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

'Zero Tolerance' Comes Up Short (An op-ed in the Orange County Register by
Mark T. Greenberg and Brian K. Baumbarger of Penn State University says there
is little scientific research to show that zero tolerance or other "get
tough" measures are effective in reducing school violence or increasing
safety. On the contrary, there is a growing body of research showing a clear
association between disciplinary exclusion and further poor outcomes such as
delinquency, substance abuse and school dropout. Disciplinary exclusion
should be reserved for students who present a clear and present danger to
others.)

Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 15:44:02 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US CA: OPED: 'Zero Tolerance'Comes Up Short
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: John W.Black
Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 1999
Source: Orange County Register (CA)
Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register
Contact: letters@link.freedom.com
Website: http://www.ocregister.com/
Section: Commentary,page 5
Author: Mark T. Greenberg and Brian K. Baumbarger
Note: Dr. Greenberg is director of the Prevention Research Center for the
Promotion of Human Development in Penn State University's College of Health
and Human Development and holds the Edna Peterson Bennett Chair in Prevention
Research in the college. Mr. Baumbarger is a research associate at the
center.

'ZERO TOLERANCE' COMES UP SHORT

Despite the overwhelming popularity of expulsion and out-of-school
suspension among educators, there is little scientific research to show that
zero tolerance or other "get tough" measures are effective in reducing
school violence or increasing safety.

On the contrary, there is a growing body of research showing a clear
association between disciplinary exclusion and further poor outcomes such as
delinquency, substance abuse and school dropout.

Disciplinary exclusion should be reserved for students who present a clear
and present danger to others.

Historically, suspension and expulsion were viewed as rather severe punitive
sanctions meant to send a clear deterrent message to both the student and
parent about the seriousness of the student's misconduct.

An out-of-school suspension or expulsion virtually guaranteed getting a
parent's attention and getting the parent to attend a school conference to
discuss the problem behavior. It also provided a cooling-down period for
students who posed a clear and present danger to other students or staff.

The popularity of suspension and expulsion, coupled with a lack of other
options, led to a dramatic increase in their use. Nationally, it is
estimated that nearly 2 million students are suspended each year.

Suspensions are often given for less serious or nonviolent misconduct, and
this has weakened their deterrent impact. These sanctions are no longer
viewed as the severe "last resort" and thus draw little attention from many
parents.

Educators must rethink their use of these sanctions and develop a broader
spectrum of options, beginning with primary prevention.

School-based primary prevention programs can increase appropriate behavior
and decrease the frequency and intensity of inappropriate behavior, and thus
should be the cornerstone of a comprehensive school safety and behavior
improvement strategy.

Many such programs have been evaluated and shown to produce significant
reductions in aggression, violence and weapon carrying. Some examples
include the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum,
the Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum and the "I Can Problem Solve"
program.

Even the most effective programs will not prevent all student violence or
misconduct. For students who do not respond to primary prevention efforts,
educators should have a sufficient variety of options to allow them to craft
a continuum of responses appropriate to the level of misbehavior.

Options such as in-school suspension, individual and group counseling, and
Saturday or lunch-time detention, coupled with remedial support and
social-emotional cognitive skill-building, address the present behavior
while also recognizing the underlying causes.

For discipline to be effective, the response should be consistent and
matched to the severity of the offense. A recent special report we did in
collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Child
Development points out that this is not currently practiced in many schools.

Most suspensions are for noncompliance or disrespect, and the fewest number
are for behaviors that threaten safety; and regardless of teaching
responsibility, a few teachers are responsible for most disciplinary referrals.

Training teachers in effective classroom management may increase the
consistency of discipline, potentially reducing unnecessary exclusions and
preventing the erosion of the deterrent effect of suspension and expulsion.

We also found no studies demonstrating the positive impact of expulsion or
out-of-school suspension in reducing school violence.

In fact, some research casts doubt on the effectiveness of exclusion in
achieving a safe-school environment and raises questions about the potential
negative side-effects of exclusion, which sends the message to students that
they are not wanted in school and that attendance is not important.

Exclusion teaches them that problems can be avoided rather than addressed.
Some researchers have linked out-of-school suspension with poor grades and
early dropout.

Obviously, suspension and expulsion do not strengthen commitment and
attachment to school. Excluding disruptive students from school may actually
reinforce negative behavior and put these students at greater risk for
further negative outcomes.

Given the research on the application and effectiveness of suspension and
expulsion, these sanctions should be reserved for the most serious of
infractions involving habitual or violent conduct.

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

Hartman In-Law Sues Pfizer (The Houston Chronicle says the brother of the
wife of actor Phil Hartman is suing Pfizer Inc., contending that his sister
was under the influence of the anti-depressant drug Zoloft when she killed
her husband and herself a year ago. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles
Superior Court Thursday by Gregory Omdahl, alleges Pfizer has done "all that
it can to downplay the possibility that Zoloft causes violence or suicide in
some people." Omdahl also sued Dr. Arthur Sorosky, a Los Angeles psychiatrist
who gave Hartman's wife a sample of the drug provided to him by a Pfizer
salesman.)

Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 07:25:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: Hartman In-Law Sues Pfizer
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Art Smart (ArtSmart@neosoft.com)
Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 1999
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Page: 2A

HARTMAN IN-LAW SUES PFIZER

The brother of the wife of actor Phil Hartman is suing Pfizer Inc. and
a psychiatrist, contending that his sister was under the influence of
the anti-depressant drug Zoloft when she killed her husband and
herself a year ago. Brynn Omdahl, 40, shot Hartman, 49, a star in the
TV sitcom News Radio, on May 28, 1998, after spending the previous
evening drinking with a female friend.

She shot herself four hours later. The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles
Superior Court Thursday by Gregory Omdahl, acknowledged that an
autopsy found alcohol and cocaine in her body but contended that she
snorted the cocaine after killing her husband.

Omdahl said in the lawsuit that Pfizer, which makes Zoloft, had "done
all that it can to downplay the possibility that Zoloft causes
violence or suicide in some people." Celeste Torello, a spokeswoman
for Pfizer, said there was no evidence to suggest that Zoloft causes
suicidal or violent tendencies. Omdahl also sued Dr. Arthur Sorosky, a
Los Angeles psychiatrist who gave Hartman's wife a sample of the drug
provided to him by a Pfizer salesman.

Sorosky was not available for comment.

