1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
January 8-14

Thursday, January 8, 1998:
• NORML Weekly News Release (Smoke A Joint, Lose A Limb? Pending Mississippi Bill Threatens Dismemberment For Convicted Drug Violators; CASA Prison Study Reaffirms That Marijuana Plays No Role In Violent Crime; ACLU Argues For Change In Ballot Title For Upcoming Marijuana Measure; House Speaker Calls For Increased War On Drugs; Former NORML Head Launches On-Line Magazine)
• Eighty Percent Of Crimes Are Drug-Related ('Reuters' Report On New CASA Study Downplays Its Emphasis On The Harm Associated With Alcohol Compared To Other Drugs)
• Drug, Alcohol Abuse Helps Triple Prison Population ('Associated Press' On Unnamed 281-Page CASA Report - 1.4 Million Americans With 2 Million Children Incarcerated For Alcohol, Other Drugs - 1 Million Just In State Prisons)
• Army Troops, Construction Crews Ready Anti-Drug Effort On Border (US Military Is Moving Construction Equipment And More Than 500 Soldiers To San Antonio, Texas)
• Lungren's Put-Down Of GOP Rival Dennis Peron Fails Test (Letter To Editor Of 'San Francisco Examiner' Says Lungren Abandons Republican Principles With Threat To Close California Cannabis Dispensaries)
• Ammiano To Host Medical Pot Meeting (City/County Supervisor And Harvey Milk Democratic Club Sponsor A San Francisco 'Town Hall' Meeting January 24 On Status Of 11362.5, With Police Chief Fred Lau And District Attorney Terence Hallinan)
• Sheriff Pulls Deputies From Narcotics Detail (San Luis Obispo Sheriff Relocates Three Deputies On County's 'Narcotic' Task Force Pending Outcome Of California Department Of Justice Investigation)
• 'Weed,' The Movie, Gets Northwest Premiere February 20 In Seattle (Documentary By Doug Wolens Filmed At 8th Annual Cannabis Cup In Amsterdam)
• Editorial - Worshipping In The Cult Of Irresponsibility ('Financial Times' Diatribe, On The Occasion Of Chris Farley's Death, Against 'Immoral' Actors Using Illegal Drugs)
• Conflict Of Interest Between Doctors And Pharmaceutical Companies Proven By 'New England Journal Of Medicine' Report
• Police Close 'Drug Factory' (Undercover Police In Paterson, NJ, Chase Suspect Who Gets Away, But Find 'Upscale Drug Factory' With Cocaine And Heroin Said To Be Worth $60,000 On Street)
• Addict Charged With Murder (Texas Police Say The Accused Is Addicted To Smoking Fly, A Mixture Of Marijuana And Embalming Fluid)
• Caller Calls Paper To Claim Drugs (Dumbass Of The Year, And It's Only January)
• Cincinnati Businessman Convicted Of Drug Charges In New Zealand (Successful President Of United Dairy Farmers Arrested With Wife, Three Kids, Cannabis, Cocaine, Enters Rehab, Escapes Usual Two-Year Term Citizens Get)
• Barczak Retires As County Clerk Of Circuit Court (Man Who Served Decade In Wisconsin Assembly Before Becoming A Milwaukee Court Official Retires Early After He's Charged With Buying 12 Grams Of Crack From An Informant)
