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Drug War Takes Daily Fight (A staff editorial in the Statesman Journal, in
Salem, Oregon, says the war on drugs is a battle that can never be won. "It
is an endless fight, one that must continue as long as drugs retain the
ability to grab hold of users and shake the life out of them. . . . the fact
that 49 percent of high school seniors reported having tried marijuana is
cause for alarm." The fact that usage rates were lower before prohibition
apparently doesn't register. The editors don't explain why people who use the
least dangerous drugs should be criminalized, but not tobacco and alcohol
consumers and traffickers.)
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 01:00:14 -0700
From: Paul Freedom (nepal@teleport.com)
To: Constitutional Cannabis Patriots (cp@telelists.com)
Subject: [cp] ALERT! DRUG WAR TAKES DAILY FIGHT-EDITORIAL-STATESMAN JOURNAL
PLEASE HELP US TELL THE STATESMAN JOURNAL
THEY ARE WRONG, TERRIBLY WRONG!
***
letters@statesmanjournal.com
FAX- 503-399-6706
Up to 150 words for letter to the editor,
first and last name and phone number for
verification.
Editorial
The Statesman Journal
5-15-99
Drug War Takes Daily Fight
* Some Progress is Being Made, But The Battle Will Require Constant Effort
If ever a monster deserved to be attacked from all angles, it is illegal
drugs.
Two events of the past week highlight different approaches to dealing with
the problem, emphasizing the need for responsible citizens to maintain
diligence in the fight against drugs.
The events:
* About 2,000 area students gathered at the Oregon Capitol to clap, cheer and
chant "Drug free and proud!
* Narcotics officers broke up what they called a major drug-dealing
operation, arresting three Salem men while seizing methamphetamines and
marijuana.
The rally and the arrests were unrelated, but they exemplify the
communitywide effort that is necessary in the fight to slow drug use.
The war on drugs is a battle that never can be won. It is an endless fight,
one that must continue as long as drugs retain the ability to grab hold of
users and shake the life out of them.
According to a 1998 study conducted by the University of Michigan, drug and
alcohol use by eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders has dropped slightly during
the 1990's. This demonstrates that the message is being heard, but the fact
that 49 percent of high school seniors reported having tried marijuana is
cause for alarm.
Some will argue that efforts to prevent drug use are a boondoggle, a
short-sighted attempt to prevent people from exercising their freedom of
choice.
Such arguments must be summarily rejected. The cost of illicit drug use is
undeniable. In truth, the substances rob the users of their freedom, making
them slaves to addiction. That addiction has negative consequences for users,
their families, their friends, their co-workers, etc. It has negative
consequences for all of us, making it imperative that the fight against drug
use continue.
The students who rallied at the Capitol understood this. They talked of a
commitment to remain drug-free.
Though organizers of the rally - and the students themselves - are to be
commended, we must be mindful that such feel-good solutions to a societal
problem are far from adequate. We must be mindful that rallies last a few
moments, but prevention requires daily diligence.
Drugs always will hold an appeal for some people, and as long as demand is
prevalent, suppliers will be as well. The efforts of law enforcement, as
shown by the recent arrests, continue to be vital to the war on drugs.
Because in this never-ending battle, there is no room for complacency.
***
Constitutional Cannabis Patriots!
http://www.teleport.com/~nepal/canpat.htm
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Come To Sacramento, Lovers Of Liberty! (Best-selling author and
medical-marijuana patient/activist Peter McWilliams urges you to attend the
trial, beginning Tuesday, of B.E. Smith, who, like McWilliams, is facing
federal cultivation-related charges despite California's Proposition 215. If
Smith is acquitted, McWilliams' case may be dismissed as well. McWilliams
calls this the "most important case yet in the medical marijuana
movement. . . . If you ever said, 'I wish I had the chance to have marched
with King in Selma,' then come to Sacramento.")
From: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
To: "Peter McWilliams" (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Subject: COME TO SACRAMENTO, LOVERS OF LIBERTY!
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 23:45:13 -0700
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --- CIRCULATE EVERYWHERE
IT IS TIME TO DECLARE A MEDICAL CEASE-FIRE IN THE WAR ON DRUGS:
LOVERS OF FREEDOM: COME TO SACRAMENTO!
This is the most heartfelt and urgent message I have ever sent you.
The most important case yet in the medical marijuana movement is about to
begin on May 18, 1999. With today's devastating news (see below), the
defendant needs our help.
There is no one thing I can ask you to do, because so many of you are so
good at so many things. Please read the letters attached and respond with all
you can. If everyone on my list were to send just one letter-to-the-editor of
his or her hometown about this case, for example, the trial will get national
attention.
We made "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" #1. That was fun--but it doesn't
mean anything, really.
This does. A man's life is at stake.
On a larger scale, whether or not the federal government can interfere with
the doctor-patient-relationship is being determined here, too.
My medical marijuana case will probably be decided along similar lines as
this case (the events are parallel), so please, if you said, "When Peter's
trial gets closer, I'm going to do something," then, please, NOW is the time
to do it. If the defendant in this case (Mr. Smith) is acquitted, my case
may be dismissed as well. This means I can return to my medical marijuana to
keep down my AIDS medications and get back to healing again.
Yes, this means I will miss my day in court. My Lana Turner (the Ross Hunter
years) fantasy will have to be sacrificed to good health this time around.
