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

NORML Weekly Press Release (NORML Foundation Family Custody Project
victorious in New Jersey parenting rights case; Nevada decriminalization
legislation clears first hurdle; Hawaii medical marijuana resolutions move
forward in senate; U.K. researchers to use DNA technology in drug testing,
tracking marijuana; New Hampshire lawmakers say no to marijuana
decriminalization measure, halt further debate until 2001.)

From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 18:47:50 EDT
Subject: NORML WPR 4/15/99 (II)
Reply-To: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
To: undisclosed-recipients:;

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

April 15, 1999

***

NORML Foundation Family Custody Project Victorious In New Jersey
Parenting Rights Case

April 15, 1999, Camden, NJ: A New Jersey mother successfully
challenged state authorities who sought to deny her custody of her
newborn son because she tested positive for minimal levels of marijuana
metabolites. The Family Custody Project, a project of The NORML
Foundation established to give legal and scientific support to parents
threatened with losing custody of their children because of positive
marijuana tests, assisted the case by providing legal counsel and expert
witnesses.

"More and more state authorities nationwide are moving forward to
place young children in foster care when they suspect a parent smokes
marijuana," NORML Foundation Litigation Director Tanya Kangas, Esq. said.
"The theory they are advancing is that marijuana smoking per se, without
any allegations of abuse or neglect, is grounds to remove the child from
the parents."

The most recent case involved mother Deneen Clark, who tested
positive for under 10 nanograms of marijuana metabolites 24 hours after
giving birth. State authorities accused Clark of "child abuse" based on
the positive result and began legal proceedings to place her son in
foster care. Clark challenged the allegations with pro bono legal help
provided by NORML Legal Committee member William Buckman of Moorestown,
New Jersey, and drug testing and child welfare experts. Faced with a
losing case, the state eventually dropped all charges.

"The NORML Foundation's contacts and support helped this family
stay together," Clark said.

For more information, please contact either Tanya Kangas of The NORML
Foundation @ (202) 483-8751 or NORML Legal Committee member William
Buckman @ (609) 608-9797.

***

Nevada Decriminalization Legislation Clears First Hurdle

April 15, 1999, Carson City, NV: The Assembly Judiciary Committee
soundly approved legislation last week to relax Nevada's
harshest-in-the-nation marijuana possession laws.

NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. praised the vote.
"Marijuana smokers, like their nonsmoking peers, work hard, raise
families, pay taxes, and contribute to their communities," he said. "They
are not part of the crime problem and should not face arrest and jail."

Assembly Bill 577, introduced by Assemblywoman Christina
Giunchigliani (D-Las Vegas), seeks to reduce minor marijuana possession
from a category E felony to a misdemeanor offense punishable by no more
than a $100 fine. Nevada remains the only state that maintains felony
criminal penalties for simple marijuana possession.

Eleven lawmakers voted for the measure, and only three opposed it.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson (D-Sparks) commended
Giunchigliani's bravery for introducing the measure, which also gained
support from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and regional
public defender's offices. "I always admire someone who has the courage
to ... put this issue forward," Anderson said. "It's been misrepresented
for a long period of time."

The bill awaits action by the Assembly, which must vote on it by
April 19.

For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul
Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500. To download a copy of this
legislation, please visit: http://www.leg.state.nv.us/70th/bills/
AB/AB577.html. To read about additional state marijuana reform
legislation, please visit the NORML website at:
http://www.norml.org/laws/stateleg1999.html.

***

Hawaii Medical Marijuana Resolutions Move Forward In Senate

April 15, 1999, Honolulu, HI: A pair of resolutions urging medical
marijuana reform are moving forward in the Hawaii legislature.

Senate Concurrent Resolution (SCR) 183 urges Congress and the Drug
Enforcement Administration "to consider rescheduling medical marijuana."
Senate Concurrent Resolution 133 requests state officials to examine "the
language, implementation, and effectiveness of medical marijuana laws in
other states." The Senate Ways and Means committee passed both bills
yesterday by 6 to 2 votes.

NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. called the measures
positive, incremental steps toward medical marijuana reform. "Passage of
this language will put Hawaii's legislature along side dozens of medical
organizations, like the American Public Health Association and the New
England Journal of Medicine, that have requested federal officials to
reschedule medical marijuana," he said. "Hopefully, passage of these
resolutions will mark the first step toward granting legal access to
medical marijuana for seriously ill Hawaiian patients."

A pair of bills seeking to exempt medical marijuana patients from
state criminal penalties died earlier this year.

The Senate resolutions now await action by the House of
Representatives.

For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul
Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500. To download copies of this
legislation, please visit: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov. To read about
additional state marijuana reform legislation, please visit the NORML
website at: http://www.norml.org/laws/stateleg1999.html.

***

U.K. Researchers To Use DNA Technology In Drug Testing, Tracking Marijuana

April 15, 1999, London, United Kingdom: Researchers at Strathclyde
University are applying DNA science to develop drug tests that indicate
whether someone has been handling marijuana, The Herald newspaper
reported earlier this month. Scientists claim that the testing may allow
police to track the supply routes of marijuana as it travels from source
countries to dealers to users.

NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said the easiest
way for government officials to track marijuana would be to "tax it like
any other legal, regulated product. This new DNA science sounds like
just another technological boondoggle in the war against marijuana
smokers."

Dr. Adrian Linacre, a DNA specialist, said he has already developed a
test using marijuana's DNA that demonstrates whether an individual has
had physical contact with the drug. He said he hopes to create a
database containing DNA fingerprints of different strains of marijuana so
that police can determine whether different people have come in contact
with marijuana from the same source.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of The NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.

***

New Hampshire Lawmakers Say No To Marijuana Decriminalization Measure,
Halt Further Debate Until 2001

April 15, 1999, Concord, NH: State lawmakers showed their opposition
to marijuana decriminalization yesterday by defeating a bill lowering
marijuana penalties, and later voting to prevent its reintroduction until
after the year 2000.

House Bill 87 proposed changing possession of less than one ounce of
marijuana from a Class A misdemeanor to a noncriminal violation. The
House defeated the measure by a vote of 269 to 92, and later decided 219
to 149 to postpone the bill indefinitely. That vote prevents bill
sponsor Rep. Tim Roberston (D-Keene) or any other legislator from
reintroducing the measure next year.

A bill sponsored by Robertson to legalize medical marijuana has been
carried over until next year.

For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul
Armentano of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.

				- END -

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

State group offers proposals to reduce underage drinking (According to the
Oregonian, yet another closed committee of self-designated experts appointed
by Oregon Gov. John "Prisons" Kitzhaber, this one charged with examining the
problem of alcohol use by minors, issued vague recommendations Wednesday that
appear to be destined to lead to yet another hugely expensive and useless
lawmaking bureaucracy. Underage alcohol use has dropped in recent years.)

Newshawk: Portland NORML (http://www.pdxnorml.org/)
Pubdate: Thu, Apr 15 1999
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 1999 The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Address: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Theresa Cha, the Oregonian

State group offers proposals to reduce underage drinking

* A report from the Governor's Underage Drinking Task Group examines the
leading reasons for minors' use of alcohol

A governor's task force, charged with examining the problem of alcohol use
among young people, issued broad recommendations Wednesday.

The recommendations grew from a variety of issues, as identified by the
Governor's Underage Drinking Task Group. The problems include inconsistent
and lax enforcement of laws on alcohol use, low prices for alcoholic
beverages, sporadic and poorly supported local community efforts, excessive
availability of alcohol to minors, and the glorification of alcohol use.

The report, forwarded to Gov. John Kitzhaber, is the beginning of a
coordinated, long-term strategy to attack underage drinking. It calls on
community groups, law enforcement and government agencies, school groups,
parents and young people themselves to cooperate in the effort.

"Everyone has to play a role," said Pamela Erickson, administrator of the
Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

Although underage alcohol use has dropped in recent years, according to
surveys of Oregon students, alcohol continues to be the leading drug of
choice, said Mike Sweeney, chairman of the Governor's Council on Alcohol and
Drug Abuse Programs.

The next step, task force members said, is to find the best ways to
implement the recommendations.

The 20-member group, made up of representatives of state and private
organizations, was formed in 1998 to look at ways to reduce alcohol use
because of the strong link between juvenile crime and drinking, said Larry
Didier, planning analyst for the Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs.

Underage drinking leads to a number of problems, including school failure,
physical and sexual assaults, traffic fatalities and adult alcoholism, task
force members said.

The task force report included these points:

* Motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death nationwide
among youth ages 15 to 20. In 1996, nearly 40 percent of all traffic
fatalities were related to alcohol consumption, according to the National
Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. Oregon had 47
alcohol-related youth traffic fatalities in 1996, Department of
Transportation figures show.

