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Rush To Vengeance - Vivid Documentary Skillfully Weaves In Bigger Questions
Of The Three Strikes Law (Chicago Tribune television critic Steve Johnson
says Michael J. Moore's 75-minute documentary about California's "three
strikes" law, "The Legacy: Murder & Media, Politics & Prison," opening the
season for "P.O.V." Tuesday night, is a vivid portrait of how populist
politics, the press's and public's disregard for details and an
emotion-stirring crime can turn a seemingly simple idea into monumentally
short-sighted policy.)
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 17:13:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
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Subject: MN: US IL: Rush To Vengeance
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Newshawk: Steve Young
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 1999 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact: tribletter@aol.com
Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/
Author: Steve Johnson
RUSH TO VENGEANCE
VIVID DOCUMENTARY SKILLFULLY WEAVES IN BIGGER QUESTIONS OF THE THREE STRIKES
LAW
Especially in the permit-no-subtlety world of talk radio and
get-tough-on-crime politics, it sounds like a great idea: Pass a law that
tells criminals, "Three strikes and you're out of society for at least 25
years."
Such a notion was on the table in 1994 in California, and it gave filmmaker
Michael J. Moore the more sound concept to chronicle the campaign for its
passage. Moore's 75-minute documentary is a vivid portrait of how populist
politics, the press' and public's disregard for details and an
emotion-stirring crime can turn a seemingly simple idea into monumentally
short-sighted policy.
"The Legacy: Murder & Media, Politics & Prison" (11 p.m. Tuesday, WTTW-Ch.
11) is the first film of the season for "P.O.V.," the first-rate
public-television summer series that showcases the work of independent
documentarians.
The nine-week 1999 season includes films on Japanese-American internment
("Rabbit in the Moon," July 6) and a Mississippi county's battle over
religion in schools ("School Prayer: A Community at War," July 20).
The series is off to a compelling start with "The Legacy," a film whose
tendency to belabor its points cannot overwhelm a fascinating and appalling
story that begins with two murdered girls but leads toward the question of
whether the United States is conducting a kind of race war in its rush to
incarcerate young minority men.
Mike Reynolds and Marc Klaas both had daughters killed in California by
paroled felons; Klaas' daughter was Polly, whose plight became widely known
during the two months between her disappearance and the discovery of her
body.
At the time of Polly's abduction, Reynolds was working hard to get a "Three
Strikes and You're Out" law passed in remembrance of his slain daughter
Kimber, and getting nowhere.
But the attention the Klaas case drew and the identification of her killer
suddenly gave Reynolds the symbol he needed. Not only could he get enough
signatures to place his measure before voters as a ballot initiative, but
campaigning politicians hastened to endorse it and legislators rapidly made
it law.
Never mind, most everybody agreed, what the few naysayers pointed out: that
Reynolds' version of Three Strikes did not differentiate between violent and
non-violent felonies, meaning men could, and later would, go to prison for a
quarter-century and more for stealing a can of beer, if that happened to be
their third offense.
In the rush to vengeance, also ignored were the cries of judges, who felt it
was one more restriction on their ability to be just; the arguments of
social activists, who warned that this law would have a disproportionate
effect on black men, especially; and the analysis of the few politicians
looking beyond the next election, who foresaw a state bankrupting itself, or
at least sabotaging its vaunted public university system, in its zeal to
build and fill prisons.
At first, Marc Klaas signed on to the Three Strikes campaign. But when his
father began to look closer at the law, he saw its flaws and convinced his
son they did not want Polly's legacy to be locking men up and throwing the
key away for drug possession or writing bad checks.
So the Klaases began an ultimately futile statewide countercampaign, trying
to stop an overloaded bandwagon that was moving at race-car speed. And they
had to listen as Polly was taken from them again, this time by Reynolds and
his allies. Reynolds says in an interview, chillingly, that Polly couldn't
help who her father was.
The film is told mostly through first-person interviews and contemporary
news footage, and as it progresses Moore skillfully weaves in the bigger
questions.
By the end, his statistics and interviews and observation add up to an
indictment of making criminal-justice policy in moments of high emotion.
California's violent crime rate did go down in the three years after Three
Strikes, the film says, but no more so than in states without such laws.
And by 1998 one in five California inmates was being sentenced under the
law -- in 80 percent of those cases for non-violent crimes.