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

Shed Some Light On 'Racial Profiling' (A staff editorial in the Tulsa World
says Army Sgt. Rossano Gerald has sued the Oklahoma Highway Patrol because he
was stopped twice within 30 minutes after crossing the state line last
August; because he and his 12-year-old son were detained for two hours inside
a patrol car in 90-degree heat with the windows rolled up and the air
conditioning turned off; because the troopers looking for drugs searched his
car without his permission, causing a reported $1,089 in damages; and because
he was arrested for DWB - Driving While Black, or Driving While Brown. The
case has propelled Oklahoma into the middle of a national debate over racial
profiling. Collection of national figures on traffic stops is an idea well
worth pursuing.)

Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 00:52:30 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US OK: Shed Some Light On "Racial Profiling"
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: EWCHIEF
Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 1999
Source: Tulsa World (OK)
Copyright: 1999, World Publishing Co.
Contact: tulsaworld@mail.webtek.com
Website: http://www.tulsaworld.com/

SHED SOME LIGHT ON "RACIAL PROFILING'

Army Sgt. Rossano Gerald didn't sue the Oklahoma Highway Patrol solely
because he was stopped twice within 30 minutes after crossing the state line
last August.

He did not seek out the American Civil Liberties Union only because of
claims:

-- That he and his 12-year-old son were detained for two hours and held
inside a patrol car in 90-degree heat with the windows rolled up and the air
conditioning turned off.

-- That troopers looking for drugs searched his car without his permission,
causing a reported $1,089 in damages, before sending him on his way after
finding nothing.

None of these alleged events by itself caused Gerald to sue. He took action,
he claims, because he was arrested for an "offense" that can't be found in
any law book, an "offense," known in the minority community, as DWB, Driving
While Black (or Brown).

Bob Ricks, commissioner of the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety,
vehemently denies that troopers stopped Gerald for DWB or that the OHP
engages in any racially motivated practices.

Regardless of its outcome, the case has propelled Oklahoma into the middle
of a national debate that has drawn seven other states into similar ACLU
lawsuits.

In April, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, who has condemned racial
profiling, asked law enforcement agencies to look hard at an issue that is
breeding distrust from minority communities that increasingly believe that
many of their citizens are being victimized by race-based stops and searches
on highways, in airports, at bus stations and at borders.

Most police agencies deny that racial profiling is a systemic problem. But
leaders in Congress and several state legislatures aren't so sure. They are
pushing legislation requiring the U.S. Department of Justice to order law
enforcement agencies to collect national statistics on the number and reason
for traffic stops and the race, gender and age of motorists stopped.

Police generally oppose collection of such data, arguing that it would be
cumbersome and expensive to collect and likely would reveal nothing more
than good-faith stops for suspected traffic violations. Even proponents of
data collection are divided on how successful such an effort would be. But
in the absence of any meaningful national figures, collection of such data
is the best step toward getting to the bottom of an issue that is eroding
public confidence that everyone is treated fairly. Collection of data is
warranted in light of information on the record strongly suggesting that
racial profiling is not confined to isolated incidents.

In New Jersey, a recent state attorney general's report found that racial
profiling was "real, not imagined" along a heavily traveled stretch of an
interstate. Minority drivers represented 34 percent of drivers stopped. But
77.2 percent of the cars searched belonged to blacks or Hispanics.

A 1992 study by the Orlando, Fla., Sentinel, which reviewed police
videotapes of 1,084 traffic stops, showed that 70 percent of the stops and
80 percent of vehicle searches were of minority motorists although they
represented fewer than 10 percent of all drivers. Only nine of the 1,084
motorists pulled over were cited for traffic violations.

In Maryland, the state settled an ACLU lawsuit and agreed to ban racial
profiling and to collect traffic-stop information after a study revealed
that along just one stretch of interstate, African- American motorists made
up 17 percent of the traffic but accounted for 70 percent of those motorists
who were stopped.

David O'Meilia, a former federal drug task force coordinator here, worked
cases in which claims racial profiling often were raised.

"Profiles are not infallible and there are incidents when the stop turns out
to be that of an innocent person. In my experience, if there was profiling
it would occur only after a stop was made that was based on a legitimate
suspicion of a traffic violation. Often arrests are made at night. I don't
think profiling was occurring first and then officers were coming up with
reasons for a stop."

But as the law now stands, defense attorneys, usually in drug cases, are
limited in how far they can go in trying to find out the reasons for a stop,
said Northern District Federal Defender Stephen Knorr. Once a police officer
says the stop was based on a legitimate suspicion of a traffic violation
defense attorneys can go no further in the inquiry although they may suspect
the stop was for other reasons. "We used to be able to argue that the stop
was just a pretext and that the driver really was stopped because they were
looking for drugs or guns. Now it doesn't make a difference. The real
question is how many stops involving minorities occur where nothing is
found. There aren't any statistics," Knorr said.

John Echols, a Tulsa defense attorney, agrees that racial profiling largely
is "hidden from view."

"A police officer who is following a Hispanic doesn't say in court he was
following him because he was Hispanic. He says he was following him because
of an illegal lane change. Police may stop 10 people who are the victims of
harassment but only one is arrested and gets a lawyer. The bulk of these
encounters are hidden from view unless there is some outrageous conduct
picked up by the press. The problem with the current system is ....that it's
not a healthy way to run a free society but a good way to run a police
state."

While profiling often has been cited as an effective tool by law enforcement
for arresting couriers of drugs and other contraband, profiling based purely
on skin color can be an equally effective tool for harassment.

National Assessment Services recently pointed out the dangers of racial
profiling.

"While crime patterns might make it rational for police to focus more on
blacks and males than on whites and women, most individual blacks, like most
males, never commit serious crimes. The unpleasant truth is that profiling
can be statistically valid and yet have discriminatory, real-world results
since most blacks who are stopped on suspicion -- like most males -- will be
innocent people." Paul Finkelman, the newly named Chapman Distinguished
professor of Law at the University of Tulsa College of Law, has written
extensively on issues involving law and race including racial profiling. He
believes reliable information is needed to shed light on the extent of the
problem.

If the information is honestly reported, one of two things may result,
Finkelman said. "All Americans may turn out to be relieved to discover there
is no racial targeting and happy to know America is a more racially just
society than they thought. Alternatively, we ma find out there is racial
targeting and something needs to be done about it. One can never complain
about having data. It tells us what's going on -- sometimes, such as what
was happening in New Jersey."