* National studies have found that alcohol influences both perpetrators and
victims of crime. About one-third of arrested juvenile males used alcohol in
the 72 hours preceding their arrest, according to 1991 figures from the U.S.
surgeon general. Half of all crime victims used alcohol and other drugs
around the time of their attack.

* A 1991 study found that heavy-drinking college students got the poorest
grades, according to the Core Institute, a federally funded alcohol
prevention program for higher education institutions. "A" students averaged
3.6 drinks per week, "B" students, 5.5 drinks; "C" students, 7.6, and "D" or
"F" students averaged 10.6 drinks per week.

The Oregon Department of Human Resources hopes to get legislative
authorization for a two-year, $20 million budget to fund alcohol and drug
programs across the state, said Larry Didier, planning analyst for the
Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs.

A federal grant of $360,000 from the Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention in 1998 helped fund 15 community programs in Oregon
dedicated to reducing underage drinking. The national agency awarded another
$360,000 grant to the Department of Human Resources last month.

Although community groups can help, the most effective deterrent to underage
alcohol use begins with parental guidance, Didier said.

"We need to get parents to discourage children from drinking," he said.
"Parents need to set clear, reasonable guidelines and enforce them. From our
own research, what the parents said to their kids is one of the most
important factors."

You can reach Theresa Cha at 503-221-8134 or by e-mail at
theresacha@news.oregonian.com

***

Underage drinking

Among the recommendations of the Governor's Underage Drinking Task Group:

* Work closely with county juvenile authorities and others to insist on
effective, enforceable consequences for illegal possession or use of alcohol
by minors.

* Maintain and enhance enforcement of laws to restrict access by youth to
alcoholic beverages. This includes merchant education of minor-use laws and
strict compliance with penalties for violating such laws.

* The governor should consider raising the tax on alcoholic beverages,
particularly malt beverages or beer.

* Have a statewide coalition investigate restrictions on promotion,
marketing and advertising of alcoholic beverages to youth.

* Develop a statewide organization of college and university campuses to
focus on the problems that alcohol use generates.

FOR MORE: To obtain a copy of the full report, call the Office of Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Programs in Salem, 503-945-5763 or 503-945-6189.

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

State says free beer at strip club a violation (According to the Oregonian,
Dylan Salts, the manager of Scores cabaret in Salem, said he's ready to
resume a recent tavern promotion offering two free beers for customers age 21
and over, even though Scores has no license to serve alcohol from the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission. Scores argues that the club doesn't need a license
if it gives away the booze instead of selling it.)

Newshawk: Portland NORML (http://www.pdxnorml.org/)
Pubdate: Thu, Apr 15 1999
Source: Oregonian, The (OR)
Copyright: 1999 The Oregonian
Contact: letters@news.oregonian.com
Address: 1320 SW Broadway, Portland, OR 97201
Fax: 503-294-4193
Website: http://www.oregonlive.com/
Forum: http://forums.oregonlive.com/
Author: Cheryl Martinis, Correspondent, the Oregonian

State says free beer at strip club a violation

SALEM -- The state says it's illegal, but a Salem strip club manager says
he's frothing to keep pouring free beer.

Dylan Salts, manager of Scores cabaret in Salem, said he's ready to resume a
recent tavern promotion offering two free beers for customers age 21 and
over, even though Scores has no license to serve alcohol from the Oregon
Liquor Control Commission.

Scores is arguing that it doesn't need a license if it gives away the booze
instead of selling it.

The OLCC's top executive disagrees.

Administrator Pamela S. Erickson announced Wednesday that she believes the
beer giveaway constitutes an unlicensed and illegal activity.

According to spokeswoman Louise Kasper, Scores agreed Tuesday night -- at
the request of OLCC officials -- to shut off the tap while the state agency
seeks legal advice from an Oregon Department of Justice attorney. That
advice is expected any time.

But it hadn't come by 4 p.m. Wednesday, when Salts said the 24 hours Scores
gave the state to research the free beer issue expired.

By early evening, he said he was awaiting a call from his attorney, former
OLCC regulator Mike Reed, as to whether to start pouring or give the OLCC
more time.

Salts said Scores started the free beer promotion a week ago. "It increased
our business base by almost 80 percent," he said.

Scores is one of about four taverns in Salem that offer nude dancing and the
only one that lacks a state license to serve alcohol.

The business started to apply for the license when it moved into Salem more
than a year ago but withdrew the application in the wake of strong
neighborhood opposition.

It since has remained open serving non-alcoholic refreshments.

About a month ago, however, Stars Cabaret opened on the Willamette
riverfront just northeast of downtown Salem at a former restaurant.

Salts denied that Stars was taking away customers, saying the free beer idea
has been in the works for months.

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

Pot, Police, And Prostitutes (Seattle Weekly sex columnist Cherry Wong
compares and contrasts pot and prostitution policies in America and the
Netherlands. People make up their own minds about certain vices with or
without the law on their side. By keeping prostitution illegal in most of
this country, it's giving the message that Americans don't have the
individual common sense to choose what's right or wrong for them. Ditto for
the pot.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:23:55 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: Column: Pot, Police, And Prostitutes
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Seattle Weekly (WA)
Copyright: 1999 Seattle Weekly
Contact: letters@seattleweekly.com
Website: http://www.seattleweekly.com/
Forum: http://www.seattleweekly.com/forum/index.html
Author: Cherry Wong
Note: Sex columnist Cherry Wong can be reached at cherry@seattleweekly.com
For past columns visit www.cherrywong.com

POT, POLICE, AND PROSTITUTES

I don't like tobacco.

Every day, I see friends and co-workers smoke, and I see giant billboards
subtly and not so subtly linking cigarettes with sex, but I'm hardly
tempted.

I don't like the taste of tobacco, and I don't get a high from it, so
there's nothing in it for me. Pot of course, is a different story.

Marijuana's illegality won't keep me from searching it out. It'd be great if
I could just go to a bar or a cafe and buy some pot over the counter like
they do in Holland, but purchasing it here isn't without its amusements. For
example, every time my pot connection comes through, he'll call me and use a
code word. Last week, he left this message on my machine: "Hey, kid," he
said. "I got that 'asparagus' you wanted.

Come by around midnight to pick it up.

My simple point: People make up their own minds about certain vices with or
without the law on their side.

Take for example the story about King County police recently shutting down
escort services (see "Sex Raids," p.17). According to the article, local
police have been using the Seattle Weekly and other papers that carry
advertisements for escort services to close down businesses they think are
fronting for prostitution and to catch clients on the make. I fined this a
puzzling, arbitrary enactment of the law and another piece of evidence that
cops generally suck.

Paying for sex is a consensual business transaction. I personally don't
approve of it, but what does my opinion or anyone else's have to do with it?
Whether we like it or not, prostitution is part of our culture.

The fact that it's illegal in this state won't eradicate the sex worker or
the consumer. We even have movies that glorify escorts.

Think Pretty Woman, Risky Business, Independence Day, and practically all of
Woody Allen's movies in the past decade.

How do we resolve such acceptance with our laws?

Some years ago, I lived in Holland, where prostitution is legal.

Go to any town, and you'll find several streets full of houses where women
dressed in skimpy lingerie display themselves in front of large windows.

Most Dutch people I met agreed that legalizing prostitution benefited
everyone - sex workers receive health insurance and routine checkups, they
get fair wages, pimps don't beat them up, and the state gets a share of
everything by taxing whore-houses. Does that mean that everyone was whooping
it up with a whore? No, just because prostitution is legal in Holland
doesn't mean that there aren't people who disapprove of paid sex, or just
find it not to their liking. (Ditto for the pot.)

By keeping prostitution illegal in most of this country, it's giving the
message that Americans don't have the individual common sense to choose
what's right or wrong for them.

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

Ex-Candidate Faces Trial in Medical Marijuana Case (The Los Angeles Times
examines the prosecution of medical marijuana patient/activist Steve Kubby in
the context of Proposition 215's history and prospects. Prosecutors aren't
even debating Kubby's tale of herbal success. Instead, they contend the
number of plants cultivated by Kubby and his 33-year-old wife, Michele, were
too many for personal medical use. "If the jury feels 265 plants is
sufficient for medical use, then justice is done," said Christopher Cattran,
a Placer County deputy district attorney. "If they decide 265 plants is too
much, then justice is done, too." The case is set for trial May 18 in Auburn.
Charles Lepp, a 46-year-old Vietnam War veteran who uses pot for a variety of
ailments, including chronic back pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and
manic depression, was acquitted in December in Lake County of charges that he
grew 131 marijuana plants for sale.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:59:04 -0800
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Subject: DPFCA: LA Times story on Steve Kubby
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

From today's (April 15, 1999) L.A. Times, Page A-3

Ex-Candidate Faces Trial in Medical Marijuana Case

Courts: Libertarian entrant in last year's governor race claims that
smoking pot has controlled his rare cancer.

