-------------------------------------------------------------------
Health Care: Drinking and Voting (Willamette Week, in Portland, promotes
Oregon Senate Bill 529, the Mental Health Parity Act, which would force
insurance companies to deal with disorders such as depression, schizophrenia
and alcoholism the same way they deal with chronic physical illnesses such as
asthma and diabetes - without imposing arbitrary limits on the amount of
money spent, the length of a patient's stay or the number of visits allowed.
A poll commissioned by the Oregon Medical Association, released March 3,
shows 85 percent of Oregon voters favor parity for mental illness, and 66
percent favor parity for chemical dependency. But SB 529 remains bottled up
in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Chairman Bill Fisher, a
Roseburg Republican, said he would not schedule a hearing.)
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
Tel. (503) 243-2122
Fax (503) 243-1115
Letters to the Editor:
Mark Zusman - mzusman@wweek.com
Web: http://www.wweek.com/
Note: Willamette Week welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or
fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street
address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to
letters of 250 words or less.
originally published March 3, 1999
Health Care: Drinking and Voting
* Mental-health advocates and drug counselors have long wanted insurance
companies to cover more treatments. Now they've got a chance, thanks to a
legislator's battle with the bottle.
BY CHRIS LYDGATE
clydgate@wweek.com
For 16 long years, state Sen. Lenn Hannon, a folksy moderate downstate
Republican, struggled with his alcoholism. At times he even clambered into
his vehicle when he'd had a few too many, despite having voted to stiffen
penalties for drunk drivers. His behavior was, he concedes, "the height of
hypocrisy."
Last year, Hannon checked into a residential alcohol rehabilitation program
in Medford, where he spent several weeks coming to grips with his problem.
But while he learned how to stay away from the bottle, Hannon, an Ashland
insurance agent, was startled to discover that many Oregonians can't afford
similar treatment. "I was very fortunate to have an insurance policy that
covered 100 percent of the cost," he told WW. "Most people don't."
As a result, Hannon is sponsoring a bill designed to put treatment for
mental illness and chemical dependency on a par with treatment for physical
ailments--a proposal that pits a broad coalition of health professionals and
advocates against the state's powerful insurance and business interests.
Although Hannon faces potent opposition inside the capitol, in the realm of
public opinion he clearly is backing a winner.
A poll commissioned by the Oregon Medical Association, which was released
March 3, shows that 85 percent of Oregon voters favor parity for mental
illness, while 66 percent favor parity for chemical dependency. In a
particularly striking result, 75 percent say they would be willing to pay
higher premiums for such coverage. The poll was conducted last month.
Senate Bill 529, the Mental Health Parity Act, would force insurance
companies to deal with disorders such as depression, schizophrenia and
alcoholism the same way they deal with chronic physical illnesses such as
asthma and diabetes--without imposing arbitrary limits on the amount of
money spent, the length of a patient's stay or the number of visits allowed.
"This bill is an effort to broaden that access," Hannon says.
In recent years, parity has become a rallying cry for the growing number of
people diagnosed with mental disorders or recovering from substance abuse,
and legislation mandating equal coverage for mental and physical disorders
has passed in 19 other states.
A similar bill was introduced during the 1997 Oregon Legislature, but it
died without a hearing. This time, however, the proposal has some new
allies. Besides Hannon, backers now include psychiatrists, psychologists,
social workers and advocacy groups representing the mentally ill, the
elderly and the disabled. In addition, the influential Oregon Medical
Association, which gave the bill lukewarm support last session, has agreed
to put the proposal at the top of its agenda. "This is a very high priority
for us," says Jim Kronenberg, associate executive director of the OMA. "It's
an issue that keeps coming back."
Oregon law already requires insurance companies to provide mental-health and
substance-abuse coverage to the tune of at least $10,500 for adults and
$12,500 for children over a two-year period.
These minimums, set in 1983, were intended to provide a "floor," below which
insurance companies could not sink. In practice, advocates say, the floor
has become a ceiling, and individual insurance companies have become leery
of offering expanded coverage, lest they attract subscribers with a history
of mental illness and chemical dependency.
As a result of galloping medical inflation, patients are increasingly
bumping up against their insurance limits, precipitating a difficult
dilemma: pay the bills out of their own pockets for as long as they can or
cut short their treatment and risk relapse. "It's a huge societal expense,
not to mention the personal costs," says Portland psychiatrist Connie
Powell, an enthusiastic supporter of the bill. She has seen several patients
get sucked into a downward spiral of terminating treatment, losing their
equilibrium and losing their jobs. "It's very disturbing to watch," she says.
Proponents argue that improving coverage for treatments of mental illness
and substance abuse will save on other health-care costs, because these
conditions tend to aggravate physical illnesses. In a 1997 OMA survey,
Oregon doctors reported that 20 percent of their patients had a physical
problem that was made worse by psychological factors. For example, a patient
with an untreated anxiety disorder is at higher risk for high blood
pressure, a heart attack or a stroke. "If you treat the underlying mental
condition, the physical health will improve," says the OMA's Kronenberg.
The bill's supporters think they can muster enough votes in the House and
Senate to pass SB 529. But they're up against some tough competition:
Insurance companies, Associated Oregon Industries and Oregon's conservative
Republican leadership are all opposed to the bill.
