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

Portland: Free Screening of "Sex, Drugs & Democracy," 1/28
(A news release from the Drug Reform Coordination Network
says director Jonathan Blank and producer Barclay Powers will attend
the showing Thursday night at the Fifth Avenue Cinema of the documentary
about the success of Dutch cannabis policies.)

Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 17:53:17 -0500
To: drc-state@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: PORTLAND: Free Screening of Sex, Drugs & Democracy, 1/28
Sender: owner-drc-state@drcnet.org

DRCNet members and other interested parties are invited to
attend a free screening of the documentary "Sex, Drugs &
Democracy" on Thursday, January 28, 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, at
the Fifth Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall, (503) 725-4470.
Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis at
Borders Books in downtown Portland at 708 SW 3rd Avenue,
(503) 220-5911. Director Jonathan Blank and producer
Barclay Powers will be in attendance at the screenings and
available for questions. "Sex Drugs & Democracy," written
and directed by Jonathan Blank, looks at the policies and
politics of The Netherlands, especially as they relate to
drug policy and the sex industry. Copies of this film were
recently sent to every member of Congress by a wealthy
businessman seeking to stimulate debate.

"Sex, Drugs & Democracy" is also available as a free gift to
any DRCNet member who donates $75 or more to our work. To
donate by credit card, or to print out a form to mail in
with your check or money order, use our secure online form
at https://www.drcnet.org/cgi-shl/drcreg.cgi. For
information on purchasing the video independently, visit
http://www.redhatproductions.com, or ask at your local
video store.

Jonathan Blank's newest film, Anarchy TV, featuring Alan
Thicke, Dweezil, Moon, Ahmet and Diva Zappa, Jonathan
Penner, Jessica Hecht and others, will receive its world
premier in Portland at Cinema 21 on February 5th.

For more information or to schedule an interview with
Jonathan Blank, call Wendy Brickman at (408) 633-4444.

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

Records Show Drugs On Treasurer's Shirt (The Herald, in Everett, Washington,
says police documents obtained Monday by the newspaper allege traces of
cocaine were found in the pocket of the pajamas worn by Snohomish County
Treasurer Bob Dantini during a May altercation with his former fiancee.
Dantini indicates the woman is trying to frame him, and the woman has stopped
cooperating with authorities. No charges will be filed and Dantini will seek
re-election.)

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 17:50:03 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Records Show Drugs On Treasurer's Shirt
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Source: Herald, The (WA)
Copyright: 1999 The Daily Herald Co.
Contact: letters@heraldnet.com
Website: http://www.heraldnet.com/
Author: Scott North And Jim Haley

RECORDS SHOW DRUGS ON TREASURER'S SHIRT

Dantini Denies Cocaine Use, Won't Face Criminal Charges

Traces of cocaine were found in the pocket of pajamas that Snohomish
County Treasurer Bob Dantini was wearing during a May altercation with
his former fiancee, according to police documents obtained Monday by
The Herald.

Dantini was stunned by the news, and denied ever using cocaine.

"Never," he said. "Not once."

The particles of cocaine were found in tests conducted by the
Washington State Patrol crime lab after Dantini, 48, was arrested May
28 following an alleged drug-related fracas with his ex-girlfriend,
then 27, the documents show.

The woman told investigators from the Snohomish County Sheriff's
Office that Dantini had a drug problem, and that the pair fought that
night after she allegedly caught him using cocaine in the bathroom of
his home near Snohomish, records show.

The woman claimed she ripped Dantini's plaid flannel pajama top trying
to get at a vial of cocaine he allegedly stuffed in a pocket,
according to police reports.

The woman said she hid the drugs in a shoe in her car, and tearfully
told deputies where to find it after they were summoned to the home
with a 911 call, according to court documents.

Dantini is not charged with a crime and won't be, the state Attorney
General's Office announced Thursday. There are problems with the case,
notably that the woman has ceased to cooperate with police and
prosecutors, assistant attorney general Jerry Ackerman said Monday.

Dantini said he was surprised by the lab report, and insisted the
cocaine "wasn't in the pocket when I had the shirt on."

He alleged the cocaine found on his clothing came from his former
fiancee. The woman had access to the pajama top during the hours he
was jailed in the aftermath of the fight, he said.

"If they (police) found cocaine, that's the only possibility," he
said.

The fight wasn't over drugs, but his desire to end his four-year
relationship with the woman, Dantini said, adding that she was the
aggressor and he had merely protected himself.

Dantini said the pajama top was torn in the altercation, and that he
asked deputies the morning after the fight to take it as evidence in
support of his story.

The treasurer initially was charged with misdemeanor domestic violence
assault, but the charge was swiftly dropped after lab tests showed
cocaine was involved.

Sheriff Rick Bart on Monday stood by his investigation and his
department's decision to recommend that prosecutors consider filing a
drug possession charge against Dantini.

Bart said he instructed detectives to have Dantini's pajama top
examined for drugs in part to test the veracity of the woman's story.

"When the results from the lab test came back, we felt we had enough
probable cause to refer the case as a felony," he said.

Ackerman said he understood why sheriff's detectives would recommend
charges. But he also said that the woman swiftly stopped cooperating
with investigators and has made it clear that she won't be a witness
against her former boyfriend.

What the woman told detectives immediately after the fracas with
Dantini would not be admissible in a criminal case unless she was
willing to testify herself, Ackerman said.