By ERIC BAILEY, Times Staff Writer

OLYMPIC VALLEY, Calif.--Before the bust, Steve Kubby's claim to fame was
political trivia at best: Just who was last year's Libertarian candidate for
governor?

Then came the January day that narcotics officers raided Kubby's home
on a scenic slope near the Squaw Valley ski resort. Agents confiscated 265
marijuana plants growing in the basement and arrested the politician and his
wife.

The drug case has thrust Kubby, who said he smokes pot daily to control
a rare form of cancer, into the forefront of the roiling battle over medical
marijuana. It comes at a pivotal juncture in the fight.

Last month, a federal advisory panel declared that pot has therapeutic
merits for patients with AIDS or cancer. Meanwhile, advocates are hopeful
that last year's Democratic political sweep in California--and the departure
of Republican drug warrior Dan Lungren as attorney general--will yield a
friendlier environment for patients who smoke marijuana.

That hasn't been the case even with approval of Proposition 215,
California's landmark 1996 medical marijuana initiative. Despite the new
law, drug agents closed cannabis clubs in numerous cities. Overall,
marijuana arrests statewide jumped to a record 57,677 in 1997, the law's
first year of life.

Dozens of people have tried to use the law as a shield against
prosecution, but few have succeeded. Kubby's case promises an unusual test.
Although other patients say the drug helps them cope with illness, Kubby
goes farther. Marijuana, he contends, has kept him alive.

Kubby was diagnosed in the 1970s with a type of cancer that attacks the
adrenal glands and typically kills within five years. Early on, he suffered
through operations, chemotherapy and radiation. But for the last 20 years
his most regular form of treatment has been cannabis.

"As long as I have pot, I can lead an active and healthy life," said
Kubby, 52. "I can be as physical and intellectual as any other adult.
Without this medicine, I would drop dead in a few days."

Prosecutors aren't even debating Kubby's tale of herbal success.
Instead, they contend the number of plants Kubby and his 33-year-old wife,
Michele, cultivated were too many for personal medical use.

Authorities have charged the couple with possession of pot for sale as
well as other felony counts for small amounts of hashish, psychedelic
mushrooms and peyote buttons found at their home.

"If the jury feels 265 plants is sufficient for medical use, then
justice is done," said Christopher Cattran, a Placer County deputy district
attorney. "If they decide 265 plants is too much, then justice is done,
too."

The case is set for trial May 18 in Auburn. Kubby refuses to plea
bargain, though he could face a decade in prison if convicted on all
charges. He claims he is a victim of political persecution by the district
attorney and said his case will be "the Scopes monkey trial of medical
marijuana," a pronouncement that has even some allies rolling their eyes.

In Kubby's corner is Dr. Vincent DeQuattro, a USC medical school professor.

A cardiologist who specializes in hypertension illnesses, DeQuattro
treated Kubby more than two decades ago, but eventually referred him to
cancer specialists in the Midwest and lost track of him. The doctor figured
Kubby, like most others with the rare illness, had died.

Then he saw Kubby's picture--smiling and looking quite well--in the
voters pamphlet for last November's election. DeQuattro said he was
"flabbergasted Steve was still alive."

He contacted the politician and performed tests, discovering lethal
levels of adrenal fluids--10 to 20 times normal--coursing through Kubby's
system. Under such conditions a patient usually has blood pressure that
skyrockets and faces the risk of heart attack or stroke. Kubby's system
remains somehow in check.

"I have no other way to deduce but that marijuana is controlling it,"
said DeQuattro, who is continuing to study Kubby. "I've never prescribed
medical marijuana, I'm not an advocate, I don't use it. But in some way his
therapy has kept him alive."

Sophisticated Growing Area

Kubby said he began growing pot soon after voters approved the state's
medical marijuana law, which he helped to promote. He developed a
sophisticated little plantation in the basement of his sprawling rental
house.

Though now stripped clean by drug agents, it once featured blowers, a
carbon dioxide generator, special air filters and grow lights hard-wired to
timers. At the time of the arrest, narcotics agents said, 107 plants were
capable of producing smokable marijuana. The rest were immature plants, some
just seedlings.

The bounty of his basement garden will be a key issue in his upcoming
trial. During a preliminary hearing last month, a state drug agent testified
that the size of Kubby's crop indicated he was operating a "commercial grow"
that could have produced 20 pounds of finished product.

Kubby, however, said his indoor operation was yielding far less than
that, and all of it was for himself and his wife, who smokes pot to control
pain caused by a bowel condition she has suffered for more than five years.

He said he regularly throws away a lot of his crop, winnowing out
inferior strains, and that he usually smokes only half a joint, reasoning
the drug's medicinal effects are best when drawn through unburned cannabis.

"I was trying to grow the absolute best medicine possible," Kubby said.
"I figured the better the medicine, the less I have to grow and smoke. I was
working for stuff that didn't make me stupid or stoned or have the
munchies."

Kubby also has an explanation for the mushrooms and other drugs found
in his home: he said he had them on hand because of a book he wrote on drugs
and politics. The Kubbys said they are undergoing tests to prove they only
consumed cannabis.

Like his brand of medicine, Kubby's career path has been anything but
ordinary.

In his 20s, he ran an outdoor camp teaching wilderness living to
teenagers. Later, while fighting the cancer, Kubby founded a ski magazine
and got into politics. Michele Kubby worked at a San Francisco brokerage
house before the couple's 3-year-old daughter was born. Several years ago,
they started an Internet magazine, Alpine World, which they edited from
home.

The Kubbys first came to the attention of narcotics agents last summer,
as he campaigned at the top of the Libertarian ticket. Tahoe drug agents got
an anonymous letter containing a provocative tip. Kubby, it said, was
growing pot to finance his campaign for governor.

Kubby denies the allegation, suggesting it was dreamed up by some foe
troubled by his pro-pot stance on the stump. He talked openly about his own
use of marijuana for cancer during the campaign. On election day he finished
fourth, with 1% of the vote.

Off and on during the campaign, drug agents were keeping an eye on the
Kubby home. They picked through the family's garbage, peered through open
windows and interviewed friends. Cattran, the prosecutor, said agents
discovered marijuana seeds, leafy residue and other signs that Kubby was
growing plants.

Along with the garbage were notes from Kubby. Tipped off about the
surveillance early on, Kubby began leaving letters in his trash bin telling
drug agents that he was a medical marijuana patient protected by Proposition
215.

Those missives didn't help. Two months after election day, agents
outfitted in bulletproof vests raided the couple's home. Steve and Michele
Kubby were jailed for several days after the Jan. 19 arrest before being
released on their own recognizance.

During his incarceration, Kubby said, his blood pressure soared, as
jailers scoffed at the notion he be allowed to smoke pot to control the
condition. Officers, he recalled, "told us repeatedly: Proposition 215 may
be fine in San Francisco, but it doesn't fly in Placer County."

In recent weeks, the couple have vacated the Tahoe rental house--too
many bad memories, they say--and moved in with relatives in Orange County.
Kubby said he and his wife recently declared bankruptcy. They say they have
been hamstrung to publish their Internet ski magazine because agents seized
computer software and equipment.

"He's not a pot millionaire," said Dale Gieringer, California
coordinator for the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws. "The
guy's broke."

Putting Muscle Behind Prop. 215

The politician's plight has outraged others in the Libertarian Party,
who awarded him their "Sons of Liberty Award" at a recent state convention.
Party elders are feeling battered, noting that Los Angeles author and
medical marijuana proponent Peter McWilliams was arrested in July after a
speech at the Libertarian national convention blasting national drug policy.

Kubby's legal prospects remain uncertain. Many medical marijuana
defendants have been found guilty in court, despite Proposition 215.

An exception was the case of Charles Lepp, a 46-year-old Vietnam War
veteran acquitted in December of charges that he grew marijuana for sale in
rural Lake County. Lepp said his 131 plants provided pot for a variety of
ailments, including chronic back pain, post-traumatic stress disorder and
manic depression.

Kubby's attorney hopes the upcoming trial will have an impact beyond
the courtroom, helping push state lawmakers to adopt cleanup legislation
clarifying Proposition 215, which has been attacked as too ambiguous by law
enforcement officials.

"Right now, nobody knows how much pot is too much," said Dale E. Wood,
Kubby's Truckee attorney. "That question just can't be answered arbitrarily.
In one county it might be a few plants is OK, in another a lot more might be
allowed."