The argument against the bill is partly philosophical. "In general, we have
historically been opposed to mandates," says Jan Van Dyke, assistant
vice-president for corporate communications at Regence BlueCross BlueShield
of Oregon.
But the argument clearly is also about money. While estimates vary, everyone
agrees the proposal would increase insurance premiums. According to an
actuarial report commissioned by the bill's backers, SB 529 would cause
premiums to jump 1.2 percent, or $1.27 per member per month. Industry
estimates are a bit higher. Regence actuaries, for example, reckon SB 529
would increase costs by 2 percent to 5.5 percent. At Kaiser Permanente,
preliminary estimates suggest an increase of 1.5 percent to 2 percent,
according to lawyer and lobbyist Bruce Bishop, who says very few subscribers
exceed the current limits.
A 1997 study conducted by the National Institutes of Health reported that
states that introduced parity legislation have seen total health-care costs
rise by less than 1 percent as a result.
While insurance companies agree these are not catastrophic increases, they
worry about piling any new costs on top of medical inflation already running
at 15 percent annually. "Where does it end?" asks Van Dyke.
The bill's opponents also say the parity bill could be the last straw for
small businesses. "Kaiser is concerned that some employers will reduce
benefits or drop coverage altogether," says Bishop. Other industry observers
say that concern is misplaced. "[This threat] is always bandied about," says
a local health-care insider.
As WW goes to press, SB 529 remains bottled up in the Senate Health and
Human Services Committee. Chairman Bill Fisher, a Roseburg Republican, told
WW he would not schedule a hearing. "As committee chairman, I have to make
some of the tough decisions," he said. "I believe I have the backing of the
leadership."
***
[sidebars:]
The Oregon Medical Association made SB 529 a priority partly because of the
efforts of three Portland-area doctors: physicians Frank Baumeister and
Leigh Dolin, both past OMA presidents, and psychiatrist Connie Powell.
Nineteen other states have passed similar "parity" bills: Arizona, Arkansas,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Maine, Maryland,
Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont.
In 1996, the federal government enacted legislation preventing insurance
companies from imposing dollar limits on coverage for mental illnesses or
substance abuse. But the federal law contains several loopholes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Crime and Justice: The Snitch Switch (Willamette Week says a bogus police
report circulating among gang members in Northeast Portland makes Isaac
Harden look like an even bigger stool pigeon than Aaron Walker, who testified
against Isaac and Danny Harden in their recent attempted-murder trial. As a
result, when Harden enters prison, he'll be considered a snitch, a marked
man.)
Willamette Week
822 SW 10th Ave.
Portland, OR 97205
Tel. (503) 243-2122
Fax (503) 243-1115
Letters to the Editor:
Mark Zusman - mzusman@wweek.com
Web: http://www.wweek.com/
Note: Willamette Week welcomes letters to the editor via mail, e-mail or
fax. Letters must be signed by the author and include the author's street
address and phone number for verification. Preference will be given to
letters of 250 words or less.
originally published March 3, 1999
Crime and Justice: The Snitch Switch
* In an effort to avoid being being trashed as an opportunist informant, a
Portland thug turns to creative writing.
BY MAUREEN O'HAGAN
mohagan@wweek.com
There's a strange new gang battle going on in Northeast Portland, but it
doesn't involve guns, drugs or money. Instead, some Portland underworld
figures are finding that the pen may be mightier than the sword.
The root of the battle can be traced back to this gangster truism: There's
nothing worse than a snitch.
In December of last year a flier began circulating in certain Northeast
Portland hot spots claiming Aaron Walker was going to testify against Isaac
and Danny Harden in their attempted-murder trial. ["Rogue of the Week," WW,
Jan. 20, 1999]
"Guess who's snitchin??!!" begins the flier, which encouraged readers to
attend the trial. "Don't miss this for anything! Help keep snitches out of
our community." The idea, allegedly concocted by one of the Harden brothers,
was that Walker might be intimidated from testifying in a packed courtroom.
But Walker took the stand anyway. On Jan. 11 Danny Harden was sentenced to
90 months in prison; last week Isaac was sentenced to 144 months.
Earlier this month, someone decided to turn the tables--and police think
Walker may have had something to do with it.
Copies of a bogus police report began making the rounds among gangbangers in
Northeast Portland. In the eyes of some criminals, the report makes Isaac
Harden look like an even bigger stool pigeon than Walker. The report was
written in cop lingo ("At 1500 hours I read Mr. Harden his Miranda
rights...") and riddled--for authenticity no doubt--with misspellings. It
says that Isaac Harden broke the gangster code.
In September, according to the report, Harden went to the police with
information "that would take four known gang members off the streets." The
report tells how Harden described to cops in detail a shooting last year at
a Southeast Portland restaurant, in which four Portland Bloods, including
Walker, were the culprits. "He said he was at a club called Monte Carlo on
or around Aug. 6th, when four members of the 'Woodlawn and loced out Bloods'
shot and tried to kill his two friends." It goes on to say that Harden even
offered to wear a wire to record a conversation with Walker and provide
other information regarding local "(Expensive Drug dealers) like T-Hog and
Big Shawn."