Norma Desmond I'm not, and I'm too old to play "Camille." (smile)
Please e-mail all the activist organizations you belong to. This is a
state's rights issue if there ever was one, so all the true conservatives
should be in board. The government's about to put an old sick guy in prison
for a ten-year minimum; that should get the compassionate liberals onboard.
You know what language and angle your group will need to hear the message
best.
For example, the Fully Informed Jury Association could not find a better
spot to gain national attention. If ever there was a case the screamed out
for jury nullification, this is it. Or, the Libertarian Party might call an
emergency relocation of the Party's headquarters to Sacramento, there being
available to the press and do teach-ins on a variety of issues, such as jury
nullification and drug regulation. (Fellow Libertarians, come to Sacramento!
And Cato Institute: come along, too!)
Almost any freedom-loving organization can find a way to highlight this
trial and educate the public about its particular focus of freedom at the
same time. Come to Sacramento.
Please do what you can to publicize this trial. Please e-mail all your
favorite publications, programs (both radio and television), web sites, and
chat rooms, explaining why coverage of this trial is important.
This Sacramento federal trial is no less than the Gettysburg in the War on
Drugs. (The lead defense attorney is West Point graduate, Tom Ballanco. The
Judge and Mr. Smith are Vietnam veterans.)
Let's challenge General McCaffrey to come to Sacramento and fight for the
hearts and minds of the American people. The people in California have
already decided - in November 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215.
General McCaffrey, how about a debate between you and Mr. Ballanco on Larry
King, Nightline, 20/20, Dateline?
Folks, get those e-mails flowing!
General McCaffrey, sir: a decisive battle in the War on Drugs is being
fought next week. It is a peaceful battle. It is, in fact, a battle for
peace. Peace on drugs. Come, defend your position, sir. You will receive a
cordial, open, and fair forum. General McCaffrey, come to Sacramento. What a
wonderful time for your to set a whole new course in American drug
policy - one of regulation, not prohibition; education, not propaganda.
This will be the trial people will talk about years to come, as they do Roe
vs. Wade. Any freelance writers among you looking for a story? Go cover the
trial. (Now, really, wouldn't you have liked to have been at the Scopes
trial?)
Have you ever said, "I want to go somewhere some day and protest against the
government's interfering with patient's right to use marijuana as well as
the way the government is invading our lives more and more each day"? Well,
if so, this is the day.
If you ever said, "I wish I had the chance to have marched with King in
Selma," then come to Sacramento. Protest in front of the Capitol building,
home of California attorney General Bill Locker. He could, at the very
least, file a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Mr. Smith. At best, he
could ask for the prisoner to be handed over to California medical
jurisdiction, and declare that where medicine is concerned, state law
supercedes federal law.
Period.
Mr. Smith is a devout born-again-Christian. Christians of all denominations
are welcome to come and support a brother in Christ. However you feel about
medical marijuana, a brother is in trouble and in need of you ministry.
Didn't Jesus say, "I was in prison and you came to visit me," as an example
of doing unto the least of these, which meant doing unto Jesus Himself?
Christians, come to Sacramento.
It is Spring in Sacramento, California. The weather is beautiful this time
of year and inexpensive motel rooms are just outside of town. Sacramento is
really a medium-to-small-sized town in the middle of the most glorious farm
country in the world. Nature's abundance is in every direction. No matter
from which way you approach Sacramento, it's a lovely drive through mile
after mile of green fields--like Oz, I suppose.
Sacramento is a friendly town. But, please, everyone be on your best
behavior. We're here to support someone who may spend life in prison for
treating his illness. It is hardly an occasion for a celebration. Our cause
has the support of more than 65 percent of American public. We have the
winning hand. We can afford to be polite, tolerant, and good-natured, as we
help codify the will of the American people.
Alas, I'm not well enough to travel, and even if I were, I can't go north of
Santa Barbara as a condition of my bail release.
So be there for me. Stand up for me. I can cheerlead from the sidelines.
Let's make Sacramento the impromptu gathering place for all those who value
the Constitution, liberty, and religious freedom. If you'd like to go and
need to summon the necessary enthusiasm, click here:
http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/doit/
If you have money, give it. I've never asked for money for myself (except a
few select friends and, of course, my mother, bless her), but I am asking
you to donate to this defense. Sponsor other people to come with you to
Sacramento. Bring all your friends. Make it a spontaneous vacation.
Oh, yes, and please send money to Mr. Smith's Defense Fund.
The attorneys on this case are representing Mr. Smith for next to nothing.
They are there because they believe in the cause of personal liberty. With
money, they can more effectively present the case to the jury and the press,
as well as be prepared for immediate appeals if necessary. This case may
wind up in the U.S. Supreme Court.
So, please, come to Sacramento. If you clicked the link above, you want to
go. Remember the description of the link? "If you'd like to go and need to
summon the necessary enthusiasm, click here:" You can make it happen. Check
the tires on the car. Make airline reservation.
Come to Sacramento. Jury selection begins this Tuesday. Come to Sacramento.
Send me e-mail reports from the local Kinko's. I'll send them around to
those who are anxiously following the events on the Internet and national
television and donating lots of money.
And as the Battle Hymn of the Republic swells in the background, I turn you
over to the attorneys in the case, who will give you news of the latest
outrages.
