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

East Side Still Hazy On Marijuana Law (The Spokesman-Review, in Spokane,
Washington, says medical marijuana may be legal west of the Cascades, but in
Eastern Washington, the new state law has so far been all smoke. Vague
definitions in the law leave police, physicians and patients in an odd game
of cat-and-mouse, anxiously waiting for someone to make the first move.
Although police in Eastern Washington apparently haven't busted any
medical-marijuana patients yet, the commander of the Spokane Regional Drug
Task Force, sheriff's Lt. Chan Bailey, says police are grappling with the
uncertainty of the law, particularly the undefined "60-day supply" it allows.
The Food and Drug Administration says that's a pound. The California Attorney
General's Office draws the line at two ounces.)

Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 04:08:54 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: MMJ: East Side Still Hazy On Marijuana Law
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sun, 07 Feb 1999
Source: Spokesman-Review (WA)
Contact: editor@spokesman.com
Website: http://www.spokane.net/news.asp

EAST SIDE STILL HAZY ON MARIJUANA LAW

Marijuana may be legal for suffering patients, but in Eastern
Washington, the new state law has so far been all smoke.

Vague definitions in the law leave police, physicians and patients in
an odd game of cat-and-mouse, anxiously waiting for someone to make
the first move.

Physicians are too afraid of prosecution to risk their licenses by
approving marijuana for patients' use.

Police are suspicious. Until critical parts of the law are defined -
like how much marijuana is legal to possess - officers may haul
patient and doctor into court to make them prove they're not
violating drug laws.

Patients themselves say medicinal pot might as well still be illegal.
Many are struggling to find a safe source on their limited budgets. No
health insurance plan covers medicinal marijuana in Washington, the
sixth state to pass such a law.

All sides agree that the smoke is unlikely to clear until the law is
tested in court. Until then, many patients in chronic pain may resort
to making street-corner drug deals.

"We're all scared," said Susan, 39.

The Spokane woman first used marijuana in 1994 when multiple sclerosis
left her unable to swallow. A daily pot brownie - along with 20
milligrams a day of Marinol, a derivative of the chemical in
marijuana - calmed her throat spasms enough to avert the need for a
feeding tube.

She remains dependent on the drug, but her doctor, fearing legal
repercussions, won't give her the required note authorizing marijuana
use. She's careful to avoid drawing police attention, but still worries.

"None of us want to go to jail," said Susan, who wouldn't give her
last name.

Problems are worst in Eastern Washington, according to a Seattle-
based group that provides patients with medical marijuana and
information on how to grow it.

At least 500 patients have gotten doctors' permission to light up in
the Puget Sound, but Green Cross co-founder Joanne McKee said her
office has gotten nearly a hundred calls from Spokane-area residents
unable to find a willing doctor.

"All we've heard from east of the Cascades, it's like the law did not
pass over there," said McKee.

Green Cross also hasn't found a distributor in Spokane. The
organization doesn't mail marijuana because of postal laws.

McKee blames the slow start on "harassing" by police. "We have the
feeling that you're back in the Old West over there, where the cops
arrest 'em all and let God sort 'em out."

Police say that much about the law is unclear and that they haven't
received guidance on how to handle possession cases involving medical
marijuana.

One element is clear: the will of state voters. Last November, nearly
60 percent voted for the initiative, which gives doctors and their
chronically ill patients a defense in state court against criminal
prosecution.

A doctor must say in writing that a patient has a "terminal or
debilitating" illness, such as cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy,
glaucoma or AIDS, and that conventional treatments have failed.

Studies show marijuana to be effective in controlling nausea and
weight loss caused by AIDS or chemotherapy. Research on pot's value
in treating other illnesses is more controversial - and less conclusive.

Under the new law, patients can grow or possess their own 60-day
supply, but can't legally buy or sell it. All other drug laws remain
intact.

The author of the initiative, Dr. Rob Killian of Seattle, is
frustrated by law enforcement's response. One of his patients, a blind
man with AIDS, was arrested last month after Tacoma police found three
marijuana plants next to his Braille typewriter and portable toilet.

Prosecutors declined to press charges, but Killian's patient, who was
growing the pot legally, remained in jail for two days until police
confirmed his condition.

"This isn't about drugs. It's about patients who are suffering,"
Killian said. "I'm a little frustrated that the bureaucrats aren't
getting it, that they're threatening and harassing and treating us
like criminals."

Authorities have challenged similar laws nationwide. Appeals are
pending in California, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.

State and federal prosecutors have tried to derail California's
Proposition 215 since voters approved it in 1996. A federal judge in
1997 issued a temporary injunction banning prosecutors from punishing
doctors who prescribed marijuana. The injunction is being appealed.

But prosecutors scored a victory last fall. A federal judge ordered
U.S. marshals to close the last of the state's "cannabis clubs" that
distributed marijuana to thousands of sick patients.

After voters in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington voted
in November to allow medicinal marijuana, the U.S. Department of
Justice issued a warning: possession, manufacture and distribution of
pot remains a federal crime.

The commander of the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force, sheriff's Lt.
Chan Bailey, said the law doesn't address how police should respond.

"The way I look at the law, we could still arrest, seize the plants,
and they would have to present this defense" in court, he said.

Officers will verify doctors' notes and could arrest those giving
permission for marijuana treatment of bogus illnesses, he said.
Doctors who help patients obtain or grow marijuana could also be charged.

Bailey said police are grappling with the uncertainty of the law,
particularly the undefined "60-day supply" it allows. The Food and
Drug Administration says that's a pound. The California Attorney
General's Office draws the line at two ounces.

Killian says it should depend on an individual patient's needs and the
doctor's discretion.

Bailey said police will give consideration to the emotional and
physical turmoil an arrest could have on suffering people.

"It's kind of touchy," he said. "We don't want to be unnecessarily
arresting and seizing things that are legally covered by this law. And
on the other hand, we don't want people to use this law to illegally
grow or possess marijuana."

Authorities will soon get advice from the state prosecuting attorneys'
association on how to handle medical marijuana cases.

Until then, Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker expects plenty of
confusion. "This brand-new law will be troublesome at the start," he
said.

None of the debate gives physicians much comfort, said Dr. Ben
Thrower, medical director of Spokane's Holy Family Hospital Multiple
Sclerosis Center.

"I don't feel that comfortable as a physician that the state law will
cover me," he said.

Even so, Thrower says he's written notes for two patients
acknowledging that they're using marijuana. The notes aren't
prescriptions, but say the benefits of the drug outweigh the risks.

Thrower said he made those decisions carefully, after determining
other treatments were unsuccessful.

Other doctors, while sympathetic to the pain of their patients, are
watching and waiting.

"They don't want to be the first ones to jump into the deep end of the
pool and start writing prescriptions," Thrower said. "There's a lot of
uncertainty about what the law means."

Dr. Roberto Auffant, a Spokane anesthesiologist specializing in pain
management, wants to see better clinical research on marijuana before
he begins signing off on its use.

"I'm open-minded, but I try to work on a scientific basis," he
said.

The Washington State Medical Association, which didn't support the
initiative, will hold seminars this winter to help clarify the law.