If police stop 30 minority citizens and arrest only one, that's a poor
average. "If a pitcher strikes out only one of 30 batters, if a batter gets
only one hit in 30 times or if a student gets only one A in 30 classes, we
wouldn't consider that a very good average," he said.

But random profiling that targets people on the basis of race is not about
getting a good average, he said, or about efficient law enforcement.

"Merely stopping people for the way they look seems to be waste of police
resources that could be better spent finding criminals or preventing
crimes," he said.

In the meantime, many minority citizens who are victimized by racial
profiling often do not have the resources to fight unfair treatment.

Eleven years ago drug police arrested an African-American they suspect of
being a drug courier when he got off the plane at Los Angeles International
Airport. Believing he had an accomplice police asked him for a description
of his traveling companion. The man replied, "he looks like me." A detective
then approached a black man using a pay phone, spun him around and before
the man could provide identification, threw him to the floor and handcuffed
him. Twenty minutes later police found out that second suspect, who they'd
detained simply because he was black, was baseball Hall of Famer Joe Morgan.
Morgan sued and later won $500,000.

For every Morgan who can afford to pursue a complaint for an illegal or
unwarranted search, there may be thousands of other innocent minority
citizens, Finkelman said, who cannot afford to vindicate their rights.

The key issue is not that police find people sometimes or once in a while
carrying contraband. "The question," he said. "is how often they find people
with nothing." Collection of national figures on traffic stops is an idea
well worth pursuing.

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

Trying To Count All The Cops Is Hard (Houston Chronicle columnist Thom
Marshall observes that Houston and Harris County seem to be proliferating
countless police officers toting guns and badges and representing myriad
city, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Marshall invites
readers to participate in a project launched by Bryant Reed of La Porte,
aimed simply at listing all the police groups in the area, such as the HPD,
Sheriff's Department, Metro PD, constables, U.S. Marshals, the Houston ISD
PD, highway patrol, the Texas Rangers, the FBI, INS, DEA, ATF, CIA - even the
Harris County Hospital District.)

Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 21:10:40 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US TX: Column: Trying To Count All The Cops Is Hard
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: G. A ROBISON
Pubdate: Sun, 30 May 1999
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle
Contact: viewpoints@chron.com
Website: http://www.chron.com/
Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html
Author: Thom Marshall

TRYING TO COUNT ALL THE COPS IS HARD

At least once a week, Bryant Reed of La Porte finds himself wondering how
many police agencies we have watching us and why we need so many.

Reed recently wrote in an e-mail, "In this area, we have HPD, Sheriff's
Department, Metro PD, constables, U.S. Marshals, the Houston ISD PD, highway
patrol, the Texas Rangers, the FBI, and, I swear, the other day I saw a
Harris County Hospital District police car."

I, too, have wandered down the trail of speculation about law enforcement
proliferation. Writing down just the agencies that came quickly to mind, I
came up with more than 20, including district attorney investigators, game
wardens, postal inspectors and federal officers with the INS, DEA, ATF, CIA ...

Once, some time ago, I decided to make a few calls and find out just how
many policing agencies and the total number of cops of all kinds we have in
our town.

That would include all levels -- city, county, state, federal. And it also
would count some cops that wouldn't fall precisely under those umbrellas,
such as those who work for public school or university police forces.

Houston area has no list

In other words, I was after a total of all officers with badges and guns who
are empowered to enforce laws, investigate crimes or pursue criminals. It
would not include the employees of myriad private security companies.

(Someone at the Harris County Hospital District said the security department
uses contract security officers, so I might not count that as a police
agency. On the other hand, a friend who has for years been a public
information officer for the police department and the sheriff's office, in
another city, noted that railroad companies have private police departments
whose officers have "full-blown" commissions. So I might count them.)

Coming up with an inventory of police agencies and a total number of cops
initially struck me as a simple task. It is a basic element of policing,
after all, to keep detailed records. And since police are employed by the
public and were created to serve the public, I figured the public ought to
have little trouble getting the information.

I figured there must be someone somewhere in town who had a reason for
maintaining the sort of listing that I sought, and would have made it widely
available, and with a phone call or two, I could find someone to fax me a copy.

But if any such person and any such list does exist in Houston, my attempts
to find them were fruitless. I wound up putting that idea on a back shelf
until Reed's message provided the motivation to try again.

This time I decided to try an indirect approach to finding out about police
agencies in Houston. I called Huntsville, where Sam Houston State University
has the College of Criminal Justice and the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement
Management Institute of Texas.

No, they told me. They didn't have the Houston statistics I was after, but
they suggested trying a couple of other places, starting with the Texas
Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education in Austin,
which wouldn't have any federal agencies but might be able to provide much
of the rest.

A paperwork hurdle in Austin

So, as much as I hated doing it, I called Austin to ask for information about
Houston. A fellow there said they might be able to pull out of the computers
the numbers I was after. But I must first file a formal Freedom of
Information request, telling precisely what I want, and they will look it
over and let me know if they can provide it and how much it will cost.

Proving yet again that we should never have allowed the capitol of Texas to
be moved out of our town.

The other suggestion was that I call Stevens Point, Wis., where the National
Public Safety Information Bureau publishes the National Directory of Law
Enforcement Administrators, which lists more than 35,000 agencies all over
This Great Land. I did call Wisconsin for information about Houston, though
it seemed even stranger than calling Austin, and they said the new book with
updated statistics won't be ready for a month or so and will cost pretty
close to a hundred bucks. And I'm not convinced it would contain the
exhaustive count of all police agencies doing business in our town that we
are after.

So let's just make it a project to compile our own inventory of police
agencies and officers from all levels of government in the greater Houston
area. Anyone with information to contribute can send it, and I'll keep
making calls, and we'll see what we come up with.

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

Revelers' Tents Sprout Like Weed In Sauk County Farm Field During Marijuana
Festival (The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in Wisconsin, says almost twice as
many people showed up this year for the annual Weedstock Festival in Sauk
County as last year, perhaps showing that good weather can influence people
more than marijuana. Weedstock organizer Ben Masel had some complaints about
the size and intensity of the law-enforcement force. Masel said some officers
were making up traffic violations as an excuse to pull people over. "We even
had people pulled over because their tires were bald, which the officer
noticed at night, as they are driving at 35 miles an hour - not likely,"
Masel said.)

Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 15:43:59 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US WI: Revelers' Tents Sprout Like Weed In Sauk County Farm
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: Sun, 30 May 1999
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact: jsedit@onwis.com
Fax: 414-224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi
Author: Susann Gamble, Special to the Journal Sentinel May 30, 1999

REVELERS' TENTS SPROUT LIKE WEED IN SAUK COUNTY FARM FIELD DURING MARIJUANA
FESTIVAL

Town of Fairfield -- Almost twice as many people showed up this year for the
annual Weedstock Festival in Sauk County as last year, perhaps showing that
good weather can influence people more than marijuana.

About 2,000 people, some claiming to be from as far away as England, were
gathered Saturday for the festival, which promotes the legalization of
marijuana, and more were still coming in. A sea of tents, buses and just
about anything else that could provide a little shade cascaded across a
rolling green hill in the lush Sauk County terrain.

The festival, which runs until Monday, was held in the same location on
Marcus Gumz's farm off Highway 33 last year. But the cold, rainy weather
last year kept the crowd down to about 1,300.

This year, the festival-goers -- who paid $35 for the weekend -- basked in
the warm temperatures. Around them, vendors sold bongs, pipes, tie-dyed
clothes, cold drinks and signs that read: "Thank You for Pot Smoking." A
frozen dessert sandwich advertised as being made from hemp quickly sold out.

There were few problems with the crowd, according to law enforcement
officials from Sauk County, Columbia County and the Wisconsin State Patrol.
Officers were patrolling the area with drug-sniffing dogs.

"We have issued a lot of written warnings, traffic citations, possession
charges, a couple of warrant pickups, one OWI (operating while
intoxicated)," said Lt. Tom Pollard of the Sauk County Sheriff's Department.
The annual gathering meant 12-hour shifts and no holiday time off for
deputies on the Memorial Day weekend, but Pollard said they were used to it.

"We haven't had any disturbance complaints," Pollard added.

Weedstock organizer Ben Masel had some complaints, though -- about the size
and intensity of the law-enforcement force. Masel said some officers were
making up traffic violations as an excuse to pull people over.

"We even had people pulled over because their tires were bald, which the
officer noticed at night, as they are driving at 35 miles an hour -- not
likely," Masel said.

A Minnesota man said his bus had been searched by Saturday afternoon.

"The second time they had dogs and found nothing," he said. He declined to
give his name for fear his employer would see it.

Wendell Holmes of Madison said: "I don't have to smoke pot; I'm here just to
get high on the good time."

Most folks were simply enjoying the beautiful weather, the campfires and the
music tent. Robin Cardell made the trip from Oshkosh in a blue bus with a
group called Amnesty 2000. The group wants all victimless criminals released
from the prison system by 2000.

"These are productive members of society that for whatever reason smoked a
little pot," Cardell said. "They are still productive."

Barbara Peterson, a Madison activist and former emergency-room nurse working
in the safety tent at the festival, said there had been no problems beyond a
bit of dehydration.

"I've actually treated two dogs, but my main point is it's nothing like you
would see at a Badger football game, where a large amount of alcohol is
involved," Peterson said.

Peterson said she has been an activist most of her life.

"My uncle is David Dellinger of the Chicago Seven," the protesters indicted
after the 1968 Democratic National Convention, she said. "I believe strongly
in the decriminalization of something that has brought so much to society
for years."

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

Opposition To Plan To Test Welfare Applicants For Drugs (The New York Times
says that starting in October, Michigan welfare applicants under 65 in three
locations yet to be chosen will be required to take drug tests or forfeit
their benefits. "The state is starting from the assumption that the poor are
criminals," said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan.
"The state is saying that if you want money for food and shelter you have to
give up the Fourth Amendment rights that others have.")

Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 07:28:01 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MI: Opposition To Plan To Test Welfare Applicants For Drugs
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Dick Evans
Pubdate: May 30, 1999
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/
Author: Robyn Meredith

OPPOSITION TO PLAN TO TEST WELFARE APPLICANTS FOR DRUGS

DETROIT -- In a controversial and unusual effort to move more welfare
recipients into the work force, Michigan plans a pilot program that
would require thousands of those applying for aid to take drug tests
to qualify for benefits.

Starting in October, Michigan welfare applicants under 65 in three
locations yet to be chosen will be required to take drug tests or
forfeit their benefits. People already receiving benefits at those
locations would be randomly tested.

Those who test positive for illegal drugs would be required to get
treatment to collect welfare money, and those who refuse treatment
would be dropped from the welfare rolls.

Against a tide of opposition from civil libertarians and welfare
experts and mixed reaction from welfare recipients themselves, Gov.
John Engler explained that the program would help those who needed
drug treatment to get it and to obtain jobs.

"The idea is that workplace testing today is so common," Engler said.
"This is a tool that will help identify some of the problems that need
to be treated." Michigan was one of the early leaders nationwide in
the effort to end the decadeslong system of guaranteed welfare
benefits and to replace it with time limits and other changes intended
to force those on welfare to work. Since October 1992, when Michigan's
welfare changes began, the state's caseload has dropped about 60
percent, to 89,866 families from 225,359, the 14th largest drop among
states, according to federal statistics. With many of those most able
to find jobs already working, Michigan is trying a new approach on
welfare. The mandatory drug tests, which other states have considered
but rejected, are just one indication of its new direction. Other
initiatives include a plan to reduce fraud by taking computerized
fingerprint images of those applying for welfare. And the welfare
agency plans to expand its "Project Zero" program to 25 additional
welfare offices around the state, bringing to 60 the number of
locations offering flexible, expanded social services, like child care
and transportation, with a goal of reducing welfare cases in a given
area to zero.

But of all the initiatives, mandatory drug testing has raised the most
concern, especially among civil libertarians, social workers and
welfare experts. Other states have considered similar drug testing
programs but have backed away. Last year, Florida set up a pilot
program in two regions to detect drug-abusing welfare recipients. It
asks drug-use questions of all applicants, but uses physical drug
tests only on those it has reasonable cause to believe use drugs.

Louisiana passed a law in 1997 requiring drug testing for welfare
recipients and certain public employees. But after a task force was
set up to carry out the law, the state decided instead to require
applicants to answer a questionnaire about drug use. Answers to the
questions determine whether a drug test is administered.