The phony report has been taken for the genuine article, reportedly causing
quite a stir among people who thought they could trust Harden. The fact that
Walker is indeed a suspect in the Monte Carlo shooting makes the document
seem all the more credible.
"I haven't seen anything like it before," said Deputy District Attorney Eric
Bergstrom, who prosecuted the Hardens. "It's taking publicity to a new level
of sophistication. It's pretty hilarious, really."
It isn't so funny for Harden, who will now enter prison wearing a snitch
jacket. "In custody it's worse if people think you're a snitch," Bergstrom
said. "As hard as it was for Aaron Walker to testify in court, he's at least
out [of prison]. Isaac is in, and he has to try to explain to people that
he's not really a snitch."
[sidebar notes:]
If Isaac Harden is a snitch, he's not a very good one. The sentence he got
last week was more than four years longer than the mandatory minimum.
During the Harden brothers' trial in January, the courtroom was packed with
a veritable who's who of Portland hoodlums.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Pot shots: Peron stages sit-in at Migden's office (The San Francisco Bay
Guardian says medical marijuana activist Dennis Peron and a handful of
supporters staged a 45-minute sit-in at the San Francisco office of state
assembly member Carole Migden on Feb. 26 to protest Migden's refusal to
sponsor a bill that would legally reschedule marijuana in California if and
when it's rescheduled by the federal government.)
Date: Fri, 05 Mar 1999 19:13:59 -0600
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Reply-To: compassion23@geocities.com
Organization: Rx Cannabis Now!
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DRCNet Medical Marijuana Forum (medmj@drcnet.org)
Subject: US CA SFBG: Pot shots Peron stages sit-in at Migden's office
Sender: owner-medmj@drcnet.org
Source: San Francisco Bay Guardian
Website http://www.sfbg.com
Email letters@sfbg.com
Pubdate: March 3, 1999
POT SHOTS PERON STAGES SIT-IN AT MIGDEN'S OFFICE
By Randall Lyman
Medical marijuana activist Dennis Peron and a handful of supporters staged a
45-minute sit-in at the San Francisco office of state assembly member Carole
Migden Friday, Feb. 26 to protest Migden's refusal to sponsor a bill that
would legally reclassify, or "reschedule," marijuana in California.
The bill, which Peron had asked Migden to introduce in the state
legislature, would reschedule marijuana automatically once it is rescheduled
by the federal government. Marijuana is currently a Schedule 1 drug, meaning
it is legally considered to have no medicinal value and to have a high
potential for abuse.
"I thought she should be the one to sponsor it," Peron said. "I've been
trying to convince her, but she refuses. People have to suffer more because
she's stalling."
Migden and her chief of staff in Sacramento, Alan Lofaso, told the Bay
Guardian they fully supported rescheduling marijuana but believed that
introducing a bill now would be ineffectual.
"Of course we could do it now, but it wouldn't help, because federal law is
the hurdle," Lofaso said. "Introducing a bill doesn't send a message to the
federal government. The state of California taking action sends a message.
That was what Proposition 215 did."
"We don't need convincing," Migden said of Peron's bill. "If the federal
government reschedules [during the current session], I'll sponsor a bill. I
commit 100 percent to using one of my bills or someone else's bill to
reschedule marijuana."
Peron remained unconvinced. "She says, 'if and when.' That's exactly what
we're trying to avoid. Just because the federal government reschedules
doesn't mean California will have to." On the contrary, he said, federal
rescheduling would only increase law-enforcement resistance to changing
state law.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Place Called Mena - Just Some Facts (Wall Street Journal editorial writer
Micah Morrison clues in corporate America to what is probably the real
Clinton administration scandal - the officially sanctioned smuggling of
illegal drugs through Mena airport while Clinton was governor.)
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 05:05:48 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US AR: Place Called Mena?Just Some Facts
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: tjeffoc@sirius.com (Tom O'Connell)
Pubdate: 3 Mar 1999
Source: Wall Street Journal (NY)
Copyright: 1999 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Contact: letter.editor@edit.wsj.com
Website: http://www.wsj.com/
Author: Micah Morrison
PLACE CALLED MENA-JUST SOME FACTS
Reacting to the Juanita Broaddrick story, White House spokesman Joe
Lockhart said the Journal editorial page "lost me after they accused the
president of being a drug smuggler and a murderer." We made no such
charges, of course. But we'll give Mr. Lockhart a pass on the grounds of
hyperbole; we have indeed reported stories about the seamy side of Bill
Clinton's Arkansas.
Most of our stories as opposed to gamier Arkansas tales traded on the
Internet have revolved around Mena Intermountain Regional Airport in
western Arkansas. Even as careful an observer as David Frum, writing in
Commentary, criticizes "wild charges" including "drugsmuggling via Mena
airport." Since drug smuggling at Mena is, established beyond doubt, a
brief review of some facts seems in order:
* Mena was a staging ground for Barry Seal, one of the most notorious drug
smugglers in history. He established a base at Mena in 1981, and according to
Arkansas law enforcement officials, imported as much as 1,000 pounds of
cocaine a month from Colombia. In 1984 he became an informant for the Drug
Enforcement Administration, flying to Colombia and gathering information
about leaders of the Medellin cartel. He testified in several highprofile
cases, and was assassinated in Baton Rouge, La., in 1986.