Conversely, the woman can't be hauled into court and forced to testify
about the drugs because of her Fifth Amendment protection against
self-incrimination, Ackerman said.

"What we know is the vial of cocaine was hidden in her shoe in her
car," he said. Moreover, the woman acknowledged handling the cocaine
and ripping Dantini's shirt, he said.

Given those facts, there is no way to show that the woman herself
didn't somehow leave the drug traces on Dantini's clothing, and no way
to convince a jury otherwise, Ackerman said.

"Without her testimony, I can't see any way that we are going to do
that," he added.

Dantini is nearing the end of his first four-year term in office. He
intends to seek re-election, and said earlier he is hopeful his legal
troubles won't be an issue in the race.

The Herald obtained the lab test and police reports using state public
record laws. The documents had been secret during the investigation,
but became public records after the case was closed Thursday without
charges being filed.

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

Drug Tests Support Claims Against Snohomish County Official
(The Seattle Times version)

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 19:34:02 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Drug Tests Support Claims Against Snohomish County
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Tuesday, January 26, 1999
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 1999 The Seattle Times Company
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author: Nancy Montgomery, Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau

DRUG TESTS SUPPORT CLAIMS AGAINST SNOHOMISH COUNTY OFFICIAL

Lab tests showed cocaine on the pajama top Bob Dantini, Snohomish County
treasurer, wore the night he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his
girlfriend, according to police documents released yesterday.

According to a State Patrol crime-lab report released to The Seattle Times
under the state open-records law, examination of a plaid flannel top
Dantini provided to county sheriff's deputies armed with a search warrant
turned up cocaine residue in the left breast pocket.

The evidence is consistent with what Dantini's girlfriend told deputies May
28, when she called 911 from Dantini's Snohomish-area home. Crying and
trembling, she told officers Dantini had assaulted her because she had torn
a vial of cocaine from his pajama pocket after she'd found him with it in a
bathroom.

She then led officers to a vial of what tests later proved to be cocaine,
which she said she'd taken from Dantini's pocket and hidden in a shoe
inside her car.

Dantini could not be reached for comment yesterday. Through his attorney,
James Trujillo, he has previously denied having cocaine and has denied
assaulting the woman, saying she assaulted him because she was jealous of
his relationship with another woman.

The state Attorney General's Office on Thursday declined prosecuting drug
charges against Dantini, 48, because the girlfriend would not cooperate
with investigators. Without her testimony, said Jerry Ackerman, an
assistant attorney general to whom Snohomish County prosecutors had
referred the case, there was nothing to tie the cocaine to Dantini.

Ackerman last night said the cocaine found in the pocket didn't change that
fact. Without the woman's testimony, Ackerman said, her statements to
police would be inadmissible "hearsay" in court, and a jury would not hear
her version of how the cocaine came to be on the pajama top. Instead, they
would learn only that a vial of cocaine was found in her car - and perhaps
that she had torn Dantini's pocket during a confrontation.

The woman, 27, told officers that she did not want to help in Dantini's
prosecution because she was concerned about his career, according to police
reports, and that she just wanted to "move on."

If she had agreed to testify, Ackerman said, chances are the case would
have been prosecuted.

The case was referred to the Attorney General's Office to avoid a conflict
of interest: County prosecutors represent Dantini in his position as county
treasurer.

Sheriff Rick Bart said last night he was "frustrated" by the decision not
to prosecute Dantini - and the fact it took seven months to be made.

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

Cops Spied on Kubbys' Bedroom (A list subscriber and associate of Steve
Kubby, the medical marijuana patient/activist and 1998 Libertarian for
California governor, says the police report on the investigation that led to
Kubby's bust for cultivation last Tuesday indicated prohibition agents
videotaped Kubby and his wife and co-defendant from a hill behind their home
with a clear view of the master bedroom. A DEA agent also lied to the Kubbys'
landlord in an attempt to have her evict them.)

Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 00:10:54 -0700 (MST)
From: Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis (cohip@levellers.org)
To: Citizens for Compassionate Cannabis (cohip@levellers.org)
Subject: Cops Spied on Kubbys' Bedroom

Evidence in Kubby Case Obtained Through Bedroom Surveillance

***

FREE THE KUBBYS!
NATIONAL CALL/FAX-IN DAY
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1999

The first "HEMP CHIPS FOR FREEDOM" CAMPAIGN

To participate, see:
http://www.levellers.org/sk_callin.htm

***

Narcs observed and videotaped Kubbys having sex

Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 00:22:56 -0600
From: Arthur Sobey (asobey@ncfcomm.com)

Friends,

I just spoke with Steve, and he relayed some new information. Today
their attorney received the official police report on the investigation
that led to the raid last Tuesday.

It is disturbing. They haven't read more than the first few pages of a
five inch thick report. So far they know the following:

The investigation began with the receipt of an anonymous letter that was
mailed in Long Beach, California. The anonymous author claimed the
Kubbys were growing thousands of marijuana plants and were feeding
marijuana to their small daughter Brooke, age three.

I don't believe the anonymous letter was genuine, but consider the
action if an anonymous letter was received claiming that Governor Davis
was growing pot and feeding it to his kids. I'm sure it would have been
trashed as a crank letter.

The Kubbys were surveilled from a hill behind their house with a clear
view of the master bedroom. Their toilet habits and sexual habits were
videotaped by the pigs during the surveillance. Michele is distraught as
you can well imagine. Steve is just angry. I've seen it all before, and
know that this is just the beginning of a very traumatic experience for
them both. Cops in this country are out of control.

