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

The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release (AIDS Coalition Demands White House
Legalize Medical Marijuana; Medical Marijuana Opponents Mount Challenges In
Oregon, Washington; Medical Marijuana Gains Ground in Hawaii)

From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 18:31:56 EST
Subject: NORML WPR 2/18/99 (II)

The NORML Foundation Weekly Press Release

1001 Connecticut Ave., NW
Ste. 710
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-8751 (p)
202-483-0057 (f)
www.norml.org
foundation@norml.org

February 18, 1999

***

AIDS Coalition Demands White House Legalize Medical Marijuana

February 18, 1999, Washington, D.C.: Leaders of 17 national AIDS
organizations sent a letter yesterday to the Office of National Drug
Control Policy demanding federal officials allow doctors to prescribe
marijuana to people suffering from the disease.

"We urge you to help break the bureaucratic logjam that is keeping
potentially life-saving medicine, marijuana, virtually inaccessible to
thousands of people living with AIDS," says the letter, signed by the
AIDS Action Council, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Latino Commission on
AIDS, AIDS Project Los Angeles, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the Northwest
AIDS Foundation, and other health organizations around the country. They
affirm that physicians specializing in AIDS care "widely recognize ...
marijuana ... as an important component of treatment for some patients
who suffer from symptoms of advanced-stage HIV disease and the
multiple-drug therapies used to manage HIV."

Signatories implore Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey to recommend immediate
approval of the drug for seriously ill patients. "Terminally ill
patients cannot afford to wait for years of research to prove something
they already know: medical marijuana works." They conclude, "Under these
circumstances, making marijuana immediately available ... to patients
living with AIDS ... is a moderate step that can add to the federal
government's responsiveness to the epidemic."

The coalition notes that the Clinton administration already allows
physicians to prescribe certain experimental AIDS medications prior to
final FDA approval. They argue that marijuana's relative safety and
apparent efficacy warrant it similar status.

"Thousands of Americans, many of them living with HIV, use marijuana
as a medicine illegally, putting themselves at risk of arrest and
prosecution," they state. "People should not have to risk their health
or jail to receive needed medical care."

Proponents sent additional copies of the letter to the Secretary of
Health and Human Services, the Director of the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, the Office of National AIDS Policy and the U.S. House and
Senate Majority and Minority Leaders.

AIDS organizations historically have been outspoken in their support
for legalizing medical marijuana. The Washington D.C. based AIDS Action
Council first called for "an elimination of federal restrictions that bar
doctors from prescribing marijuana for medical use" in November 1996.
Several other prominent California AIDS organizations joined a successful
class action lawsuit in 1997 that limited the government's ability to
sanction doctors who recommend marijuana as a therapy for their patients.
This latest coalition marks the first time so many AIDS groups have
united for "legal, immediate access to marijuana."

NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre called the
campaign significant, and representative of the broad support that exists
for legalizing medical marijuana. "Patients, doctors, and nurses support
granting patients legal access to medical marijuana," he said. "It
remains politicians in Washington, not voters or the medical community,
who continue to support policies prohibiting the use of marijuana as a
legal medicine."

For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751. Additional
information is also available from Rachel Swain of Communication Works @
(415) 255-1946.	

***

Medical Marijuana Opponents Mount Challenges In Oregon, Washington

February 18, 1999, Portland, OR: Legislators in Oregon and
Washington are proposing legislation to restrict patients' ability to use
medical marijuana legally under initiatives passed in November.

"This is completely unnecessary," said Oregon initiative backer Geoff
Sugerman. "This is an effort to open the door to wholesale changes to a
law the voters passed just a couple of months ago."

Rob Killian, a Tacoma physician who spearheaded the Washington
campaign, voiced similar concern. "It's a blind-sided attempt to
basically bring the government back into regulation of patients' and
doctors' relationships," he said.

Oregon's new law allows patients holding state permits to possess
limited quantities of medical marijuana, and provides a legal defense for
non-registered patients who use the drug under a doctor's supervision.
The state Health Division is responsible for issuing registration cards
to patients, but has not yet done so. Proposed legislative changes to
the law drafted by Rep. Kevin Mannix (R-Salem) would remove legal
protections for patients who possess more than one ounce of medical
marijuana or cultivate more than three mature plants at one time. House
Bill 3052 also eliminates provisions requiring police to return medical
marijuana to patients if they seized it improperly.

Washington's law allows patients who have a doctor's recommendation
to possess up to a 60 day supply of medical marijuana. Proposed changes
to the law in S.B. 5771 would require physicians who recommend marijuana
to a patient to notify the state each time they do so. It would also
allow law enforcement access to the records of all patients and
physicians who use or recommend medical marijuana.

"Senate Bill 5771 will make it as difficult as possible for patients
and doctors to use medical marijuana," said Dave Fratello of Americans
for Medical Rights. "This bill is all about regulating and intimidating
doctors and patients so severely that they will not take advantage of
Washington's new state law."

For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup, Esq. of
NORML @ (202) 483-5500 or Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights @
(310) 394-2952.

***

Medical Marijuana Gains Ground in Hawaii

February 18, 1999, Honolulu, HI: Legislation that would exempt
patients who use marijuana medicinally from state criminal penalties
gained approval from the House Health Committee this week. Supporters of
the measure include Gov. Ben Cayetano and Health Director Bruce Anderson.

Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii President Donald Topping said he was
encouraged by the strong show of support. "I am feeling better about the
possibility of the legal use of medicinal marijuana in Hawaii than ever
before," he said. "We have the governor's support, as well as that of
many informed and compassionate members of the Legislature. Only law
enforcement and the politically driven medical associations stand in the
way."

House Bill 1157 allows patients with a doctor's recommendation to
possess marijuana for medical use. The proposal also allows patients to
assert their medical use of marijuana as an affirmative defense to any
marijuana-related prosecution. Lawmakers removed provisions requiring
patients to enroll in a confidential patient registry, Topping said.

The measure also demands Congress to legalize prescriptive access to
marijuana for all Americans. "[We] request the United States Congress
and the President to enact appropriate legislation to permit marijuana to
be prescribed by physicians and to allow states to develop regulations to
ensure a safe, affordable, and controlled supply of marijuana for medical
use," the bill states.

The bill now goes before the House Judiciary Committee where
lawmakers must act on it before March 5, 1999. A Senate committee will
vote on a pair of similar proposals tomorrow.

For more information, please contact either Donald Topping of The
Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii @ (808) 988-4386 or R. Keith Stroup, Esq. of
NORML @ (202) 483-5500.

				- END -

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

Suicide Law Painless, Oregon Says (An Associated Press article in the Chicago
Tribune says a report published Thursday in the New England Journal of
Medicine by Oregon health officials summarizes the state's first year of
experience with the nation's only physician-assisted-suicide law. The study
found 15 terminally ill people in Oregon had used the law to end their lives.
There was no evidence they suffered painful, lingering deaths as opponents
had warned. The authors said fears that the law would be used as an easy way
out by people afraid of financial ruin or extreme pain proved unfounded.
Rather, officials found that the law so far had been invoked overwhelmingly
by strong-willed patients who wanted to exercise some control over the way
they died.)

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 06:26:48 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OR: Suicide Law Painless, Oregon Says
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Young
Pubdate: Thur, 18 Feb 1999
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
Author: Associated Press

SUICIDE LAW PAINLESS, OREGON SAYS

SALEM, Ore. -- In the first year under the nation's only assisted-suicide
law, 15 terminally ill people in Oregon used it to end their lives, and
there was no evidence they suffered painful, lingering deaths as opponents
had warned.

In a report published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, Oregon
health officials also said that fears that the law would be used as an easy
way out by people afraid of financial ruin or extreme pain proved unfounded.

Rather, health officials found that use of the law has so far been driven
overwhelmingly by the desire of strong-willed patients to exercise some
control over the way they died.

"Many physicians reported that their patients had been decisive and
independent throughout their lives or that the decision to request a lethal
prescription was consistent with a longstanding belief about the importance
of controlling the manner in which they died," the report said.

The first report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act showed that doctors
prescribed lethal drugs to 23 people in 1998 but that six died of their
illnesses before using the drugs. Two others still were alive as of Jan. 1.

Thirteen of the 15 who took the lethal drugs were cancer patients. The
others were suffering from heart or lung diseases. The average age of those
who took their lives was 69.

Approved in 1994 and reaffirmed by Oregon voters in November 1997, the law
allows a doctor to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to hasten the death
of patients who have less than six months to live.

The Roman Catholic Church and others spent millions of dollars to try to
derail the measure. They relied chiefly on the argument that some people
would die excruciating, torturous deaths after taking the drugs.

However, Oregon's Health Division found no evidence of botched suicides and
no complications such as vomiting or seizures from the lethal doses of
barbiturates. Nearly all of those who took the drugs were unconscious within
five minutes, and most were dead within an hour.

Despite the apparent lack of technical problems, the leader of the Portland
Roman Catholic Archdiocese denounced assisted suicide as an immoral act.

"Every time a physician writes a prescription for lethal medication, we are
confronted again with our failure to offer compassionate care," said
Archbishop John Vlazny.

"In allowing assisted suicide to continue, the State of Oregon dismisses the
value of human life. This thought fills me with sadness and shame," Vlazny
said.

Dr. Peter Rasmussen, a Salem oncologist who has assisted in two suicides,
said his patients slipped peacefully into a coma almost immediately after
eating chocolate pudding laced with barbiturates.

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

Suicide backers to Legislature: Hands off suicide law (According to the
Associated Press, backers of the physician-assisted suicide law passe by
Oregon voters say a favorable report released Wednesday by the state Health
Division shows there's no need for the legislature to try again to revise
the state's Death with Dignity Act.)

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

Suicide backers to Legislature: Hands off suicide law

The Associated Press
2/18/99 3:36 AM

By BRAD CAIN

Associated Press Writer

SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Backers of Oregon's assisted suicide law say a favorable
state report shows there's no need for the Legislature to try to revise the
state's Death with Dignity Act.

On Wednesday, the state Health Division issued a report that found no
evidence of misuse or botched suicides among the 15 people who chose to end
their lives under the law.

Barbara Coombs Lee, chief sponsor of the Death with Dignity Act, said she
will oppose any attempts by the Legislature to retool it.

"If there is a true problem, we will work with you to fix it," she said at a
news conference. "But lacking evidence of a problem, this Legislature should
not be tampering with the will of the voters."

Still, House Speaker Lynn Snodgrass said she thinks some changes are needed,
especially to tighten the law's residency requirements so that people won't
come to Oregon just to commit suicide.

"I don't want Oregon to be a destination of death," the Republican lawmaker
from Boring said.

