-------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Health Emergency: Oregon health officials remain silent as record drug
deaths fall hardest on the poor, minorities (A bulletin from Floyd Ferris
Landrath, who exchanges needles for intravenous drug users at the Harm
Reduction Zone in Portland, discusses the recent report that heroin-related
deaths in Oregon have hit a new high. Local health officials are showing the
usual dereliction of duty by failing to respond to a study on the health
emergency caused by the war on some drug users, published by Dr. Ernest
Drucker in the January-February issue of Public Health Reports, the official
journal of the U.S. Public Health Service.)
Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 02:27:45 -0800
To: Phil Smith (pdxnorml@pdxnorml.org)
From: Floyd F Landrath (AAL@InetArena.com)
HARM REDUCTION ZONE (est. 1991)
SE38th AVE & HAWTHORNE BLVD.
PORTLAND, OREGON
M-F, 4-6PM
FREE FOOD, NEEDLE EXCHANGE, ADDICT SURVIVAL INFORMATION
***
Monday, March 1, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS & FOLLOW-UP CONTACT:
Floyd Landrath, 235-4524 or Aal@inetarena.com
PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY
Oregon health officials remain silent as record
drug deaths fall hardest on the poor, minorities
by Floyd Ferris Landrath
Portland, Oregon -- I am sorry to report that both Multnomah County
Health Dept. and the Oregon Health Division are paralyzed by fear of
controversy over last year's record 235 drug related deaths in Oregon
(117 in Multnomah County). What makes these health officials freeze
like deer in a beam of headlights is a classic 'Catch-22.' On one
level it's a legal and philosophical conflict between cops and doctors,
jailers and healers. At another level it's ignorance and rigid
attitudes even within the public health itself. "How can you save
someone bent on killing them self," lamented one state health official
who wisely requested anonymity.
As the number of drug related deaths continues to soar each year, it
becomes painfully obvious that this problem is killing many who had no
intention of committing suicide. Even with the obvious social
disapproval and stigma attached to illegal drug addiction, only
extremists would support a death penalty for that alone. Yet in
effect, that's exactly what is taking place.
It does not look good for the future, especially with a glut of
heroin on the streets and even playgrounds these days, "drug counselors
warn that the toll likely will stay high because the addictive drug is
cheap, potent and widely available," according to a Feb. 10 report from
the Associated Press.
Reports from the Oregon Medical Examiner's Office offer grim credence
to that dire warning. For every year since 1988, with the notable
exception of 1991, drug related deaths in Oregon have seen a steady
increase. It went from 67 in 1988 to 235 in 1998, a nearly 200 percent
increase. Heroin related deaths went from 37 in 1988 to 179 in 1998, a
nearly 500 percent increase. In 1991, for reasons unknown, only 39
people died state-wide.
Dr. Ernest Drucker (1), a professor of epidemiology at Montefiore
Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine reports on drug-
related research in the January-February issue of the journal Public
Health Reports, the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service.
Even though the federal government reports drug use has been in
decline since 1979, Drucker reports that between 1978 and 1994: drug-
related emergency room visits have gone up 60 percent (from 323,000
annually to 518,500) and overdose deaths increased by 400 percent (2500
to 10,000). Drucker also draws a direct correlation between increased
heroin-related fatalities to a dramatic rise in purity (from 6.7
percent in 1981 to 41.5 percent in 1996) and notes as contributing
factors both a sharp decline in price and abundant supply.
Inner-city minorities and the poor suffer most of the drug- and drug-
law related harm. Consider this: whites, blacks and Hispanics all use
drugs at about the same rate, yet blacks are 3.5 times more likely to
die from overdose and have 7.5 times more drug-related emergency room
visits than their white counterparts. Blacks are also four times more
likely than whites to be arrested and 20 times more likely to be
incarcerated for drugs. On average Hispanics fair little better than
African-Americans.
One additional finding Dr. Drucker reports: Annual state and federal
drug enforcement expenses are estimated at more than $40 billion,
compared with less than $8 billion for all treatment, research, and
prevention in the U.S. from all government and private sources. Dr.
Drucker concludes, "From a public health point of view, drug
prohibition is a disaster. While our government officials claim
success in reducing drug use, drug-related deaths and diseases have
increased sharply. That's the best measure of the impact of our drug
policies - and they are failing."
There is a huge ethical and moral dilemma here, perhaps too big for
those now in charge of the public's health and safety. It may also,
one day, become a defining issue in this historic struggle for peace
and justice against a massive, out of control "war" against the poor.
There is much more we could do to reduce drug-related harm and death,
especially from heroin overdose. That's why we must be reasonable and
dispatch sacred political cows like this so-called War on Drugs that
has ravaged the Constitutional landscape and fouled the social waters
for far too long now.
More and more average, working-class people realize we should de-
criminalize drug addiction. That both the drugs might be better
controlled and the consumers better protected by those who are trained
and qualified in the fields of drug addiction, mental illness and the
public health. Unfortunately most of Congress is still way out in
right-field, too busy pounding the drug war drum to hear us.
In the long run the drug war will break us both financially and
morally. The more victims we create the more international drug
cartels will grow in order of magnitude on the spoils of that despair.
Yet, for every tax dollar that goes into prevention and treatment,
according to a recent Rand study, society saves $7 in future criminal-
justice cost.
We need more than "Zero Tolerance" and provide a complete 'menu' of
harm reduction, prevention and treatment options, especially to the
indigent. Even if that means we must undercut the street dealers and
supply the drugs under medical control while encouraging abstinence,
dose reduction and other positive steps (often it takes more than just
"12") toward eventual sobriety. To cut crime we need to get the hard-
core addicts, of which many also suffer mental illness - off our
streets, out of our neighborhoods and especially away from the kids who
they often sell drugs to.
Rational people like Dr. Drucker know there are more humane,
intelligent as well as cost-effective ways to reduce both drug access
by the young, and adult use and abuse without resorting to such an
expensive and socially damaging policy like this insane "war" on (some)
drugs and so many people. Unfortunately not all rational people are as
brave, or ethical, as Dr. Drucker.
***
(1) Dr. Drucker's full article is at:
www.of-course.com/drugrealities/edltrs/pr030199.doc
***
"If drug abuse is a disease, then drug war is a crime."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Clicking For Contraband (The San Francisco Chronicle says the black market
has never been more accessible. Anyone with a computer and an Internet
account can find all sorts of contraband for sale on the Web: machine guns,
marijuana, prescription drugs, switchblade knives, endangered species, Cuban
cigars and much more. Even when law enforcers are aware of black market
activity, it is not easy to take action.)
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 05:18:16 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Clicking For Contraband
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Monday, March 1, 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Section: Front Page
Author: Jamie Beckett, Jon Swartz, Chronicle Staff Writers
CLICKING FOR CONTRABAND
The law can't catch up to the Internet, where any desire can be satisfied
for a price
The black market has never been more accessible.
