-------------------------------------------------------------------
Felon's Firearms Conviction Is Overturned (The Providence Journal-Bulletin,
in Rhode Island, says Robert A. Vigeant, a convicted felon with reputed ties
to organized crime - and the son of Providence City Councilor Josephine Joan
DiRuzzo - may soon be a free man after serving just 13 months of a 19-year
sentence in federal prison. The federal appeals court in Boston tossed out
Vigeant's conviction last month for being a felon in possession of a firearm,
chastening the government for obtaining a warrant to search Vigeant's house
in Narragansett without probable cause as part of a probe into a drug and
money-laundering ring.)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 00:30:21 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US MA: Felon's Firearms Conviction Is Overturned
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Jo-D Harrison Dunbar
Pubdate: Fri, 04 June 1999
Source: Providence Journal-Bulletin (RI)
Copyright: 1999 The Providence Journal Company
Contact: letters@projo.com
Website: http://projo.com/
Author: W. Zachary Malinowski, Journal Staff Writer
FELON'S FIREARMS CONVICTION IS OVERTURNED
A Federal Appeals Court Rules That Agents Had No Basis To Search The
Apartment Of Robert A. Vigeant In May 1997.
Robert A. Vigeant, a convicted felon with reputed ties to organized crime,
may soon be a free man after serving just 13 months of a 19-year sentence in
federal prison.
The federal appeals court in Boston tossed out Vigeant's conviction last
month for possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
In a strongly worded ruling, the court chastened the government for
obtaining a warrant to search Vigeant's house in Narragansett without
probable cause.
The court says that the warrant was based on "foundationless conclusions."
"The government argues in its brief -- with information obtained after the
search in question -- that Vigeant is a bad person," wrote the court. "Be
that as it may, even unsavory persons have constitutional rights."
Vigeant, whom a federal prosecutor once described as an "rmed career
criminal," is the son of Providence City Councilor Josephine Joan DiRuzzo.
She was thrilled with the ruling.
"The decision speaks for itself," said DiRuzzo. "I think it shows that no
one is above the law. This has been long and hard on everybody. The family
has suffered and my son has suffered."
The case against Vigeant, 37, dates to May 12, 1997, when federal agents
broke down his door with a battering ram, handcuffed the half-naked suspect
and searched his house, at 24 Newport Lane, Narragansett.
Agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue
Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms had obtained a search
warrant as part of a probe into a drug and money-laundering ring accused of
bringing $700,000 worth of marijuana from Texas to Rhode Island in 1995.
Vigeant was not charged with being part of that ring, but the authorities
had seized a phone directory belonging to a major player in the drug ring
that contained Vigeant's name and references to "Bobby V" and "B.V."
Also seized from Vigeant's home -- a .22-caliber five-shot revolver.
Under federal law, Vigeant, who had three violent felony convictions, was
facing a lengthy prison sentence for having the weapon in his possession.
Among those past charges was a 1991 conviction for attempting to extort
$5,000 from a Providence man. Arrested with Vigeant was Ronnie Coppola, a
mob loanshark and bookmaker, who was the victim of a gangland slaying in
April 1994.
In January 1998, a federal jury convicted Vigeant on the weapons charge.
Four months later, U.S. District Court Judge Mary M. Lisi sentenced him to
235 months in prison -- 19 years, 7 months.
Vigeant appealed his conviction.
On May 14, the appeals court overturned Vigeant's conviction.
The court, in its ruling, said that the government's confidential informant
recanted "substantial portions" of what the informant had told DEA Agent
Robert Botelho, who drafted the search warrant affidavit.
The court also ruled that there was insufficient evidence that Vigeant was
involved in drug trafficking or money laundering, as had been alleged in the
affidavit.
Botelho was not available for comment. But a spokeswoman for the DEA in
Boston, agent Pamela Mersky-Hay, said that the agency felt that Judge Lisi
rendered an appropriate decision when she approved the agent's request for a
search warrant.
Tom Connell, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Curran, said that his
office is reviewing several options on how to proceed in the Vigeant case.
He said that Curran, like the DEA spokeswoman, feels that Lisi made a
"well-reasoned decision" on the probable cause for the warrant to search
Vigeant's house.
It's unclear when Vigeant may be released from prison.
As of yesterday, Vigeant remained at the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg,
Pa., according to Donald J. Blackburn, chief federal probation officer for
Rhode Island.
Blackburn, who was not aware of the appeals court ruling, said that Vigeant
was scheduled to complete his prison sentence in June 2014.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jacksonville, Fla-Based Drug-Screening Firm Sees Rapid Growth (The Florida
Times-Union says Medical Express Corp. has grown about 800 percent in the
past four years and is expected to generate about $2 million in sales this
year, $400,000 more than last year. Nationally, drug testing is big
business.)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 08:57:18 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: US FL: Jacksonville, Fla-Based
Drug-Screening Firm Sees Rapid Growth
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Mike Gogulski
Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jun 1999
Source: Florida Times-Union (FL)
Copyright: The Florida Times-Union 1999
Contact: jaxstaff@jacksonville.com
Website: http://www.times-union.com/
Forum: http://cafe.jacksonville.com/cafesociety.html
Author: Nicole Ostrow, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville
JACKSONVILLE, FLA.-BASED DRUG-SCREENING FIRM SEES RAPID GROWTH IN BUSINESS
Jun. 2 - While trying to grow her company's drug screening business, Jane
Freedman spent two years bringing doughnuts and other gifts - including
exercise videos - to officials at Momentum Logistics.
Finally, the firm hired Freedman's Medical Express Corp. to handle its
employee drug screenings.
"If you don't give Jane your drug testing business, she isn't leaving,"
joked Linda Rose Griffin, Freedman's partner and business administrator of
Medical Express, a Jacksonville-based drug screening company. Freedman is
the company's president and owner.
Now, instead of going door to door in search of business, Medical Express is
getting phone calls from prospective customers across the nation -- and
turning some of them down.
In the past four years, the company has grown about 800 percent and is
expected to generate about $2 million in sales this year, $400,000 more than
last year, Griffin said.
Nationally, drug testing is big business. Since 1989, when the government
required workers such as pilots and truck drivers to be tested for drugs,
more private employers have made drug screenings a requirement for
employment.
Drug users have more work-related injuries and have higher absenteeism than
non-drug users, said Henry Goldberg, the retired president of
Milwaukee-based Substance Abuse Management Inc., one of the nation's largest
drug screening administrators.
About 75 percent of Jacksonville's businesses now screen employees for drug
use, Griffin said.
Medical Express acts as an administrator, setting up screenings and lab
services for companies nationwide, then billing them for the collection, lab
and medical test reviewing costs on a single invoice.
The company has 700 clients nationwide and can provide drug testing results
in 24 hours if the person tests negative and in five days for a positive
result.
Most of Medical Express' business now comes from referrals from other
clients and laboratories that can't process a single bill for multiple
services and sites.
The eight-person staff also performs drug screenings for some area firms in
its Salisbury Road office and does some testing on-site at local companies,
services its national clients don't receive for quality-control reasons,
Griffin said.
"I had to decide if I wanted to offer everything to everyone or if I wanted
to specialize," she said. "I decided to specialize in drug testing and
background checks. I don't want to do business where I don't know what the
quality of the business is."
Medical Express employees perform about 1,200 in-office drug screenings each
month and between 300 and 400 in the field. Nationally, the company handles
about 4,000 drug tests each month, Griffin said.
About 90 percent of Medical Express' business is drug screenings.
But the company also does physicals and tests to help Jacksonville companies
meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements, background
checks and Department of Transportation physicals.
At local health fairs, Medical Express staffers offer blood screenings,
tuberculosis tests, vaccinations and flu shots, which Freedman said saves
companies time and money because they don't have to send their employees to
doctors' offices.
The company was formed in 1990 to do wellness training through health fairs
and well-care screenings, but that did not turn out to be a profitable
business. So in 1994, Freedman decided to focus the business on drug
screenings.
Charlie Camp, recruiting supervisor for Raven Transportation, said Medical
Express has performed Department of Transportation physicals and drug tests
and non-departmental drug screenings on the company's 220 employees.
Camp used the company at his previous job and when Raven Transportation
needed a drug screener, he called on his experience with Medical Express.
"They were the first one on my list that I went back to visit. They answer
my questions and they're on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he
said. "Being a little bit smaller, they give better individual attention"
than larger companies.
It may be small now, but Griffen said Medical Express is growing so fast
that she and Freedman are turning down large contracts to concentrate on the
businesses the company already serves.
