-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drug death rate doubles in Oregon (The Oregonian notes yesterday's news about
the 80 drug-related deaths recorded in the state during the first three
months of the year, compared with 39 during the same period in 1998. Seventy
deaths involved heroin, up from 27 a year ago. The newspaper continues to
perpetuate the heroin "overdose" myth exposed more than two decades ago by
the Consumers Union, blaming the deaths on increasing purity rather than
toxic contaminants, or concurrent use of alcohol.)
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 01:27:52 -0700
From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com)
Organization: Oregon Libertarian Patriots
To: Constitutional Cannabis Patriots (cp@telelists.com)
Subject: [cp] Drug death rate doubles in Oregon
Drug death rate doubles in Oregon
* The state is on pace to shatter the yearly record, with 80 drug-related
fatalities since January, and officials say the popularity of heroin may be
to blame
Tuesday April 13, 1999
By Maxine Bernstein
of The Oregonian staff
The number of drug-related deaths in Oregon during the first quarter of the
year doubled compared with the same period a year ago, with heroin and
cocaine in the lead.
"Our drug-related deaths continued to increase every year, but this year's
statistics show a significant rise," said Karen L. Gunson, interim state
medical examiner.
There were 80 drug-related deaths recorded in the state during the first
three months of the year, compared with 39 during the same period in 1998.
Seventy involved heroin, up from 27 a year ago.
With nearly seven people dying each week due to drugs, the state is on pace
to end the year with more than 300 drug-related deaths, at least four times
the number recorded 10 years ago.
Law enforcement, drug counselors and medical personnel cite heroin's purity,
low cost and wider availability as factors that might have led to more
heroin-related deaths.
"We've been telling everyone within earshot for years that we have an
epidemic here, and I think people have tended not to believe us," said
Richard Harris, executive director of Central City Concern, which runs the
Hooper Center for Alcohol & Drug Intervention and the Portland Addictions
Acupuncture Center.
"The 39 from last year was a lot," Harris said. "Eighty, I find hard to
believe. I'm just blown away by this."
Black tar heroin from Mexico accounts for 99 percent of the heroin in Oregon,
law enforcement authorities said. It is smuggled up the West Coast in cars.
The deadly heroin is mostly melted and injected by needle. But the gooey,
Tootsie Roll-like consistency of tar heroin makes it difficult to dilute.
So far this year, the medical examiner's office has detected a higher
concentration of morphine, one of the main ingredients in heroin, in the
blood system of those dying from heroin-related deaths than in past years.
"We usually see 250 nanograms per milliliter of morphine in the blood,"
Gunson said. A nanogram is one-thousandth of a gram. "Now we're seeing 500,
600, 700 and 800 nanograms. I'm wondering if we're not seeing a cheap, high
potency heroin."
In 1998, the purity of street-level heroin found in the Pacific Northwest was
about 20.7 percent, up from 19.8 percent in 1997, according to a study by the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
"Fifteen years ago, the purity for street heroin was 1 to 2 percent. Over the
15 years, it's just increased tremendously," said Kenneth W. Magee,
supervisory special agent in the DEA's Portland office. "Through time, the
purity has increased because there's demand for a better product. It's going
to get stronger as time goes by. It's not going to get weaker."
Oregon State Police Lt. Ed Mouery, a drug enforcement supervisor, said users
generally have no idea what they're buying on the street.
"That's the danger," he said. "When someone starts messing around with drugs,
they don't know its potency."
State police also have noticed some methamphetamine users converting to
heroin. State figures show the number of drug-related deaths involving
methamphetamine dropped from 12 during the first quarter of 1998 to nine this
year.
On Portland streets, a standard heroin dose, or one-tenth of a gram, goes for
$20, said Portland Police Capt. Jim Ferraris, supervisor of the Drug and Vice
Division. One gram of heroin costs about $150.
Fifty of the 80 drug-related deaths this quarter occurred in Multnomah County
and involved people in their 30s. Lane County recorded the second-highest
number of deaths with 12.
The Hooper Center, which runs five- to seven-day detox programs for drug
addicts in Portland, said about 65 percent of its clients are heroin addicts.
In 1998, about 3,300 people went through Hooper's detox program, an increase
of 300 from the previous year, Harris said. About 20 drug addicts arrive at
Hooper each morning, but the center generally has to turn away more than a
handful because its 50-bed center is full.
"We don't have enough treatment resources for those who want to stop using,"
Harris said. "That's the tragedy."
In Washington, the numbers of heroin-related deaths also have risen steadily.
In 1997, the latest figures available, Washington recorded 107 deaths,
compared with 109 in 1996, 103 in 1995, 75 in 1994 and 65 in 1993.
You can reach Maxine Bernstein at 503-221-8212 or by e-mail at
Maxinebernstein@news.oregonian.com.
***
To subscribe to the Constitutional Cannabis Patriots
send a blank message to join-cp@telelists.com
Constitutional Cannabis Patriots
http://www.teleport.com/~nepal/canpat.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill wouldn't let local governments prohibit smoking in bars (The Associated
Press says the Oregon House of Representatives' Commerce Committee heard
testimony Monday on HB 2806, which would allow Corvallis to continue to be
the only city in the state with its own drug policy.)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/
Newshawk: Portland NORML (http://www.pdxnorml.org/)
Pubdate: Tue, Apr 13 1999
Source: The Associated Press (OR)
Copyright: 1999 The Associated Press
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Amalie Young, the Associated Press
Bill wouldn't let local governments prohibit smoking in bars
* The House Commerce Committee hears testimony on a proposal that would
allow Corvallis to be the only city to ban the practice
SALEM -- After her husband was laid off two years ago, Alice Smith took a
job at a Corvallis tavern to make ends meet.
Within two weeks of working in the smoke-filled bar, she was wheezing,
coughing and struggling with shortness of breath.
"I couldn't even afford to go to the doctor," she told the House Commerce
Committee on Monday.
The panel held its first hearing on a bill that would strip local
governments' authority to prohibit smokers from lighting up in bars and
taverns.