Anyone with a computer and an Internet account can find all sorts of
contraband for sale on the Web: machine guns, marijuana, prescription
drugs, switchblade knives, endangered species, Cuban cigars and much more.
Although these goods are highly regulated or outright illegal in the United
States, they are available to Americans 24 hours a day on the Internet.
Of course, most of these goods are also available on street corners, and
some are even advertised in newspapers and magazines. But the Internet
makes it so much easier for everyone, even children. There is no need for
clandestine meetings with shady characters in dark alleys. All that's
needed is a PC, a credit card and a little patience.
It is also easy for Internet criminals to stay one step ahead of the law.
Their underworld is anonymous, borderless, fast-moving and nearly
impossible to track. Web outlaws move from site to site, change e-mail
addresses or switch online identities.
Most federal agencies say they lack the money, manpower or expertise to
pursue these black marketeers. When they do go after online criminals, they
target child pornographers or software pirates, not yuppies buying Cuban
cigars.
``We have neither the time nor the resources to surf the Internet,'' said
George Grotz, special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in San
Francisco. ``The Internet is growing so rapidly and . . . the laws to
control technology lag behind that technology.''
Some online merchants sell their illegal wares on popular sites such as
Yahoo Auctions, Excite Classifieds or eBay, the nation's No. 1 online
auction house.
Others, more discreet, advertise on message boards or on their own Web sites.
Thomas Bellas Jr., a Chicago gun merchant, used the Internet to sell a 9mm
semiautomatic handgun and 50 rounds of ammunition for $460 to
a 17-year-old Alabama boy, who had posed as an adult by using his father's
driver's license number.
In what is believed to be the first arrest for an online gun sale, Bellas,
57, was charged last year with selling a handgun directly to an
out-of-state customer instead of transporting it to a registered gun
dealer, as required by law. He was also charged with selling a gun to a minor.
In court papers, Bellas said he sold at least 30 handguns over the Net
illegally, according to Jerry Singer, a spokesman in the Chicago office of
the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Bellas had indicated that he would plead guilty, Singer said. But in
January, before he entered a plea, Bellas died of a heart attack while
shoveling snow.
A Chronicle search turned up hundreds of illegal sites or sellers. Although
this story does not list Web site addresses, most of them can be found
using a search engine. Here is what we found:
GUNS
LOTS OF Them, on auctions, in online classifieds and on gun-sale Web sites.
Most of the gun trade is probably legal, but it often is hard to tell. The
laws are complicated and difficult to enforce on the Web.
Federal law requires a gun shipped across state lines to be sent to a
licensed firearms dealer. The law requires buyers of some types of
firearms, such as machine guns and sawed-off shotguns, to register the gun
and pay a tax.
Gun laws for Internet sales are the same as those for sales in stores or
through the mail. But enforcing them on the Web can be a long shot, because
buyers and sellers generally don't know each other and don't know if basic
facts such as age and address are correct. Making things more complicated,
California and several other states have special restrictions on gun sales,
such as a ban on machine guns and stiff regulations regarding assault weapons.
The ATF is investigating several trafficking cases, sources said, including
a ``significant'' operation with links to the West Coast that could break
this spring.
SWITCHBLADE KNIVES
U.S. Customs law prohibits anyone from bringing a switchblade knife into
this country. But they are advertised widely on the Web.
Switch Blade Knife Makers offers six different knives priced between $31
and $35. For would-be customers worried about the law and other
technicalities, there is a handy `Help'' section on the site, which reads
like this:
Q: My customs don't allow switchblades import. Can you ship to me anyway?
A: Yes we can ;-)
Until a few days ago, the sale of switchblades was so loosely policed on
eBay that a seller named ``Bladeguy'' advertised: ``Secret Agent Covert
Autoknives -- Banned by Feds!''
Bladeguy and his knives no longer show up on eBay. The San Jose online
auctioneer relies heavily on users to watch out for illegal goods. When
they are notified of illegal auctions, eBay shuts them down.
eBay also hired a team of former police officers to search for and remove
ads for contraband, said Steve Westly, vice president of marketing for the
company. He also noted that eBay recently decided to remove auctions for
guns and ammunition.
Many online knife merchants are based outside the United States and may not
be violating their own country's laws.
At the U.S. border, banned goods are the responsibility of Customs, one of
the few federal agencies that has an active cyber-crime unit. But the
agency's Cyber Smuggling Investigations Center concentrates less on
switchblades and more on high-profile crimes such as the import and export
of child pornography, pirated software and music, and illegal trade in U.S.
technology and munitions, said spokesman Claude Davenport.
MARIJUANA
It Doesn't come cheaply, but pot and pot seeds, which are illegal to sell
or possess in this country, are openly for sale on Web.
``I see the Internet as a large medium that can help many people get their
Cannabis, even if it is forbidden in your own country,'' Leo Pafort, a
merchant based in Amsterdam, says on his Web site. Pot is legal in the
Netherlands.
Pafort's prices range from $10 to $15 a gram. He did not return e- mails
requesting information or an interview.
For those willing to grow their own, at least a half-dozen Web
entrepreneurs can supply seeds. One offers more than 100 varieties with
such names as ``Bazooka'' and ``Hypno'' and prices from $25 to $175 for
packets of 10 or 12 seeds.
None of the seed sellers contacted would discuss their businesses.
The makings of more-dangerous drugs are also available. Poppy seeds that
produce the narcotic opium and can be used to make heroin were openly
advertised on nearly 20 eBay auctions recently. Bids opened as low as $2
for packets of 1,000 seeds.
The Internet ``is something we're monitoring, and we're learning more and
more about it,'' said Terry Parham, a spokesman for the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration. ``It's unrealistic for us to take the time to
surf the Web just looking for certain (illegal) things.''
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
Who needs a prescription? Not the intrepid Internet shopper. Sites are
selling the anti-anxiety drug Valium, antidepressant Prozac, impotence drug
Viagra and other controlled substances that cannot legally be dispensed
without a doctor's prescription.
``Never any prescription needed,'' says the Web site for one merchant,
Pharmacy International, which advertises itself as a U.S.-based exporter of
``lifestyle drugs.''
``Our company does not do any business in the USA,'' said Michael Beckers,
a Pharmacy International official responding to an e-mail from The Chronicle.
Yet the Florida company's Web site provides instructions for ordering
within the United States and details U.S. shipping and handling charges.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is ``concerned about the potential
for selling illegal, unapproved or counterfeit drugs on the Internet,''
said Dr. Randy Wykoff, associate commissioner for operations.
GAMBLING
Online gaming is illegal under a 1961 federal law that bars interstate
gambling over telephone lines. Although that has deterred U.S. operators,
it has not stopped offshore companies from setting up global online casinos
in places like the Caribbean and Central America.
Law enforcement agencies, including the California attorney general's
office, concede that enforcement of the 1961 law is nearly impossible. Most
of the sites are offshore, where gambling is legal, and domestic bettors
would be difficult to pinpoint.
