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

Fugitive arrested in Hood River cache (The Oregonian says Dale Allen "Pappy"
Bush, a fugitive since late August, was arrested Jan. 24 at a truck stop in
Wilsonville by officers from the FBI and the Hood River County sheriff's
office and charged with 20 counts of possessing explosive devices, a machine
gun and methamphetamine at his rural home in the Dee area.)

The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
1320 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/

Fugitive arrested in Hood River cache

* A convicted felon is accused of possessing explosive devices, a machine
gun and drugs at his rural home in the Dee area

Monday, February 1 1999

By Jeanie Senior
Correspondent, The Oregonian

HOOD RIVER -- A 52-year-old man who had been a fugitive since late August is
in custody facing 20 felony drugs, weapons and explosives charges.

Dale Allen "Pappy" Bush was arrested Jan. 24 at a truck stop in Wilsonville
by officers from the FBI and the Hood River County sheriff's office. He is
scheduled to enter a plea today in Hood River County Circuit Court.

The sheriff's office issued a nationwide warrant for Bush's arrest in early
September after executing a search warrant at his rural Hood River Valley
home. Investigators said they found a variety of weapons, drugs, explosives
and an apparent methamphetamine lab.

The charges against Bush include unlawful possession of a machine gun and a
sawed-off shotgun, first-degree theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

He also is accused of unlawfully possessing destructive devices that
included two pipe bombs, an armed military fragmentation grenade, a live
anti-tank mortar round, blasting caps and detonators.

The grand jury indictment, which is based in part on an inventory of the
items police found at Bush's property, also charges him with six counts of
being a felon in possession of a firearm. One of the guns, according to the
indictment, was a stolen fully automatic rifle. The list also includes an
Uzi semiautomatic carbine and the short-barreled shotgun.

He also is charged with three counts of possession of a controlled
substance, two counts of delivery of a controlled substance and one count of
manufacturing a controlled substance. All of the charges refer to
methamphetamine.

According to the indictment, police found packaging materials, drug
transaction records and customer lists, as well as manufacturing
paraphernalia, recipes, chemicals, lab equipment and power-generating equipment.

Bush, who was convicted in 1988 of possession of metamphetamine, was
carrying a loaded .38-caliber automatic handgun and two loaded ammunition
clips for the weapon when he was arrested, said John Sewell, Hood River
County district attorney.

Bush was not at his home in the Dee area in the hills on the valley's west
side when police arrived there to execute the search warrant.

He was arraigned on the indictment last week in Hood River Circuit Court,
and he is being held on $100,000 bail.

The search of the property, which continued for several days, also involved
the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the Multnomah County
hazardous material team; and the Oregon State Police bomb squad.

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

Seeing No Offense In Medicinal Marijuana (Newsday, in New York,
says the inauguration of Bill Lockyer as California Attorney General
means the days are over when state agents beat the feds to the punch
in closing down medical marijuana dispensaries. "I can't and won't interfere
with an action by a local district attorney," Lockyer says, which means
patients such as Steve Kubby and his wife, in socially conservative counties,
will get no help, while medical marijuana dispensaries may reopen in such
traditionally supportive counties as San Francisco.)

Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 11:10:32 -0500
From: Scott Dykstra (rumba2@earthlink.net)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Seeing No Offense In Medicinal Marijuana
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

I was hoping with crossed fingers, but knew in the back of my
brain, this would be the outcome of the vote of A.G. Lockyer.
Say Lavee...

***

Seeing No Offense In Medicinal Marijuana

Copyright 1999, Newsday Inc.

Seeing No Offense In Medicinal Marijuana., 02-01-1999, pp A08.

By Thomas D. Elias. SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

San Francisco - It's a brave new world for many medical marijuana
users in California, where the days of state agents beating the feds to
the punch in closing down medical marijuana outlets are over.

The state's new Democratic attorney general promises he won't raid
any "responsible" medipot club, although he can't stop local or federal
authorities from acting.

While some district attorneys are opponents of medical marijuana and
some U.S. attorneys have staged raids of their own, San Francisco
District Attorney Terence Hallinan is a longtime backer of humanitarian
use of the weed. At least in San Francisco, pot clubs won't have to
worry about anyone but the feds, who have allowed operation of one
outlet.

The new attorney general, Bill Lockyer, warned that California's
long-running legal war over medical marijuana may still produce
conflicts between state and federal lawyers. Lockyer said he wishes he
could do more to make a reality of 1996 Proposition 215, which
authorized medical use of marijuana by patients with a doctor's
recommendation. He's trying to persuade federal officials to reclassify
pot as a prescription drug.

