-------------------------------------------------------------------
NORML Weekly Press Release (North Dakota becomes first state to legalize
hemp cultivation; Drug czar's office endorses arresting, jailing medical
marijuana smokers despite report backing drug's value; Hawaiian hemp research
cultivation bill in final stages; Canada's parliament resumes historic
medical marijuana debate)
From: NORMLFNDTN@aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 18:23:33 EDT
Subject: NORML WPR 4/22/99 (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 22, 1999
***
North Dakota Becomes First State To Legalize Hemp Cultivation
April 22, 1999, Bismarck, ND: Governor Ed Schafer (R) signed legislation
Saturday allowing local farmers to "plant, grow, harvest, possess, sell, and
buy industrial hemp." North Dakota is the first state to remove criminal
penalties for hemp cultivation.
"North Dakota is pushing the envelope for the sake of their farmers who could
benefit from a legal, statewide hemp industry," NORML Executive Director R.
Keith Stroup, Esq. said. He said the state's new law challenges federal law
prohibiting non-federally licensed hemp cultivation.
House Bill 1428 reclassifies hemp containing no more than three-tenths of one
percent THC as a legal commercial crop, and allows licensed farmers to grow
it. The House and Senate overwhelmingly approved the measure before the
governor signed it. The Legislature commissioned a study two years ago that
determined locally grown hemp could yield profits as high as $141 per acre.
North Dakota's new regulations are modeled closely after Canada's, which
legalized commercial hemp cultivation last year. Bill sponsor Rep. David
Monson (D-Osnabrock) said that local farmers are eager to grow hemp after
seeing the crop's economic success north of the border.
Farmers who wish to grow hemp must have no prior criminal history, use
certified seeds, and allow random inspections of their crop for THC content.
Farmers must pay a minimum $150 fee to apply for a hemp license.
John Howell, CEO of New York City's Hemp Company of America and a plaintiff
in a 1998 federal lawsuit to legalize hemp cultivation, said that "the future
of hemp in America now looks much, much brighter." He noted that federal
permits to grow hemp require applicants to answer whether cultivation is
legal in their state. "Until now, every applicant had to check 'no' and
applications were denied. Now that Catch-22 cycle has been broken by North
Dakota's action."
The Legislature also approved measures allowing university researchers who
have federal permission to grow small quantities of hemp, and urging Congress
to acknowledge legal distinctions between hemp and marijuana. Twenty-nine
nations, including France, England, Germany, Japan, and Australia allow
farmers to grow non-psychoactive hemp for its fiber content.
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://ranch.state.nd.us/LR/text/BILL_INDEX/BI1428.html. To read about
additional state reform legislation, please visit the NORML website at:
http://www.norml.org/laws/stateleg1999.html.
***
Drug Czar's Office Endorses Arresting, Jailing Medical Marijuana Smokers
Despite Report Backing Drug's Value
April 22, 1999, Washington, D.C.: Patients using marijuana medicinally
should still face arrest and prosecution despite a federally commissioned
report concluding the drug has medical value, a spokesman for the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) stated in a recent interview.
The statements drew the ire of NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St.
Pierre. "Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey and his minions are not only misguided in
their naked opposition to medical marijuana; unfortunately, they are also
malevolent."
ONDCP Deputy Director Donald Vereen called physicians who recommend marijuana
to their patients "irresponsible" and endorsed arresting patients who use the
drug, in the April 16, 1999, issue of Psychiatric News, the journal of the
American Psychiatric Association (APA).
"It doesn't matter what the excuse [for using marijuana is,] ... you are
going to get arrested just as fast," Vereen said. "Individuals and
individual doctors don't make medical policy, and that's what this is."
Last month, a report by the Institute of Medicine concluded that, "Short term
marijuana use appears to be suitable in treating conditions like
chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, or the wasting syndrome caused by
AIDS ... for patients who do not respond well to other medications."
For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of the NORML Foundation @ (202) 483-8751.
***
Hawaiian Hemp Research Cultivation Bill In Final Stages
April 22, 1999, Honolulu, HI: The Legislature narrowly approved a measure
last week allowing hemp cultivation for research purposes, but still must
debate the bill's amendments in conference committee. House Bill 32's
sponsor, Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R-Kailua), said that Gov. Ben Cayetano (D)
supports the measure and will sign the bill by June.
"While other states have approved hemp research, Hawaii is the first to
approve state-sponsored research that includes the possibility of
cultivation," NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup, Esq. said.
House Bill 32 permits "privately funded ... research on the agronomic
potential of industrial hemp." Thielen says she anticipates cooperation from
federal officials to conduct the research, which may include allowing "seed
variety trials of industrial hemp." She added that the Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) may soon unveil "revised security measures for
industrial hemp that will not be cost prohibitive or as harsh as those for
marijuana."
The bill defines industrial hemp as marijuana that contains no more than
three-tenths of one percent THC.
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.capitol.hawaii.gov/session1999/bills/hb32_sd2_.htm. To read about
additional state reform legislation, please visit the NORML website at:
http://www.norml.org/laws/stateleg1999.html.
***
Canada's Parliament Resumes Historic Medical Marijuana Debate
April 22, 1999, Ottawa, Ontario: Canada's House of Commons resumed debate
last week on a motion to make marijuana available for medical purposes. The
House will vote on the motion, M-381, in June. The hearing marked only the
second time the House of Commons has debated legalizing medical marijuana.