In 1997, the Legislature enraged supporters of the suicide law by placing
the issue back before voters who first approved assisted suicide in 1994.

The 1997 repeal attempt was soundly defeated, however, and lawmakers who are
looking at retooling the law this year say they have no intention of trying
to thwart the people's will.

"We're just trying to implement the law thoughtfully," said Sen. Neil
Bryant, R-Bend, who is sponsoring one of the bills to change some of the
provisions in the Death with Dignity law.

Bryant said lawmakers are looking at such issues as whether lethal drugs
prescribed by doctors need to be labeled more clearly and whether the law is
specific enough in allowing doctors and hospitals to refuse to assist suicides.

Another issue that might be addressed is whether the law should be written
to discourage people from committing suicide in public places such as a
beach, Bryant said.

Supporters of the suicide act who came to the Capitol on Wednesday said
lawmakers are grasping at non-existent problems.

"They should leave it alone and let it work," said Barbara Oskamp, a West
Linn woman who has a terminal brain tumor.

(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC

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

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

15 Oregonians chose assisted suicide in '98, report says (The Oregonian
version)

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/

15 Oregonians chose assisted suicide in '98, report says

* Officials say the state's first study on lethal-medication cases indicates
that the law is working as intended and is not being abused

Thursday February 18, 1999

By Erin Hoover Barnett
and Joe Rojas-Burke
of The Oregonian staff

Oregon doctors not eager to assist in suicides
Details of the report, timeline of events

Physician-assisted suicide is becoming a viable option for a small number of
terminally ill Oregonians, despite persistent debate about whether it is a
proper course for society to take.

Fifteen terminally ill Oregonians swallowed fatal doses of barbiturates in
1998 without such complications as vomiting or seizures, according to the
Oregon Health Division's first annual report on assisted suicide, released
Wednesday.

An additional eight patients got lethal medications under the Oregon Death
With Dignity Act but did not use them. Six of them died of their illness and
two were still alive on Jan. 1.

A number of health leaders and public officials, including Gov. John
Kitzhaber, interpreted the report's findings as positive. Kitzhaber, who is
out of state, discussed the report earlier this week with aides.

"He is gratified to see that the act is working, much as we expected it
would. There are very few Oregonians who choose this option, but those who
do are honoring the safeguards and using it in the way in which it was
intended by Oregon voters," said Mark Gibson, the governor's policy adviser
for health care. "It's really clear that the hyperbolic predictions of abuse
and discrimination that were raised by the opponents of the act haven't
materialized."

The Oregon Board of Medical Examiners, which licenses and disciplines the
state's doctors, agreed. "Their report shows that things are going
appropriately," said Kathleen Haley, the board's executive director.

Health Division officials found that a desire for personal control over
life's end and concern about loss of bodily functions drove patients to
commit assisted suicide. Financial worries, pain or lack of insurance,
hospice care or education -- areas of great public concern -- did not appear
to be driving factors.

They found that the majority of patients died within an hour of taking
lethal medications, but four died after more than three hours. One patient
took 11.5 hours to die. Health officials said that person swallowed a
fast-acting barbiturate and was unconscious within five minutes. They noted
that the time it takes to die -- a hugely controversial issue during the
debate over legalizing assisted suicide -- "is not always rapid or predictable."

Deaths by assisted suicide represent roughly five out of every 10,000 deaths
in Oregon. The Health Division estimated that for every 1,000 cancer deaths,
fewer than two were by assisted suicide.

Health officials call their findings "observations," acknowledging the
limits of such a small number of cases and the fact that their report is
based entirely on information from death certificates and interviews with
doctors involved.

"I wouldn't draw conclusions about what will happen across the country in
the next 20 years," said Dr. Katrina Hedberg, a Health Division medical
epidemiologist and co-author of the report. "This is what happened in Oregon
in 1998, in the only place in the world where this is legal."

Assisted-suicide opponents criticized the report for what it didn't
accomplish, particularly its lack of information about the extent to which
doctors tried to alleviate patients' reasons for seeking assisted suicide.

"I don't think that these physicians know how to relieve suffering, and I
think all they know how to do is this," said Dr. Herbert Hendin, medical
director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in New York.

Dr. Greg Hamilton, a Portland psychiatrist, criticized the Health Division
for not delving more deeply into dying people's fear of losing control and
other mental states suggestive of depression.

"Citing philosophical concerns about autonomy is unsophisticated; it's not
clinical," said Hamilton, president of Physicians for Compassionate Care,
which opposes assisted suicide.

His group is pushing the Health Division to release records, without names,
of psychiatric evaluations of people who choose to hasten death. "What we
need is a way to look at the quality of those evaluations," Hamilton said.

Confidentiality praised

But Dr. Susan Tolle, an ethicist at Oregon Health Sciences University and
member of a statewide medical task force that wrote a guidebook on Oregon's
law, congratulated the Health Division for releasing important information
while protecting privacy of patients, families and doctors.

The Health Division "has gone just as far and as deep as anyone can go when
there is such a small and vulnerable group," Tolle said.

Opponents contend that state oversight of assisted suicide is too scanty to
detect abuses and probably underestimates the number of assisted deaths.

All the more reason, said Tolle, for the Health Division not to erode its
ability to report without jeopardizing the privacy of doctors and patients.

Hedberg acknowledged that the Health Division has no way to detect doctors
who fail to report assisted deaths or commit other violations of the law.
She said, however, that doctors have a strong incentive to comply with the
law because only then are they protected from civil lawsuits and criminal
prosecution.

Hendin, who has studied assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands,
said he thinks Oregon's 15 is a large number of cases compared with the
early experience in the Netherlands, where assisted suicide and euthanasia
are illegal but have been practiced since 1973. An estimated 4,500 people
now die annually in the Netherlands by euthanasia and another 500 by using
assisted suicide, a total of 3.7 percent of all deaths there.

"Very impressive numbers"

Bioethicist Arthur Caplan said he remains troubled by the possible long-term
impact of legalized assisted suicide. But he acknowledged finding little in
Oregon's first year of experience to substantiate his worst fears.

"For critics of assisted suicide, and I am one of them, these are very
impressive numbers. They do not indicate any kind of slippery slope," said
Caplan, who is director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of
Pennsylvania.

"Any gross violations are not here. If there are problems, they are subtle,"
he said. "The small numbers of people using this option is, to me, startling."

Whether Oregon's experience holds lessons that can be applied to the rest of
the country, Caplan is not sure. "The (study) population is white,
relatively well-educated and relatively well insured," he said.

State Sen. Neil Bryant, R-Bend, said the report verifies his assertion that
the assisted suicide law does not need overhauling. But he thinks
fine-tuning remains appropriate and has introduced a bill to do that.

Barbara Coombs Lee, executive director of the Compassion in Dying Federation
and a co-author of Oregon's assisted suicide law, said at a news conference
Wednesday in Salem: "If there are problems with the law, we will work to fix
it. But without any evidence, the Legislature should not interfere with the
will of voters. This report makes a case for proceeding very cautiously and
demanding a reason for proceeding at all."

Researchers at OHSU expect to fill in some of the blanks in the Oregon
Health Division's report by analyzing areas of practice that could lead to
improvements in care.

A survey, sent to 4,600 Oregon doctors this month, will attempt to capture
the broad picture of how many doctors have had requests for assisted
suicide, how often those doctors suspected depression in those patients, and
what caused patients to abandon efforts to get lethal medications.

Another study involves interviews with family members after the deaths of
loved ones. It primarily will involve families whose relatives died by means
other than assisted suicide, but researchers expect that some of the deaths
will be by assisted suicide.

Virginia Tilden, director of research on ethics in end-of-life care at
OHSU's Center for Ethics in Health Care, wants to know more about the kind
of support patients who pursue assisted suicide get from loved ones. The
Health Division report showed that only two of the 15 people who used lethal
medications in 1998 were married at the time they died.

"Social research has shown that people who have more social support seem to
do better with dreaded diseases longer," Tilden said.

The Health Division is required by law to issue an annual report.

Lisa Grace Lednicer of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report. You
can reach Erin Hoover Barnett at 503-294-5011 or by e-mail at
ehbarnett@news.oregonian.com.

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

Lawmakers question whether federal dollars paying for assisted suicide
(The Associated Press says Republicans in the Oregon House of Representatives
are questioning whether Oregon is complying with federal law by covering
assisted suicides in its health plan for the poor. Congress in 1997
prohibited the use of federal funds for assisted suicide. The Oregon Health
Plan is funded in part by federal Medicaid dollars, but state officials have
said assisted suicides are paid for entirely by the state.)

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

Lawmakers question whether federal dollars paying for assisted suicide

The Associated Press
2/18/99 9:06 PM

By JOHN HUGHES

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some House lawmakers are questioning whether Oregon is
complying with federal law by covering assisted suicides in its health plan
for the poor.

Congress in 1997 prohibited the use of federal funds for assisted suicide.
The Oregon Health Plan is funded in part by federal Medicaid dollars, but
state officials have said assisted suicides are paid for entirely by the state.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley, R-Va., and three other
Republicans wrote a letter last week to Health and Human Services Secretary
Donna Shalala seeking answers to a series of specific questions about how
assisted suicides are paid for under the Oregon Health Plan.

Specifically, they wanted to examine the review process the Health Care
Financing Administration used to allow Oregon to have a waiver for assisted
suicide coverage.

They also want to know if HCFA officials met with Oregon officials, reviewed
congressional intent behind the 1997 law and met with outside experts on
assisted suicide.

"We want to make sure the law is being followed and no federal funds are
being used to pay for physician-assisted suicides," a committee spokesperson
said.

Said HCFA spokesman Chris Peacock: "Under no circumstances does HCFA allow
Medicaid coverage for assisted suicide."

But that doesn't necessarily preclude coverage under the Oregon Health Plan.
As with abortion cases, the state says it spends only state dollars on
assisted suicide cases. Even the billing claims for assisted suicide must be
handled separately by clerks who are not being paid with federal money.

"If only state money is involved, Medicaid has no jurisdiction," Peacock said.

Oregon Health Plan officials last November gave the final OK to covering the
costs of assisted suicide for qualified low-income Oregonians under the
Oregon Health Plan. The plan covers about 270,000 people.

State officials said at the time that they expected only a small number of
Health Plan recipients to choose assisted suicide. The Health Plan would pay
less than $45 for the prescription medicine, between $9 and $81 for each
visit to a doctor's office and $30 to $118 for counseling sessions.

State health officials reported this week that during the first year of the
Death with Dignity Act, 15 terminally ill Oregonians used it to end their lives.

It was unclear how many of the people, if any, would have qualified for
taxpayer assistance under the Oregon Health Plan.