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Opinion On Campus (Excerpts from an article in the National Review's "Special
Education Supplement" document the opinions of the Class of '98 about whether
marijuana and other currently illegal substances should be "legalized."
Seniors at seven of the 12 colleges surveyed came much closer to approving
legal marijuana than they did as freshmen, ranging from 42 percent to 48
percent. But prohibitionists always outnumbered those favoring reform, though
at some schools, prohibition mustered only a plurality of support. At all
twelve schools, majorities ranging from 72 percent to 94 percent opposed
"legalizing" all drugs, a response indistinguishable from 1995.)
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 10:48:23 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
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Subject: MN: US: Opinion On Campus
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Newshawk: Mike Gogulski
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: National Review (US)
Section: Special Education Supplement, pp. 33-43
Copyright: 1999 National Review
Contact: letters@nationalreview.com
Website: http://www.nationalreview.com/
Forum: http://www.nationalreview.com/soapbox/soapbox.html
Note: These are excerpts from relevant sections The entire report is
available online at http://www.nationalreview.com/31may99/campus_opinion99.doc
SPECIAL REPORT
OPINION ON CAMPUS
In the next few pages, we report the results of the follow-up survey of the
college Class of '98 promised to you just after we first polled them as
freshmen back in 1995 (our September 25 issue). Early last year, we mailed
the same questionnaire to those students, seniors by then, as the final
phase of a project for the Educational Reviewer designed to contrast
political, cultural, and religious attitudes upon college entry and nearer
graduation. Our text does just that-contrast first-year and fourth-year
responses. The tables display the 1995/freshmen percentages in a row labeled
"freshmen" while those of 1998/seniors are in the row below, bold and
italicized. Fractional percentages, which had been dropped in 1995, were
rounded last year. In both surveys, the percentage not replying to each
question was omitted.
As in 1995, the twelve colleges and universities included were: Liberty
University in Lynchburg, Va.; The Citadel in Charleston, S.C.; Marquette
University in Milwaukee, Wis.; the University of California at Irvine; the
University of Indiana at Bloomington; the University of California at Los
Angeles; the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee; three Ivies - Dartmouth,
Yale, and Brown; the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; and Stanford
University in Palo Alto, Calif.
[...] OPENNESS [...] Seniors on seven campuses came much closer to approval
(ranging from 42 percent to 48 percent) of legalizing marijuana (Question
19) than they did as freshmen. But opponents still held the only majorities
(Liberty, The Citadel, Marquette), though that's two fewer than in
1995-UC-Irvine and Indiana slipped to pluralities in opposition (48 percent
and 46 percent).
At all twelve schools, majorities ranging from 72 percent to 94 percent
opposed legalizing all drugs (Question 20). That is indistinguishable from
their 1995 response.
Indicate your views on the following political proposals for the United
States by writing in a letter signifying the following: A. Definitely in
favor. B. Somewhat in favor. C. Indifferent/no opinion. D. Somewhat opposed.
E. Definitely opposed.
[...]
19. Legalizing marijuana
A B C D E
Liberty
freshmen 8 0 0 5 86
seniors 6 4 4 6 79
The Citadel
freshmen 4 23 21 18 32
seniors 11 10 7 9 63
Marquette
freshmen 13 19 18 17 31
seniors 8 15 11 18 48
UC-Irvine
freshmen 4 6 9 25 54
seniors 17 17 18 11 37
Indiana
freshmen 15 20 9 31 23
seniors 17 21 16 11 35
UCLA
freshmen 11 18 24 8 39
seniors 20 27 20 8 25
U. Wisconsin
freshmen 16 23 12 15 32
seniors 18 25 14 10 33
Dartmouth
freshmen 18 21 16 13 30
seniors 22 22 17 10 29
U. Michigan
freshmen 18 21 9 16 34
seniors 17 31 15 15 22
Stanford
freshmen 18 13 24 11 32
seniors 13 29 21 14 22
Yale
freshmen 16 20 15 12 35
seniors 17 25 20 11 27
Brown
freshmen 15 17 22 15 29
seniors 23 23 14 16 24
20. Legalizing all drugs
A B C D E
Liberty
freshmen 0 4 0 4 90
seniors 2 1 2 4 90
The Citadel
freshmen 1 6 5 6 80
seniors 1 2 4 5 88
Marquette
freshmen 0 9 4 15 70
seniors 0 1 7 7 85
UC-Irvine
freshmen 3 5 6 17 67
seniors 10 3 8 25 54
Indiana
freshmen 2 3 6 13 75
seniors 7 4 8 13 68
UCLA
freshmen 2 6 15 14 61
seniors 5 11 6 16 62
U.Wisconsin
freshmen 3 11 5 14 65
seniors 6 9 13 8 64
Dartmouth
freshmen 3 13 2 19 61
seniors 2 8 3 17 70
U. Michigan
freshmen 3 5 2 20 68
seniors 3 15 8 16 58
Stanford
freshmen 8 14 4 15 57
seniors 2 7 7 23 60
Yale
freshmen 4 11 5 16 62
seniors 6 7 5 25 57
Brown
freshmen 9 16 1 14 58
seniors 3 10 8 17 62
[...]