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

Reason Has Been Lost In The War On Crime (Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large
slams America's prison-industrial complex, making reference to Eric
Schlosser's article in the December Atlantic Monthly, Angela Davis's recent
eloquence on the issue, and Washington state Rep. Ida Ballasiotes, R-Mercer
Island, whose daughter was murdered by a convicted sex offender, and who
introduced a bill to save taxpayers money by reducing sentences for
nonviolent drug offenses. The Atlantic article traced the current emphasis
on prisons back to liberal politicians who needed a shield against
conservative claims they were soft on crime. They found that building prisons
was an easy retort. And now everyone is afraid to stop for fear of seeming
weak.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 12:22:33 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: OPED: Reason Has Been Lost In The War On Crime
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author: Jerry Large / Times Staff Columnist

REASON HAS BEEN LOST IN THE WAR ON CRIME

Sometime while you're waiting for your laundry to dry, check out the
December issue of The Atlantic Monthly. There's a good article on what
has come to be called the prison-industrial complex.

It turns out crime does pay, not necessarily for the criminal, but for
companies alert to the profit potential of a booming industry. Hey,
why invest in an Internet stock that's bound to tank sooner or later
when you know that crime has legs?

You and I put slop in the trough and the hogs come running. The thing
is that as taxpayers and citizens we are not getting our money's
worth, and I suspect most of us know that. We just haven't been
interested enough to do anything about it.

Crime and punishment is one of those areas where quick and easy beats
out reason.

Take California, which has the biggest prison system in the Western
world. In 1977, California had 19,000 people in prison and was
respected for its drug treatment and education programs.

Today, it has 159,000 prisoners, and has become, the article shows, a
"revolving door" for poor people, illiterate people, substance abusers
and people with severe mental problems.

As California goes, so go the rest of us.

Simply no room

Last year, the California system took in 140,000 prisoners and
released 132,000. A revolving door. Because of ever tougher sentences,
there's just no room despite a huge growth in the number of prisons
over the past decade.

A couple of months ago, I was part of a small group that heard Angela
Davis speak about the prison problem in California and around the
country. Davis is well-known as an activist.

She now teaches at the University of California at Santa Cruz and is
crusading to change the way we deal with crime.

"The expansion of prisons has nothing to do with the crime rate," she
says.

She speaks of prisons as institutions of social control. "Prisons are
the place where we put all of the people we don't want to deal with.

"Some people are under scrutiny constantly. If a white woman and a
black woman go into a boutique, who is watched? Who has the
opportunity to get away with crime?"

According to a U.S. Sentencing Commission report from 1995, 52 percent
of all crack users are white, 38 percent black. But 88 percent of
those sentenced for crack offenses are black, 4.1 percent white.

One in four black men is likely to wind up in prison at some point in
his life.

Prisons are for people most of us don't care about. The overwhelming
majority of people in prison are illiterate. Most of them are messed
up by alcohol or other drugs and many have significant mental trouble.
We don't deal with those underlying causes.

Doesn't it make sense to try to prevent people from committing crimes
in the first place and to screen those who have committed crimes to
determine whether they and we might benefit from remedial education
and drug treatment? Of course it does, and we know it.

Last fall Davis was part of a national conference that drew more than
3,000 people to discuss alternatives to imprisonment.

A 1997 report, "Seeking Justice: Crime and Punishment in America," included
several opinion polls in which the majority of voters offered alternatives
to imprisonment opted for those alternatives.

But we don't change.

An easy way out

The Atlantic article traced the current emphasis on prisons as the
only answer to crime back to liberal politicians who needed a shield
against conservative claims that they were soft on crime. They found
that building prisons was an easy retort. And now everyone is afraid
to stop for fear of seeming weak.

We know we are walking down the wrong path, but we keep
walking.

We have gotten so tough that often we no longer make many distinctions
between nonviolent and violent crimes.

What does it say about our nation that we imprison a higher percentage
of our population than any other nation?

Do we aspire to be the world's leader in everything, including the
production of illiterate, drug-addicted criminals?

A couple of weeks ago, Times reporter Jim Lynch wrote a piece about
Washington's prison problem, and, in it, he found some hope for change.

Rep. Ida Ballasiotes, R-Mercer Island, whose daughter was murdered by
a convicted sex offender, has introduced a bill to save taxpayers
money by reducing sentences for nonviolent drug offenses.

She is a fitting person to begin putting on the brakes because her
interest in crime goes beyond posturing.

Being tough on crime needn't be tough on us.

You can reach Jerry Large c/o The Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111.
Phone: 206-464-3346. Fax: 206-464-2261. E-mail: jlarge@seattletimes.com.

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

Idaho Farmers Look To Hemp As New Crop (The Spokesman-Review, in Spokane,
Washington, says Mike Schlepp, president of the Kootenai-Shoshone chapter
of the Idaho Farm Bureau, and a lot of other Idaho farmers like him are
interested in growing industrial hemp. The Idaho Farm Bureau, which
represents 11,300 members, voted in 1996 to "encourage the legalization of
cultivation and production of industrial grade hemp." Pat Takasugi, the
state's director of agriculture, says "Agriculture in Idaho is under the gun.
We're looking for alternative crops.")

Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 23:09:43 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US ID: Idaho Farmers Look To Hemp As New Crop
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Support MAP
Pubdate: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: Spokesman-Review (WA)
Contact: editor@spokesman.com
Website: http://www.spokane.net/news.asp
Copyright: 1999 Cowles Publishing Company
Section: Page B1, Idaho Edition
Authors: Cynthia Taggart, Staff Writer
Color photo: Caption: Ryan Jensen, an employee of Gateway Gardens in Coeur
d'Alene, shows off, counterclockwise from top, a hat, salad dressing,
shampoo, coffee and socks all made using hemp, either with seeds, oil or
fiber. The plant, similar to marijuana, is banned in the United states, but
nondrug hemp products can be imported. Photo by Jesse Tinsley, The
Spokesman-Review

IDAHO FARMERS LOOK TO HEMP AS NEW CROP

Lynne Hutton was worried by the curly-haired man in the suit who walked
into her Coeur d'Alene store and intently studied hemp products.

It wasn't the first time her hemp purses and hats, air fresheners and oils
had offended someone's sense of propriety.

Since she'd opened nearly two years earlier, Lynne had explained to several
customers the difference between industrial hemp and marijuana. Hemp isn't
a drug.

But Mike Schlepp hadn't wandered into Lynne's store to harass her.

"I was collecting information," he says. "Hemp is a crop there's demand for."

Mike's a farmer just like his dad. For 18 years, he and his family have
forced a living from their land along the Coeur d'Alene River near Rose
Lake. This year, they grew oats and alfalfa.

Mike's a 40-something, church-going man working hard to heal his acreage
from contamination left by a century of mining. He's the president of the
Kootenai-Shoshone chapter of the Idaho Farm Bureau.

And he's interested in hemp.

"Not necessarily to grow here," he says, gesturing toward the fields out
his window. "But it would be another alternative crop for Idaho growers to
be able to grow."

He's not alone in his interest. The Idaho Farm Bureau voted in 1996 to
"encourage the legalization of cultivation and production of industrial
grade hemp."

The farm bureau represents 11,300 farmers.

"We aren't advocating civil disobedience," the bureau's Dennis Tanikuni
says with a chuckle. "We just want to make a statement. Our folks are
pretty independent, forward thinkers. We're looked at as conservative, but
we want what works."

Idaho farms need something.

"Agriculture in Idaho is under the gun," says Pat Takasugi, the state's
director of agriculture. "We're looking for alternative crops, but we're
not ready to cross the line into the illegal."

