEY Herald Writers

TREASURER SAYS CLOUD REMOVED

No prosecution in domestic dispute

EVERETT -- Snohomish County Treasurer Bob Dantini said he was relieved
Friday to learn that he will not face criminal prosecution in connection
with a May fracas with his former fiance.

Bob Dantini

It has been nearly eight months since Dantini, 48, was arrested for an
alleged domestic violence assault involving a then-27-year-old woman who
had been his girlfriend for about four years.

The woman claimed that Dantini attacked her after she hid a small amount of
cocaine that she alleged belonged to the first-term treasurer, according to
court documents.

Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Krider had asked the state
attorney general's office to review the case. On Thursday, it sent Krider a
letter declining to prosecute Dantini on any charges.

"Obviously it was clear to me what was going to occur all along, but it has
been a cloud hanging over my head and I'm glad to move on," Dantini said.

The possibility of a cocaine possession charge is something that's been on
a lot of people's minds, Dantini said.

"The people that know me and have known me for a long time and worked with
me knew that the allegations were untrue and unfounded. This just bears
that out," he added.

Dantini initially was arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic
violence assault after Snohomish County Sheriff's Office deputies were
called to his home and found the woman with injuries.

Prosecutors swiftly dropped that charge, however, and alerted the court
that a felony case was possible. On the night of Dantini's arrest, the
woman led deputies to a small amount of suspected cocaine, which was hidden
in a shoe inside her car, which was parked at the county treasurer's home.

The woman has since refused to cooperate with police, and has referred all
questions to her attorney, assistant attorney general Jerry Ackerman said
in his letter to Krider.

Without her cooperation, and knowing that the woman has a Fifth Amendment
right against self-incrimination, there is no way to prove whose drugs were
found, Ackerman wrote.

He added, "I am forced to conclude that, based upon the current evidentiary
situation, I am compelled to decline prosecution in this matter."

Without a cooperative witness, the same problems would exist in attempting
to prosecute for the domestic violence assault, Townsend said.

Sheriff Rick Bart said he is disappointed that it took so long for a
decision to be reached in the case, and that there won't be a trial.

"I just believe in my heart that my deputies did the right thing, and I'll
support them 100 percent," he said of the case.

Bart said he is troubled by the message that some might seen in the way
Dantini's case was resolved. Domestic violence is a growing problem in the
county, and prosecutors in some jurisdictions, notably the city of Everett,
routinely prepare to take their cases to trial without cooperating victims,
Bart said.

Bart said he thinks everybody in law enforcement in the county should
approach domestic violence cases the same way.

"It is not fair to Bob Dantini," Bart said. "He should have a trial like
everybody else."

Dantini on Friday denied domestic violence involving the woman.

He said he got into a disagreement with this ex-fiance when he tried to
break off the relationship. He understands that police typically arrest
someone when they are called to a domestic dispute and somebody's injured.

"Quite frankly, she was injured," he said. "She had an abrasion on her shin
when I physically restrained her from doing any further damage to my house
and my property."

Dantini said he will seek a second term as treasurer next November, and
plans to campaign on his record.

"I've done a great job for the county, and I hope the voters realize that,"
he added.

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Let Users Get Drugs At Corner Store (A letter to the editor of the San
Francisco Chronicle, from parents who lost their 19-year-old son to heroin,
says Bos Scaggs' understandably emotional notion of a "plague of heroin" is
misguided. Heroin is not a poison. It is the prohibition of various
substances that poisons users.)

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 11:27:27 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: PUB LTE: "Let Users Get Drugs At Corner Store"
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Saturday, 23 January 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Author: ELEANOR and ALAN RANDELL Victoria, B.C.

"LET USERS GET DRUGS AT CORNER STORE"

Editor -- Our heart goes out to Boz and Carmella Scaggs as they try to
come to terms with the tragic death of their son, Oscar (Chronicle,
January 13).

However, as grieving parents of a son who died at 19 years of age
after ingesting street heroin back in 1993, we reject completely Mr
Scaggs' understandably emotional notion of a ``plague of heroin.'`
Heroin is not a poison. Contrary to conventional wisdom and the war on
drugs propaganda, there are no known irreversible physical
side-effects of opiate drugs.

As America's disastrous experiment with the prohibition of alcohol
clearly showed, it is the prohibition of various substances that
poisons users and spawns murder and mayhem in the streets, not the
substances themselves. Today, the prohibition of marijuana, heroin and
a other drugs is exerting precisely the same effects, and yet Mr
Scaggs and others cannot, or will not, see that the problems will only
diminish when we end prohibition and allow all drug users to purchase
cheap, clean drugs at the corner store.

Piling tragedy upon tragedy, Boz Scaggs' ill-considered comments,
together with your one-sided account of them, will increase public
support for the disastrous war on drugs and thus condemn even more of
our children to die. Oscar and our Peter have seemingly died in vain.