"The government must stop holding sick people hostage," said MP Pauline
Picard (Bloc Quebecois-Drummond), whose party is one of the chief backers of
the measure. "This is a health debate, a justice debate, based on the values
of fairness, mutual aid and compassion that we all share as a society."
Picard testified that the motion must do no less than put Parliament on
record as supporting legalizing medical marijuana, and argued against efforts
to delay the drug's legal access.
Member of Parliament Libby Davies (New Democrats Party-East Vancouver)
agreed. "We must make it very clear that we do not want to wait another two
or three years for trials to be conducted," she testified, criticizing
allegations by Health Minister Allan Rock that his office is developing
guidelines for medical marijuana research. "We do not want to wait for
another study or another plan. We want help and relief to be provided now."
Rock announced earlier this year that he has asked federal officials to draw
up a plan to provide for the distribution and use of marijuana in clinical
trials. Several MPs questioned Rock's sincerity, noting that he made similar
statements over a year ago, but took no action.
Motion 381, introduced by MP Bernard Bigras (Bloc Quebecois-Rosemont),
recommends the government to "undertake all necessary steps concerning the
possible legal use of marijuana for health and medical purposes." An aide to
Bigras estimated that 100 MPs support the measure, about 50 short of a
majority in the 301-member House.
Debate on M-381 will continue for a third day before MPs vote on the motion.
For more information, please contact either R. Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano
of NORML @ (202) 483-5500. Transcripts of the debate are available online at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/cgi-bin/36/pb_chb_hou_deb.pl?e.
- END -
-------------------------------------------------------------------
CMA Lobbies State Legislators (Synapse, a publication of the medical school
at the University of California at San Francisco, describes the recent
meeting of 500 members of the California Medical Association regarding
various proposed state health care legislation, particularly the medical
marijuana task force established by Attorney General Bill Lockyer. In
addressing CMA members, Lockyer seemed to suggest that physicians could
approve patients' use of medical marijuana without fearing federal
intervention, if they did it quietly. He summarized his stance as, "We won't
go looking, but don't bring yourselves to our attention.")
From: ekomp@earthlink.net
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 15:14:20 -0700
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
Subject: DPFCA: Lockyer Addresses CMA
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: ekomp@earthlink.net
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/
April 22, 1999
Synapse--University of California San Francisco
CMA Lobbies State Legislators
By Ann Hwang
At the California Medical Association's (CMA) Legislative Leadership Conference
in Sacramento on April 14, approximately 500 CMA members met to discuss and
lobby for bills currently facing the State Senate and Assembly. CMA government
relations staff presented the CMA position on a number of healthcare issues,
from malpractice insurance to HMO regulation to social welfare programs.
CMA President J. C. Pickett, MD, warned, "This year we will be tested as never
before." Robert Hertzka, MD, Chair of the CMA-sponsored California Medical
Political Action Committee (CALPAC), described the gathering as "a key
grassroots event" and emphasized the importance of member participation in and
contribution to the lobbying effort. "It behooves us to have people across the
street [in the State government] who agree with us," he reasoned.
(snip)
Medical marijuana
Attorney General Bill Lockyer used his lunch-time speaking session to reply to
written queries from the audience. The first topic he addressed was medical
marijuana.
Lockyer explained that his mother and sister's deaths from leukemia made him
support the use of medical marijuana. He said, "I always thought it was strange
that they could be prescribed morphine and other controlled substances, but not
medical marijuana." Lockyer said that he voted for proposition 215 (the medical
marijuana initiative), despite "knowing that it was written so badly it hardly
passes the 'giggle test.'"
In addition to formulating better-written legislation on the subject, Lockyer
stressed the need for further research. He addressed rumors that researchers
who had submitted proposals for medical marijuana research to the NIH had had
their proposals rejected. During a phone conversation, Lockyer and U.S.
Attorney General Janet Reno discussed obstacles to research. Lockyer requested
that any investigators whose proposals had been denied contact him.
Lockyer said that physicians should have autonomy with respect to recommending
marijuana to patients. "I will trust medical practitioners to make appropriate
decisions about the cases that you treat," he said.
Marijuana is still classified by the federal government as a Schedule 1 drug,
indicating that it has no medical benefit. Lockyer seemed to suggest that until
marijuana is reclassified, physicians could approve patients' use of medical
marijuana without fearing federal intervention, if they did it quietly. He
summarized his stance as, "We won't go looking, but don't bring yourselves to
our attention."
Copyright (c) 1999 Synapse
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Judge Suspends Baldwin Medical Marijuana Trial (The Auburn Journal, in
California, says the trial of Michael and Georgia Baldwin was put on hold for
one week Wednesday morning in order for Judge James D. Garbolino to read the
meager case law on Proposition 215. Although both Baldwins have
recommendations from their physicians, Placer County sheriff's detectives
arrested them Sept. 23 for 146 plants at their Granite Bay home.)