ENDANGERED SPECIES
U.S. law prohibits the sale or transfer of endangered species across state
lines. An international agreement signed by 146 countries bars the import
or export of hundreds of types of animals. Separate laws cover the sale of
eagles and migratory birds.
Even so, they are for sale on the Web. On one online bulletin board, a
Canadian advertises the sale of ``a small collection of Black Rhino
horns,'' which are prized for their medicinal properties.
Federal officials say that is against the law. Many nations including
Canada and the United States also ban the import or export of endangered
black rhinos, said Paul Chang, a senior special agent for the U.S.
Department of Fish and Wildlife. According to Chang, the horns could sell
for $40,000 apiece.
The seller, Calvin Kania, disagrees. ``We would not jeopardize our family
name or business in dealing in illegal items,'' he said in an e-mail.
He said he has the necessary permits to sell them. Chang said no such
permits exist.
Bob Snow, a federal Fish and Wildlife special agent in Northern California,
has been investigating illegal wildlife traffic on the Web and particularly
on auction giant eBay. Snow said he has found protected migratory birds and
endangered wildlife for sale on eBay. The auction site will soon include in
its guidelines a ban on selling endangered wildlife.
CUBAN CIGARS
On the Web, a good smoke is easy to find. Dozens of sellers advertise Cuban
cigars, which are illegal to import into the United States, but legal in
many other countries.
At least two Web sites devoted to the cigar trade offer Cuban varieties.
They also show up on Yahoo Auctions, Excite classifieds and eBay, where 17
Cuban cigar auctions were advertised recently.
``Legal concerns are not really present,'' said an eBay customer named
Randy, who has bought the cigars on the Net for some time.
Many sellers ship Cuban stogies via U.S. mail, disguising their return
address and the origin of the cigars.
``I ship them through the mail. Customs cannot open every box,'' said one
eBay seller.
One Midwestern cigar merchant has a roving Web site intended to keep him
safe from law enforcement. Every time he changes his Web address, he must
e-mail his customers. Why bother? Online profit margins are fatter than
what he can get on the street.
Davenport, the Customs agent, said his agency was not aware of illegal
cigar trade on the Web.
Even when law enforcers are aware of black market activity, it is not easy
to take action.
``This new world of Internet access presents problems that federal and
state investigators have not faced before,'' said Hilary McLean,
spokeswoman for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. ``It's difficult
to track, because of the relative anonymity of online users. These sellers
can be anywhere in the world, and that requires a significant investment to
investigate.''
Resources are not the only issue. The government is also torn between
fighting crime on the Internet and letting it grow unfettered into a robust
free market.
``The Internet is a tremendous enabler. But with all the good, there comes
some bad activities, unfortunately,'' America Online CEO Steve Case said.
``It is the responsibility of the industry to self-police its behavior,''
Case said. ``The worst possible thing that could happen to the Net is too
much government regulation. That would derail growth and innovation.''
Politicians are largely unaware of the problem, and have proposed no
legislation to specifically curtail sales of illegal goods online.
When told that AK-47 rifles are for sale on the Web, U.S. Representative
Tom Campbell was taken aback. ``My first reaction is, `Where are the
law-enforcement agencies? It's terrible that existing laws can be bypassed
in such a widespread manner. I'm especially concerned about the sale of
automatic weapons.''
Although Campbell, R-Campbell, said he is hesitant to impose laws on the
Internet, ``we need to redirect resources for authorities to enforce
(existing) laws.''
Another problem with enforcement is that there is no single agency in
charge of online crime.
``We're aware there are all kinds of illegal things out there, but the
jurisdiction for particular items falls under the ATF (guns), DEA (drugs)
and others,'' said Paul Luehr, the Federal Trade Commission's assistant
director.
``A lot of cases are dropping to the ground because no one is in charge,''
said Norm Willox, CEO of the National Fraud Center in Horsham, Pa.
``Someone needs to centralize the (reporting) process.''
The government is taking a step in that direction.
Several federal agencies, including the FBI, are creating a national call
center for Internet crime, sources said. The center would field consumer
complaints, conduct a preliminary investigation and then notify the
appropriate state or national agency.
Until that is set up, consumers who want to report any type of illegal
activity online can contact the FTC at 202-FTC-HELP or fill out an online
complaint at www.ftc.gov.
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Juvenile Jail Sought (The San Jose Mercury News says the Alameda County Board
of Supervisors is proposing to spend $250 million to build a 540-bed jail for
kids to relieve crowding at its juvenile hall, despite some concerns that too
many children will end up locked away. Targeted to open in 2003, the jail
would be second in size only to Los Angeles' facilities, which hold about
1,500 children. Alameda County probation officials say the expansion is
desperately needed, in part because a rise in juvenile crime is predicted
over the next several years.)
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 05:18:11 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Juvenile Jail Sought
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Marcus/Mermelstein Family (mmfamily@ix.netcom.com)
Pubdate: 1 Mar 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Author: Renee Koury
JUVENILE JAIL SOUGHT
Proposed facility to ease crowding
Alameda County is proposing to build the state's second-largest jail for
kids to relieve crowding at its juvenile hall, despite some concerns that
too many children will end up locked away.
The board of supervisors is expected to go after funding next month for the
540-bed, $250 million complex, which would nearly double current capacity
and allow for hundreds more beds if needed. Targeted to open in 2003, the
hall would be second in size only to Los Angeles' facilities, which hold
about 1,500 children.
Alameda County probation officials say the expansion is desperately needed
because the county's 1950s-era hall in the San Leandro hills is overcrowded
and not up to seismic code, and a rise in juvenile crime is predicted over
the next several years.
Supporters such as Supervisor Scott Haggerty also favor the tough-on-crime
approach.
``Let's face it,'' he said. ``The juvenile population is becoming more
dangerous. We have to have the facilities to deal with that growing
population. I think it's important that we try to set our kids on the right
path the first time. When I went to school, we solved problems with our
fists, and now they solve them with guns and knives and we have to tell
them it's not OK.''
But youth advocates say such funding should go instead toward steering boys
and girls away from crime. Dan Macallair, associate director of the Center
on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco, said that if the county
builds more beds, more bad kids will come.
``This is beyond belief,'' said Macallair, who likened Alameda County's
proposal to a sort of ``field of bad dreams.''
``If you build 500 beds, then you'll find 500 kids to fill them up. It's
bureaucratic convenience. If the beds are there, it becomes very easy to
just dump the kids there, he said. The kids are just cycled back onto the
streets, and they get into the same old problems. The public is being sold
a bill of goods.''
Despite a decline in crime -- juvenile crime in Alameda County went down 35
percent from 1990 to 1997 -- the juvenile hall has reported overcrowding
every year since 1992.
Officials say the jail is full in part because kids are staying longer. The
hall is intended only as a holding facility while they await court
hearings, but with more serious offenses to deal with, court takes longer.