The day of the arrest a female DEA agent went to their landlord and told
her that over 400 four foot tall plants were seized, that the home
reeked of marijuana, and that it was so badly trashed out that it would
require extensive repairs if the government didn't seize it first.

Cool huh? This DEA NARC wanted to panic the landlord into kicking them
out on the street. The landlord was most relieved today to find the home
in good condition. She - the landlord - couldn't believe the lies told to
her face by the DEA NARC. She assured the Kubbys that they can stay as
long as they want, warpig lies and all.

I just had to get this out tonight. This isn't the country I invested my
life in. Cops in this country aren't supposed to videotape your sexual
activities and toilet activities based on an anonymous crank letter that
was probably a police plant to begin with. Steve and Michele aren't the
only ones who feel raped when such things occur.

I feel like kicking a hole in the wall of my living room and throwing up
at the same time.

There will be much more info after their attorney has had time to read
the entire report.

I usually sign my posts with "peace." Tonight call me

ANGRY!

Art Sobey

For more information on the Kubby case and how you can help, see:
American Medical Marijuana Organization
http://www.levellers.org/ammo.htm

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

Lockyer Won't Get Involved In Prosecution Of Gubernatorial Candidate
(According to the Associated Press, a spokeswoman for California Attorney
General Bill Lockyer told the Auburn Journal that Bill Lockyer would not
intervene in the prosecution of the 1998 Libertarian candidate and his wife,
who are accused of growing marijuana at their home, despite their status as
medical-marijuana patients.)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 07:26:23 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Wire: MMJ: Lockyer Won't Get Involved In Prosecution Of
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: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Note: MAP is one of the sponsors of the "Wed., Jan. 27 - Nat'l Free the
Kubbys Call-In Day." Please support this effort. Let the AG and the local
DA know what you think! Details are at: http://www.levellers.org/sk_callin.htm

LOCKYER WON'T GET INVOLVED IN PROSECUTION OF GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE

TAHOE CITY, Calif. (AP) -- Attorney General Bill Lockyer won't intervene in
the prosecution of the 1998 California Libertarian candidate for governor
and his wife, who are accused of growing marijuana plants at their home.

The state's Libertarian Party sent a letter to Lockyer urging his support.
But a Lockyer spokeswoman told the Auburn Journal that the attorney general
would not get involved in the case despite his support of Proposition 215,
the California medical marijuana initiative.

"Mr. Lockyer voted for Prop. 215 and supported it, but he did not go out
and campaign for the measure," press secretary Hilary McLean said.

Steve Kubby, and his wife, Michele, were arrested Jan. 19 after a search
warrant served at their Olympic Valley home resulted in the discovery of
360 plants in four rooms. The couple claimed to be growing marijuana for
medical use under a doctor's direction.

Prosecutors said they will be charged with felony counts of cultivation,
possession for sale and conspiracy at their arraignment Thursday.

Steven Kubby was a key proponent of Proposition 215, and openly described
using marijuana, during his gubernatorial campaign, for the adrenal cancer
he has had for more than two decades.

In a letter to Lockyer, state Libertarian Party chairman Mark Hinkle called
on the attorney general "to bring the full weight of your office down in
this matter and investigate the North Tahoe Task Force and Placer County
District Attorney's Office to determine the cause of this unnecessary
police action."

Hinkle also noted the more than 5 million Californians who voted for
Proposition 215 in 1996.

Kubby, 52, publisher of an online recreation magazine, ran fourth in the
race for governor last November, taking nearly 1 percent of the vote.

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

Banks' Big Brother (A staff editorial in the Gazette, in Colorado, pans the
Know Your Customer rule proposed for banks in the United States, which would
be obligated ot track the transaction histories of depositors and develop
profiles on them, in search of behavior deemed suspicious. The Federal
Deposit Insurance Corp. and three other federal agencies are accepting public
comment until March 8.)

Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 20:24:03 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Banks' Big Brother/Feds Make Private....
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tues, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Gazette, The (CO)
Copyright: 1999, The Gazette
Contact: gtop@gazette.com
Website: http://www.gazette.com/

BANKS' BIG BROTHER/

Feds make private institutions play snitch on public's financial affairs

So this is what the drug war has come to: Nosing into the bank accounts of
law-abiding people, even tracking the transaction histories of depositors
and developing profiles on them, in search of behavior deemed suspicious.

After all, maybe that $15,000 just dumped into a savings account was some
smack peddler's haul. Or maybe it was just your Great Aunt Gladys, at last
heeding your advice, moving her life's savings from a mattress to a more
conventional institution. Oh well, better safe than sorry.

For some years now the banking public has had to face such scrutiny by the
federal government - to the dismay of both depositors and bankers - and the
surveillance is about to take on a new dimension. As many readers learned
from a Saturday Gazette front-page report as well as from recent comments on
these pages, federal agencies that regulate banks are proposing to
consolidate rules dating to 1984 that are meant to weed out criminal
activity.

The Know Your Customer rule, on which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
and three other federal agencies are accepting public comment until March 8,
arguably would be more of a burden to bankers themselves than to depositors,
seeing as the feds already have been getting the information they want on
banking customers. The new rule, which could become law at the regulators'
behest, imposes upon bankers in effect to collate the information

That poses more paperwork for the banking industry and perhaps escalates
banks' involvement as forced government snoops to the level of "drug
enforcement officers and IRS agents," as State Bank & Trust President John
Jackson put it. Whether or not law enforcement authorities will be better
able to hunt down the likes of money laundering, the long-standing rules as
well as the latest proposed embellishment upon it surely jeopardize our
privacy.