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 01:36:36 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: MMJ: Judge Suspends Baldwin Medical Marijuana Trial
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: bstamate@psyber.com (Byron Stamate)
Pubdate: Thu, 22 Apr 1999
Source: Auburn Journal
Copyright: 1999 Auburn Journal
Contact: ElPatricio@aol.com
Address: 1030 High St., Auburn, CA 95603
Author: Dena Erwin, Journal Staff Writer
JUDGE SUSPENDS BALDWIN MEDICAL MARIJUANA TRIAL
The trial of accused marijuana cultivators Michael and Georgia Baldwin was
put on a one-week hold while the judge researches the case's complex legal
issues.
Wednesday morning, Judge James D. Garbolino sent the 15-person jury home and
ordered them to return to Auburn's Historic Courthouse next Wednesday.
Placer County sheriff's detectives arrested the Baldwins Sept. 23 at their
Granite Bay home, where they found an indoor marijuana garden of 146 plants.
The couple was charged with cultivation and sales of marijuana and remain
free on bail.
Both of the 35-year-old Baldwins are claiming protection from prosecution
under Proposition 215, California's Compassionate Use Act. Each possessed a
prescription from their doctor allowing them to use marijuana for migraine
headaches and other painful disorders.
Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday, following testimony of their expert
witness, Nick Mollica.
Following Wednesday's hearing, Deputy District Attorney Dave Tellman said
the pause in testimony gives both sides a chance to submit a written
explanation of the legal issues of medical marijuana.
"Since (Prop. 215) is a new law and there's very little case law on it, the
court is looking for input from both sides to review some of the inherent
ambiguities of the statute," he said.
Lawrence Lichter, Georgia Baldwin's counsel, said the delay could signal the
end of proceedings against his client and her husband.
"The judge will decide if there's a need for the defense to present any
evidence at all," he said. "He may decide it's inappropriate to proceed
with the jury at all."
Lichter also said he's encouraged by the judge's comments that a doctor's
recommendation means protection under the law.
"The judge read the statute enacted by Proposition 215. Once a doctor makes
such a recommendation, patients are supposed to be protected from
prosecution," he said.
Lichter said inconsistent prosecution presents a constitutional problem.
"People should not be discriminated against because they live in one county
or another," he said. "If someone who grows 146 plants in Alameda County
would be innocent, why should you be guilty in Placer County?"
After the hearing, Georgia Baldwin said she is pleased with the trial to date.
"I'm really confident and I'm relying on Prop. 215 to bring forth the
truth," she said. "The prosecution is trying to persecute us."
Throughout the five days of the trial, the Baldwins have been buoyed by the
support of their family and proponents of medical marijuana. With their
marijuana supply confiscated, Baldwin said she's has to resort to taking
opiates for migraines and endometriosis, which subject her to nausea and
vomiting.
"The marijuana helped me relax and prevented migraines," she said, adding,
"This has been exhausting for me and my husband, mentally and physically.
It's put great stress on our family."
Baldwin said she has made Proposition 215 a personal crusade.
"It's appalling that we're coming into the 21st century and medical
marijuana is where it is," she said. "My goal is to get it into hospitals
for cancer patients, AIDS patients, and to women with menstrual problems and
headaches."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hemp: Now We're Wearing It, Eating It, Even Building With It (The Orange
County Register says hemp is so hot that many hemp manufacturers don't even
bother anymore with doper jokes.)
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1999 20:16:25 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: CA: Hemp: Now We're Wearing It,Eating It, Even Building
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W. Black
Pubdate: Thursday April 22,1999
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Section: Accent,page 1
Author: Andre Mouchard-OCR
HEMP: NOW WE,RE WEARING IT,EATING IT, EVEN BUILDING WITH IT
Trends: Growing the plant may be illegal in this country, but that hasn't
stopped products made of it from becoming hot sellers.
You know a little about hemp.
Not to much, of course. A friend used to tell you about it, uh, a lot during
college.
Anyway, what you don't know about hemp is that: A) as a textile/building
material/food product/body lotion, it's not dope; and B) it's one of the
hottest textiles/building materials/food products/body lotions on the planet.
Hemp is so hot that many hemp manufacturers don't even bother anymore with
doper jokes.
The New York hosiery company E.G. Smith Socks recently unveiled two new
products - Ribbed Hemp sweat socks. The brochure for both items reads: "Why
Hemp Socks. Fabrics made from hemp keep the wearer cooler in the summer and
warmer in the winter," adding that hemp is "resistant to pests and mold."
Such restraint is typical in the hemp industry, according to Lisa David,
co-owner of Orange Hemp Co. in Orange.
"Hemp is not mainstream yet. Definitely not.
"But hemp is very well accepted within the eco-friendly community, the
Sierra Club, and people like that," she adds.
"And it's also trendy among kids."
Though it remains illegal in this country to cultivate any of the 400-plus
varieties of cannibis, David says the variety and volume of hemp products
entering the U.S. retail market is growing exponentially as other countries
relegalize hemp as a manufacturing material.
Food (hemp-pesto salad dressing and hemp hot sauce), paper and products
("tree-free" hemp stationery, hemp fiberboard), beauty aids (hemp shampoo
and hemp body oils) and clothing (hemp shoes, hemp shirts, hemp belts, hemp
hats and wallets) are some of the hotter product categories.
"Once people understand hemp, they're open to it," David says. "It's not
for smoking."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Controversy: The Legal Ties That Bind Hemp Farming (The Los Angeles Times
says states are leading the drive to re-introduce industrial hemp production.