Corvallis is the first Oregon city to ban smoking in all enclosed public
places. Corvallis city councilors and voters have upheld the decision twice
in the past two years.
House Bill 2806 would prevent other cities from doing the same, although
Corvallis could keep its law.
"It's entirely appropriate to have local lawmakers weigh off the benefits
vs. the costs" of such ordinances, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers said
Monday at a news conference.
Myers and other opponents of the bill say communities should have the right
to protect people from secondhand smoke.
But the bill's sponsor, Rep. Ryan Deckert, D-Beaverton, is defending what
might be the last public indoor refuge for smokers: bars.
Deckert said he doesn't want "big brother" to go too far in creating
restrictions.
"I know when I go to certain bars that smoke is part of the environment,"
said Deckert, who is not a smoker. "Who am I to tell the majority of those
patrons not to smoke?"
Deckert said he supports the state's Clean Air Act, which requires
restaurants to offer a no-smoking section for customers. But he doesn't want
cities to be able to tighten restrictions for bars, which would affect only
adults.
Corvallis would be the only exception, Deckert said. He said he doesn't want
a patchwork of various ordinances across the state.
"That leads to chaos in the marketplace and headaches in understanding where
to go if you want to smoke," said Rep. Jim Hill, R-Hillsboro, the Commerce
Committee chairman.
Hill said Deckert's proposal has enough support to be approved by the
committee and possibly by the full House.
The Oregon Restaurant Association supports the ban on local ordinances.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Marijuana club challenges closure, wants jury trials (The Associated Press
says lawyers for the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative on Tuesday
presented oral arguments for the club's appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in San Francisco. The cooperative said its forced closure last
October by U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer violated the rights of its
2,000 patient-members, who should have been allowed to argue their medical
necessity. The club also said the closure failed to recognize the legal
effect of the city of Oakland's involvement in the club's operations. AP
doesn't say when a ruling is due.)
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 00:27:32 -0500
From: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/
To: DPFCA (dpfca@drugsense.org), DPFWI (dpfwi@drugsense.org)
Subject: DPFCA: US CA WIRE MMJ: Marijuana club challenges closure,
wants jury trials
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: "Frank S. World" (compassion23@geocities.com)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
MARIJUANA CLUB CHALLENGES CLOSURE, WANTS JURY TRIALS
Posted at 5 35 PM Apr 13 1999
By BOB EGELKO Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Lawyers for a medical marijuana club told a federal
appeals court Tuesday the club shouldn't have been closed without a jury
trial at which patients could show their need for the drug.
The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative was shut down by a federal judge
last October in a suit by the Clinton administration, which said any
distribution of marijuana violated federal law, despite California's 1996
medical marijuana initiative.
In arguments before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the club said the
closure violated the rights of its 2,000 patient-members and failed to
recognize the legal effect of the city of Oakland's involvement in the
club's operations.
The city responded to U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer's original
injunction by declaring last August that marijuana club officials were
acting as city officers, invoking a federal law that protects state and
local officers from liability while enforcing drug laws. But Breyer said the
club was violating the drug law, not enforcing it.
Annette Carnegie, a lawyer for the club, attacked Breyer's closure order on
procedural grounds. Before finding the organization in contempt of court for
violating his injunction against distributing marijuana, she said, Breyer
should have required the government to identify members who received the
drug on a particular day and allowed them a jury trial.
If each identified patient can show that marijuana recommended by a doctor
was the only way to relieve painful or life-threatening conditions
associated with AIDS, cancer and other diseases, the law was not violated
and the club should stay open, Carnegie said. Instead, the judge ordered
closure after the club admitted it distributed marijuana on the day in
question.
Her argument, if accepted, would offer a potential defense to any marijuana
club targeted by the government. The Clinton administration sued six
Northern California clubs in 1997, saying the absolute federal ban on
marijuana distribution overrode the state's attempt in Proposition 215 to
legalize medical use of the drug.
Two of the six clubs, in Fairfax and Ukiah, remain open, along with informal
organizations in about a half-dozen communities in the state. The Oakland
cooperative reopened last November as a center for hemp products and patient
support, but Breyer authorized federal marshals to close it again if they
hear allegations of marijuana distribution.
Justice Department lawyer Mark Stern defended the closure order, saying the
club was asking the court to "rewrite the Controlled Substances Act based on
very sincere and deeply held beliefs that Congress was wrong and the
attorney general should reclassify" marijuana. Courts have no such
authority, he said.
Stern said there was no legal or constitutional right to distribute
marijuana and no authority for a claim of medical necessity, since Congress
has declared marijuana has no medical use. Even if medical necessity were a
defense, he said, the club couldn't claim it for all of its patients,
because "everybody doesn't have the same need."
One member of the three-judge panel, Stephen Reinhardt, questioned Stern's
argument that the government could shut down the club without identifying
patients who were receiving marijuana illegally.
Reinhardt sarcastically summed up the Justice Department's position by
saying, "We don't know who they are but we'll just find them guilty because
we're the government."
The panel gave no clear indication of its views on Breyer's closure order,
however.
Gerald Uelmen, a Santa Clara University law professor also representing the
club, said Breyer should have honored Oakland's decision to designate club
officials as city agents enforcing a local health ordinance.
"States and local governments have the primary responsibility of protecting
the health and welfare of their citizens," Uelmen said. Unless the club is
granted the same legal protection as narcotics officers are given in
undercover drug sales, he said, the federal law immunizing state and local
agents is meaningless.
But Stern said Breyer properly found that the Oakland ordinance conflicted
with federal drug laws.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Mary Jane Rathbun, 77 (The Associated Press obituary for "Brownie Mary," the
San Francisco activist, says her arrests for distributing marijuana brownies
to AIDS patients built momentum for the medical marijuana movement.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 16:41:10 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Mary Jane Rathbun, 77 Obituary
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: emr@javanet.com (Dick Evans)
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
MARY JANE RATHBUN, 77 OBITUARY
SAN FRANCISCO - Mary Jane Rathbun, an activist whose arrests for
distributing marijuana brownies to AIDS patients built momentum for the
medical marijuana movement, died at a hospital Saturday of undisclosed
causes. She was 77.