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Putting Alcohol in Ads on Drugs Is Resisted (The New York Times recaps how
the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, is battling a bill
introduced in Congress at his own suggestion by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard,
D-Calif., that would allow the inclusion of anti-drinking messages in the
government's $1 billion anti-drug campaign. "To say that MADD is a little
upset over Gen. McCaffrey and the direction he has chosen to take would
probably be an understatement," said Karolyn Nunnallee, the national
president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The American Medical Association,
the American Public Health Association, the American Society of Addiction
Medicine and other medical, church and community groups also support the
bill. Opposition in the House is forming around Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., who
says, ". . . drugs are unique and we shouldn't confuse the messages and
diminish them. . . . The message about drugs is don't ever do it, not at any
age and type. That is not the message about alcohol, just like it's not the
message of sex.")
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 11:16:36 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US: NYT: Putting Alcohol in Ads on Drugs Is Resisted
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Newshawk: Dick Evans
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 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: Christopher S. Wren
PUTTING ALCOHOL IN ADS ON DRUGS IS RESISTED
Evidence abounds that beer is more popular with adolescents than
marijuana. Yet while the government is spending $195 million this year
on its national media campaign to dissuade adolescents from using
illicit drugs, not a penny of the appropriated tax dollars goes to
warn about the dangers of drinking. So this month, Rep. Lucille
Roybal-Allard, D-Calif., introduced an amendment allowing underage
drinking to be included among the advertising campaign's targets. Her
effort has not pleased beer wholesalers, some other members of
Congress or even the White House's Office of National Drug Control
Policy.
"We are neither endorsing nor opposing that proposal for
inclusion of alcohol in the media campaign," said Robert Weiner, the
spokesman for Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the director of national drug
policy. Teen-agers' wider use of alcohol over drugs has been
documented in the annual survey of adolescent drug use by researchers
at the University of Michigan. In 1998, the survey reported, 74
percent of the high school seniors sampled said they had drunk alcohol
in the previous year, and nearly one-third said they had gotten drunk
within the last month. In comparison, 38 percent of the seniors said
they had smoked marijuana during the previous year. McCaffrey himself
has expressed concern about alcohol use by the young.
"It's the biggest drug abuse problem for adolescents, and it's linked to
the use of other, illegal drugs," he said at a news conference on Feb. 8. But
a month later, McCaffrey told a House Appropriations subcommittee that
he lacked the authority to spend federal money on anti-alcohol
messages in the media campaign, which has now reached 102 cities
across the country. The law passed by Congress creating the antidrug
media campaign does not define "drug." But the earlier law creating
the White House national drug control office limits its authority to
combating controlled substances, thereby excluding alcohol.
Ms. Roybal-Allard, a subcommittee member, said she was sufficiently
upset by McCaffrey's remarks to put forward her amendment, which may
be voted on next month. "They're not getting at the root of the
problem, which is underage drinking," she said in a telephone
interview from Washington. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., joined Ms.
Roybal-Allard as a co-sponsor. "You're finding more young people dying
of alcohol-related problems than of drugs," Wolf said. He said he
wanted to let McCaffrey include underage drinking in the media
campaign "if he thinks it's appropriate."
But the White House drug control office says it does not want to
tinker with the campaign's efforts to change youth attitudes about
drugs, and possibly dilute the message about drugs.