That stance is opposite that of Lockyer's predecessor, Republican
Dan Lungren, whose agents raided marijuana co-ops that neither local nor
federal authorities wanted to touch.

"I would like to do what the people want, but we can't do it
completely by ourselves," Lockyer said. "As long as the federal
government puts marijuana in the same class as heroin as a dangerous
narcotic, 215 will never really be law."

The first high-profile pot case filed since Lockyer took office
demonstrates the limits of his powers. Sheriff's deputies recently
raided the home of Steve Kubby, 52, the 1998 Libertarian Party candidate
for governor. Kubby and his wife were arrested on charges of growing
marijuana with intent to sell, even though Kubby was diagnosed with
cancer 23 years ago and has used pot under medical supervision ever
since.

"I can't and won't interfere with an action by a local district
attorney," Lockyer said.

His stance doesn't please all medical marijuana activists, but it
has some San Francisco medipot advocates planning to open a new
therapeutic pot club.

"The small outlet operating now is fine, but the level of service
they can provide is really minimal," said Jane Weirick, executive
director of the San Francisco Patients Resource Center, a group planning
to open the new club. It would primarily serve area AIDS victims, but it
also would make pot available to terminal cancer patients and others in
severe pain.

If that club opens, Lockyer said, "I would not raid it as long as
they operated responsibly."

That wouldn't make any difference in places such as Los Angeles, San
Jose and San Diego, where district attorneys and sheriffs are
steadfastly against medipot.

He is frustrated by federal laws that make it illegal to grow or
sell marijuana even for medicinal purposes.

"First, we need to find ways to tighten our law to make sure that
medical marijuana doesn't become a vehicle for overall legalization,"
Lockyer said. "And second, the federal government needs to make it a
Schedule 2 drug that can be prescribed. If we can give people morphine,
why can't we give them this, too?

"I watched my mother and sister die of leukemia, and I know they
could have used this to ease their pain," Lockyer said.

He envisions medical-marijuana clinics around his state, each
carefully screening its customers to make sure the use of the weed is
according to instructions from a physician.

"I've had talks already with the top federal law-enforcement people
on this, and they seem fairly receptive," he said. "They know that
Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, Washington and Colorado have all passed their
own medical-marijuana initiatives since we passed 215."

But he cautioned activists not to expect his office to help them if
local district attorneys or federal authorities make arrests. "If I can
think of a theory under which I can defend the state law the people
passed, I will," he said. "But my inclination is toward consensus, not
confrontation, with the federal policy-makers."

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

Write/Visit Marvin Chavez (A list subscriber posts instructions
on how to cheer up the Orange County Cannabis Co-op founder
and medical marijuana martyr just sentenced to six years in prison.)

From: FilmMakerZ@aol.com
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 16:57:23 EST
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Write/Visit Marvin Chavez
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

Marvin Chavez is in the Santa Ana jail right now. You can write him at:

Marvin Chavez
Booking #1860728
Santa Ana Jail
550 N. Flower
Santa Ana, CA 92703

If you're in Southern California, he can be visited. Visiting hours are
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday 8 am -- 5:30 pm. He is only allowed to have two
visitors per day, and his wife visits him on Sundays. Fridays are best
because she is at work that day. You need to bring your driver's license and
Marvin's booking number. They do not allow purses to be brought in.

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

How you can help Marvin Chavez (A list subscriber seeks donations
to pay off more than $4,000 in overdue bail funds and save the home
of Marvin's wife.)

From: FilmMakerZ@AOL.COM
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 18:54:57 EST
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: How you can help Marvin Chavez
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

Marvin Chavez is in jail now, but his bail still needs paying off. $1,816 is
overdue to the bail bonds company and, in addition, $2500 is owed to an
anonymous patron who loaned the money to help Marvin get out of jail while
awaiting trial. Marvin's wife, who is a cosigner and put their house up on
the bail, received a letter saying the bail bonds company needs payment now to
avoid legal action.

This bail bonds company is very supportive of medicinal cannabis patients and
has gone out of its way to help Marvin, offering to set up a payment plan
because of Marvin's limited disability income. It is important for us to pay
off this bill because, if Marvin is able to get out on bail pending his
appeal, we would like to use them again.