Is there a constitutional issue here, involving the Fourth Amendment's
protection against unreasonable search and seizure? Not to Federal Reserve
assistant director Richard Small, who smugly observed that banks are private
entities, and any information customers give them isn't constitutionally
protected. He didn't mention, of course, that the only way to stay open for
business as a bank is by submitting to extensive regulation and passing on
to the regulators whatever information they deem necessary.

The feds protest this is nothing new, just a more cohesive form of standing
law - as if we should have stopped carping and accepted out fate by now.
More disingenuously, the regulators insist this meddling, including the
latest dubious upgrade, helps ensure the soundness of banking.

That, of course, is nonsense. Banks, as competitive businesses vying for
customers in the marketplace, are perfectly capable of looking after their
own good reputations. It's in their interest to do so. They know better than
any government entity what it takes to provide a stable financial climate
for customers.

There's a bigger issue here. Though the government contends this imminent
move, and the current laws it combines, aim to stem a broad array of crime,
Jackson summed up the proposal's more precise intent with his reference to
drug enforcement officers and IRS agents.

If there are two areas of law enforcement that have gotten way out of hand -
when considering the crime they curb vs. the ordinary, law-abiding citizens
they ensnare - it's the drug war and income-tax collection.

However urgent either of those priorities - separate debates in themselves -
each at times has turned the justice system on its head. Neither the
neverending war on drugs nor the infinite search for federal revenue has any
business treating the majority of us like criminals to nab the minority who
are. Whether the proposed new rule winds up affecting very many consumers
isn't the point. Taxes aside, our financial affairs aren't the feds'
business.

Lethal death tax

A proposal made for this president?

Two Republican Colorado lawmakers in Congress are pushing legislation in the
House and Senate to abolish the so-called "death tax" on estates and gifts.
Rep. Scott McInnis introduced a bill to abolish the tax last year but it was
not acted on before Congress adjourned. He will reintroduce the bill this
session. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell introduced a bill last week that would
slowly phase out the federal estate and gift tax by 5 percent each year
until it is eliminated.

McInnis tells the Associated Press he hopes to eliminate federal taxes on
estates and gifts because, in part, families are often forced to sell
family-run farms or businesses in order to meet the estate tax demands.

He also says he expects the legislation to be resisted by the Clinton
administration. That's too bad. Here's a chance for the president to remove
an onerous burden from middle-income Americans; to shore up the family and,
in sparing farms from subdivision and development - to preserve open space.
All were priorities enunciated by President Clinton in his State of the
Union message.

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

State's Highest Court Asked To Decide Free Speech Issue
(The Associated Press says the Maryland Supreme Court will decide
whether Wayne N. Davis of Ocean City was exercising his right to freedom
of speech in 1991 or hindering prohibition agents in the line of duty
when he disclosed the identity of two undercover narcs.)

Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 15:35:32 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MD: Wire: State's Highest Court Asked To Decide Free Speech
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: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 The Associated Press

STATE'S HIGHEST COURT ASKED TO DECIDE FREE SPEECH ISSUE

ANNAPOLIS - The state's highest court is being asked to decide whether a
man who disclosed the identity of two undercover officers was exercising
his right to freedom of speech or hindering enforcement officials in the
line of duty.

Wayne N. Davis was arrested in July 1991. A few weeks before, he had said
to a friend ``Those girls are narcs'' as two women came out of The Cork Bar
on an Ocean City side street known for its drug trade.

He apparently said it loudly enough for the two women to hear, despite the
commotion of people going in and out of bars at 1 a.m.

The two women, Bernadette DiPino and Alice Brumbley, were undercover officers.

DiPino arrested Davis for blowing their cover, in technical terms, for
hindering enforcement officials in the line of duty.

Davis first met the officers as he was bicycling on the boardwalk, and,
according to the officers, expressed an interest in buying marijuana.

DiPino and Brumbley arranged to meet Davis at a bar soon after. DiPino
asked a fellow officer, Gary Holtzman, to attend the meeting. During that
meeting, Davis recognized Holtzman as an undercover officer. Their
daughters went to the same elementary school.

Davis warned DiPino and Brumbley - unaware that they were undercover
officers - not to discuss drugs because of Holtzman. DiPino and Brumbley
then dropped their investigation of Davis. That apparently gave him a clue
as to their role.

Shortly after Davis' arrest from the Cork Bar incident, prosecutors dropped
the case. But Davis sued DiPino and the municipality of Ocean City for
damages.

The trial court found for the city and the officers in the civil case.
Davis appealed.

Maryland's lower appellate court split 7-6 in favor of Davis.

Court of Special Appeals Chief Judge Joseph F. Murphy Jr., who was not with
the majority, said the Davis case was not about the right of free speech,
but about whether there is a right to "blow the cover'' of an undercover
officer.

Such a right has never been established "in Maryland or anywhere else,''
Murphy said.

The Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case earlier this month and was
expected to decide in the Davis case by the end of the year.

Davis, meanwhile, has secured some influential allies, including the
Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, the American Civil Liberties Union and
former Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs.

Davis "may not have been an articulate or thoughtful critic of government
policy,'' Sachs wrote the court. "But it cannot be disputed that Davis was
arrested, jailed and charged because a government agent disliked and feared
his words."