Last year, a Jacksonville competitor closed and Medical Express picked up
their clients, increasing business by 30 percent. Also last year, another
Florida company closed and Medical Express took over their clients, too.
So when Medical Express was asked by Seattle-based Boeing Company to bid for
their 10,000 screenings a month, Griffin said they didn't have the staff to
handle their business on top of their existing clients.
"We would rather not take it than lose it," she said, adding she and
Freedman want to grow the company, but at a slower rate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Healing Dope (The Calgary Herald sympathetically describes the Universal
Compassion Club, a local medical marijuana buyers' group founded in January
by Grant Krieger. Krieger was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, and
he has been distributing marijuana to the ill for five years now, after
seeing how it relieved his own pain. He first turned to pot in 1994, after 16
frustrating years of unsuccessful treatments led Krieger to attempt suicide.
Not being able to walk or control his own bowel movements pushed him one
night to swallow 40 Demerol and 30 sleeping pills. "They wouldn't give me
anything after that" for pain.)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:25:33 -0700
From: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org (MAPNews)
To: mapnews@mapinc.org
Subject: MN: Canada: Healing Dope
Sender: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Reply-To: owner-mapnews@mapinc.org
Organization: Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/lists/
Newshawk: Debra Harper
Pubdate: Friday, June 4, 1999
Source: Calgary Sun (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership
Contact: callet@sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/
Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html
Author: Mike Wood, Calgary Sun
HEALING DOPE
Calgary's Sick And Dying Find Relief In Marijuana
The floor in Grant Krieger's tiny bedroom is littered with remnants
of his marijuana grow operation.
Dead pot leaves and splinters of wood are all that remain after a
break-in artist ripped the plants right out of the woodwork.
"It just makes me sick when I come in here," sighs Krieger, as he
surveys the damage left after being robbed of $8,000 worth of weed.
"They left us with absolutely nothing," he says, sifting through
marijuana leaves with his foot.
"You know they even stole a dying lady's donation bag of pot? It had
her name on it - it was marked 'donation' on it and they took it."
The 10 marijuana plants were to be used to treat his clients, members
of the Universal Compassion Club he founded in January.
It's a guild of sick, and in some cases, dying individuals, in and
around the city who have turned to the illicit drug to ease their pain.
"I have people who need this medicine and I just don't have the supply
for them anymore," says Krieger.
Let's be absolutely clear, what the 44-year-old is doing is currently
illegal.
But it may not be for much longer.
Health Minister Allan Rock has promised to reveal details of his
government's plan to legalize pot before the House of Commons breaks
for the summer on Wednesday.
And despite opposition from physicians, fellow parliamentarians and
ordinary Canadians, Rock has also promised clinical trials on the
medicinal benefits of the psychoactive drug later this month.
Krieger, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1978, has been selling
marijuana to the ill for five years now, after seeing how it relieved
his own pain.
He first turned to pot in 1994, when a frustrating 16 years of
unsuccessful treatment for his MS led Krieger to a suicide attempt.
Not being able to walk or control his own bowel movements pushed him
over the top one night.
While his wife, now separated from Krieger, busied herself in another
room, Krieger popped 40 Demerol and 30 sleeping pills.
"They wouldn't give me anything after that (for pain)."
He had heard marijuana worked wonders on sore muscles and joints, and
after recovering from his attempted suicide, decided to try it since
nothing else was working for him.
Ever since, Krieger has been crusading to legalize marijuana as medicine.
His affliction prevents him from any sort of vigorous activity,
restricting him to the confines of his home where he spends most of
the day on the phone with clients, doctors and media, fighting his
battle.
He founded UCC in Calgary back in January.
The club is now 50-strong, but as Krieger contends, there are no
recreational users in the group.
A would-be client must sign a release of medical information, or a
letter must be obtained from their licensed physician outlining the
patient's illness and their request to use marijuana as an alternative
medicine.
Kreieger then verifies the information with the doctor.
All of this to weed out the social smokers Krieger blames for
"stimulating the problem of high prices."
In some cases, UCC will supply marijuana to the ill at no cost if they
cannot afford it.
"First and foremost on my mind is the quality of life (of patients),"
he says.
The break-in is a major setback for Krieger and UCC members - it will
cost him $3,000 to replace the 1 lb. of dried marijuana stolen from
his house plus $5,000 in near-ready buds.
But Krieger, a deeply spiritual man, will not let this dissuade him
from his cause.
"I will continue on - I feel I'm being lead by God to help people who
are ill," he says.
He will grow more marijuana, but will do so in the homes of willing
clients.
He has already set up operations elsewhere with help from veteran
growers who will take care of the plants until they can be harvested.
Half the bounty will go to UCC to be sold through the club at
less-than street value prices, and the homeowner will keep the remainder.
All the while under the microscope of Calgary's drug squad, who are
now watching Krieger closely.
Staff Sgt. Paul Laventure of Calgary's drug unit says an investigation
is currently underway, with two officers on Krieger's tail in light of
the publicity surrounding the break-in.
Laventure says although he is sympathetic towards Krieger and others
like him who suffer from an affliction, selling weed is still illegal
and Krieger will be busted if he continues to break the law.
"We'll treat him exactly as we would anyone else who is caught
(breaking the law)," says Laventure.
"If we gain evidence (he is trafficking), we will charge him under the
Controlled Drug and Substances Act."
"Let them, let them come look, I don't care," says a defiant Krieger.
"I am fighting for my right and for the rights of every citizen of
this country.
"I want alternative medicine -- the freedom to choose how to nurse
yourself back to a better quality of life.
"If that means going to jail, so be it."
Indeed, Krieger is no stranger to the courts.
In June 1997, he gained notoriety after attempting to sell a bag of
pot to a friend on the courthouse steps in downtown Calgary.
In May 1996, he was arrested for similar drug charges in Saskatchewan.
Both instances netted him fines totalling $2,050 and he's still on probation.
But the law is not his only opposition.
John Booth, a spokesman for the Betty Ford Center, says marijuana
might very well have medicinal value, but in the wrong hands it could
lead to use of other, more detrimental drugs.
"Generally, we (at the Betty Ford Clinic) feel marijuana is a gateway
drug," he says.
"Marijuana could very well (hold medicinal value), but it's a gateway
drug to those who have an addictive personality."
Dr. Bill Campbell, working out of the addiction center at Foothills
Hospital, doesn't buy into the gateway theory, but contends more
research is needed before he could prescribe marijuana.
"Show me that it works - I suspect there is something to it," he
says, referring to marijuana's alleged medicinal qualities.
"But if you're going to argue the issue (of legalization) - we need
to test it according to standards we have set for what constitutes for
medical purposes," Campbell says.
Despite it's status as the most widely used illegal drug today, most
continue to view it as a dangerous drug, worse than alcohol and
tobacco, likey to lead to heroin.
Faron Swanson, 40, a long-time friend of Krieger's and member of UCC,
says he's in too much pain to wait for doctors and politicians to test
marijuana.
Bound in a wheelchair on his acreage two hours from Saskatoon, Swanson
smokes marijuana to relieve his pain due to MS.
"We didn't need that," he says, referring to Krieger's robbery in a
slow, forced voice.
"He was just trying to get ahead," says Swanson.
"He was just trying to help us."
Swanson relies on Krieger, who visits Saskatoon frequently, for
marijuana.
"They have to leave Grant alone or I can't get my medicine," says
Swanson.
He smokes eight pipe-fulls of marijuana a day to ease the constant
pain in his muscles.
According to him, weed is the only thing keeping him alive.
"If I didn't have it, I think I would be dead right now.
"You don't know how it feels to be here - to sit in this wheelchair
and have no life when you used to have one."
Swanson was a singer before MS put him in the wheelchair.
"I can't walk, I can't work, do you know how depressing that gets?" he
says, a slight pang in his voice quite evident.
"No wonder Grant tried to commit suicide."
But no matter what anybody says, Krieger simply will not stop selling
his 'medicine.'
He feels he is on a mission, laid out for him by God to help those in need.
"It's something I'm driven to do - I just have to do it."
Krieger notes that if anyone wishes to make a donation, they may do so
by forwarding monies to any of the hemp shops around town.
Or donations can also be sent directly to Universal Compassion Club's
mailing address at 2, 3012 17 Ave. S.E. Suite 509 Calgary, T2A 0P9.
