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Referendum Madness (A staff editorial in the Bangor Daily News says the Maine
legislature had a lot of good reasons to reject the citizen-initiated bill
legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. The one given - that voters
should decide this by referendum - isn't among them. "This is about safe,
effective medicine and good science. That's a matter for the laboratory, not
the voting booth.")

Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 03:38:18 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US ME: Referendum Madness
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: EWCHIEF@aol.com
Pubdate: Sat, 08 May 1999
Source: Bangor Daily News (ME)
Copyright: 1999, Bangor Daily News Inc.
Contact: bdnmail@bangornews.infi.net
Website: http://www.bangornews.com/

REFERENDUM MADNESS

The Legislature had a lot of good reasons to reject the
citizen-initiated bill legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. The
one given -- that voters should decide this by referendum -- isn't
among them.

Referendum is a valuable, important tool in representative democracy,
especially when used for issues of conscience when the will of the
majority does not trample the rights of the minority. The extent to
which recreational drugs should be legalized or controlled may someday
be such an issue. The issue here, however, isn't what people should or
should not be able to do in their spare time in the privacy of their
homes. This is about safe, effective medicine and good science. That's
a matter for the laboratory, not the voting booth.

There is evidence, including compelling first-person testimony, that
marijuana can relieve the nausea and pain that often accompany
treatments for cancer, AIDS and other devastating diseases. It is a
shame that lawmakers, state and federal, have not been more committed
to funding the research that can validate those claims, determine
appropriate conditions for use and develop effective, smoke-free,
measured-dose delivery systems.

It is a greater shame, truly shameful, that pro-pot advocates use the
suffering of these disease victims to promote their cause. Their
longstanding argument that smoking marijuana is a harmless,
repercussion-less recreation has been shredded -- chronic pot smokers
exhibit a variety of physical and mental-health problems, pot is the main
gateway kids take to other, stronger, drugs. The tactics - antics, really -
of the pro-legalization side are likely the primary reason lawmakers
have not been more willing to fully fund the research and testing
that marijuana or any other potential medication must undergo to
protect consumers from harm and false hopes. Bypassing the rigorous
review that brings safe and effective drugs to market would create a
tremendous loophole in a process that determines what is good medicine.

It is understandable that the Legislature showed no interest in
approving the bill that now goes to referendum. It is a bad bill; based upon
unsubstantiated claims of benefit; vague in its definitions, vaguer
still in its protections from misuse. The provision allowing patients
and their loosely defined "care givers" to grow marijuana in an
unregulated and uncontrolled way, is a recipe for mischief; pot would
be as common as zucchini.

The Legislature could have proposed a competing, substantially more
sound measure that would have gained the support of patient advocates, but
now it is probably too late. Absent a bill-writing miracle, an
ill-conceived competing measure now would likely lead to a run-off
between a bad bill and a worse one. This is not a new issue. For
years, disease victims have been claiming significant symptom relief
from marijuana. For years, the Legislature avoided taking any action,
lest they be labeled pro-pot. Now, an issue that should be decided by
informed lawmakers with the advice and counsel of scientists,
physicians and law enforcement will be decided by voters who must make
a political decision about compassion.

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Drug War Makes More Trouble Than Drugs (A letter to the editor of the
Standard-Times, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, says the surest way to
alleviate the problems concerning New Bedford's illegal drug traffic is
legalization, which simply means replacing intensive criminalization with
sensible civil regulation.)

Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 11:33:11 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: PUB LTE: Drug War Makes More Trouble Than Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Sat, 08 May 1999
Source: Standard-Times (MA)
Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times
Contact: YourView@S-T.com
Website: http://www.s-t.com/
Author: PAUL M. BISCHKE, Syracuse, NY

DRUG WAR MAKES MORE TROUBLE THAN DRUGS

The surest way to alleviate the problems Ross Grace Jr. described in his
April 30 column concerning New Bedford's illegal drug traffic is
legalization, which simply means replacing intensive criminalization with
sensible civil regulation.

Criminalization reduces society's control over pleasure drugs since there
are no standards for dose, purity and age limits in the black-market
distribution system. Many Americans say they want to reduce drug problems,
but they insist that the only distribution system must continue to be the
black market. You can't have it both ways.

The Drug War creates more problems than the drugs themselves. I've seen the
results of intensified drug interdiction while living in another
Northeastern city, Syracuse, New York. It didn't create a pristine city, but
rather a series of drug-war zones. In New Bedford's drug-war escalation, you
should expect dramatic news stories, but not an improved or safer urban
community.