ELEANOR and ALAN RANDELL Victoria, B.C.

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ACLU Questions Aspects Of Drug Search In Schools (The Billings Gazette
covers a search of schools by a drug-sniffing dog in Deer Lodge, Montana.
Out of 350 students, three were charged with drug possession and a fourth
was cited for being under 18 and having cigarettes. But Scott Crichton,
executive director of the Montana ACLU in Billings, says "they're pushing
the line . . . when they are searching kids themselves and going into the
parking lot.")

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 07:14:38 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MT: ACLU Questions Aspects Of Drug Search In Schools
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Source: Billings Gazette, The (MT)
Copyright: 1999 The Billings Gazette
Address: P.O. Box 36300, Billings, MT 59101-6300
Fax: 406-657-1208
Website: http://www.billingsgazette.com/
Contact: speakup@bsw.net
Author: KIM SKORNOGOSKI The Montana Standard
Pubdate: Sat, 23 Jan 1999

ACLU QUESTIONS ASPECTS OF DRUG SEARCH IN SCHOOLS

DEER LODGE - Students and parents in Deer Lodge thanked school officials
Friday for bringing a drug-sniffing dog into the schools.

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union said some aspects of
Thursday's search violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable
searches and seizures.

Powell County High School Superintendent Mike Doyle was interrupted during
Friday by community members who were pleased with the search that lead to
the arrests of four high school students.

"Students say 'it's about time we did something about this,' " Doyle said.
"People in the community, both those with students and without, have given
us nothing but positive responses."

The dog's perusal was prompted by the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force,
which for the past eight months has been tracing the sale of marijuana,
methamphetamine, LSD and psilocybin in Deer Lodge. Using informants, the
task force bought drugs from nine people, eight of whom have been arrested
and four of whom were high school students.

Doyle said the locker search policy has been in place at the high school for
five years and at the junior high for four. Dogs come into the schools at
random about once a year.

Students and parents are required to sign a letter at the beginning of the
year stating that they read the student handbook which explains the policy.
Junior high students are tested on the conduct policies, including drug
searches.

The dogs are trained to pick up traces of alcohol, drugs, tobacco and
firearms.

DuVall Junior High Principal Pat Rogers said the dog sniffed the rows of
lockers and the students' backpacks. Afterward, the school had an assembly
explaining what happened.

"We go out of our way to make sure the rights of students and parents are
upheld," Rogers said Friday. "We've had several students come up and say
they were glad we did this. Parents have also told us they supported our
no-tolerance policy."

While school officials heard only positive responses Friday, the search
raised a red flag with the Montana American Civil Liberties Union, which
compared the searches to being in a police state.

"They are pushing the envelope on this every time they do it," said Scott
Crichton, executive director of the Montana ACLU in Billings. "They're right
about the lockers (being school property), but where they're pushing the
line - and where the lines probably aren't clear - is when they are
searching kids themselves and going into the parking lot."

The dog, which was rented for $600 from a private Laurel-based company,
found nothing suspicious in the lockers or bags at the junior high school.
The canine, however, sniffed substances in six high school lockers and 18
cars parked in the school's lot.

Of those, three cars were found to have small amounts of marijuana and
another had tobacco. Out of 350 students, three were charged with drug
possession and a fourth was cited for being under 18 and having cigarettes.

Two students protested the search of their cars, which led the Powell
County sheriff's office to get warrants and then search the cars.

Crichton asked for students who were affected by the searches to call the
ACLU and possibly help them establish a court case against dog-sniffing
policies.

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Customs officers stole drug cash, Mountie says (The National Post,
in Canada, says court documents discovered by the newspaper show that
customs officials at Pearson International Airport in Toronto who were
supposed to fight money-laundering were themselves involved in the theft
of at least $1 million in "drug" cash and its transfer to various foreign
accounts. Information sworn Wednesday by Sergeant Robin Smith of the London,
Ontario, RCMP proceeds-of-crime unit outlines the basis for 12 charges.)

From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: Customs officers stole drug cash, Mountie says
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 10:27:33 -0800
Lines: 99
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: The National Post
Contact: letters@nationalpost.com
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Pubdate: Saturday, January 23, 1999
Author: Peter Kuitenbrouwer National Post

Customs officers stole drug cash, Mountie says

At Pearson international: Group stole at least $1-million in seized money:
documents

Customs officers working to fight the money-laundering problem at Canada's
busiest airport were themselves involved in the theft of drug cash and its
transfer to various foreign accounts, according to court documents
discovered by the National Post.

Court documents filed this week say the group channelled the stolen cash
out of Canada into the U.S., the Bahamas, and the Channel Islands in a bid
to hide it.