As one of the people who helped put Proposition 215 on the ballot,
Kubby said he feels a personal responsibility to push ahead with his case.
He contends that pot patients in many parts of California now are actually
at a greater risk than before the initiative.

Since 1991, marijuana arrests statewide have jumped 72%, including a
slight increase in the year after voters passed Proposition 215, according
to the state Department of Justice.

"Our task," Kubby said, "is to win in the jury box what we couldn't win
in the ballot box."

Michele Kubby has a more basic desire--to see her husband stay alive.

"If the jury sends Steve off to jail, they'll kill him," she said.
"That's what they'll have on their conscience, that's what they'll do."

Letters to the editor: letters@latimes.com

***

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

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Obituary - 'Brownie Mary' (The San Francisco Examiner says a candlelight
vigil in memory of Mary Jane "Brownie Mary" Rathbun will be held in the
Castro District Saturday night. A second memorial is being planned for May 1
at Laguna Honda Hospital.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 14:47:07 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Obituary - 'Brownie Mary'
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Francisco Examiner
Contact: letters@examiner.com
Website: http://www.examiner.com/
Forum: http://examiner.com/cgi-bin/WebX

OBITUARY -- "BROWNIE MARY'

Examiner Staff Report

A candlelight vigil in memory of Mary Jane "Brownie Mary" Rathbun will be
held in the Castro District Saturday night.

The 8 p.m. memorial will be at the corner of 18th and Castro streets.

Ms. Rathbun, who provided marijuana-laced brownies to a generation of San
Francisco AIDS patients and was a pioneer in the medical marijuana movement,
died at Laguna Honda Hospital.

The immediate cause of death was bronchopneumonia, although Ms. Rathbun also
suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and osteoarthritis. She
had been hospitalized for several months after a fall at her Castro home.

Though she was arrested three times in San Francisco and Sonoma County on
marijuana charges, Ms. Rathbun eventually was honored with a "Brownie Mary
Day" in The City for her work with AIDS patients, particularly in the AIDS
ward at San Francisco General Hospital. A second memorial is being planned
for May 1 at Laguna Honda Hospital.

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Teacher Held on Charges of Shipping Drugs (The Los Angeles Times says William
D. Hubbell, a junior high school teacher in Burbank and the son of a local
school board member, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trafficking in
cocaine after prohibition agents observed him shipping a box with $80,000
worth of cocaine to Hawaii.)

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 00:02:49 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Teacher Held on Charges of Shipping Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
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Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: when@olywa.net (Bob Owen)
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Los Angeles Times
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Fax: (213) 237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Forum: http://www.latimes.com/HOME/DISCUSS/
Author: Andrew Blankstein, Times Staff Writer

TEACHER HELD ON CHARGES OF SHIPPING DRUGS

A Burbank junior high school teacher who is the son of a local school board
member was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of trafficking in cocaine,
authorities said.

William D. Hubbell, 32, was taken into custody a week after detectives from
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Burbank Police Department
observed him shipping a box of cocaine to Hawaii, according
to Burbank police Lt. Ed Skvarna.

The package, with an estimated street value of $80,000, was intercepted by
DEA agents in Hilo, where they arrested a second man, authorities said.

Authorities declined to give the second man's name or discuss the
circumstances surrounding his arrest.

"It is believed Hubbell was heavily involved in shipping large quantities of
cocaine from Los Angeles to Hawaii," Skvarna said in a statement. "Hubbell
was arrested by Burbank Police Department narcotics detectives as he left work."

Hubbell is the son of Burbank Board of Education member Elena Hubbell, who
was reached at her home late Wednesday. She confirmed the arrest, saying her
son had been a substitute teacher at John Muir Junior High
School.

"At this point I know very little, so I can't even comment on it," Hubbell
said of her son's arrest. "He's 32. He's not a child that lives in my home
or that I interact with on a daily basis. But I am his mother and love him
and will support him." Burbank police turned Hubbell over to federal
authorities Wednesday.

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Marijuana Lesser Of Two Evils? (The Summit Daily News, in Colorado, can't
believe a U.S. Department of Transportation study conducted by the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration concluded drunk drivers pose a far
greater threat than drivers who had smoked marijuana. The study shows
marijuana's adverse effect on drivers is "relatively small" compared to
alcohol and even some medicinal drugs. "Marijuana impairment represents a
real, but secondary, safety risk. THC is not a profoundly impairing drug. Of
the many psychotropic drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used
by people who subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least
harmful.")

Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 12:02:32 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CO: Marijuana Lesser Of Two Evils?
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Sledhead
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Contact: amiller@summitdaily.com
Copyright: 1999 Summit Daily News
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/
Author: Jane Reuter

MARIJUANA LESSER OF TWO EVILS?

SUMMIT COUNTY - In a perfect world, drivers would only share the road with
sober people. But, given a choice between driving among those under the
influence of alcohol or marijuana, which is the greater evil?

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, drunk drivers pose a far
greater threat. The study shows marijuana's adverse effect on drivers is
"relatively small" compared to alcohol and even some medicinal drugs.

Conducted by the department's National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, the study concluded that there are many more deadly
substances than marijuana.

"Marijuana impairment represents a real, but secondary, safety risk," it
reads. "THC is not a profoundly impairing drug. Of the many psychotropic
drugs, licit and illicit, that are available and used by people who
subsequently drive, marijuana may well be among the least harmful."

The study didn't look into the adverse effects on drivers of marijuana and
alcohol taken together.

High Country DUIDs

Summit County police officers say they make a fair number of driving under
the influence of drug (DUID) arrests; most of those arrested are using
marijuana.

"Some people say it makes me drive better because I'm not so hyper," said
Sheriff Joe Morales."But it's still an intoxicant, and it's still illegal.
It definitely doesn't enhance your awareness."

If a driver is only using drugs and not alcohol, the presence of those
substances don't show up on the breath tests typically given to suspected
drunk drivers.

"A lot of times, you'll get somebody who looks intoxicated, but on a breath
test, it shows all zeros," Morales said. "Then, we have to do a blood or
urine test."

"It is difficult to detect," agreed an undercover agent for the Summit
County Drug Task Force. "There are certain indicators to look for - the odor
in their vehicle or on their person, bloodshot, dilated eyes.

"When driving, they may go too fast or too slow, they may be weaving, or
there may be failure to dim bright lights or use turn signals," he added.

Sometimes, he said, an officer becomes suspicious simply because the driver
appears unconcerned that he's been pulled over.

The agent said he's never seen an accident he can attribute to marijuana
use.

"But again, it's difficult to detect, so if someone was in an accident and
high on marijuana and we didn't have any of the indicators, we may never
know," he said. "That's the problem."

Silverthorne police Sgt. John Minor said his department has seen an increase
in DUID arrests.

"That's mainly because of heightened awareness and heightened levels of
training within the officer ranks," he said.

This year, Silverthorne will send an officer to a drug recognition expert
school for training specifically on such issues.

Of the DUID arrests made in Silverthorne, marijuana users are the most
common violators, Minor said, though methamphetamine abusers are not
uncommon.

"But we're certainly seeing a lot more different kinds of drugs," he said.
"Heroin seems to be making a comeback.

"There are also certain prescription drugs that you cannot be under the
influence of and drive," he pointed out. "They induce drowsiness, lack of
awareness, slow down your reaction time - all critical things while you're
driving."

Like the drug task force agent, Minor said marijuana's presence is often
hard to perceive.

"A lot of times, if they're under the influence of alcohol and narcotics,
they just get charged with DUI," he said. "Very rarely do we test for both.
It's hard to say, if they're under the influence of alcohol and marijuana,
what they're most under the influence of."

Colorado State Patrol trooper Eric Westphal has arrested about 10 people for
DUID during his 18 months patrolling the area. All of those people have been
using marijuana.

"About a-third of the time, you can smell it," he said. "The rest of the
time, it will show up in (poorly performed) roadsides, or we'll find a joint
or something in the vehicle."

U.S. DOT study

Curiously, the U.S. Department of Transportation study on marijuana and
driving shows THC appears to affect drivers in dramatically different ways
than alcohol.

"After alcohol, there was a tendency towards faster driving, and after THC,
slower," the study shows. "Our city driving study showed that drivers who
drank alcohol over-estimated their performance quality, whereas those who
smoked marijuana under-estimated it. This evidence suggests that alcohol
encourages risky driving, whereas THC encourages greater caution."

Monitors of the study drivers found that their subjects were well aware of
THC's affects, and concentrated on compensating for them. But that
concentration sometimes came at the expense of other things.