The federal government considers hemp a controlled substance, like its
hallucinogenic cousin marijuana, and bans its cultivation. Several groups,
including the Resource Conservation Alliance, are lobbying the Drug
Enforcement Administration to legalize hemp.

The difference between the two plants is simple. Hemp contains less than 1
percent of the active ingredient, THC, which produces the high. Marijuana
plants contain 10 to 20 percent THC. Unfortunately, the two varieties look
alike.

Until the 1950s, hemp was a common crop in the United States. American
colonists were required to grow it to supply sails and ropes for ships.

The government encouraged hemp growth during World War II to supply the
military with ropes, tents and parachute cords.

But by the 1950s, taxes pushed the cost of hemp production out of sight and
the Federal Bureau of Narcotics lumped industrial hemp with marijuana,
banning the cultivation of both.

About 30 other countries still grow hemp. Canada dropped its ban on the
crop last year. Americans are allowed to manufacture hemp products, but
have to import the raw material. That bothers Mike.

"We're importing from Canada and elsewhere when American farmers could
supply the same," he says.

Ads and articles in mainstream agricultural journals sparked his interest
in hemp several years ago. Farm equipment manufacturers showed off their
harvesters slicing through the tough plant.

At about the same time, the American Farm Bureau Federation expressed
interest in researching hemp as a crop. It wasn't long before the
organization was pegged as supporting the legalization of marijuana.

"That made the members uncomfortable," says David Christensen, the AFBF's
director of organization. "The next year we took any reference to hemp out
of our policy book."

Misconceptions worry Mike, too. Farming is his first concern. Hemp is a
good crop to grow in rotation with other crops, he says. It breaks weed and
disease cycles. It's a possible alternative to grass on the Rathdrum prairie.

And there's a growing market for it. Legal hemp products number in the
thousands.

"It probably would work," says farmer and state Rep. Wayne Meyer,
R-Rathdrum. "But it won't happen. I've mentioned the legalization of hemp
down here (Boise) and gotten funny looks."

Which doesn't surprise Mike. Raised eyebrows are the reason he collects his
information quietly. If the DEA ever legalizes the growth of industrial
hemp, he'll be ready to show what the plant can do for Idaho.

"Mike's one of the innovators, a doer," says Jerry Miller of the state farm
bureau. "It's not a good time to be a farmer. Farmers are diversifying out
of necessity. Mike's always looking for new ways to do things."

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

Ex-Candidate Knew Of Probe (The San Jose Mercury News says the cultivation
bust of Steve Kubby, the medical-marijuana patient/activist and 1998
Libertarian candidate for California governor, promises to become one of the
highest-profile tests to date of Proposition 215.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 15:55:44 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Ex-Candidate Knew Of Probe
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Pubdate: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/

EX-CANDIDATE KNEW OF PROBE

Libertarian Was Tipped Off Before
Marijuana Arrest, Wife Says

OLYMPIC VALLEY - Former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate
Steve Kubby and his wife, Michele, were tipped off months in advance
to law enforcement's investigation of their marijuana growing
operation, a newspaper reported.

Launched by an anonymous letter claiming Kubby was financing his
campaign by selling marijuana, the North Tahoe Task Force
investigation climaxed Jan. 19 with the arrest of the Kubbys on
various marijuana charges.

Now, they face charges of cultivating marijuana in their Olympic
Valley home, conspiracy and possession with intent to sell. A
preliminary conference is set for Feb. 22 in Tahoe Superior Court.

The case promises to become one of the highest-profile tests to date
of California's Proposition 215, the initiative voters approved in
1996 authorizing the use of marijuana with a physician's approval.

Steve Kubby, who has adrenal cancer and was instrumental in qualifying
Proposition 215 for the ballot, openly espoused the use of medicinal
marijuana in the governor's race last year. Kubby finished fourth,
receiving 1 percent of the vote.

According to court documents filed by the multiagency North Tahoe Task
Force, the investigation included interviews with Kubby associates,
surveillance of the couple's home, checking their household trash and
an analysis of their utility bills.

But, as the anonymous letter from Marina del Rey piqued the interest
of the drug task force, the Kubbys were tipped off an investigation
had begun.

``They underestimated our political contacts, our influence and our
friends in the medicinal marijuana movement,'' Michele Kubby said
during an interview with the Auburn Journal at the couple's Olympic
Valley home.

Producing evidence of the Kubbys' marijuana garden was easy for
members of the task force, which includes law-enforcement officials
from Placer County, the state of Nevada and the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration. Investigators found stems, seeds, leafy
marijuana residue, partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, 256
seedlings and packaging for cultivation supplies.

``My review of 215 is that (they had) more marijuana than necessitated
by a medical condition,'' Placer County Deputy District Attorney
Christopher Cattran said Tuesday.

``And there is some evidence that they furnished it to another
individual -- observed during the surveillance.''

The Kubbys insist they are the perfect defendants to overcome police
and prosecutor opposition to Proposition 215. They deny selling any of
the marijuana they harvested, and point to their modest financial
circumstance -- $4,800 in savings and a 10-year-old car -- as proof
their only income is derived from Steve Kubby's online magazine,
Alpine World.

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

Former Gubernatorial Candidate Tipped Off To Marijuana Investigation
(A lengthier version in the Sacramento Bee identifies the article's source
as the Associated Press.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 11:46:45 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Former Gubernatorial Candidate Tipped Off
To Marijuana Investigation
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: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: The Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Address: P.O.Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852
Website: http://www.sacbee.com/
Forum: http://www.sacbee.com/voices/voices_forum.html
Author: Associated Press

FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE TIPPED OFF TO MARIJUANA INVESTIGATION

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif (AP) -- Former Libertarian gubernatorial candidate
Steve Kubby and his wife, Michele, were tipped off months in advance to law
enforcement's investigation of their marijuana growing operation, a
newspaper reported.

Launched by an anonymous letter claiming Kubby was financing his campaign by
selling marijuana, the North Tahoe Task Force investigation climaxed Jan. 19
with the arrest of Kubbys on various marijuana charges.

Now, they face charges of cultivating marijuana in their Olympic Valley
home, conspiracy and possession with intent to sell. A preliminary
conference is set for Feb. 22 in Tahoe Superior Court.

The case promises to become the highest-profile test to date of California's
Proposition 215, the initiative voters approved in 1996 authorizing the use
of marijuana with a physician's approval.

Steve Kubby, who has adrenal cancer and was instrumental in qualifying
Proposition 215 for the ballot, openly espoused the use of medicinal
marijuana in the governor's race last year. Kubby finished fourth, receiving
1 percent of the vote.

According to court documents filed by the multiagency North Tahoe Task
Force, the investigation included interviews of Kubby associates,
surveillance of the couple's home, checking their household trash and an
analysis of their utility bills.

But, no sooner than the anonymous letter from Marina del Rey piqued the
interest of the drug task force, then the Kubbys were tipped off an
investigation had begun.

"They underestimated our political contacts, our influence and our friends
in the medicinal marijuana movement," said Michele Kubby during an interview
with the Auburn Journal at the couple's Olympic Valley home.

Producing evidence of the Kubbys' marijuana garden was easy for members of
the task force, which includes law-enforcement officials from Placer County,
the state of Nevada and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
Investigators found stems, seeds, leafy marijuana residue, partially smoked
marijuana cigarettes and packaging for cultivation supplies.