"This is precisely what the First Amendment forbids,'' Sachs said, writing
on behalf of the ACLU.

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

Senate Backs Bill To Add Drug Prosecutors (The Florida Times-Union says the
Georgia state senate unanimously passed a bill yesterday to provide
additional prosecutors to go after "drug" peddlers. The bill was proposed by
Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor last fall during an election campaign in which he
admitted using cocaine in his 20s without ever being arrested. Hiring,
equipping and training one additional prosecutor for each of the 47 judicial
circuits in Georgia would cost an estimated $3.6 million the first year, but
the bill doesn't include any funding. "The costs to the state are relatively
low when the benefits are considered," Taylor said. Apparently nobody asked
to see his cost-benefit analysis.)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 03:27:26 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US GA: Senate Backs Bill To Add Drug Prosecutors
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: The Florida Times-Union 1999
Website: http://www.times-union.com/
Forum: http://cafe.jacksonville.com/cafesociety.html
Contact: jaxstaff@jacksonville.com

SENATE BACKS BILL TO ADD DRUG PROSECUTORS

ATLANTA -- The state Senate unanimously passed a bill yesterday to
provide additional prosecutors across the state to go after drug peddlers.

The bill was proposed by Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor last fall during an
election campaign in which he also admitted he had used cocaine in his
20s. He was never charged and has since apologized.

Hiring, equipping and training one additional prosecutor for each of
the 47 judicial circuits in Georgia would cost an estimated $3.6
million the first year.

"The costs to the state are relatively low when the benefits are
considered," Taylor said.

There is no provision for funding the prosecutors in Gov. Roy Barnes'
proposed budget request for fiscal year 2000, which begins July 1.
Sen. Greg Hecht, D-Jonesboro, who argued for the bill during debate,
said the Senate could add funding when it votes on the budget.

Nearly the same bill passed the Senate last year, but failed to come
out of the House Judiciary Committee.

Though Senate Republicans supported the bill, eight of them offered an
amendment that would have required convicted criminals to serve at
least 90 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole.
The amendment would have made law a policy adopted last year by the
Board of Pardons and Paroles.

But Taylor, who presides over the Senate, stopped the Republicans
before their proposal could be voted on by declaring it violated rules
requiring amendments stick closely to the subject of the main bill.

Both parties grappled over the issue of sentencing reform during last
year's General Assembly session, and tried to use the differences in
their plans against each other in last fall's elections.

"We wanted to make the point from Day One that we will continue to
fight for this bill by any means necessary," said Senate Minority
Leader Eric Johnson, R- Savannah.

Republicans will try to attach their amendment to any bill they think
is germaine, he said.

"This was a bill about putting people in jail, and we had an amendment
about keeping them in jail," said Sen. Clay Land, R-Columbus. "It was
germaine."

Regardless of the politics behind Taylor's bill, the extra drug
prosecutors will be welcome, if funded.

"The most important thing that does for us is give us additional
resources," said Danny Craig, Augusta district attorney. "It will
lighten the load."

Craig's office has 14 prosecutors that he says typically work long
hours and weekends.

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

Cuban Exile Arrested In Drug Case (According to the Miami Herald,
Drug Enforcement Administration officials said Monday that one of the seven
Cuban exiles charged in Puerto Rico with plotting to kill Fidel Castro has
been arrested in Miami in a major cocaine-smuggling case.)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 18:45:22 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Cuban Exile Arrested In Drug Case
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 26 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: JUAN O. TAMAYO, Herald Staff Writer

CUBAN EXILE ARRESTED IN DRUG CASE

Man is also a suspect in Castro death plot

One of the seven Cuban exiles charged in Puerto Rico with plotting to
kill Fidel Castro has been arrested in Miami in a major
cocaine-smuggling case, Drug Enforcement Administration officials said
Monday.

The two cases are not linked, although DEA wiretaps that led to the
drug charges against Juan Bautista Marquez also intercepted his talks
with Castro-plot defendants, other officials said.

Marquez, 61, and six other exiles were charged with plotting to kill
the Cuban president after the U.S. Coast Guard in Puerto Rico found
two sniper rifles hidden in a Miami-registered yacht in October 1997.

He was arrested again last week on a seven-count indictment accusing
him of importing 365 kilos of cocaine, conspiracy to import up to
2,000 kilos and money laundering, said DEA spokeswoman Pam Brown.

Also arrested by the DEA-led Southeast Florida Regional Task Force,
based in Fort Lauderdale, were: Marquez's son, Juan Alberto, 26;
Robert A. Alfaro, 27; Sergio R. Sigler; and Arturo L. Abascal, all
from Miami-Dade County. Six others are to be indicted in the same case
later this week.

DEA officials said the 365-kilo shipment was intercepted on the high
seas in December. Undercover agents arrested Marquez and the others
last week as they delivered what the suspects believed were parts of
the load.

Marquez owns a boat rental business in the Mexican resort of Cancun
and a small farm in Panama, according to court records in the Puerto
Rico case.

DEA officials confirmed that wiretaps were used in the drug case
beginning in June 1997 -- four months before Marquez's arrest in
Puerto Rico -- but declined further comment, saying the tapes were
sealed under court order.

But a knowledgeable law enforcement official not with the DEA said the
wiretaps had captured Marquez talking to another exile about the yacht
Esperanza both before and after his arrest in Puerto Rico.