USE OF SELECTED LEGAL AND ILLEGAL DRUGS IN CANADA (% IN 1994)
tranquilizers diet pills/stimulants anti-depressants
Canada 4.3 0.9 3.0
Atlantic 4.4 1.1 3.3
Quebec 6.8 0.7 3.7
Ontario 3.3 0.7 1.8
Prairies 3.2 1.2 3.7
British Columbia 4.0 0.9 3.9
codeine/ sleeping pills marijuana/hash LSD/speed/
demerol/ heroin
morphine
Canada 13.1 4.5 7.4 1.1
Atlantic 13.3 4.3 6.3 0.9
Quebec 6.8 5.8 8.6 1.6
Ontario 12.6 3.5 5.1 0.5
Prairies 17.5 4.5 8.2 1.1
British Columbia 21.2 5.3 11.6 1.6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue No. 93 (The Drug Reform Coordination
Network's drug policy newsmagazine features original articles such as -
Arrest the racism: ACLU report on racial profiling in America; Australian
Medical Association endorses heroin prescription trial; Adding alcohol to
Partnership ads?; Supreme Court establishes due process protections for
defendants accused of operating a continuing criminal enterprise; Canada's
House declares support for medical marijuana; Children And The Drug War
postcard campaign; Newsbriefs; and an editorial by Adam J. Smith - Sells like
teen spirits.)
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 15:03:16 +0000
To: drc-natl@drcnet.org
From: DRCNet (drcnet@drcnet.org)
Subject: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #93
Sender: owner-drc-natl@drcnet.org
The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #93 - June 4, 1999
A Publication of the Drug Reform Coordination Network
-------- PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE --------
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line "signoff drc-natl" in the body of the message, or
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this list, visit http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.)
This issue can be also be read on our web site at
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html. Check out the DRCNN
weekly radio segment at http://www.drcnet.org/drcnn/.
SPECIAL $30 MEMBERSHIP/BOOK OFFER THROUGH JUNE 30: See
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/092.html#thanks for details!
If you haven't signed our legislative petitions to Congress,
please visit and join the thousands who have -- and be sure
to use the Tell Your Friends page to get the word out!
Asset Forfeiture Reform: http://www.drcnet.org/forfeiture/
HEA Drug Provision: http://www.RaiseYourVoice.com/
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Arrest the Racism: ACLU Report on Racial Profiling in
America
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#profiling
2. Australian Medical Association Endorses Heroin
Prescription Trial
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#ama
3. Adding Alcohol to Partnership Ads?
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#alcoholads
4. Supreme Court Establishes Due Process Protections for
Defendants Accused of Operating a Continuing Criminal
Enterprise
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#enterprise
5. Canada's House Declares Support for Medical Marijuana
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#canadahouse
6. Children and the Drug War Postcard Campaign
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#postcards
7. Newsbriefs
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#newsbriefs
8. EDITORIAL: Sells Like Teen Spirits
http://www.drcnet.org/wol/093.html#editorial
***
1. Arrest the Racism: ACLU Report on Racial Profiling in
America
Racial profiling of minority motorists is restoring Jim Crow
justice in America, the American Civil Liberties Union said
last Wednesday (6/2/99) in issuing a new report documenting
the practice.
In the first comprehensive look at the problem, "Driving
While Black: Racial Profiling On Our Nation's Highways,"
cites police statistics on traffic stops, ACLU lawsuits,
government reports and media stories from around the nation
in making the case that skin color is being used as a
substitute for evidence and a ground for suspicion.
Professor David Harris, of the University of Toledo law
school in Ohio, was the principal author of the report.
"We are here today to demand an end to racial profiling,"
said ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser, who spoke at a
news conference at the ACLU's national headquarters in
downtown Manhattan.
Prof. Harris told the Week Online, "The key factor in DWB is
that the courts have moved the law in the direction of
allowing police more and more discretion to stop drivers, in
order to fight the war on drugs; and police have used this
discretion to stop more and more drivers in racially
disproportionate ways."
Harris explained that racial profiling has always been a
serious problem in this country affecting ethnic minorities,
but largely invisible to whites. However, it is only
recently that enough attention has been focused on the issue
to bring it to the fore of the debate, and that adequate
statistics have been compiled to provide objective,
irrefutable proof of the problem.
Also, DWB has grown even more serious since the escalation
of the "war on drugs" during the past two decades. Harris
explained, "As political leaders demanded that law
enforcement place an increasing priority on fighting the
drug war, [the Driving While Black problem] became worse,
and the techniques were honed."
Harris explained that much of the blame lies on a little-
known highway drug interdiction program called "Operation
Pipeline," operated since 1986 by the US Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA). Operation Pipeline has trained
approximately 27,000 police officers in 48 participating
states to use pretext stops in order to find drugs in
vehicles. The use of pretext stops was bolstered in the
following decade by a series of Supreme Court decisions
allowing the police to use traffic stops as a pretext to
"fish" for evidence of wrongdoing. Harris told the Week
Online that Operation Pipeline's manuals contain implicit
and occasionally explicit racial bias, recommending that
officers target ethnic minorities such as Mexicans, Blacks
and Jamaicans -- even though the government's own statistics
disprove the myth that minorities use drugs at greater rates
than whites.
The 43-page report makes five recommendations to end DWB
including a call for the US Department of Justice to end the
use of racial profiling in federally funded drug
interdiction programs, specifically:
* An end to the use of pretext stops as a crime-fighting
tactic;
* Congressional passage of the federal Traffic Stops
Statistics Study Act (S. 821 and H.R. 1443);
* Passage of remedial legislation in every state;
* A ban on racial profiling in all federally funded drug
interdiction programs; and
* Collection of city-by-city traffic stop data on a
voluntary basis.
The ACLU has also established a national toll-free hotline
for victims of profiling, 1-877-6-PROFILE, and a web site
feature section, including a complaint form and the full
text of the report, at http://www.aclu.org/profiling/. A
statewide hotline in California, 1-877-DWB-STOP, advertised
in public service announcements on radio stations and on
highway billboards, has logged more than 1,600 calls since
October of last year.
See http://www.drcnet.org/wol/088.html#noequaljustice for a
review of "NO Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American
Criminal Justice System," by Georgetown University law
professor David Cole, including an excerpted list of search
pretexts used in drug cases.
Recent articles by David Harris include "'Driving While
Black' and All Other Traffic Offenses: The Supreme Court and
Pretextual Traffic Stops," 87 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 544
(1997); "Superman's X-Ray Vision and the Fourth Amendment:
The New Gun Detection Technology," 69 Temple L. Rev. 1
(1996); "Frisking Every Suspect: The Withering of Terry," 28
U.C. Davis L. Rev. 1 (1995); and "Factors For Reasonable
Suspicion: When Black and Poor Means Stopped and Frisked,"
69 Ind. (Bloomington) L.J. 659 (1994).
***
2. Australian Medical Association Endorses Heroin
Prescription Trial
The Australian Medical Association has come out in support
of a heroin prescription experiment in that country. At
their annual conference last weekend, delegates approved a
motion put forward by Victorian doctors to endorse clinical
trials similar to the one completed in Switzerland two years
ago. The AMA is expected to lobby the Health Minister, the
federal Attorney General, and Prime Minister John Howard to
establish the trials, in which long-term addicts who have
failed at other treatments will be given prescribed doses of
heroin in a medical setting.
Australian harm reduction advocates were thrilled with the
news. Dr. Alex Wodak, Director of Alcohol and Drug Services
at St. Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, responded to The Week
Online's e-mailed request for comment on this story.
"The unambiguous support of the Federal body of the AMA for
a heroin trial is very significant on several counts," he
wrote.
"First, it is consistent with the stand the BMA, forerunner
of the AMA, took in 1953 when heroin production and
importation was first prohibited in Australia. The BMA
opposed that overseas-instigated decision at the time (see
Manderson D., 'From Mr. Sin to Mr. Big,' Oxford University
Press, 1993). The AMA is right to lead the battle now to
use scientific research to find more effective responses to
an urgent problem."
"Second, it is consistent with the notion that independent,
peer reviewed medical research following due scientific
process and free of political interference is the bedrock of
progress in medicine."
"Third, it is consistent with the notion that medicine, to
be effective, must at all times be brutally realistic. The
increasing number of deaths from drug overdose in Australia
is an indictment of our community, calling for an honest
appraisal of the costs and benefits of current measures and
a fair consideration of alternative options. By any honest
appraisal, current policies have failed to stem the increase
in these deaths. (Overdose deaths doubled in Australia
between 1991 and 1997.)"
"Next, it is consistent with the notion that health and
social interventions are often effective in dealing with
heroin dependence. Unfortunately, we must in all honesty
acknowledge that law enforcement measures are often
expensive, ineffective and counter-productive."