Mr. Grace misuses the term "poison" in relation to street drugs. The
unreliable quality, unknown dose, and impurity of street drugs makes some of
them toxic, especially those requiring processing (meth, heroin, etc.). I
heartily agree that kids shouldn't use any street drugs. However, kids can
buy poisons every day (Drano, ammonia, etc.) in grocery and hardware stores.
A campaign against selling poison to kids is generally a different issue
than drug control. Contact your local poison control center.

People go to drug dealers to buy drugs that afford pleasure. Some pleasure
drugs are toxic at relatively low doses, for example, alcohol and MDMA.
Other drugs have much wider margins of safety before becoming toxic, for
example marijuana and psilocybin. The point is that the use of pleasure
drugs cannot generally be equated with ingesting poisons. Dose is of vital
importance.

Mr. Grace called the drug-use and drug-marketing in New Bedford a "cancer"
(the favorite term of drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey). Cancer is generally
treated more successfully by doctors than by police squads. Perhaps New
Bedford should seek a public-health solution to its "cancer."

PAUL M. BISCHKE, Syracuse, NY

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Police Shoot, Kill Henrico Man (The Richmond Times-Dispatch, in Virginia,
says William Keith Green, a 29-year-old marijuana offender, was shot and
killed by police early yesterday after several officers stormed his Lakeside
house in search of "drugs." Police said Green told officers several times
during the confrontation that "he was not going to be arrested, he was not
going back to jail and that they would have to shoot him." So, first trying
pepper spray, three prohibition agents shot Green five times after he was
repeatedly told to drop his machete. A subsequent search, aside from yielding
a bunch of personal effects the newspaper wouldn't mention except to excite
prejudices, yielded "several ounces" of marijuana and a vial of a "white
crystal substance.")

Date: Sun, 9 May 1999 21:00:21 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: VA: Police Shoot, Kill Henrico Man
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Anonymous
Pubdate: Sat, 08 May 1999
Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA)
Copyright: 1999, Richmond Newspapers Inc.
Contact: feedback@gateway-va.com
Fax: 804-775-8072
Website: http://www.gateway-va.com/
Author: Mark Bowes, Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

POLICE SHOOT, KILL HENRICO MAN

4th time this year county officers have shot a suspect

A 29-year-old convicted drug offender was shot and killed by police early
yesterday after authorities said he wielded a machete at several officers
who had stormed his Lakeside house in search of drugs.

Police said William Keith Green told the officers several times during the
confrontation that "he was not going to be arrested, he was not going back
to jail and that they would have to shoot him," said Sgt. Joe Morris, a
Henrico police spokesman.

Green was talking to his girlfriend on the phone when police entered his
home.

"He told her that 'I'm not going to jail and they're going to have to kill
me,' " said one officer with knowledge of the incident. "He was clearly
combative and encouraging the officers to shoot him."

Police said Green was shot five times in his midsection by three narcotics
officers after he was repeatedly told to drop his weapon. Officers first
tried to subdue him with pepper spray, but "it didn't appear to have any
effect on him," Morris said.

The incident was the fourth this year in which a criminal suspect was shot
by a Henrico County police officer. Green is the second suspect to be
killed by police fire this year.

"They just run in cycles," Sgt. James Price, the department's internal
affairs officer, said of the shootings. "Who's to say what causes a number
of them to come in succession as opposed to having just one [in] one year,
and having none the next year. Each and every incident is unique into
itself with its own set of circumstances."

With the exception of 1997, Henrico has recorded one shooting per year
since 1995 in which an officer wounded or killed a suspect in a
confrontation. One man was killed by police in 1995, others were wounded in
1996 and 1998. Green, of 2128 Dumbarton Road, was pronounced dead at
Medical College of Virginia Hospitals shortly after the 1:45 a.m. incident.

According to Virginia Department of Corrections records, Green was
sentenced in 1990 to prison terms totaling nine years and one month for
convictions of simple assault, possession of marijuana and conspiracy to
distribute marijuana in Richmond and Hanover County. He received four years
and one month in

Richmond on the assault and marijuana possession charges, and five years in
Hanover for the conspiracy offense, spokesman Larry Traylor said.

In the Hanover case, Green was one of 19 people indicted in connection with
a marijuana distribution ring that authorities believed was responsible for
transporting 300 pounds of pot each week into the Richmond area. During a
two-month investigation, authorities confiscated about 100 pounds of
marijuana, about $150,000 and four vehicles. Green was discharged from
parole in November 1994, Traylor said. It was unclear how long he had been
incarcerated.