Please send donations of any amount, no matter how small or large, to:

The Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group
12762 Brookhurst St.
Garden Grove, CA 92840

Checks should be made out to "OCPDNSG" and note it's for Marvin's bail fund in
the corner.

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

Juror's Stand Of Conscience Leads To State High Court
(The San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune describes an appeal
facing the California Supreme Court involving a man who was convicted
of statutory rape because his girlfriend was three months' younger
than him - and because the trial judge removed a juror who said voting
"guilty" violated his conscience. Nancy King, the author of a major article
on jury nullification in a recent issue of the Michigan Law Review,
says that what's facing the California court is trying to come up with a rule
governing the circumstances in which allegations of nullification may
or must be investigated, procedures for investigating them and what proof
is required to remove a nullifier from a jury.)

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 04:17:08 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Juror's Stand Of Conscience Leads To State High Court
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Source: San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune
Section: State
Contact: wgroshong@telegram-tribune.com
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Pubdate: Monday, February 1, 1999
Author: Claire Cooper, Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

JUROR'S STAND OF CONSCIENCE LEADS TO STATE HIGH COURT CASE

SACRAMENTO - The girl was 16, legally still a minor, yet her boyfriend,
only three years older, was an adult. Under California law, Arashiek
Williams committed the crime of statutory rape by having sex with her.

But juror 10, retired electronic technician James Kelly, didn't see it that
way. The law was wrong, Kelly told the other jurors.

Informed by the jury foreman that Kelly had dug in his heels, Santa Clara
County Superior Court Judge Paul Teilh called in the determined juror to
find out what was going on. Kelly explained: "I simply cannot see staining
a man, a young man, for the rest of his life for what I believe to be a
wrong reason."

Reminded by Teilh that statutory rape is a misdemeanor, Kelly replied: "I
think that is wrong. I'm sorry, judge."

"So you're not willing to follow your oath?" asked Teilh.

"That is correct," Kelly said.

Hearing those magic words, Teilh removed Kelly from the jury and sent in an
alternate, who made the guilty verdict unanimous.

The case is now before the California Supreme Court, where Williams is
challenging his conviction. Kelly's removal, he argues, deprived him of his
constitutional right to a trial by an impartial jury.

In reviewing the case, California's highest court will address a phenomenon
known as "nullification" - a juror's refusal to apply what he or she sees
as an unjust law or unfairly apply a just one.

Nullification happens all the time. Marijuana laws, the draft during the
Vietnam War, the fugitive slave laws before the Civil War, the "three
strikes law" when it's applied to minor crimes - all have pro- voked
nullifiers to acquit violators or to hang juries.

They don't always identify themselves as plainly as Kelly did when he
admitted that he wouldn't follow his oath to apply the law. But there may
be a subtler tip-off.

"Is the defendant part of the three strikes and you're out?" the jury asked
in a note to the judge during deliberations in a Contra Costa case in which
the charge was driving a stolen car. Inferring that nullification was the
motive, the judge refused to answer.

Some courts have seen nullification as the invitation to chaos. Others see
it as a safety valve that allows jurors to bring the community's conscience
to bear.

Whatever their views, most recognize that it can't be controlled entirely
in a criminal justice system that relies on the integrity of the jury. To
protect juries from corruption, their deliberations are cloaked in secrecy,
their acquittals are final and they cannot be punished for their verdicts.

But jurors also are sworn to evaluate the evidence according to the law as
it's explained by the judge. Keeping all those factors in balance can lead
to seemingly hair-splitting decisions like those by the lower courts in the
Williams case. When Teilh removed Kelly, he acknowledged that "a jury may
return a verdict contrary to the law" but said that Kelly went wrong "in
refusing to deliberate with other jurors on the case."

There are a number of precedents holding that jurors may be removed during
deliberations if they refuse to discuss the case with other jurors in an
open-minded way. The state Court of Appeal in San Jose cast the issue
somewhat differently when it denied Williams' appeal.

It, too, acknowledged that Kelly could have voted to acquit. But it said
the problem was that he announced his intention to nullify beforehand, and
that was tantamount to asking Teilh to instruct the jury that nullification
would be OK. Courts generally have agreed that trial judges should not
advise juries of nullification.

The Supreme Court could adopt the views of the lower courts or go off in
another direction.

What's facing the California court is trying to come up with a rule
governing the circumstances in which allegations of nullification may or
must be investigated, procedures for investigating them and proof required
to remove a nullifier from a jury, says Nancy King, the author of a major
article on nullification in a recent issue of the Michigan Law Review.

