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

B.E. Smith Trial in Sacramento (A bulletin from California NORML encourages
advocates for medical-marijuana patients to show up Tuesday to support the
Trinity County activist facing federal cultivation charges for 87 plants
intended for the defendant and several other designated patients pursuant to
Proposition 215. The judge has made it known he will not allow any medical
testimony.)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 10:19:40 -0700
To: dpfca@drugsense.org
From: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Subject: DPFCA: B.E. Smith Trial in Sacto
Sender: owner-dpfca@drugsense.org
Reply-To: canorml@igc.apc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca/

Activists are urged to turn out for the trial of B E Smith, who is
facing federal charges for cultivating marijuana, at the Federal
Courthouse in Sacto 5th &I St., Tuesday, May 18th at 9 a.m. (The
trial will continue at least thru Thursday.)

Smith, a veteran marijuana protester, has been charged for growing
87 plants, which he planted for himself and several other designated
medical patients pursuant to Prop. 215. Smith notified Trinity County
authorities of his plan, and was later arrested on federal charges.

The judge has made it known that he will not allow any medical
testimony in the trial. Demonstrators are urged to bring signs or
literature informing the public of the medical nature of Smith's
alleged offense.

***

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

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

'NewsRadio' Actor Arrested (UPI says Andy Dick, who played a neurotic
reporter on the canceled NBC sitcom, was busted Saturday after crashing his
car into a utility pole in Los Angeles and then trying to run away. A
subsequent car search turned up marijuana and cocaine.)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 17:50:08 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: WIRE: 'NewsRadio' Actor Arrested
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: EWCHIEF
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

'NEWSRADIO' ACTOR ARRESTED

LOS ANGELES, May 17 (UPI) - ``NewsRadio'' actor Andy Dick will be in
court May 25 after his arrest over the weekend on drug and DUI
charges, Police say Dick was arrested after crashing his car into a
utility pole Saturday in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles and
then trying to run away. A witness chased and detained Dick until
police arrived. The 33-year-old actor, who played a neurotic reporter
on the canceled NBC sitcom, is free after posting a $10,000 bond. A
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman says a search of the actor's
car turned up marijuana and cocaine.

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

Officer, 5 Others Arrested In Gang Probe (The Miami Herald notes the arrest
Thursday of Marvin Baker, a 16-year veteran Miami-Dade police officer who
allegedly conspired to deal drugs with members of the Boobie Boys, which the
newspaper calls one of the county's most notoriously violent street gangs.
Baker was allegedly involved in a scheme to use bogus traffic stops to rip
off cocaine dealers.)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 17:34:02 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Officer, 5 Others Arrested In Gang Probe
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: General Pulaski
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Miami Herald (FL)
Copyright: 1999 The Miami Herald
Contact: heralded@herald.com
Address: One Herald Plaza, Miami FL 33132-1693
Fax: (305) 376-8950
Website: http://www.herald.com/
Forum: http://krwebx.infi.net/webxmulti/cgi-bin/WebX?mherald
Author: David Kidwell

OFFICER, 5 OTHERS ARRESTED IN GANG PROBE

A suspended Miami-Dade police officer who allegedly conspired to deal
drugs with members of the Boobie Boys, one of the county's most
notoriously violent street gangs, was among six arrested Thursday
under a sealed federal indictment.

Among his co-defendants are alleged gang members convicted of numerous
other crimes: drug possession, burglary, robbery, obstructing police,
manslaughter, lewd behavior with a child, possession of a firearm by a
felon and other offenses.

Marvin Baker, 41, a 16-year veteran assigned to the Carol City
district, is already facing state charges of racketeering conspiracy,
armed cocaine trafficking and armed robbery with a firearm.

He was charged Sept. 4 by internal investigators at his own department
for his alleged involvement in a scheme to use bogus traffic stops to
rip off cocaine from drug dealers. He has been suspended with pay ever
since.

Prosecutors declined to discuss the case.

Thursday's sweep was the latest in a string of gang arrests stemming
from a longstanding federal and state investigation of the gang --
thought by authorities to be a criminal enterprise responsible for
some 15 murders.

Proving those assertions, however, has been difficult. In December, a
Miami-Dade jury acquitted twin brothers believed by authorities to be
Boobie hitmen in one of those shootings. The gang's alleged leader,
Kenneth Sorrell "Boobie" Williams, remains a fugitive.