On Saturday, North Dakota became the first state to permit the growth and
sale of industrial hemp, although growers will still need permits from the
Drug Enforcement Agency. Sales of hemp products are booming. In 1993,
worldwide retail sales amounted to only a few million dollars. In 1997, sales
surpassed $75 million, according to HempTech, a hemp research organization
based in Sebastapol, California.)
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 18:39:21 EDT
Originator: friends@freecannabis.org
Sender: friends@freecannabis.org
From: "David Crockett Williams" (gear2000@lightspeed.net)
To: Multiple recipients of list (friends@freecannabis.org)
Subject: Hemp in the LA Times
THE LA TIMES
Los Angeles, California
April 22, 1999
Controversy
The Legal Ties That Bind Hemp Farming
By Booth Moore
LA Times
Shoes, socks, lip balm, paper, twine, coffee filters, snack bars, dog
collars, soap, jeans, wallets, candles, insulation, paints, cosmetics,
plasters, blankets and fuel are just a few things that can be done with
hemp other than smoking it.
The environmentally friendly weed, which is used around the world for
its fiber, seed and oil, requires little fertilizer and pesticides to
grow. It can be used instead of trees to make paper and is a source of
biomass fuel. So why aren't we using it?
Hemp is banned in the U.S. because law enforcement and the federal
government have long identified it with a distant cousin: the
mood-altering marijuana plant. Although it is legal to possess hemp (you
cannot be arrested for sporting hemp Adidas sneakers), it's illegal to
grow hemp.
The Office of National Drug Control Policy insists legalizing hemp would
send the wrong message. But times are changing.
States are leading the way in this change. On Saturday, North Dakota
became the first state to permit the growth and sale of industrial hemp,
although growers will still need permits from the Drug Enforcement
Agency. Virginia and Montana have formally called for an end to the
federal ban, and Hawaii recently voted to allow 10-acre test plots. New
Mexico recently approved funding for hemp research, and the Kentucky
Hemp Growers Cooperative Assn. is working to reestablish the crop there.
New Hampshire, Montana, Vermont, Iowa, Maryland and Tennessee are also
considering pro-hemp legislation, and the California Democratic Party
adopted a resolution supporting hemp at its state convention in March.
And why not? Sales are booming. In 1993, worldwide retail sales of hemp
were only a few million dollars. In 1997, sales surpassed $75 million,
according to HempTech, a Sebastapol, Calif.-based hemp research
organization.
HempTech President John Roulac explains: "Hemp is making a comeback for
several reasons--because the product attributes are superior; it's
sustainable and can be grown without pesticides; and people are
fascinated with why a crop that's so versatile is banned by the federal
government."
Industrial hemp advocates are pleased because the campaign to legalize
hemp seems at last to be moving away from the counterculture. "The North
Dakota legislation was not the work of activists. It was North Dakota
farmers listening to Canadian radio stations and hearing about the
success of this amazing crop," says advocate Don Wartshafter.
Advocates hope the momentum will lead to the Justice Department lifting
its ban on hemp farming within the next year. For more information, log
on to http://www.hempseed.com.
Copyright 1999 Los Angeles Times
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Possible April 20 (420) Connection to Pot Smoking Sub-Culture In Littleton
Tragedy, FRC Says (A revealing press release from the drug-warrior Family
Research Council, distributed by PR Newswire, jumps the gun by suggesting
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two teen-agers who committed mass
murder-suicide Tuesday at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, were
pot smokers celebrating "4-20" rather than abstemious Nazi sympathizers whose
only "drug" use involved a pharmaceutical antidepressant.)
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 12:22:45 +0000
To: vignes@monaco.mc
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: [] Possible Connection to Pot Smoking In Littleton Shootings
Thursday April 22, 12:58 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Family Research Council
Possible April 20 (420) Connection to Pot
Smoking Sub-Culture In Littleton Tragedy,
FRC Says
WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Littleton shooting suspects Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold's connection with April 20 may go beyond its being
Adolph Hitler's birthday. April 20 or ``420'' is a euphemism or code for
smoking marijuana that is ``more widespread than ever and still growing ...
'420' events are almost worldwide,'' according to pro-marijuana magazine
High Times, reported in April 1999. High Times publisher Mike Edison said,
``Every day at 4:20 smokers are indulging. Every year April 20 becomes more
and more of an 'International Burn Day.''' (High Times, April 1999). Also,
marijuana is reported to contain 420 different chemicals.
While investigators await toxicology reports Thursday, Littleton High
School student Jake Apodaca said in an interview with Ted Koppel on ABC's
Nightline (April 20) that ``4/20 is another word for marijuana and it's the
fourth month and the 20th day so they (suspects) just kind of take that as
kind of a holiday.'' They meaning ``everybody that smokes weed or does
drugs,'' he said.
``Whether or not these suspects or this incident had any connection to drug
use, it is crucial that we recognize what drug use does to our youth,''
Family Research Council drugs and crime expert Robert Maginnis said
Thursday. ``Drug use is highly correlated with delinquent behavior, and use
among adolescents is on the rise. There are some clear-cut social and
demographic trends that make it very probable that today's shocking stories
of youthful violence will explode over the next decade.''
In a 1997-1998 nationwide survey of more than 86,000 high schoolers, the
correlation of marijuana use to violence and hopelessness is significant:
-- Of those who carry guns to school, nearly 76 percent smoke pot at least
once-a-year.