* Two investigators probing events at Mena say they were closed down. William
Duncan, a former lnternal Revenue Service investigator, and Russell Welch, a
former Arkansas State Police detective. They fought a decade long battle to
bring events at Mena to light, pinning their hopes on nine separate state and
federal probes. All failed. And Messrs. Welch and Duncan were stripped of
their careers.
* In 1986, Dan Lasater, Little Rock bond daddy and an important Clinton
campaign contributor, pleaded guilty to cocaine distribution. The scheme
also involved Mr. Clinton's brother, Roger. Both Mr. Lasater and Roger
Clinton served brief prison terms. Gov. Clinton later issued a pardon to
Mr. Lasater.
* On Aug. 23,1987, teenagers Kevin Ives and Don Henry were run over by a
northbound Union Pacific train near Little Rock in an area reputed to be a
haven for drug smugglers. Gov. Clinton's state medical examiner, Fahmy
Malak, quickly ruled the deaths accidental, saying the two boys had fallen
into a deep sleep side by side on the railroad tracks after smoking too
much marijuana. A second autopsy concluded the boys had been murdered and
their bodies placed on the tracks. Despite public outcry, Dr. Malak
remained medical examiner until just before Mr. Clinton's presidential
campaign.
* In 1990 Jean Duffey, the head of a newly created drug task force, began
investigating a possible link between the train deaths and drugs. Her boss,
the departing prosecuting attorney for Arkansas's Seventh Judicial District,
gave her a direct order: "You are not to use the drug task force to
investigate public officials.' In a 1996 interview with the Journal, Ms.
Duffey said: "We had witnesses telling us about low flying aircraft and
inforrnants testifying about drug pick ups."
* Dan Harmon, who had earlier been appointed special prosecutor for the
train deaths, took office in 1991 as seventh district prosecutor. Ms.
Duffey was discredited, threatened, and ultimately forced to flee Arkansas.
In 1997, a federal jury in Little Rock found Mr. Harmon guilty of five
counts of drug dealing and extortion, and sentenced him to eight years in
prison for using his office to extort narcotics and cash. Mr. Lockhart to the
contrary, we have never accused Mr. Clinton of a direct role in these
events. Obviously, as governor for 12 years, he was ultimately responsible
for Arkansas law enforcement. As president, he has commented only once
about events at Mena. Asked about it during a 1994 press conference, he
said that it was "primarily a matter of federal jurisdiction" and "they
didn't tell me anything about it."
* In 1984, Seal flew his C 123K to Nicaragua in a Central Intelligence Agency
drug sting of Sandinista officials. The CIA rigged a hidden camera in the
plane, enabling Sum to snap photos of several men - including a high ranking
Sandinista - loading cocaine aboard the aircraft. In 1986, eight months after
Seal's death, his plane was shot down over Nicaragua with an Arkansas pilot
at the wheel and a load of ammunition and contra supporter Eugene Hasenfus in
the cargo bay.
* Three days after the 1996 presidential election, the CIA issued a brief
report saying it had engaged in "authorized and lawful activities" at the
airfield, including "routine aviation related services'! and a secret
"joint training operation with another federal agency." The agency said it
was not "associated with money laundering, narcotics trafficking, arms
smuggling:, or other illegal activities" at Mena.
The statement was issued in response to a probe by investigators for the
House Banking Committee, directed by Chairman Jim Leach. His report has
been often promised and often delayed. Yesterday Leach spokesman David
Runkel said that Banking Committee investigators are "putting the finishing
touches" on their report. "While there is an extraordinary story to be
told, it's unlikely that the president is golng to be too severely
embarrassed."
Whatever Mr. Clinton's involvement as governor, something singular was
going on at Mena. Perhaps Mr. Leach will yet shed some light on the mystery.
Mr. Morrison is a Journal editorial page writer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced (The Associated Press says U.S. Rep. Barney
Frank of Massachusetts proposed legislation Wednesday that would reclassify
marijuana as a Schedule II drug, meaning it could be prescribed by doctors
under certain conditions, just as cocaine and other controlled substances
are. The bill would set aside the federal ban on marijuana in those states
where voters have permitted medical use of the drug, but would not affect
states that have not permitted such use.)
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 05:06:00 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: 3 Mar 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
Author: Melissa B. Robinson Associated Press Writer
MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL INTRODUCED
WASHINGTON (AP) A Democratic congressman wants to lift the federal ban on
the medical use of marijuana in states where voters have approved it as a
treatment for pain, nausea or other problems.
"What we need to do to get marijuana into the hands of people suffering is
to set aside the federal controls on marijuana, so the states can determine
this issue for themselves," Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts said Wednesday.
Frank has proposed legislation that would reclassify marijuana as a
Schedule II drug, meaning that it could be prescribed by doctors under
certain conditions, just as cocaine and other controlled substances are.
Prescriptions for such drugs are subject to federal and state review.
The bill would set aside the federal ban on marijuana in those states
Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Nevada where voters
have permitted medical use of the drug. The bill would not affect states
that have not permitted such use.
Although marijuana users with a demonstrated medical need don't face state
prosecution in those six states, they still face possible federal
prosecution, Frank said. Doctors, too, may shy away from prescribing the
drug for fear of losing their right to prescribe other federally controlled
substances, he said.