The average stay has gone up from a couple of days to 23 days. One boy
stayed two years while awaiting his murder trial.
There are also few places where kids can be sent to serve out sentences,
such as group homes and ranches, according to Supervisor Gail Steele. And
on one recent day, 99 kids in juvenile hall were awaiting placement in
foster homes.
With a capacity of 299, the hall averages about 340 inmates per night. Many
youngsters sleep on plastic bunks in makeshift dormitories in the day
rooms, or double up in cells meant for one. Visiting rooms sometimes double
as X-ray labs or dining rooms, and medical and counseling services are
scattered.
The crowding violates state codes, but state inspectors concede the county
is doing all it can to make do.
``It's getting unbearable in here,'' said juvenile hall Director James
Ladner during a recent tour. ``When you take a place that's this crowded
and you put in a lot of kids together who don't particularly like each
other, you can just imagine what it's like.''
And the situation is likely to get worse. The number of kids brought into
juvenile hall will gradually climb from 9,800 during 1997 to a projected
12,000 to 13,000 kids during 2007, according to a consultant's report. Much
of the increase will stem from more girls getting into trouble with the
law, according to the report by Rosser International consultants of
Georgia. The report predicts as many as 4,100 girl inmates by 2007.
The hall also does not meet earthquake standards and it is surrounded by
two prongs of the Hayward fault, said construction manager Lou Shikany. The
new complex will be built near the existing hall, but with a stout design
to resist quakes.
Overcrowding is common at juvenile halls throughout the state. However,
some Bay Area counties are handling the situation without expansion.
San Mateo County has rejected proposals for a larger juvenile hall in favor
of a ``youth services campus,'' where troubled teens will get help for drug
addiction, sexual abuse and emotional problems. Santa Clara and San
=46rancisco counties are both trying to avoid expansion and funnel
troublesome kids into remedial programs instead.
Santa Clara puts many of its juvenile offenders on electronic ankle
bracelets, which sound an alarm if they leave a prescribed area. Santa
Clara also has established neighborhood accountability boards in which
first-time offenders go before their neighbors, who decide on a punishment
such as restitution. And the county steers offenders into programs that
address problems such as drug addiction or learning disabilities.
Such programs are a better use for the kind of money -- about $38,000 a
child in Alameda County -- spent to provide guards, counselors, staffing
and services at juvenile halls, Macallair said. Staffing for the new hall
alone could exceed $20 million a year.
``Take the $145 a day it takes to warehouse a kid in juvenile hall and buy
comprehensive services for three kids,'' he said. ``Hire someone from the
community to work with them full time. Put food in the kid's cupboard.
These kids come from situations that most people don't comprehend.''
The arguments hit home with many local officials, including Supervisor
Steele, who has fought for years for more programs to help disadvantaged
children. Still, she reluctantly supports the new juvenile hall plan,
saying the crowding situation is so dire and the facility so outdated that
the county can no longer wait for social programs to make a dent in crime.
``What (Macallair) is saying is right, and I agree,'' Steele said. ``But we
cannot continue in that facility the way it is. It's inhumane. Our (county)
population is 1.3 million and growing. We have many depressed areas and a
failed educational system. And many of these kids have done some bad stuff.
What are we supposed to do? If we're going to build a building, we have to
build it to last 40 years, not make it too small.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Crack's Legacy: Second Of Two Articles: Soldiers of the Drug War Remain on
Duty (The New York Times says it was the escalation of the drug war that
brought military-style policing, particularly SWAT teams, into most American
cities. The police said they felt outgunned and underarmored against gangs.
But now that the worst violence associated with the gang and crack wars of
the '80s has faded, the police presence has remained and, in many cases,
escalated. The expanding role of SWAT teams across the country has been fed
by the forfeiture laws that allow the police to keep much of what they take
in raids. But there are no figures on the total amount of property seized by
all police departments nationwide.)
Date: Tue, 02 Mar 1999 22:50:50 +0000
To: vignes@monaco.mc
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: [] Crack's Legacy: Second Of Two Articles
Pubdate: Mon, 01 Mar 1999
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/
Related article/Part I -
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n225.a09.html
Author: TIMOTHY EGAN
CRACK'S LEGACY: SECOND OF TWO ARTICLES
Soldiers of the Drug War Remain on Duty
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Late on a chilly October night three years ago, Larry
Harper told his family that he felt life was no longer worth living, and
headed out the door with a handgun. He had slipped back to using crack
cocaine after being in drug treatment, and was ashamed to face his wife and
brother.
The family called the Albuquerque police for help. In response, a
paramilitary unit -- nine men clad in camouflage and armed with automatic
rifles and stun grenades -- stormed into the park where Harper had gone in
despair.
"Let's go get the bad guy" were the last words Hope Harper heard as the
Special Weapons and Tactics squad brushed by her on a hunt for her husband,
leaving the family in the dark at the edge of the park.
Police marksmen chased Harper through the woods, found him cowering behind a
juniper tree, and shot and killed him from 43 feet away. He had committed no
crime and had threatened only himself. The police said the fact that he was
holding a gun made him a target.
Harper, a 33-year-old plumber, was one of 32 people killed by Albuquerque
officers in the last 10 years, 11 of them by the SWAT team. The police here
have killed more people than any other department of its size in the United
States.
The Harper case proved to be the one that broke the Albuquerque SWAT team.
The family sued. And last fall, the city dismantled the squad as a full-time
unit and paid the family $200,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
Why a city of 400,000 would need a full-time paramilitary unit is a question
that should have been asked years ago, said the new police chief, Jerry
Galvin. The answer, a decade ago, would have been crack cocaine and the
heavily armed gangs fighting over the crack trade. But what started as a
response to the violent front of the war on drugs has evolved, here and in
cities across the nation, into a new world of policing.
Special Weapons and Tactics squads, once used exclusively for the rare urban
terrorist incident or shootout, transformed themselves through the crack
years into everyday parts of city life. In large urban areas, paramilitary
units now do everything from routine street patrols to nightly raids of
houses. Even small towns have formed paramilitary police units. The Cape Cod
town of Harwich, Mass., for example, population 11,000, has trained a 10-man
SWAT team.
Encouraged by federal grants, surplus equipment handed out by the military
and seizure laws that allow police departments to keep much of what their
special units take in raids, the Kevlar-helmeted brigades have grown
dramatically, even in the face of plummeting crime figures.
"It is the militarization of Mayberry," said Dr. Peter Kraska, a professor
of criminal justice at Eastern Kentucky University, who surveyed police
departments nationwide and found that their deployment of paramilitary units
had grown tenfold since the early 1980s. "This is unprecedented in American
policing and you have to ask yourself: What are the unintended
consequences?"
It was the escalation of the drug war that brought military-style policing
into most American cities. The police felt outgunned and underarmored
against gangs. But now that the worst violence associated with the gang and
crack wars of the '80s has faded, the police presence has remained and, in
many cases, escalated.