She had been hospitalized and in considerable pain since she injured her
spine in a fall last August, said her friend Larry Bittner.
Ms. Rathbun, who was known as "Brownie Mary," became a fixture at San
Francisco General Hospital in the early days of the AIDS epidemic, preparing
and delivering marijuana-laced baked goods to sick people to relieve their
nausea and pain.
"I think she made 134 dozen a month during the heyday, 1984 to 1990. All in
her little old kitchen in her subsidized apartment. And you could smell it
all through her building," said Dennis Peron, who with Ms. Rathbun founded
the now-defunct San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club.
Ms. Rathbun was arrested three times and twice agreed to perform hundreds of
hours of community service, spending the time with AIDS patients, Peron said.
The arrests helped build support for San Francisco's Proposition P and later
the 1996 state initiative that made growing and using marijuana with a
doctor's permission legal under California law.
Ms. Rathbun had no survivors. She had a daughter who died in a car accident
in the 1970s.
***
[Link to yesterday's news about Brownie Mary's passing.]
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Brownie Mary' Gave Pot To Dying AIDS Patients (The Reuters version in the
Toronto Star quotes Dennis Peron saying, "Before it was a cliche, Brownie
Mary was compassionate. She was willing to go to jail for her kids.")
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 16:41:16 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: 'Brownie Mary' Gave Pot To Dying Aids Patients
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dave Haans
Pubdate: Tue, 13 April 1999
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Page: B5, Obituary
Copyright: 1999, The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
'BROWNIE MARY' GAVE POT TO DYING AIDS PATIENTS
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -- "Brownie Mary" helped launch California's medical
marijuana movement by using her kitchen to churn out pot-laced brownies for
San Francisco AIDS patients.
"She knew more than anybody else how to help," her friend, Dennis Peron,
said yesterday. "She was our grandmother, she was our best friend, She
inspired a lot of people."
Mary Jane Rathbun died Saturday of a heart attack after suffering increasing
pain from arthritis and other ailments for several months, said Peron, who
followed her in pushing for legalized marijuana use in the early days of the
AIDS epidemic. She was 77.
A native of Minnesota, Mrs. Rathbun arrived in San Francisco after World War
II and lost her only daughter in a car accident in the early 1970s, Peron said.
Without family of her own, she took up the young, gay men who were flocking
to the city, and was spurred into community service as many of her friends
fell in the first wave of the AIDS epidemic.
Believing that marijuana could help boost appetite and reduce pain, Mrs.
Rathbun soon became a well-known presence in San Francisco hospitals,
distributing hundreds of pot brownies to the sick and dying, many of whom
had been rejected by their own families.
"She would have a list, and would call that list when she was baking to see
who needed what" Peron said.
"Of course, people were dying all the time. Sometimes you would see her
walking on the street, just crying for her 'kids.'"
Mrs. Rathbun was arrested several times for distributing her pot brownies,
and lent her little old lady image to the medical marijuana movement gaining
strength in San Francisco.
That movement eventually led to California's first-in-the-U.S. state
initiative in 1996 which legalized medical use of marijuana, under certain
conditions, for treating symptoms of AIDS, cancer and other serious illnesses.
While the U.S. government has sought to quash California's state law,
similar initiatives were passed by voters in six more states in 1998 -
increasing pressure on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to consider
removing marijuana from the "Schedule I" list of the most dangerous narcotics.
Peron said Mrs. Rathbun's contribution to the gay cominunity and the
pro-marijuana cause went beyond her famous brownies the recipe for which he
hopes to sell to raise money for charity.
"This was a woman who dedicated her life to service," Peron said.
"Before it was a cliche, Brownie Mary was compassionate.
"She was willing to go to jail for her kids . . . I think she went
peacefully into the night. At the same time, we are going to miss her
terribly."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Activist Whose Pot Brownies Fueled Medicinal-Marijuana Push (The Chicago
Tribune obituary)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 22:20:35 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Obituary: Activist Whose Pot Brownies Fueled
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Young (theyoungfamily@worldnet.att.net)
Pubdate: Tue, 13 April 1999
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Section: Metro Chicago
Copyright: 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
ACTIVIST WHOSE POT BROWNIES FUELED MEDICINAL-MARIJUANA PUSH
SAN FRANCISCO -- "Brownie Mary" Rathbun, the grandmotherly activist
whose arrests for distributing pot-laced brownies to AIDS patients
built momentum for the medicinal marijuana movement, has died at 77.
Mary Jane Rathbun died in a hospital here Saturday of undisclosed
causes. She had been hospitalized and in considerable pain since she
injured her spine in a fall last August, said a friend.
Ms. Rathbun became a fixture at San Francisco General Hospital in the
early days of the AIDS epidemic, preparing and delivering
marijuana-laced baked goods to sick people to relieve nausea and pain.
"I think she made 134 dozen a month during the heyday, 1984 to 1990,"
Dennis Peron, who with Ms. Rathbun founded the now-defunct San
Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club.
Ms. Rathbun was arrested three times and twice agreed to perform
hundreds of hours of community service, spending the time with AIDS
patients, Peron said.
The arrests helped build support for the 1996 state initiative that
made growing and using marijuana with a doctor's permission legal
under California law.
Her arrests also prompted research into whether marijuana really does
have medicinal benefits.
In 1991, she and Peron published "Brownie Mary's Marijuana Cookbook,"
which is missing the brownie recipe. Peron said that, before she died,
she asked him to try to sell the recipe and give the proceeds to charity.
"She would never put the famous brownie recipe in it," Peron said.
"Now I've got to get the recipe from her safe-deposit box and approach
Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, whatever, and sell it and use the proceeds
for her `kids.'"