The bill would also require the federal government to supply marijuana for
research.
Frank has pressed the issue twice before, and he is not hopeful that his
latest proposal will pass the Republican-controlled 106th Congress.
Last fall, the House adopted by 310-93 vote a resolution by Rep. Bill
McCollum, R-Fla., that said marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and
should not be legalized for medical use. Supporters said efforts to
legalize the drug for medical use send the wrong message to teen-agers, and
that scientific testing has not proved a medical use for marijuana.
But the New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of
medical marijuana, and the American Medical Association has urged the
National Institutes of Health to support more research on the subject.
On Wednesday, Canada's health minister authorized clinical trials to
determine if marijuana is a useful medicine for people suffering from
terminal illnesses and other painful conditions.
And a report from the International Drug Control Board concluded last month
that in-depth and impartial scientific studies should be conducted into
marijuana's possible medical benefits.
In addition to the six states that allow medical uses of marijuana, 11
states have reduced the possession of small amounts of the drug to a minor
civil offense, similar to a traffic violation. They are Alaska, Oregon,
California, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, Mississippi, Ohio, North
Carolina, New York and Maine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
DRCNet Newsflash (A bulletin from the Drug Reform Coordination Network alerts
online activists to two developments - a "48 Hours" newscast on chronic pain,
and opposing op-eds by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder and DRCNet's Adam J. Smith in
the Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia, regarding the Higher
Education Act's ban on loans to student pot smokers.)
Date: Wed, 03 Mar 1999 21:23:20 -0500
To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: DRCNet Newsflash
Sender: owner-drc-natl@drcnet.org
Dear DRCNet Readers:
Usually we only write you once a week, with our weekly drug
policy e-zine, The Week Online with DRCNet. Issue #81 of the WOL
will be going out late tomorrow night as scheduled. This week,
though, we're sending this quick note to let you know a couple of
things in the meantime:
1) The CBS news program 48 Hours is doing a program on a very
important issue to drug reformers, the issue of chronic pain.
Under the war on drugs, patients who need opiate therapy to bring
their pain within manageable levels, are often unable to get
prescriptions, because the same drugs are illegal for non-medical
use and prescriptions of them are monitored by the DEA and state
medical boards. Read more about this problem on our web site at
http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/pain.html, and much more at the
web site of the American Society for Action on Pain,
http://www.actiononpain.org. We don't know how much focus 48
Hours will put on this aspect of the issue, but we have been
told they've interviewed a patient who had to fly across the
country to find a doctor willing to treat his pain adequately.
It's worth checking out if you're interested in this aspect of
the issue.
2) DRCNet's Higher Education Action reform campaign is taking
off! Last week, DRCNet Associate Director Adam J. Smith
faced off with the HEA drug provision's sponsor, Rep. Mark
Souder, in an op-ed in the University of Virginia's daily
newspaper, the Cavalier Daily. Souder attacked DRCNet by
name and attempted to rebut our arguments. But his own stats
turned out to be highly misleading, and he even
mischaracterized his own legislation! Read more about it
online at http://www.u-net.org. Donations to support the
campaign can be made at http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html,
or checks can be mailed to: DRCNet, 2000 P St., NW, Suite
615, Washington, DC 20036. (It'll save us a lot of typing
if you go to the online registration form first, though.)
- David Borden
Executive Director
-------------------------------------------------------------------
US Criticism Of China Rings Hollow In US Prisons (Boston Globe columnist
Derrick Z. Jackson contrasts the U.S. State Department's report last week on
human rights abuses in China with Sunday's New York Times article about human
rights abuses in America attributable to the crack cocaine scare of 1986. It
is increasingly difficult for the United States to demand that China be on
the "right side of history" when you could take many parts of the State
Department report, change only the location, and have the same report about
the United States. For example, the State Department complains that China is
in denial about racism against its ethnic minorities, yet nearly every
serious study of the American criminal justice system has found that it
profoundly discriminates against African-Americans and Latinos.)
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 17:26:40 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: US Criticism Of China Rings Hollow In Us Prisons
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Pubdate: Wed, 03 March 1999
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.
Contact: letters@globe.com
Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/
Author: Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Columnist
US CRITICISM OF CHINA RINGS HOLLOW IN US PRISONS
It will be interesting to see how long the White House can recite
China's abuses when its own moral threads are unraveling to the point
that it has become the schoolmarm scolding the world in exposed lingerie.
Last week the State Department issued a stinging report on human
rights abuses in China. The report said, "Abuses included instances of
extrajudicial killings, torture and mistreatment of prisoners, forced
confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention, lengthy incommunicado
detention and denial of due process.
"Prison conditions at most facilities remained harsh. In many cases,
particularly sensitive political cases, the judicial system denies
criminal defendants basic legal safeguards and due process because
authorities attach higher priority to maintaining public order and
suppressing political opposition than to enforcing legal norms."
To emphasize the point, President Clinton said last weekend in
California, "I believe, sooner or later, China will have to come to
understand" that it "cannot purchase stability at the expense of
freedom." He said this as Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was
off to China, where she lectured Chinese officials on human rights.
Albright said, "It is very important for China to be on the right side
of history."