Some police officers say the expansion of SWAT into a role as the fist of
the drug war and beyond is good police work. With proper training, these
units should reduce loss of life, not add to it, they say. And some
communities plagued by violence and turf battles over drugs say they welcome
a paramilitary presence in their neighborhoods.
During a routine SWAT patrol in a poor neighborhood in Fresno, Calif., Sgt.
Randy Dobbins said: "You look at the way we're dressed and all these weapons
and this helicopter overhead -- we could not do this if people in the
community didn't support us. Some people are afraid to be seen with us, but
a lot of others come out and cheer us when we show up."
Kraska found that nearly 90 percent of the police departments he surveyed in
cities of more than 50,000 people had paramilitary units, as did about 75
percent of the departments of communities under 50,000.
In South Bend, Ind., the police have used SWAT teams to serve warrants on
small-time marijuana dealers. In St. Petersburg, Fla., the teams were
deployed, to considerable criticism, to ensure order during a civic parade.
Dressed in black or olive camouflage known as battle dress uniforms, the
paramilitary squads use armored personnel carriers, stun grenades and
Heckler & Koch MP5s, which are submachine guns advertised to police
departments with the line "From the Gulf War to the Drug War -- battle
proven."
When earlier this month New York police officers fatally shot a West African
immigrant named Amadou Diallo, firing 41 bullets at the unarmed man, it was
considered by some critics as a logical consequence of a police department
that views patrolling certain neighborhoods as war duty.
In other cities, Kraska found in his study, police paramilitary units got
into trouble when they were used beyond their original mission.
Some police chiefs and academics acknowledge the enormous growth of
paramilitary police but dispute the criticism of how they are used. Most
SWAT teams rarely shoot anyone, and 96 percent of all raids end with no
shots fired, according to the National Tactical Officers Association.
"You want people who are highly trained and highly disciplined," said David
Klinger, a professor of sociology at the University of Houston, who is
studying SWAT teams.
"It makes sense to me for Bubba Bob the sheriff to have on his staff a
couple of guys or girls who have been through extensive tactical training,"
Klinger, a former Los Angeles police officer, added. "But if what you have
is some cowboy idiot who wants to be the tough guy, that doesn't help
anybody."
Most of the squads stay in existence because there is too much incentive not
to, police officers say. Forfeiture laws passed by Congress at the height of
the crack scare were designed to take the profit out of drug dealing; assets
like cars, boats, guns and cash can be seized, regardless of whether the
person who owns them is later convicted.
But the laws have given the police a profit motive for fighting drugs,
because their departments can use what they seize to subsidize their budgets
or buy extra equipment.
And since the end of the Cold War, the military's giveaway of surplus
hardware has proved irresistible to many SWAT teams. An amphibious armored
personnel carrier has just been picked up by the Boone County sheriff's
office in Indiana, and bayonets were recently accepted, then rejected, by
the police in Los Angeles.
"I was offered tanks, bazookas, anything I wanted," said Nick Pastore,
former police chief of New Haven, Conn. "I turned it all down, because it
feeds a mind-set that you're not a police officer serving a community,
you're a soldier at war."
The Patrol: Police in Armor, Residents on Bikes
"War" is the word most often used in Fresno, a depressed city of about
400,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley. In Fresno, more than in any other
city, paramilitary police have become a part of everyday life.
On a night when the moon was full and night temperatures so low that the
oranges held a wisp of frost, the Fresno SWAT squad, called the Violent
Crime Suppression Unit, was back in familiar territory: the poor and largely
black section of town known as the Dog Pound, where drug dealing is
concentrated.
"You wouldn't believe what this place used to be like," said Dobbins,
leading a group of camouflaged officers on their nightly patrol. "People
were prisoners of their homes. Police officers were shot at routinely. The
bad guys had no fear."
An 11-year veteran, Dobbins is proud of the fact that crime has fallen in
Fresno, as elsewhere. Like other members of the unit, he has a semiautomatic
Beretta pistol, a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun and a 12-round shotgun
called the Street Sweeper at his disposal.
Since its start, the Fresno unit has tried to recruit ethnic minorities,
though it remains overwhelmingly white. The 34-member unit has access to two
helicopters equipped with night-vision goggles and people-detecting heat
sensors, an armored personnel carrier with a turret, and an armored van that
serves as a portable headquarters.
The armored personnel carrier, a gift from the military with the words
"FRESNO SWAT" brightly painted on it, is used mainly to serve drug warrants
in potentially dangerous situations.
"A lot of people don't like the perception," Dobbins said. "They wonder why
the heck does the Police Department need this kind of equipment. But you
can't understand what it's like to be shot at, and what a difference it
makes when you're in one of these."
The neighborhood was relatively quiet. Two pedestrians were stopped and
searched for drugs. A car with a missing headlight was stopped; its driver
was handcuffed and told to sit on the sidewalk while the trunk was searched.
Nothing was found.
Several cars from the unit went on a high-speed chase of a stolen car. The
occupants, tracked by dogs, dashed from the car and were chased through
several yards but escaped.
Pointing to a small house behind a high fence, said to be a drug haven,
Dobbins said, "We've raided this house five times." Drugs, mostly crack
cocaine, are what keep the Violent Crime Suppression Unit in business.
People are stopped for minor offenses, and can then be arrested for
possessing drugs or having outstanding warrants.
"I'd say anyone we're going to find milling around here is usually involved
with crack or high on crack," said Günter Miss, a former Los Angeles police
officer now with Fresno's SWAT squad. He described his work as "a lot of
fun.".
Most of the young men seen on the neighborhood streets were riding bikes.
"That's what has happened to a lot of the drug dealers," Dobbins said.
"We've impounded their cars."
People in the community seemed to accept all the action, the police lights,
the constant presence of screeching tires and barking dogs that sound like
firecrackers, as the price of a certain kind of peace. City officials say
they have received very few complaints from citizens, and random interviews
confirmed that.
"There used to be drug addicts everywhere," said Lydia Covarrubio, who has
lived in Fresno for 30 years, speaking as officers with dogs chased two
people through back yards in her neighborhood.
In 1994, Fresno had a record 85 homicides and 2,810 robberies, and officers
were fired at a dozen times. The crime spike was blamed on gangs selling
drugs.
"There was a real sense that the bad guys had control of the streets," said
the Fresno police chief, Ed Winchester. "We were desperate. But we certainly
could not have deployed heavily armed SWAT-like units without the support of
the community."
The unit became a permanent part of the department the following year, in
1995. In four years, crime has fallen dramatically, matching the plunge
across the nation. Winchester said the paramilitary units deserved part of
the credit, though he acknowledged other factors.
The drop in crime raises a question about how long the city needs to keep
paramilitary patrols on the streets.
"If we pulled out, the drug dealers would come back with a vengeance," said
Lt. Greg Coleman, the unit commander. "Drug dealers are replaced right away.
If you arrest one, there's another to take his place."