Also unclear was whether the Feb. 12 letter represented a new front by
congressional conservatives to attack Oregon's law.

Last year, Assistant Senate Majority leader Don Nickles, R-Okla., and House
Judiciary Chairman Henry Hyde, R-Ill., unsuccessfully pushed bills that
would have overridden Oregon's law.

The bill would have barred doctors from prescribing narcotics and other
federally controlled drugs to help patients commit suicide. But in
acknowledging defeat last year, Nickles vowed to bring back his bill this
Congress.

(c)1999 Oregon Live LLC

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

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

Drug Arrest Tests The Charmed Life Of Ex-Prosecutor (The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer version says what proved to be Miller's undoing was a
former roommate who had been his alibi in the courthouse incident.)

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 21:39:21 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Drug Arrest Tests The Charmed Life Of Ex-Prosecutor
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: 18 Feb 1999
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Contact: editpage@seattle-pi.com
Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/
Author: Scott Sunde

DRUG ARREST TESTS THE CHARMED LIFE OF EX-PROSECUTOR

Tips lead to police raid on home

Will Miller, a former prosecutor who put bad guys away in New York and
Seattle, now faces five felony drug charges and the possibility of spending
10 years in prison.

After officers battered down his front door Tuesday night, they found
syringes in an upstairs office, a small amount of methamphetamine
downstairs and Miller hiding in his attic.

It was a stunning reversal for a man who seemed to have lived a charmed
life inside and outside a courtroom. He prosecuted crooks in New York City,
and then Seattle, winning promotions along the way.

Luck seemed on his side. Eight years ago, muggers shot Miller in the head,
but he was barely scratched. Last year, Miller walked into the King County
Courthouse only to have security officers discover a drug pipe and a small
amount of methamphetamine in his briefcase.

Prosecutors never charged Miller, although the incident did force him to
resign as a deputy prosecutor in King County and go into private practice.

But two months after the state Attorney General's Office decided that it
couldn't make a case against Miller, he allegedly began selling
methamphetamine to an undercover detective.

Court documents filed yesterday say he sold an ounce of suspected
methamphetamine three times this year for $1,000 each time to the
undercover detective. Subsequent tests on the suspected drugs showed that
they contained amphetamine.

The investigation culminated Tuesday night, when the detective arranged to
buy 3 ounces of methamphetamine.

Officers with the King County Sheriff's Office battered down the front door
of Miller's home in Seattle's Crown Hill neighborhood. Officers arrested
Miller in his attic and searched the house. They found a scale, several
syringes and a small amount of methamphetamine, according to court documents.

A 28-year-old man who court papers say was Miller's source for the drugs
also was arrested. The man has yet to be charged. But court documents say
he had gone to his car to get the drugs after the uncover officer paid
$2,400 for them.

Miller was being held in a special unit of the King County Jail last night.
Prosecutors have asked that bail of $50,000 be set, arguing that Miller is
a flight risk and a threat to the community based on his drug trafficking.

What proved to be Miller's undoing was a former roommate who had been his
alibi in the courthouse incident. A King County detective who investigated
the incident left a business card with the roommate, identified in court
documents as Jeff Vinson.

Vinson later called the detective with information about Miller, sparking
the investigation, said Jerrell Wills, a spokesman for the King County
Sheriff's Office. "He felt somehow betrayed," Wills said.

The alleged drug buys and arrest took place inSeattle, but sheriff's
officers rather than Seattle police handled the investigation because the
sheriff's officers had worked with Vinson last year when they investigated
the courthouse incident, Wills said.

The Attorney General's Office, which took several months to decide not to
prosecute Miller last year, acted swiftly this week. The office, which is
handling the case to avoid any conflict of interest involving local
prosecutors, filed three charges of delivering amphetamine to the
undercover detective, one charge of trying to deliver amphetamine and one
charge of possession of methamphetamine.

Miller faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $25,000 if convicted.

A conviction would be a reversal of fortune for Miller, who once was a
respected prosecutor in New York and Seattle.

He joined the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in 1988 and became a
prosecutor specializing in sex crimes. In 1991, Miller found himself on the
wrong side of a gun when a bullet grazed his temple during a mugging in
Brooklyn, according to the Long Island newspaper Newsday.

Fellow prosecutors in Seattle say Miller kept a laminated copy of a New
York Post story on the shooting in his office. It proclaimed him a
"miracle" prosecutor.

Late in 1991, the Queens District Attorney's Office hired Miller, putting
him in the special victims bureau. Miller also volunteered as a liaison to
the gay and lesbian community. A year later, Miller handled a high-profile
investigation of a Korean gang suspected of such crimes as kidnapping,
robbery and rape.

He joined the King County Prosecutor's Office in November 1995, first
handling juvenile cases, then moving to the so-called trial team, where he
prosecuted car thefts, burglaries and assaults.

In New York, he was known as D. Willas Miller. In Seattle, co-workers knew
him as Will Miller.

By March of last year, Miller was supervising new prosecutors working
mostly misdemeanor cases in District Court. In fact, he was on his way to
supervise the prosecution of a drunken-driving case March 2 when the pipe
and other items were found in his briefcase.

That incident resulted in the possession charge that was lodged against
Miller yesterday. In November, Greg Canova, chief criminal prosecutor in
the Attorney General's Office, said he couldn't file charges over the
incident and expect to win.

Miller contended at the time that he didn't know the drug pipe and drugs
were in his briefcase, and that they weren't his.

Yesterday, however, Canova said he has new evidence to support a charge
over the courthouse incident. He would not identify the new evidence.

Last year, Vinson told investigators that the pipe and a scale found in the
briefcase were his. He said the pipe and scale were in a plastic box that
he had lent to an acquaintance, who might have been a drug dealer.

Vinson got the box back and put it in Miller's briefcase March 1. The two
had an argument, and Vinson left, neglecting to tell Miller about the box.

The undercover investigation that began in January led to Miller's home on
Eighth Avenue Northwest near Northwest 80th Street.

Neighbors said they had little contact with Miller, who kept the drapes
closed on his little brick home most of the time.

However, at least one neighbor, Gowri Shankar, suspected something strange
was going on at Miller's home. Monday at 11:15 p.m., a young man dress in
socks, pants and a T-shirt knocked on Shankar's door. The young man said he
had been locked out of Miller's home and asked to use the telephone.

The next morning, Shankar introduced himself to Miller, who said he had had
an electrical fire. Shankar said he wondered aloud to his wife whether the
fire was the result of a methamphetamine lab inside the house.

"There was always something going on there -- a lot of activity," he said.

But other neighbors said they saw little, until just after suppertime
Tuesday night when they heard officers battering open Miller's front door.

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

The hidden war - Narcs are arresting medical pot patients and the state is
investigating their doctors (The Sacramento News & Review says that more than
two years after California voters approved Proposition 215, a
behind-the-scenes war is still raging. Dozens of patients have been
investigated, arrested and jailed for growing pot. And now a number of
physicians who have recommended marijuana to patients under the provisions of
Prop. 215 are being investigated by the Medical Board of California. The
investigation of Dr. Alex Stalcup, a physician in the Bay Area community of
Concord, is but one of the grand ironies of the war against Prop. 215. The
prominent physician is considered by law enforcement officials to be one of
the nation's leading authorities on illegal drugs and has worked for years as
a consultant to the California Narcotics Officers Association.)

From: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Subject: DPFCA: Let's not forget the doctors!
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 13:13:18 -0800
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

Sacramento News & Review
http://newsreview.com/sacto
Feb. 18, 1999

The hidden war

Narcs are arresting medical pot patients and the state is investigating
their doctors

by Michael Pulley
michaelp@newsreview.com

More than two years after California's voters approved Proposition
215, a behind-the-scenes war is still raging over the legality of a law
that allows sick people to grow and smoke marijuana as a legitimate
medicine.

The victims of the war are medical marijuana patients and their
physicians. Dozens of patients have been investigated, arrested and jailed
by local and federal authorities for growing pot. And now even the state's
watchdog for bad doctors has entered the fray, the SN&R has learned. A
number of physicians who have recommended marijuana to patients under the
provisions of Prop. 215 are being investigated by the Medical Board of
California.

"The [Central] Valley has a whole cadre of what I call victims of
215," said Dr. Alex Stalcup, a prominent Concord physician who is one of
the doctors being investigated by the medical board for recommending
marijuana to patients. "It's very sad, very sad. I just think it's a
scandal. These people believed in 215. Many of these people have terminal
illnesses, chronic illnesses. Many of these people are ashamed that they
have to use cannabis. The last thing they would do is be a dealer."

More than 30 medical marijuana patients have been arrested in the
Sacramento region since Proposition 215 passed in November 1996, according
to Ryan Landers, spokesman for a loose-knit Sacramento-based organization
that was formed recently to provide legal assistance for the numerous
medical pot patients now facing trials in about five different local
counties. A large number of the patients were arrested by the Placer County
Sheriff's Department, said Landers.

That agency's most high-profile arrest occurred last month. Steve
Kubby, a medical marijuana patient who was the Libertarian Party's
gubernatorial candidate in last year's election, and his wife, Michele,
were arrested for growing pot at their Squaw Valley home by a North Lake
Tahoe narcotics task force that included Placer County narcs and federal
agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. The arrest of Kubby has fueled
allegations that the war on Prop. 215 is based on politics and has little
to do with the medical needs of the patients who have been targeted by
narcs.

"This is such an obviously political case and who's pulling the
strings," said Kubby. He and his wife have pleaded innocent and said they
plan to file criminal and civil cases against Placer County officials.
Libertarian Party members in Placer County said last week the Kubby bust
has prompted them to organize a recall election against Placer County
District Attorney Brad Fennochio and Placer County Sheriff Edward Bonner.

Officials at the Placer County Sheriff's Department could not be
reached for comment. A spokeswoman at the Placer County District Attorney's
Office said Fennochio was out sick and no one else at the agency was
allowed to comment on the Kubby case. The DA recently turned prosecution of
the Kubby case over to a Placer County grand jury.

Placer County narcotics agents launched a surveillance of Kubby
last summer after receiving an anonymous letter alleging that Kubby was
selling pot to fund his gubernatorial campaign, according to police
records. The letter was mailed from Marina Del Rey to El Dorado County
sheriff's deputies. El Dorado County Sheriff's Detective Don Atkinson
forwarded the letter to Placer deputies with the following note: "We have
no information as to the origin of the letter, other than the Southern
California postmark. The information is weak and non-specific, but I wanted
to pass the letter along in the event your narcotocs (sic) enforcement team
is interested in reviewing the contents."