It is increasingly difficult for the United States to demand that
China be on the right side of history when you could take many parts
of the State Department report about China, change only the location,
and have the same report about the United States.
The United States knocks China's courts, but the United States has the
world's highest level of incarceration in the developed world. The
report complains that China does not openly recognize racism against
ethnic minorities, yet nearly every serious study of the American
criminal justice system has found that it profoundly discriminates
against African-Americans and Latinos.
The latest example of this was Sunday's New York Times, which laid out
(finally) the facts that allow one to conclude that the war on crack
has been every bit as oppressive for black and brown people as the
tanks rolling down Tiananmen Square. Filled with hysteria and absent
of medical reasoning, Congress enacted laws in the 1980s that sent
holders of 40 grams of crack cocaine to jail for 10 years while
someone nailed with 400 grams of powdered cocaine could serve a year
or less in jail.
Though federal statistics show that up to 62 percent of crack users
are actually white, 90 percent of the people jailed under federal laws
for crack are African-American. Though white Americans are 76 percent
of the population and consume 75 percent of the illegal drugs in the
United States, African-Americans and Latinos make up 79 percent of
drug convictions in state courts from 1990 through 1996 and 71 percent
of the drug convictions in federal courts.
This has not reduced drug use. Only 5 percent of federal crack arrests
were for high-level dealers. Instead, the harsh laws ensnared the
chumps of the trade and unwitting friends and family of dealers,
sometimes resulting in five to 10 years for first-time offenses.
It was ironic that Clinton chose California to urge the Chinese
government to open up its political system and not to "limit the
aspirations of its people." California is one of the nation's best
examples of how the drug war has sucked aspiration out of the reach of
the state's youth.
There are now five times more African-Americans in California jails
and prisons than in the state's universities. Spending on prisons in
California has grown over twice as fast as spending for the state's
public schools and has skyrocketed while college spending has been
cut. The cuts are so parallel with prison spending that there is
little doubt of a direct shift in spending, even though it costs
$22,000 a year to incarcerate someone in the state while it costs
$4,000 a year for college. Prison guards now make more than university
professors.
Clinton knows this. He knew that the crack laws were unjust from the
start. He knows that vast numbers of the people being jailed for drugs
are nonviolent offenders whom studies would say would more effectively
reclaim their lives and the livelihoods of their families with
education and other second chances.
But he and his cowering administration have been unwilling for six
years to challenge the gulag mentality of the Republicans. Clinton has
waited so long that he has handed the Chinese government the spoon to
feed him his own medicine. When the State Department released its
report last week, Chinese officials wasted no time in firing back, in
effect, "yes, and what about your prisons, your black people dying at
the hands of the police, your widening gap between rich and poor and
41 million people going without health insurance?"
Clinton has waited so long that each complaint about China only begs a
harder look at home. He criticizes China for lack of due process. He
cannot say anything until he moves to end the undue process of the
crack laws and the undue procession of black men from hope into jail.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dad lacks strength to read dead son's journal (A letter to the editor of the
Province, in British Columbia, from a father whose son was poisoned in 1993
by adulterated street heroin, says prohibition also killed Allister Marselje,
who weighed out gram bags of cannabis in a Vancouver smoke-easy. Bigoted and
ignorant citizens are needed to maintain the war on drugs. Jean Chretien, the
Canadian prime minister, could do something, but refuses to lift a finger to
save the lives of our children. Allister's death must be laid at Chretien's
door.)
Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 16:49:31 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: PUB LTE: Dad Lacks Strength To Read Dead Son's Journal
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Alan Randell
Pubdate: Pubdate: 3 March 1999
Source: Vancouver Province (Canada)
Copyright: The Province, Vancouver 1999
Contact: provletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Website: http://www.vancouverprovince.com/
Author: Alan Randell, Victoria
Dad lacks strength to read dead son's journal
My heart goes out to Gwen Robertson as she tries to come to terms with
the tragic death of her son, Allister Marselje (Mom mourns son lost to mean
streets, Feb. 28). Allister was one more casualty of the war on drugs
and that ridiculous law that seeks to punish individuals for what they
ingest into their own bodies.
My son, Peter, who was poisoned in 1993 by adulterated street heroin,
was another.
Like Allister, Peter kept a journal, but I haven't yet summoned up the
courage to read it myself, although his mother has read portions of it to
me.
However there is one group of Province readers who are presumably
celebrating Allister's death.
To judge from their angry, self-righteous letters back on January 6 in
support of the Abbotsford police killing of the family dog in a drug
raid, they feel that the only good drug dealer is a dead drug dealer,
and Allister was, in their terms, a drug dealer.
Bigoted and ignorant citizens are needed to maintain the war on drugs
that's for sure. But a courageous and honourable Prime Minister could
easily sway the howling mob if he had a mind to.
It is Jean Chretien, who refuses to lift a finger to stop the drug war
and save the lives of our children, at whose door Allister's death
must be laid.