Christopher Cattran, a Placer County deputy district attorney assigned to
the Lake Tahoe office, said he was not impressed by the Kubbys' reliance on
Proposition 215.

"My review of 215 is that (they had) more marijuana than necessitated by a
medical condition," Cattran said Tuesday. "And there is some evidence that
they furnished it to another individual -- observed during the
surveillance."

Investigators seized 256 plants, about half of which were seedlings.

The Kubbys insist they are the perfect defendants to overcome police and
prosecutor opposition to Proposition 215. They deny selling any of the
marijuana they harvested, and point to their modest financial
circumstance -- $4,800 in savings and a 10-year-old car -- as proof their
only income is derived from Steve Kubby's online magazine, Alpine World.

"We want to see justice done," Cattran said. "If it turns out ... a jury
decides that 265 plants are all right, then that's justice. But if the jury
decides it's just too much, justice is done then, too."

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

Arrest Of California Cannabis Journalist Shows That The War On Medical
Marijuana Has Become A War on The First Amendment (Richard Cowan of
marijuananews.com analyzes the disturbing arrest of Pete Brady, a veteran
reporter for marijuana-related publications. Brady is on federal and state
probation arising from a 1994 marijuana arrest, and faces two to four years
in prison after being charged by federal and state authorities in connection
with the arrest of Steve Kubby in California. Using the law to persecute
medical marijuana users and activists is intolerable. When the people being
persecuted also happen to be professional journalists doing their job, it
becomes political prosecution of the sort that is dangerous to everyone.
Organizations such as PEN that are devoted to defending journalists who risk
their lives covering civil wars in other countries must not turn their backs
on people like Pete Brady.)

Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 08:08:15 -0500
To: medmj@drcnet.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
Subject: The Pete Brady Story (FWD)

>From Steve Kubby:

(Note: Recent news reports by the Associated Press refer to an incident in
which the police believe they observed me furnishing marijuana to another
individual. That individual was Pete Brady and what the police saw was Pete
examining and trimming a few of my plants for pictures to accompany his
articles about me for High Times and Cannabis Culture. Pete was one day
away from the end of his probation when he was arrested. Below is his
story. --steve)

[The AP story is at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n139.a07.html ]

marijuananews.com
http://www.marijuananews.com/arrest_of_california_cannabis_jo.htm
February 7, 1999

Arrest Of California Cannabis Journalist Shows That The War On Medical
Marijuana Has Become A War on The First Amendment
-- Analysis By Richard Cowan

That the war on medical marijuana has metastasized into a war on the First
Amendment was made clear by the arrest of Pete Brady, a 41-year-old writer
and photographer whose work appears frequently in High Times, Hemp Times,
Cannabis Culture and other progressive magazines.

Brady who is on federal and state probation arising from a 1994 marijuana
arrest, is facing prison after being charged by federal and state
authorities in connection with the arrest of Steve Kubby, the 1998
California Libertarian Party candidate for Governor. Kubby and his wife
Michele were arrested January 19th, and later accused of cultivating
marijuana for sale. Both Kubbys have medical recommendations that protect
them under Prop. 215.

When police entered Brady's home on January 21, they found a small amount of
marijuana and a few tiny cacti, that they allege contain peyote. Ignoring
Brady's own medical marijuana protection, they arrested him and charged him
with a felony for the cacti, with possession of marijuana, and with
probation violation. Federal authorities also charged him with probation
violation, saying that Prop. 215 has no validity.

Brady, was working on an article and book about Kubby. He visited Kubby in
early January, while Kubby was being surveilled by investigators from a
multi-agency task force.

According to police documents and statements, they ran a license plate check
on Brady's vehicle because it was parked in Kubby's driveway. Local police
in Butte County were already targeting Brady because of articles he'd
written critical of their handling of medical marijuana cases. Even though
there was no physical evidence to support their assumption, police assumed
Brady was part of an alleged Kubby marijuana conspiracy.

As NORML Board Of Directors member Don Wirtshafter wrote at the time of
Brady's arrest, "During a three-hour interrogation, police revealed that
they were aware of Brady's marijuana journalism and didn't approve of it. In
1998, law enforcement officials threatened Brady after he wrote in High
Times about homophobic local police harassing a gay medical marijuana user.
Thus, the case involves First Amendment issues, along with those raised by
Prop. 215."

This is a part of a pattern. The probation report on Orange County medical
marijuana activist Marvin Chavez explicitly stated that "Mr. Chavez says he
would continue to travel around the state and 'educate' people about medical
marijuana." This was used by the judge to justify a long prison sentence for
Chavez.

Politicized law enforcement must never be allowed to silence its critics,
but using the law to persecute medical marijuana users and activists who
have personal experience to back up their support for medical marijuana is
especially intolerable. When these people also happen to be professional
journalists doing their jobs, this becomes political prosecution of the sort
that is dangerous to everyone.

Even though police found only a small amount of medical marijuana and a few
cacti at Brady's residence, he is facing two to four years in state prison
and one to three years in federal prison. Brady has been subject to
increasing pressure from law enforcement. The head of the task force that
arrested the Kubbys (and caused Brady to be arrested) called Brady, trying
to get him to provide evidence that would incriminate himself or the Kubbys.
Brady refuses to be a snitch. Of course, he told the police that he doesn't
know anything about anyone else, but I am sure that they would be delighted
if he would just make something up.

"I am a journalist doing my job," Brady said. "I did not sell, exchange, buy
or transfer marijuana or any other controlled substance. I have been
targeted because of who I write for and what I write about. This is a First
Amendment case, a medical marijuana case, and a states' rights case. I am
saddened that the government has chosen to inflict this kind of pain on me."
Organizations for writers, such as PEN and others devoted to defending
journalists who risk their lives covering civil wars in other countries,
must not turn their backs on people like Pete Brady who is covering the war
against medical marijuana users in America.

A Legal Defense Fund for Brady is being established. Marijuananews will
follow this case closely.

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

IOM report release date (Jeff Jones of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers'
Cooperative says the release of the long-awaited report on medical
marijuana from the Institute of Medicine, commissioned two years ago
by the White House drug czar, has been delayed again, until at least
mid-March.)

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 19:03:09 -0800
To: "dpfca@drugsense.org" (dpfca@drugsense.org)
From: "Jeff W. Jones" (jeffj@rxcbc.org)
Subject: DPFCA: Fwd: Re: IOM report release date
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

Hello Everyone

Sorry I have to pass on the news of the push back of the IOM report but
that is what the IOM staff has reported to me. I hope this well reviewed
report is worth the wait, the first discussed release date back in Dec. of
1997 was by the end of Dec. 1998.