The "weak and non-specific" letter was apparently all Placer cops
needed to launch a full-fledged investigation and surveillance of Kubby,
according to police records obtained by the SN&R. On July 2, the same day
Placer cops received the letter and note from Atkinson, Edward York, a
Placer County investigator, started a case file on Kubby with the following
statement: "Suspect KUBBY is the Libertarian Party candidate in the current
State of California Governor's race and an outspoken advocate of medicinal
marijuana."

Indeed, Kubby has been called "the savior of 215" by many medical
marijuana advocates. That's because he was the politician most responsible
for getting Prop. 215 on the California ballot. He convinced a number of
wealthy businessmen to put up the campaign funds that ensured the
initiative's success at a point when the proposition was in danger of not
making a ballot deadline.

Kubby also has been the state's most high-profile medical marijuana
patient. Fifteen years ago he was diagnosed with a form of terminal cancer
that no one has lived with for more than five years. His physician at the
University of Southern California Medical Center has called him a medical
miracle because smoking pot appears to have played a part in keeping his
tumors in check and keeping him alive for the past 15 years. Dr. Vincent
DQuattro, the USC physician, sent letters to Placer County officials on
Feb. 4 informing them that they are now endangering Kubby's life by
depriving him of his medical pot.

Medical pot advocates point to Kubby's campaign against former
state Attorney General Dan Lungren in last year's governor's race as an
indication of the political overtones of his arrest. Lungren, who lives in
Placer County, opposed Prop. 215 and led the opposition against it. Medical
pot advocates say Lungren is directly responsible for the dozens of arrests
that have occurred because he issued guidelines that insisted any medical
pot patient who was caught growing more than two plants was in violation of
the law. Patients such as Kubby hotly dispute Lungren's two-plant rule and
claim they often have to grow many more than two plants to ensure
themselves an adequate supply of medical marijuana. Prop. 215 said patients
could grow as much as they need without specifying a number of plants.

In almost all arrests, police have no evidence that patients are
growing plants for any reason other than personal use, said Landers.
Prosecutors are using Lungren's two-plant rule to charge all of the
patients with cultivation of marijuana with intent to sell. The Clinton
administration's opposition to 215 also has added political overtones to
the war against it since the DEA plays a huge role in pot busts. Landers
said his group is exploring the possibility of filing a class-action suit
in the future that would allege violation of rights of medical pot patients
by government agencies.

"This area seems to be one of the state's highest areas of arrests
and prosecution of medicinal [pot] patients," said Landers. "There seems to
be more medicinal busts than recreational or black market busts."

While dozens of medical pot patients are now facing trial, some of
their doctors are now facing investigations by the Medical Board of
California. A source at the medical board confirmed that it has opened some
investigations of physicians based on their recommendations of medical
marijuana. But the medical board would not comment on specific
investigations.

The number of investigations of physicians related to Prop. 215 is
"probably not very many-a couple, handful at most," said Dave Thornton, a
supervising investigator with the medical board and member of state
Attorney General Bill Lockyer's new task force on medical marijuana.
Thornton said the investigations were prompted by routine complaints that
the board has an obligation to check out.

"What we're trying to determine is if the physician properly
recommended the use of marijuana," said Thornton. "We're not looking at
them because they recommended the use of marijuana. [Recommending marijuana
is not a problem] as long as they follow the guidelines for prescribing any
drug. That's if they do a good faith examination and that there is a
medical indication that the use of marijuana is medically necessary."

The investigation of Stalcup, the Concord physician, by the medical
board itself is one of the grand ironies of the war against Prop. 215. The
prominent physician is considered by law enforcement officials to be one of
the nation's leading authorities on illegal drugs and has worked for years
as a consultant to the California Narcotics Officers Association. In the
past two years, as many as eight local district attorneys have sought his
opinion on medical marijuana cases after patients were arrested for growing
pot, the physician said.

"When I have concluded that they did have a 215 condition, they
dropped the charges," said Stalcup. "I'm viewed nationally as very pro-law
enforcement." The physician said the medical board investigation of him was
triggered by the Placer County Sheriff's Department, which arrested two of
Stalcup's medical marijuana patients in South Placer County and charged
them with illegal cultivation of pot with intent to sell.

"I've always been proud of working very closely with the California
Narcotics Officers Association," said Stalcup. "I've run a practice that
has a lot of pain patients. [Medical marijuana] is a major step forward for
pain patients. I don't write a lot of [medical marijuana recommendations].
I write them for people who are regular patients of mine. Unfortunately,
quite a few of those patients have been arrested and are facing
prosecution."

The medical board also is investigating Stephen Banister, a Nevada
City physician who recommended marijuana to at least one of his Nevada City
patients, according to medical board documents obtained by the SN&R. The
board "is reviewing the quality of care provided to you by Stephen
Banister, M.D.," said a Jan. 13 letter sent to Banister's patient, Wesly P.
Stockdale. The letter asked Stockdale to grant it permission to review his
medical records, and said the board would issue a subpoena for the records
if Stockdale did not grant permission within 10 days.

Stockdale sent a letter back to the board that stated: "I will not
sign a release of my records with Dr. Banister. Not only do I find this to
be a gross invasion of my privacy (wherein I also object to the subpoenaing
of my records in any and every way possible) but I believe Dr. Banister to
be a man of high integrity, competence, decency and compassion and I
believe that the review of my chosen physician to be a highly inappropriate
and misguided action."

Stockdale was initially arrested for possession of marijuana before
Prop. 215 was passed, according to court records and Department of Justice
documents. One of the conditions of his probation was that he was not
allowed to smoke pot. After Prop. 215 passed, Banister recommended pot for
a chronic spasticity problem in Stockdale's back. Stockdale challenged the
probation restriction in Nevada County Superior Court on the grounds that
medical necessity under Prop. 215 took precedence over the probationary
restriction. The court ruled in Stockdale's favor. Despite that ruling, the
medical board launched its investigation of Banister, who could not be
reached for comment.

State and local officials involved with Prop. 215 say the confusion
and the war over the groundbreaking initiative will not be settled until
both the federal government and Lockyer come up with new guidelines to end
the confusion about the initiative. Lockyer, a Democrat and supporter of
Prop. 215, established a new task force on Prop. 215 last month that hopes
to make a stab at such an effort.

"I think Lockyer is going to take a more reasonable look at it,"
said Thornton, the Medical Board investigator who sits on the task force.
"It's a real law enforcement nightmare. I got to tell you everybody's
confused out there. Local district attorneys and law enforcement agree this
is the will of the people, but they're between a rock and a hard place of
having the burden placed on them to determine how much is legitimate
medical use."

***

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 17:21:53 -0800
To: mattalk@islandnet.com
From: Pat Dolan (pdolan@intergate.bc.ca)
Subject: SENT LTE: Re: The Hidden War (On Doctors)

Hidden war on doctors

Being old enough to recall the fate of humanitarian doctors in Germany in
the Hitler years, and Moscow's 'Doctors' Plot' under Stalin, I hope you
will permit a couple of reflections inspired by Michael Pulley's chilling
article. (18 Feb 99, The hidden war: Narcs are arresting medical pot
patients and the state is investigating their doctors)

Following the promptings of their professional conscience, even though to
do so meant jeopardizing their careers, Dr. Stephen Banister, a Nevada City
physician who "recommended marijuana to at least one of his Nevada City
patients", and Dr. Alex Stalcup, have shown courage and integrity which
command respect.

I hope they will forgive me if I say that I see in the treatment they
prescribed all the symptoms of a sudden, startling, wonderful outbreak of
sanity, courage and compassion. I pray that the example they set will
infect others, many, many others, particularly those whose mission it is
sometimes to cure, often to relieve, always to console.

Pat Dolan
Vancouver B.C.
V6E 3N4
(604)689-4342

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

Jailbird or Lab Rat? Medical Expert Says Kubby Should Be Studied, Not Busted
(Orange County Weekly, in Costa Mesa, California, says Steve Kubby, the
medical marijuana patient/activist, 1998 Libertarian candidate for governor,
and now cultivation defendant, credits the herb for his surviving malignant
pheochromocytoma, a rare form of adrenal cancer that is generally fatal
within five years of its diagnosis. Now Kubby has a champion. USC Medical
Center's Dr. Vincent DeQuattro first diagnosed Kubby's disease 15 years ago.
In a letter to Placer County authorities, Dr. DeQuattro, one of America's
leading specialists on the disease, said he contacted a colleague in Michigan
who is also an expert on the disease and on Kubby's treatment. "He told me
that every patient other than Steve with Steve's condition had died" within
the usual five-year time frame. "Steve was the only survivor," Dr. DeQuattro
wrote.)

Date: Sun, 21 Feb 1999 18:03:14 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Jailbird or Lab Rat?
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Kubby http://www.kubby.com/
Source: Orange County Weekly (CA)
Copyright: 1999, Orange County Weekly, Inc.
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999
Contact: letters@ocweekly.com
Fax: (714) 708-8410
Mail: P.O. Box 10788, Costa Mesa, CA 92627
Website: http://www.ocweekly.com/
Author: Victor D. Infante

JAILBIRD OR LAB RAT?

Medical Expert Says Kubby Should Be Studied, Not Busted

Authorities in northern California want to put outspoken medical-marijuana
patient/activist Steve Kubby behind bars. But a medical expert in Southern
California wants to put Kubby in a research facility.

Kubby, the editor of Alpine World magazine and the 1998 Libertarian Party
candidate for governor, was arrested on Jan. 20 with his wife, Michelle, on
suspicion of possessing 260 marijuana plants-the produce of which would
amount to 3 1/2 pounds of smokable marijuana.

Kubby has smoked marijuana in his battle against malignant
pheochromocytoma, a form of adrenal cancer that is generally fatal within
five years of its diagnosis.

Calling his "pot bust" the "Scopes monkey trial of medical marijuana,"
Kubby remains defiant in his support of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996
that was instituted two years ago with the passage of Proposition 215.

Now Kubby has a champion. USC Medical Center's Dr. Vincent DeQuattro first
diagnosed Kubby's exceedingly rare, invariably fatal disease 15 years ago;
DeQuattro figured Kubby would be dead five years later.

One of America's leading specialists on the disease, DeQuattro first
learned of his former patient's "survival when I received my voter pamphlet
in November 1998."

In a letter to Placer County authorities, DeQuattro wrote: "I contacted him
to determine how it was that he had survived all these years. He told me
that he was treating himself with the advice of his physicians in northern
California with marijuana and has been taking no other medical therapy for
several years."

DeQuattro said he contacted a colleague in Michigan who is an expert on the
disease and on Kubby's treatment. "He told me that every patient other than
Steve with Steve's condition had died during this interval of time. Steve
was the only survivor," DeQuattro wrote.