What has been written up to here is entirely my own doing and I am
personally responsible for all of it. I discussed this matter with no one
prior to sending this to my general e-mail list. This is a personal request
from me alone. I represent no group or no other person or persons. This is a
recording.
Charge!
Enjoy,
Peter
----- Original Message -----
From: (MARswebz@aol.com)
To: (peter@mcwilliams.com)
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 1999 5:34 PM
Subject: Sound the Alarm
Dear Friends,
Please circulate this press release far and wide. It is just a generic
one, please feel free to add to or change it anyway you like. As many of
you already know, Judge Burrell has denied every one of our defenses and has
prohibited us from mentioning Prop. 215, though that is obviously the central
issue in the case.
Our only hope at this point lies in the Californians who will comprise
the jury (the judge has also denied us the ability to conduct voir
dire of prospective jurors, he will ask all the questions). We need a
packed courtroom and we need the press to make sure that B.E. does not go
quietly into the night. We also need the prayers and good intentions of
all who care, united we stand. . . .
You are the Paul Reveres out there
Thanks for your help,
Tom, B.E. and Booker
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VIETNAM VETERAN ON TRIAL IN FIRST MEDICAL MARIJUANA CASE TO GO TO FEDERAL
JURY TRIAL SINCE PASSAGE OF CALIFORNIA PROPOSITION 215
DATE: May 18, 1999 @ 9:00 A.M.
LOCATION: U.S. District Court Sacramento, CA (5th/I St.)
Jury selection begins today in a case so contentious that defense
attorneys have twice asked for U.S. District Court Judge Garland Burrell to
recuse himself. [Burrell gained notoriety as the judge who presided over
the prosecution of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.] During the last pretrial
hearing, Burrell ordered U.S. Marshalls to forcibly remove defense counsel
from the podium.
Defendant B.E. Smith is charged with cultivation of marijuana in
violation of federal law. Smith, a Vietnam veteran who suffers from Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder, treats his anxiety with medical marijuana under
his doctor's orders. In June 1997, he planted a small medical marijuana
garden on land he leased in the backwoods of Trinity County California.
Smith, an outspoken advocate of medical marijuana notified state and local
authorities and appeared on national television before planting his garden.
State authorities declined to prosecute Smith because of his
compliance with the parameters of California Proposition 215, the
Compassionate Use Act. Instead the case was turned over to law enforcement
officers of the U.S. Forest Service, a federal agency, so that Smith might
be prosecuted under federal law which, the government maintains, is not
effected by Prop. 215.
The U.S. Government is seeking to make an example out of Smith to
discourage others from attempting to implement Proposition 215.
Smith's case is bolstered by the release last month of the National
Institute of Health Institute of Medicine Report that found medical
marijuana to be an effective remedy in treating a variety of ailments
including stress, anxiety and loss of appetite.
Smith expects to call country music star Merle Haggard and actor
Woody Harrelson, both long-time friends and admirers, as witnesses during
the trial.
CONTACTS:
B.E. Smith
916-649-1300 x 322
Thomas J. Ballanco, esq. [Atty. for B.E. Smith] 916-649-1300 x 1421
Robert L. Booker, esq. [Atty. for B.E. Smith] 916-649-1300 x 1421
R. Steven Lapham, esq. [Ass't. U.S. Atty.] 916-554-2724
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Court Backs Border Patrol Traffic Stop (An Associated Press article in the
San Jose Mercury News says a 2-1 ruling Thursday by the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals in San Francisco ignores widespread concern about racial
profiling and allows Border Patrol agents to consider ethnicity among other
factors when they make traffic stops.)
Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 14:52:30 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: Court Backs Border Patrol Traffic Stop
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: NewsHound
Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 1999
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 1999 Mercury Center
Contact: letters@sjmercury.com
Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/
COURT BACKS BORDER PATROL TRAFFIC STOP
Ethnicity Can Be Used As Factor, Divided Panel Rules
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Border Patrol agents can consider ethnicity among
other factors when they make traffic stops, a federal appeals court ruled in
a case involving two Latino men who turned their cars around to avoid a
highway checkpoint.
The ruling comes at a time when the use of a subject's ethnic background as
the basis for traffic stops is receiving increasing attention across the
country.
In a 2-1 ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld
the detention of two Latino men stopped 50 miles inside the U.S. after they
tried to avoid a highway checkpoint.
The court said it was appropriate that among the things the officers
considered in making the stop was the fact the men turned around and that
they were Hispanic.
Writing for the majority, visiting U.S. District Court Judge Frank C.
Damrell of Fresno pointed out a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a 1975 case,
in which the court listed a number of things the police could consider in
such an instance.
Among them were the character of the area, nearness to the border, traffic
patterns, previous smuggling problems in the area, the officer's experience
and the behavior of the passengers.
In the current case, a motorist advised authorities at a checkpoint that two
cars with Mexican plates had turned around about a mile from the checkpoint.
Officers spotted the cars; they noted the occupants were Latino, that the
cars appeared to be traveling together and that the passenger in one of the
cars began reading a newspaper as they were being followed.
The men, German Espinoza Montero-Camargo and Lorenzo Sanchez-Gillen, were
stopped and asked about their citizenship and why they turned around.