New York and Maryland planned to require drug tests but found that
other types of screening like questionnaires were cheaper and more
effective. Four other states -- New Jersey, Minnesota, South Carolina
and Wisconsin -- randomly test welfare recipients with felony drug
convictions. The Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties
Union is considering suing the state to challenge the program on
constitutional grounds, arguing that the mandatory drug test violates
the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.

"The state is starting from the assumption that the poor are
criminals," said Kary L. Moss, executive director of the ACLU of
Michigan. "The state is saying that if you want money for food and
shelter you have to give up the Fourth Amendment rights that others
have."

Social workers are concerned that the new program could have
unintended consequences.

"It is very demeaning," said Sharon Parks, senior research associate
at the Michigan League for Human Services, a nonprofit organization.
"It might have a real chilling effect on people even coming in and
applying." Welfare experts object to the program and say it has a
number of shortcomings.

"Michigan is the only state in the country that is doing this," said
Gwen Rubinstein, director of policy research at the Legal Action
Center, a nonprofit organization based in New York that focuses on
alcohol and drug policy and tracks drug testing efforts nationwide.
"Drug testing often sounds on the surface like a good idea, but it has
so many flaws." First, Ms. Rubinstein said, drug testing will not turn
up those with alcohol abuse problems, which are more prevalent among
welfare recipients. The tests are intrusive, she said, and casual drug
users who are able to work will test positive along with addicts who
need treatment. Because testing is also expensive, it can divert money
that could otherwise be used for drug treatment and other social
services, Ms. Rubinstein said. Sheldon Danziger, an economist and
professor of social work and public policy at the University of
Michigan who conducted a study of Michigan welfare recipients, said
money used to test for drug use could be put to better use screening
for mental health problems that needed treatment. "A much greater
percentage of women have mental health problems like depression,
anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder than have
substance abuse problems," Danziger said.

But Douglas E. Howard, the new director of the state welfare agency,
defended his plans.

"Michigan's approach is very unique," Howard said. "It is not just
testing; it is testing followed by treatment."

He said the falling welfare caseload in the state dictated a change in
direction. "We're in an economy now where job placement isn't as tough
as it was 10 years ago," he said. "The challenge is in job retention."
The state plans to select the three pilot sites in June, with one
likely to be in Detroit, one in another large city and one in a rural
area, Howard said. Drug treatment availability varies by region, and
the sites chosen will be those with adequate treatment centers.

"What we are trying to do is remove barriers to work," he said. It is
unclear how much the testing and treatment programs will cost because
neither the sites nor the testing material -- urine, sweat or hair
follicles -- have been decided on. Most drug tests cost about $40 a
person, Howard said, but he was not sure how many people would fall
under the jurisdiction of the three locations.

Some welfare recipients here vehemently oppose his plans, and others
applaud them. "It definitely would be humiliating to me," said Barbara
L. Whitfield, 61, who has been raising four grandchildren since her
daughter died nine years ago. "They should find a better way to do
that, a more dignified way." Others supported the plan. "I think it is
a good idea," said Talonda D. Loggins, 25, a mother of three who works
as a nurse's assistant when she can find good child care and collects
welfare when she cannot. "Some recipients are not using their money
the way it is supposed to be used," Ms. Loggins said, adding that the
testing would reduce recipients' use of drugs.

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

Legalizing Pot Sends Wrong Message, Say Calgary MP's (The Calgary Herald says
the newspaper's survey of regional members of Parliament shows varying
opinions about decriminalizing marijuana. Some Reformers are strongly against
"legalization," while others agree with a recent call for clinical trials to
determine the medical benefits of the weed.)

Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 16:59:20 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Re: Canada: Legalizing Pot Sends Wrong Message, Say Calgary
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: daystar1@home.com
Pubdate: Sun. 30, May 1999
Source: Calgary Herald (Canada)
Contact: letters@theherald.southam.ca
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Author: Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald

LEGALIZING POT SENDS WRONG MESSAGE, SAY CALGARY MP'S

Decriminalizing marijuana would be a step backwards, sending young
people the message that smoking weed is no worse than smoking a
cigarette, say some Calgary MP's.

In a recent survey of local MP's by the Herald, some Reformers were
strongly against legalization of marijuana, while others agreed with a
recent call for clinical trials to determine the medical benefits of
the weed.

"I think we have to apply the test - what fruit will it bear?" said
Rob Anders, MP for Calgary West.

Many AIDS and cancer patients say smoking pot helps them cope with the
often painful effects of chemical therapies, prompting the Federal
government to pass a motion presented by the Bloc Quebecois Tuesday.

It called for the government to `take steps immediately' to develop
clinical trials and guidelines for people who use the substance for
pain relief. Legalization of marijuana is being considered as part of
the process.

The decision follows a call by police chiefs and the RCMP, asking the
federal government to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana. It
recommended giving police officers the option of ticketing people with
30 grams or less of marijuana, sparing them a criminal record.

It is expected Health Minister Allan Rock will publicize a plan for
legalizing medicinal pot before the House breaks for the summer,
possibly as early as June 9.

But Anders argues, "if we allow smoking for medicinal purposes, we
open up a whole spectrum of people growing weed."

He suggests it may be possible to come up with a pill or suppository
which contains THC, the active substance found in marijuana.

"There is still some science to come in on that," he said.

Art Hanger, MP for Calgary Northeast, said there would have to be
sound evidence from the medical community showing both the public and
police forces that it isn't harmful.

"It (using marijuana) becomes dangerous, especially when combined with
alcohol," Hanger said in a telephone interview from Warsaw, Poland,
where he was attending NATO meetings this weekend. "It makes a person
incapacitated to think clearly, their judgment is completely off kilter."

As a former city police officer, Hanger said there are enough problems
with substance abuse without making pot widely available, including
criminal activity associated with its use.

By legalizing weed, "we're sending a message to young people that it
is no worse than smoking . It is certainly worse than smoking," said
Hanger.

It would have to be "clearly demonstrated that it will not lead,
especially, young people into addiction," added Jason Kenney, MP for
Calgary Southeast.

He said, however, he has mixed feelings on the issue of legalizing pot.

`The standard for me, if this drug, in terms of medicinal use, is
necessary and has positive uses for palliative care, I wouldn't be
opposed to its use.'