Her own view is that Teilh was right to remove Kelly - "once a juror says,
'I'm not going to follow my oath,' off he goes." But she adds, "There are
plenty of people out there who disagree with me."

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

Feds Pay Drug Case Witness $2 Million (The Associated Press says attorneys
for defendants in the United States' "Operation Casablanca" money-laundering
sting against Mexican and Venezuelan bankers argued Friday during a pretrial
hearing before U.S. District Judge Lourdes Baird in Los Angeles that the
payments to the unnamed informant, believed to be a naturalized U.S. citizen
born in Colombia, amounted to government misconduct. The first of four trials
in the case is scheduled to begin March 29. Forty bankers have been arrested;
70 are still fugitives.)

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 17:24:46 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: WIRE: Feds Pay Drug Case Witness $2 Million
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Patrick Henry (resist_tyranny@mapinc.org)
Pubdate: Mon, 1 Feb 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press

FEDS PAY DRUG CASE WITNESS $2 MILLI0N

Worked Undercover For Two Years

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The key undercover witness in the nation's biggest
drug money laundering case was paid more than $2 million to help
prosecutors, according to testimony.

The informant, identified in court papers only as CW-1, was involved
in Operation Casablanca. About 40 Mexican and Venezuelan businessmen,
bankers and alleged drug cartel members were arrested in May following
the two-year U.S. Customs undercover operation that spanned several
countries.

During a pretrial hearing Friday before U.S. District Judge Lourdes
Baird, defense attorneys argued that the payments amounted to
government misconduct. The payments provided "perverse incentive for
the informant to manufacture crime," Michael Pancer, representing
defendant Katy Kissel Belfer, argued in a brief filed with the court.

Payment defended as reasonable

Federal prosecutors said the payments were reasonable given the size
of the investigation and the risks taken by the informant.

"He worked full time -- he had to be available 24 hours a day -- for
the entire length of the investigation," Joseph A. Brandolino said.

"For the rest of his life, he has to look over his shoulder," Julie
Shemitz said.

40 arrests; 70 more on the run

In addition to the 40 arrests, 70 people are fugitives in the case,
which alleges tens of millions of dollars in illegal drug profits for
the Cali drug cartel of Colombia and Mexico's Juarez cartel were
shipped through phony transactions to Mexican-owned banks to conceal
their origin.

The indicted banks, including prominent Mexican financial institutions
Bancomer, Banca Serfin and Confia, have denied any wrongdoing.

The first of four trials in the case is scheduled to begin March 29.
Four Mexican nationals pleaded guilty to charges last month.

According to court documents, CW-1, believed to be a naturalized U.S.
citizen born in Colombia, helped undercover customs agents pose as
money launderers.

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

Press Release: Patients Out of Time (The advocacy group for medical marijuana
patients says the National Association for Public Health Policy has joined
the ever expanding list of organizations opposing current prohibitionist
policies in the United States.)

Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 00:16:18 -0500
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
From: Miguet (Miguet@infi.net)
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Patients Out of Time [01Feb99]

PRESS RELEASE
01 February 1999

Patients Out of Time is pleased to add the National Association
for Public Health Policy to the ever expanding list of organizations
that are proactive in demanding the federal government abort its
failed policy of medical marijuana prohibition. The Council on Illicit
Drugs of the National Association for Public Health Policy declared
their opposition to the federal policy in their draft submitted and
approved by the association on November 15, 1998 in Washington, DC.

In their introduction they point out that, "A century of increasing
criminal justice efforts culminating in the 'war on drugs' has produced
few positive outcomes and many negative sequelae."

They emphatically state that the primary drug problems in the US
relate to licit drugs, alcohol and tobacco, and that it is time for a
paradigm shift in the way the entire approach to personal human
relations to drugs of all types are viewed.

"Drug addiction should be treated as a public health problem
rather than a criminal justice problem and the drug addict as
a patient rather than a criminal," states the report. The report
further indicates that in order to properly address the
circumstances that bring addiction to a patient the broader
social issues of poverty, racism, ineffective drug education,
limited drug treatment funding and intervention, and governmental
corruption at every level due to the enormous sums of money that
prohibition sponsors must be considered.

The National Association for Public Health Policy is the sixty-fourth
group that has joined with Patients Out of Time in publically calling
our nations failed drug policy a failure. Over half of the organizations
on this list are professional health care organizations, the very groups
that our citizens depend upon for counsel in the care of the sick and
dying.