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Existing Law Goes Bit Too Far (A staff editorial in the San Luis Obispo
County Telegram-Tribune endorses California state senator Tom Hayden's bill
to reform the state's "three strikes" law. In one case, a young man was
sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for serving as a lookout for a drug
deal. The law would work better if it were tempered - in certain situations -
not with mercy, but with fairness.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 17:01:41 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Editorial: Existing Law Goes Bit Too Far
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune
Contact: wgroshong@telegram-tribune.com
Address: P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
EXISTING LAW GOES BIT TOO FAR
Chances of softening California's three-strikes law are slim, given the
opposition to reform on the part of law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless,
we support a bill by Sen. Tom Hayden that would allow judges some latitude
in imposing sentences in three-strikes cases.
We have no quarrel with the law's basic concept. When an offender commits
three serious felonies - murder, rape, armed robbery and the like - a
sentence of 25 years to life is justified.
When the measure was put to a public vote back in 1994, Californias approved
it overwhelmingly. So did this newspaper, and in recommending a change or
two in the language, we by no means favor weakening the basic structure.
Hayden, a Democrat who represents Los Angeles, took up the issue of reform
when same cases that resulted in extreme punishment were brought to his
attention.
In one case in particular, a young man was given the prescribed maximum
sentence after a felong conviction. His crime: serving as a lookout for a
drug deal.
Should the defendant have been absolved of the crime? Of course not. A
prison term was entirely called for - but a term whose punishment more
equitable fit the crime.
A spokesman for the California District Attorneys Association, argues
against any change in the law on the ground that it is working. It is. It
would work even better, as we see it, if tempered - in certain situations -
not with mercy, but with fairness.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Black Tar' Grimly Covers S.F. Streets (The San Francisco Chronicle previews
Steven Okazaki's "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street," a
documentary premiering tomorrow on cable television as part of HBO's "America
Undercover" series. The documentary follows the lives of five bruised and
ailing San Francisco junkies as they alternately try to support their habits
and kick them. The film director says he's frustrated by the city's lack of
counseling and rehab programs. "The addict population has gotten much
younger: The average age 10 years ago was 27; now it's 19 to 20," he says.
"The mayor and the city government people should be ashamed. They're part of
the problem.")
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 16:41:19 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: `Black Tar' Grimly Covers S.F. Streets
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: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Section: Datebook
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Chronicle
Contact: chronletters@sfgate.com
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Forum: http://www.sfgate.com/conferences/
Author: Neva Chonin, Chronicle Staff Writer
'BLACK TAR' GRIMLY COVERS S.F. STREETS
While her toddler plays in another room, Michelle has a friend inject heroin
into a vein in her neck -- one of the few that's still functioning after
years of needles and impure dope.
Later, she admits that her little son suggested she try methadone instead.
"I've just realized that he knows more than I thought he did," Michelle says
miserably.
This is just one among many disturbing moments in Steven Okazaki's "Black
Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street." The television documentary, which
premieres tomorrow night at 11 as part of HBO's "America Undercover" series,
follows the lives of five bruised and ailing San Francisco junkies ages 18
to 25 as they alternately try to support their habits and kick them.
"Arguably, right now San Francisco is the heroin capital of the nation,"
says Okazaki, 47. "It has the highest hospital admissions for heroin-related
problems, and it's up there with New Jersey in overdose deaths -- about 100
a year. In January alone, when Boz Scaggs' son Oscar died, there were about
15." The Oscar-winning director, who lives in Berkeley, found his subjects
by volunteering at a youth-oriented needle exchange off Polk Street. "I
wanted to win their respect," he says. "A lot of them had contacts with
media where somebody comes in for a Thanksgiving Day story to show how
miserable people in the street are. I've heard firsthand stories about film
crews offering the kids 40 bucks to shoot up in front of the camera."
There's a lot of shooting up in "Black Tar," but the footage is far too
harrowing for a human-interest holiday special. Alice, a Seattle transplant,
spatters the walls of her hotel room with blood from syringes; Jake, an
HIV-positive addict with a blood infection, sneaks out of the hospital to
inject heroin into his IV tube. Okazaki acknowledges that following his
protagonists through their daily lives was difficult. "The streets are much
more dangerous when you're stupid."
Using digital video equipment small enough to be concealed under a jacket,
he and sound engineer Jason Cohen gained access to hotel rooms, toilets and
shooting galleries where a regular camera would have been barred. A
soundtrack that includes Bay Area bands Ovarian Trolley and the Mr. T
Experience provides a ragged musical backdrop as Okazaki captures heroin
culture in graphic close-ups of ruined veins and open sores.
"Black tar destroys veins at a much faster pace than powder, so finding a
vein is more of an issue for people who have been doing it for a couple of
years," Okazaki says. "They amputated a couple of Jake's fingers; they said
they might have to amputate his hand. Black tar is to white powder heroin
what crack is to white powder cocaine. It's quickly and cheaply refined;
it's impure but really potent." After three years of following five
young people in and out of San Francisco's judicial system, the director
says he's frustrated by its lack of counseling and rehab programs. "The
addict population has gotten much younger: The average age 10 years ago was
27; now it's 19 to 20," he says. "It's ridiculous to jail these kids and
then just kick them back out on the streets. It's so hard to kick heroin,
and almost everybody gets busted fairly regularly and has to (go through
withdrawal) in jail. It's such a prime opportunity. But the prison system
just says, `Oh, screw 'em.' The mayor and the city government people should
be ashamed. They're part of the problem."
***
DOCUMENTARY
BLACK TAR HEROIN: THE DARK END OF THE STREET: The documentary airs on HBO at
11 p.m. tomorrow and again at 10 p.m. Monday, at 3:15 a.m. April 23, at
12:10 a.m. April 27 and at 4:40 a.m. April 29.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Voices Of Our Time: Joseph D. McNamara (The San Jose Mercury News features
the former cop and veteran drug-war critic saying, "I think that improved
Internet communication in the long run is more likely to spread human freedom
and prosperity, provided governments don't suppress it.")