• Juror Smoked Pot with Defendants, Then Convicted Them (As A Result, At Least One Of The Two West Virginian Men Still In Prison Is Attempting To Put Aside The 1993 Verdict)
• Sharp Unveils Wide-Ranging Anti-Crime Plan (Democratic Texas Candidate For Lieutenant Governor Wants Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers)
• Sharp Proposes Anti-Crime Plan, GOP's Perry Says Ideas Echo His Own ('Dallas Morning News' Version)
• Parents Ignoring Marijuana Problem, Research Shows ('St. Paul Pioneer Press' Documents That Some 'Doctors' In Minnesota Don't Know The Difference Between Propaganda And Peer-Reviewed Research)
• Can A DEA Agent Spell H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E? (Pharmacist's Letter To Editor Of 'Rocky Mountain News' Ridicules DEA Agents Who Admit Celebrating Busts With 'Stiff Drinks')
• Prohibition Doesn't Work (Letter To Editor Of 'Boulder Weekly' Deflates WOD Assumptions - 'When A Trafficker Goes Down, The Market Doesn't Even Blink Because People Are Literally Killing And Dying To Get Into The Drug Trade')
• Another Look At Methadone Maintenance (Op-Ed Writer Says San Francisco Supervisor Gavin Newsom Is Right To Call For Changing Federal Regulations To Allow Private Physicians To Prescribe Methadone To Heroin Addicts)
• Group Reunites To Keep E. Palo Alto Streets Clean (Supposedly, The Same Tactics Of Harassing Suspicious Young People Put A Lid On Drug Sales In 1993 - With Help From Police In East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, The California Highway Patrol, And The Sheriff's Office)
• Oakland Firm Admits Tobacco Plot (DNA Plant Technology Plans Guilty Plea To Single Misdemeanor Count Of Conspiring To Export Without A Permit High-Nicotine 'Fumo Louco' Tobacco Seeds, Illegal To Grow In The United States)
• Official Compares Boot Camp To Gang Recruitment Centre (Ontario Considers 'Beefing Up' Its Juvenile Justice System)
• New Tack In War On Drugs (Australian State's $160,000 Scheme Will Send 'Mod Squads' Of Drug Counsellors Ages 16-22 To Rock Concerts, Nightclubs And Surfing Carnivals)
• Hard Laws Lead To Hard Drugs ('London Times' Columnist Responds To Tory Leader William Hague's Contention That He Saw Cannabis 'Wrecking The Lives' Of Fellow Undergraduates At Oxford With Her Own Account Of The Same Class)
• Evidence Supports Legalisation (Letter To The Editor Of Britain's 'Evening News' Responds To Home Secretary Jack Straw's Condition For Reform, That Evidence Must Show Cannabis Is Not Dangerous)
• Cannabis Trials (MP's Letter To 'The Independent' Explains Chicken-And-Egg Obstacles To Use Of Marijuana As Medicine In Britain; Another Letter Evidences Use Of Marijuana To Lift Depression From Flu, In Spain)
• An Unjust Law On Cannabis (Letter To The Editor Of Britain's 'Evening News' Examines Absurdities In Cannabis Laws, Exemplified By The Arrest Of Home Secretary Jack Straw's Son)
• Gardai To Consider Drugs Test Breathalyser (Irish Police Assume Cannabis Use By Drivers Must Be A Hazard, Consider Pot Breathalyser To End The Scourge)
  Bytes: 112,000 Last updated: 1/23/98
  