Alan Randell
Victoria
***
Eleanor and Alan Randell
1821 Knutsford Place, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8N 6E3
E-mail: arandell@islandnet.com
Telephones: Home 250-721-0356
Work (Alan) 250-952-2926
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Rock agrees to pot trials (The Canadian Press version)
From: creator@islandnet.com (Matt Elrod)
To: mattalk@listserv.islandnet.com
Subject: Canada: Rock agrees to pot trials
Date: Thu, 04 Mar 1999 09:38:49 -0800
Lines: 103
Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Rock agrees to pot trials
By JIM BROWN -- The Canadian Press
OTTAWA (CP) -- Health Minister Allan Rock has asked his officials to
draw up a plan for clinical trials on the medical use of marijuana
--and to figure out how a safe supply could be provided to those who
might need the drug to ease pain.
"There are Canadians who are suffering from terminal illnesses, who
are in pain or suffering from difficult symptoms, who believe that
smoking medical marijuana can help with their symptoms," Rock said
Wednesday.
But before the government makes a final decision it wants scientific
evidence, not just anecdotal testimony, on whether smoking pot can
help relieve pain.
"Clinical trials will help us develop that evidence in a calm,
rational way," Rock said outside the Commons.
"I think Canadians support, on a compassionate basis, if someone is
dying, access to a substance that could alleviate their symptoms."
Various lobby groups and individuals contend that marijuana can help
ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, advanced AIDs and a
range of other ailments.
Some users have clashed with the law after being arrested for
possession, trafficking or growing pot. But many convictions have
resulted in lenient sentences, and in some cases absolute discharges
that left the person with no criminal record.
Rock, who has been wrestling with the problem for some time,
announced his plan a day before the Commons was to debate a private
member's motion by Bloc Quebecois MP Bernard Bigras advocating
legalization of marijuana for medical use.
The initiative has attracted two NDP MPs, Nelson Riis and Libby
Davies, as co-sponsors. It is slated to be one of the few pieces of
private member's business that will come to a formal vote in this
session of the Commons.
Liberal sources confirmed Rock's timing Wednesday was a matter of
political calculation rather than coincidence.
"Allan's been talking about this for a long time, he feels strongly
about it," said one insider. "And it's always good to be ahead of an
issue."
It was not clear how long the clinical trials might take, though
officials say research projects of this kind typically go on for two
to three years.
Only if the trials show marijuana is medically useful would the
government go on to the next step -- a formal decision on whether to
allow full-time legal access to the drug for medical use.
In the meantime, Rock is looking at the possibility of issuing
special permission for individuals to use the drug on a case-by-case
basis, whether they participate in the research trials or not.
"He doesn't want a restrictive process that would deny access in
compassionate cases," said one senior official.
Aside from gathering scientific evidence, Rock wants to examine how
to provide a safe and controlled supply of medical marijuana for those
who might need it.
The minister was careful to specify that the trials do not mean the
government is moving toward wider legalization of pot for recreational
purposes.
"I've asked officials to develop a plan for research," he said. "It
has nothing to do with legalizing marijuana."
Reform health critic Grant Hill said he favours clinical trials "to
look at anything that will help people out."
But he was uneasy that the move might widen into a campaign for
legalization of marijuana for any purpose.
"As a medical doctor I've treated young people who were habituated to
marijuana, whose marks had suffered, whose lives were wrecked. That's
my concern."
Bigras, speaking for the Bloc, welcomed Rock's announcement but
warned that the minister shouldn't use clinical trials as an excuse to
postpone a political decision.
There has to be a way for individuals to get access to the drug on a
compassionate basis while the trials go on, said Bigras.
Terrence Stewart, chairman of the Canadian AIDS Society, called
Rock's announcement "a great step." But he quickly added the society
will keep pressing Ottawa to take the next step and decriminalize the
drug for medical use.
"Just providing the drugs under a clinical trial is not going to be
the answer. We have to have a commitment from the government that they
will see it through to the end."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Dope Inquiry Aside, Status Quo To Stay (The New Zealand Herald says that
despite a parliamentary committee's report in December encouraging the
Government to review cannabis policies, the Minister of Police, Clem Simich,
has indicated that no changes are in the pipeline.)
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 21:40:42 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: New Zealand: Dope Inquiry Aside, Status Quo To Stay
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: David Hadorn
Pubdate: Wed, 03 Mar 1999
Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: New Zealand Herald
Contact: editor@herald.co.nz
Website: http://www.herald.co.nz/nzherald/index.html
Author: Eugene Bingham
DOPE INQUIRY ASIDE, STATUS QUO TO STAY
Cannabis laws look unlikely to be relaxed, despite a parliamentary inquiry
encouraging the Government to review its existing policy.
Just weeks before the Government response to the health select committee
report is expected, the Minister of Police, Clem Simich, has indicated that
no changes to the cannabis laws are in the pipeline.
The committee's report in December recommended that the Government
reconsider the legal status of the drug because it was "clear that current
policies do not deter cannabis use to any great extent."
It stopped one step short of calling for the decriminalisation of cannabis.
The Government's response is due on March 17, but Mr Simich told Parliament
yesterday that no changes were planned.
To a question from Mauri Pacific MP Tukoroirangi Morgan on whether there
were any moves to alter the Government's cannabis policy, Mr Simich answered
"no."
"I am probably more aware than any other member in this House of the dangers
of the use of marijuana, and I have always said that it's a matter that
needs to be looked at," said Mr Simich, a former policeman.
"We need to do a lot more, and we intend to do a lot more in terms of
encouraging and counselling and all sorts of other measures to make sure
that New Zealanders minimise the use of this awful drug."