-- Of those who take part in gang activities, nearly 70 percent smoke pot
at least once-a-year.
-- Of those who think of suicide often or a lot, nearly 60 percent smoke
pot at least once-a-year.
-- Of those who threaten to harm another, nearly 48 percent smoke pot at
least once-a-year.
-- Of those who get into trouble with the police, nearly 63 percent smoke
pot at least once-a-year. (Source: PRIDE -- Parents' Resource Institute for
Drug Education)
In a nationwide FRC survey of 1,000 registered voters, Americans believe
that public school-based random drug testing with parental consent is
``necessary to reduce violence and increase student performance'' (The
Polling Company, Feb. 1999).
SOURCE: Family Research Council
***
Apparently, no -illegal- drugs were found. The Denver Post reported today
that the reason Eric Harris was denied entry into the Marines was that he
was taking a psychiatric medication. It didn't say which one.
Laura
***
Date: Thu, 29 Apr 1999 10:40:49 -0700
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
From: Gerald Sutliff (gsutliff@dnai.com)
Subject: Re: [] Possible Connection to Pot Smoking In Littleton
Shootings
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org
One wonders how the FRC can draw the conclusion there is a casual
relationship between marijuana use and anti-social activity or illegal
behavior (including gun totting) when acquiring and/or possessing marijuana
itself is an illegal act.
If pot were totally legal, even for minors, and young people who carried or
used pot were found to be the most frequent gun carriers then they would be
on to something. In the meantime we must remember that liars can figure.
This is the stupidest hysteria since the Lever Brothers Satanist symbol flap.
vty, jerry sutliff
***
From: "Todd McCormick" (todd737@earthlink.net)
To: "DRCTalk Reformers' Forum" (drctalk@drcnet.org)
Subject: RE: Littleton shooters
Date: Wed, 28 Apr 1999 21:38:28 -0700
Sender: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org
Did anyone else see this brainstorm of a connection in the news?
Thursday April 22, 12:58 pm Eastern Time
Note: there is a subsequent correction for this article.
***
SOURCE: Family Research Council
Friday April 23, 5:56 pm Eastern Time
Note: this is a correction for a previous article.
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Family Research Council
Correction -- Family Research Council
In DCTH032, Possible April 20 (420) Connection to Pot Smoking Sub-Culture In
Littleton Tragedy, FRC Says, we are advised by the council that there are
numerous changes to the fourth graph. Complete, corrected release follows:
Possible April 20 (420) Connection to Pot Smoking Sub-Culture In Littleton
Tragedy, FRC Says
WASHINGTON, April 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Littleton shooting suspects Eric Harris
and Dylan Klebold's connection with April 20 may go beyond its being Adolph
Hitler's birthday. April 20 or ``420'' is a euphemism or code for smoking
marijuana that is ``more widespread than ever and still growing ... '420'
events are almost worldwide,'' according to pro-marijuana magazine High
Times, reported in April 1999.
High Times publisher Mike Edison said, ``Every day at 4:20 smokers are
indulging. Every year April 20 becomes more and more of an 'International
Burn Day.''' (High Times, April 1999). Also, marijuana is reported to contain
420 different chemicals.
While investigators await toxicology reports Thursday, Littleton High School
student Jake Apodaca said in an interview with Ted Koppel on ABC's Nightline
(April 20) that ``4/20 is another word for marijuana and it's the fourth
month and the 20th day so they (suspects) just kind of take that as kind of
a holiday.'' They meaning ``everybody that smokes weed or does drugs,'' he
said.
``Whether or not these suspects or this incident had any connection to drug
use, it is crucial that we recognize what drug use does to our youth,''
Family Research Council drugs and crime expert Robert Maginnis said Thursday.
``Drug use is highly correlated with delinquent behavior, and use among
adolescents is on the rise. There are some clear-cut social and demographic
trends that make it very probable that today's shocking stories of youthful
violence will explode over the next decade.''
In a 1997-1998 nationwide survey of more than 86,000 high schoolers, the
correlation of marijuana use to violence and hopelessness is significant:
-- Of those who carry guns to school, nearly 76 percent smoke pot at
least once-a-year.
-- Of those who take part in gang activities, nearly 70 percent smoke
pot at least once-a-year.
-- Of those who think of suicide often or a lot, nearly 60 percent smoke
pot at least once-a-year.
-- Of those who threaten to harm another, nearly 48 percent smoke pot at
least once-a-year.
-- Of those who get into trouble with the police, nearly 63 percent
smoke pot at least once-a-year.
(Source: PRIDE -- Parents' Resource Institute for Drug Education)
In a nationwide FRC survey of 1,000 registered voters, Americans believe
that public school-based random drug testing with parental consent is
``necessary to reduce violence and increase student performance'' (The
Polling Company, Feb. 1999).
SOURCE: Family Research Council
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-drctalk@drcnet.org [mailto:owner-drctalk@drcnet.org]On
Behalf Of ammo
Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 1999 8:10 PM
To: DRCTalk Reformers' Forum
Subject: Re: Littleton shooters
On Wed, 28 Apr 1999, bryan krumm wrote:
>I just happened to be in Littleton for the Memorial that Al Gore spoke
>at. Even though no druge were found in the bodies of the shooters, dear
>old Al made sure to mention that cracking down on drugs was necessary to
>prevent this type of thing from happening again.