Yesterday's incident unfolded as Henrico narcotics officers tried to serve
a search warrant at Green's home. According to an affidavit to search the
home, a police informer told investigators that he had seen a quantity of
marijuana inside the house within the past 72 hours.

When police arrived at the home they identified themselves, announced their
intentions and "demanded entry into the house," Morris said.

When they got no response, the officers forced their way into a rear door
and tried to locate anyone inside before beginning the drug search, which
is standard procedure.

"It's a safety issue that they notify anyone that's actually inside the
dwelling of a location where a search is being conducted . . . and then
secure those people before the actual search takes place," Morris said.

It was during the sweep of the home that officers confronted Green, who had
a machete.

After spraying Green with the chemical agent, "he continued to come at the
police officers in a threatening manner with the machete over his head,
making hacking motions," Morris said. Several times he struck the side of a
doorway with the weapon, Morris added.

The three officers then fired a total of eight shots at Green with their
.45-caliber service pistols. Five shots struck him, one officer said.

Police later searched the home and recovered several ounces of marijuana,
some prescription pills, $65 in cash, drug paraphernalia and smoking
devices, material to package drugs, a set of scales that can be used to
weigh drugs, a vial of "white crystal substance," a cellular phone and a
pager. Documents, photos and a roll of film also were taken, according to
an inventory of items seized.

Police also found copies of arrest warrants from Newport News that
indicated Green had been arrested in recent months on charges of stalking
and domestic assault, an officer said.

Yesterday's incident marked the second time in recent months that pepper
spray was ineffective in subduing a suspect. In March, a Henrico officer
wounded a man armed with a knife inside the Wal-Mart Super Center in Short
Pump after a dose of pepper spray failed to have any effect on him.

"It's never been 100 percent," Morris said. "It's not going to be effective
in every situation. It's just a tool that we use . . . in hopes of subduing
offenders without using deadly force."

Police officials declined to release the names of the three officers until
the case can be reviewed by Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Toby Vick.

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Health Department opposes marijuana as medicine (The National Post notes an
internal Canadian Health Department memo prepared for minister Allan Rock is
filled with discredited arguments against therapeutic use of cannabis,
revealing bureaucrats' bias. An edited version of the memo, originally
stamped secret, was obtained under the Access to Information Act.)

Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 18:41:31 PDT
From: Carey Ker (carey.ker@utoronto.ca)
Subject: Canada (National Post): Health Department
opposes marijuana as medicine
To: mattalk@islandnet.com

Saturday, May 08, 1999

Health Department opposes marijuana as medicine

Department memo: Briefing paper filled with arguments against therapeutic
use of cannabis

Jim Bronskill
Southam News

OTTAWA - Allowing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes could send the
wrong message to Canadian teenagers, sparking greater acceptance of the drug,
warns an internal Health Department memo.

The concern is one of a litany of thorny issues raised by federal
officials in the newly released briefing document, which examines the
potential use of marijuana for therapeutic purposes.

The note, prepared by the department's health protection branch for
minister Allan Rock, identifies several stumbling blocks, including
health hazards posed by cannabis, possible friction with the medical
profession and the difficulty of obtaining legal supplies of the drug.

An edited version of the memo, originally stamped secret, was
obtained under the Access to Information Act.

The department cites United Nations research that indicates the age
of initiation into drug abuse has been falling yearly.

"The rate of drug use among young people is linked to their
perceptions of risks related to drugs," says the memo. "The use of
marijuana as a therapeutic product may convey the false message
that marijuana has some benefit and is not that dangerous."

It notes several "hazardous effects" of marijuana, including
short-term impairment of motor skills, increased blood pressure,
lung damage, suppression of the immune system and risk of
dependence among heavy users.

The memo suggests government efforts to stamp out smoking and to
combat illegal drug use could be undermined by making marijuana
available for medicinal use, saying the move "may be in conflict with
the Canadian drug and tobacco strategies."

Canada is a signatory to a series of international treaties that require
the federal government to exercise control over production and
distribution of narcotics, including marijuana. "Any movement
towards legal access to marijuana may be perceived negatively by
other countries."

The federal government has come under pressure in recent years to
allow sufferers of AIDS and cancer to smoke marijuana to cope
with nausea caused by chemical therapies. Others believe smoking
the drug can relieve pain associated with multiple sclerosis, as well
as prevent epileptic seizures.