"It is also consistent with the impressive results of the
Swiss trial (which was very much a preliminary study), the
recommendations of the WHO Expert panel which reviewed the
Swiss trial ('there is a need for further studies to
establish objectively the differences in the effects of
these different opioids'), the results of the Swiss national
referendum on this subject in September 1997, the decisions
by several European Governments to establish heroin trials
and recent publications on the subject (Drucker, E., Vlahov,
D. 'The Lancet,' 1999, Bammer, G. et al, 'Science,' 1999)."
"Finally, it is consistent with the needs of public health
and crime prevention to develop effective interventions for
that small population of treatment-refractory, severely
dependent heroin users. [These are the users who] account
for much of the heroin consumed and the drug related crime
perpetrated, and for whom, at present, our community has no
effective response."
The AMA's endorsement comes in the wake of a special five
day drug summit held in New South Wales last month. Members
of Parliament defeated a proposal to establish a heroin
trial there by a margin of just 78-67. But Prime Minister
John Howard, a proponent of US-style "zero tolerance" drug
policies, has been outspoken in his opposition to any such
experiment, insisting it would "send the wrong message"
about drug use. And two years ago, clinical trials begun in
the Australian Capital Territory were scuttled, reportedly
in response to pressure from the US State Department,
threatening to shut down Tasmania's pharmaceutical opioid
industry if the trials proceeded.
Browse our past coverage of heroin prescription and other
issues at http://www.drcnet.org/wol/archives.html.
The Lindesmith Center has compiled an excellent collection
of research on heroin prescription, available online at
http://www.lindesmith.org/library/focal1.html.
***
3. Adding Alcohol to Partnership Ads?
According to the federal government, almost twice as many
high school seniors have had an alcoholic drink in the past
year (74%) as have used marijuana (38%). This despite a
survey taken in 1997 by the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse which showed that three out of four high
school seniors list marijuana as easier to purchase than
beer.
Alcohol, by almost any measure, is the drug of choice among
America's young. So why, asked Representative Lucille
Roybal-Allard (D-CA), is underage drinking entirely ignored
by the federal government's $195 million Partnership for a
Drug Free America ad campaign? She's not wondering anymore.
Roybal-Allard, along with co-sponsor Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-
VA) introduced legislation last week that would give the
Office of National Drug Control Policy the authority to
target underage drinking as well as illegal drug use in the
campaign. "They're not getting to the root of the problem,
which is underage drinking" she told the New York Times.
The legislation, however, has run up against strong
opposition from the liquor lobby and their legislative
allies. Rep. Anne Northrup (R-KY), who received more than
$38,000 in campaign contributions from beer and liquor
interests in 1997 and 1998 opposes the measure and has
promised to kill it when it comes up for a vote. Ms.
Northrup said that "there are a number of people that
believe that drugs are unique and we shouldn't confuse the
messages and diminish them."
Among the people who believe this is David K. Rehr, senior
vice president of the National Beer Wholesalers Association.
In a memo to Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Rehr showed that his
concern extended to the executive branch as well. "Your
support for this amendment" he wrote, "would make the drug
czar's position untenable and reduce his ability to wage the
war on drugs."
Sandee Burbank, Director of the organization Mothers Against
Misuse and Abuse, told The Week Online that she is concerned
about the artificial distinctions that are made between
legal and illegal substances.
"All drugs are potentially dangerous, and they affect people
differently. We, as a society have an interest in
eliminating the abuse of any drug by young people. Alcohol
kills more than ten times as many Americans as all illicit
drugs combined. This focus on a small number of illicit
drugs diverts resources from prevention and education
efforts around all substances."
Ms. Burbank is also critical of the demonization of
substances masquerading as drug education. "To the extent
that we use scare tactics instead of consumer safety
information when we discuss substances with our kids, we
risk losing our credibility with them. And the moment that
we assign morality to a substance, we confuse the issues of
safety and danger."
As for the Drug Czar himself, after initially saying that he
opposed the legislation, his office told the Times this week
that, "We are neither endorsing nor opposing that proposal
for inclusion of alcohol in the media campaign." But, they
added, "Even if we were given the authority, we wouldn't
immediately include alcohol," in order not to confuse the
message of the campaign.
Another opponent of the measure is the Partnership itself.
Partnership for a Drug Free America is actually a coalition
of advertising and public relations firms, a number of which
do work for the alcohol industry, which spends almost $3
billion per year on marketing and promotion. Steven
Dnistrian, a spokesman for the group, told the New York
Times, "you can't simply assume that the anti-drug campaign
can be widened to include something as huge as underage
drinking."
According to Ms. Burbank, the lack of solid, factual
information on alcohol use and abuse puts children in
danger.
"We need a very strong national campaign on alcohol consumer
safety, as we should have with regard to all drugs, legal
and illegal" she said. "We are not doing nearly enough to
teach either kids or adults about responsible alcohol use."
Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse can be found online at
http://www.mamas.org. The Partnership for a Drug Free
America is online at http://www.drugfreeamerica.org. The
Partnership for a Drug Free America was unavailable for
comment for this story.
***
4. Supreme Court Establishes Due Process Protections for
Defendants Accused of Operating a Continuing Criminal
Enterprise
Scott Ehlers, Senior Analyst, Drug Policy Foundation,
ehlers@dpf.org, http://www.dpf.org
It is a rare occasion when the Supreme Court rules against
the government in a drug-related case, but on June 1 it did
just that. The conservative court ruled by a 6 to 3 margin
that in order to convict someone of operating a continuing
criminal enterprise (CCE), jurors must agree on the specific
drug offenses that were committed. The decision establishes
a badly needed due process protection for defendants accused
of operating a CCE, an offense that carries a 20-year
mandatory minimum sentence.
The case, Richardson v. United States, involved Eddie
Richardson, a.k.a. "King of all the Undertakers."
Richardson was accused of organizing a Chicago street gang
called the Undertaker Vice Lords beginning in 1970, which
reportedly distributed heroin and cocaine from 1984 to 1991.
In 1994, Richardson was charged with operating a continuing
criminal enterprise for his leadership role in the
organization.
According to federal law, a person engages in a CCE if
he/she: (1) commits "a continuing series" of federal drug
law violations; (2) is in a position of leadership with five
or more other persons in the operation; and (3) obtains
"substantial income or resources" from the violations.
At the trial, Richardson argued that the jury should be
instructed that it had to unanimously agree on which three
illegal acts constituted the series of violations that made
up the continuing criminal enterprise. The judge disagreed
and instead instructed the jury that it "must unanimously
agree that the defendant committed at least three federal
narcotics offenses," but did not have to agree as to the
particular offenses. Richardson was convicted.
Because the federal circuit courts have disagreed on the
definition of a continuing criminal enterprise, the Supreme
Court took the case. The question before the court was:
Does a jury have to unanimously agree on the specific
violations involved in the 'continuing series' of
violations, or can it simply agree that a series of
violations took place?
In the majority opinion written by Justice Breyer and joined
by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens, Scalia,
Souter, and Thomas, the Court found that a jury "must
unanimously agree not only that the defendant committed some
'continuing series of violations,' but also about which
specific 'violations' make up that 'continuing series.'"
Breyer warned that the breadth of the statute and the
federal drug laws create "dangers of unfairness" if a jury
was not required to agree on individual violations of law.
Breyer noted that the Federal Criminal Code's anti-drug
statutes consist of approximately 90 numbered sections,
which vary in degree of seriousness. "[B]y permitting a
jury to avoid discussion of the specific factual details of
each violation will cover-up wide disagreement among the
jurors about just what the defendant did, or did not, do."
In the dissenting opinion written by Justice Kennedy and
joined by Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg, Kennedy wrote that
the ruling would be "disruptive" and would make convictions
under the statute "remarkably more difficult." Justice
Breyer countered that it should not be difficult to prove
specific crimes in a continuing criminal enterprise, and if
it was difficult, "would that difficulty in proving
individual specific transactions not tend to cast doubt upon
the existence of the requisite 'series'?"
Richardson v. U.S. is case No. 97-8629.
***
5. Canada's House Declares Support for Medical Marijuana
(reprinted from the NORML Foundation, http://www.norml.org)
June 3, 1999, Ottawa, Ontario: Canada's House of Commons
passed a motion last week urging the government to "take
steps" toward approving the limited use of medical
marijuana.
Members of Parliament approved the measure, M-381, as
amended, by a 204-29 vote. The revised motion implores
health officials to develop guidelines for the medical use
of marijuana, including the establishment of clinical trials
and a legal supply.
Health Minister Allan Rock says that his office is already
exploring the issue.