The activities took place between January, 1995, and December, 1998, and
involved the transfer of money to locations in Ontario, New Jersey,
elsewhere in the United States, the Bahamas, and the Channel Islands.

Sources close to the investigation say the thefts took place during an
ongoing joint operation by the RCMP and Canada Customs, during which agents
X-rayed suspicious luggage on flights from Toronto's Pearson International
to Colombia. Suitcases containing cash are part of a drug cycle in which
cocaine comes into Canada and is sold on the streets. The Canadian cash
paid for the drugs is then converted into U.S. dollars and sent back to
Colombia to buy more drugs.

Sources say that, rather than turn the seized cash -- amounting to at least
$1-million (US) -- over to police, the group pocketed it and banked it. One
bank reported the unusual deposits, a source said.

A bail hearing has been set for Monday morning for five men and two women
in Brampton, Ont. Sources say police have made arrangements with the
lawyers representing the group that they turn themselves over to the police.

The case raises fresh questions about laundering controls in Canada, which
have been repeatedly criticized in the United States and Europe as an easy
place to move the proceeds of crime. The team targeted in the current
police case were themselves part of a federal effort to step up the fight
against launderers.

Information sworn Wednesday by Sergeant Robin Smith, of the London RCMP
proceeds-of-crime unit, outlines the basis for 12 charges.

According to the documents, one member of the group,"being an official
Revenue Canada customs officer, did unlawfully commit a breach of trust,
did steal money the property of person or persons unknown of a value
exceeding $5,000." That person "did commit a breach of trust in connection
with the duties of his office by failing to report the seizure of money as
he was required to do," the record says.

Leading the investigation is Corporal Jamie Jagoe of the London RCMP. "It
certainly is an interesting case," Cpl. Jagoe said yesterday. He declined
further comment.

The information outlines nine counts of breach of trust and two counts of
unlawful possession of property under the Controlled Drugs and Substance
Act. There is also one count of theft.

The group "did unlawfully conspire . . . to use, transfer the possession
of, send, or deliver to any person or place, transport, transmit, alter,
dispose of, or otherwise deal with in any manner or by any means any
property or any proceeds of any property to wit: money, with intent to
conceal or convert that property," in violation of federal narcotics laws.

One person named in the records worked in the Intelligence and Contraband
Division of Revenue Canada Customs at Pearson International Airport in
Toronto, a source at the division confirmed yesterday. He hasn't been
working with the intelligence unit for three years, however, said an
official at the division.

The court records allege that between January, 1995, and December, 1998,
the group "did unlawfully have in their possession property or proceeds of
property, to wit . . . money . . . knowing that all or part of the property
or those proceeds was obtained or derived directly or indirectly as the
result of the commission in Canada of an offence under Part I of the
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act."

Police in recent years have formed nine Integrated Proceeds of Crime Units
across Canada to fight money laundering.

The Toronto unit involves four city police forces, the Mounties, the
Ontario Provincial Police, and Canada Customs. Those involved in the
Toronto ring uncovered by police had been themselves working for the
Proceeds of Crime team.

In its report on a 1997 visit to Canada, the Paris-based Financial Action
Task Force on Money-Laundering, set up by the Group of Seven industrialized
countries, criticized Canada for failing to set up a mandatory regime of
reporting of suspicious transactions.

All other 25 nations in the Task Force have passed laws requiring that
"suspicious transactions" be reported to a central agency.

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

Hemp crop was meant for oil production (A letter to the editor
of the Toronto Star says Canadian entrepreneur Paul Wylie rots
in a Nicaraguan prison - presumed guilty - because the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Agency continues to prop up the ridiculous
and evil prohibition of cannabis hemp.)

Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 13:11:49 -0500
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Dave Haans (haans@chass.utoronto.ca)
Subject: TorStar: PUB LtE: Hemp crop was meant for oil production
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Source: The Toronto Star (Canada)
Pubdate: Saturday, January 23, 1999
Page: B3
Section: Letters of the Week
Website: http://www.thestar.com
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Author: Kane Slater, Toronto

Hemp crop was meant for oil production

Canadian entrepreneur Paul Wylie rots in a Nicaraguan prison -- presumed
guilty -- because the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency continues to prop up the
ridiculous and evil prohibition of cannabis hemp.

Marijuana is the flower of certain strains of hemp that have been specially
bred for high levels of THC (6 to 22 per cent). According to information
given by Nicaraguan authorities at Wylie's preliminary hearing, his crop
tested at 1.6 per cent THC; that is industrial hemp, not marijuana. All you
have to do is look at the plant to tell the difference: If there are no
buds, it's not marijuana.

Wylie is charged with growing 400 million pounds of marijuana. That is
beyond absurd. That's four pounds of marijuana for each of the estimated
100 million users worldwide.

Four pounds is enough pot for five joints per day -- enough to stay high
every waking moment, every day for five years and four months.