>
>Bryan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Reno at Large - U.S. Would Do Well To Prescribe Truce In 'Other' Drug War
(An op-ed in Newsday, in New York, by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno says
America is fighting not one but two parallel and exceedingly costly drug
wars. One is against suppliers of mood-altering illegal substances. The other
is among manufacturers of mood-altering legal substances. The suppliers seem
to be winning both wars. And the cost to the nation - measured in bulging
jails, prohibition-associated violence, clogged courts, the rising cost of
health care and a growing uninsured population - is huge. But Reno offers no
evidence that the government is doing anything but abetting the problem, and
offers no solutions to the systemic problems she presides over.)
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 08:15:30 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US NY: Column: U.S. Would Do Well To Prescribe Truce In
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, 22 Apr 1999
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 1999, Newsday Inc.
Contact: letters@newsday.com
Fax: (516)843-2986
Website: http://www.newsday.com/
Author: Robert Reno
RENO AT LARGE
U.S. Would Do Well To Prescribe Truce In `Other' Drug War
America is fighting not one but two parallel and exceedingly costly
drug wars.
One is against suppliers of mood-altering illegal substances. The
other is among suppliers of legal drugs, with particularly savage
competition in the market for lust-promoting and depression-fighting
substances. The suppliers seem to be winning both wars despite the
occasional setback. And the cost to the nation - measured in bulging
jails, drug-associated violence, clogged courts, the rising cost of
health care and a growing uninsured population - is huge.
To give an idea of what's at stake, shares of Eli Lilly & Co. dove 12
percent in a single day this week despite a 12 percent rise in net
income in the first quarter and sales that reached a record $2.26
billion, up 8 percent from the first quarter of 1998. No matter,
investors punished Lilly because of a 4 percent drop in first-quarter
sales of its showboat drug, Prozac.
The market was mercilessly indifferent to the company's explanation
that Prozac sales were artificially depressed because big purchasers
had stocked up last year in anticipation of a price increase.
Meanwhile, Bob Dole has enlisted as a soldier in the war for the drug
dollar by appearing in tasteful commercials that break down old
barriers to discussing flaccid penises on television. When a grown
man goes on TV to confess his impotence, we can guess the huge
profits involved. Television, once a world of hemorrhoid cures,
laxatives and remedies for vaginal dryness, has now become saturated
with drug commercials that seek to create new demand for remedies in
the hope people will nag their doctors into prescribing them. The side
effects are vividly described even when they include such ghastly
experiences as nausea, incontinence, sleepiness, sleeplessness,
incoherence, constipation, diarrhea and uncontrollable itching.
The war for the drug dollar may be contributing positively to public
awareness, but much of the stuff being so expensively promoted does
not involve life-threatening illnesses. Toenail fungus is not even one
of our leading killers but in the drug trade, the profits justify
lavish TV outlays.
Pharmaceutical companies defend steeply rising prices by citing the
need to recoup the huge investments they must make in developing and
testing new products and paying for lawsuits. Now, I suppose, they
must add exploding promotional costs. Lilly, for instance, announced
it will step up its campaign of direct contacts with physicians to
remind them of Prozac's wonders.
I guess we don't have to ask why prescription drug prices have risen
5.4 percent in the past year while overall health care costs advanced
3.4 percent and all consumer prices were up less than 2 percent.
And do not imagine the drug makers welcome programs that would make
their products more available or affordable to sick people. They have
been the chief opponents of extending Medicare coverage to
prescription drugs and attacked the Clinton administration's new
proposal to give old people up to $1,700 a year for prescription
drugs. Obviously they have calculated that whatever they might gain in
new business would be offset by the federal government's ability to
bargain for lower prices.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
'Just Say No': An Exchange (A letter to the editor of the New York Review of
Books from Sue Rusch, often cited as the leader of the "parents' movement"
that ended marijuana-law reform efforts in the 1980s, denies an allegation in
"The Fix," by Michael Massing, that the movement ended a policy initiated in
the Nixon administration to aggressively provide treatment to heroin addicts.
Rusch's protests are ably dismissed by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of NYRB's
review of Massing's book.)
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 16:13:27 +0000
To: editor@mapinc.org
From: Peter Webster (vignes@monaco.mc)
Subject: [] LTE: Sue Rusche Still Out There: 'Just Say No': An Exchange
Newshawk: Peter Webster
Pubdate: April 22, 1999
Source: The New York Review of Books
Contact: nyrev@nybooks.com
Website: http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/
Copyright: 1999 The New York Review of Books
Author: SUE RUSCH
[NOTE: the following letter to the NYRB is in reference to a book review of:
The Fix by Michael Massing 335 pages, $25.00 (hardcover) published by Simon
and Schuster and Drug Crazy: How We Got into This Mess and How We Can Get Out
by Mike Gray 251 pages, $23.95 (hardcover) published by Random House
It appeared in MAPNEWS in late Decembeer 1998, at which time I urged LTE
writers:
The NY Review of Books has usually ignored books on drugs and drug policy, so
this review, the first item in the issue, is unusual. As for Letters to the
Editor, they seldom publish any except from well-known persons. But anyone
with some credentials after his name, please do write on this one to at least
encourge the them to follow up with more such reviews.