Charles Blanchard, the chief counsel for McCaffrey, said that media
outlets had been asked to match the federal funds they get for running
the antidrug ads by supplying additional public service announcements
or programming. He estimated that 15 percent of these would address
underage drinking. Even if these anti-alcohol messages appear, critics
say, they would account for little more than 7 percent of the
advertising messages in the campaign. Karolyn Nunnallee, the national
president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, accused the White House
drug office of ignoring the problem of underage drinking. "To say that
MADD is a little upset over Gen. McCaffrey and the direction he has
chosen to take would probably be an understatement," Mrs. Nunnallee
said in a telephone interview from her home in Fort Meade, Fla. The
American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association,
the American Society of Addiction Medicine and other medical, church
and community groups also support the amendment.
Opposition in the House is forming around Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky.,
who promises to kill the amendment when it comes up for a vote. "I
think everybody appreciates Ms. Roybal-Allard's concern," Mrs. Northup
said. But, she added, "there are a number of people that believe that
drugs are unique and we shouldn't confuse the messages and diminish
them." "The message about drugs is don't ever do it, not at any age
and type," Ms. Northup said. "That is not the message about alcohol,
just like it's not the message of sex."
George Hacker, director of the alcohol policies project for the Center
for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit education and advocacy
organization that is rallying support for the amendment, pointed out
that Ms. Northup received more than $38,000 in donations from liquor
and beer interests between 1997 and 1998.
But Ms. Northup said that had nothing to do with her opposition to the
amendment. "I've seen this tactic a lot where anybody who's against
anything, the first thing people do is pull your campaign
contributions," she said. "That way you don't have to have a
conversation about the quality of the discussion."
Tamara Tyrrell, the director of public affairs for the National Beer
Wholesalers' Association, said the amendment "is not the proper way to
solve the problem" of underage drinking. Beer wholesalers already
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on alcohol awareness programs,
she said. "We feel that the drug czar should be focused on illegal
drugs," Ms. Tyrrell said, "and alcohol is a legal product and, when
consumed responsibly, it has even healthy benefits for certain people."
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a coalition of advertising
and public relations professionals that is coordinating the antidrug
media campaign, has also found itself in the awkward position of
opposing the amendment. "You can't simply assume that the antidrug
campaign can be widened to include something as huge as underage
drinking," said Stephen Dnistrian, the partnership's spokesman.
He said the alcohol industry spends close to $3 billion a year on
marketing and promotion, a sum that dwarfs the government's $195
million appropriation for the antidrug media campaign.
"We have concern about killing one campaign to help another that will
have virtually no impact," Dnistrian said.
This is not the first time the issue has been raised. Blanchard said
that the Office of National Drug Control Policy tried last year to
include underage drinking as part of its mandate, but the proposal
never reached the House floor.
But Blanchard added, "Even if we were given the authority, we wouldn't
immediately include alcohol" because it could confuse the antidrug
campaign "and neither message would punch through."
"We don't feel you could mindlessly tack it onto this campaign," he
said. "It has to be done right."
Ms. Roybal-Allard said the solution could be as simple as concluding
each antidrug message by asking parents to "talk to your children
about drugs -- and alcohol."
In fact, the White House's national drug strategy has as its first
goal to "educate and enable America's youth to reject illegal drugs as
well as alcohol and tobacco." The strategy also identifies drinking as
a gateway to illicit drug use. It says that adults who started
drinking as children are nearly eight times more likely to use cocaine
than adults who did not do so. The House Appropriations Committee has
not yet considered the amendment on underage drinking because some
Democratic members of Congress have attached gun-control amendments to
the legislation, which is a Treasury and general government
appropriations bill. A vote looks unlikely before mid-June. With
enough public support, Ms. Roybal-Allard said, "I think we're going to
win on this. I just can't imagine someone voting against it." But, she
added, "The industries opposing it are very, very powerful."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Chelmsford Man Praises The Healing Herb (The Sudbury Star, in Ontario, says
medical-marijuana patient Barry Burkholder is in constant pain and suffers
from chronic arthritis, clinical depression and hepatitis C. Both he and some
medical experts say marijuana relieves the symptoms of his various physical
and emotional afflictions. For example, Dr. Beverly Potter's book, "The
Healing Magic of Cannabis," makes grandiose claims for the healing herb.
Potter says pot has a soothing, even a restorative effect on arthritis, back
pain, asthma, depression, epilepsy, glaucoma, insomnia, menstrual cramps,
migraine headaches and multiple sclerosis. Even so, Burkholder was arrested
last September and charged with possessing cannabis oil for the purpose of
trafficking.)