Agents searched both cars and found two large bags of marijuana and a
.32-caliber pistol.
The men were charged; the ruling upheld Montero-Camargo's conditional guilty
plea to conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute and
Sanchez-Guillen's conviction on the same charge and for being an illegal
alien possessing ammunition.
In the ruling, Damrell, joined by Judge Dairmuid O'Scannlain, said avoiding
the checkpoint wasn't in itself enough to justify the stop. But he said
there were several other reasons, including the two cars traveling together,
the ethnic origin of the men, the agents' prior experience and the past use
of the area as a drug drop-off zone.
In his dissent, Judge Alex Kozinski wrote, "None of the `numerous other
factors' cited by the majority justify the stop in our case." He also cited
a 1994 case in which the same court ruled that reasonable suspicion can't be
based on broad profiles that cast suspicion on entire categories of people.
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County Wants To Stop Hemp Fest (The South Bend Tribune, in Indiana, says
officials in Cass County, Michigan, want to nip Hemp Aid '99 in the bud. The
four-day, three-night festival has taken place every Memorial Day weekend
since 1993 at Rainbow Farm in Vandalia. Scheduled to appear this year are
comedian Tommy Chong, the High Times Cannabis Cup Band and the Billy Bongster
Band. A county ordinance requires permits for outdoor gatherings of more than
500 people, but not for events that are sponsored by non-profit
organizations. At issue is whether Hemp Fest '99 is, in fact, sponsored by
such an organization.)
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 04:26:10 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US IA: County Wants To Stop Hemp Fest
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Tom Paine
Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 1999
Source: South Bend Tribune (IA)
Website: http://www.sbtinfo.com/
Author: Gina Barton
COUNTY WANTS TO STOP HEMP FEST
CASSOPOLIS -- If Cass County officials have their way, comedian Tommy Chong,
the High Times Cannabis Cup Band and the Billy Bongster Band will have to
cancel their trips to Vandalia for Hemp Aid '99.
Hemp Aid is a four-day, three-night festival that has taken place at Rainbow
Farm over Memorial Day weekend since 1993. Its purpose is to promote hemp
awareness. (Marijuana is hemp's most well-known byproduct.) More than 3,000
people attended last year's event.
The county is asking the courts to cancel the event because the owner of the
farm, Grover Tom Crosslin, does not have a permit for it. The county's
lawsuit -- filed in Cass County Circuit Court by the law firm representing
the county, Kreis Enderle Callander and Hudgins -- also asks that a similar
Labor Day weekend event called Roach Roast '99 be canceled for the same
reason.
"They're out after us because we're out to promote the legalization of
marijuana," said Doug Leinbach, manager of the Rainbow Farm Camp Ground.
A county ordinance requires permits for outdoor gatherings of more than 500
people. The ordinance also lays out safety regulations and rules for items
such as food service, insurance, traffic control and waste disposal.
However, events that are sponsored by or conducted by a not-for-profit
organization are not required to have a permit. At issue is whether Hemp
Fest '99 is, in fact, sponsored by such an organization.
Leinbach says the event is sponsored by the Columbus Institute of
Contemporary Journalism, an Ohio-based tax exempt group. Two years ago, a
similar lawsuit filed by the county was dismissed when this was proven to be
true.
In the more recent lawsuit, the county's attorneys claim the institute is no
longer in good standing with the Ohio secretary of state and the Internal
Revenue Service has no record of the institute.
Leinbach disagrees.
"They're a legal entity," he said. "This is the same thing we had to do two
years ago. We've got to shell out $10,000 for legal representation. (The
county) is trying to put us out of business."
Neither Terry Proctor, county administrator, nor R. James Guse, chairman of
the board of commissioners, could be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
The lawsuit is scheduled for a court hearing May 24, just four days before
Hemp Aid '99 is set to begin.
Admission to Hemp Aid is $40 per person, Leinbach said. The admissions
generally bring in close to $50,000 annually, but most of the money is spent
on things like entertainment, insurance and advertising.
However, the money donated to the Columbus Institute of Contemporary
Journalism is enough to publish two editions of its quarterly journal, said
Robert J. Fitrakis, executive director.
In addition to publishing the journal, the institute distributes an
anti-racist action newsletter. It also sponsors a group called "For A Better
Ohio," which promotes the industrial use of hemp, Fitrakis said.
Industrial hemp contains virtually no tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the
chemical that gives marijuana its mild hallucinogenic effect, and can be
used in rope, fabric and other products.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami Drug Gang, Suspended Detective Charged In Roundup (The Tampa Tribune
says the Boobie Boys, a Miami gang blamed by police for 35 killings,
including that of a 5-year-old boy, was dismantled Friday with a roundup
targeting a suspended detective and 14 other reputed gang members. The police
detective, Marvin Baker, a 16-year veteran of the Miami-Dade department, was
accused of ripping off cocaine dealers during traffic stops, and federal
prosecutors charged he worked with Boobie Boys leader Kenneth Williams and
gang members to steal their customers' money and cocaine.)
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 03:22:29 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Miami Drug Gang, Suspended Detective Charged In Roundup
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Chase
Pubdate: May 15th 1999
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 1999, The Tribune Co.