>X-Lotus-FromDomain: NAS
>From: "Janet Joy" (JJoy@nas.edu)
>To: "Jeff W. Jones" (jeffj@rxcbc.org)
>Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 21:28:48 -0500
>Subject: Re: IOM report release date
>
>Hi Jeff,
>I'm afraid I couldn't get things done in time for a February release.
>We've moved
>it back until at least mid-March. Because this is such a senstive report,
>we had twice the usual number of people review, and that made twice as
>much work for Deborah and I.
>
>We can't give an exact date until the Academy gives us final approval for
>the report, but we'll try to let you know as soon as we can.
>
>Janet
>
>"Jeff W. Jones" (jeffj@rxcbc.org) on 02/06/99 05:26:24 PM
>To: Janet Joy
>Subject: IOM report release date
>
>Hello Janet
>I am wondering if the report is still on-line for release this month. We
>are eagerly awaiting the new insight that will come from this very well
>done analysis. If you have an exact date, please send me the info.
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Jeff W. Jones
>
>Officer of the City of Oakland for the
>Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative
>P.O. Box 70401, Oakland, CA 94612-0401
>(510) 832-5346 Fax (510) 986-0534
>Web: http//:www.rxcbc.org
>Email: jeffj@rxcbc.org

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

1999 California NORML State Conference at Pismo Beach, California -
Feb. 13-14 (California NORML posts the program agenda for its gathering
next weekend.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 15:33:19 -0800
To: RKSTROUP@aol.com
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Subject: Cal NORML Conference Agenda

1999 California NORML State Conference
Pismo Beach, California - Feb. 13-14

Conference Agenda:

Sat. Feb 13 - Marie Callender Conference Center
(Located next to Seacrest Resort Hotel)

Continental Breakfast - 8 AM
9 AM Introduction: Marijuana Reform in 1999
Keith Stroup, National NORML Director
Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator:

9: 30 AM Proposition 215: Implementation & Legal Developments
Rob Raich: Attorney General's Task Force
Bill Panzer, NORML Legal Committee
James Silva, Marvin Chavez attorney
Chris Conrad, expert witness

10:30 AM Round Table: Medical Cannabis in California
chair: Ellen Komp, Prop. 215 Reporter
Jeff Jones, Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Co-op
Scott Imler, LA Cannabis Resource Center
Valerie Corral, Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical MJ
Kim Levin, Shasta Patients' Alliance
Lynnette Shaw, Marin Alliance for Medical MJ
Mary Pat Beck: Sonoma Alliance for Medical MJ
Dion Markgraaff, San Diego
Tod Mikuriya, M.D.
David Hadorn, M.D.

BREAK

1:30 PM CAMP Helicopters
Marie Mills, CLMP
Andrea Tischler, ADIOS-CAMP
Mary Pat Beck, SAMM

2:15 PM Medical MJ and Beyond: Where From Here?
Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML
Dennis Peron, Prop. 215 organizer
Ed Rosenthal, author, activist
Jack Herer, author, "Emperor Wears No Clothes"
Chris Conrad, author, activist

3:30 PM- Religious Use
Bob Hunt, Ph.D.

3:45 PM Drug Testing Update
Dale Gieringer, Bob Wilson

4 PM Prisoners of the Drug War
Mikki Norris, Human Rights and the Drug War
4:30 Open Forum

7:30 PM - Dinner
Featuring music by: Shambala and Ouroboros

Sunday, Feb 14th

8:30 Continental Breakfast

Organizational Business

9:30 Internet: Mark Greer
Prop 215 Registry
Legislative Agenda, lobbying
Organizational: Chapters
Million Marijuana March
(Medical Cannabis Patients & Caregivers Caucus)

NOON - Adjourn

***

Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.apc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114

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

Anti-Marijuana Legislation in Sacramento (A news release from California
NORML asks activists to lobby against S.B. 273, introduced by Senator Bill
Knight, which would increase the fine for marijuana possession from $100 to
$1,000; and ABX1-21, introduced by Assemblyman Ken Maddox, which would
require schools immediately to suspend and recommend expulsion of students
caught possessing less than an ounce of marijuana.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 15:33:33 -0800
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Subject: DPFCA: Anti-MJ Legislation in Sacto
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

SACRAMENTO: Sen. Pete Knight (R-Palmdale) has introduced a bill,
S.B. 273, to raise the fine for possession of less than an ounce of
marijuana to $1,000 from $100.

California NORML opposes the proposed fine as excessive,
unwarranted, and unenforceable. "Simple possession of marijuana is a
victimless offense that is no threat to public safety," argues state
coordinator Dale Gieringer. "Marijuana use in California has stabilized in
recent years. What's the need for further penalties? Most misdemeanor
marijuana offenders can't afford a $1,000 fine. The state will end up
paying more in court costs than it will collect trying to assess it."

SB 273 has been referred to the State Senate Public Safety
Committee. Concerned Californians should write their state senator, Sen.
Knight and Sen. Vasconcellos, chair, Public Safety Committee, State
Capitol, Sacramento 95814.

In other anti-marijuana legislation, Assemblyman Ken Maddox
(R-Anaheim) is sponsoring a bill, ABX1-21, that would require schools
to immediately suspend and recommend expulsion of pupils for possession of
less than one ounce of marijuana. Current law requires that students be
suspended and recommended for expulsion for any controlled substance
offense EXCEPT possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.

ABX1-21 is co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Charlene Zettel (R-San
Diego) and Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley).

***

Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.apc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114

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

Law Without Mercy (Washington Post editorial staff writer Fred Hiatt
ponders the irony in the "private bill" introduced last month by Rep. Bill
McCollum, R-Fla., to prevent the deportation of a "drug-using, check-kiting,
parole-busting immigrant from Canada" who was ordered out of the country
under tough legislation McCollum backed in 1995 and 1996. McCollum says it's
irrelevant that the immigrant's father is the Republican county treasurer in
the congressman's district. The bill backed by McCollum in 1996 widened the
definition of deportable crimes from murder, rape and drug trafficking to
encompass possession of small quantities of "drugs" and other offenses
punishable by a year in jail. Congress then removed judicial discretion. But
over the telephone, McCollum now tells Hiatt he believes that the 1996 bill
was "too harsh" - and that he will submit legislation to correct some of its
unfairness.)

Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 11:15:06 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WP: OPED: Law Without Mercy
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: derek rea (derek@ezl.com)
Pubdate: Sun, 07 Feb 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Fred Hiatt
Note: The writer is a member of the editorial page staff.

LAW WITHOUT MERCY

Rep. Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) does not present himself as a man of self-doubts
or second thoughts. On his Web site, he informs us that he "is considered
the House of Representatives' foremost authority on crime." He has
relentlessly pursued the president as a House impeachment manager. He has
pushed resolutely for tougher crime and immigration laws.

So it's interesting to see McCollum, who represents Orlando and surrounding
territory, pleading the case of a drug-using, check-kiting, parole-busting
immigrant from Canada.

The immigrant was ordered deported under tough legislation McCollum backed
in 1995 and 1996 that aimed to deport immigrants as quickly as possible,
even for minor offenses. But this one deserves a break, McCollum says. And
the fact that the immigrant's father is a Republican county treasurer in the
congressman's district has nothing to do with his decision. "I feel great
sympathy for his family's struggles," McCollum said on the House floor last
month, introducing a "private bill" that was first reported on by the St.
Petersburg Times.

Now, it would be easy to knock McCollum for hypocrisy, given that hundreds
of immigrants with more compelling cases and fewer resources are being
deported thanks to laws McCollum backed. It would be easy to dig up past
statements ("By removing from our society those aliens who do not respect
our laws, we make our streets safer for citizens and noncitizens alike") and
to question why, if political connections were irrelevant, this is the only
such bill McCollum has filed.

But McCollum told me he believes that the 1996 bill was, in key respects,
"too harsh" -- and that he will submit legislation to correct some of its
unfairness. If that hints at a change of mood in Congress, then a major
injustice may be corrected.