Obviously Wylie was not growing 57 hectares of marijuana; he was growing
hemp for the nutritious seed oil. Does anyone really believe these charges?

How long must this farce go on?

Did Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy do something about this when he
went to Nicaragua?

Marijuana was made illegal to make hemp illegal. Hemp is the most useful
and versatile plant on Earth.

The industrialization of hemp will eventually eliminate any need for
petroleum, cotton, wood pulp and at least a quarter of all pharmaceuticals.

The corporations that control U.S. and Canadian policy do not want this to
happen and that's why Wylie rots in jail.

Kane Slater

Toronto

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Marijuana myths go up in smoke, man (The Calgary Herald reviews the book,
"Romancing Mary Jane: A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana Grower,"
by Michael Poole. The author is not saying that everybody should smoke
marijuana, and "I'm not convinced that I should smoke marijuana. But I am
convinced that some of my opinions about it need reconsidering. The book has
accomplished its mission. Whether you think marijuana should be legal or not,
this is a bold, engaging and thought-provoking work.")

Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 11:01:48 -0700
Subject: Book review: Romancing Mary Jane
From: "Debra Harper" (daystar1@home.com)
To: mattalk (mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com)
Newshawk: daystar1@home.com
Source: Calgary Herald
Pubdate: January 23 /99
Contact: letters@theherald.southam.ca
Author: Bob Stallworthy

Book review

Marijuana myths go up in smoke, man

I'd like to meet Michael Poole. Not because he supports the legalization of
marijuana or because he smokes it, or grows it, or even because he puts
forward, in Romancing Mary Jane: A Year in the Life of a Failed Marijuana
Grower, ideas about marijuana that are new to me.

No, I want to meet him because through this book he tells me the story of a
man who spends time looking at nature, laughs at himself, acknowledges his
own fallibility and enjoys being who he is.

Although the writing in this book is light-hearted, it carries a serious
message. It is not that everybody should be smoking marijuana. Neither is
this a "how-to-book" on growing marijuana. Rather, Poole argues that a whole
society has been persuaded that marijuana is bad, though many times the
facts don't support this attitude. (Check out the mythology section at the
back of the book.)

Poole suggests, further, that an unwinnable war over this issue is
exhausting people and resources on both sides.

Poole's visits with other growers are entertaining and enlightening. He is
careful not to reveal exact locations, but there are no meetings with
scar-faced men with bulges under their arm pits or with men wearing fancy
suits sitting in rented limousines at the corner of "walk and don't walk."

Nevertheless, there is tension - the tension of getting caught. These
people are real, their lives are real, and the reader becomes a visitor in
their lives.

The author's descriptions of nature, and of tending his "gardens" are often
so clear that the reader reacts in surprise.

I'm not convinced that I should smoke marijuana. But I am convinced that
some of my opinions about it need reconsidering. The book has accomplished
its mission. Whether you think marijuana should be legal or not, this is a
bold, engaging and thought-provoking work.

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

'One Joint Changed My Life' (The Times, in London, says a friend who showed
Clare Hodges how to roll her first joint transformed her life. The former
television producer had suffered from multiple sclerosis for nine years and
was experiencing bladder spasms that made sleeping at night almost
impossible. Shortly afterwards Mrs Hodges and two other MS patients founded
the Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics. The group's first major breakthrough
came in 1997 when the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly for
cannabis products to be made available on prescription.)

Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 00:07:57 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: 'One Joint Changed My Life'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Source: Times, The (UK)
Copyright: 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd
Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/
Contact: letters@the-times.co.uk
Pubdate: 23 Jan 1999
Section: Newsfeatures
Author: Joanna Bale

'ONE JOINT CHANGED MY LIFE'

WHEN a friend showed Clare Hodges how to roll her first joint, it
transformed her life. The former television producer had suffered from
multiple sclerosis for nine years and was experiencing bladder spasms that
made sleeping at night almost impossible.

Mrs Hodges, who has now been using cannabis for seven years, said: "I had
been prescribed all sorts of drugs which did not work, when someone
suggested I try cannabis.

"I had never used it before and it took me a while to find someone who
could get hold of it. Eventually I discovered that one of my old work
colleagues used it recreationally. She agreed to come round to my house and
we smoked a joint.

"The effects were immediate. My whole body seemed to melt and all the
discomfort, spasms and nausea disappeared."

Shortly afterwards Mrs Hodges and two other MS patients founded the
Alliance for Cannabis Therapeutics, to campaign for more research into the
medical uses of cannabis. The group's first major breakthrough came in 1997
when the British Medical Association voted overwhelmingly at its annual
meeting for cannabis products to be available on prescription.

Later that year ACT took a delegation of politicians and doctors, including
Dr Guy, to see Paul Boateng, the junior Home Office Minister.

Four months later Dr Guy was granted his licence.

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[End]