"Less capacity would be left for simultaneously performing another task,
such as conversing with passengers, using a car telephone, or handling
emergency situations," according to the study.

Another problem the study found occurred when THC-influenced drivers faced
routine driving.

"If the driving task is very monotonous and the demand is low, wandering
attention may result in negligent monitoring with disastrous results," it
read. "(This) strongly suggests that drivers under the influence of THC
would be unusually susceptible to attentional deficits during prolonged and
monotonous driving."

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Hemp Help - Two Area Republicans Are Among The Backers (The Capital Times, in
Madison, Wisconsin, says two local Republicans, state representative Eugene
Hahn, of Cambria, and state senator Dale Schultz, of Richland Center, are
among the backers of a resolution calling on Congress to legalize the
commercial production of industrial hemp.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 17:40:06 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WI: Hemp Help - Two Area Republicans Are Among The Backers
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: compassion23@geocities.com (Frank S. World)
Pubdate: 15 April 1999
Source: Capital Times, The (WI)
Copyright: 1999 The Capital Times
Contact: tctvoice@madison.com
Website: http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/
Author: David Callender
Note: Excerpted from "Under The Dome", a column about happenings at the
State Capitol.

HEMP HELP - TWO AREA REPUBLICANS ARE AMONG THE BACKERS

Hemp help: Two area Republicans are among the backers of a resolution
calling on Congress to legalize the commercial production of
industrial hemp.

Rep. Eugene Hahn, R-Cambria, and Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center,
are circulating a draft proposal and seeking co-sponsors for the measure.

Hemp is a variety of marijuana with low amounts of its psychoactive
ingredient, THC. Currently, federal and state drug laws make no
distinction between hemp and marijuana.

It is illegal to grow hemp, but it is legal to import hemp fiber and
sterilized seeds. Hemp imports more than quadrupled between 1996 and
1997.

Hahn and Schultz, as well as Rep. Boyle, contend that hemp's
reintroduction as a commercial crop in the U.S. could benefit farmers
and rural communities and yield profits of up to $600 an acre.

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2 Correction Officers To Serve Time (UPI says Rafael Lopez and Victor
Cabrera, two former New York City jail guards, were sentenced to 2 to 6 years
for attempting to smuggle drugs into the Rikers Island jail. Both men were
trapped in sting operations.)

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 03:25:51 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NY: 2 Correction Officers To Serve Time
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

2 CORRECTION OFFICERS TO SERVE TIME

BRONX, - Two former New York City Correction Officers
assigned to Rikers Island have been sentenced in Bronx Supreme Court
to 2 to 6 years for attempting to smuggle drugs into the correction
facilities on Rikers Island.

Edward J. Kuriansky, Commissioner of the Department of Investigation,
says as a result of two separate undercover investigations, Rafael
Lopez and Victor Cabrera have been sentenced.

The two defendants, who had each previously pleaded guilty to
attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree,
a class C felony, were immediately remanded.

According to the charges filed against Lopez, on 3 occasions between
Feb. 6, 1997 and March 7, 1997 he met with a DOI undercover agent and
was paid a total of $1,100 in bribes to smuggle cocaine and other
drugs to an inmate.

Lopex, 30, of Manhattan, had been a Correction Officer since January
24, 1991. He was arrested in June 1997.

Cabrea was accused of taking a total of $200 in bribes on two
occasions in December 1997 to smuggle cocaine to an inmate. Cabrea,
35, of the Bronx, had been a Corrections Officer since July 1983. He
was arrested in August 1998 when he attempted to apply for his pension.

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Quality of Life Policing: Giuliani Cop System Doesn't Work (An op-ed in
Newsday, in New York, by Joseph D. McNamara, a former New York police
officer, says that when Amadou Diallo, an innocent man, died in a hail of 41
bullets, so did quality-of-life policing, an errant style of law enforcement
promulgated by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the two police commissioners he
appointed, William Bratton and Howard Safir, who have been exporting it to
other cities.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:23:50 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NY: Quality of Life Policing:
Giuliani Cop System Doesn't Work
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
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Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Joseph McNamara
Pubdate: Thur, 15 April 1999
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 1999, Newsday Inc.
Contact: letters@newsday.com
Fax: (516)843-2986
Website: http://www.newsday.com/
Author: Joseph D. McNamara

GIULIANI COP SYSTEM DOESN'T WORK

WHEN AMADOU DIALLO died, so did quality-of-life policing.

My older brother and father served with the New York Police Department for
more than 25 years, and I retired from the department as a deputy inspector.
None of us would have fired at Diallo. During our years on the force, cops
were trained to believe that we were part of the neighborhood we patrolled,
not an armed group determined to impose our sense of "order." The four white
police officers who fired 41 shots at the unarmed African immigrant are not
murderers. They, like the defenseless man they killed in his own hallway,
are victims of an errant style of policing promulgated by Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani and the two police commissioners he appointed, William Bratton and
Howard Safir.

The four policemen indicted on murder charges, and their fellow officers,
have been conditioned to believe that quality-of-life policing - cracking
down on minor violations by aggressively confronting people walking the
streets of New York - is the way to reduce crime. In the context of this
approach, everyone is suspect. And therefore, like Diallo, everyone is
potentially an enemy of cops.

I attended a conference hosted by the NYPD two years ago in which the
department boasted that many petty arrests enabled officers to take into
custody suspects who turned out to be wanted for murder and other serious
crimes. It is wholly implausible that such serendipity occurs with any
frequency. Not surprisingly, my request for details on these cases was
denied.

As it happens, some time later, the NYPD released a prisoner booked for a
minor crime who was wanted for a murder.

A department spokesperson explained that the mistake had occurred because
fingerprint technology was not yet in place.

A major argument the department used to support zero-tolerance arrests
turned out to be false. But far more worrisome is that a zero-tolerance
philosophy reinforces a growing view among police officers that the public
is teeming with predatory criminals, and that petty arrests constitute
effective crime control.

The NYPD also clings to the notion that computerized crime analysis alone
enables the department to hold commanders accountable. Those who bring about
more arrests and lower crime rates are presented with rewards and
commendation.

The resulting pressure on commanders to deliver on expectations flows down
to street cops.

Until now, increased complaints about the way people are treated by
cops-under pressure to arrest-seem to have been regarded as the price of
quality-of-life policing. The mayor even referred to those arrested for
civil disobedience following the Diallo shooting as "silly" and as players
in a publicity stunt.

City Hall also suggested that criticism and protests over the shooting would
lead to increased crime.

The NYPD is trying to "export" this aggressive policing model to the rest of
the country. But what mayor would want to be in Giuliani's position now? New
York has been the site of a string of police scandals: A cop in the Bronx
choked a teenager to death after his football bounced off a police car; a
Haitian immigrant was tortured in a police station with a toilet plunger,
and an off-duty cop shot a squeegee person to death.

Such incidents make it unlikely that other cities will follow New York's
lead.

Like communism, quality-of-life policing may sound good but in practice
leads some cops to a police-state mentality.

Nor is it clear that cracking down on minor offenses is responsible for
lower crime in the Big Apple. Crime has decreased in other cities practicing
far different policing, such as community partnership models. Crime also
decreased in Los Angeles following the police beating of Rodney King when
the LAPD cops did little except respond to calls.

Such factors as a booming economy, plentiful jobs and the decline of the
crack cocaine trade have lowered crime regardless of what local police were
doing.

Giuliani's new willingness to meet with minority leaders, the NYPD's
integration of street-crime units and the requirement that these officers be
in uniform are positive steps. But police atrocities will persist in New
York unless the mayor and police department recognize that they can succeed
only with the consent and cooperation of the people they serve.

After all, citizens are the ones who report crime to the police, give
evidence, provide testimony, and sit on juries. Those who hate and fear the
police will not provide such essential help in reducing crime.

Joseph D. McNamara, former police chief of Kansas City, MO, and San Jose, CA
is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

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Fatal Error Shouldn't Undo The Good Done In New York (Columnist Mona Charen
writes in the Daily Herald, in Arlington Heights, Illinois, that most New
Yorkers are delighted with the change Mayor Giuliani has wrought.)

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 22:25:21 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NY: OPED: Fatal Error Shouldn't Undo The Good Done In New
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Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Steve Young
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Daily Herald (IL)
Section: Sec. 1
Copyright: 1999 The Daily Herald Company
Contact: fencepost@dailyherald.com
Website: http://www.dailyherald.com/
Author: Mona Charen

FATAL ERROR SHOULDN'T UNDO THE GOOD DONE IN NEW YORK

THE RACE HUSTLERS, hate mongers and assorted leftovers from failed
city administrations past are ganging up on Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New
York. Even some Hollywood celebrities, like Susan Sarandon, are
showing up to have themselves arrested outside the mayor's office,
along with the usual suspects, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and
former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.