Contact: tribletters@tampatrib.com
Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/
Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm
MIAMI DRUG GANG, SUSPENDED DETECTIVE CHARGED IN ROUNDUP
MIAMI - A police officer and members of the Boobie Boys gang are
arrested, but the gang's leader is a fugitive.
One of Miami's most savage drug gangs, blamed by police for 35
killings - including a 5-year-old boy - was dismantled Friday with a
roundup targeting a suspended detective and 14 other reputed gang members.
``This was a very ruthless, a very violent gang,'' said Miami-Dade
Police Chief Carlos Alvarez. ``It became quite apparent that we had
basically a drug war on our hands.''
The Boobie Boys gang killed to establish its turf and to retaliate
against rivals as it built a drug empire that smuggled nearly 5 tons
of cocaine from Panama and the Bahamas and delivered to 25 Florida
cities and 12 states, police said.
The gang's favorite method of attack was the drive-by shooting, and
they wounded more than 100 people since 1993, police said. Police
displayed an AK-47 assault rifle, a semiautomatic pistol and other
guns they said the gang used.
``We see the carnage that is, sad to say, the result of the
combination of guns and drugs,'' said Patti Galupo, Miami chief of the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. She said an AK-47 was
bought ``to go people hunting.''
In a 1995 shooting, a 5-year-old boy was slain with two adults. Two
men were shot dead in another attack at a gas station last year.
A federal indictment Friday charges six defendants with the two sets
of killings. All 15 defendants face possible life terms on a
conspiracy charge alleging an $85 million wholesale drug operation.
Marvin Baker, 41, a 16-year veteran Miami-Dade police officer was
arrested Thursday and charged with drug conspiracy. He was suspended
with pay after he was charged last September in state court with
racketeering conspiracy, armed cocaine trafficking and armed robbery.
Internal investigators accused him of ripping off cocaine dealers
during traffic stops, and federal prosecutors charged he worked with
Boobie Boys leader Kenneth Williams and gang members to steal their
customers' money and cocaine. A $56,000 reward has been posted for
Williams, one of four fugitives.
Eight suspects made their initial court appearances in handcuffs
Friday under the new indictment. All were held without bond and asked
for court-appointed attorneys. Three other gang members were already
in custody.
The case builds on an indictment filed earlier this year against
21-year-old twin brothers Leonard and Lenard Brown. They were
acquitted in state court of a gang hit last December and now face
federal charges in the gas station killings.
The twins' mother, Susan Hall Gibson, known as ``Miss Sue,'' was among
those arrested. She was charged with conspiracy and running a drug
house that produced crack and powder cocaine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Overheated Hype About Hemp (A letter to the editor of the Washington Post
from Erwin A. Sholts of the North American Industrial Hemp Council responds
to a previous, anti-hemp, green-baiting letter from Jeanette McDougal of Drug
Watch/Minnesota. "Our organization . . . is composed entirely of those who
support the legal and regulated cultivation of industrial hemp for industrial
products. None of us supports marijuana legalization.")
Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 23:22:48 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US DC: PUB LTE: Overheated Hype About Hemp
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 1999
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Page: A21
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: Erwin A. Sholts, chairman, North American Industrial Hemp Council
OVERHEATED HYPE ABOUT HEMP
Jeanette McDougal of Drug Watch/Minnesota badly misled your readers about an
important issue of public policy: whether America's farmers should be
permitted to grow industrial hemp, as farmers are permitted to do in
England, Canada, France and Germany [Free for All, May 8]. McDougal says no,
claiming that industrial hemp is marijuana, and that in any event industrial
hemp is not an "economic" crop. She could not be more mistaken.
In the first place, industrial hemp is not marijuana. Industrial hemp is
legally grown throughout Europe and Canada precisely because it has too low
a concentration of cannabis's psychoactive ingredient (THC) - often
three-tenths of one percent or less - to make it possible to use it as a
drug. Moreover, growing industrial hemp is an effective way to undermine
marijuana cultivation. This is because industrial hemp degrades, through
cross-pollination, the potency of marijuana that is anywhere near it.
McDougal's contention that no market exists for industrial hemp is false.
This country has a multimillion-dollar hemp market -- for hemp may be
legally imported into the United States, even though, illogically, it cannot
be grown here. Thus, American farmers are forbidden to supply not only our
own domestic market for industrial hemp but also the larger international
market. The harm to our farmers is particularly severe, since the price for
industrial hemp is good, and will stay good, because of the large and growing
list of products that can be made from it. The plant's long fibers and oil
are ideal for paper, carpets, building products, fabrics, lotions and many
other uses. Recognizing this, legislatures in North Dakota, Virginia,
Minnesota and Montana recently have legalized the cultivation of industrial
hemp, and other states are moving in the same direction.
While wheat today nets a farmer in McDougal's state only $25 an acre,
industrial hemp nets a Canadian farmer right across the border more than
$250 an acre. It is depression time in rural America. Industrial hemp -- an
easily grown, easily processed, rotational crop that replenishes the soil
and is significantly more profitable than wheat -- can potentially help save
many Minnesotans' and others' family farms from the auction block.
Our organization -- including our counsel, James Woolsey, whom McDougal
attacks personally -- is composed entirely of those who support the legal
and regulated cultivation of industrial hemp for industrial products. None
of us supports marijuana legalization. Our board includes representatives of
American agriculture and industry, as well as distinguished scientists.