Their advice is clear - end the prohibition of therapeutic cannabis now.

Al Byrne, co-founder of Patients Out of Time and a retired drug warrior,
explained the disaster called the war on drugs this way.

"The war on drugs is a misnomer in the best traditions of our political
class.

This war is in reality a war on people as all wars are.

In this case, it is the first time in human history a country has actually
declared war against a part of its population and to the great disgrace of
our country it is attacking its sick and dying. The US states it does so
to send a message to our young people. And what message does it send?
I'd say it is telling our young people that to be mean and merciless is what
the US is all about."

Patients Out of Time is proud to be associated with the millions of health
care professionals who alongside millions of citizens call their government
policy and the officials who prop it up with their vacuous duplicity dead
wrong.

We can assist your organization in formatting a similar response to our
government's horrendous behavior to the ill and dying or help with any
media presentation on this issue. Please don't wait too long to speak
out we implore because we are Patients Out of Time.

Patients@MedicalCannabis.com
carl@COMMONLINK.NET
Miguet@infi.net

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

Drug Cautions Judged A Success (The Age, in Melbourne, Australia,
says Victoria's experimental cautioning program for people found possessing
illegal substances other than cannabis appears to be working, with new
figures revealing that one drug offender a week has been diverted from the
criminal justice system to treatment agencies. Police Chief Superintendent
Peter Driver, the commander of the district where the trial started, said:
"I think the strict law-enforcement approach to illicit drug use has been
shown that, in itself, it has not worked. It's good to be able to adopt more
of a community-based approach, of harm minimisation, early intervention and
treatment.")

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 04:16:50 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Drug Cautions Judged A Success
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Russell.Ken.KW@bhp.com.au (Russell, Ken KW)
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 1999 David Syme & Co Ltd
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Contact: letters@theage.fairfax.com.au
Pubdate: Mon, 1 Feb 1999
Author: Darren Gray

DRUG CAUTIONS JUDGED A SUCCESS

Victoria's experimental drug-user cautioning program appears to be working,
with new figures revealing that one drug offender a week has been diverted
from the criminal justice system to treatment agencies.

First offenders caught using or possessing small quantities of illicit
drugs other than cannabis have been cautioned and directed to treatment
under the pilot program, now more than halfway through.

Possession remains an offence, and those who do not comply with their
treatment program, or refuse to be cautioned, are charged.

The trial, begun in the Broadmeadows area five months ago, was extended to
several western suburbs including Altona North, Footscray, Sunshine and
Williamstown.

The new figures, released by police, reveal that 18 people have been
cautioned about drug use since the trial began. Most were caught with
heroin. Fourteen of those put on the program have been male. They have
ranged in age from 15 to 38 years.

First offenders caught with small amounts of illicit drugs are eligible for
the drug diversion pilot if they:

Have no prior drug conviction.

Admit the offence.

Consent to being cautioned.

Agree to professional assessment and treatment.

No other drug offence is involved.

First-time drug offenders pulled over for a minor traffic offence can be
fined for the traffic offence but still take part in the program.

Chief Superintendent Peter Driver, the district commander of the district
where the trial started, said: "I think the strict law-enforcement approach
to illicit drug use has been shown that, in itself, it has not worked. It's
good to be able to adopt more of a community-based approach, of harm
minimisation, early intervention and treatment."

He said the pilot program tried to get people out of the criminal justice
system and treated, with an element of compulsion, as quickly as possible.
He said he was not aware of any novice users who received a caution but
then did not attend treatment.

The Health Minister, Mr Rob Knowles, said the trial was progressing well.
"I think all of the evidence at this stage shows that it's a worthwhile
exercise, of trying to get much earlier detection and a diversion out of
the criminal justice system into treatment and rehabilitation."

He said it was important to help and treat illicit drug users before their
drug use became entrenched.

The trial - which ends in May but may be extended statewide after it is
evaluated - is a police initiative operating under the discretionary powers
of the chief commissioner, Mr Neil Comrie.

"If he reached the conclusion that this was a better approach and wanted to
apply it statewide, then obviously the Government would support that," Mr
Knowles said.

Many of the people cautioned have been referred to the Youth Substance
Abuse Service in Fitzroy. Its manager, Ms Fran Holgate, said most knew
little about the dangers of heroin. "Most of them haven't had any
significant problem related to their drug use, so this is a bit of a scare
for them."

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

[End]