All those arrested are from Miami. In addition to Baker, they are:

Susan Hall Gibson, 46; Malcolm Maurice Shaw, 29, who has previous
convictions including manslaughter and threats with a firearm; Ronald
John Raye, 28, who was convicted of lewd and lascivious acts on a
child under 16 in 1988; Benjamin Keith Johnson, 27; with convictions
for possession of cocaine, burglary, robbery with a firearm and
obstructing a police officer; and Wayne Sylveste Baptiste, 26, a
habitual offender with numerous previous convictions including of
possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of a forged driver's
license.

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

Let Farmers Grow Hemp (A staff editorial in the Capital Times, in Wisconsin,
says this is the ideal time for Congress to lift the ban on industrial hemp.
Paul Mahlberg, a professor of plant pathology at Indiana University, says law
enforcement officials should have no problem distinguishing between legal and
illegal marijuana because the two types of plants look completely different.
Identification has not been a problem in Canada or Europe where hemp is grown
legally, so that's an argument that has no weight.)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 17:55:41 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WI: Editorial: Let Farmers Grow Hemp
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Frank S. World
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Capital Times, The (WI)
Copyright: 1999 The Capital Times
Contact: tctvoice@madison.com
Fax: 608-252-6445
Website: http://www.thecapitaltimes.com/

LET FARMERS GROW HEMP

Name any crop grown by Wisconsin farmers and then check the prices
those same farmers are getting for their efforts. Nobody's putting
money in the bank.

And yet there is a cash crop that has the potential to be a
money-maker. Until now, it's been one that American farmers were not
legally allowed to grow - industrial hemp.

When the former director of the CIA, James Woolsey, is hired by the
North American Industrial Hemp Council to lobby for repeal of the
federal ban on industrial hemp, something is in the air, and not what
you're thinking.

Now Wisconsin agricultural groups have joined state lawmakers from
both sides of the aisle who say this is the time to move forward on
the issue. The sticking point is the fact that federal law defines
hemp as a form of marijuana even though experts say the plant has less
than 1 percent of the psychoactive chemical that gets folks high.

Hemp was once grown commercially in the United States until federal
drug laws were changed. Today the United States allows hemp and hemp
products to be imported. In fact, we use 75 percent of the hemp
produced worldwide. Its fibers can be used in everything from auto
body parts to paper-making, and its root structure makes it a natural
herbicide and insecticide.

Paul Mahlberg, a professor of plant pathology at Indiana University,
says law enforcement officials should have no problem distinguishing
between legal and illegal marijuana because the two types of plants
look completely different. Identification has not been a problem in
Canada or Europe where hemp is grown legally, so that's an argument
that has no weight.

It's an ideal crop that the United States is forced to import because
of outdated drug policies. This is the ideal time for Congress to lift
the ban and let American farmers -- including those in Wisconsin --
grow hemp legally and profit from it.

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

Major Crime Continues To Decline (UPI says preliminary figures in the FBI's
Uniform Crime Report, released Sunday evening, show that "serious" crime
dropped for the seventh year in a row, and 7 percent from 1997 to 1998.
Attorney General Janet Reno attributes some of the decrease in violent crime
to the Brady Law, restricting guns. UPI, on the other hand, attributes the
decline to some unspecified alteration in the crack cocaine market.)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 15:38:21 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: Wire: Major Crime Continues To Decline
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: EWCHIEF
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: United Press International
Copyright: 1999 United Press International

MAJOR CRIME CONTINUES TO DECLINE

WASHINGTON, - Serious crime in the United States, which rose to record
heights with the advent of crack cocaine in American cities in the 1980s, has
dropped for the seventh year in a row.

In a report released Sunday evening, the FBI says preliminary figures in the
nationwide Uniform Crime Report show all serious crime decreased 7 percent in
1998, as opposed to 1997.

The drop reflected a 7 percent decline in both violent and property crime.
Varying decreases were reported in all the nation's regions.

The preliminary figures also show robbery had the greatest decline, 11
percent; murder, 8 percent, and forcible rape (as distinguished from
statutory rape committed by an adult on a minor) and aggravated assault, 5
percent each.

Last week, Attorney General Janet Reno attributed some of the decrease in
violent crimes to the Brady Law, which she said has stopped a quarter-million
illegal handgun sales since its implementation in 1995.

In property crime, reported motor vehicle thefts were down 10 percent,
followed by burglary and arson, 7 percent each; and larceny-thefts, 6
percent.

All the country's regions showed a continuing pattern of fewer
reported crimes.