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 21:28:06 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Voices Of Our Time: Joseph D. Mcnamara
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jane Marcus (jmarcus@leland.Stanford.EDU)
Pubdate: Tues, 13 Apr 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
Note: "Voices of our Time" is a feature of the San Jose Mercury News to mark
the new millenium. This week's edition is important because the commentator
is Dr. Joseph McNamara, an outspoken critic of the "war on drugs".
VOICES OF OUR TIME: JOSEPH D. MCNAMARA
Technology's advancement a boon to personal freedom
>From your perspective, what have been some of the most important
developments of the 20th century, and how will the world be different 100
years from now?
I think the advancement of technology has been simply astonishing. There
have been more technological innovations in the past century than in the
entire previous history of civilization, and, as a result, there is a higher
standard of living and greater personal freedom for many more people in the
world.
Shakespeare said, ``The past is prologue.'' I think the technological
advances of the next century are beyond our imaginations at the moment. I
hope they are used for good, not evil, as sometimes was the case in this
century. The Nazis in Germany, the communist Soviet Union and other
totalitarian governments used technology for evil. The Holocaust and the
Nazi war machine resulted in the deaths of many millions of people, as did
Stalin's police state and the Japanese imperialism that resulted in World
War II.
I think the fortunate thing in history is that the United States prevailed,
but the technological race could have gone the other way. Germany had
developed rockets and jet engines, fortunately too late in the war to have
made the difference they could have.
I think that improved Internet communication in the long run is more likely
to spread human freedom and prosperity, provided governments don't suppress
it.
Joseph D. McNamara, former police chief of San Jose, is a research fellow at
the Hoover Institution and author of five books.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Feds To Join Local War On Drugs (The Standard-Times, in New Bedford,
Massachusetts, says the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, has
agreed to send a team of federal drug experts to New Bedford to help assess
needs and to develop a drug-fighting strategy. Gen. McCaffrey's three
paragraph letter to Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. does not specify when the
team will arrive, nor what exactly it will do.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 16:41:22 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: Feds To Join Local War On Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Author: Polly Saltonstall, Standard-Times staff writer
FEDS TO JOIN LOCAL WAR ON DRUGS
NEW BEDFORD -- The city is about to get some high-profile help in its war on
illegal drugs.
The nation's drug czar, Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, has agreed to send a team
of federal drug experts to New Bedford to help assess needs and to develop a
drug-fighting strategy.
The team likely will include representatives from the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services, according to a March 31 letter from Gen.
McCaffrey to Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. The national drug office's acting
associate director, Dennis Greenhouse, will lead the team.
Organized within the White House, ONDCP coordinates federal, state, and
local efforts to control illegal drug abuse and devises national strategies
to carry out anti-drug activities.
"Thank you for your leadership on the drug issue," Gen. McCaffrey wrote in
his personal letter to the mayor, underlining the word leadership. "We look
forward to working with you to maximize the available resources in your area."
The mayor has announced several high-profile initiatives against drugs in
recent months, including stricter enforcement of licensing requirements for
bars and liquor stores.
He said he looked forward to working with the White House office on this new
approach.
"It's important for the city to identify and bring together all of the
resources available to address the drug concerns in New Bedford," he said.
"I am gratified that the ONDCP responded to my request to provide this
federal assistance."
Gen. McCaffrey's three paragraph letter does not specify when the team will
arrive, nor what exactly it will do.
"A member of Mr. Greenhouse's staff will contact you to begin this process,"
the general wrote.
Mayor Kalisz first asked the drug czar for help last winter at a White House
briefing during the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He followed up with a memo
outlining the city's drug problems and its efforts to combat them.
New Bedford leads the region in the quantity of illegal drugs seized
annually, the mayor wrote. Some 80 percent of crimes prosecuted by the
Bristol County District Attorney's Office are drug related and city
residents have identified the drug problem as their No. 1 quality of life
concern.
Located on the drug pipeline between New York and points north and east, the
city "serves as a natural and convenient distribution point for illegal drug
sales," he wrote.
Anti-drug efforts include the Police Department's Organized Crime
Intelligence Bureau, patrols in public housing units, DARE, neighborhood
associations and crime watch groups, the mayor said.
"The city of New Bedford is committed to exploring any means necessary to
further our ultimate goal of eliminating drugs as a drain on the quality
life in our community," he concluded. "We welcome any assistance in
achieving this goal through the expansion of our existing programs, or the
development of new initiatives."
The city enlisted additional help in its contacts with ONDCP from U.S. Sen.
John Kerry, D-Massachusetts. In his letter to the mayor, Gen. McCaffrey
noted he had sent a similar missive notifying the senator about the new
initiative.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Probation Officer Sentenced To Prison (The Tampa Tribune says Debra D. Leeks,
a 13-year veteran Polk County probation officer, was sentenced to 30 months
in prison Monday for her role in shaking down a cocaine dealer under her
supervision. Leeks pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to commit
extortion, conspiring to obstruct justice, lying to federal agents and
tampering with a witness. But Monday, appearing before U.S. District Judge
Henry Lee Adams Jr., the resident of Lake Wales, Florida, declared her
innocence.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 14:51:42 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Probation Officer Sentenced To Prison
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Chase
Pubdate: Tue, 13 April 1999
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 1999, The Tribune Co.
Contact: tribletters@tampatrib.com
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm
Author: Sarah Huntley, The Tampa Tribune
PROBATION OFFICER SENTENCED TO PRISON
TAMPA - A former Polk County probation officer is sentenced to 30
months in prison for her role in a ``shakedown.''
After a 13-year career as a Polk County probation officer, Debra D.
Leeks is going to a place some of her former clients know well.
U.S. District Judge Henry Lee Adams Jr. sentenced Leeks to 30 months
in prison Monday after Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Del Fuoco
argued that she abused the public trust.
Leeks, 43, pleaded guilty in December to conspiring to commit
extortion, conspiring to obstruct justice, lying to federal agents and
tampering with a witness. Agents with the FBI and the Florida
Department of Law Enforcement accused the Lake Wales woman of
attempting to shake down a cocaine dealer who was under her
supervision.