MP Bernard Bigras (Bloc Quebecois-Rosemont), who sponsored
the bill, said that its passage "ensure[s] that the
government keeps its word on this question." Bigras has
repeatedly criticized Rock for his failure to follow through
on promises to introduce regulations allowing patients legal
access to medical marijuana.
Bigras' motion originally proposed the government to
undertake "all necessary steps to legalize the use of
marijuana for health and medical purposes." Bloc Party
members opposed amending it, but eventually voted for the
watered down version to put the House on record in support
of medical marijuana. Bigras emphasized that he still
favors making medical marijuana available to some patients
before the completion of new clinical trials.
"I'm sure I'll have seriously ill people coming up to me in
coming days, saying these [upcoming] clinical trials won't
give them access to marijuana for three years, so what we're
saying is we favor clinical tests but we [also] need
immediate access to the drug," Bigras said.
Rock said he will announce details of the impending trials
this month. His office has already received 26 formal
requests from patients seeking legal access to the drug.
***
6. Children and the Drug War Postcard Campaign
The November Coalition and Family Watch have produced a set
of full-color postcards, raising awareness of the
destructive impact of current drug policies on children and
families:
* Zulima's children will be in their thirties before she is
released from prison.
* Andy was sentenced to 15 years for a $90 amphetamine
offense. While in prison he was sexually assaulted. With
no counseling available, Andy took his own life.
* Jared might be alive today if his friends hadn't been
afraid to get help. By prosecuting teens for experimenting
with drug use, we make youthful experimentation even more
dangerous.
* Ken's sons will be men when he is released from prison.
One in three Black men between the ages of 20 and 29 are in
prison or under court supervision.
This moving 14-card set is available for only $8, and one
card is pre-addressed to the President of the United States.
Participate in a massive group effort and send this card
with your personal to the new President on February 15,
2001. Send the rest to your family and friends.
For info, visit http://www.november.org/PCPostCard.html,
call (509) 684-1550 or (703) 354-4002, or e-mail
tom@november.org.
***
7. Newsbriefs
CANADA: The Vancouver, BC Police Department this week
proposed installing 22 video surveillance cameras in the
Downtown Eastside, prompted by a recent increase in drug-
related crime in the community. The residents of the area
are debating if the cameras will be effective in reducing
crime and if the increased security that the police expect
the cameras will bring is worth undermining their civil
liberties. Some believe that the cameras will only displace
criminal activity and infringe upon personal privacy.
Critics of the idea do not think that cameras are the
answer. "We need more detox centers. We need more
policemen on the beat," resident Lee Donough told the
Vancouver Sun. Others contend that safe streets can justify
the loss of privacy. The installation of the video cameras
will cost area residents an estimated $400,000.
MEXICO: A report released this week by the National Drug
Intelligence Center (NDIC) charges that a prominent Mexican
family has ties to drug trafficking and money laundering.
The report says it bases its findings upon information
gathered by various federal law enforcement agencies about
Carlos Hank-Gonzales and Carlos and Jorge Hank-Rhon's
involvement in the drug trade. The family controls a multi-
billion dollar transportation, construction and financial
empire.
Carlos Hank-Gonzalez, who ended his career in politics in
1994, was mayor of Mexico City and held two positions in the
cabinet of President Carlos Salinas de Gortori. He used his
position as minister of agriculture to aid current president
Ernesto Zedillo in his election. The Hank family has denied
all allegations in the report and claims that the report is
politically motivated and designed to embarrass the Zedillo
government.
WASHINGTON, DC: The House Subcommittee on Criminal Justice,
Drug Policy, and Human Resources has announced that it will
conduct hearings on drug legalization and decriminalization
on June 16. The hearings, entitled "The Pros and Cons of
Legalizing Illegal Narcotics and Decriminalization," will be
the first specifically devoted to the issue since 1988.
Representatives from the Cato Institute, the ACLU, The
Lindesmith Center, and the Drug Policy Foundation have
reportedly been invited to speak.
***
8. EDITORIAL: Sells Like Teen Spirits
Adam J. Smith, Associate Director, ajsmith@drcnet.org
A bipartisan effort by two members of Congress to add
underage drinking to the list of terribles tackled by the
federal government's drug free America advertising campaign
ran smack into a sobering reality this week. For all the
lofty rhetoric about the welfare of our children and the
future of our nation, it turns out that the lucrative,
taxpayer-funded, Madison Avenue drug war offensive is really
driven by the same thing that drives all of the other
lucrative, taxpayer-funded drug war offensives: Money.
No sooner had the amendment been introduced by
Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) and Frank Wolf
(R-VA) than the alcohol industry, their bought and paid-for
legislators, and the Partnership For a Drug Free America
(made up of heavy hitters in the very industries --
advertising and public relations -- that the alcohol
industry enriches to the tune of some $3 billion per year)
began campaigning against it. For the sake of the children,
of course. Depending upon whom you were listening to, the
reason that the ads, now airing in 102 cities, should not
include mention of alcohol abuse is:
1. Drugs and alcohol are different and should be discussed
separately (but note that alcohol kills ten times as many
Americans per year as do all illegal drugs combined); 2.
Anti-alcohol ads would take precious air time from important
anti-"drug" ads, thus blunting the impact of those messages
to children (but note that there are already separate ads
for marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, inhalants and other
substances, and the campaign is large enough that the
government predicts that the average school-age child will
see an average of four messages per week); 3. Adding anti-
alcohol messages will make the drug czar's position
"untenable, and reduce his ability to wage the war on drugs"
(but the first goal of the administration's drug strategy is
to reduce teen use of drugs, alcohol and tobacco); or 4.
"The message about drugs is don't ever do it... that is not
the message about alcohol" (But studies show that more than
twice as many teens are using alcohol as marijuana).
To listen to this debate, one would think there is some
solid evidence that the anti-drug ad campaign, as currently
constituted, actually works. There is not. Or that there
is some evidence that the drug war is being waged in the
legitimate interests of vulnerable children. There is not.
None of which should be surprising to anyone who has taken
even a cursory look at the competing interests and the real-
world impact of our drug policies. In fact, there are
precious few drug war strategies that do not carry the
stench of profiteering off of the misery of families and the
scaling back of constitutional freedoms by opportunistic
corporate interests and the politicians they own.
Construction firms, the private prison industry, prison
guards unions and the various sectors that service the
institutions are realizing enormous profits. As in the
defense industry, which arms and outfits the US military and
which, since President Clinton lifted a long-term ban on
their export there, once again has a Latin American market
for its high-tech weaponry. The drug testing industry,
which stands to benefit directly from new federal subsidies
to small and mid-sized businesses that institute testing
programs, is also raking it in. All are big political
donors. And that partial list doesn't even begin to account
for the entities that are profiting from the drug war
illegally, including the banking sector which has profited
handsomely from the laundering of hundreds of billions of
dollars in illicit drug profits.
Sandee Burbank of Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse says that
what our kids -- and the rest of us -- really need is a
national consumer-safety campaign involving all substances.
That campaign, she says, ought to be based on science,
information and common-sense, as opposed to politics and
scare-tactics, without regard to a drug's legal status.
Aspirin, after all, kills more than a thousand Americans
every year, while marijuana has never been directly
implicated in a single human death, from its pharmacological
effects.
In the end, the tempest over adding warnings about underage
drinking to the government's boondoggle ad campaign is
illustrative of the real engine that is driving our nation's
drug policy: Profits. How else to explain the expenditure
of hundreds of billions of tax dollars, and the destruction
of a generation of poor young men, and the wholesale
rollback of individual liberties and the militarization of
American law enforcement, balanced against our failure to
create a single drug-free high school, much less a drug-free
America? The politicians swear they are doing it all for
the children, and perhaps in a limited sense they are
telling the truth. After all, it's probably pretty cool
when your dad raises enough money to win reelection.
***
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
DrugSense Weekly, No. 100 (The original summary of drug policy news from
DrugSense opens with the weekly Feature Article - How to be a MAP NewsHawk,
by Richard Lake of the Media Awareness Project. The Weekly News in Review
features several articles about Drug Policy, including - 'Zero tolerance'
comes up short; Opposition to plan to test welfare applicants for drugs;
Putting alcohol in ads on drugs is resisted; The heroin prescribing debate -
integrating science and politics; and, Marcia Hood-Brown. Articles about Law
Enforcement & Prisons include - A crime against women; Why your child could
wind up in jail; Rush to vengeance; and, Swing and a miss on 'three strikes'.