The putative reason for their protest is the mistaken shooting of
African immigrant Amadou Diallo by four New York policemen. The true
reason for their protest is a desire to stigmatize and therefore
reverse the most amazing urban turnaround since the great Chicago fire
of 1871.

The miracle that the Giuliani administration has wrought in New York
City is so dramatic that it has stunned even those who planned it. As
John Podhoretz details in The Weekly Standard, the city's overall
crime rate has been cut in half in just five years -- with minority
neighborhoods benefiting the most. On the Lower East Side, the murder
rate has dropped 81 percent since 1994, burglaries are down 72
percent, and rapes have declined by 60 percent. The numbers are
comparable in other formerly hazardous neighborhoods.

The drop in crime, petty and serious, is not, as the Giuliani critics
would have it, a mere artifact of a booming economy and a drop in the
teenage population. As former Police Chief William Bratton and William
Andrews argue in the spring edition of the City Journal, New York has
maintained an unemployment rate of between 8 percent and 10 percent
throughout the last six years. That's double the national average. And
the teenage population has remained steady, except among minorities,
where it rose.

Birds of a feather? Dinkins and Sharpton

Nor has this urban peace been purchased at the price of a police reign of
terror. Though the police department has been expanded by 3,000 officers
since 1991, police shootings have declined. In 1995, the police used their
guns 344 times. By 1998, the number had declined to 249. And fatalities in
police shootings have dropped, too. In 1996, 30 of the shootings
resulted in death. In 1998, 19 died at the hands of the police.

There are a few key race hustlers in New York, most notably Al
Sharpton, who can stoke the tiniest spark of misunderstanding into a
raging flame of racial animosity. Sharpton came to national attention
by appointing himself an "adviser" to hoaxer Tawana Brawley. He went
on to incite a near riot in Harlem at a shop owned by a Jewish
merchant. Someone took the bait and torched the place, killing an
innocent man. And Sharpton shows up whenever he sees a chance to
encourage race hatred -- his most recent contribution was persuading
Abner Luima, the black man brutalized by New York police, to say that
the cops had said, "It's Giuliani time!" before inflicting their torture.

(This was later unmasked as a total fraud.)

The revival of the New York Police Department was no fluke. As Bratton
and Andrews make clear, the department was reorganized from top to
bottom by the Giuliani administration. Cops were taken out of their
patrol cars and put back on the streets. Computers were enlisted to
keep track of where crimes were occurring, and these data were
cross-referenced with information about the whereabouts of parolees.

Stop-and-frisk operations netted thousands of illegal guns, and the
police studiously denied criminals their infrastructure by going after
fences, chop shops, auto exporters and prostitution customers.
Precinct commanders were given more authority, and Compstat, the
information gathering system, helped them target high-crime areas.
Most famously, the police got tough on "quality of life" offenses like
blasting a radio or panhandling. In the process, they made New York's
streets nicer places for the law-abiding and nabbed a good number of
serious criminals along the way.

The Sharptons and David Dinkins of the world were happier when New
York was overrun by "squeegee men" extorting cash from motorists, drug
dealers strutting the streets unafraid, and teenagers openly swigging
beer and vaulting over subway turnstiles. They liked a New York with
4,500 shootings a year.

But most New Yorkers are delighted with the change Giuliani has
wrought. The mistaken shooting of an innocent man is a tragedy. But to
undo the great work of the NYPD in the name of Diallo would be a crime.

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

Strawberry Arrested For Drugs, Solicitation (UPI says Darryl Strawberry, the
baseball player for the New York Yankees, was busted Wednesday in Tampa,
Florida, with three-tenths of a gram of cocaine after offering an undercover
policewoman $50 for sex.)

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 00:02:46 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Strawberry Arrested For Drugs, Solicitation
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

STRAWBERRY ARRESTED FOR DRUGS, SOLICITATION

TAMPA, Fla., April 14 (UPI) - The troubled life of Darryl Strawberry took
another ominous turn Wednesday night when he was arrested on charges of
cocaine possession and solicitation for prostitution.

Tampa police officer S.L. Buchanan said Strawberry, whose once-promising
career was sidetracked by numerous personal problems, including substance
abuse, was arrested shortly after 10 p.m. Eastern time when he allegedly
offered an undercover policewoman $50 for sex.

During a search, police found three-tenths of a gram of cocaine powder in
his wallet. He was taken to the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Jail, where he
was released after posting $6,000 bond.

The 37-year-old outfielder is continuing his comeback from colon cancer at
the New York Yankees' extended spring training program. He was expected to
remain in Tampa until completing chemotherapy and was scheduled to spend the
entire month of April in the minor leagues.

"The Yankees have learned that Darryl Strawberry has been arrested Wednesday
night in Tampa," said team spokesman Rick Cerrone. "We are in the process of
acquiring the facts and obviously must let all the legal processes take
theircourse before making any (further) comment."

Strawberry had 24 homers and 57 RBI as a part-time player for the Yankees
last season, but he missed the postseason after being diagnosed with colon
cancer that required surgery. The Yankees, who captured their 24th World
Series title last fall, dedicated the postseason to their stricken teammate.

Strawberry saw limited playing time this spring, hitting .308 with two
homers and 10 RBI in eight games.

In three seasons with the Yankees, Strawberry has 38 homers and 108 RBI in
only 613 at-bats. He has 332 homers and 994 RBI over 16 seasons with the New
York Mets, Dodgers, San Francisco Giants and Yankees.

The arrest is yet another reversal of fortune for Strawberry, who
constantly has made headlines on and off the field in his checkered career.

He has won a Rookie of the Year award and a home run title and been on three
World Series teams. He also has fought opponents and teammates, battled
substance abuse and tax problems and endured divorces and releases.

Strawberry is the only major leaguer ever to play with the Yankees, Mets,
Dodgers and Giants - the four teams with New York roots.

During eight years with the Mets, he won the 1983 National League Rookie of
the Year award, was part of the World Series winners in 1986 and led the NL
with 39 homers in 1988. He also punched teammate Keith Hernandez and was
involved in a handful of publicized spats with his first wife, Lisa.

Strawberry signed as a free agent with his hometown Dodgers after the 1990
season and encountered back trouble two years later. Before the '94 season,
he admitted to having a substance abuse problem and entered a rehabilitation
center.

The Dodgers released Strawberry in May 1994 and he latched on with the
Giants before facing more substance abuse problems. He was suspended by
Major League Baseball for 60 days in 1995 and released by the Giants.

Following the ban, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner signed him in what was
considered a publicity stunt. However, Strawberry returned to the majors
late in the '95 season and was a contributor to the 1996 World Series
championship team, hitting .262 with 11 homers and 36 RBI in 63 games.

Mistakes as a young adult resulted in heavy payments for child support and
back taxes. He later remarried and spoke often about being committed to his
family.

Strawberry recently told the New York Daily News that his wife of five
years, Charisse, is his "rock."

He said, "God put her in my life for a reason. He knew I'd need help going
through all this turmoil."

She said she stayed with him through troubled times because she loves him,
adding, "Darryl is the best man, most kind man I know."

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

US Company To Build 2 Plants For Hemp Processing In Canada (According to the
Journal of Commerce, in the United States, Douglas Campbell, the president of
the Canadian division of Consolidated Growers and Processors, says CGP plans
to build two hemp-processing plants by 2001 in Manitoba.)

Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 07:55:12 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: US Company To Build
2 Plants For Hemp Processing In Canada
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
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Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thur, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Journal of Commerce (US)
Contact: editor@mail.joc.com
Website: http://www.joc.com/

US COMPANY TO BUILD 2 PLANTS FOR HEMP PROCESSING IN CANADA

A U.S.-based agricultural company plans to build two hemp-processing plants
by 2001 in Canada's western province of Manitoba, the head of the company's
Canadian operations said.

"There will be two distinct plants located on the same site. One is
dedicated to food and one is dedicated to fiber," said Douglas Campbell,
president of the Canada division of Consolidated Growers and Processors.

Consolidated Growers will spend 25 million Canadian dollars (US$16.5
million) to build the plants to process hemp, which until last year was
illegal to grow in Canada, he said Monday.

Mr. Campbell said the stalk-processing plant could handle 100,000 metric
tons a year and the seed-processing plant could handle 15 metric tons
annually.

"It was not even legal to grow the crop until 13 months ago," Mr. Campbell
said, adding that plantings in the agricultural Prairie provinces of western
Canada were expected to increase to 18,000 acres this year from 600 acres a
year ago.