So they are left with each other, the officers with submachine guns and
helicopters, and the drug dealers on bicycles, in what the police say is a
ceaseless struggle.
The Message: Small Arrests Show Who Is in Control
With a population of 57,000, Meriden, Conn., does not fit the image of an
urban crime nightmare. But in Meriden, as in Fresno, crack and other drugs
prompted a desperate move to create a special paramilitary unit.
Meriden formed its SWAT team in 1986, when crack cocaine was starting to
appear all over the United States. The unit now has 29 members who are used
nearly full time. Other small cities and towns have SWAT-trained officers
but use them only occasionally.
"Street-level drug dealing just took off with crack," said Lt. Steve Lagere,
who heads the Meriden SWAT team. "We could pull up to the projects and have
five youths selling drugs at one time, right out in the open."
Now in Meriden, as in Fresno, the team arrests people for minor offenses,
attacking small crimes as a way to send a larger message about who is in
control. About 90 percent of the unit's deployments, Lagere said, involve
drug-related work, primarily in the city's housing projects and surrounding
neighborhoods, which tend to be black and Hispanic.
Kraska's survey found that paramilitary units in small and medium-sized
communities were most often used to knock down the doors of houses to search
for drugs.
The police acknowledge the change. Some shrug; others are alarmed. "I don't
think it was intended to be used this way," Lagere said. But a well-trained
tactical squad can better serve a drug warrant in a potentially dangerous
situation than a community police officer can, he added.
"The way I look at it is, my officers are not of the military, shoot-first
assault style," he said. "We have a different attitude. We're going to use
everything we can to ensure there is little violence. And we don't care if
we're dealing with the lowest vermin in the street, it's 'yes sir, no sir.'
We never dehumanize these people."
Overall crime is down about 30 percent in the past five years, Lagere said.
But when asked if the original purpose of establishing the paramilitary
unit -- to reduce heavy drug use and dealing, by maintaining a heavy show of
force -- had been achieved, he was less sure. Like most police officers
interviewed in the trenches of the drug war, he expressed a sense of
futility.
"We ought to be looking at some other option," he said. "It's politically
incorrect to say that as a cop. You really can't discuss it much here,
because people will think you're soft on drugs. But I don't see crack use
going up or down, no matter what we've tried to do."
Down the Quinnipiac River from Meriden, the city of New Haven has been
through a similar scourge of drugs and violence. And in the last five years,
it has also seen crime rates fall dramatically. But the city did not expand
the role of its rarely used SWAT team. Instead, the police say, they brought
the crime rate down by rejecting the militarized approach.
"I had some tough-guy cops in my department pushing for bigger and more
hardware," said Pastore, who was the police chief from 1990 to 1997. "They
used to say, 'It's a war out there.' They like SWAT because it's an
adventure."
New Haven, a city of 130,000, emphasized community policing, making officers
walk the beat on city streets or in housing projects. "The approach you take
creates a mind-set," Pastore said. "If you think everyone who uses drugs is
the enemy, then you're more likely to declare war on the people."
Lagere, in Meriden, said his town used both community policing and a heavy
SWAT presence. The SWAT team has never killed anyone, he said. But other
police officers argue that using paramilitary squads for assaults, sweeps
and raids increases the likelihood of accidents or shootings.
They point to two cases in New England. When the SWAT team in Fitchburg,
Mass., stormed an apartment looking for a drug dealer in December 1996, it
ended up gutting an entire apartment house. A stun grenade, designed as
distraction, flashed in a predictable burst but also ignited a sofa, which
grew into a fire that consumed the building. Six officers were injured, and
24 people were left without a home.
In another case, a SWAT team's drug raid on the wrong apartment in Boston
led to the death of a minister, the Rev. Accelyne Williams, from a heart
attack. A settlement with Williams' widow cost the city $1 million.
The Evolution: Less Militaristic and More Selective
As small and midsized cities expand the reach of their drug-fighting
paramilitary squads, the nation's original SWAT team, in Los Angeles, has
gone in the opposite direction.
The unit that introduced the term SWAT into the popular lexicon was formed
in 1966, largely in response to a fear of urban terrorism and riots. Over
the years, the Los Angeles squad became notorious for its battering rams
connected to armored carriers, its constant helicopter presence, its
assault-style raids.
"The idea back then was a lot more militaristic," said Officer Eduardo
Funes, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. Now the 67-member
team reacts to extremely violent situations, rather than carrying out
assaults. It is rare for it to be called out on suicide threats or drug
warrants, unless there is a strong likelihood of gunfire, Funes said.
"It's not like you see on those TV shows like 'Cops' or in the movies,"
Funes said. "The philosophy is to have a well-trained, well-armed group of
police officers who can respond and back up other officers in dangerous
situations."
What fed the expanding role of SWAT teams across the country were the
forfeiture laws that allow the police to keep much of what they take in
raids. There are no figures on the total amount of property seized by all
police departments nationwide, but the federal government seized more than
$4 billion in assets from 1986 to 1996.
Critics say that the more police departments conduct forfeiture raids, the
more they come to rely on them. "I call them forfeiture junkies," Pastore
said.
The Supreme Court has upheld the forfeiture laws, but a few states,
including California, have changed the statutes so that a conviction is
required before the police can keep the property.
Surplus military gear has also flooded into SWAT squads' lockers. Between
1995 and 1997 alone, the Department of Defense gave police departments 1.2
million pieces of military hardware, including 73 grenade launchers and 112
armored personnel carriers.
But Klinger, who patrolled the streets of South Central Los Angeles before
he became a scholar on police behavior, said he does not think the raids
ultimately do much to curb drug use.
"We should legalize drugs, and law enforcement should get out of the
business of treating drugs as a crime problem," Klinger said. "This is not
an unusual position in the tactical squad community."
The Alternatives: Measuring Success by Those Who Live
When Sam Walker, a professor of criminal justice at the University of
Nebraska at Omaha, reviewed the cases of all the people killed by the
Albuquerque police, he was stunned.
"The rate of killings by police was just off the charts," said Walker, who
was hired by the city to study the department. "They had an organizational
culture within their SWAT team that led them to escalate situations upward,
rather than de-escalating."
That is precisely what happened to Larry Harper, his family believes. At the
time the police shot him, as he cowered behind a tree, he wanted to live and
was ready to go home, said his brother James Harper.
"I keep thinking of my brother crying out, 'Leave me alone, I haven't done
anything,' and their response, which was to kill him," said Harper, who
comes from a line of law-enforcement officers.
Galvin, the Albuquerque police chief, also saw a need for change after he
was hired last year. "I did away with the SWAT team," Galvin said in an
interview. "We have SWAT capability, because I think it is a necessary
function of any police department. But there is no longer a full-time unit
in place."
Most drug raids, suicide calls and other types of volatile police actions do
not need a full paramilitary response, he said. "If you have a mind-set that
the goal is to take out a citizen, it will happen," Galvin said. "A
successful intervention for us now is one where nobody gets killed."