Currently, Canadians must apply for access to marijuana and other
controlled substances under a special Health Department program.
But acceptance of requests would require the availability of a legal
source of medicinal-quality marijuana.

In March, Rock asked officials to draft a plan for clinical trials of
marijuana, and to determine how a safe supply of the drug could be
secured.The memo says evidence gathered to date on the benefits
of smoking marijuana is "heavily anecdotal."

"While there are reports of the therapeutic value of smoked
marijuana, sound scientific studies supporting therapeutic claims are
lacking."

In addition, there appears to be no consensus in the medical
community on the use of marijuana by patients. "For some
physicians, prescribing marijuana may cause scientific and ethical
problems."

For example, considering the known adverse effects of smoking,
would it be acceptable to administer marijuana in cigarette form?
On the other hand, would it be humane to deny comfort, or to
prosecute, a terminally ill patient?

The memo adds that given the no-smoking policy of hospitals and
other public facilities, smoking marijuana in these settings may lead
to disputes.

Another practical concern is securing a supply of the drug, since the
United States is the only country where cannabis is legally cultivated
for scientific research.

The memo says the manufacture and distribution of marijuana
cigarettes would involve a licensing scheme, a testing laboratory,
security measures and a monitoring system including enforcement
and inspection.

"Appropriate measures to prevent diversion of marijuana to the illicit
market would need to be carefully established."

Copyright (c) Southam Inc. All rights reserved.

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10% Of Those In EU Traffic Accidents On Drugs (The Irish Times says a report
conducted for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
concludes that alcohol is "the biggest problem" in road accidents. However,
there has been a four-fold increase since 1987 in the number of drivers
killed who have traces of illegal drugs in their bodies. Alcohol was found to
be involved in 19 per cent of injurious accidents and 22 per cent of fatal
accidents in the EU. The author, Ms Rosalyn Moran of the Health Research
Board, said there are no laws in the EU defining illegal blood limits of
illicit drugs or medicines and said there is "insufficient" evidence to
define safe levels.)

Date: Sat, 8 May 1999 11:33:08 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Ireland: 10% Of Those In EU Traffic Accidents On Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Martin Cooke (mjc1947@cyberclub.iol.ie)
Pubdate: Sat, 8 May 1999
Source: Irish Times (Ireland)
Copyright: 1999 The Irish Times
Contact: lettersed@irish-times.ie
Address: Letters to Editor, The Irish Times
11-15 D'Olier St, Dublin 2, Ireland
Fax: + 353 1 671 9407
Website: http://www.ireland.com/

10% OF THOSE IN EU TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS ON DRUGS

At least 10 per cent of people killed or injured in traffic accidents in the
European Union are taking some type of drug, according to a new report.

The Health Research Board report also says there has been a four-fold
increase since 1987 in the number of drivers killed who have traces of
illegal drugs in their bodies.

But the report conducted for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and
Drug Addiction says alcohol is "the biggest problem" in road accidents.

"Where involvement in traffic accidents is concerned, no drug has ever been
found with a frequency that compares to that of alcohol," said the author,
Ms Rosalyn Moran of the HRB.

Alcohol was found to be involved in 19 per cent of injurious accidents and
22 per cent of fatal accidents in the EU.

Ms Moran said alcohol has a "deleterious effect on a range of driving
skills", including brake reaction time, collision frequency, steering
responsiveness and risk-taking appreciation.

She said that the "lesser problem" posed by other drugs, such as
benzodiazepines and amphetamines, is "still important". Benzodiazepines "may
impair driving skills" in the first few weeks of treatment. Then the effects
"may dissipate with continued use".

Ms Moran said cannabis "does not seem to significantly impair very basic
perceptual mechanisms", but it "does impair more subtle aspects of
perceptual performance such as attention and shortterm memory, although
these are typically observed at higher doses".

Methadone, the substitute for heroin, "does not result in sufficient driving
impairments to merit users being designated unfit", particularly among
experienced users, she said.

Amphetamines have "few effects" on cognitive functioning at lower doses, but
at higher doses, "risk-taking increases and responses become inappropriate".

She said there are no laws in the EU defining illegal blood limits of
illicit drugs or medicines and said there is "insufficient" evidence to
define safe levels.

Advances in drug testing technology must be developed further, she said, and
called on police officers to be trained in "drug-related impairment
recognition".

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[End]