Those portions of the tape relating to the boat trip have been turned
over to the FBI, which has jurisdiction over anti-terrorism cases, the
official said. FBI officials in Puerto Rico could not be reached for
comment.

DEA officials said that after Marquez was arrested in Puerto Rico,
they notified federal prosecutors on the island that he was under
investigation in the Florida drug case.

That set off a brief investigation to determine whether the alleged
Castro plot was in fact a cover for a drug-smuggling operation, but
that proved wrong, law enforcement sources said.

DEA officials said the case dates back to a money laundering
investigation of a Broward County person begun in spring 1997, which
quickly led them to focus on Marquez.

Wiretaps put in place that June expanded the circle of suspects, said
DEA officials, and later showed the group was coordinating and
transporting loads of cocaine being smuggled into South Florida.

The decision by the Coast Guard to search the Esperanza as it sailed
near Puerto Rico in October 1997 was "purely coincidental" and not
related to the DEA's watch on Marquez, officials said.

Arrested with Marquez aboard the Esperanza were Angel Alfonso Aleman,
57, of Union City, N.J.; Francisco Secundino Cordova, 50, of Marathon;
and Angel Hernandez Rojo, 64, of Miami.

A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico later expanded the charges to
include the attempted murder of Castro and three new defendants: Jose
Antonio Rodriguez, 61, a Miami lumber dealer; Jose Antonio Llama, who
owned the yacht Esperanza and is a director of the Cuban American
National Foundation; and Alfredo Otero, 62, another Miami lumber dealer.

Court records in Puerto Rico show that Marquez, who was free on bail,
received permission to visit his business in Cancun in December. A
woman who identified herself as the maid in his house there said he
had returned to Miami about Dec. 30.

Marquez's arrest Jan. 14 came just two days after the seven Puerto
Rico defendants won a motion to move their trial to Miami, where
attorneys believe jurors may be more sympathetic to the anti-Castro
cause.

Prosecutors last week filed an appeal against that ruling by Judge
Hector M. Laffitte.

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Assassination Suspect Charged (The UPI version)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 18:45:17 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Wire: Assassination Suspect Charged
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Wire: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

ASSASSINATION SUSPECT CHARGED

MIAMI, Jan. 26 - A Cuban exile already charged with plotting
the death of Fidel Castro faces new charges in a drug case.

Juan Bautista Marquez has been charged with importing 365 kilos of
cocaine, conspiracy to import 2,000 kilos and money laundering.

The DEA says four others have been indicted in the case and six more
are expected later this week.

Marquez is charged with conspiracy in an alleged plot to kill Castro
during a visit to South America in 1997.

The DEA says the two cases are not related although the same wiretaps
were used in both cases.

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Jails nearing crisis: report (The Montreal Gazette says a wide-ranging,
year-long study of Quebec's 17 prisons, released yesterday by the provincial
ombudsman, Daniel Jacoby, finds dangerous overcrowding, rampant drug use and
a tension-ridden system that must be fixed immediately. Jacoby saved his most
critical comments for the zero-tolerance drug policy, saying it was "a fiasco
that hasn't achieved its goals." He estimated that between $40 million and
$60 million in drugs flow through the prisons annually. "There is a
commercial enterprise of drug dealing in the prisons," he said. Jacoby went
so far as to characterize the explosion of drug use in prisons as an
unintended effect of the province's crackdown on outlaw bikers and warring
criminal gangs. Reacting to the report, Public Security Minister Serge Menard
said, "We're in the strange situation where criminal activity is going down,
but the number of prisoners is going up." Last year, Quebec cut $5.2 million
from its prison budget and 600 workers were laid off from the correctional
system.)

From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: Jails nearing crisis: report
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 08:58:21 -0800
Lines: 188
Newshawk: creator@mapinc.org
Source: Montreal Gazette (Canada)
Contact: letters@thegazette.southam.ca
Pubdate: Tuesday 26 January 1999
Authors: Sean Gordon and Kate Swoger

Jails nearing crisis: report

After a year-long study of Quebec prisons, ombudsman Daniel Jacoby
finds dangerous overcrowding, rampant drug use and a tension-ridden
system that must be fixed immediately.

Quebec prisons are in a terrible mess and on the brink of crisis, says
a wide-ranging 80-page report released yesterday by the provincial
ombudsman.

After a year-long study of the system, Daniel Jacoby's findings paint
a dismal picture of dilapidated jails, rampant drug use, dangerous
overcrowding and a tension-ridden corrections system.

"It's a mess," said Jacoby, a former Quebec deputy minister of justice
and lawyer. "I don't know if I would yet call it dramatic, but there
is a situation of crisis."

The report, compiled after visits to the province's 17 correctional
institutions, features 53 recommendations.

Among the key findings, Jacoby calls for the immediate suspension of
proposed budget cuts in the penal system, an examination of the prison
drug policy and the closing of at least one institution.

"The budget cuts have seriously compromised the system's ability to
provide for the safety of inmates and guards," Jacoby said.

"We have noticed an alarming increase in the number of substantiated
inmate complaints.

''We find that many disciplinary methods are abusive and the level of
training and counseling for inmates is unacceptable," he said.

Jacoby saved his most critical comments for the zero-tolerance drug
policy, saying it was "a fiasco that hasn't achieved its goals."

And he even went as far as to characterize the explosion of drug use
in prisons as an unintended effect of the province's crackdown on
outlaw bikers and warring criminal gangs.