McDougal falsely identifies as members of our board two individuals who
resigned some time ago and makes a great deal out of the alphabetical order
of another organization's Web site listing. The issue of industrial hemp is
far too important to be debated on the basis of such ill-informed and
frivolous attacks.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Just Say No To Drug Reform (The Sydney Morning Herald, in Australia, says
"parent" lobby groups such as PRIDE, the Parents Resource Institute for Drug
Education, effectively grasped control of the drug debate in the United
States back in the 1980s, and have had a disastrous effect. While marijuana
use among American students has wavered up and down, the number of those
addicted to cocaine and heroin has risen. As public funds were diverted to
"zero tolerance" policies and prisons, funds for treatment facilities were
slashed. But perhaps the most disturbing impact of the parent groups on U.S.
drug policy has been the deep divide it created between public health experts
and politicians wishing to court the vocal parent groups. In a perverse way,
the parent groups are behind a campaign that pushed Americans in the
aggregate away from softer drugs like pot toward harder ones like crack -
the exact opposite of what the "gateway" theory would have predicted.)
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 23:33:15 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Just Say No To Drug Reform
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Kenneth William Russell
Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 1999
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Contact: letters@smh.fairfax.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Author: Marian Wilkinson
JUST SAY NO TO DRUG REFORM
Parent lobby groups have had a disastrous effect on America's drug debate,
reports MARIAN WILKINSON in Boston.
"Are you waiting to talk to your Kids about Pot?" The hectoring message,
sponsored by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, leaps
out at every commuter making their way home on the subway here.
Whether America is experiencing a marijuana epidemic is a moot point. The
advertisements are testimony to the ongoing influence of the conservative
parent lobby groups which effectively grasped control of the drug debate in
America back in the 1980s.
At that time, as a wave of crack cocaine and heroin addiction swept through
the black and Hispanic underclass in the inner cities, middle-class parent
lobby groups, such as PRIDE - the Parents Resource Institute for Drug
Education - swayed the White House to devote a greater share of its
prevention budget to fighting marijuana use among teenagers and promoting
"zero tolerance" to all illegal drug use.
The net result of these policies in the last two decades has been, according
to many public health experts, a disaster.
While marijuana use among American students has wavered up and down, the
number of hard-core drug abusers, those addicted to cocaine and heroin, has
risen. As public funds were diverted to the "zero tolerance" policy, funds
for treatment facilities and detox centres in the inner cities were slashed.
At the same time, the country's imprisonment rate has soared as more and
more low level dealers and addicts are jailed for drug offences.
But perhaps the most disturbing impact of the parent lobby on US drug policy
is the deep divide it has created between public health experts in this
country and the politicians wishing to court the vocal parent groups.
America's politicians will quash advice from many of their own public health
experts if it clashes with parent demands.
President Clinton's Health Secretary was persuaded to drop federal funding
support for needle exchange programs after the conservative Family Research
Council lobbied Clinton's drug tsar, General Barry McCaffrey. This was
despite the President's AIDS Advisory Commission supporting the initiative.
Parent lobbying against marijuana use also has had an extraordinary impact
in the criminal justice system.
Arrests for marijuana offences have doubled even under Clinton, and the vast
majority of these, some 90 per cent, are for simple possession.
The Republican Congress, not to be outdone, has passed laws denying student
loans to anyone caught in possession of marijuana.
Throughout the 1980s public health experts who argued against zero tolerance
policies or tried to focus the debate away from marijuana and onto treating
hard core drug abuse were hounded by parent lobbies for being "soft on
drugs".
Some, like Dr Jerome Jaffe, one of the country's most authoritative experts
on drug addiction, found themselves harangued before congressional
committees at the urging of parent lobbyists.
The hysteria in America's drug debate has left specialists like Jaffe
despairing. "Things are so open to demagogy in this country," he told the
Herald in a recent interview. "If you say anything that sounds as if we
ought to do something a little different, you're immediately accused of
being a legaliser. There isn't much room for rational debate."
When Ronald and Nancy Reagan were installed in the White House the parent
lobbyists persuaded Reagan to appoint a new drug tsar whose dominant
interest was in the control of marijuana abuse.
Under Dr Carlton Turner, formerly of the University of Mississippi, the
White House turned US drug policy on its head.
Gone were moves to liberalise marijuana laws. Turner, backed by the parent
lobbies, quashed any distinction between "soft" and "hard" drugs, or the
recreational use of drugs and hard core addiction.
The new policy was to be "zero tolerance" to all illegal drugs. The First
Lady would be the parents' most vocal advocate in the White House.
Under the new policy, criminal prosecution of drug offenders was stepped up.
Most importantly, the policy was openly hostile to the idea of treating drug
abuse, calling it the failed New York model, and federal funding for
treatment programs was slashed.
In some sense, the parent lobbyists brought important balance to drug
policy, forcing public officials and experts to examine the effect of
so-called soft drugs when they were used, not by adults, but young
teenagers.
Marijuana use, often seen as relatively harmless, was at times not even
treated as seriously as alcohol and tobacco abuse.
But by allowing these parent lobby groups to drive US drug policy with its
concentration of teenage marijuana use, drug researcher Michael Massing
argues that the Reagan Administration inadvertently helped create the worst
drug epidemic in American history. By making marijuana the priority, the
President's own drug tsar and his federal officers failed to understand the
upsurge in crack cocaine use in the inner cities until it was too late.