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 13:55:50 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
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Subject: MN: Canada: Chelmsford Man Praises The Healing Herb
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Newshawk: Dave Haans
Pubdate: Monday, May 31, 1999
Source: Sudbury Star (Canada)
Copyright: 1999 The Sudbury Star
Contact: editorial@siteseer.ca
Address: 33 MacKenzie St., Sudbury, Ont., P3C 4Y1
Fax: (705) 674-6834
Website: http://www.thesudburystar.com
Author: Rob O'Flanagan
CHELMSFORD MAN PRAISES THE HEALING HERB
Barry Burkholder places his hands on the kitchen table of his Chelmsford
home.
They resemble, at first glance, the bent, gnarled roots of a tree.
Reddish, chapped and disfigured, they are like most of the bones
in the 34-year-old's body racked with excruciating pain every day
of his life. When he forces them to move, his fingers creak and crack
as though he is rolling several marbles between his hands.
But in a few moments, something quite surprising happens. Burkholder
lights a cannabis cigarette and takes two quick drags inhaling
deeply, holding the smoke in his lungs before exhaling with a long,
soothing sign of relief. His aching fingers become more flexible; his
pain is relieved.
Wherever there is cartilage in my body, there is constant pain,
says Burkholder, who suffers from chronic arthritis, clinical
depression and hepatitis C.
Pot, he and some medical experts say, relieves the symptoms of all of
his various physical and emotional afflictions.
Sometimes, I tell my wife that my feet hurt so bad, I'd like to cut
them right off, Burkholder says. But within a few minutes after
taking my `medicine,' my pain goes away and I'm able to carrying on my
daily chores.
Although Burkholder has a history of self-destructive behaviour, pot
despite its reputation as a brain-squelching substance is
decidedly non-destructive to his body and mind, he says.
I've been an addictive person most of my life, Burkholder says.
I was drunk or stoned most of the time. Pills, alcohol, cocaine,
acid, mushrooms anything I could get my hands on. I loved
pharmaceuticals, especially. You know, prescription drugs.
But I've finally cleaned myself up. I've been sober and drug-free
for three years. I've got a beautiful wife, children and a new home. I
even found God. I mean, things are good, and I want to live a good
life for as long as I have left. The pot helps me deal with my pain so
I can enjoy my life more. It does wonders.
But wonder drug or not, pot is still illegal in this country, and that
was made blatantly clear to Burkholder last September when he was
arrested and charged with the offense of possession for the purpose of
trafficking. To him, his supply of pot oil was a pain-killer; to
the law, it was an illegal drug.
A lot of people who use cannabis for medical purposes have been
arrested, Burkholder says. The police came right into my home
and charged me.
I mean, should my children have to face the chance of losing their
daddy because he was using the one thing that made him feel better,
the one thing that wouldn't make him an addict again? It's just not
fair.
It was after being arrested that Burkholder discovered, for the first
time, a national network of organizations, lawyers and politicians who
are fighting to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes.
Burkholder jumped at the opportunity for assistance and to be a part
of their cause.
He started his own page on the Internet www.legalize.com/herbgarden/burkie
to publicize his situation.
He asked his doctor to write a letter on his behalf to the
Compassionate Cannabis Club of Sturgeon Falls, an organization which
provides medical marijuana to people suffering from serious ailments.
Witnessing Burkholder's somewhat miraculous pain relief would give
even an anti-pot purist pause for thought. Maybe there are legitimate
healing properties in the stinky weed.
Dr. Beverly Potter's book The Healing Magic of Cannabis makes
grandiose claims for the healing herb.
Potter says pot has a soothing, even a restorative effect on
arthritis, back pain, asthma, depression, epilepsy, glaucoma,
insomnia, menstrual cramps, migraine headaches and multiple sclerosis
to name a few.
The knowledge of these healing wonders is nothing new. Marijuana has
been smoked or consumed for centuries as a natural medication, the
book suggests. Activists are pressuring federal Health Minister Allan
Rock to enact legislation which will legalize pot use for medical purposes.
They cite doctors and researchers who claim the drug is non-toxic,
non-addictive, does not cause crime, has no potential for harm or
danger, and does not lead to the use of stronger drugs.
Doctors such as Lester Grinspoon of the Harvard Medical School in
Cambridge, Mass., argue that, in time, marijuana may ultimately turn
out to be a very important medicine, especially for people suffering
from arthritis and rheumatic diseases that debilitate people like Burkholder.