The Canadian government approved the growing of the plant in 1998.

Mr. Campbell said the seed-processing facility would produce oil, to be used
for human and industrial consumption. It would also produce meal, used in
animal feed and beer, and hulls for animal feed and building materials.The
stalks would be processed for use as building materials such as insulation,
auto parts such as car door panels, and pulp and paper for cardboard
production.

The plants will be located in Dauphin, a small community some 300 kilometers
(180 miles) north of Winnipeg.

They would use hemp grown in Manitoba as well as the neighboring province of
Saskatchewan, Mr. Campbell said.

He said Consolidated Growers would probably export much of its production to
the United States. "Now it's not legal to grow seeds in the U.S., but it's
legal to use its products," he said.

A decision late last year by Body Shop International PLC to sell hemp- based
skin-care products has helped grant some legitimacy to the plant.

Legal authorities in Canada had frowned on the growing of industrial hemp
because the same cannabis sativa plant is used to produce marijuana. But
industrial hemp, which is still illegal in the United States, contains much
less of the drug than its illegal brother.

Up to and through World War II, the United States produced hemp products
similar to those it now imports. Indeed, hemp production was encouraged as
part of the war effort. But a subsequent crackdown on marijuana use led to
stiff laws against the drug and a revision of laws involving hemp
production.

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

Study Slams Corruption On Border (According to the Houston Chronicle, a
yearlong study by the General Accounting Office found that drug interdiction
efforts in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California are compromised by
federal agents and other field staff on the payrolls of Mexican drug
cartels.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 09:46:30 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: Study Slams Corruption On Border
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
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Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Art Smart (ArtSmart@neosoft.com)
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Page: 1
Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: Deborah Tedford

STUDY SLAMS CORRUPTION ON BORDER

U.S. Employees On Payrolls Of Mexican Drug Lords, Report Says

Mexican drug lords are bribing federal agents to give them information, wave
their smugglers through border checkpoints and even employing them to bring
drugs into the United States, a federal report says.

After a yearlong study, the General Accounting Office reported that it found
that drug interdiction efforts in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California
are compromised by federal agents and other field staff on the payrolls of
the Mexican drug cartels.

The report concluded there is a "continuing and serious threat" to corrupt
Immigration and Naturalization Service agents, U.S. Customs Service
inspectors and Border Patrol agents along the Mexican border and the
agencies are not doing enough to stop it.

"The enormous sums of money being generated by drug trafficking have
increased the threat for bribery," said the report to the Senate Caucus on
International Narcotics Control.

INS and Customs Service officials said the threat of corruption is real, but
only with a small number of employees.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Colgate and William Riley, director of
planning for the Customs Service, noted that only 28 INS and customs
employees were prosecuted for drug-related corruption along the Southwest
border from 1992 to 1997.

"Department of Justice (which includes the INS) believes that 28 instances
of corruption out of 9,600 agents over about a six-year period is a
commendable demonstration of the integrity of ours and (customs) personnel,"
he said.

Riley also pointed out that GAO's conclusions are based on a limited review
of criminal cases and internal affairs files -- 123 randomly selected
corruption cases from fiscal 1997, of which 72 involved INS and 51 involved
customs.

Although he readily acknowledged there are procedural problems that must be
addressed, Riley maintained that "corruption is not endemic in the agency."

Rep. Ciro Rodriguez, D-San Antonio, agreed that corruption is a serious
problem on the border, but said Congress shoulders much of the blame for
underfunding both agencies.

"The first line of defense is customs and they are insufficiently staffed
and underequipped," he said.

With cross-border trade up more than 200 percent since the passage of NAFTA,
Rodriguez said it often takes days for commercial traffic to clear the
border. For example, he said, customs has only two X-ray machines that can
scan an 18-wheeler, and 5,000 trucks per day crowd the checkpoint at Laredo
alone.

About 1,300 INS and 2,000 customs inspectors must inspect foot and vehicular
traffic at the 25 entry points along the 1,962-mile border from Brownsville
to Imperial Beach, Calif., 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Last year,
the Customs Service logged 77 million vehicle entries into Texas, New Mexico
and Arizona.

Between those ports of entry, about 6,300 INS Border Patrol agents patrol
vast expanses of sparsely inhabited terrain in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.

The GAO cited five ways that federal employees helped drug smugglers, with
examples of each:

- Waving vehicles through without inspection. For several years, it said, an
immigration inspector in El Paso gave smugglers his work schedule and lane
assignment, allowing them to drive vehicles loaded with up to 1,000 pounds
of marijuana through without inspection.

- Coordinating movement of drugs in remote areas between ports of entry. A
Border Patrol agent in Douglas, Ariz., it said, had telephoned marijuana
smugglers to tell them where loads could be brought across. The agent then
picked the loads up in his government vehicle and took it to another location.

- Transporting drugs past Border Patrol checkpoints. An agent in Falfurrias
drove marijuana through the checkpoints manned by his friends, then
deposited it at a safe house before returning to work.

- Selling the drugs themselves. One Border Patrol agent in Naco, Ariz.,
seized drugs, then sold them to dealers.

- Selling drug intelligence information. A customs operational analysis
specialist was paid to tip off importers suspected of smuggling drugs.

The GAO concluded that INS and the Customs Service failed to fully implement
employee integrity measures or evaluate procedural weaknesses revealed in
the cases that were prosecuted.

Many long-term employees did not receive advanced integrity training and the
agencies failed to complete the required employee re-investigations every
five years for more than three-fourths of the personnel scheduled to have
them during fiscal 1995-1997. Financial disclosure information was either
too limited or not reviewed, the GAO found.

Full implementation of those policies would identify employees who were at
risk of being corrupted, the report stated.

One immigration inspector told GAO interviewers that he became involved with
a drug smuggler because he had substantial credit card debt and was on the
verge of bankruptcy.

A more complete financial disclosure, the GAO said, would have raised red
flags when a midlevel Border Patrol agent, who had no credit card debt or
mortgage, acquired a 40-acre ranch with an indoor, Olympic-size swimming
pool, five cars, a van, two boats, 100 weapons and $45,000 in treasury bills.

GAO also recommended that traffic be randomly assigned to inspections lane
at border crossings.

"Both INS and customs have policies and procedures designed to ensure the
integrity of their employees. However, neither agency is taking full
advantage of its policies, procedures and the lessons to be learned from
closed corruption cases to fully address the increased threat of employee
corruption on the Southwest border," the report stated.

Government witnesses have testified in several drug trials that U.S.
officials took payoffs from smugglers who brought cocaine, marijuana and
methamphetamine across the Mexico border.

Drug cartel members testified in 1996 that drug kingpin Juan Garcia Abrego
kept a stash of cash and gifts for U.S. law enforcement officers to help
bring in large amounts of cocaine.

Two INS detention officers and one former INS officer used an agency bus to
ferry cocaine and marijuana past a federal checkpoint in Brownsville while
taking illegal immigrants back into Mexico.

A 1995 investigation also found that drugs were readied for pick-up at an
INS facility in Brownsville.

And in 1997, six former law enforcement officers in Donna, Texas, were
indicted for helping traffickers smuggle 1,700 pounds of marijuana across
the border.

But INS spokesman Greg Gagne said the GAO did not give the agency credit for
programs that are in place, such as the leadership and ethics training
center in Dallas, or consider the effects of years of underfunding.

Rodriguez said he has asked that 2,000 additional customs inspectors and
agents be hired nationwide and that $1.2 billion be given to the agency over
seven years to upgrade the computer and automation system that processes
commercial traffic at land ports of entry.

He told the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee on Tuesday that the
increase is necessary because of the growing trade across the U.S.-Mexico
border and crackdown on narcotics smuggling.

"These individuals are trying to do a job without sufficient equipment or
personnel. They aren't even fully computerized," he said.

***

Date: Sat, 17 Apr 1999 12:49:20 +0000
To: vignes@monaco.mc
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: [] Federal General Accounting Office Study Slamming Corruption

On Fri, 16 Apr 1999, Arthur Sobey (asobey@NCFCOMM.COM) reported the following
Federal General Accounting Office (GAO) study SLAMMING corruption on the
US-Mexican border.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service, US Customs, and Border Patrol have
been allowed to do their own internal investigations on corruption charges and
matters for years, as has all of law enforcement across the country. The
internal investigations either find no fault or they claim there are only a
few bad apples among a healthy orchard.

External investigations, like those done occasionally in big PDs when things
are so rotten and smelly that no rational person can accept the stink any
longer, and like this GAO report, always find something far different. In
this
case it is extensive drug war corruption that is getting worse instead of
better (where have you heard that before?).