Diane Ablonczy, MP for Calgary Nose Hill, said the Reform Party
supports the use of marijuana as prescribed by medical doctors when
other treatments are proven to be ineffective. She said she voted for
the motion in the House of Commons on Tuesday, noting polls show a
majority of Canadians support marijuana `as an age-old medicine with
natural qualities.'

But, Calgary Centre MP Eric Lowther said people who want marijuana
legalized are only using medical benefits as an excuse, adding there
are medications available which do `everything and more than marijuana.'

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

Cocaine Is Being Passed Around Like After-Dinner Mints (An op-ed in the
Observer, in Britain, by Adam Edwards, the son of a judge, a former editor of
a London magazine, and a cocaine user since the early 1970s, reveals how
widespread cocaine use is today, in the wake of revelations involving
Lawrence Dallaglio and Tom Parker Bowles and as the Government launches a new
anti-drugs crusade. "Cocaine is the drug of choice for the professional
classes under 40. In the past year, I have seen it taken by a Conservative
politician, several lobbyists, a Guards officer, two QCs, a solicitor, a
senior stockbroker, a merchant banker and a score of media men and women,
including PRs, publishers, writers, Fleet Street executives and television
and film producers. . . . Britain's professionsl classes are awash with the
drug. I have not been to an event where it has not been readily available.
Cocaine is to the current generation, rightly or wrongly, what marijuana was
to the previous generation: an apparently innocent recreational amusement.")

Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 11:11:35 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: UK: Cocaine Is Being Passed Around Like After-Dinner Mints
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: Sun, 30 May, 1999
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Media Group plc. 1999
Contact: editor@observer.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author: Adam Edwards

COCAINE IS BEING PASSED AROUND LIKE AFTER-DINNER MINTS THIS WEEKEND

ADAM EDWARDS is the son of a judge, a former editor of a London
magazine - and a cocaine user. Here, in the wake of revelations
involving Lawrence Dallaglio and Tom Parker Bowles and as the
Government launches its anti-drugs crusade, Edwards reveals from his
personal experience just how widespread cocaine use is today

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Tom Parker Bowles admitting he
took cocaine is that anyone is surprised. It would be more surprising
if he had not taken the drug.

Cocaine is the currency of the capital. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, the
It-girl and friend of Prince Charles, took it and last month ended up
in a clinic. At any fashionable gathering, at smart restaurants, at
funerals, at Christmas, New Year, cocaine is the drug of choice for
the professional classes under 40.

In the past year, I have seen it taken by a Conservative politician,
several lobbyists, a Guards officer, two QCs, a solicitor, a senior
stockbroker, a merchant banker and a score of media men and women,
including PRs, publishers, writers, Fleet Street executives and
television and film producers.

It was taken not as a daring, amusing experiment, it was not even
taken as an illegal excitement, it was consumed with the casualness of
an After Eight mint. The lines of white powder, a row of sherbet
soldiers on a china side-plate, passed around like port.

No fuss, nothing to interrupt the conversation, just a snort through a
tightly rolled note with the left nostril, then a snort with the
right. The moment briefly savoured, like the comforting warmth of a
good wine, and then, without comment, the chatter carries on where it
left off.

And yet not one of these professional men and women, who take the drug
so casually, will agree to talk about their evening's recreation. 'My
promotion chances would be dashed if it were known I had taken the
drug,' said a senior executive at The Times.

'I don't want my children to know I take drugs,' said one of London's
most notorious and beautiful aristocrats. 'You are finished in
politics if it is known you take the drug,' said a successful young
lobbyist. 'I daren't talk to you,' said one of London's best-known
restaurateurs, 'it is guilt by association.'

Yet I have taken the drug with all these people and, at the time, it
has been no big deal to any of them. I have taken a line of cocaine
with the editor of a broadsheet national newspaper and with the head
of a City bank. It has been treated as a brief mark of friendship no
more important than buying each other a beer. The only difference is
the ceremony and the badinage frequently take place in lavatories.

The effect of a line lasts about 20 minutes. It is quicker, although
no more dramatic, than a large Scotch. Like snuff it first sears the
nose, then makes the eyes water. In seconds your spirits are lifted,
you are more focused, garrulous and comfortable in your skin. It cuts
your appetite completely and leaves you with a grin and a dripping
nose. After half an hour you want another line.

I first took cocaine in my late teens, in the early Seventies, at a
weekend cottage in Bradford-on-Avon. I took it, snorted through a
rolled-up note, because I was reckless and foolhardy. Secretly, I was
terrified, convinced I would lose control, see blinding white lights
and think I could fly. Actually, nothing happened. It was something of
a disappointment.

I did not come across it again until I moved to New York in the
mid-Seventies, when singles bars, Studio 54, snakeskin boots and the
New York Yankees made Manhattan the coolest city on earth. Cocaine was
everywhere. It came, as it does now, in home-made white envelopes,
then at $60 a gramme.

I was working for Rupert Murdoch's New York bureau, for the Sun and
the News of The World. It seemed everybody I met took cocaine
regularly. So did I. And so did a tabloid award-winning photographer
who would buy it in the car park next door to the journalists' bar,
Costello's, and sell it to the hacks. At The Bells of Hell, an
expatriate British bar in Greenwich Village patronised by writers,
musicians and Fleet Street correspondents, it would be administered by
one of the bar staff when the clientele got too drunk.

He would take me, and others, into the kitchen, cut out the lines with
a credit card and insist we took it or left the bar. It was
wonderfully sobering.

By the end of the Seventies, many of the British expats, including
aristocrats, correspondents and bankers, were taking cocaine regularly.

But it remained, in both New York and in London, an exotic substance
for an elite few, mostly for the idle and the rich. In both cities,
the people who took it swanked about it. Many carried imitation razor
blades, in solid silver or gold, to cut the cocaine into lines. It
would be snorted through $100 bills or UKP50 notes, or from tiny
silver spoons or specially made phials.

It was rumoured the jewellers Tiffany had stopped selling its
solid-silver cocktail straws because they were being bought by cocaine
users.

In London, in some restaurants there were horizontal mirrors on the
bar and in the cloakrooms and lavatories. Customers assumed these were
to ease the cutting and taking of cocaine.

Then, the dealers were celebrated like minor rock stars, followed
slavishly by those wanting the drug. I knew three main dealers in
London in the early Eighties. All went to major public schools, one
was the son of a well-known actor, another the son of the chairman of
one of Britain's most celebrated companies, and the third the heir to
a household name. All three were charming, well-dressed and never caught.