"It was pretty clear in 1996 that there were going to be a lot of terrible,
sad stories -- a lot of American families being torn up by this," says Carol
Wolchok, an immigration expert at the American Bar Association. Those to be
affected were not illegal immigrants but lawful permanent residents of the
United States who in many cases had lived here virtually all their lives.

Congress first widened the definition of deportable crimes from murder, rape
and drug trafficking to encompass minor theft, possession of small
quantities of drugs and other offenses punishable by a year in jail. Then
Congress removed judicial discretion. Whereas before an immigration judge or
the attorney general could weigh many factors, including someone's
rehabilitation, now there are no waivers and no mercy.

Finally, Congress made it all retroactive. The result: People who had been
living peaceably in this country for decades, their long-ago offenses
well-known and honestly disclosed to immigration authorities, suddenly
became illegal, subject to mandatory detention and deportation. Unsuspecting
legal immigrants in some cases showed up to apply for citizenship, only to
be carted off to jail.

Gabriella Dee, 34, had tried in 1984 to smuggle her Israeli boyfriend from
her Canada home into the United States. She was caught, fined $25 and
released. In subsequent years, she was granted U.S. student visas and work
visas, having disclosed her past arrest. She married an American and became
stepmother to his children. She won prizes and plaudits for her work as a
college biology teacher, as the Morning Call of Allentown, Pa., recounted in
a profile last year. But when she applied for permanent resident status, not
knowing the rules had changed, she was put on the deportation list.

Ralph Richardson's mistake, at age 33, was to visit Haiti for the first time
since he had left that country at age 2. Upon his return, he was detained at
the airport because of a drug conviction nine years ago. He has been in
detention for 16 months, with no right to post bond, according to his
lawyer, Ira Kurzban, though he is married to an American, has three young
children and has -- had -- a small office-cleaning business in Atlanta.

Across the country, there are hundreds, probably thousands of such stories.
A Vietnamese immigrant with an American husband and young American children
faces deportation for forging a check nine years ago. A Texas kitchen
installer who won his case in 1993 now faces deportation because the
government's appeal was delayed for four years -- by which time new rules
applied. McCollum's constituent is just one more: a sad story of a kid on
drugs, according to the congressman, who hurt no one but himself and his
parents and wants another chance with his 2-year-old American son.

Doris Meissner, commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
says that 90 percent of the 160,000 people deported last year were illegal
aliens, and that many of the rest are serious criminals who don't deserve to
stay. But among the 16,000 legal residents deported, she says, are "some
very sympathetic cases."

It was an insupportable accumulation in past years of "private bills" like
McCollum's that originally prompted Congress to give the executive branch
some discretion. In 1996 the Republicans complained that that discretion had
been abused. Their remedy "went too far," Meissner says.

Now the administration supports "a very limited waiver authority, with very
clear criteria," Meissner says. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan already has
introduced such a bill.

Will anything pass this year? Meissner says she isn't sure. It may take some
time, she says, for the pendulum to swing back, as private bills again
accumulate, pressures build and evidence of unfairness mounts. "In the
meantime," she says, "a lot of people are being unnecessarily hurt."

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

White House unveils new strategy to halve drug use by 2007 (The Associated
Press says the Clinton administration is announcing a five-part plan
consisting of: educating children, decreasing the addicted population,
breaking the cycle of drugs and crime, securing the nation's borders from
drugs, and reducing the supply of drugs. Achieving the goal would mean just
3 percent of the U.S. household population aged 12 and over would be using
illegal drugs. The current figure is 6.4 percent - up from 6.0 percent when
Clinton took office. A major piece of the effort is an advertising campaign
that hopes to generate more than $195 million a year in matching
contributions from mass media.)

Date: Mon, 08 Feb 1999 08:16:53 -0500
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
From: ltneidow@voyager.net (Lee T. Neidow)
Subject: 8 Year Plan To Cut Drug Use
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

(Please grab a big shovel before reading)

***

White House unveils new strategy to halve drug use by 2007

February 7, 1999
Web posted at: 9:54 p.m. EST (0254 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hammering home the need for a drug-control strategy that
measures success and failure, the Clinton administration is announcing a
five-part plan designed to cut the size of the nation's drug problem in half
by 2007.

In a three-volume report to Congress, White House drug policy director Barry
McCaffrey said drugs cost the country more than 14,000 lives annually,
despite a nationwide effort that includes close to $18 billion spent this
year by the federal government.

President Clinton said that while "there is some encouraging progress in the
struggle against drugs, ... the social costs of drug use continue to climb."

In a message to Congress, Clinton said that among the positive signs are a
growing view among young people that drugs are risky and a continuing
decline in cocaine production overseas.

"Studies demonstrate that when our children understand the dangers of drugs,
their rates of drug use drop," said Clinton.

The five parts of the administration plan are educating children, decreasing
the addicted population, breaking the cycle of drugs and crime, securing the
nation's borders from drugs and reducing the supply of drugs.

The blend of strategies is aimed at reducing the use and availability of
drugs by 50 percent by 2007, 25 percent by 2002. Achieving the goal would
mean just 3 percent of the U.S. household population aged 12 and over would
be using illegal drugs. The current figure is 6.4 percent. In 1979, the rate
was near 15 percent.

Vice President Al Gore said "this strategy takes us into the next century
with a goal of dramatic reductions in the supply and demand for drugs and a
real chance of giving our children drug-free communities in which to grow up."

Matching contributions sought

A major piece of the drug-control effort: an advertising campaign that
generates more than $195 million a year in matching contributions from media
companies.

"The strategy seeks to involve parents, coaches, mentors, teachers, clergy
and other role models in a broad prevention campaign," said McCaffrey, head
of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

A cornerstone of the strategy is accountability for the wide array of
current anti-drug programs, with boosts for those that work and the ability
to identify swiftly and repair those that aren't producing results.

"In the past, Congress had been critical because there were no specific
measurements for success," said Bob Weiner, a spokesman for McCaffrey.
"There was some real heat in the government" resisting demands for
accountability, but "no longer do we only measure the people working the
issue and the dollars spent on it. Now you've got to prove bang for the buck."

The goals for the period ending in 2007 are to reduce the rate of crime
associated with drug trafficking and use by 30 percent, and reducing the
health and social costs associated with drugs by 25 percent.

McCaffrey also wants to expand alternatives to jail for drug users -- an
approach based on studies showing that prisoners who get treatment are far
less likely to commit new crimes than those who don't.

"Efforts to break the cycle of drugs and crime will pay for themselves
through reduction in prison costs, social costs associated with drugs and
crime and through the money no longer wasted on purchase of drugs,"
according to the new drug-control strategy.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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

By Look And By Deed Cops' Tactics Can Cast Suspicion On Innocent (The Arizona
Republic says that, to police, Mickel Morales behaved like a drug dealer
after he flew into Tucson on a one-way airline ticket bought at the last
minute. However, a two-day investigation that included following him and
finally asking to search his belongings revealed the actions of a fiber
optics repairman sent to Tucson on an emergency repair job. Morales said
Friday that he was considering filing a harassment complaint against police
in Tucson. And he is not alone. The repairman's experience shows the
pitfalls of racial profiling and judging people simply by their appearance
and actions.)

Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 13:19:56 -0500
From: Scott Dykstra (rumba2@earthlink.net)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Cops' tactics can cast suspicion on innocent
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

By Look And By Deed Cops' Tactics Can Cast Suspicion On Innocent

By Inger Sandal
The Arizona Daily Star
Contact: letters@azstarnet.com
Website: http://www.azstarnet.com/

To police, Mickel Morales behaved like a drug dealer after
he flew into Tucson on a one-way airline ticket bought at the
last minute.

However, a two-day investigation that included following
him and finally asking to search his belongings revealed the
actions of a fiber optics repairman sent to Tucson on an
emergency repair job.

``The more I thought about it, the more I got mad,'' the
27-year-old Texan said. ``How many people have
last-minute plans and have to change your flight? How many
people have to change cars or have packages arrive late at
FedEx?''

Morales said Friday that he was considering filing a
harassment complaint against police here.

The repairman's recent experience shows the pitfalls of
judging people by their appearance and actions. And he is
not alone.

Last month, a 19-year Border Patrol veteran filed a claim
against his own agency claiming a colleague illegally stopped
and searched him on a New Mexico highway because of his
Mexican appearance. The agent said it was the seventh time
he had been stopped by fellow agents when driving his own
vehicle.

In December, a black woman from Chicago joined a civil
rights lawsuit against the U.S. Customs Service after she was
strip-searched, handcuffed, X-rayed and probed internally by
a doctor because an inspector suspected she might be
smuggling drugs from Jamaica. The agents found nothing.

``Isn't it interesting that the people who usually (are) profiled
are people of color?'' asked Tucson attorney Paul Gattone,
executive vice president of the National Lawyers Guild, a
public interest law organization.

``Also what's very outrageous about it and scary are how
subjective these profiles are,'' Gattone said. ``They're based
on assumptions and stereotypes and as such they give 'way
too much discretion to individual law enforcement officers to
determine who is suspicious and who they're going to stop.

``I think they are a real threat to our constitutional rights and
we need to hopefully have some public outcry against them,''
he said. ``It certainly doesn't make us any safer. It has the
opposite effect.''

The guild's office here has looked into complaints in recent
years, he said, but has no case before it now.

Jim Molesa, special agent for the Drug Enforcement
Administration, said his agency does not use profiles to
identify those who may be criminals.

``But if somebody does a set of circumstances that a
reasonable person would find suspicious, it goes along with
the theory that if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and
has feathers, it must be a duck,'' he said.

Molesa refused to comment on specific techniques.

``This is an art; it's not even a science. You're dealing with
people and looking at people's behavior and trying to make a
determination of what's usual and what's unusual,'' he said.
``It's obviously not going to be 100 percent perfect.''

Though he said investigators' suspicions are correct most of
the time, he acknowledged it is not unusual for honest
citizens to get upset when their actions come under
government scrutiny.

Airports and other travel hubs draw special attention.

``Dope smugglers and money launderers have to travel
around,'' he said.

Some businesses including car rental agencies and airlines
may cooperate with law enforcement agencies by giving
client information without a subpoena, he said.

Those who cooperate, said Tucson Airport Authority Police
Chief John Carlson, ``all have an interest in not having
narcotics in their cars or in their airplanes.''

The airport force's 24 sworn employees, who wear uniforms
or plain clothes, work closely with other airports around the
nation as well as local police.

``We don't use any kind of stereotype. It's been my
experience that people who have been trafficking in narcotics
don't fit any stereotype. . . . They seem to encompass all
aspects of life,'' Carlson said.

Officers try to remain low-key. ``We're very public-relations
oriented at the airport. When we talk to people we go to
great lengths not to interfere with their travel plans, disturb
them or upset them,'' Carlson said, saying that his
department receives few complaints.

The Customs Service is allowed to search anyone entering
the United States. Agents may follow suspected smugglers
after they enter the country ``but we have to keep (them)
under watch the entire time,'' customs spokesman Roger
Maier said.

``We really don't have any specific profile. We've
intercepted smugglers of all ages, all ethnic groups. . . . If we
knew what a drug smuggler looked like, our job would be
easy. Nothing is beyond the realm of comprehension,'' Maier
said.

Maier would not comment on behavior that catches an
agent's eye. ``It could be a variety of things. We're not going
to discuss them publicly; criminals read newspapers, also,''
he said.

Customs officers last year ordered partial or full strip
searches or X-rays of 2,447 airline passengers and found
drugs on 27 percent, according to an Associated Press
account of the Chicago woman's lawsuit. Sixty percent of
those searched were black or Hispanic.

Customs officials said race was not a factor. A Customs
Service handbook advises officers that reasonable suspicion
requires a combination of factors, including appearing
nervous, baggy clothing, vague or contradictory answers
about travel plans and being unusually polite or
argumentative.

Morales said narcotics detectives told him actions including
his last-minute flight, renting a car separate from his business
colleague, staying at a motel a distance from the airport and
arranging to pick up packages at Federal Express on his
arrival made him appear to be a drug dealer.

He said he believes he was targeted also for being ``a young
Hispanic male traveling with an older white gentleman.''

Tucson police Capt. Kermit Miller, who supervises the
Metropolitan Area Narcotics Trafficking and Interdiction
Squad, said his detectives investigated Morales after he
caught the attention of another law enforcement agency
whose agents were at the airport on an unrelated matter.

``There were some characteristics similar to people who
smuggle drugs,'' he said, denying that race was a factor.
``Our guys started doing follow-up and found some other
information that didn't make sense,'' he said, such as
business names and phone numbers that didn't match
Morales' car rental information.

Detectives started watching Morales and saw him try to pick
up a package, Miller said. ``What they noticed that was
interesting was there was another male in the parking lot of
the business. It appeared to the officers they were acting like
they didn't know each other. The officers did some
checking, found out the other person had flown in with Mr.
Morales and had probably sat next to him'' on the airplane,
Miller said.

``It turned out there's logical explanations for all this,''
Miller said.

For example, company policy required Morales and his
business colleague to rent separate cars. The pair stayed at a
motel where they had coupons. The boxes Morales received
included eight latched cases of fiber optics tools and two
sealed packages of paper and ink cartridges.

Miller said he was surprised to learn later that Morales was
upset.

``Normally if someone's upset about it we'll know at the time
of the contact,'' he said. The detectives' contact with
Morales, which was tape recorded, seemed amicable. ``They
shook hands with them and said goodbye,'' he said. ``To
(detectives), it was a non-event. It's something we do all the
time.''

Morales said allowing police to search boxes of equipment
his company had shipped made him and his colleague late at
their work site.

``We had to explain we had just been raided,'' said the
colleague, who did not want his name published.

``It seemed kind of nerve-wracking to me,'' he said. ``They
knew we left the airport at Dallas. . . . They knew we
bought (the ticket) that same day, which is not unusual
because we go all over the country to work at a moment's
notice,'' he said.

Morales said he feared he was still being followed in Tucson.
``This incident left me a prisoner of my (motel) room all
weekend,'' he said. ``I thought McCarthyism no longer
existed. But apparently it still does in the Southwest; only
you're not considered a communist but a drug trafficker.''

Arizona Daily Star reporter L. Anne Newell contributed to
this story.