Appearing before Adams in her prison jumpsuit, Leeks said that she was
``speechless'' and once again declared her innocence.
``I know a lot of the allegations against me are not true,'' she said.
``To me as long as you lie for [the government], you are doing good.
But if you tell the truth, that's not what they want to hear.''
Leeks has given conflicting accounts of her involvement.
In her plea agreement, Leeks admitted she accepted an expensive
leather jacket from convicted dealer Altius Willix and conspired with
others to collect an additional $5,000 payoff.
Willix has said he hoped Leeks, who had filed a violation of probation
report against him, would support him if he paid the money.
In the trial of two of her co-defendants in December, however, Leeks
testified differently. Although she acknowledged she accepted the
jacket and used $80 of the money Willix paid to cover a retail bill,
Leeks said she did not participate in the conspiracy.
Before imposing his sentence, Adams ruled that Leeks was not truthful
on the stand. But the judge also shaved nearly three years off Leeks'
potential sentence, finding that the state probation officer was not
in a sufficiently powerful position to justify an increased penalty.
``This incident appears to be completely out of character for her,''
said Brent Armstrong, Leeks' attorney.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jury Clears Lawyers In Federal Case (The Tampa Tribune says the federal jury
in Tampa, Florida, acquitted Paul D. Lazarus of Miami and Howard Freidin of
Fort Myers, who were charged with conspiring to get an illegal sentence
reduction for Daniel Hostetter, a cocaine dealer.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 14:51:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Jury Clears Lawyers In Federal Case
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Chase
Pubdate: Tue, 13 April 1999
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 1999, The Tribune Co.
Contact: tribletters@tampatrib.com
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm
Author: Sarah Huntley, The Tampa Tribune
JURY CLEARS LAWYERS IN FEDERAL CASE
TAMPA - A federal jury acquitted two lawyers charged with conspiring
to get a drug dealer an illegal sentence reduction.
Five days of deliberations ended Monday with vindication for two
lawyers who said they were wrongly charged with conspiring to get a
drug dealer a sentence reduction he didn't deserve.
A federal jury acquitted Paul D. Lazarus of Miami and Howard Freidin
of Fort Myers after a three-week trial that pitted the attorneys
against a former client and his mother.
Lazarus and Freidin were charged with conspiracy and obstruction of
justice as a result of their work in the case of Daniel Hostetter, a
cocaine dealer who is serving a 16-year prison sentence. Hostetter,
32, was arrested in 1991 after he bought cocaine from an undercover
officer.
After Hostetter's conviction, the inmate and his mother, Beth Solberg,
began cooperating with law enforcement. Their motive was simple. In
the federal system, where there is no possibility of parole, an inmate
is required to serve nearly all of a sentence.
But there is one way out: Rule 35. If an inmate provides ``substantial
assistance,'' prosecutors can return to the judge and ask for a
sentence reduction.
During the trial, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Ruddy contended that
Freidin, Lazarus and two crooked DEA operatives planned to mislead
authorities by falsely saying Hostetter provided the information that
led to a heroin arrest. In exchange for the help, he said, Hostetter's
family was supposed to pay $40,000.
Two DEA operatives - Leonardo Velazquez, a dealer-turned-government
informant, and Michael Woods, a former Collier County deputy who had
been assigned to a DEA task force - previously pleaded guilty to the
charges against them. They are awaiting sentencing.
But Lazarus and Freidin denied wrongdoing. In closing arguments on
April 5, their attorneys attacked the government's case.
``I respectfully suggest there are more reasons to doubt in this case
than you can possibly imagine,'' said Lazarus' lawyer, Ed Shohat.
Shohat told jurors that agents investigating the allegations against
the lawyers came to incorrect conclusions based on their preconceived
notions.
``The natural instinct for them is to find snakes under rocks, to find
the bogyman,'' he said.
Shohat and Freidin's attorney, Jack Denaro, argued that their clients
didn't realize Hostetter had nothing to do with the arrest. Neither of
the attorneys received any portion of the $40,000 and both said they
merely responded to Solberg's persistent requests for help.
``Usually you find your criminals active, not passive,'' Denaro said.
``You find them evil, not compassionate. You find them motivated by
money ... but money had nothing to do with this.''
Neither the lawyers nor Ruddy could be reached for comment late
Monday, but a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said
prosecutors were ``very disappointed'' by the verdict.
``The fact that the jury deliberated for five days is an indication
that they struggled to reach a decision,'' Monte Richardson said.
``Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard to meet,
particularly in a case of this nature.''
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Strike A Balance In The Marijuana Debate (An op-ed in the Standard-Times, in
New Bedford, Massachusetts, by John A. Benson Jr. and Stanley J. Watson Jr.,
the co-principal investigators of the Institute of Medicine's March 17 report
on medical marijuana, reiterates the study's conclusions without clarifying
its contradictions, or its failure to realistically "weigh the reality of
this crude drug-delivery system against the benefits it might bestow." Nor do
they acknowledge that the purported "risks" of smoking marijuana are
theoretical rather than epidemiological. Instead, Benson and Watson say "Our
review of the science behind marijuana and cannabinoids convinces us that the
debate so far has been miscast. Rather than focusing on drug control policy,
the medical marijuana debate should really be about the promise of future
drug development." Like countless patients suffering right now give a hoot
about helping pharmaceutical companies' bottom line.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 14:20:00 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: OPED: Strike A Balance In The Marijuana Debate
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Author: John A. Benson Jr., Stanley J. Watson Jr.
Note: John A. Benson Jr. is dean and professor of medicine emeritus at the
Oregon Health Sciences University School of Medicine, Portland. Stanley J.
Watson Jr. is co-director and research scientist at the Mental Health
Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. They were
co-principal investigators of the Institute of Medicine's study on the
medical use of marijuana.