DeQuattro believes that "in some amazing fashion, this medication has not
only controlled the symptoms of the pheochromocytoma, but in my view, has
[also] arrested its growth." But he also noted the blood-pressure problems
Kubby experienced during his initial incarceration on the pot charges prove
that the activist still harbors a malignant pheochromocytoma.

While in several cases the use of marijuana has been known to alleviate
pain-particularly in AIDS and cancer patients-this may be the first known
case of marijuana actually being the sole barrier between a patient's
survival and his or her death. DeQuattro is also one of the most prominent
members of the medical field to come forward and make this claim, and he
has expressed a great desire to study Kubby's disease and marijuana use.

"Please consider the consequences of Steve's condition not being
controlled," DeQuattro wrote. "His tumor is manufacturing large quantities
of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and possibly epinephrine (adrenaline).
Either compound in minute quantities could kill him instantly by causing
sudden cardiac death due to arrhythmia or acute myocardial infarction, or
sudden death due to cerebral hemorrhage or cerebral vascular occlusion."

If DeQuattro is right, denying Kubby marijuana would not only be a
violation of Prop. 215 and his civil liberties. It would also be tantamount
to manslaughter.

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

Very Important Message from Peter McWilliams (Marijuananews.com forwards a
message from an unwell Peter McWilliams announcing an ACLU press conference
Feb. 19 in Los Angeles regarding McWilliams' prosecution. McWilliams also
shares a statement of support for him issued today by California state
Senator John Vasconcellos, who eloquently pleads with the federal government
to quit killing the medical-marijuana defendant by denying him access to
cannabis. The viral load of the best-selling author has risen from fewer than
400 copies per milliliter to more than 250,000.)

From: "kevin" (kcnelson@premier1.net)
To: (hemp-talk@hemp.net)
Subject: HT: Very Important Message from Peter McWilliams
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 22:58:13 -0800
Sender: owner-hemp-talk@hemp.net

marijuananews.com

A Personal Newsletter on the Cannabis Controversies
Date: 02/18/99

Richard Cowan, Editor and Publisher

A Message from Peter McWilliams Announcing A Press Conference
And A Statement Of Support From California State Senator Vasconcellos.

February 18, 1999
A Message from Peter McWilliams:

Hello,

Since my release on bail in August 1998 for federal medical marijuana
charges, I have not been well enough to tell my side of the story.

See

"The federal prosecutor personally called my mother to tell her that if I was
found with even a trace of medical marijuana, her house would be taken away."
-- Peter McWilliams

and links

I'm still not doing well, but the pending motion before a federal judge,
scheduled for next Monday, February 22, 1999, rallied me to make at least an
effort to lay out the facts.

See

September 7th Trial Date Set For McCormick and McWilliams;
McCormick Bail Revocation Hearing Set For March 17.

They are contained at www.petertrial.com

The ACLU has been kind enough to host a press conference this Friday,
February 19, 1999, at 1:30 P.M. at the ACLU offices, 1616 Beverly Blvd., Los
Angeles.

The ACLU Media Alert is at
http://206.41.12.194/mcwilliams/motion1/temp/aclu/aclu.htm

I wish to thank the ACLU for its ongoing support and for taking on a task I
am simply unable to organize in my current condition.

And, finally, it is with tears in my eyes that I present to you the eloquence
of California State Senator John Vasconcellos.

It has been lonely these past six months since my release. My illness
prevents me from creating, which is my true passion. What little productive
time I have each day is spent preparing for my defense or fending off
creditors. (The year-long federal investigation, in which my computer and
working papers were seized, the month in custody, and the illness since my
release have kicked the life out of my cash flow.) I cannot have visitors. I
do not go out. (Germs, you know. A flu could kill me.) I live the life of a
hermit, lying in bed battling nausea, and going out only for medical
appointments and court appearances.

But in reading Sen. Vasconcello's stirring words, written in lightning, I am
reminded that I am not alone.

And I am not wrong.

I have not intentionally put my life in jeopardy for an unworthy cause. Like
those who tossed chests of tea into Boston Harbor, were stationmasters on the
Underground Railroad, were jailed for woman's suffrage and reproductive
rights, who stood up to McCarthy, Marched with King, and protested against
the War in Vietnam, Sen. Vasconcellos reminds me that getting marijuana to
those in medical need it is a worthy cause.

"If you don't have something you're willing to die for," wrote Martin Luther
King, "You're life's not worth living." I have found this to be true. In the
midst of my perhaps-impending death, I have never felt more fully alive. Sen.
Vasconcellos reminds me that a life can be just a letter-a perfectly good
letter, but still just a letter-or it can be part of a great sentence.
"Marijuana is medicine," is a sentence worth dying for.

Thanks to Sen. Vasconcello's stirring words (he has, in fact, written the
Gettysburg Address in the War Against Medical Marijuana), I feel
reinvigorated and connected to good people the world over and throughout
time, fighting a good fight. I just do mine alone, on my back, in a dark
room.

Yes, I'm another an old whore for freedom.

Take care.

Enjoy,

Peter McWilliams

***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rand Martin
February 18, 1999
916/445-9740

Vasconcellos Statement about Peter McWilliams

See

California AG Lockyer Convenes Medical Marijuana
Task Force Led By State Senator Vasconcellos

Senator John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) today issued the following
statement in supporting Peter McWilliams' entreaty to the federal court that
has denied him access to life-preserving medical marijuana while he battles
AIDS and cancer as well as drug conspiracy charges:

"Today I stand in spirit with my friend of 20 years, Peter McWilliams, as he
continues his heroic fight against a federal judiciary that has continued to
thumb its collective nose at the 5.6 million California voters who passed
Proposition 215, that has perpetuated the heartlessness of the Clinton
Administration in ignoring the medical benefit of marijuana to thousands of
suffering Californians.

"I find myself repeatedly outraged at the federal judiciary's disconnect from
the will of their friends, family, neighbors - fellow California voters - who
declared in no uncertain terms they want sick and suffering Californians,
with the advice of their physicians, to have access to marijuana for
medicinal purposes without criminal jeopardy. The arrogance and inhumanity of
the federal judiciary and the Clinton Administration achieve levels of
Beltway mentality that rivals the impeachment trial.

"As a result of precipitous action by the court, Mr. McWilliams - whose
health was long stable with the use of medicinal marijuana - is now in
failing health. He can only keep down his AIDS and cancer medications through
the use of medicinal marijuana to deal with his nausea. His viral load has
risen from under to 400 copies per milliliter to over 250,000. His life is in
jeopardy. The judge responsible for this decision must be held accountable
for jeopardizing Mr. McWilliams' life.

"Tragically, the federal court in Mr. McWilliams' case has exceeded this
arrogance and inhumanity to the point of verging on criminal culpability. The
voters of California have said that patients like Mr. McWilliams can have
access to medicinal marijuana; how dare the court conclude that Mr.
McWilliams has no right to medicinal marijuana BEFORE a jury has determined
whether he is in compliance with Proposition 215!

"Two years after the voters passed Proposition 215, the political leadership
in our state is finally in sync with the voters wishes. Governor Davis
appears far more sympathetic than former Governor Wilson; Attorney General
Lockyer has taken a decisive leadership role in making Proposition 215 work;
the leadership in the Legislature supports responsible implementation of
Proposition 215. We are poised to make substantial headway after the 2-year
Wilson-Lungren blockade.

"It is now incumbent on everyone of us Californians to activate ourselves in
convincing the federal government, its executive, legislative AND judicial
branches, that they must abide by the will of the voters. A tidal wave of
support for medicinal marijuana has begun in the western United States; the
future of many federal officials depends, in large part, on whether they ride
that wave into the future or, standing in the way, are rendered irrelevant by
the voters."

See

Press Release And Full Text Of Letter From AIDS Groups
Calling For Immediate Access To Medical Marijuana.

Endnote from Peter McWilliams: Please help get this statement of Sen.
Vasconcellos to as many media people as you can, as quickly as you can. Send
it to YOUR media list. E-mail it to your local paper. Put it on your web
page. Include it in every chat group. "Make the most of the hemp seed,"
proclaimed George Washington, "Sow it everywhere!"

Let's make the most of this statement. Post it everywhere.

***

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 15:50:25 -0500
To: ntlist@fornits.com
From: Ginger Warbis (Webmistress@fornits.com)
Subject: [ntlist] Vasconcellos Statement about Peter McWilliams

NOTE: The ACLU will be sponsoring a press conference about Peter
McWilliams' medical and legal condition on Friday, February 19, 1999, 1:30
P.M. at the ACLU offices at 1616 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Contact
Michael Fleming (213-977-9500x252) or Taylor Flynn (213-977-9500 x225).

Peter McWilliams will be asking federal Judge George King for permission to
resume his life-saving medical marijuana medication on Monday, February 22,
1999, 3:30 P.M., at the Roybal Federal Building, 255 East Temple Street, in
downtown Los Angeles.

Further details on Peter McWilliams' case can be found at www.petertrial.com.

***

>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
>February 18, 1999
>
>Vasconcellos Statement about Peter McWilliams
>
>Senator John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara) today issued the following
>statement in supporting Peter McWilliams' entreaty to the federal court
>that has denied him access to life-preserving medical marijuana while he
>battles AIDS and cancer as well as drug conspiracy charges:

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

Letter from Marvin Chavez (A list subscriber forwards a letter from the
medical-marijuana patient and founder of the Orange County
Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group, recently sentenced to six years for
helping sick people. Please write a letter to Chavez - here's his address.)

From: FilmMakerZ@AOL.COM
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 17:25:57 EST
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: Letter from Marvin Chavez
Reply-To: drctalk@drcnet.org
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org

I received a letter from Marvin Chavez with information he wanted me to get
out to people.

Mira

***

I am still here in Santa Ana waiting to be transferred, the question is when.

I've been to sick call three times about my medical condition {Marvin has
Ankylosing Spondylitis, a degenerative spinal arthritis}. My symptoms are
headaches, pressure behind my eyes and ears, pain in my neck and shoulders, my
spine is stiff, teeth grinding and jaw pain, muscle spasms, and a rash behind
my neck.

I've only seen a nurse -- no doctors. I question the qualifications of these
people. My concerns as a patient and disabled person are to receive quality
medical care under the Americans with Disabilities Act that I am being denied.

Please share this information with people, newspapers, etc.

What I am worried about, and told the medical person, is my neck and spine
when they transfer me. I was told it is a four hour or so ride that may cause
more damage to my neck or spine.

Please let everyone know that I am grateful for their support. While I am in
here, I am educating patients about their rights. While I am here as a
political prisoner, I pray that we can get medical cannabis to the patients
that need it. It is the law.