Attachment Converted: sp020731.jpg

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

Most Dangerous Occupation: Cop? Narc? Fireman? Cab Driver? Soldier?
(According to a list subscriber, ABC News indicates being a narc is 30 times
less dangerous than commercial fishing.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 12:35:36 -0800
To: mattalk@islandnet.com, maptalk@mapinc.org, drctalk@drcnet.org
From: rgivens@sirius.com
Subject: Most Dangerous Occupation: Cop? Narc? Fireman? Cab Driver?
Soldier?

None of above!

Commercial fishing is 30 times more dangerous than any other occupation.

Source ABC news 7 Feb 1999

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Local Woman Arrested In Congressman's Office (Ann Arbor News, in Michigan,
notes a trial begins Monday for Renee Emry Wolfe, the local multiple
sclerosis patient busted Sept. 15 for lighting a marijuana cigarette
in the outer offices of U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, the Florida Republican.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 11:46:57 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MI: Local Woman Arrested In Congressman's Office
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: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: Ann Arbor News (MI)
Copyright: 1999 Michigan Live Inc.
Feedback: http://aa.mlive.com/about/toeditor.html
Website: http://aa.mlive.com/
Forum: http://aa.mlive.com/forums/
Author: STEVE PEPPLE ASSISTANT METRO EDITOR

LOCAL WOMAN ARRESTED IN CONGRESSMAN'S OFFICE

Ann Arbor marijuana activist says she smoked joint while waiting to discuss
its benefits

An Ann Arbor woman, who has waged a number of court battles over her use of
marijuana to ease the effects of multiple sclerosis, faces trial Monday for
smoking a marijuana cigarette in a congressman's Capitol office.

Renee Emry Wolfe, 38, who is pregnant with her fourth child, said she was
arrested last Sept. 15 by Capitol police after she lit up a marijuana
cigarette in the outer offices of U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, a Florida
Republican.

Wolfe said she spent several hours in jail before being released on her own
recognizance.

Wolfe, diagnosed in 1979 with multiple sclerosis, said she was attempting to
see McCollum to discuss pending legislation that opposed the use of
marijuana for medicinal purposes. Wolfe said she became nervous and upset,
so she lit up a marijuana cigarette to help calm her. "I started having a
(spasm) and that's the best way for me to prevent those attacks from
happening to me," Wolfe said Saturday from her home in Ann Arbor's
Pittsfield Village.

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Have You Voted? Medical Marijuana Poll at Snap (A list subscriber
alerts you to an online poll at snap.com.)

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 05:50:50 EST
Errors-To: jnr@insightweb.com
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
From: Richard Lake (rlake@mapinc.org)
To: Multiple recipients of list (friends@freecannabis.org)
Subject: Have You Voted? MMJ Poll at Snap

MMJ Poll at Snap:

Do you support legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes?

Yes 74.5%

No 25.5%

9070 respondents at about 6:45 p.m. EST Saturday

You can still vote at the following URL (I had to paste it into my browser
to get there). Interesting webpage even it is too late to vote.

http://home.snap.com/main/channel/item/0,4,-8734,00.html?dd.snap.g5

Richard Lake

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Magazine Links N. Korea To Drugs, Counterfeiting (According to Kyodo News
Service, the latest edition of the weekly U.S. News and World Report says
North Korea earns more than $100 million per year for its nuclear-weapons
program through state-run opium and ephedrine production, counterfeiting
rings and other illegal operations. North Korean diplomats have been arrested
in over nine countries on suspicion of smuggling illegal drugs such as
heroin, hashish and cocaine.)

Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 18:35:54 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: N. Korea: WIRE: Magazine Links N. Korea To Drugs,
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: GDaurer@aol.com
Pubdate: Sun, 7 Feb 1999
Source: Kyodo News Service

MAGAZINE LINKS N. KOREA TO DRUGS, COUNTERFEITING

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 (Kyodo) -- North Korea earns more than 100 million
U.S. dollars per year through state-run drug production,
counterfeiting rings and other illegal operations, according to the
latest edition of the weekly U.S. News and World Report.

Money earned from the operations may be used to fund Pyongyang's
suspected nuclear weapon development program, the magazine said,
citing in its article reports from authorities in the United States,
Japan and South Korea, as well as reports of illegal conduct by North
Korean diplomatic officials in 16 nations.

The country sets aside about 6,900 hectares of land to produce 44 tons
of opium poppies a year, and U.S. government officials say tens of
millions of dollars in food aid sent to the country may be needed in
part because so much land is used to cultivate the poppies, it said.

About 90 kilograms of heroin produced in the country is already
believed to have made its way into the U.S., the weekly reported.

North Korean diplomats have been arrested in over nine countries on
suspicion of smuggling illegal drugs such as heroin, hashish and
cocaine, it said.

North Korea-linked firms have ordered as much as 50 tons -- 20 times
the country's domestic needs -- of ephedrine, used in the production
of stimulants, the magazine said, with the main market for the
stimulants believed to be Japan.

Pyongyang is also believed to be behind the world's largest ring
counterfeiting U.S. bills, with North Korean officials having been
arrested in Cambodia, Russia, Mongolia and Macao on suspicion of using
counterfeit U.S. 100 dollar bills, it said.

The magazine quoted North Korean defectors as saying the bills are
produced at a high-security plant in Pyongyang.

North Korean officials in several countries are accused of smuggling a
range of illegal goods including pirated compact disks, fake artworks
and body parts from endangered species protected by international
treaties, it said.

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Mexico Rejects Extradition Request (The Associated Press says Mexico
on Sunday rejected an American extradition request for five men wanted
in the largest money-laundering case in U.S. history - "Operation
Casablanca" - saying it would instead try them in Mexico. Seventy other
people are still being sought in the case.)

Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 23:22:27 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Mexico: Wire: Mexico Rejects Extradition Request
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Sun, 07 Feb 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: JOHN RICE Associated Press Writer

MEXICO REJECTS EXTRADITION REQUEST

MEXICO CITY (AP) Mexico on Sunday rejected an American extradition
request for five men wanted in the largest money-laundering case in
U.S. history, saying it would instead try them here.

The five were named as suspects in the May 1998 Casablanca sting, a
U.S. operation that strained relations with Mexico, which said it had
not been notified about American operations on its soil.

A joint news release by the Foreign Secretariat and the Attorney
General's Office said the Casablanca operation was "condemned by
Mexico" and that it had harmed cooperation in the fight against drug
trafficking.

In the two-year Casablanca operation, U.S. officials lured about 40
Mexican and Venezuelan businessmen, bankers and alleged drug cartel
members to the United States and arrested them.

An additional 70 people are fugitives in the case, which alleges that
tens of millions of dollars in illegal drug profits for the Cali
cartel of Colombia and Mexico's Juarez cartel were shipped through
phony transactions to Mexican-owned banks.

The Mexican attorney general's office earlier threatened to bring
charges against U.S. agents in the case who had operated in Mexico.
But on Sunday it said it had been unable to find proof they had
committed any crimes under existing laws.

As a result, the two agencies said they would seek to modify Mexican
laws to outlaw such operations.

The five suspects were identified as Gildardo Martinez Lopez, Carlos
Escoto Alcala, Miguel Barba Martin, Jorge Milton Diaz and Jose Sergio
Calderon Fernandez.

All are under arrest in Mexico, where they face charges of money
laundering and organized crime.

U.S. indictments identified several of the men as administrators at
bank branches in various Mexican cities, and accused them of
involvement in laundering drug money.

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[End]