STRIKE A BALANCE IN THE MARIJUANA DEBATE
Everyone seemed to declare victory when a study on the medical use of
marijuana was issued last month. Advocates for legalizing such use said the
report aided their cause by concluding that the compounds in marijuana do
have some potential as medicine. Their opponents, on the other hand, cheered
the report's conclusion that the harmful effects of smoking far outweigh
potential benefits for most patients. In reality, both sides are right. The
study - which we led for the Institute of Medicine - firmly concluded that
the active compounds in marijuana do have potential as medicine. But that
future does not involve smoking.
Scientific hair-splitting? Hardly. To date it has been nearly impossible to
separate scientific evidence about marijuana's potential from larger
societal concerns about its use. But doing so may be the key needed to
advance the rancorous debate that has engulfed this issue since medical
marijuana began to appear on state ballot initiatives in the mid-1990s.
Those who have followed the debate may be surprised to learn that in the
scientific realm, we found remarkable consensus that marijuana's components
have potential to relieve symptoms such as pain, nausea and vomiting, and
the poor appetite associated with wasting in AIDS or cancer. For most
symptoms there are more effective drugs already on the market, but
physicians encounter patients who do not respond well to standard
medications, or who need additional therapies. These patients could benefit
from new drugs based on cannabinoids, the active components in marijuana.
Marijuana's future as medicine rests in developing new ways of delivering
these cannabinoids - including the most common one, THC. Presently there is
only one such drug on the market. Marinol, a THC capsule, is approved by the
Food and Drug Administration for treatment of nausea and vomiting associated
with chemotherapy, as well as poor appetite and weight loss associated with
AIDS.
However, some who have used Marinol complain that it takes effect slowly,
and its results are variable. Sufferers of pain, nausea and vomiting
obviously need fast-acting medication. For that reason, we recommend that
clinical trials move forward with the goal of developing a rapid-onset,
non-smoked delivery system, such as an inhaler. This type of device could
deliver precise doses without the health problems associated with smoking.
Admittedly, an inhaler could take years to produce. What do we do right now?
In deciding whether marijuana should be smoked as medicine, society must
weigh the reality of this crude drug-delivery system against the benefits it
might bestow. Chronic smoking of marijuana increases a person's chances of
developing cancer, lung damage, and problems with pregnancies, including low
birth weight. Therefore, it simply is not an acceptable long-term option.
Smoking should be allowed only for short-term use among patients with
debilitating symptoms, or who are terminally ill and do not respond well to
approved medications.
Even in these cases, marijuana use should be limited to carefully controlled
settings. Patients who are prescribed marijuana should be enrolled in
short-term clinical trials that are approved by an oversight strategy such
as institutional review boards, and involve only those patients most likely
to benefit. They should be fully informed that they are experimental
subjects and are using a harmful drug-delivery system, and their condition
should be closely monitored and documented under medical supervision.
These clinical trials of smoked marijuana should not be designed to develop
it as a licensed drug, but should be a stepping stone to the development of
new, safe delivery systems of cannabinoids. There is no evidence that using
marijuana in controlled settings - or cannabinoids in the form of drugs
such as Marinol - will lead to increased illicit drug use throughout society.
Our review of the science behind marijuana and cannabinoids convinces us
that the debate so far has been miscast. Rather than focusing on drug
control policy, the medical marijuana debate should really be about the
promise of future drug development. Mining the pharmaceutical promise of
cannabinoids will require the same kind of drug development that brought us
any number of pain-killing drugs prescribed by physicians today. With public
investments in research, or enough incentives to convince private companies
to develop these drugs, the perceived need to smoke marijuana to alleviate
symptoms could vanish.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Another '60 Minutes' Apology on a Drug Smuggling Story (The Washington Post
follows up on CBS' retraction of a story implying corruption on the part of
Rudy Camacho, the San Diego district director of the U.S. Customs Service.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 17:34:15 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Another '60 Minutes' Apology on a Drug Smuggling Story
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Apr 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: C07
Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company
Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071
Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Author: Lisa de Moraes
ANOTHER '60 MINUTES' APOLOGY ON A DRUG SMUGGLING STORY
For the second time in four months, CBS's "60 Minutes" has made an on-air
apology regarding a report about drug smuggling. This time it's over a memo
that turned out to be bogus.
Correspondent Lesley Stahl delivered the apology on Sunday's broadcast, as
part of a settlement with a customs official who had sued the newsmagazine.
In December, "60 Minutes" founder Don Hewitt apologized on-air for a June 1,
1997, story based on a British documentary about smugglers who swallowed
heroin in latex gloves to get past authorities. An investigative panel later
determined that the documentary producers had faked locations and paid
actors to portray drug couriers.
In Sunday's apology, Stahl emphasized that the April 20, 1997, segment
accurately reported on the flow of illegal drugs across the U.S.-Mexico
border at San Diego.
But that report, which was presented by Mike Wallace, cited a memo said to
be written by Rudy Camacho, the San Diego district director of the Customs
Service, calling for customs agents to quickly process trucks owned by a
company linked to Mexican drug cartels.
The Customs Service in Washington investigated and found the memo to be
fake, and that no preferential treatment was offered, Stahl said. "60
Minutes" had already reported in February 1998 that the memo was declared
bogus. But Camacho sued; the on-air apology was part of an "amicable
settlement" between him and CBS News, a "60 Minutes" spokesman said.
"We have concluded that we were deceived, and ultimately so were you, our
viewers," Stahl said. "Under the circumstances, we regret that any reference
to that memo or to Mr. Camacho's connection with it was included in our
original report and apologize for any harm to Mr. Camacho's professional
reputation and any distress caused to him and his family."
So how come the apology wasn't given by Wallace? The "60 Minutes" rep says
Wallace was in California last Thursday and Friday on a story.
More than 300 CBS news writers, news editors, graphic artists and support
personnel have voted to authorize their union negotiators to call a strike
if contract talks don't reach resolution by Thursday.
The Writers Guild of America reports that voters, who work in TV and radio
for CBS in New York City, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles, gave a thumbs
up "by a resounding 94 percent margin."