As hard core drug abuse soared, drug-related visits to hospital emergency
rooms, basically overdoses, rose 15-fold, cocaine-related deaths leapt, as
did drug use among pregnant women, drug-related homicides and drug-related
HIV.
Tragically, what happened demonstrated the cost of completely marginalising
the drug policy experts in favour of the parent lobby groups.
The crack epidemic, says Massing in his authoritative book on postwar US
drug policy, The Fix, was "a sweeping repudiation of the gateway theory so
beloved by the parent movement", that is, if you reduce casual, soft drug
use you ultimately reduce hard core abuse.
"Instead in eight years," he explains, "casual use had declined while
hard-core use had soared. In a perverse way, the Administration had
succeeded in pushing Americans in the aggregate way from softer drugs like
pot toward harder ones like crack - the exact opposite of what the gateway
theory would have predicted."
The lesson is not that the conservative parent lobbies be ignored but that
drug policy, like most public policy, does need the input of expert advice.
The highpoint of influence for the parent lobbies was no doubt during the
Reagan and Bush Republican Administration and internal divisions since then
have undercut some of their power.
But their influence over the debate is still critical. President Clinton
came into office with a more liberal drug policy but quickly ditched it as
political advisers and pollsters argued teenage pot use was of far more
interest to swing voters, mainly parents.
While Clinton has belatedly increased funding for drug abuse programs in the
inner cities he steers away from any initiatives on harm minimisation.
Increasingly, alternative voices among parents are being heard: parents of
young drug offenders imprisoned for lengthy sentences and parents of
overdose victims who couldn't get treatment places but their appeal to US
politicians is limited.
In the US the strident voice of the conservative parent lobbies and
poll-conscious politicians still overwhelm other voices for reform. The very
fact that Australia can have a more balanced debate is viewed in the States
as a major achievement in itself.
As Jerome Jaffe told the Herald, "England sent us the Puritans and you the
criminals; perhaps you people are a little more tolerant and a little more
forgiving of sin."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Using: Nearly Everybody's Doing It (The Sydney Morning Herald says the latest
National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 39.3 per cent of
Australians had used marijuana at some time in their lives, 10.7 per cent
hallucinogens, 8.7 per cent amphetamines, 4.7 per cent Ecstasy and designer
drugs, 4.3 per cent cocaine and 2.2 per cent heroin. One supposes most of the
rest of the population had used more dangerous but legal drugs such as
tobacco, alcohol, and various pharmaceuticals - but the newspaper and maybe
the survey don't say. Australians are estimated to spend about $14 billion a
year on illicit drugs, not including a marijuana harvest "so big it is too
difficult to estimate." Thirty per cent of males and 21 per cent of females
said they had used marijuana "recently." The highest marijuana usage, 44 per
cent, was among males aged 20-29.)
Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 00:41:09 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Using: Nearly Everybody's Doing It
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Kenneth William Russell
Pubdate: Sat, 15 May 1999
Source: Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
Contact: letters@smh.fairfax.com.au
Website: http://www.smh.com.au/
Author: Philip Cornford
USING: NEARLY EVERYBODY'S DOING IT
Australians are estimated to spend about $14 billion a year on illicit
drugs.
They spent $4 billion injecting 10 tonnes of heroin, $4 billion snorting
about the same amount of cocaine, an estimated $4-$6 billion on
amphetamines. The harvest of the most commonly used drug, marijuana, is so
big it is too difficult to estimate. But it is huge.
By their own admission, 46 per cent of Australians older than 14 use heroin,
cocaine, marijuana and amphetamines. Some are multiple-drug users. In many
cases, the real number of users is greater than admitted to.
The latest National Drug Strategy Household Survey found that 39.3 per cent
of Australians had used marijuana, 10.7 per cent hallucinogens, 8.7 per cent
amphetamines, 4.7 per cent Ecstasy and designer drugs, 4.3 per cent cocaine
and 2.2 per cent heroin.
Increasingly, users are becoming younger as pushers target school-age
children. But the survey reveals that the greatest threat is to young
females, and it comes from heroin dealers.
Usually, male heroin users outnumber females more than 2-1. But in the 14-19
age group, the situation is reversed: female users (1.4 per cent) outnumber
males (0.5 per cent) 3-1.
In the three years since the last survey in 1996, heroin use among young
females increased by almost 60 per cent. But by age 21, the equation is
restored, with twice as many male users. Males start later. In the same
period, marijuana use shot up among females aged 14-19 - from 19.9 per cent
in 1996 to 34.2 per cent, level with usage among males of the same ages.
Illicit drug users buy their preference on the street, in cafes, hotels,
practically everywhere, at prices that range from $20 for a "tab" of heroin
to $100 for an amphetamine "deal". There is no shortage of customers and
only seldomly a shortage of drugs.
The drug market:
MARIJUANA: There is a growing acceptance of marijuana, with a quarter of the
adult population saying it was not a law problem.
Thirty per cent of males and 21 per cent of females - more than 2.7 million
people - said they had used marijuana recently. The highest usage (44 per
cent) was among males aged 20-29. In the same group, 29 per cent of females
used the drug, up six per cent. Recent users included 547,000 males and
females aged 19 years and younger.