I want to clear something. They accused me of wrongdoing by selling cannabis
to undercover agents. The fact is on court record -- the agent who posed as
the patient said I made it clear that the cannabis was FREE, that if he could
make a donation, it was for copies, etc. Those are the facts.

I thank you for your great support. Keep it up.

Everything will turn out for the best for all of us.

Marvin Chavez, Sr.

***

You can write Marvin at:

Marvin Chavez
1860728 F31-5
Santa Ana Central Men's Jail
550 N. Flower St.
Santa Ana, CA 92703

Money is still badly needed for about two thousand dollars in overdue payments
on Marvin's bail fund. If you can help with any contribution, no matter how
small, please send donations 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.

***

To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 07:05:33 -0000
From: "Tom Paine" (eco@mailcity.com)
Cc: medmj@drcnet.org
Subject: Re: Letter from Marvin Chavez
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org

Hello Kay Lee and others, this may interest you. It would be nice if this got
passed on to people, press, etc.. Also if it could be put into a webpage.
Here are some Marvin Chavez webpages:

http://www.usperspectives.org/tom/charts.htm#med_mj

Go down to the medical cannabis section and click on Marvin's name to get
many press articles. Also:

http://www.usperspectives.org/med_mj/marvin_chavez/19981123.htm

***

On Thu, 18 Feb 1999 17:26:13 FilmMakerZ@aol.com wrote:

>I received a letter from Marvin Chavez with information he wanted me to get
>out to people.

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

Exploration Of Medical Marijuana Should Go On (A staff editorial in the
Honolulu Advertiser suggests the debate in the medical community among
politicians, quacks, and real physicians over the medical utility of
marijuana would be enough to scare most lawmakers away from considering
reform. Fortunately, Gov. Ben Cayetano and a handful of state legislators are
more farsighted than that. The House Health Committee has - admittedly with
reservations - kept alive Cayetano's proposal to permit the medical use of
marijuana. The decision to move the debate forward, to give Hawaii a real
chance to decide for itself whether this idea makes sense, is both
progressive and sensible.)

Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 23:10:59 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US HI: Editorial: Exploration Of Medical Marijuana Should Go On
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: pacal (pacal@lava.net) and WallyB41@aol.com
Pubdate: Thur, 18 Feb 1999
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Email: 76322.2016@compuserve.com

EXPLORATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOULD GO ON.

Apparently there is considerable debate within the medical community on the
effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment for such things as nausea or
glaucoma. That helps explain why several medical groups oppose legalization
of the medical use of marijuana in Hawaii until much more clinical research
is conducted. The idea is also opposed by law enforcement, which does not
want to see any loosening of the restrictions on a mind-altering substance
that is widely used for "recreational" purposes.

All of this would be enough to scare most lawmakers away from proceeding
with any consideration of this idea. Fortunately, there are lawmakers as
well as Gov. Ben Cayetano - who are more farsighted than that. The House
Health Committee has - admittedly with reservations - kept alive Cayetano's
proposal for the legalization of medical marijuana use in Hawaii. This
decision is both progressive and sensible.

This does not mean the questions about medical efficacy should be shunted
aside. Nor does it void legitimate law enforcement concerns about increased
abuse of the substance following in the wake of even limited legalization.

But consider these thoughts: While the ultimate medical value of inhaled
marijuana may not be clear, the medical community is evolving. The New
England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of medical marijuana
and the American Medical Association heretofore opposed to its use - now
supports further federal research. And in fact, the federal government has
already recognized the value of Marinol, in effect marijuana in a pill. This
is a drug in use and approved by the FDA. So one could argue the debate is
really whether smoking is a better delivery system than the pill.

Law enforcement's concerns about abuse are legitimate. But the same argument
could be forwarded against so many drugs that are listed and legal under
medical supervision. How many of us have taken a prescription with the
warning label "Do not operate heavy machinery" only to jump directly into
our car? Indeed, it is already illegal to drive under the influence of
certain prescription drugs. Adding marijuana to the list of legally
available treatments wouldn't change that.

This is not an easy issue. Nor is it one where lawmakers are unable to find
credible voices on both sides of the decision.

But the right choice is to move the debate forward, to give Hawaii a real
chance to decide for itself whether this idea makes sense.

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

Medical Use Of Marijuana Sends Right Message (A letter to the editor of the
Honolulu Advertiser addresses the concern that allowing sick people to use
marijuana as medicine would send a "mixed message" to young people about
condoning marijuana use. In supporting humane policies regarding the health
needs of our sickest community members, we are sending a message to our
children that we care about - and have compassion for - those of our
neighbors who are suffering most and need our help. To do anything less is
not only immoral, but sends the message to our children that we will not do
everything in our power to care for those in our community who are
suffering, even though we have the means to do so.)

Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 04:50:42 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US HI: PUB LTE: MMJ: Medical Use Of Marijuana Sends Right
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Roger Christie pakaloha@gte.net
Pubdate: 18 Feb 1999
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Contact: 76322.2016@compuserve.com
Phone: (808) 525-8090
Author: Nancy Kern

MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA SENDS RIGHT MESSAGE

There has been much media attention recently, both in Hawaii and
nationwide, to efforts by numerous community-based organizations, groups
and individuals to legalize the compassionate use of marijuana for those
who are ill.

Such use would ease the suffering of these patients as they experience the
painful effects of such diseases as AIDs, multiple sclerosis, cancer and
other devastating illnesses.

One of the concerns often raised during such a discussion -- but rarely
given much serious or thoughtful consideration or debate -- is that if such
an effort were realized, it would send a "mixed message" to young people
that government and others in authority condone marijuana use.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In supporting humane policies that
address the health and welfare needs of our sickest community members, we
are sending a message to our children that we care about -- and have
compassion for -- those of our neighbors who are suffering most and need
our help. To do anything less is not only immoral, but sends the message
to our children that we will not do everything in our power to care for
those in our community who are suffering, even though we have the means to
do so.

We should give our children credit for the intelligence to recognize that
when we are aiding sick people by giving them access to marijuana to ease
the symptoms of their illnesses, we are not advocating the use of the drugs
by our children. Rather, such a discussion could be utilized as an
opportunity to improve the critical and analytical thinking skills of our
children, helping them to perceive that every situation is different and
must be viewed and discussed in its context.

To present this as a black and white issue does a disservice to all
involved in the dialogue, but most of all to impressionable young people.

If the medical use of marijuana is made legal in Hawaii, we will have
served two humane purposes: alleviating the suffering of many of Hawaii's
sickest patients and demonstrating to our children the values of compassion
and caring.

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

Medical Marijuana Alleviates Suffering (A letter to the editor of the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin rebuts a drug warrior's flawed reasoning.)

Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 19:16:27 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US HI: PUB LTE: MMJ: Medical Marijuana Alleviates Suffering
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: pacal (pacal@lava.net)
Pubdate: 18 Feb 1999
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin (HI)
Copyright: 1999 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact: letters@starbulletin.com
Website: http://www.starbulletin.com/
Author: Tom Sheeran

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ALLEVIATES SUFFERING

Sandra Lacar's opposition to medical marijuana (View Point, Jan. 30) misses
the point: It works better than the alternatives that medical science has
offered and is no more harmful than strong chemotherapy drugs. When cancer
and AIDS patients need relief from nausea, they need fast relief, and this
is what marijuana provides.

Synthetic marijuana is a pill that must be swallowed and kept down -- not
so easy when nausea is the problem. It is also slow, taking hours to work,
and frequently produces unpleasant side effects.

The argument that scientific studies haven't proved the medical benefit of
marijuana is spurious, since the government has prevented AIDS researchers
like Dr. Donald Abrams of San Francisco General Hospital from studying it
properly.

Like alcohol, morphine and fire-arms, marijuana can be used beneficially or
harmfully. Like these other potentially dangerous things, reasonable
restrictions should be used to prevent abuse. But those who can benefit
from medical marijuana should not be prevented from doing so.

Governor Cayetano is to be congratulated for recognizing that the
appropriate use of this plant should be considered on a rational basis, not
in the emotional context of moral judgment used by Lacar.

Tom Sheeran
(Via the Internet)

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

NYPD officer arrested in North Carolina for trafficking cocaine (The
Associated Press says Andre Formey, a New York City police officer, was
arrested Thursday while driving through North Carolina with his five
children, ranging in age from 2 to 14, and more than two pounds of cocaine.)

From: "Bob Owen@W.H.E.N." (when@olywa.net)
To: "_Drug Policy --" (when@hemp.net)
Subject: NYPD cop arrested in NC for trafficking coke
Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 20:51:40 -0800
Sender: owner-when@hemp.net

NYPD officer arrested in North Carolina for trafficking cocaine

By Donna De La Cruz
Associated Press
02/18/99 19:01

NEW YORK (AP) - A city police officer was arrested Thursday traveling
through North Carolina with his children and more than two pounds of cocaine
in his car, authorities said.

Andre Formey, 33, was arrested about 10 a.m. along Interstate 40 near Castle
Hayne, just north of Wilmington, N.C., said Tony Cummings, special agent in
charge of the Coastal District of the North Carolina State Bureau of
Investigation.

The arrest came after a three-week investigation by local, state and federal
officials in New York and North Carolina. Formey's rented vehicle was
stopped and about two pounds of cocaine were found, Cummings said. His five
children, ranging in age from 2 to 14, were in the car at the time, he
added.

New York City police said Formey allegedly had transported the cocaine from
the city, but would not say where he had obtained it. North Carolina was
Formey's destination - he has relatives there, but authorities would not say
where in the state he had intended to distribute the cocaine.

Cummings would not comment on whether he believed Formey was part of a drug
ring.

No other city officers are believed to be involved with Formey, said Lt.
Dennis Cirillo, an NYPD spokesman.

Formey was being held in the New Hanover County Jail under a $1 million
bond. He is charged with: possession with intent to sell and deliver
cocaine; trafficking in cocaine by transport; conspiracy to traffic in
cocaine; and trafficking in cocaine by possession.

The investigation, which is ongoing, involves the Wilmington/New Hanover
County vice and narcotics unit, the NCSBI, the FBI and the NYPD's Internal
Affairs Bureau. Officials from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Department,
FBI offices in Raleigh and New York, did not return telephone calls for
comment.

Internal Affairs flew to North Carolina to interview Formey. The six-year
veteran was suspended at 12:15 p.m., and he resigned at 12:30 p.m., Cirillo
said.

Formey, assigned to Transit District 11 in the Bronx, had no disciplinary
record, Cirillo said.