True to form, the only letter they publish is by Sue Rusche!
***
'JUST SAY NO': AN EXCHANGE
To the Editors:
Malcolm Gladwell, reviewing The Fix in "Just Say 'Wait a Minute"' [NYR,
December 17, 1998] and author Michael Massing distort reality by
misrepresenting facts and ignoring science in their analyses of drug
policy. Both accuse the parent movement of ending a policy initiated in the
Nixon administration to treat heroin addiction. (Treating heroin addicts
didn't end.) "The focus was on the hard-core user of drugs like heroin,"
Mr. Gladwell writes, "not casual users of 'soft' drugs like marijuana....
The parents' movement turned that policy upside down. Their concern was not
with inner-city addicts, but with suburban teenagers, not with heroin but
with pot, and not with treatment but with 'zero tolerance."' Mr. Massing
writes that for parents; "the notion of recovery meant that addicts could
get well---a message that, they felt, undermined their warning to young
people not to use drugs."
What nonsense. Parents mobilized in 1976-1977 in response to the greatest
escalation in adolescent drug use in history, from less than 1 percent of
twelve- to seventeen-year-olds in 1962 to 34 percent in 1979. By then 65
percent of high-school seniors had tried an illicit drug, 39 percent were
using drugs monthly, and 1 in 9 smoked marijuana daily. Young peoples'
alcohol use paralleled their drug use, and the combination was deadly.
While the death rate for all other age groups declined, adolescents' death
rate rose by 8 percent, an increase fueled by the unprecedented upsurge in
drug use. With 11 percent of seniors smoking pot daily, a level of use that
can hardly be called "casual," parents learned from their children what
scientists only now are confirming in their laboratories: marijuana
produces an addiction that requires treatment. Parents were not against
treatment, they were desperately seeking treatment for their drug-addicted
children. Their goal was not to end treatment for heroin addicts, but to
expand treatment for all addicts, including adolescents.
National Families in Action, one of the parent organizations both reviewer
and author accuse of eschewing treatment, has referred thousands of parents
seeking help for their children to drug-treatment facilities across the
nation. Two decades ago, this was no easy thing to do. Most treatment
available then was for adult men addicted to heroin, the one drug few
adolescents were abusing. Few facilities had slots for adolescents, or any
expertise in treating them. That left private, non-drug-specific therapy,
where parents reported repeatedly that the focus was on their children's
"underlying problems" rather than their drug use, allowing their addiction
to continue unabated. In fact, the parental demand for adolescent drug
treatment was so great, it spawned a new industry: residential facilities
that (1) treated addiction to all drugs, (2) treated addiction as the
primary problem, and (3) treated adolescents.
Mr. Massing ignores, and Mr. Gladwell seems incapable of grasping, the
real contribution the parent movement made: convincing the nation that
preventing drug use is a crucial component of the comprehensive approach
needed to reduce drug abuse, drug addiction, and drug-related death.
Parents initiated a drug-prevention effort that eventually grew to include
government agencies, private industry, private foundations, and nonprofit
organizations. Between 1979 and 1992, this effort cut regular drug use in
half among all Americans (from 25 million to 11 million), by two thirds
among adolescents and young adults, and cut daily marijuana use among
seniors by 500 percent (from 11 percent to 2 percent), facts both author
and reviewer choose to ignore.
Given National Families in Action's decade-long work in Atlanta
public-housing communities, to cite just one example, Mr. Gladwell's
assertion that parents are "not concerned about inner-city addicts" is
simply wrong. Also wrong is his view of addiction. He accuses parents of
irrationally fearing that drugs might be "fun" and sets out to prove that
they aren't, betraying a stunning ignorance of science. Neuroscience has
now shown that addictive drugs act directly on a part of the brain called
the brain reward system, which, among other things, produces feelings of
pleasure. Drugs turn this system on powerfully by mimicking the way brain
chemicals work. Because the brain reward system is part of a larger brain
circuit that underlies a primitive form of learning called operant
conditioning, activating it not only produces pleasure, but also teaches
people to repeat the drug-taking behaviors that turned it on in the first
place. Despite Mr. Gladwell's personal experience, the vast majority of
drug users confirm that drugs are indeed "fun," at least initially, and one
of the fundamental reasons they are is because they activate the biological
substrate of pleasure.
Moreover, repeated drug use, reinforced by the rewarding effects all
addictive drugs produce, sets in motion a continuum of other biological
changes. Tolerance to drugs' pleasure-producing effects develops, requiring
larger doses and setting the stage for the development of physical
dependence. Continued drug use, especially to deal with stress or emotional
problems, can lead to psychological dependence. Other factors, such as
learning and memory, also play a role. At some point towards the end of
this progression, the user becomes addicted and can no longer control his
drug-taking behavior. Mr. Gladwell is right when he says that not everyone
who uses drugs will become addicted. He is wrong, however, when he asserts
that "parents think the problem is about drugs, when it is really about
users." Such reductionism reveals an ignorance of the nature of addiction
that borders on arrogance.