The Northeast and West reported the greatest declines in all types of
serious crime, with 8 percent each. The South reported a 6 percent drop; the
Midwest, 4 percent.

In violent crime alone, the West was down 9 percent; the Northeast and
the South, 7 percent each, and the Midwest, 4 percent.

All regions also reported a drop in murders.

The Northeast and West recorded the greatest drop at 11 percent each;
the South, 7 percent, and the Midwest, 5 percent.

Property crime also decreased 8 percent in both the Northeast and the
West, while the South saw a 6 percent drop and the Midwest, 4 percent.

City groups of all sizes reported decreases. Serious crime declined by
8 percent in cities with populations between 250,000 and just under 1
million. The smallest decreases in this category were recorded by
cities of under 10,000.

Suburban counties saw a 7 percent drop; rural counties, 5 percent.

The complete preliminary report, available on the Interent, also
breaks down crimes by category for particular major cities. For
instance, New York City reported serious crime overall dropped from
355, 884 in 1997 to 323,192 last year. Murders in New York City
dropped from 770 to 633.

Final UCR figures are expected to be published in the fall in the
FBI's ``Crime in the United States.''

More than 17,000 city, county and state law enforcment agencies
voluntarily report crimes to the program.

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

U.S. Crime Decreases Dramatically (The New York Times version in the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 18:37:15 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WA: U.S. Crime Decreases Dramatically
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John Smith
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Copyright: 1999 Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Contact: editpage@seattle-pi.com
Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/
Author: Fox Butterfield, The New York Times

U.S. CRIME DECREASES DRAMATICALLY

Fbi Figures Show 9 Percent Drop In Seattle

Crime in the United States dropped dramatically last year, the seventh
consecutive year it has fallen, according to preliminary figures
released by the FBI yesterday.

The number of violent crimes and property crimes each fell 7 percent
in 1998, creating the largest annual decline since crime began to
decrease in 1992.

In Seattle, the drop was more dramatic, with the overall crime rate
and violent crimes dropping by 9 percent, said FBI figures.

Biggest nationwide decrease was in robbery, which fell 11 percent,
followed by a 10 percent decline in motor vehicle theft and an 8
percent decline in murder, the FBI said in its annual Uniform Crime
Report.

The decline in robbery, by far its largest single year decrease in the
1990s, is particularly significant, said Alfred Blumstein, a
criminologist at Carnegie Mellon University, because it reflects a
diminished demand for crack cocaine, which had driven violent crime
rates upward in the 1980s. "For people who are heavy drug users,
robbery is a favorite way to get drugs," Blumstein said.

In addition, he said, the drop in robbery may be attributed to the
vitality of the economy, which has become so strong that it is now
reaching into the inner cities and providing jobs, even if low paying
ones, to unskilled young people who had previously turned to selling
drugs because they were shut out of the job market.

Criminologists pointed to several other factors that appear to be
behind the drop in crime, though they acknowledge that it is
impossible to measure them precisely. These include a huge increase in
the number of people behind bars, more imaginative police strategies,
tighter gun control laws and widespread community programs to work
with troubled young people.

Beyond these factors, said James Alan Fox, dean of the college of
criminal justice at Northeastern University, there appears to be a
kind of contagion effect. "The more crime drops, the more lawfulness
becomes the norm, as opposed to lawlessness," he said.

Fox said the seven-year drop in crime, the longest uninterrupted
decline since the 1950s, underscored an important point -- that school
shootings like the recent massacre in Littleton, Colo., "are a
statistical aberration."

"For most of our kids, school is the safest place to be," Fox said.
Violence in school is far lower than violence in the home, in many
children's neighborhoods or in areas around schools, he said.

For criminologists, Fox said, the biggest question now is how long the
decline in crime can last.

The FBI report measures the so-called serious or index crimes, which
include the violent crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated
assault and the property crimes of burglary, larceny, motor vehicle
theft and arson. The report is based on arrest data supplied by local
police forces.

The report said that rape and aggravated assault had both dropped 5
percent, while burglary and arson each went down 7 percent. Only
larceny, which includes petty theft like shoplifting and
pickpocketing, showed no decrease.

The declines in crime were generally highest in the nation's largest
cities, apparently a reflection of more intense police efforts in
those cities. Murder, for example, fell 11 percent in cities with a
population over one million, but only 6 percent in cities of 50,000 to
100,000 and not at all in small cities of 10,000 to 25,000. Only the
suburbs had an increase in murder, of 2 percent.