Twenty years later, Britain's professionsl classes are awash with the
drug. I have not been to an event where it has not been readily available.

Now the dealers are anonymous, the drugs ordered by mobile phone and
delivered to your front door, or to a restaurant, by minicab drivers,
silent men in plain, unassuming saloons. It is still sold by the
gramme in home-made envelopes and the price, at UKP70 a gramme, has
changed little over the years. The difference is the drug is now taken
for granted.

At a dinner party held by a lobbyist in East Anglia this year, a party
including his mother-in-law and a senior Tory MP, the guests were
handed by the hostess on our arrival a small envelope of cocaine. This
was so we could take the drug in private without embarrassing either
the MP or the mother-in-law.

At a Kensington restaurant, where the disabled lavatory is the
favourite haunt of the casual drug-taker, I watched three PR girls,
all well-known within the business, take it in turns to go into the
toilet, passing the envelope of drugs openly between each other.

When the final girl came back, she smiled and slipped the packet in my
hand. 'Go on,' she said. 'You look like you need a line.' She was the
PR girl who told me last week that she did not know a single person in
PR who did not take cocaine.

At a winter party at the Foreign Correspondents Club last year,
attended by some of the most powerful political and business figures,
my wife complained that she couldn't go to the ladies because there
were so many women in there sniffing cocaine and shrieking with
laughter. The gents was just as full.

In most London clubs and restaurants, it is as plain as the dripping
nose in front of your face that the drug is being taken and the owners
are turning a blind eye to what's going on. Often they are taking it
themselves.

Go to the lavatory during a dinner party at the home of many a London
professional and you will frequently see crumbs of white powder on the
top of the cistern where the drug has been snorted.

Or witness the white smears on pictures that have been taken from the
wall. They have been laid flat, used to snort a line, and then a
finger has been wiped across the surface and licked so as not to miss
any of the precious substance.

Even more extraordinary, at one or two private parties I have
attended, the drug is laid out on the mantelpiece or offered like a
delicious canape on a mirror or plate. There is no stigma as to
whether you take it or not.

A recent study from Sheffield and Glasgow universities found 75 per
cent of cocaine users were affluent professionals whose habit rarely
came to the attention of the authorities because they had the
financial means to support it.

The truth is that the modern generation uses cocaine casually and sees
no harm in the drug, whatever the scare stories. Even some doctors,
although they do not in any way endorse the drug, accept its casual
use is endemic.

Dr Robert Lefever, of the Promis Clinic, a unit in Kent that
specialises in drug rehabilitation, gave me the bald figures. 'Five
people a day die from addictive drugs, 100 from alcohol and 300 from
nicotine. Alcohol is as addictive as cocaine, no more, no less,' he
said.

He added, however, that cocaine users are more prone to heart attacks
and more worryingly: 'It takes 20 years to become addicted after your
first drink, it takes only three years after your first line of cocaine.'

But many people, he admitted, perhaps more than 50 per cent of casual
users, may not have a problem with addiction.

Dr Mark Collins, associate medical director of The Priory clinic in
Roehampton, South-West London, admits: 'In general terms, I recognise
through my work that someone who uses cocaine in certain social
circles may not get into trouble. And certainly a significant number
can take the drug without major problems.'

But the difficulty is predicting who is going to have a problem and
who is not. And 10 per cent will have a significant problem.

'When a doctor at Broadmoor admitted 50 per cent of his patients were
not mad, he was asked why he didn't release them. He replied that the
problem was knowing which 50 per cent was sane. That is true in the
business of addiction. You simply do not know who is vulnerable and
who is not.'

This inability to predict who will turn out to be an addict worries
many doctors, particularly now that there is this devil-may-care
attitude towards the drug.

Dr Adam Winstock, a clinical lecturer in addiction at the National
Addiction Centre, said: 'Everyone starts off using cocaine in a
non-dependent fashion. Nobody thinks what fun it will be to end up in
a dependency unit in five years.

'But both dependent use of cocaine and non-dependent, casual use of
the drug are associated with problems. You can't predict individual
susceptibilities. Even if you don't use the drug very often, you can
get into difficulties. Many people do not realise that what seem
unrelated problems in their life are, in fact, related to the casual
use of cocaine.

'You cannot tell whether you can use it safely. It's a lottery.'

Since I left London six months ago, cocaine has disappeared from my
life. I hardly ever take it now. It is rarely on offer in the shires.
Outside London it is more hidden and the attitude towards it is less
casual.

However, this attitude is not, in my brief experience, very censorial.
For example, the Gloucestershire county set's opinion about Tom Parker
Bowles seems to be not that he shouldn't have taken the drug, but how
disgraceful it was for the News of The World to set him up.

For cocaine is no longer an exotic drug or even a mystery to the young
chattering classes. Nobody under 40 was baffled when Liverpool's
Robbie Fowler ran his nose along the white line of the penalty box,
they were only surprised he did it in public.

Cocaine is to the current generation, rightly or wrongly, what
marijuana was to the previous generation: an apparently innocent
recreational amusement.

And, while Dr Jack Cunningham announces Government initiatives to
halve the consumption of cocaine in Britain within nine years, I can
assure him that in the warren that is the Palace of Westminster, in
the nearby bars and restaurants, in the theatres and clubs, at Ascot,
Wimbledon and even at the Chelsea Flower Show, somebody he knows will
be cutting out a line of coke.

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

ACM-Bulletin of 30 May 1999 (An English-language bulletin from the
Association for Cannabis as Medicine, in Cologne, Germany, features news
about the Canadian House of Commons supporting the legalization of pot for
medical reasons; and the U.S. government making marijuana easier to get for
research.)

From: "Association for Cannabis as Medicine" (info@acmed.org)
To: acm-bulletin@acmed.org
Date: Sun, 30 May 1999 23:06:03 +0200
Subject: ACM-Bulletin of 30 May 1999
Sender: info@acmed.org

***

ACM-Bulletin of 30 May 1999

***

Canada: House of Commons supports legalization of pot for
medical reasons

USA: Government makes marijuana easier to get for research

***

1. Canada: House of Commons supports legalization of pot for medical
reasons

A motion of the Bloc Quebecois Party urging the legalization of
pot for medical reasons passed on 25 May, with a few
amendments. The motion calls on the government to "take steps
immediately" to develop clinical trials, guidelines for use and a
safe supply of marijuana for people who need it for medical
reasons.