An editorial about Cannabis & Hemp is titled - Medical research on marijuana
right. International News includes - Ministers pledge to halve UK drug abuse;
UK: What a waste as drugs tsar publishes his first annual audit; UK: War the
enforcer can't win; Canada: Money laundering targeted; Canada: Drug policy
called 'bad joke'; Canada: Ottawa looking for steady supply of dope; Canada
grows more pot than parsley; and, China: With the needle came AIDS. The
weekly Hot Off The 'Net features updated contact info for Redbook and
Glamour, two mainstream magazines that present a pro reform slant; plus the
updated Kubby Files web pages. A new feature, the Reform Cartoon of the Week,
features the work of Grady Roper of Texas. The Quote of the Week cites
Heinrich Heine.)
From: webmaster@drugsense.org (DrugSense)
To: newsletter@drugsense.org
Subject: DrugSense Weekly, June 4, 1999, #100
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 08:55:05 -0700
Organization: DrugSense http://www.drugsense.org/
Lines: 972
Sender: owner-newsletter@drugsense.org
***
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
***
DrugSense Weekly, June 4, 1999 #100
A DrugSense publication http://www.drugsense.org/
Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, DONATE OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE
SEE THE INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS NEWSLETTER
Please consider writing a letter to the editor using the email
addresses on any of the articles below. Send a copy of your LTE to
MGreer@mapinc.org
***
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* Feature Article
How to be a MAP NewsHawk
By Richard Lake Senior Editor of the DrugNews Archive and Service
* Weekly News in Review
Drug Policy-
(1) OPED: 'Zero Tolerance' Comes Up Short
(2) Opposition to Plan to Test Welfare Applicants for Drugs
(3) Putting Alcohol in Ads On Drugs is Resisted
(4) The Heroin Prescribing Debate - Integrating Science and Politics
(5) Marcia Hood-Brown
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
(6) A Crime Against Women
(7) Why Your Child Could Wind Up in Jail
(8) Rush to Vengeance
(9) Swing and a Miss on 'Three Strikes'
Cannabis & Hemp-
(10) Editorial: Medical Research on Marijuana Right
International News-
(11) Ministers Pledge to Halve UK Drug Abuse
(12) UK: What A Waste As Drugs Tsar Publishes His First Annual Audit
(13) UK: War The Enforcer Can't Win
(14) Canada: Money Laundering Targeted
(15) Canada: Drug Policy Called 'Bad Joke'
(16) Canada: Ottawa Looking for Steady Supply Of Dope
(17) Canada Grows More Pot Than Parsley
(18) China: With the Needle Came AIDS
* Hot Off The 'Net
2 Mainstream Magazines Present a Pro Reform Slant
Updated Contact info for Redbook and Glamour Magazines
The Kubby Files - Updated Web pages
* Reform Cartoon of the Week
Grady Roper
* Quote of the Week
Heinrich Heine
***
FEATURE ARTICLE
***
How to be a MAP NewsHawk
By Richard Lake - Senior Editor of the DrugNews Archive and Service
You can help MAP by sending drug-related articles you find to our
clipping service. We are interested in recent articles related to licit
and illicit drugs and drug policy. The editorial slant of the article
is not important. It may be for drug policy reform, against drug policy
reform or neutral. Before sending in an article, please ask yourself;
Has the article been sent in yet? There is no point in wasting your
time.
Check the on-line archive, http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ for the
most recent articles we have posted. Check the coming soon page,
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/latest.htm for recently submitted
articles soon to be posted.
Is the article relevant to drugs and drug policy?
This can be a tough call but try to remember that our clipping service
is used by some very busy people. Sadly, small time busts for drug
possession are so common we do not have the ability to post every
article reporting minor drug busts. There are many side issues to drug
policy such as prison reform, discrimination, constitutional
interpretation, police corruption and so on, but again, we have to draw
a line somewhere. Look over the subjects in the on-line archive to see
what we have in mind. Would a busy drug policy professional be
interested?
Was the article published by a third party? We do not accept press
releases, newsletters and unpublished articles. Web-only publications
are considered on a case-by-case basis. Below is some basic information
on how to post items to editor@mapinc.org to minimize the workload of
our editing team. If you are sending your article to another Email
address or mailing list, please use the Bcc: address field for
editor@mapinc.org. This prevents replies and letters from being sent to
the editing team. Please use the headline of the article for the
Subject of your E-mail. News items sent to editor@mapinc.org should
have a blank line between paragraphs. If you cut and paste an article
from a web site into your E-mail message, and the article is single
spaced, please go through the article and add a blank line between
paragraphs before you send it. Please include the following information
at the top of the article in the following format and order. Example
One:
NewsHawk: Don Topping
Pubdate: Wed, 01 Apr 1998
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Contact: letters@starbulletin.com
Copyright: 1998 Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Website: http://www.starbulletin.com/
Author: Helen Altonn
LEGISLATORS DECLINE TO ASK CONGRESS FOR MARIJUANA Rx
Example Two:
NewsHawk: Jim Rosenfield
Pubdate: Tue, 31 Mar 1998
Source: Los Angeles Times, San Fernando Valley Edition
Contact: letters@latimes.com
Copyright: 1998 Los Angeles Times.
Fax: 213-237-4712
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Author: Hugo Martin, Times Staff Writer
None of this information is obligatory but if you have it, please pass
it along. The NewsHawk: field must be the first one in the list. If you
do not provide a NewsHawk: field, we will use the username from your
return E-mail address. If you do not want us to use your name or E-mail
address, be sure to provide a NewsHawk: field containing your alias,
handle or the word "Anonymous" The Source: field should contain the
full name of the source newspaper or magazine. Not an abbreviation like
N.Y.T. We appreciate it if Newshawks supply as many of the other items
as possible. Do not send HTML or encoded attachments. We do not have
the time to strip hyper text formatting instructions or decode
articles. Please send plain text. There is more to it than the above,
but if just these three things are done well when you post articles to
editor@mapinc.org our workload will be reduced. Please drop me a note
if you have any questions about Newshawking.
Thanks! It is only through the dedicated volunteer efforts of our
worldwide network of NewsHawks that we can continue to keep the reform
movement aware and informed on all current drug policy news.
Richard Lake
Senior Editor
***
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
***
Drug Policy-
***
COMMENT: (1-2)
Week after week, drug policy ironies abound; this week was no
exception. Despite growing disenchantment with all variations of
'zero tolerance,' its utopian goals are still ardently pursued by
politicians at considerable expense- not only to taxpayers- but to
those unable to defend themselves- school children and welfare
recipients, for example.
(1) OPED: '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.
[snip]
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 at Penn State. Mr. Baumbarger is a research associate at the
center.
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n576.a06.html
***
(2) 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.
[snip]
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
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n575.a04.html
***
COMMENT (3)
Despite prior acknowledgement by McCzar that alcohol is a major part
of the drug problems faced by juveniles, ONDCP and PDFA strained
credulity to explain their fierce opposition to its inclusion in
ONDCP's expensive, highly touted (and still unproven) ad blitz against
illegal drugs.
(3) 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.
[snip]
"It's the biggest drug abuse problem for adolescents, and it's linked
to the use of other, illegal drugs," he (McCaffrey) 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.
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
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n579.a02.html
***
COMMENT (4-5)
Although paying lip service to "treatment," our government also
remains fiercely opposed to heroin maintenance; grudging and highly
restricted use of methadone maintenance seems as far as it's willing
to go.
The global explosion of cheap, pure heroin is shattering overdose
records around the country- not just in Plano. Nevertheless, it's
being ignored by ONDCP, which is busy touting fewer (casual) drug
users as evidence of the "success" of US policy and simply can't deal
with the reality of the heroin surge.
(4) THE HEROIN PRESCRIBING DEBATE - INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND POLITICS
Heroin is abused in almost all countries. It is estimated that about 8
million people (0.14% of the world's population) use heroin each year
(1). Of the illegal drugs, it is associated with the highest mortality
and most emergency room episodes, and so is arguably the most
problematic from a health perspective (1). Along with prevention and
law enforcement strategies, treatment is an essential tool for reducing
illicit heroin use and its resulting problems.
The ultimate goal of treatment is to help those affected overcome
dependence and be fully reintegrated into society.
[snip]
Randomized studies showed that injectable heroin was superior to both
injectable morphine and injectable methadone in attracting the target
group, preventing premature treatment dropout, and reducing illegal
drug use.
Participants in this study showed substantial improvements in health
and well-being and very pronounced reductions in crime. ...