The GAO remains today just about the only government agency that is willing to
tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

This GAO report follows the one done about a year ago where they investigated
drug war corruption in local law enforcement. The findings are eerily
similar; drug war corruption of all law enforcement is bad and getting worse.

But you know what? It doesn't matter. Even the most open-minded attitude in
LE won't solve this problem as long as prohibition protects the black market
that generates this mountain of money out of thin air.

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

Fairfax Teacher Suspended After Arrest On Drug Charge In D.C. (The Washington
Post says Fred Benevento, a math teacher at Fairfax High School in Virginia
and former head football coach at Langley High School, has been suspended
without pay due to his arrest March 19 for possessing cocaine with intent to
distribute. District of Columbia police conducting a stakeout said they found
13 bags of crack in his car. Benevento told police that the bags of cocaine
"came flying through his open window" and that he "was just looking at them
when the police officers arrived." Police found $136 on the man who allegedly
sold Benevento the 13 bags.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 15:22:29 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US VA: Fairfax Teacher Suspended After Arrest On Drug Charge In
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: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: B02
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: Victoria Benning and Bill Miller, Washington Post Staff Writers

FAIRFAX TEACHER SUSPENDED AFTER ARREST ON DRUG CHARGE IN D.C.

A 14-year Fairfax County high school teacher has been suspended without pay
following his arrest in the District on a charge of possessing cocaine with
the intent to distribute.

Fred Benevento, 47, a math teacher at Fairfax High School and former head
football coach at Langley High School, was arrested March 19 during a
stakeout conducted by D.C. police, who said they found 13 plastic bags of
crack cocaine in his car.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge last week and is to be tried in D.C.
Superior Court on July 19.

Fairfax County school officials said Benevento has been suspended pending
the outcome of the trial. He also has been suspended from his job as a
part-time assistant in the club football program at George Mason University,
GMU officials said.

Benevento, of the 5400 block of Ashleigh Road in Fairfax, taught at West
Springfield and Langley high schools before transferring to Fairfax High in
1994. While at Langley, he became one of Northern Virginia's most successful
high school football coaches, leading the school to two regional titles in
three seasons and a berth in the state finals in 1993.

According to court documents filed by prosecutors, police saw Benevento pull
onto the unit block of Rhode Island Avenue NW in a blue Buick shortly before
3 p.m. on March 19 and meet with a man who appeared to be handing him drugs.
Police arrested Benevento a few blocks away.

Benevento told police that the bags of cocaine found in his car "came flying
through his open window" and that he "was just looking at them when the
police officers arrived," the court documents said.

Benevento, who has an unlisted telephone number, could not be reached for
comment yesterday. "He's a very, very good friend and a good guy. Hopefully,
we can work this thing out," said his attorney, William G. Hundley,
declining to comment further.

Parents and students at Fairfax High expressed shock as word of Benevento's
arrest spread through the school community. They said they had not known
about the drug charge until a story on his arrest appeared in yesterday's
Washington Times.

"He was a really good teacher -- pretty cool," said Paola Calderon, 14, a
freshman taking algebra from Benevento this year.

Calderon said Benevento led a lively classroom -- explaining algebra
concepts clearly, but still managing to trade jokes with the class. She said
a substitute teacher told students yesterday that she would be their teacher
for the remainder of the year.

Ricky Martin, 16, a sophomore who was in Benevento's class last year, said
the teacher was willing to help students with their schoolwork, whether
inside or outside class.

Margaret Ochs, whose daughter took Benevento's algebra class as a freshman,
said: "He had a good rapport with her; he was concerned and helpful -- all
those things you want a teacher to be. The rest has come as quite a shock."

Benevento was wooed from Langley to become football coach at Centreville
High School in 1994. But he resigned from Centreville in August of that year
amid allegations that he had conducted preseason practices before the
official state start date. He was then moved to Fairfax High.

Benevento is married and has four children, according to D.C. court
documents, and has no previous criminal convictions. Law enforcement
authorities said they have no evidence he was selling drugs to students.

Also arrested was Alfonzo Williams, 35, a Northeast Washington man accused
of selling the drugs to Benevento. Williams, who has three previous
drug-related convictions, allegedly was caught with 51 plastic bags of
cocaine and $136 in cash.

Staff writer Jacqueline L. Salmon contributed to this report.

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

Students Face Drug Charges (UPI says an unspecified number of Lake Brantley
High School kids were among 32 people busted yesterday in Longwood, Florida,
for selling marijuana and cocaine.)

Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 15:55:32 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Wire: Students Face Drug Charges
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

STUDENTS FACE DRUG CHARGES

LONGWOOD, Fla., April 15 (UPI) - Thirty-two people, including a
number of Lake Brantley High School students, were arrested on drug
charges in Longwood Wednesday afternoon.

Police think they belong to a gang called the Forest City Mob. They
are accused of selling marijuana and cocaine.

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

City Settles Firefighter's Suit In Controversial Drug Case (The Charlotte
Observer says lawyers for Karen Goff, a former firefighter, and the city of
Gastonia, North Carolina, agreed to a $30,000 settlement Tuesday arising from
a search of Goff's locker that supposedly yielded cocaine. Prosecutors
dropped charges after tests by the State Bureau of Investigation showed the
substance to be inositol, an over-the-counter nutritional supplement. Then
Goff filed suit, so the city did more tests and found traces of cocaine in
the nutritional supplement. A laboratory worker for the city also said
inositol is commonly used to dilute cocaine. Still more tests by a laboratory
chosen by Goff's lawyers found no cocaine at all.)

Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 09:46:27 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NC: City Settles Firefighter's Suit In Controversial Drug
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Apr 1999
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 1999 The Charlotte Observer
Contact: opinion@charlotte.com
Website: http://www.charlotte.com/observer/
Author: Tony Mecia, Staff Writer, tmecia@charlotte.com

CITY SETTLES FIREFIGHTER'S SUIT IN CONTROVERSIAL DRUG CASE

GASTONIA -- The city says former Gastonia firefighter Karen Goff gave police
the key to her locker in 1997, where they found a powder that tested
positive for cocaine.

Goff's lawyers say the search was forced and that there was no test -- and
no cocaine.

In those drastically different versions, found in the court documents of the
lawsuit Goff filed last year, both sides insist they're right. But neither
will be vindicated by a jury.

Tuesday, Goff's lawyers and the lawyer for the city and its insurance
company agreed to settle the case for $30,000. Of that, the city owes
$10,000, the amount of its insurance deductible.

It's the second time in five years that Gastonia has settled a complaint
against it.

"We're pleased that we're able to compensate Karen, but nothing in the world
can compensate her for what she lost," said Tom Hunn, one of Goff's lawyers.
Her reputation suffered because of the false charges, Hunn said.

Goff, who now works as an electrician in Charlotte, was unavailable Wednesday.

Dennis Redwing, Gastonia's deputy city attorney, said the city and its
insurer settled the case because of mounting legal costs and the uncertainty
of trial, not the case's merits.

"There is no admission of wrongdoing (by the city)," Redwing said.

Court documents and interviews with lawyers on both sides trace the case
from Goff's arrest in February 1997 until its completion:

The city fired Goff from her firefighting job in 1997 after police, acting
on anonymous tips, found three bags of white powder, a pipe and pills in her
fire-station locker. Prosecutors dropped cocaine charges after tests by the
State Bureau of Investigation showed the substance to be inositol, an
over-the-counter nutritional supplement.

Goff was rehired but resigned later that year. In April 1998, she sued three
Gastonia police officers, two fire officials and the city for more than
$60,000. She contended they violated her rights by arresting her without a
proper investigation.

Goff claimed police searched her locker without her consent and arrested her
without testing the white powder. In court documents, police said the search
was consensual and that officers tested the substance before arresting her.

Last month, lawyer Frank Aycock, who represents the city and its insurance
company, said no written documentation existed of the field test.

"They didn't write it down at the time," Aycock said.

After Goff filed the suit, the city had the substance tested again by a
different method. Those additional tests found traces of cocaine in the
nutritional supplement, court documents state. And the supplement, the
laboratory worker wrote in his report, is commonly used to dilute cocaine.

A laboratory chosen by Goff's lawyers found no cocaine in the powder.

In court documents, Goff said the white powder was not hers. She suggested
that someone planted it in her locker.

The case was scheduled for trial next month. For the past several weeks,
lawyers on both sides have tried to reach a settlement. By a 5-1 vote, the
City Council authorized a settlement last month.

Redwing said he doubted that the city's insurance rates would increase
because of the settlement.

"We are cognizant of our jobs," he said. "We take it seriously, and we do
not hand out money."

Reach Tony Mecia at (704) 868-7731 or: tmecia@charlotte.com