Mr Simich faced questioning over his stance in favour of decriminalisation,
which is at odds with the position of the Prime Minister, Jenny Shipley, and
other National MPs.
He said there was no split in the Government on the issue, and that his
position was a personal one.
The 10-member committee studied the effects of cannabis on mental health and
concluded that these had been overstated and that moderate use of the drug
did not harm most people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
New Drug Army Rules Atop 'Golden Triangle' (According to an Associated Press
article in the Seattle Times, the U.S. State Department calls the United Wa
State Army, one of many ethnic groups not controlled by the central
government of Myanmar, part of "the world's biggest armed
narcotics-trafficking organization." A generation ago, the Wa were feared
headhunters. Now, Thai officers monitoring the border say the Wa are becoming
the masters of the Golden Triangle, where the frontiers of Myanmar, Laos and
Thailand converge. Tensions have risen as the central government has demanded
that the Wa head back toward their old strongholds near China. The Wa,
unwilling to lose heroin gateways through Thailand, have ignored the order
and begun preparing for war.)
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 05:05:09 -0800
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Myanmar: New Drug Army Rules Atop 'Golden Triangle'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: 3 Mar 1999
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 1999 The Seattle Times Company
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author: Don Pathan, The Associated Press
NEW DRUG ARMY RULES ATOP 'GOLDEN TRIANGLE'
LOI SAM SAO, Myanmar - Cradling an assault rifle, a teenage rebel sits at a
guard post watching trucks hauling consumer goods and construction material
into northeastern Myanmar over the dusty road from Thailand.
Across the border sits a Thai army command post that overlooks the hills of
Southeast Asia's "Golden Triangle," the region where experts say nearly
half the world's heroin is produced and then smuggled out to the streets of
America and Europe.
The young rebel is the first line of contact between outsiders and the
United Wa State Army, one of the numerous ethnic groups not controlled by
the central government of Myanmar, or Burma.
"Welcome to the land of the Wa," Capt. Sadorn Sae-chang, the taciturn
commander of the Wa army battalion in this area, tells a journalist allowed
a rare, brief visit.
A generation ago, the Wa were feared headhunters. Now, they are the world's
largest producers of heroin and a major supplier of amphetamines in East
Asia. But a cozy arrangement with the Myanmar military government that
allowed their rise is fraying, and the Wa are preparing for war.
Sadorn and the 1,000 Wa soldiers positioned along this part of the border
are part of what the U.S. State Department calls "the world's biggest armed
narcotics-trafficking organization."
Thai officers monitoring the border say the Wa are becoming the masters of
the Golden Triangle, where the frontiers of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand
converge.
"They are definitely moving in that direction, establishing a sound network
with outsiders," said Thai Maj. Gen. Chamlong Phothong. "The pressure is on
us to do something about it."
Thai officials and the State Department estimate about 1,900 tons of raw
opium were cultivated in the Triangle last year, down from 2,300 tons the
previous season, partly because of bad weather. About 10 kilograms of opium
are needed to make a kilogram of heroin.
"The Wa are responsible for nearly half of this amount," said Sorasit
Sangprasert, deputy chief of Thailand's Office of the Narcotics Control Board.
The Wa filled a vacuum left by Khun Sa, the warlord who once ran the
largest narcotics outfit in Myanmar at the head of an army of ethnic Shan.
Khun Sa surrendered to the government three years ago in exchange for
amnesty and now lives in the capital, Yangon.
Wa fighters were once the foot soldiers of the now-defunct Communist Party
of Burma, whose insurgency sputtered out a decade ago. Soon after, they
formed the United Wa State Army and worked out a cease-fire with the
military government.
For Myanmar's army, the truce neutralized a rebel group that had a weapons
inventory large enough to last 10 years.
For the Wa, it was a green light to expand heroin activities southward from
their stronghold in Panghsang on the Chinese border, gaining additional
smuggling routes across the Thai and Chinese borders. Along the way, they
clashed with Khun Sa, hastening his surrender.
But with Khun Sa out of the picture, the truce is losing appeal for the
government, which would like to extend control over the troublesome border
territory and the ethnic groups it has fought for decades.
Tensions have risen over the past year, with the government demanding that
the Wa head back toward their old strongholds near China. The Wa, unwilling
to lose heroin gateways through Thailand, have ignored the order and begun
beefing up their supplies.
The Myanmar government insists it is working with the Wa to bring
development to the area. Some Wa, however, suspect the roads being built in
the hills will eventually bring Myanmar troops against them.
The government may think twice about tangling with the Wa. The United Wa
State Army is believed to be able to field 20,000 fighters. Myanmar's army
approaches 500,000 men, but its troops are committed throughout Myanmar.
Some corrupt Myanmar troops are also believed to profit from letting the
drug traffickers do business.
Westerners see heroin as the biggest threat emanating from the Golden
Triangle, but for Thais and other Asians, it's something else - cheaply
produced amphetamines.
Use is exploding, from 250,000 amphetamine users in Thailand in 1995 to
between 500,000 and 1 million today.
But as the fall of Khun Sa demonstrated, putting the Wa out of business
might just open the way for another armed group.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for Feb. 26-March 4