"The government has spent millions arresting and prosecuting outlaw
bikers, and this is good E but they haven't spent a dime on prisons.
This should have been planned," Jacoby said.

The Hell's Angels bikers and their rivals, the Rock Machine criminal
gang, have for years waged a bloody turf war over the province's
illegal-drug trade.

In his report, Jacoby estimated that between $40 million and $60
million in drugs flow through the prisons annually.

"There is a commercial enterprise of drug dealing in the prisons,'' he
said.

Another startling conclusion: the inmate population in Quebec has the
highest suicide rate of any prison system in the country - a rate that
is seven times that of the provincial average.

And Jacoby found the overcrowding problem is worst in Montreal's
Bordeaux jail and Quebec's Orsainville prison.

Provincial figures show there are 3,700 prison inmates in Quebec at
any given time. Most are incarcerated for very short periods of time,
in fact, the law mandates that only inmates serving sentences shorter
than two years be housed in provincial prisons. About 35 per cent of
inmates currently housed in provincial jails are awaiting trial.

Reacting to the report, Public Security Minister Serge Menard told a
press conference yesterday that the main problems with prisons is
overcrowding.

"We're in the strange situation where criminal activity is going down,
but the number of prisoners is going up," he said.

But Menard said he was skeptical that Quebec would find more money in
its next budget for spending on prisons.

"I can make a request - like the other ministers," he said. "But I'm
realistic. We will continue to cut (the budget) for at least one
year."

Menard pointed out that, for example, jailing those who cannot afford
to pay fines for traffic violations adds to the overcrowding problem.
He added that such prisoners are also taking up much needed space in
rehabilitation programs.

He said the recent increase in convictions of organized criminals has
also contributed to the troubled prison environment. Menard explained
that his government's policy of zero tolerance for organized
criminals, like bikers, has meant many of them are being put in prison
for minor infractions. They go to provincial jails rather than federal
penitentiaries, he said.

Menard agreed that drug use and drug sales run rampant in jails. His
department, he said, will work harder to tackle this problem.

When asked if he thought Quebec needs more prisons, Menard said the
province needs to consider alternatives to putting people behind bars.

"I can't say we jail people too much, but I can say one thing, we jail
people more than other (Western) countries, except for the United
States."

He said he has already promised the ombudsman the co-operation of all
his department's staff to attack the most serious problems.

Jacoby, whose candour has long provided a source of irritation for
Parti Quebecois premiers Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, said
many of his report's recommendations are administrative and
attitudinal. He estimated the total cost of his reforms would be about
$4 million.

The ombudsman's report held few surprises for both the union
representing the province's prison guards and a Quebec inmate-rights
group.

"The thing that I find striking about this report is the similarities
it bears toward a 1985 ombudsman's report by Yves Labonte," said
Jean-Claude Bernheim, of the Prisoners Rights Office of Quebec. "We've
been saying for years that there's a crisis. There's nothing new to
these concerns."

Bernheim cited the report's conclusions that prisoners' rights are
systematically violated as the most damning.

"We've always found these difficulties with guards abusing the rights
of the inmates, most of whom, we have to remember, are there for an
average of three months," Bernheim said.

Bernheim said his office's research shows that nearly 40 per cent of
inmates sent to jail each year are locked up for failing to pay fines.

Gilles Bergeron, head of the Syndicats des Agents de la Paix en
Services Correctionels du Quebec, which represents about 1,900 guards,
presents a different interpretation.

"For years, we've been putting a Band-aid on the wound hoping it will
go away.

"Our biggest problem are the budget cuts. We just don't have the
resources to separate inmates. At mealtime, there are 180 inmates,
with sometimes only four guards watching them," Bergeron said.

He said that deteriorating conditions are the result of increased drug
and gang activity, particularly on the part of the legions of warring
gangs housed in the institutions.

He admitted that sometimes the prison situation escalates to the point
where guards act inappropriately and circumvent the prisoners' rights.

"There comes a time where the violence is so great that officers
aren't reacting the same way anymore. Nobody thinks that's good, but
it's how it is," Bergeron said.

Despite their differing views on the report, the guards and the
inmate-rights group were united in their appeal for action from
Menard.

"We would hope that the minister will take this seriously, and move
ahead and act on them," Bergeron said.

His sentiments were echoed by Bernheim, who said the government will
either "take the ombudsman seriously, or show they don't care what he
says, like other governments have done."

The Liberals' corrections critic also said it's incumbent on the
government to act.

"It's completely inconceivable that inside these detention centres
it's no longer possible to ensure total and adequate protection for
inmates," said MNA Jacques Dupuis, a former crown prosecutor who
worked closely with the province's biker task force.

Jacoby recommended that the province abolish 23-hour confinement,
renovate a handful of institutions where conditions are a threat to
the inmates' health and not house more than two inmates per cell.

The province cut $5.2 million from its prison budget last year and 600
jobs have been lost in the prison system.

(c)1998 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.

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US Anti-Drug Chief Criticizes IOC Bribe Scandal (Reuters
says the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey,
criticized the Olympic bribery scandal on Monday, saying it raised doubts
about whether the International Olympic Committee could police illegal drug
use by its athletes. McCaffrey, who is leading a U.S. delegation to an IOC
conference on drugs in sports next month in Lausanne, Switzerland, said IOC
reforms are needed if the sporting body is to stop its athletes from using
illegal drugs and end blood doping.)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 18:45:20 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: US Anti-Drug Chief Criticizes IOC Bribe Scandal
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Wire: Reuters
Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited.
Author: Mark Weinraub

A SENIOR U.S. U.S. ANTI-DRUG CHIEF CRITICIZES IOC BRIBE SCANDAL

WASHINGTON, Jan 15 - A senior U.S. official in the war on drugs criticized
the Olympic bribery scandal on Monday, saying it raised doubts about whether
the International Olympic Committee could police illegal drug use by its
athletes.