Murders in New York fell to 633 in 1998, from 770 in 1997, with New
York dropping to second place in reported murders for the first time
in memory. Chicago surpassed New York with 694 murders.

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

Doctors, Users, Unite For Drug Reform (The Canberra Times, in Australia, says
15 groups representing doctors, lawyers, drug users and their families have
joined forces to lobby the New South Wales Government for drug reform, and
will make a joint submission to the NSW Drug Summit being held in Sydney's
Parliament House this week. The summit delegates, led by former Victorian
premier Joan Kirner and National Party stalwart Ian Sinclair, will debate and
vote on recommendations coming from 11 working groups.)

Date: Thu, 20 May 1999 22:02:30 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Doctors, Users, Unite For 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: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Canberra Times (Australia)
Contact: letters.editor@canberratimes.com.au
Website: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/

DOCTORS, USERS, UNITE FOR DRUG REFORM

SYDNEY: Fifteen groups, representing doctors, lawyers, drug users and their
families, have joined forces to lobby the NSW Government for drug reform.

The groups will make a joint submission to the NSW Drug Summit being held
in Parliament House this week, under the umbrella title of Communities for
Constructive Drug Action. The submission makes several recommendations
which it said could halve the number of drug-related deaths in five years.

The groups include the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the AIDS
Council of NSW, Hepatitis C Council of NSW, Parents and Citizens
Association, Family Drug Support, Redfern Legal Centre, NSW Council for
Civil Liberties, Wayside Chapel and the NSW Users and AIDS Association.

Craig Patterson, of the Royal College of Physicians, said all the groups
supported increased needle and syringe exchange programs and a trial of
safe injecting rooms.

Any strategy needed to look at treatment, at the availability of the means
of prevention, to support people who were using, to support current users
from discrimination. To achieve all of that, it needed to look at the
legislative and regulatory framework and adjust that so new approaches
could be found, Mr Patterson said.

He denied suggestions that the week-long summit would be a "talkfest" as
there would be too many people involved in the discussions who worked at
the coalface of the problem.

Mr Patterson was critical of there being only one drug user represented at
the summit.

The only known drug user who is speaking at the summit, Annie Madden, from
the NSW Users and AIDS Association, said she would have liked more users to
have been invited, as there would be a limit as to how much she would be
able to contribute, as one person.

Ms Madden said politicians needed to show courage when tackling the problem
of drug addiction, and not be swayed by bad headlines.

"I think that the community understands that existing strategies haven't
worked and that there's actually quite a lot of mileage to be gained for
politicians who do take some perceived risks and look at some new things
now, because I think that the community is really ready for it and it's the
politicians who are behind the eight-ball on this," she said.

The joint submission also called for the establishment of a
whole-of-government ministerial council on drugs, an advisory council on
drugs with community and expert input, and an improvement in surveillance
data.

But Premier Bob Carr, who will open the drug summit in Parliament House
today, warned yesterday that it would not produce a magic cure for the
heroin scourge.

He had realistic hopes rather than high expectations for the summit.

The five-day summit was born out of concern at a newspaper photograph of a
teenage boy shooting up heroin on a Sydney street before the March state
election. The issue rekindled the national debate on how the drug epidemic
should be handled, sparking renewed calls for a heroin trial and safe
injecting rooms.

In defiance of drugs laws, a church-backed injecting room was opened at
Sydney's Wayside Chapel, only to be temporarily closed late last week after
a police raid.

The summit delegates, led by former Victorian premier Joan Kirner and
National Party stalwart Ian Sinclair, will debate and vote on
recommendations coming from 11 working groups.

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

Jerusalem (According to the Guardian, in Britain, a Gallup poll shows the
Green Leaf party, which wants to legalise marijuana, is likely to win two or
three seats in today's parliamentary election. Although the party's
television ads have been like a rave party, with the words "love," "sex" and
"marijuana" flashing over a trippy-techno beat in English, Hebrew, Russian
and Arabic, the intriguing prospect looms that Green Leafers could hold the
balance of power in a coalition government.)

Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 18:17:29 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Jerusalem
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: webbooks
Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Media Group 1999
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author: David Sharrock

JERUSALEM

With 31 parties for votes in today's election, the intriguing prospect
looms of the balance of power in a coalition being held by a party
pledged to legalise marijuana.