For Burkholder, who does not want to use addictive drugs, it is his
only medicine.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drug Trials Win AMA Approval (The Age says delegates to the Australian
Medical Association's national conference in Canberra yesterday passed a
motion put forward by Victorian doctors endorsing the use of
heroin-maitenance trials to manage, and ultimately treat, addiction to the
drug. The AMA's stance increases pressure on the Prime Minister, Mr John
Howard, to end his opposition to alternative therapies for heroin addicts.)
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 10:05:13 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
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Subject: MN: Australia: Drug Trials Win AMA Approval
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Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Kenneth William Russell
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 1999 David Syme & Co Ltd
Contact: letters@theage.fairfax.com.au
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Author: Adrian Rollins, Canberra
DRUG TRIALS WIN AMA APPROVAL
Australian doctors yesterday voted to support the use of heroin trials
to manage, and ultimately treat, addiction to the drug.
Delegates to the Australian Medical Association's national conference
in Canberra yesterday passed a motion put forward by Victorian doctors
endorsing the use of heroin trials, increasing the pressure on the
Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, to end his opposition to alternative
therapies for drug-users.
The association's national conference, which voted for the measure,
also convincingly returned Dr David Brand as president.
The federal vice-president, Dr Sandra Hacker, who was also comfortably
re-elected, said law enforcement had failed to curb the use of heroin
and it had to be tackled as a health issue. Dr Hacker said the
increasing number of deaths among young heroin-users made the need for
alternative approaches critical.
Victorian doctor Allan Zimet, who put the motion for a heroin trial,
said present drug policies had failed.
``It is now time to try the medical approach which promotes healing
rather than punishment,'' he said.
``The Swiss heroin trial has shown that prescribed heroin delivered in
a controlled environment with counselling improves the health of
addicts and decreases drug-related crime. Prescribed heroin may assist
addicts to regain control of their lives.''
The AMA has, however, come out against injecting rooms.
Dr Brand said there was no such thing as a ``safe'' injecting
room.
Mr Howard has consistently ruled out the introduction of heroin
trials, most recently at the premiers' conference in April where
Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory both argued for the measure.
Instead, the Government has favored law enforcement through its
$290million Tough on Drugs strategy and treatment through a
$220million program unveiled at the conference.
Dr Brand was comfortably returned as AMA president despite the
challenge mounted by a dissident group led by former president Dr
Bruce Shepherd.
In the leadership ballot, Dr Brand received 92 votes to Dr Shepherd's
42. But his leadership woes are not over. Dr Shepherd vowed yesterday
to pursue his campaign to unseat Dr Brand at an emergency general
meeting in Brisbane in June.
Dr Shepherd believes that under Dr Brand the AMA has become too close
to the Government and he will be writing to all members in the lead-up
to the meeting.
The continued challenge comes amid negotiations between the AMA and
the Government over plans to cap doctor's rebates for treating
patients. Dr Shepherd's group is hostile to any such agreement.
Dr Shepherd said yesterday's vote ``could have been a lot worse'',
particularly because national conference delegates were a ``very
select group''.
But Dr Brand said he was confident of surviving the Brisbane meeting,
particularly as his leadership had been vindicated so strongly yesterday.
A spokesman for the federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge,
said the Government ``looks forward to continuing constructive
dialogue with the AMA''.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Prescribed Heroin Will Save Lives, Say Doctors (The version in the
Australian)
Date: Mon, 31 May 1999 11:11:44 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Australia: Prescribed Heroin Will Save Lives, Say Doctors
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Newshawk: Kenneth William Russell
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: Australian, The (Australia)
Copyright: News Limited 1999
Contact: ausletr@matp.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
Author: John Kerin
PRESCRIBED HEROIN WILL SAVE LIVES, SAY DOCTORS
DOCTORS yesterday backed a trial of prescribed heroin, saying current
approaches were failing addicts.
The proposal, put forward by Victorian doctors, was endorsed by the
Australian Medical Association's national conference in Canberra.
"It is now time to try the medical approach, which promotes healing
rather than punishment," said AMA Victorian board member Allan Zimet.
"Current drug policies have failed to curb increases in the number of
drug-related deaths and drug-associated crime. "The Swiss heroin trial
has shown that prescribed heroin delivered in a controlled environment
with counselling improves the health of addicts and decreases
drug-related crime," he said.