Barry McCaffrey, the director of the Office of National Drug Control
Policy, told a news conference that IOC reforms are needed if the
sporting body is to stop its athletes from using illegal drugs and
end blood doping.

Blood doping, usually linked to endurance sports such as cycling,
involves giving athletes blood transfusions to boost their red blood
cell count.

"There must be institutional reform if the IOC can do the heavy
lifting required to protect athletes from a doping regime," said
McCaffrey, who is leading a U.S. delegation to an IOC conference on
drugs in sports next month in Lausanne, Switzerland.

McCaffrey said the scandal currently sweeping the IOC will make it
hard to make progress on the anti-drug initiative.

"Clearly the institution is in serious disruption now," he said. "It's
hard to imagine how this issue can be moved forward if the institution
lacks legitimacy to address it."

The scandal erupted after the IOC conducted an internal investigation
into claims that Salt Lake City had offered bribes during it
successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Games. So far, it has led to
six suspensions and three resignations from the 115 member committee.

A vote on banning the suspended members will be held during a meeting
March 17-18 at which IOC chief Juan Antonio Samaranch will also seek a
vote of confidence.

The U.S. Justice Department is also conducting an investigation into
allegations that 13 members received $600,000 worth of goods and
services from Salt Lake City before it won a IOC vote to stage the
Games.

McCaffrey said the IOC should be less secretive in its dealings so
that it can be held accountable by people outside the committee.

"There simply must be open books in the IOC," he said. They must have
open votes in the IOC and there must be some connection between an
elected membership that responds in some way to the international
sports federations and to the national Olympic committees."

In the long run, the scandal could be good for the IOC and the
Olympics as whole, McCaffrey said.

"This crisis they're now undergoing may allow us to take a fresh look
at some very tough problems."

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Lettuce: Nature's Narcotic (The Daily Telegraph, in Britain, says the most
commonly mentioned remedy for insomnia is lettuce. In a learned article
in the British Medical Journal, Dr Tony Carter, a consultant anaesthetist
at North Staffordshire Hospital, points out that, in France, the wild
lettuce, Lactuca virosa, is a commonly used sedative and, combined with other
herbal compounds, induces anaesthesia. The lettuce - also
advertised as a smoking herb in High Times, by the way - contains
morphine-like chemicals.)

Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 18:45:16 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Lettuce, Nature's Narcotic
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jan 1999
Source: Daily Telegraph (UK)
Contact: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk
Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Copyright: of Telegraph Group Limited 1999

LETTUCE: NATURE'S NARCOTIC

IT IS regrettable that many doctors remain ambivalent about
prescribing sleeping pills. They worry that such pills are over-
prescribed - as were mild tranquillisers, such as Valium, in the
Seventies - and fear encouraging "dependency" in their patients.

But the treatment of chronic insomnia should be seen in the same way
as that of depression. Both are presumably related to some abnormality
of brain chemistry and, just as Prozac is an effective
anti-depressant, so sleeping pills may be the only treatment for
insomnia, by correcting whatever chemical defect might be
responsible.

A reader from Norfolk would like to know if there might be other
remedies: "Three hours' oblivion out of 24 is soul-destroying," she
writes, "so help of any kind would be a bonus."

First come remedies concerned with mitigating physical conditions that
can prevent sleep. Margo Jones of West Sussex recommends a cold
hot-water bottle: "Tucked away down the side of the bed, it soothes
hot and aching feet, eases cramps and affords some relief to whatever
arthritic pain might strike."

Most readers will know of other remedies for sleep-disturbing muscle
afflictions, such as cramps and restless legs. Sandra Bigley describes
the value of corks for cramps, whose efficacy she has tested on her
skeptical husband, "who is prone to leaping from bed in the early
hours of the morning".

She started by putting a few under the mattress - which achieved
partial success. So she "doubled the dose" - and "there have been no
more cramps".

Priscilla Martin of the Irish Republic reports that her spouse
benefited from another simple remedy: "He was told by a
physiotherapist friend to try wearing bedsocks." Interestingly, she
points out that her husband had always wondered why he never suffered
cramps on holiday - until he realised that, away from home, "he always
wore bedsocks because he is allergic to sheets washed in detergent".

As for insomnia itself, the most commonly mentioned remedy is lettuce.
In a learned article in the British Medical Journal, Dr Tony Carter,
consultant anaesthetist at North Staffordshire Hospital, points out
that, in France, the wild lettuce, Lactuca virosa, is a commonly used
sedative and, combined with other herbal compounds, induces
anaesthesia. The juice of the lettuce, it would seem, contains
morphine-like chemicals which, like all opiates, can offer a temporary
escape.

Harold Smith of Wiltshire recalls that the memoirs of an American
country doctor working among poor hillbilly families during the
Depression include an incident in which the doctor, calling on a
family in the middle of the day, found them all sleeping. "He learnt
from a neighbour that poor people ate large quantities of lettuce for
relief from their misery."

For the truly sleep-deprived, a salad for supper could just be the
thing.

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[End]