A Gallup poll shows Green Leaf likely to win two or three seats. The
party's television ads have been more like a rave party, with the
words "love", "sex" and "marijuana" flashing over a trippy-techno beat
in English, Hebrew, Russian and Arabic.

It may look like a fantasy, but if long negotiations are needed to
stitch together a government, the Green Leafers, may insist on a
herbal spliff with their prospective partners....

Also standing, is Rights of the Man in the Family, whose symbol is the
Hebrew letter Zayin which also means penis..

The Casino Party wants to legalise gambling, and Pnina Rosenblum, a
former beauty queen and cosmetics tycoon who has highlighted domestic
violence, looks set to win at least one seat....

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

Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies, Year 5, No. 19 (A summary of European
and international drug policy news, from CORA, in Italy)

Date: Mon, 17 May 1999 13:08:06 +0200
To: CORAFax EN (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
From: CORAFax (cora.belgique@agora.stm.it)
Subject: CORAFax #19 (EN)

ANTIPROHIBITIONIST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD ....
Year 5 #19, May 17 1999

***

Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies

Edited by the CORA - Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, federated to
- TRP-Transnational Radical Party (NGO, consultive status, I)
- The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War

***

director: Vincenzo Donvito
All rights reserved

***

http://www.agora.it/coranet
mailto:cora.news@agora.it

***

NEWS FROM THE WORLD

***

000604 11/05/99
E.U. / ITALY
CONSUMERS
LA REPUBBLICA

A research by the Psychology dept. in the University of Padova shows that
young people frequently use drugs before sexual intercourse. After using
drugs 68.9% of them feel uninhibited, 46.8% feel at ease with their
partner, 19.2% feel more seducing and 17% feel outright desirable.

***

000607 05/05/99
E.U. / FRANCE
HEALTH
LE FIGARO

Professor Roger Herion, President of the Observatoir francais des drogues
et des toxicomanies, contributes to the debate on whether alcohol should be
considered a drug. He says that effective prevention should spur from a
global approach to the problem of psycho active substances, among which
there is also alcohol. 20% of those who turn to a doctor for problems
related to alcohol consumption are intoxicated.

***

000606 06/05/99
INITIATIVE
LE FIGARO

The World Health Organisation says that controlled distribution of heroin
plans on the model of the Swiss one could be put into practice only in rich
countries and only under severe monitoring.

***

000605 05/05/99
E.U. / FRANCE
JURISPRUDENCE
LIBERATION

Appeal trial against the CIRC (an information and research collective on
cannabis) far having organised an unauthorised demonstration against
article 630 on the use of light drugs. The sentence has been programmed for
the 27th of May.

***

000612 10/05/99
E.U. / GERMANY
MARKET
SUEDDEUTSCHE Z.

It seems that 'liquid ecstasy' has disappeared from the market. This
drinkable form of ecstasy appeared in discos over a year ago and was
immediatly signalles by experts as being very dangerous.

***

000608 06/05/99
E.U. / ITALY
PUSHERS
CORRIERE DELLA SERA

An employee of the law court of Rome and another man have been arrested for
the disappearing of 18 kilos of drugs from a safe where the court kept
material evidence of crimes. The men were the only ones to have easy access
to the safe.

***

000613 11/05/99
E.U. / IRELAND
PUSHERS
THE TIMES

Brendan Fegan, one of Northern Ireland's biggest drug pushers, who had been
repeatedly told by the IRA to leave the region, has been found dead with
several bullets in his head. The clandestine republican army is suspected
of this crime.

***

000609 07/05/99
AMERICA / MEXICO
WAR ON DRUGS
HERALD TRIBUNE

Former Governor Mario Villanueva, who is wanted for having helped various
drug taffickers, is probably one of the bosses of the Juarez drug cartel.
This is a news release of the Mexican Anti Drug Agency.

***

000610 07/05/99
AMERICA / USA
WAR ON DRUGS
HERALD TRIBUNE

The Government has decided to suspend all selling of guns and pistols to
Venezuela because it discovered they were ending up in the hands of the
guerrilla and of the Colombian drug traffickers.

***

000611 06/05/99
AMERICA / PANAMA
WAR ON DRUGS
FINANCIAL TIMES

The USA has stopped its anti drug mission in Panama because it seems to
have obtained considerable success in reducing drug traffic. Nontheless
criticism still is arriving from Congress. The situation would be
dangerous, with 80% of the drug traffic towards the United States still
passing through Panama.

***

CORAFax 1999

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

[End]