[snip]
Pubdate: 01 May 1999
Source: Science, vol284, no5418, pp1277-1278
Contact: letters@starbulletin.com
Copyright: science_letters@aaas.org
Website: http://www.scienceonline.org/
Authors: Gabriele Bammer, Anja Dobler-Mikola, Philip M. Fleming, John
Strang, Ambros Uchtenhagen
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n571.a03.html
***
(5) MARCIA HOOD-BROWN
1983 - Graduates from Jefferson High School
1991 - Wins fellowship to Brandeis University
1993 - Starts teaching at Portland State University
1997 - Awarded doctorate from Brandeis
1999 - Dies of heroin overdose at age 33
In the fall of 1997, Marcia Hood-Brown had the world on a string. She
had just finished her doctorate in sociology from Brandeis University.
She was respected, even revered, by her students at Portland State
University. She had landed a coveted postdoctoral position doing
research for the federal government. She was a brilliant scholar, an
eloquent writer and a beautiful woman.
She was also a junkie.
[snip]
DEATHS FROM HEROIN OVERDOSE IN MULTNOMAH COUNTY
[Graph represented here by text]
1989 33 ===
1990 40 ====
1991 10 =
1992 31 ===
1993 49 ====
1994 69 ======
1995 76 =======
1996 94 =========
1997 97 =========
1998 102 ==========
1999 162 ================
1999 Projected figure
Source: Multnomah County Medical Examiner's Office
Pubdate: Wed, May 26 1999
Source: Willamette Week (OR)
Contact: mzusman@wweek.com
Address: 822 SW 10th Ave.,
Portland, OR 97205
Fax: (503) 243-1115
Website: http://www.wweek.com/
Author: Chris Lydgate (clydgate@wweek.com)
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n571.a06.html
***
Law Enforcement & Prisons
***
COMMENT: (6-7)
Prison issues continued to stimulate considerable direct and indirect
criticism of US drug policy; last week, long magazine articles on the
subject appeared in two unexpected sources; both voiced strong
criticism of the status quo.
(6) A CRIME AGAINST WOMEN
You Be the Jury: Does This Woman Deserve To Be Locked Up For 24 Years?
A Harsh Law Punishes Women Unjustly And Lets Drug Lords Off Easy.
Amy Pofahl's drug-kingpin husband cut a deal that dumped her in prison
for a quarter century - and freed him after four years. Glamour
investigates how she and thousands of other women guilty of relatively
minor crimes end up doing more time than men due to a controversial
federal law.
HERE IS AN INTENSE CALIFORNIA SUN on the morning. I pass the two rows
of gleaming razor wire, the metal-detector arch, the armed guards and
two vault-like doors before arriving at a brick patio inside FCI
Dublin, a low-security womens' federal correctional institution outside
of Oakland. Amy Pofahl stands on the other side of the terrace, her
feet next to a patch of pansies with a sign stuck in it that reads, "No
Inmates Allowed Beyond This Point."
[snip]
Source: Glamour
Copyright: 1999 Conde' Nast Publications, Inc. Pubdate: June 1999
Contact: Letters@Glamour.com
Fax: (212) 880-6922
Mail: Glamour, 350 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10017
Websites: http://www.swoon.com/ http://www.phys.com/
Criminal Justice Policy Foundation http://www.cjpf.org/
The Sentencing Project http://www.sentencingproject.org
Families Against Mandatory Minimums http://www.famm.org/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n581.a01.html
***
(7) WHY YOUR CHILD COULD WIND UP IN JAIL
Parents Who Are Shocked To Learn That Their Kids Are Hooked On Drugs
Are Even More Shocked By What Happens When They Cry For Help.
Treat Or Punish? Do The Math
For every three Americans in treatment, another six need help but can't
get it. Only about a sixth of all prisoners who urgently need
treatment receive it, and the treatment they do receive is inadequate.
Annual cost to incarcerate one addict: $25,900. Annual cost to provide
long-term residential treatment for one addict: $6,800. Cost to
decrease U.S. cocaine consumption 1 percent by eradicating sources of
supply: $783 million. Cost to decrease cocaine consumption 1 percent
by increasing drug treatment: $34 million. Tax payer savings for every
$1 invested in drug Treatment: $7.46. How much your insurance premium
might go up if treatment for addiction were covered equally With other
illnesses: 0.2%.
***
Imagine that your child has a potentially fatal disease that's eating
him alive.
Now imagine that the only way to get him the treatment he needs is to
have him thrown in jail.
[snip]
Whatever the scientific evidence, addiction still looks to many
Americans more like a crime than a disease. Of the $17 billion federal
anti-drug budget, only 20 percent is spent to help people stop using
drugs; most of the rest goes to law enforcement. Drug arrests have
pushed the U.S. jail and prison population to over 1.8 million people,
of whom an estimated 1.2 million are alcohol or drug abusers. Few of
these people are violent, high-level dealers: More than 90 percent of
all drug arrests are of nonviolent offenders guilty only of possession
or of dealing small quantities to support their own habits.
[snip]
Source: REDBOOK
Copyright: 1999 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: redbook@hearst.com
Mail: 224 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
Website: http://www.redbookmag.com/
Fax: (212) 247-1086
Pubdate: June, 1999
Author: Tessa Decarlo
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n556.a09.html
***
COMMENT (8-9)
The previous week had seen failure of promising efforts to soften New
York's onerous Rockefeller drug laws. On the Left Coast, California's
"Three Strikes" law, although of more recent origin, has already
filled a crowded prison system beyond capacity.
This week, a documentary expose of the political frenzy which helped
pass Three Strikes is being aired nationally and although reform
legislation was shelved, continuing furor over the size of
California's prisons guarantees it will come up again.
(8) 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."
[snip]
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.
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
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n580.a07.html
***
(9) SWING AND A MISS ON 'THREE STRIKES'
Prospects for serious reform of California's Draconian "Three Strikes"
law appear dim, at least for this year. Santa Monica Democratic Sen.
Tom Hayden's S.B. 79, which would require that a third "strike" would
have to be a serious or violent felony (rather than any felony) to
merit a 25-years-to-life sentence, is languishing and will probably not
be brought up for a full Senate vote this year.
[snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 27 May 1999
Source: Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 1999 San Luis Obispo County Telegram-Tribune
Contact: wgroshong@telegram-tribune.com
Address: P.O. Box 112, San Luis Obispo, CA 93406-0112
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Note: Original: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n552.a11.html
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n572.a09.html
***
Cannabis & Hemp
***
COMMENT: (10)
In a week that produced far less Cannabis-related news than usual; the
conservative San Antonio Express expressed (what else?) satisfaction
at the decision to provide Cannabis for research; it should be added
that those who have sampled the government's 'research-grade' product
have a uniformly low opinion of its 'consistency, purity and quality,'
but hey - who's complaining?
(10) EDITORIAL: MEDICAL RESEARCH ON MARIJUANA RIGHT
The Clinton administration has eased restrictions on obtaining
marijuana for medical research.
The decision was sound and should allow scientists to gain important
knowledge about the drug. Enough evidence about the positive medicinal
effects of the drug exists to justify more scientific examination.
[snip]
Supported by the White House Office of National Drug Policy, the new
guidelines will allow scientists easier access to research-grade
marijuana grown on government lands, according to the AP.
The new rules will help ensure the consistency, purity and quality of
the marijuana used in research.
[snip]
Pubdate: Sat, 29 May 1999
Source: San Antonio Express-News (TX)
Copyright: 1999 San Antonio Express-News
Contact: letters@express-news.net
Website: http://www.expressnews.com/
Forum: http://data.express-news.net:2080/eshare/server?action4
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n585.a05.html
***
International News
***
COMMENT: (11-13)
An expanded International section reflects that nearly half of the
articles sent to the archives last week originated in the UK and
Canada.
The uncanny resemblance in the rhetoric of Tony Blair's government to
that of the Clinton Administration was echoed in long range plans
announced by British Drug Czar Keith Hellawell.
Britain's treatment mafia also predictably weighed in with a demand
for a bigger slice of the pie; its criticism of government methods was
noticeably sharper than those usually voiced in the US.
What was very different was the outright derision with which some
skeptical UK media greeted this "Mission Impossible." The Scotsman
called for legalization of "soft drugs" first, and possibly all drugs
later on.
***
(11) MINISTERS PLEDGE TO HALVE UK DRUG ABUSE
AN ambitious programme drastically to reduce heroin and cocaine abuse,
stop schoolchildren taking drugs, and wean addicts away from their
criminal lifestyles, was unveiled by the Government yesterday.
The strategy for the next decade concentrates on treating users at
clinics and rehabilitation centres rather than punishing them in jail.