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

Drug War Has Been Lost (A letter to the editor of the Tampa Tribune,
in Florida, says making drug abuse a medical problem instead of a criminal
one could prevent 10,000 deaths a year, cut major and minor crime by 50
percent, allow everyone to have cheap or free medical care, stop drug dealers
and cartels from making money, stop gangs, cut medical costs 30 percent to 90
percent, stop 10 million lives from being destroyed each year, and provide a
25 percent tax cut to everyone.)

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 18:00:41 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: PUB LTE: Drug War Has Been Lost
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Chase
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 1999, The Tribune Co.
Contact: tribletters@tampatrib.com
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm

DRUG WAR HAS BEEN LOST

What if 10,000 deaths a year could be stopped and major and minor
crime could be cut by 50 percent? What if everyone could be given
cheap or free medical care and we stopped drug dealers and cartels
from making money, stopped gangs, cut medical cost 30 to 90 percent,
stopped 10 million lives from being destroyed each year and could give
a 25 percent tax cut to everyone?

How, you ask? By making drug abuse a medical problem, not a criminal
one. We are not stopping drug use anyway.

There are too many hands in the pot. Money now going to drug dealers
and cartels could be going to government-run facilities that would
benefit everyone. The 25 percent tax cut would come from reductions in
government medical costs, prisons, courts, lawyers, Drug Enforcement
Administration cops, etc.

Guess who is against this? The same people who would rather see people
die than tell the truth and lose their jobs.

We could have safer streets and 10 million new taxpayers to share the
burden. Not bad for just giving Americans the freedom and health care
they deserve without their going bankrupt or to jail.

Will you or your son or daughter, be the next one trapped in the life-
destroying machine of the drug laws, or will you choose the health
care way? Please, let's have sane laws now.

JERRY DYCUS,
Riverview, FL

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

AIDS Groups Issue First Call for Drug Czar to Approve Medical Marijuana (A
press release on PR Newswire provides more details about yesterday's letter
from the heads of 17 AIDS organizations to General Barry McCaffrey, director
of the Office for National Drug Control Policy, asking for physicians to be
allowed to prescribe marijuana as an emergency measure to people with
HIV/AIDS without further research. Includes the text of the letter and its
signers.)

Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 19:40:06 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: WIRE: AIDS Groups Issue First Call
for Drug Czar to Approve Medical Marijuana
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: Thur, 18 Feb 1999
Source: PR Newswire
Copyright: 1999 PR Newswire

AIDS GROUPS ISSUE FIRST CALL FOR DRUG CZAR TO APPROVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ON
FAST TRACK FOR PEOPLE WITH AIDS

Unprecedented Statement Comes as Institute of Medicine Prepares to Publish
Full Review of Medical Marijuana Science

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians should be allowed to
prescribe marijuana as an emergency measure to people with HIV/AIDS without
further research, says a letter to be sent February 17th from the heads of
seventeen AIDS organizations to General Barry McCaffrey, director of the
Office for National Drug Control Policy. This is the first time that AIDS
groups have come together to call for legal, immediate access to marijuana.

Citing a fast-track system that has allowed physicians to prescribe protease
inhibitors and other AIDS medications before the completion of clinical
trials, the letter calls on McCaffrey to give immediate approval to what
they say is another life-saving drug -- marijuana.

"We urge you to help break the bureaucratic logjam that is keeping a
potentially life-saving medicine, marijuana, virtually inaccessible to
thousands of people living with AIDS," says the letter, signed by AIDS
Action Council, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, Latino Commission on AIDS,
National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, AIDS National Interfaith
Network, Mothers' Voices to End AIDS, AIDS Project Los Angeles, and other
organizations around the country.

Copies of the letter were also sent to the Secretary of Health and Human
Services, the Director of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Office
of National AIDS Policy and the U.S. House and Senate Majority and Minority
leaders.

The AIDS organizations are urging McCaffrey to make good on an October, 1997
statement to Congress, which said: "If sound medical research demonstrates
that there are medical uses for smoked marijuana, there are appropriate and
responsive procedures for rescheduling this mind-influencing drug through
the time-tested process.

"The FDA has already demonstrated flexibility in accelerating procedures for
allowing the use of emerging AIDS-related drugs without jeopardizing science
or the public health."

Thousands of Americans with HIV/AIDS use marijuana to relieve the nausea
caused by multiple-drug therapies, and to combat the "wasting syndrome"
associated with the late, often fatal, stages of AIDS by stimulating
appetite. But, with marijuana classed as a highly-controlled Schedule I
substance under federal law, most patients use the medicine illegally,
risking prosecution and exposure to contaminated products.

Recent studies and editorials in prestigious scientific journals Lancet, New
Scientist, New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American
Medical Association have concluded that marijuana's medical benefits
outweigh its risks. Convinced by existing research, Britain and Israel
recently sanctioned the compassionate use of marijuana on a provisional
basis, and six U.S. states have passed ballot initiatives to legalize
medical marijuana -- throwing state policies into conflict with federal law.

In 1996, McCaffrey commissioned the Institute of Medicine at the National
Academy of Sciences to conduct a full review of the science surrounding
medical marijuana. That study is expected to be released next month, and may
lead to calls for new research into medical marijuana. Just one clinical
trial has been approved by the federal government since 1985.

AIDS organizations say terminally-ill patients cannot afford to wait for
years of research to prove something they already know: medical marijuana
works.

"Science and compassion should dictate our nation's policy regarding medical
treatment," says the letter. "However, politics has stood in the way of the
approval of marijuana as a legal medication, and the full development of a
science base leading to FDA approval could still be years away.

"Under these circumstances, making marijuana immediately available on a
quasi-experimental basis to people living with AIDS [...], is a moderate
step that can add to the federal government's responsiveness to the
epidemic."

(The full text of the letter follows:)

February 17, 1999

General Barry McCaffrey

Director

Office of National Drug Control Policy

Dear General McCaffrey;

As advocates and care givers for people living with HIV disease and AIDS, we
are writing to urge you to help break the bureaucratic logjam that is
keeping a potentially life-saving medicine virtually inaccessible to
thousands of people living with AIDS and other debilitating illnesses.

That medicine is marijuana. Marijuana's therapeutic uses are well documented
in scientific literature. Recent scientific studies have confirmed what has
been reported to us by hundreds of people living with HIV -- that marijuana
can be safely used to reduce nausea and vomiting, stimulate appetite, and
promote weight gain. Marijuana is widely recognized by physicians
specializing in AIDS care as an important component of treatment for some
patients who suffer from symptoms of advanced-stage HIV disease and the
multiple-drug therapies used to manage HIV.

Today, thanks to one federally approved clinical study of marijuana for
people living with AIDS, sixty-four patients receive marijuana legally from
supplies grown by the federal government. However, thousands of Americans,
many of them people living with HIV, use marijuana as a medicine illegally,
putting themselves at risk of arrest and prosecution. Because the practice
is illegal, most patients use marijuana without medical supervision.
Marijuana's illegality means that patients cannot be sure of obtaining
standardized products that are free of contaminants. People should not have
to risk their health or jail to receive needed medical care.

For this reason, thirty-five state legislatures have passed laws supporting
the use of marijuana as a medicine. In addition, voters in six states
(Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) and the
District of Columbia have recently approved ballot measures legalizing the
medical use of marijuana within their borders -- nearly one in five
Americans lives in a state whose voters have approved medical marijuana.
Now, the nation is looking to the federal government to begin to show
compassion and flexibility on this issue.

You may be aware that the standard Food and Drug Administration approval
process has been streamlined for several medications important to people
living with HIV disease and AIDS. Drugs shown to fall within an acceptable
standard of safety have been made available to patients before completion of
all scientific trials proving effectiveness. This special procedure has
helped thousands of patients to obtain life-extending benefits from new
medications, and has contributed directly to building the science base for
such new drugs.

Our request is simple. Just as other promising AIDS medications have been
made available prior to final FDA approval, so too should marijuana, when
recommended by a physician, be made available to patients who choose to use
it.

There is not much question about the relative safety of marijuana -- it has
been heavily studied around the world. These studies have revealed an
important fact: there is no lethal dose of marijuana. Besides this finding,
occasional marijuana smoking under controlled circumstances has not been
proved to be dangerous. In sum, the known risks of marijuana are clearly
within a range of acceptability sufficient to allow individual physicians
and patients to monitor its use, and its results. Under these circumstances,
making marijuana immediately available on a quasi-experimental basis to
people living with AIDS, when their physicians request it, is a moderate
step that can add to the federal government's responsiveness to the
epidemic.

We appeal to you, General McCaffrey, because you are in a unique position to
provide leadership on this issue. Science and compassion should dictate our
nation's policy regarding medical treatment. However, politics has stood in
the way of the approval of marijuana as a legal medication, and the full
development of a science base leading to FDA approval could still be years
away. We call upon you to be a part of the political solution. We ask that
you publicly encourage your colleagues in the administration to respond
positively to the scientific and public support for making marijuana
medically available.

Sincerely,

cc: Donna Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services* Jane Henney,
director, Food and Drug Administration* Sandra Thurman, director, Office of
National AIDS Policy* Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) Senate Majority Leader* Sen.
Tom Daschle (D-SD) Senate Minority Leader* Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL),
Speaker of the House* Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX) House Majority Leader Rep.
Richard Gephardt (D-MO) House Minority Leader

SIGNATORIES * Daniel Zingale/Jeff Jacobs Executive Director/Legislative
Director AIDS Action Council * Regina Aragon Public Policy Director San
Francisco AIDS Foundation * Herb K. Schultz Director of Government Affairs
AIDS Project Los Angeles * Martin Ornelas-Quintero National Latina/o
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Organization Washington, DC * Julian
B. Rush United Methodist Minister / Colorado AIDS Project Denver, CO * Mary
Margaret Bush Executive Director The Center for AIDS Services Oakland, CA *
Donna Rae Palmer Executive Director Mobilization Against AIDS San Francisco,
CA * Matt Patrick Executive Director Boulder County AIDS Project Boulder, CO
* Kenneth T. South Executive Director AIDS National Interfaith Network
Washington, D.C. * Ron Rowell Executive Director National Native American
AIDS Prevention Center Oakland, CA * Chris Norwood Health Force: Women and
Men Against AIDS Bronx, NY * Dennis de Leon Latino Commission on AIDS New
York, NY * David E. Munar Director of Public Policy AIDS Foundation of
Chicago Chicago, IL * Trish Moyan Torruella Executive Director Mothers
Voices to End AIDS New York, NY * Dr. Pat Hawkins Associate Executive
Director Whitman-Walker Clinic Washington, DC * Steven B. Johnson Director
of Public Policy and Communications Northwest AIDS Foundation Seattle, WA *
Mark D. Garvey Being Alive Program Specialist AIDS Project Arizona Phoenix
AZ * Lupe Lopez Executive Director People of Color Against AIDS Network
Seattle, WA CONTACT: Rachel Swain, Senior Publicist of Communication Works,
415-255-1946.