Progressive Conservative critic Peter McKay voiced his party's
support, but said Health Minister Allan Rock is moving too slowly.
He referred to statements by Vancouver's Compassion Club,
which supplies free marijuana to ease the pain of ill clients, saying
Rock's pace means "more individuals will continue to suffer until
legislation is passed."

Rock, who next month will announce details of clinical marijuana
trials, said there are benefits to having the pot grown in Canada
under the watchful eyes of government bureaucrats. "The
advantages might be you'd have a consistent percentage of THC,
consistent quality, a level of cleanliness which is consistent," he
said. The government is also looking to Britain, where GW
Pharmaceuticals is allowed to grow cannabis for research
purposes.

Health Canada has so far received 26 requests from people who
wish to use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

(Sources: Toronto Star of 26 and 28 May 1999, AP of 27 May
1999)

***

2. USA: Government makes marijuana easier to get for research

Research with government-grown marijuana is expected to
become more common by December 1999 under new guidelines
issued by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Under new rules, NIDA, one of the National Institutes of Health,
will sell government marijuana to privately funded scientists
whose research proposals have been approved. The Department
of Health and Human Services said researchers seeking access to
the drug must be involved in studies generally following guidelines
from the Institute of Medicine report of March 1999.

Government marijuana is grown on a small plot of land by the
University of Mississippi under a contract with NIDA. Previously,
only scientists who had won federal grants had access to that
marijuana. And only a few such federal studies have been
approved.

The new guidelines were created after Cabinet-level discussions
among agencies involved in America's war on drugs, including the
Department of Health and Human Services, NIH's parent agency,
plus the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement
Administration and the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy.

The University of Mississippi grows the government-approved
marijuana on 1.8 acres at a closely guarded site. A crop is
harvested on alternate years. So far that has been more than
enough to supply the few approved researchers. If the new
guidelines do prompt more research, the agency is prepared to
grow more marijuana. The price of this cannabis has not been set,
and the drug is not expected to be ready for researchers until
December.

In a press release of 27 May NIDA asks for "proposals from
qualified organizations having the capability to grow, harvest,
extract, analyse, store and manufacture marijuana cigarettes, and
distribute cannabis, and marijuana cigarettes to NIH grantees and
other researchers to
support basic and clinical research."

Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project said his group is
pleased the guidelines will encourage more research, but he said
the action will not help patients in pain who need the drug now.
"We're very disappointed that they failed to approve single-patient,
compassionate use, as the Institute of Medicine had
recommended," Thomas said.

(Sources: Los Angeles Times of 21 May 1999, AP of 23 May
1999, PR Newswire of 21 and 24 May 1999, NIDA press release
of 27 May 1999)

***

3. News in brief

***

Great Britain:

Britain's debate on legalizing cannabis for medical use was
reignited on 20 May, after a record 89 MPs from across the
political divide backed a private bill to lift the ban. Labour MP
Paul Flynn, whose private bill on legalizing cannabis for use as a
medicine is currently before parliament, asked the government to
drop its cautious approach and allow sick people to benefit from
the "3,000-year-old medicine."

(Source: Reuters of 20 May 1999)

***

USA:

A first ID card for a medical marijuana patient has been issued in
Oregon to a multiple sclerosis patient on 21 May. Alaska is
expected to begin processing ID cards in June, too. 66 percent of
Arizonans support doctors' authority to prescribe marijuana for
patients, according to a poll by the Behavior Research Center in
Phoenix.

Californian B.E. Smith was found guilty on marijuana possession
and cultivation despite possessing a doctor's recommendation to
use marijuana. A judge ruled that the defendant's medically
supervised use of the drug did not protect him from federal
prosecution.

(Sources: AP of 21 May 1999, The Arizona Republic of 22 May
1999, NORML of 25 May 1999)

***

Germany:

Conference: "Cannabis - a Plant with Many Facets"
29 September 1999, 3 to 7 p.m., Technical School Munster
Organizers: Medical Association of Westphalia-Lippe, akzept,
INDRO

with:

Professor Dr D Kleiber, Berlin: Cannabis Use in Germany - Data
and Facts

Dr F Nolte, Bremen: Cannabis as a Phenomenon of Youth Culture
W Neskovich, Luebeck: About the Misery of Drug Policy - the
Right of Intoxication

Dr A Breiing, Munster: Cannabis and Alcohol - A Slightly
Different View

Dr M Schnelle, Berlin: Cannabis as Medicine Information:
Dr Wolfgang Schneider, INDRO, e-mail: indro@muenster.net

***

Australia:

Proposals to adopt the most liberal drug laws in Australia have
been passed by the New South Wales Drug Summit. Proposed
changes include removing jail terms for possession and cultivation
of small amounts of cannabis as well as possession and sale of
equipment like bongs. The government will have six weeks to
decide if it will accept the 172 resolutions of the 200-plus
politicians, experts and health workers who have been attending
the week-long summit at parliament house. NSW Premier Bob
Carr announced the formation of a top-level cabinet committee to
formulate the government's response.

(Sources: AAP of 20 and 27 May 1999)

***

USA:

The medical marijuana provided to patients in cannabis clubs
usually contains much more THC than cannabis legally available
to researchers and patients from the federal government,
according to an analysis of 49 samples sponsored by California
NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marihuana
Laws) and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Studies (MAPS). The sample of the NIDA (National Institute on
Drug Abuse) contained 3.9 percent THC, nearly all other samples
tested over 8 percent, with averages in the range of 12.8 to 15.4
percent THC.

(Source: California NORML of 21 May 1999)

***

4. THE COMMENT

... on the prospects of legal access to medical marijuana in Japan:

"We always follow the lead of the United States. I believe that eventually
legalization will happen here, but it will be a very slow process.
Maybe 100 years."

Koichi Maeda, author of "Marijuana Seishun Ryoko" (A Young Man's Marijuana
Travels), a book that has sold 75,000 copies in Japan, Daily Yomiuri of 27 May
1999

***

Association for Cannabis as Medicine (ACM)
Maybachstrasse 14
D-50670 Cologne
Germany
Phone: +49-221-912 30 33
Fax: +49-221-130 05 91
Email: info@acmed.org
Internet: http://www.acmed.org

If you want to be deleted from or added to the ACM-Bulletin
mailing list please send a message to: info@acmed.org

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

[End]