[snip]
Drugs agencies, however, were startled at the scale of the targets set
by the Government and questioned whether the proposals were feasible
without massive additional funding. The issue was further thrown into
confusion when it emerged at the launch of the national strategy that
the Government had not compiled statistics to measure its strategy
against. It will therefore be impossible to calculate whether the cuts
promised have been successful.
[snip]
Source: Independent, The (UK)
Copyright: 1999 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact: letters@independent.co.uk
Address: 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Author: Jason Bennetto Crime Correspondent
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n559.a01.html
***
(12) UK: WHAT A WASTE AS DRUGS TSAR PUBLISHES HIS FIRST ANNUAL AUDIT
Howard Parker Argues That Millions Have Been Poured Down The Drain On
Prevention And Enforcement Rather Than Treatment
There are few public service sectors left which are not now subject to
routine audit and inspection. Each service has mission statements,
charters, performance indicators and effectiveness reviews. Most are
published and public debate is routine. Best value has even found its
way into local authority services.
Yet one burgeoning service industry, drugs interventions - through
prevention, enforcement and treatment - remains largely unaccountable.
[snip]
The coming shortfall in treatment provision could have been avoided but
for misplaced faith in prevention and enforcement. The overall budget
is biased against treatment, even though we know what works, because
the other two sectors are generously funded for political, not
proficiency, reasons. The rhetoric says we must educate our children
from the nursery to resist drugs and we must lock up the dealers of
death and throw away the key.
[snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 26 May 1999
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Media Group 1999
Contact: letters@guardian.co.uk
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Author: Howard Parker, Professor-Social Policy and Social work at
Manchester University; Director, Drugs Research Centre
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n560.a10.html
***
(13) UK: WAR THE ENFORCER CAN'T WIN
The new drive against drugs will actually do more harm than good, says
Edward Pearce. A different approach is needed - and we could start by
legalising soft drugs
In seeking to limit availability, "our aim is to reduce access to all
drugs amongst young people significantly, and to reduce access to all
drugs which cause the greatest harm, particularly heroin and cocaine,
by 25 per cent by 2005 and by 50 per cent by 2008".
The words, precise in the way of the silliest undertakings, are those
of Dr Jack Cunningham, not altogether a bad chap, not really the idiot
he is making himself here on behalf of a collective Cabinet idiocy. But
he is proclaiming the Blair Government's latest contribution to the
profits of drug dealing and making, amid the cumulus of futile
aspiration, one verifiably wrong statement....
[snip]
So what should we do now that Blairism in all its argument-proof
prissiness never will? Refusing any longer to do what we cannot
usefully do, we legalise soft drugs. We expand widely on the field
experiments of the two Drs Marks who have been guiding patients to
legally supplied hard drugs, to monitor how people will cope who rely
on drugs but not on criminal suppliers. If, over two years, those tests
validate the point that life improves with lawful regularity, we should
proceed to the legalisation of all drugs.
Pubdate: 27 May 1999
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 1999
Contact: Letters_ts@scotsman.com
Website: http://www.scotsman.com/
Forum: http://www.scotsman.com/
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n563.a01.html
***
COMMENT (14-15)
In overall policy Canada continued its pale imitation of the Draconian
American drug war by floating a scheme to combat money laundering
reminiscent of our unmourned "Know Your Customer" fiasco.
The Calgary Sun revealed that Canadians and Americans are equally
unsuccessful at keeping their prisons drug free.
***
(14) CANADA: MONEY LAUNDERING TARGETED
Tough Law Would Disclose Large Bank Transactions
A tough law on money laundering that will require the reporting of
suspicious transactions of $10,000 or more is expected to be introduced
in the House of Commons as early as today, sources say.
[snip]
Bankers are ready to co-operate, an official said.
"It has been long awaited by the banking industry," Gene McLean,
director of security for the Canadian Bankers Association, said
yesterday.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 28 May 1999
Source: Toronto Star (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, The Toronto Star
Contact: lettertoed@thestar.com
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Author: Dale Anne Freed, Toronto Star Staff Reporter
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n569.a01.html
***
(15) CANADA: DRUG POLICY CALLED 'BAD JOKE'
OTTAWA --It's just as easy to get crack, cocaine, heroine and pot
inside federal prisons as it is on the outside, Reform charged
yesterday after calling zero-tolerance policies a "bad joke."
Reform MP Randy White said a national inmate survey obtained through
access laws shows 1,300 of 15,000 federal inmates used crack or cocaine
daily. Another 1,300 admitted using heroine and 5,400 use marijuana.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 1 Jun 1999
Source: Calgary Sun (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact: callet@sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.ca/CalgarySun/
Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n586.a07.html
***
COMMENT: (16-17)
One policy area where Canada is way ahead of the US is legalization of
medical Cannabis at the federal level (where it must be done in
Canada). That doesn't mean the pace hasn't been glacial- Health
Minister Rock's dithering over sources of Cannabis for research looked
particularly silly next to articles detailing the scale of Canada's
present illegal production.
(16) CANADA: OTTAWA LOOKING FOR STEADY SUPPLY OF DOPE
Federal government may have to grow its own marijuana for clinical
tests on whether drug helps patients
Ottawa -- The federal government is having trouble getting a supply of
marijuana for forthcoming clinical trials on medicinal uses for the
drug, so it may have to resort to growing its own.
"I think we are up to it as a nation, aren't we?" Health Minister Allan
Rock said yesterday after a meeting of the Commons health committee
where the issue was discussed.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 28 May 1999
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 1999, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Forum: http://forums.theglobeandmail.com/
Author: Anne McIlroy, Parliamentary Bureau
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n568.a10.html
***
(17) CANADA GROWS MORE POT THAN PARSLEY
More marijuana was grown in Canada last year than parsley, with the
criminal crop increasingly taking root in Ontario and Quebec. And it
has become a "major problem" in Alberta, said RCMP Staff Sgt. Birnie
Smith, Calgary drug section commander. Some observers claim Alberta is
third only to British Columbia and Ontario for the quantity produced.
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 28 May 1999
Source: Calgary Herald (Canada)
Contact: letters@theherald.southam.ca
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Author: Mario Toneguzzi and Ian MacLeod
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n581.a01.html
***
COMMENT: (18)
Drug prohibition as a national policy began in late 18th Century China
when the Emperor became alarmed by the British opium trade. As the
next article (by way of Germany) indicates, the policy has proven no
more successful over the ensuing 200-plus years.
(18) CHINA: WITH THE NEEDLE CAME AIDS
Consumption Of Narcotics Was Believed To Have Vanished- Now Addiction
Is Spreading Fast
For a long time, the Chinese thought of drugs as merely a historical
issue-having to do with the Opium Wars against the British. Nowadays,
though, disco-goers are popping "head-shaker pills" (Ecstasy), young
artists and business people are smoking marijuana, rock musicians and
in some places even students are shooting heroin. And entire shiploads
of drugs from neighboring countries are secretly making their way into
China.
[snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 18 May 1999
Source: Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany)
Contact: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/service/leser/leserbrief.htm
Website: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/
Author: Kai Strittmatter
Note: Translation by newshawk (Keith Sanders)
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n568.a09.html
***
HOT OFF THE 'NET
***
2 Mainstream Magazines Present a Pro Reform Slant
The extremely important Redbook and Glamour articles referenced above
represent major wins for reform. Such pro reform articles in these
mainstream publications (with a combined circulation of 5.5 million
subscribers) are further indication of the significant inroads the
reform movement is making in educating and influencing the media and
thereby the public.
We conducted a Focus Alert on these articles earlier this week but if
you haven't already done so please consider writing a short letter of
encouragement to these important magazines.
Redbook Contact: redbook@hearst.com
Glamour Contact: Letters@Glamour.com
Bill Perry suggests:
Letters can also be posted to Galmour at their web site below.
"Let's come at them from all fronts!"
http://www.glamour.com/editors.html
***
The Kubby Files - Updated Web pages
The all new Java-powered web site,"THE KUBBY FILES," is on-line now
at: http://www.kubby.com/
***
REFORM CARTOON OF THE WEEK
***
Grady Roper writes:
I have drawn a piece of comictary in response to my local narcotics
task force gunning down a local resident here in Hays County, Texas. The
story I tell is not that of Rusty Windle's, but a depiction of the fear
I have of being murdered in my own back yard... it can be viewed at my
FTP site: ftp://ftp.sanmarcos.net/drugwar.jpg
***
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
***
"In these times we fight for ideas, and newspapers are our fortresses"
-- Heinrich Heine
***
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We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, Newshawks and letter
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NOTICE:
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***
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[End]
to the 1999 Daily News index for June 4-10