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

AIDS Groups Urge U.S. to Approve Medical Marijuana (The Reuters version)

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 18:28:23 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Reuters: AIDS Groups Urge US to Approve Medical Marijuana
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Fratello (amr@lainet.com)
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited.

AIDS GROUPS URGE U.S. TO APPROVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A coalition of AIDS organizations petitioned U.S.
anti-drug chief Barry McCaffrey Thursday for help in securing ``fast track''
approval of the medical use of marijuana.

``We urge you to help break the bureaucratic logjam that is keeping a
potentially life-saving medicine, marijuana, virtually inaccessible to
thousands of people living with AIDS,'' the 17 groups said in a letter,
their first joint call for the legalization of medical marijuana.

The groups, which include the AIDS Action Council, the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation and the Latino Commission on AIDS, said the established
fast-track procedures that led to quick approval for AIDS-fighting drugs
such as protease inhibitors should now be applied to marijuana.

``Making marijuana immediately available on a quasi-experimental basis to
people living with AIDS ... is a moderate step that can add to the federal
government's responsiveness to the epidemic,'' the groups said.

Copies of the letter were sent to the Secretary of health and human
services, the director of the Food and Drug Administration, the Office of
National AIDS Policy, and the majority and minority leaders of the House and
Senate.

In 1996, voters in California and Arizona approved the first state laws
allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to people with AIDS, cancer and
other serious diseases to relieve symptoms such as pain and nausea.

Last November, Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Colorado and the District
of Columbia also approved medical marijuana laws. But the federal
government, saying national narcotics laws still applied to the drug,
intervened to block implementation of the state initiatives.

McCaffrey, head of the Office for National Drug Control Policy, has been a
strong opponent of medical marijuana, saying that marijuana reformers were
using bogus science in a drive aimed at legalizing all use of the drug.

The AIDS groups said Thursday that medical research backed their position.
They suggested that a study of marijuana due out next month from the
National Academy of Sciences could bolster their cause.

But AIDS patients should not have to wait while the science is sorted out,
the groups said.

``Science and compassion should dictate our nation's policy regarding
medical treatment,'' the letter said. ``However, politics has stood in the
way of the approval of marijuana as a legal medication, and the full
development of a science base leading to FDA approval could still be years
away.''

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

Iranian Aide Says Executions No Answer To Drugs (According to Reuters, Iran's
official news agency, IRNA, on Thursday quoted Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai,
the Iranian president's designated expert on drug issues, saying that
"The execution of this country's youth is no loss to mafia gangs which direct
the region's drug trade." Iran has executed nearly 2,000 drug dealers and
traffickers since 1989. However, 2,500 of its police and soldiers have been
killed in clashes with drug traffickers in the past 20 years. Official
statistics indicate one out of every 50 Iranians is "addicted to drugs,
mostly opium." Unofficial estimates say the rate is three times that.)

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 17:15:17 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Iran: Wire: Iranian Aide Says Executions No Answer To Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999
Source: Reuters
Copyright: 1999 Reuters Limited.

IRANIAN AIDE SAYS EXECUTIONS NO ANSWER TO DRUGS

TEHRAN, - A top aide to moderate Iranian President
Mohammad Khatami has said executing smugglers will not solve Iran's
big drug problem, the official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

"Executing drug smugglers is not a suitable way to fight drugs and our
10-year experience shows that this has not been a solution," IRNA
quoted Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, Khatami's representative on drug
issues, as saying.

"The execution of this country's youth is no loss to mafia gangs which
direct the region's drug trade," he said.

Iran has executed nearly 2,000 drug dealers and traffickers since
1989, when it adopted tough laws under which possession of 30 grammes
(just over an ounce) of heroin or five kg (11 lb) of opium is
punishable by death.

Iran is a major route for the trafficking of drugs from Afghanistan
and Pakistan, the so-called "Golden Crescent", to Europe and the Gulf
Arab states.

Some 1.2 million Iranians are addicted to drugs, mostly opium, in the
country of 60 million, according to official statistics. But the head
of an anti-AIDS campaign group has put the number of drug addicts at
3.6 million.

Iran says that 2,500 of its police and soldiers have been killed in
clashes with drug traffickers in the past 20 years.

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

Russia Police Seizing Just 12 Percent Of Narcotics: Official (According to
Itar-Tass, in Russia, Vladimir Kharetdinov, the head of Moscow's prohibition
force, told a news conference Thursday that police at the present time seize
only 10 percent to 12 percent of all "drugs" smuggled into Russia. Moscow is
the destination of 80 percent of the smuggled drugs.)

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 17:15:33 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Russia: Wire: Russia Police Seizing Just 12 Percent Of
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 18 Feb 1999
Source: ITAR-TASS (Russia)
Copyright: 1999 ITAR-TASS.

RUSSIA POLICE SEIZING JUST 12 PERCENT OF NARCOTICS: OFFICIAL.

MOSCOW, - A senior official said on Thursday
that police at the present time only seize 10 to 12 percent of all
drugs smuggled into Russia.

Moscow accounts for some 80 percent of the incoming drugs, head of the
city department for combating drug-trafficking Vladimir Kharetdinov
told a news conference. Participating in the conference were officials
from the State Customs Committee, or GTK.

Kharetdinov said the Russian capital has the highest rate of crimes
related to drug-trafficking in the country. It reported some 10,000
such offenses last year from about 1,500 in 1993.

Hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroine were very rare cases in the
early 90s, he said, adding that last year police seized heroine in
almost 6,000 cases.

"The most deplorable fact is that drug-addiction and related crimes
are notably spreading not only among young people, but also
schoolchildren, Kharetdinov stated.

City police have files on some 400 schoolchildren and about 4,000
college students and pupils at vocational training schools.

In all, more than 7,000 people were charged with drug-related
offenses. Of those, 70 percent were aged below 24.

According to the State Customs Committee, hard drugs mostly come
through channels located in the Asian region: Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Tajikistan. Other sources are Nigeria and Latin America.

Soft drugs come from the Commonwealth of Independent States: Central Asia,
Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The drug-traffickers operating in Moscow
form ethnic clans, as a rule.

Customs agents seized more than 43 million drug dosages last year.
They confiscated 43.7 kilograms of heroine, 50.1 kilograms of cocaine
and 128.9 kg of opium.

However, the GTK said there had been an increase in the volume of
heroine smuggled into Russia. Heroine is now cornering cheaper drugs
on the black market.

Profits from drug-trafficking may reach up to 2,000 percent. Russia's
drug turnover in the first half of 1998 was estimated at 1.2 billion
US dollars, the GTK said.

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

Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies, Year 5, No. 7 (A summary of European
and international drug policy news, from CORA, in Italy)

Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 19:44:18 +0100
From: CORAFax (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
Subject: CORAFax #7 (EN)
Sender: owner-hemp@efn.org

ANTIPROHIBITIONIST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD ....
Year 7 #, February 18 1999

***

Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies

Edited by the CORA - Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, federated to
- TRP-Transnational Radical Party (NGO, consultive status, I)
- The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War

***

director: Vincenzo Donvito
All rights reserved

***

http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet
mailto:cora.news@agora.stm.it

***

CORA NEWS

***

ITALY- METHADONE PROHIBITED IN PRIVATE TREATMENT PROGRAMS FINANCED BY THE
STATE.

This is what the senate has established, not respecting the outcome of the
1993 referenda on cure freedom. An appeal has been presented to the
President of the republic asking him to veto the 'Lumia' law.

***

NEWS FROM THE WORLD

***

000491 15/02/99
AMERICA / USA
ADDICITION
LA STAMPA

Michael Massing, an expert who studies the phenomenon of drug addiction,
in his book 'The fix' criticises Clinton's anti drug policies. It is
necessary to contol drug demand, he sais, not offer. Young people know that
marijuana is not harmful, but if it is continously demonised they will not
believe who puts them on guard about heroin anymore.

***

000490 16/02/99
E.U. / ITALY / BARI
ADDICTION
IL GIORNALE

A secret center for rehabilitating drug addicts has been discovered. A
collaborator of justice said that the clandestine center was controlled
directly by the mafia and was used to cure its own drug addicts.

***

000494 16/02/99
E.U. / SPAIN
ADDICTION
EL PAIS

A research by the Plan Nacional Sobre Droga says that consumption of
synthetic drugs is stable, while alcohol and cannabis are still the most
used among young people. 280000 people under 29 get drunk every day and
this number triples during the week ends. Requests for disintoxication from
heavy drugs is growing.

***

000489 10/02/99
ASIA / THAILAND
HEALTH
EL PAIS

The UN has commissioned the first large scale vaccination experiment
against AIDS. t Ihas been tried on 2500 healthy people who are considered
of a category at risk: heroin consumers.

***

000487 12/02/99
E.U. / GERMANY
INITIATIVE
FRANKFURTER / SUEDDEUTSCHE Z.

The Government, the regions and nine cities have found an agreement on
controlled distribution of heroin. The project, as of next year, will last
three years and will involve 1000-1500 heroin addicts. The only missing
approval now is from the Superior Institute of Health.

***

000488 12/02/99
E.U. / FRANCE
LAWS
LE MONDE

The Senate has introduced new regulations in the highway code. Accidents
and personal injuries caused by use of drugs will be punished with two
years of imprisonment and a 30000 F. fine.

***

000493 17/02/99
E.U. / ITALY
LAWS
LA STAMPA

There has been a certain amount of discussion in the Senate because the
new justice reform contemplates depenalisation of hashish. The oppsition
parties and some of the majority ones have completely dismissed this
hypothesis.

***

000492 14/02/99
ASIA / IRAN
WAR ON DRUGS
IL GIORNALE

After having seen the situation on the frontier with Afghanistan, where
drug traffic is intense, it is clear that nothing, not even the
thirty-thousand men who are guarding the area, is capable of stopping the
drugs from entering the country carried on camel back.

***

000495 15/02/99
AMERICA / MEXICO
WAR ON DRUGS
MISCELLANEOUS NEWSPAPERS

The Usa and Mexico, on the occasion of Clinton's short visit, have
confirmed again their commitment to fighting drugs. Clinton has said he
wants to renew the 'good will certificate' (which means economical help)
that Mexico has gained for itself. The American Congress, instead, thinks
that Mexico has obtained no real results.

***

CLIPPINGS

***

ITALY- the ISTAT says that as of the 31st of December of 1998, 28% of
Italian prisoners are drug addicts, which means 14074 out of 50527. It is
not specified, although, how many are in prison for drug related crimes.

***

CORAFax 1999

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