"Prescribed heroin may assist addicts to regain control of their
lives. Prescription and counselling allows them to focus on gaining
employment, housing and address their reasons for using heroin rather
than fixating on their next hit."
AMA president David Brand also called on the Government to devote the
tax it collected from underage smokers - at least $64 million annually
to a campaign to reduce the number of smoking-related deaths,
currently at 18,000 a year.
The AMA also launched a campaign aimed at passive smokers.
Australian Council on Smoking and Health spokesman Keith Woollard said
that the campaign, to be conducted through doctors' surgeries around
the country, was aimed at getting non-smokers not to put themselves at
risk by attending bars and other venues where smoking was allowed.
Queensland and the Northern Territory tied for the association's
annual ashtray awards for those States that had done the least to curb
smoking in the previous 12 months.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Britain In Grip Of Drugs Culture (The Toronto Star says Britain is in a drugs
frenzy, with an epidemic of tabloid stories about high-flying celebrities and
low-life "addicts" laying bare the extent of the craze. The Office for
National Statistics estimates Britons spends up to $16 billion a year on
illegal drugs, with some 300 million drug deals believed to take place in
London alone. "What we are finding is the normalization of drug-taking," said
drugs tsar Keith Hellawell. Last week the government unveiled tough new
targets to crack down on drug abuse.)
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 12:35:26 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: Wire: Britain In Grip Of Drugs Culture
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Mike Maunz
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Forum: http://www.thestar.com/editorial/disc_board/
Author: Reuters
BRITAIN IN GRIP OF DRUGS CULTURE
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is in a drugs frenzy with an epidemic of stories
about high-flying celebrities and low-life addicts laying bare the extent of
the craze.
To hear the tabloid press tell it, top sportsmen regularly snort cocaine,
posh society is awash with pills and powders while recreational users have
even penetrated the BBC. From a celebrated novelist who took heroin in the
washroom of the prime minister's plane to the pop star who compares getting
high to drinking tea, drugs are omnipresent.
"Celebrities using drugs just reflect the rest of society. Drugs are very
much part and parcel of youth culture and are likely to remain so," said
Mike Goodman, director of Release, a national drugs and legal advice charity.
Heroin use is rising among the young and poor as prices drop while cocaine
is as common as Chianti in many professional circles, cash-rich and weary
from the working week.
The Office for National Statistics estimates Britain spends up to $16
billion on illegal drugs each year, with some 300 million drug deals
believed to take place in London alone.
"What we are finding is the normalization of drug-taking," said Keith
Hellawell, the official charged with spearheading the government's drive
against drugs, who released his first report on the epidemic in May.
Be it designers dressing waifish models in "heroin chic" or advertisers
selling mundane household products with trippy imagery, narcotics are
entrenched in daily life.
"Drugs are all over and they're here to stay. It's just irresponsible of
all these celebrities to get caught," Lotte McGrand of Dazed and Confused, a
magazine with the pulse of youth culture, said. "Drugs are so common it
would be even hipper for kids not to take them."
Social Trends, an annual survey by the government, says eight per cent of
12-year-olds, 30 per cent of 14-year-olds and 40 per cent of 16-year-olds
have tried drugs at least once. Teenage ecstasy deaths barely warrant a
mention in a jaded press and Britain's thriving club and music industries
weave drugs ever tighter into the fabric of youth culture.
Next month sees the release of Human Traffic, an insider's view of drugs and
clubs in Wales touted as this summer's hit film just as Trainspotting stole
headlines with its gritty portrayal of life among Scotland's junkies.
"People in Europe are much more fearful about drugs, but in Britain, drugs
are all over and are out there every weekend. You might be scared this is
the last drug you'll ever take, but people still want to run the risk,"
McGrand said.
A study of all 15 European Union members shows three times as many young
Britons had experimented with the rave drug ecstasy than their counterparts
in France or Germany. Young Britons were also much more likely to have used
hallucinogens, amphetamines and solvents, according to the European
Monitoring Center for Drugs.
This month Tom Parker Bowles, godson of Prince Charles and a friend to
Britain's young princes, was caught in a classic "honey trap" when he
allegedly offered to buy cocaine for a reporter posing as a debutante at the
Cannes film festival.
Days later, the captain of England's rugby team was forced to resign when he
too was lured into boasts of drug use and dealing by an undercover tabloid
reporter.