In Dallas, the paramilitary unit has been taken off most drug raids, which
are carried out instead by the narcotics squad. In Seattle, the SWAT team is
also out of the business of drug raids and suicide calls. Nor do the Seattle
police use a helicopter.
But in Fresno, or Meriden, or Champaign, Ill., where the SWAT teams serve
most of the drug warrants, there are no plans to retreat. The officers in
camouflage and helmets, carrying MP5s and Street Sweeper shotguns, are part
of the night.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp BC's Final "Show-Cause Showdown" With the City (A news release and call
to action issued by Cannabis Culture magazine, in Vancouver, British
Columbia, notes a city hearing on March 8 will be the hemp store's last
chance to renew its business licence. Actually, the "decision" seems to have
been made already. The only thing that might make a difference is a public
outcry. Hemp BC's Sister Icee has already attended four of the city council
hearings. The hearings, characterized by the local media as a "kangaroo
court," have been fraught with shows of bad faith, disrespect for the Supreme
Court of BC, and blatant lying by the city and its lawyers. Fear-mongering
police officers, instrumental in past busts against Hemp BC, have been called
as witnesses to slander Icee's store. In the gallery, a disaffected public
hiss and boo at the outrageous injustice of the city's machinations.)
From: creator@drugsense.org (Cannabis Culture)
To: cclist@drugsense.org
Subject: CC: Hemp BC's Final Showdown
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 1999 21:50:39 -0800
Lines: 229
Sender: creator@drugsense.org
Reply-To: creator@drugsense.org
Organization: Cannabis Culture (http://www.cannabisculture.com/)
HEMP BC'S FINAL "SHOW-CAUSE SHOWDOWN" WITH THE CITY
If the Public Doesn't Do Something, Hemp BC Could Soon Be Gone
By Reverend Damuzi
March 8 is Hemp BC's last day in city hearings to decide if the store
will get a business licence. But the "decision" seems already made. The
only thing that might make a difference is public outcry.
Hemp BC's Sister Icee has already attended four of the city council
hearings. The hearings, characterized by the local media as a "Kangaroo
Court", have been fraught with shows of bad faith, disrespect for the
Supreme Court of BC, and blatant lying by the city and its lawyers.
Fear-mongering police officers, instrumental in past busts against Hemp
BC, have been called as witnesses to slander Icee's store. In the
gallery, a disaffected public hiss and boo at the outrageous injustice
of the city's machinations.
Meanwhile, Mayor Philip Owen, who was forced to dismiss himself because
of personal bias, sits behind a curtain, a twisted caricature of the
grand Wizard of Oz, pulling the strings of his stand-in, Deputy Mayor
George Puil.
THE FIRST TWO HEARINGS
After raiding Hemp BC repeatedly over the last few years, after beating
those who protested the raids, after harassing and intimidating
customers of the store, it may seem that the city had exhausted its
means of shutting the store down. But it hadn't.
Sister Icee, present owner of Hemp BC, has been waiting for a business
license which she was promised months ago, in exchange for an agreement
not to promote paraphernalia in the windows of Hemp BC.
The city stalled with the false excuse that Icee had "drug" charges
against her, as a result of a raid on September 30, 1998 (see CC #15).
Her "drug" charges were actually 462.2 charges, for the promotion and
sale of "illicit drug paraphernalia," and not actual drug charges at
all. Sister Icee quickly launched a defamation suit against the city.
The September raid had been partially justified by "operation intruder"
a conspiracy, by Vancouver Police and the US Marines, to smoke
marijuana in the Cannabis Cafe, Hemp BC's companion store on April 30.
Vancouver Police Officer Mark Bragagnola and US marine Stacy Sherman
faced charges of marijuana possession, as they did not acquire the
necessary government authorization to purchase or smoke marijuana. The
Justice of the Peace, however, conveniently decided not to pursue the
charges in court.
Meanwhile, the proceedings against Hemp BC continued. The city set a
date to dispatch with Sister Icee once and for all. A city council
"hearing" was called. But it seemed that the outcome had already been
decided.
"Hemp BC will be toast," Mayor Owen said.
Sister Icee fought back with a Supreme Court injunction against the
proceedings. In what appeared to be a show of good faith on the part of
the city, Icee's and the city's lawyers reached a deal. The hearing
would continue, but it would focus only on matters concerning the
business license, not on 462.2 charges against Icee. Additionally,
Mayor Owen dismissed himself as chair of city hearings into Hemp BC's
application for a business license because of his obvious bias. But it
was all a rouse.
On December 8, 1998, the first date of the hearing, city council was
ready to make a decision even before Icee arrived. Deputy Mayor George
Puil was hand-picked to tow Philip Owen's political line against Hemp
BC. Despite the Supreme Court agreement, every councillor had been
provided with a binder full of information relating to 462.2 charges
against Sister Icee and other charges against the store's former owner,
Marc Emery.
As the hearing progressed, the city's demonstration of bad faith
continued. While questioning the city license inspector, city lawyer
John Nelson repeatedly made reference to charges against Emery and
Sister Icee. Although Sister Icee's lawyers objected, Deputy Mayor
George Puil rudely brushed aside the objections and continued with the
proceedings.
In the galleries, onlookers grumbled and shouted about the city's show
of bad faith. Two city councillors, Nancy Chiavario and Alan Herber,
also commented on the impropriety of the hearings. When the day had
ended, Puil announced that the hearings would continue on December 10,
despite an agreement that they would continue on January 26, 1999.
"I'll hold the hearings on Christmas Day if I have to," said Grinch
Puil, "and I don't care who can come."
The next day, the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers roundly
condemned Deputy Mayor Puil's blatant violation of deals made with Hemp
BC in Supreme Court.
On December 10, the slander against Hemp BC in city council
accelerated. It seemed Puil intended to push for an injunction against
the store despite long-forgotten deals made in Supreme Court. One
officer, Constable Jones, claimed that a body found in a dumpster down
the block from Hemp BC a week and a half before the hearing was the
result of the store's presence in the area.
Despite continued slander against Hemp BC, however, Puil held back from
concluding the proceedings, and deferred them until January 26, 1999.
Perhaps he was influenced by the reaction of media the day before.
THE SECOND TWO HEARINGS
At the hearing on January 26th, city lawyers continued to refer to
462.2 charges of selling "illicit drug paraphernalia" against Icee, the
store's owner, despite promises from the city in Supreme Court to
refrain from such references.
"It was a joke," says Sean Price, a volunteer at the store. "The whole
462.2 issue. It also jeopardizes Icee's criminal trial because all the
information has been made public at the city hearing. This is a
show-cause hearing for a business license, not a court of law."
Among those testifying were officers who have been instrumental in
raiding Hemp BC in the past.
"All the police come up and just blab bull shit into the microphone,"
recounts Sean. "They had all the big players there, too: Tyldsley,
Thurber, Cope, Bragagnola, Loes."