Mr. Gladwell and Mr. Massing make the very mistake they accuse the parent
movement of making. They focus on a single factor to explain a disorder
that is multifaceted. At the very least, we must not only consider the drug
and the user, but biology and the environment as well, to try to understand
drug addiction, which is a complex problem that requires a complex set of
solutions. Focusing our effort on just one solution, even one as important
as treatment, is a prescription for failure. When all is said and done, our
nation's drug problem is like a dike with several holes. Plugging up only
one, or even a few, still permits water to flood through the others,
eventually undermining everything. Until we can grasp this, we won't be
able to figure out how to fix the dike permanently. Attacking those who are
trying to reinforce it may sell a lot of books (and book reviews), but it
won't solve the drug problem.
Sue Rusche
Co-founder and Executive Director
National Families in Action
Atlanta, Georgia
***
Malcolm Gladwell replies:
I am delighted that Ms. Rusche has chosen to correct my "stunning ignorance
of science" with such a brisk and authoritative account of the addictive
process. It was very informative. I'm not sure how useful it is, however,
to point out that drugs really are fun because surveys of "the vast
majority of drug users" tell us so. Of course, drug users find drugs fun.
That's why they are drug users. As I recall, my interest was in why people
who aren't drug users don't seem to find drugs fun - which strikes me as a
far more pertinent question. What is it about the "operant conditioning"
system that Rusche talks about that makes drugs irresistible for a select
few, and eminently resistible for the rest of us? Should Ms. Rusche come
across an answer to that question in her readings through contemporary
neuroscience, I'd be very happy if she would let me know.
The balance of her letter, I'm afraid, I find a little bit confusing.
Rusche seems quite upset that Massing does not give the parents' movement
sufficient credit for fighting the good fight against middle-class
marijuana use. The truth is - and I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear in
my review - that he makes that very point over and over again. Massing
thinks that the parents' movement was so single-minded in its pursuit of
reducing marijuana use, in fact, that it neglected the much more serious
drug problems of the inner city. Rusche also objects to the suggestion that
the parents' movement was anti-treatment. Not so, she says. The parents'
movement spawned an entirely new industry of residential drug treatment
facilities. "Parents were not against treatment," she writes, "they were
desperately seeking treatment for their drug-addicted children."
But that's just it. The treatment programs they created for their children
were in private facilities, which few except middle- and upper-middle-class
families could afford. Meanwhile, by the time of the Reagan administration,
federal funds available for public treatment programs - for the programs
that dealt with the real core of the drug problem - had shrunk to about a
quarter of what they had been during the Nixon years. Massing's rather
depressing conclusion is that during a critical early period of the war on
drugs, the lobbying groups led by people like Ms. Rusche did not really
understand what war they were supposed to be fighting. It sounds, from Ms.
Rusche's letter, as if that is still the case.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
High On Fragrance (The Washington Post takes note of the moisturizing creams
and soaps made with industrial hemp being sold by 300 Body Shop stores in the
United States. Hempseed's protein-rich oil contains a fatty acid that
penetrates dry skin. Body Shop, the trendy retailer of skin, body care and
fragrance products in 47 countries, pushes the marijuana connection with a
musky fragrance and suggestive pitch and packaging. "They can't arrest your
skin," says one slogan. "The best moisturizer in the world and we promise you
won't get the munchies," says another.)
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 12:47:29 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MD: High On Fragrance
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, 22 Apr 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: T04
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: Jura Koncius
HIGH ON FRAGRANCE
Hemp May Be Just The Thing To Alter Your Mood. But You'll Have To Inhale.
Last spring, the Body Shop introduced a line of earthy moisturizing creams
and soaps ("No Buzz, Great Sudz") made with industrial hemp, a cousin of
marijuana. The company's current catalogue features woven hemp back
scrubbers - a flashback to those macrame plant hangers from the 1970s. And on
the way to the 300 U.S. Body Shop stores by June: hemp candles and burning
oil.
The products push the marijuana connection with a musky fragrance and
suggestive pitch and packaging. Military-surplus-style tins and tubes are
labeled with the five-pronged leaf once so familiar on T-shirts
and music posters. "They can't arrest your skin," says one slogan. "The best
moisturizer in the world and we promise you won't get the munchies," says
another. At the Body Shop in Georgetown, the $9.95 tube of Hemp hand cream
for hard-core cases of dry skin is one of the best sellers: "Softens your
hands without short-term memory loss," winks the in-store propaganda.
Hemp, the fibrous plant also known as Cannabis sativa, has been going
mainstream for some time now. Manufacturers have turned industrial hemp - not
to be confused with the recreational strain - into building materials, paper,
sneakers, pillows, rope, foods and fabric. Its protein-rich oil contains a
fatty acid that penetrates dry skin. The Body Shop, trendy retailer of skin,
body care and fragrance products in 47 countries, has been a leader in
advocating wider use of the environmentally friendly plant.
The target market for the Body Shop's line might be baby boomers who
remember the familiar fragrance from their love-in days and their offspring
who see the products as witty and retro. But the products have stirred
controversy, says Deborah Hammond from the company's corporate headquarters
in London. "But of course we expected that because of the link with
marijuana. We got a very positive response as well."
Some people have trouble believing the Hemp line is strictly legal. "I think
about a third of the customers actually think it's dope," says Sean Donohue,
manager of the Georgetown store. Some have even asked if using the stuff
would mean they'd flunk an on-the-job drug test. Just say no.
to the 1999 Daily News index for April 16-22