Drugs have even invaded the soccer field with Liverpool striker Robbie
Fowler answering taunts from the stands by pretending to snort cocaine off
the goal line. A children's television host, a popular actor, a BBC disc
jockey - the list of alleged users fingered in the press grows ever longer.
"It's deplorable. It's giving an abysmal, appalling example to young
people. There's no glamour in drug-taking. It wrecks lives, it wrecks
health and ruins families," Jack Cunningham, the minister coordinating
government drugs strategy, said.
Last week the government unveiled tough new targets to crack down on drug
abuse, emphasizing treatment over punishment. It wants to cut the number of
young people using heroin or cocaine by a quarter by 2005 and a half by
2008, saying addicts are responsible for 30 per cent of all crime.
Few experts see a quick fix as long as drugs keep growing purer, cheaper and
ever more prevalent. But Cunningham says there is no choice.
"We simply have to get to grips with it.
"Whether or not it leads to an epidemic is too early to say, but it's the
situation we are facing."
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Swiss Hemp Grower Sent To Jail (The Associated Press notes briefly a court in
Martigny, Switzerland, on Monday sentenced Bernard Rappaz to 16 months in
prison for producing 8.5 tons of dried cannabis and selling it stuffed in
cushions, which were advertised as having therapeutic qualities. The guilty
verdict derived from a federal "narcotics" law. A list subscriber forwards
more details from a Swiss hempster, including confirmation that appeals are
available, and even likely to prevail.)
Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 18:52:46 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Switzerland: WIRE: Swiss Hemp Grower Sent To Jail
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: EWCHIEF
Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
Source: Associated Press
Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
SWISS HEMP GROWER SENT TO JAIL
MARTIGNY, Switzerland (AP) A Swiss court sentenced a hemp grower on
Monday to 16 months in prison for producing tons of the dried plant
and selling it stuffed in cushions.
Bernard Rappaz, who was found guilty of offenses under federal
narcotics law, was also ordered to pay about $20,000 in fines and
court costs. Hemp and marijuana are both derived from the cannabis
plant.
Rappaz was convicted of producing 8.5 tons of dried hemp, and selling
some of the plants in the form of cushions, which were advertised as
having therapeutic qualities.
The court ordered the destruction of the hemp, seized in 1996. Three
other defendants were acquitted.
***
From: "Boris Ryser" (bryser@bluewin.ch)
From: "CRRH mailing list" (restore@crrh.org)
To: "D. Paul Stanford" (stanford@crrh.org),
"CRRH mailing list" (restore@crrh.org)
Subject: Re: Swiss Hemp Grower Sent To Jail comments
Date: Sun, 6 Jun 1999 17:45:19 +0200
Dear Peter,
Let me explain more than the journalist does below...
as that Swiss hemp grower is the one I am working with...
---Message d'origine---
De: D. Paul Stanford (stanford@crrh.org); CRRH mailing list
(restore@crrh.org)
> Newshawk: EWCHIEF
> Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 1999
> Source: Associated Press
> Copyright: 1999 Associated Press
>
> SWISS HEMP GROWER SENT TO JAIL...
No, there is a "appeal" at the upper province court... until then he is free.
> The court ordered the destruction of the hemp, seized in 1996.
This is not confirmed. And that judge had to give it back.... and indeed gave
more than the half of an illegal seizure...
>Three other defendants were acquitted.
...that means total victory for these three, that means that all they did,
and do, is now considered as legal...
They are, all three, equal bosses of that company, Valchanvre, which is a
co-op of 4 growers, managing semi-industrial "good" hemp work and ordering
dozens of growers to grow for our co-op some of our best seeds...
As you can now understand this is not a catastrophe.... but just the first
step of a justice scene (with appeals to upper courts... up to the federal
court and we'll win for sure...!)
Freedom of growing!
Our company, Valchanvre, pioneer in Switzerland in used to deal with justice
and federal authorities and this: up from the seventies. We have a site of
course http://www.omedia.ch/silicon/valchanvre/
Visit it and look how many products we manufactured.
All these products are full legal and sold everywhere in our country - our
pot won a second prize at last Amsterdam cannabis (HT) Cup and the first
prize at the first Swiss canna cup (January 99).
Your Boris Ryser
"fédération suisse des consommateurs de cannabis"
fdcc@bluewin.ch
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[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for May 28-June 3