Marijuana is grown everywhere in Australia. High potency "skunk" or "hydro"
costs $30-$50 for a one-gram "deal".
HEROIN: Since 1995, more people - 37 per cent, up from 30 per cent -
associate heroin with the drug problem. Two per cent - about the number of
users - considered heroin acceptable. They consume an estimated 10-14 tonnes
a year of mostly No4 heroin imported from Burma, Thailand, Laos, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, and
Colombia. Heroin costs $20 for a "tab" of 0.02 grams at Cabramatta, the
cheapest in Australia, and $50 elsewhere. It is also called smack, horse,
hammer, H, China white, is almost universally injected and sometimes smoked.
COCAINE: Known as coke, nose candy, snow and okey-dokey, it is imported from
Colombia, Peru, Bolivia. There are twice as many cocaine users - 3.8 per
cent of males, 1.1 per cent of females - than heroin users. But less is
known about the regularity of use, with cocaine becoming as much a status
symbol as an expensive car or a luxury apartment.
But law enforcement agencies cautiously estimate that the total consumption
of cocaine is about the same as heroin. Often cocaine costs more, up to $80
a "cap".
Health professionals report that cocaine users are more aggressive and
anti-social than heroin users. When influenced by the drug, they believe
themselves to be invincible. Police regard cocaine users in need of a "fix"
as more dangerous than heroin users.
Cocaine is usually snorted. The Bureau of Criminal Intelligence reports a
"disturbing" trend to injection.
AMPHETAMINES: Called speed, uppers, goey, whiz, amphetamines are most
commonly injected, with 4.7 per cent of males and 1.7 of females reporting
recent use. A street "deal" costs $100 in Sydney. Again, the market is
difficult to estimate, but is regarded by some police as bigger than either
heroin or cocaine.
ECSTASY: The use of designer drugs doubled in three years to 5.1 per cent of
males and 1.5 per cent of females. Known as ecky, XTC and Adam, the "hug
drug" costs $40-$60 a tab in Sydney and is usually taken orally.
STEROIDS: Use has increased to 3.9 per cent of males and 0.7 per cent of
females.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Stoned Age Artists May Have Been On A Trip (The Guardian, in Britain, says
hemp seeds and spores of 'magic mushrooms' found in excavations in France and
Spain suggest that the hazy and often upside-down bison and stickmen of
primitive artists may have been painted under the influence of psychoactive
substances. "It is too early to talk about proof, but there are striking
similarities with modern hallucinogenic art," said David Cowland, who
delivers a lecture at Bradford university next week on cannabis finds at
prehistoric sites.)
Date: Sat, 15 May 1999 14:45:52 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Stoned Age Artists May Have Been On A Trip
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: 15 May 1999
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Media Group 1999
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author: Martin Wainwright
STONED AGE ARTISTS MAY HAVE BEEN ON A TRIP
A whole new meaning has been given to the term Stone Age by
archaeologists who have discovered an unexpected inspiration for
prehistoric cave art.
Hemp seeds and spores of 'magic mushrooms' found in excavations
suggest that the hazy and often upside-down bison and stickmen of
primitive artists may have been painted in the course of drugs trips.
'It is too early to talk about proof, but there are striking
similarities with modern hallucinogenic art,' said David Cowland, who
delivers a lecture at Bradford university next week on cannabis finds
at prehistoric sites. 'Cave paintings have a formlessness and
unexpected mixing, for instance of mammoths and vivid red dots, and
the artists clearly had no shortage of appropriate fungi and plants.'
Research centres on wall-paintings in caves in France and Spain dating
back to 16,000BC where ritual, often associated with drug use, is
thought to have played an important part. Mr Cowland, a postgraduate
at Bradford's archaeology department, said: 'We know that shamans,
credited with magic powers, were important in primitive societies, and
the use of magic mushrooms tallies with that.'
Moulds, including the powerfully hallucinogenic ergot found on rotting
vegetation, were common in caves, and deliberate use also appears to
have been made of the toadstool, amanita muscaria, or fly agaric.
The Greek historian, Herodotus, recorded travellers' descriptions of
cannabis rituals dating back to much earlier times among Scythian
tribespeople on the border between Siberia and Mongolia.
'They take some hemp seed, creep into a small tent and throw the seed
on to hot stones. At once it begins to smoke, giving off a vapour
unsurpassed by any vapour bath one could find in Greece. The Scythians
enjoy it so much that they howl with pleasure.'
Mr Cowland said that recent finds at Pazyryk in the Altai mountains
confirmed the account. Digs had located burnt hemp seeds and a
primitive censer.
Richard Morris, director of the British Council for Archaeology, said
that references to cannabis, opium and other drug finds were increasingly
common in excavation reports from what, he said, 'should perhaps be renamed
the Stoned Age'.
***
To: (restore@crrh.org)
From: Robert Goodman (robgood@bestweb.net)
From: "CRRH mailing list" (restore@crrh.org)
Date: Sun, 16 May 1999 11:22:49 -500
Subject: UK: Stoned Age Artists May Have Been On A Trip
Peter Lamborn Wilson said this years ago. He's seen even more
direct indication of prehistoric art's depiction of psychedelic
effects -- like drawings of mushrooms next to pictures of people
with sparks coming out of their heads!
Robert
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[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for May 14-20