The vote authorizes WGA to call a strike , but does not mandate a work
stoppage. At the end of the day yesterday, the parties were still far apart.
Among the issues, according to WGA East spokesman Vito Turso, are the
network's revision of the pension plan to a stock-option-based plan, a
proposed cut of five personal days, a planned changeover from negotiated pay
raises to merit raises, and cutting paid lunch hours for assistants.
CBS's Dan Rather has become the first broadcast network anchor to cover the
NATO bombing campaign from Yugoslavia.
Rather arrived in Belgrade yesterday morning and opened the "CBS Evening
News" broadcast last night from there.
CBS is hoping that the high-profile trip may help viewers forget that the
network has gone without a correspondent in Yugoslavia for more than two
weeks since the bombing began.
CBS correspondent Mark Phillips was among the journalists from NATO
countries ordered out by the Serbian government. It has since softened that
stance, but CBS couldn't get anyone back in until Rather and correspondent
Richard Roth received approval yesterday.
NBC has no plans to send anchor Tom Brokaw. "We're evaluating the story
daily but Brokaw's most effective role is as anchor reporting on the
different elements from New York," an NBC News spokeswoman said.
Correspondents Jim Maceda and Ron Allen have been delivering reports from
Yugoslavia since the airstrikes began.
Ditto ABC regarding anchor Peter Jennings. "At the moment we don't have
plans to send Peter," said an ABC News rep. "As the situation changes and
the story develops we'll consider it. . . . Until there is change, the best
place to have Peter is in New York." ABC's Morton Dean was admitted to the
country last week; he will be delieved by Ron Claiborne later this week.
The network also had Charles Gibson in the region last week.
Although Rather plans to report from Yugoslavia, CBS isn't taking the chance
of having him anchor the entire news report because it doesn't trust the
reliability of the satellite feed, spokeswoman Kim Akhtar said.
Talk show host Jenny Jones finally took the stand yesterday and said she did
not try to embarrass show guest Jonathan Schmitz, who has claimed his
experience on her show was so humiliating it drove him to kill another guest.
Jones testified in a Pontiac, Mich., courtroom that Schmitz showed no sign
that he would kill Scott Amedure after the taping of the show about same-sex
crushes. Amedure's family has filed the $50 million suit against two
divisions of Time Warner that produce the show, claiming they drove the
mentally unstable Schmitz to commit murder. Defense lawyers argue that
Schmitz knew his secret admirer could have been a man.
On the March 1995 "Jenny Jones" taping, which never aired, Amedure revealed
to a studio audience his fantasy of tying Schmitz up in a hammock and
covering him with whipped cream and strawberries.
"I didn't think it would be embarrassing," Jones told Geoffrey Fieger, the
lawyer for Amedure's family. Fieger asked Jones how she would feel if a
stranger disclosed his sexual fantasies of her in front of the court.
"It could be exciting," Jones said, causing laughter in the courtroom,
Reuters reported.
Deborah Norville has renewed her contract to host syndicated newsmagazine
"Inside Edition." The former "Today Show" co-anchor has been hosting the
show since 1995.
James Rosen has joined Fox News as a correspondent based in the Washington
bureau and Brian Boughton has been promoted to senior producer, responsible
for the cable network's White House coverage.
Rosen, who will report for the Fox News Channel and Fox affiliate stations,
has most recently been an anchor and reporter with the cable channel News 12
The Bronx. His resume also includes reporting for the NBC station in
Rockford, Ill., and for WWOR-TV in New York.
Broughton has been a Fox News producer, covering the president. He began his
career as an assignment editor for Tribune Broadcasting, based in Washington.
CBS News's senior European correspondent Tom Fenton is at Georgetown
University today to receive the 1999 Edward Weintal Prize for distinguished
reporting on foreign policy and diplomacy.
Fenton's been senior European correspondent since 1979, reporting out of
London since 1996, and before that out of Moscow, London, Paris, Tel Aviv
and Rome. He's the third CBS News correspondent to get the prize, joining
Bob Simon and Eric Sevareid.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Media Alert: "Sex, Drugs and Consenting Adults" Rebroadcast this Thursday,
4/15 (A bulletin from the Drug Policy Foundation, in Washington, D.C., says
ABC is rebroadcasting last May's report by John Stossel on consensual crime
in America. Check local listings for the time.)
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 06:43:14 EDT
Originator: dpnews@dpf.org
Sender: dpnews@dpf.org
From: "Drug Policy News Service" (dpf-mod@dpf.org)
To: Multiple recipients of list (dpnews@dpf.org)
Subject: Media Alert: "Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults" Rebroadcast
this Thursday, 4/15
X-ListProcessor-Instructions: Send an email to listproc@calyx.net with the
subject blank and the BODY containing nothing but the word HELP for
instructions.
Dear Friend of Reform:
Last May, millions of Americans tuned into ABC to watch a special report by
ABC news correspondent John Stossel called "Sex, Drugs and Consenting
Adults." This program looked hard at the criminalization of personal habits
in America from illegal drug use to prostitution to gambling to ticket
scalping. Unfortunately, Stossel's approach can be described as unique
because very few talking heads, policy experts, or academics understand --
let alone defend -- a rights-based approach to government policy-making.
Peter McWilliams, author of "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do," calls
Stossel's special report the "most important hour of TV you'll see."
If you missed "Sex, Drugs and Consenting Adults" last year or if you want
to see it again, ABC will rebroadcast it this Thursday, which may help take
some of the sting out of National Tax Day.
What: John Stossel's "Sex, Drugs and Consenting Adults"
Date: Thursday, April 15, 1999
Time: 10-11:00pm EDT, but check your local listings
***
Rob Stewart
Communications Director
stewart@dpf.org
Drug Policy Foundation
"Creating Reasoned and Compassionate Drug Policies"
4455 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite B-500
Washington, DC 20008-2328
ph: (202) 537-5005 * fax: (202) 537-3007
www.dpf.org
www.drugpolicy.org
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for April 9-15