Meanwhile, Philip Owen, who had to excuse himself from the hearings
because of personal bias in the matter (he wants Hemp BC gone), has
become like the Wizard of Oz.
"There he is," says Sean, "in the back of the room behind a curtain,
listening to the whole thing."
On February 4, the atrocity continued. Sister Icee recounts how the
city's lawyers attacked her character at the February 4 hearing.
"City legal wrapped up their case with some video clips, a Roger's
interview I did with Marc. Each segment lasted 3 seconds. Then they
turned it off. Just enough to show what they wanted everyone to see.
There was one in which I said 'I smoke pot' and he clicked it off and
he said, 'that's that'. The second lasted the same length and it
described how I used marijuana for medicine for both my children
instead of pharmaceuticals. And I thought, 'that made me look good.'
Then I looked around and realized where I was."
Still, the public in the gallery have been supportive of Icee and Hemp
BC, cheering her and booing the perverted city process with ironic
jeers."
"After that," says Icee, "the gallery erupted into cheers - someone
yelled, 'burn her at the stake!'"
Personal attacks against Sister Icee are a continued violation of the
city's agreement to refrain from introducing any evidence not related
to the running of the store.
"It's taking a long time because every second word is us disputing and
objecting to their evidence. They are breaking their word. They're not
respecting the criminal code or the charter."
Hemp BC also had the opportunity to introduce evidence, but Icee feels
her lawyers' words went unheeded by city council.
"Nothing came of it. We called some witnesses that said Hemp BC
benefitted the area and we presented a petition with 10,000 signatures,
all of them from inside the store."
Unless Hemp BC gets outstanding public support, it may be facing a
whole new round of police raids and intimidations as a business without
a licence. The whole store might be shut down and dismantled. Come to
the hearing on March 8 and show your support as a member of the
cannabis community, or prepare to say goodbye to Canada's most
important activist institution.
Hemp BC's last hearing is March 8, 7:00 pm, 3rd floor council chambers
at Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th (near West 12th and Cambie). If
you can't be there to show your support, then call the councilors and
the Mayor, e-mail them, send them a fax, and/or send them a letter.
CONTACTS
Contact Sister Icee and show her your support.
Sister Icee of Hemp BC: (604) 681-4620; sisterc@hempbc.com
Contact these people at city hall and express your disgust with the
biased city hearings, the lack of good faith and the lies. There are
only six councilors left in the process. Others have been removed for
various reasons. Councilors Herbert, Ballamy, Sullivan have expressed
varying degrees of concern over the city's biased process. According to
Sister Icee, Lynne Kennedy and George Puil are the most outspoken
against Hemp BC. The sixth councilor left in the process is Don Lee.
Your opinions might make the difference in how they vote - if enough
people call.
Mayor and councilors: Vancouver City Hall, 435 West 12th, Vancouver,
BC, V5Y 1V4; mailto:mayorandcouncil@city.vancouver.bc.ca; fax (604)
873-7750 (for councilors only)
Mayor Philip Owen: (604) 873-7621; fax (604) 873-7685
Deputy Mayor George Puil: (604) 873-7249
Councilor Alan Herbert: (604) 873-7241
Councilor Don Ballamy: (604) 873-7240
Councilor Sam Sullivan: (604) 873-7245
Councilor Don Lee: (604) 873-7247
Councilor Nancy Chiavario: (604) 873-7248
Councilor Daniel Lee: (604) 873-7246
Councilor Jennifer Clarke: (604) 873-7244
Gordon Price: (604) 873-7243
Alan Herbert: (604) 873-7241
Lynne Kennedy: (604) 873-7245
Dan Loehndorf
Assistant Editor
Cannabis Culture Magazine
***
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Write to: 324 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC, CANADA, V6B 1A1
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico Drug Certification Likely (The Associated Press says congressional
critics of the Clinton administration's decision to certify Mexico as an ally
in the United States' war on some drug users are moving to formally challenge
the president. But opponents - mostly in the House - seem unlikely to muster
the necessary votes.)
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 17:27:57 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Mexico Drug Certification Likely
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Mon, 01 Mar 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Tom Raum, Associated Press Writer
MEXICO DRUG CERTIFICATION LIKELY
WASHINGTON - Some congressional critics of President Clinton's
certification of Mexico as an ally in the drug war are moving to
formally challenge the decision. But they seem unlikely to muster the
votes needed, and some are conceding it could be an exercise in futility.
"Clearly there are not the votes to succeed with a challenge, and
having a divisive battle on the floor makes no sense," Sen. Dianne
Feinstein, D-Calif., said in a statement.
Feinstein was a leader in the 1998 effort to block the annual
certification of Mexico as an anti-drug partner, but says she won't
challenge the president this year, even though she still has serious
reservations about his decision.
Most of the vocal criticism of the president's move is coming from the
House side.
House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., said, "Mexico has not done
enough to meet the requirements of our law." And Rep. Benjamin Gilman,
R-N.Y., chairman of the House International Relations Committee,
called Mexico's record "dismal" and said Clinton's certification
"cannot stand."
Reps. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and Clay Shaw, R-Fla., were expected to
introduce a decertification resolution today.
Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., chairman of the Government Reform
subcommittee on counternarcotics, scheduled a hearing for Thursday and
said he believed the decertification resolution would draw substantial
support.
"In terms of cooperation, we get a big fat zero from Mexico on
specifics," Mica said in an interview.
But congressional leadership aides said it seemed doubtful the
resolution could win a majority in both chambers, let alone the
two-thirds that would be needed to override a near-certain veto.
Congress has 30 days, until April 1, to act.
In its annual review of 28 countries that produce or serve as conduits
for illegal drugs, the administration on Friday cited only two Burma
and Afghanistan for not fully cooperating in counternarcotics efforts.
By law, countries found not to be fully cooperative are decertified
and can be subject to economic sanctions.
Critics of the decision claim Mexico has an abysmal record in fighting
drug trafficking.
But both Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and House Speaker
Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., have hinted they don't plan to make a major
effort to block the certification.
"It's not even on my radar screen," said John Czwartacki, a spokesman
for Lott. Even so, he said, "options are being mulled."
Even so, Mica said the speaker "has asked us to do a thorough review"
and he did not think Hastert was "closed to decertification."
In the Senate, the opposition is more muted.
A bipartisan group of eight senators, led by Sen. Charles E. Grassley,
R- Iowa, sent a letter to Clinton requesting that the process for
measuring Mexico's progress be reviewed and that next year's
decision be tied to specific accomplishments.
"The government of Mexico has taken steps to improve its law
enforcement cooperation," the letter said. "But far more, we believe,
needs to be done." Feinstein and Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., who last
year led the effort to overturn the certification, were among those
who signed the generally conciliatory letter.
Coverdell is the chairman of a U.S.-Mexico legislative conference in
Atlanta this spring. Congressional aides suggested he does not want to
anger the Mexicans by actively pressing for drug decertification at
this time.
to the 1999 Daily News index for Feb. 26-March 4