  Friday, January 9, 1998:

• Alert - Feds Planning To Close Buyers Clubs (US Attorney In San Francisco Expected To Issue Decree Closing All Dispensaries In California)
• Details Of Fed Action To Close Clubs (Update Says US Attorney Michael J. Yamaguchi Plans To Seek Injunctions)
• US Department Of Justice Press Release Announces Lawsuits Against Six California Cannabis Groups (Image File Posted Elsewhere)
• Yamaguchi Statement - Suit To Close Cannabis Clubs (Text Of Press Release From US Department Of Justice)
• War On Patients To Escalate - Federal Government Announces Plan To Raid Cannabis Buyers' Clubs (Marijuana Policy Project Press Release)
• Clinton Administration Sues Six Marijuana Clubs ('San Jose Mercury News' Notes Last May, A US Judge Blocked Federal Officials From Prosecuting California Doctors, But That Ruling Did Not Stop The Feds From Going After Patients And Their Caregivers)
• US Moves To Shut Down California Marijuana Clubs (Version From 'Reuters')
• NORML Opposes Federal Suit To Close California's Medical Marijuana Clubs (California NORML Rebuts The Feds' Specious Excuses And Pledges To Support Legal Efforts To Oppose The Lawsuits)
• CASA Report On C-SPAN (McCaffrey And Califano Hint At Sea-Change In US Policy - Incarceration For Drugs 'A Failed Social Policy')
• Full Text Of CASA Report On C-SPAN Online
• CASA Converted? (Assessment Of CASA Press Conference By Mark Greer Of Media Awareness Project)
• A Christmas Miracle? (Another Account Of CASA Press Conference Reports McCaffrey And Califano All But Admitting The Drug War Has Been A Complete Failure, Announcing A 'Second Front In The War On Crime')
• More On New Tack By CASA, McCaffrey And Califano (Where To Look For Transcript Of Report By Public Broadcasting's 'NewsHour With Jim Lehrer' )
• Califano Sees Some Light (Untitled 'Associated Press' Wire Story On The CASA News Conference)
• Alcohol Or Drug Link Found In 80 Percent Of US Prisoners ('New York Times' Version Of CASA, Califano And McCaffrey Story)
• Study Links Drugs To 80 Percent Of Incarcerations ('USA Today' Version Of CASA Report Notes By 2000, One Out Of 20 US Residents Will Spend Time In Jail, Including One Out Of 11 Men And One Out Of Four Black Men)
• Congressional Panel Releases Documents Linking Tobacco Companies And Scientists ('Chronicle Of Higher Education' Reports The Documents Reveal Many Studies That Have Been Widely Assumed To Be Valid Were Quietly Funded By Tobacco Companies, Were Not Peer Reviewed And Were Designed To Understate The Dangers Of Smoking)
• Colleges Eye Restrictions On Promotions By Brewing Companies ('The Chronicle Of Higher Education' Reports Administrators On Campuses Across The US Are Reconsidering Lucrative Relationships Between Their Athletic Departments And The Alcoholic-Beverage Industry)
• Drug Prohibition To Blame (Letter To Editor Of 'Houston Chronicle' Rebuts Paper's Opinion That Drugs Are Destroying American Users While Corrupting Law Enforcement And Politicians)
• Judicial High In California - By William F. Buckley, Jr. (The Conservative Columnist Thinks The DEA Overstepped In Stealing The Computer Of Millionaire Author And Medical-Marijuana Patient Peter McWilliams)
• Washington A Test Market For Anti-Drug Ads ('Washington Post' Notes The Federal Government Is Funding An Anti-Drug Series Of Television Ads Debuting In Washington, DC)
• Marijuana Clogs Lungs With Tar (Letter To Editor Of 'Toronto Star' Cites Evidence Disproving Contention Of Canadian Council On Drug Abuse)
• Marijuana-Growing Causes Fire ('Not Uncommon For Us To Find Marijuana At A Fire, But It Is Unusual To Find An Operation Of This Scale,' Says Firefighter In London, Ontario, According To 'London Free Press')
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 24 (Weekly News From The Drug Reform Coordination Network)
  Bytes: 123,000 Last updated: 5/10/98
  

  Saturday, January 10, 1998:

• California Pot Clubs Targeted - US Files Lawsuit To Close Centers ('San Francisco Chronicle' Observes, 'By Declaring That Any Marijuana Use For Medical Purposes Is Illegal, The Clinton Administration Is Directly Challenging California Voters,' More Of Whom Voted For Proposition 215 Than For Clinton; Also, Lungren Delays Plans To Raid Dennis Peron's Club On January 12)
• US Attorney Files Suits To Close Cannabis Clubs ('Sacramento Bee' Notes The San Jose Club Was The Only Major Dispensary In Northern California Not Included In The Federal Suit)
• US Acts To Close Pot Clubs ('San Francisco Examiner' Says CBCs Likely To Stay Open Until Federal Officials Receive Injunction By Courts)
• Government Moves To Close Marijuana Clubs (Marvin Chavez, A Founder Of The Cannabis Co-op Of Orange County, Tells 'Associated Press,' 'State Government Is Not Protecting The People')
• US Files Suit To Shut Six Pot Clubs (No Timetable For Courts To Review Justice Department's Lawsuits, Which May Be Consolidated Under One Judge, 'San Jose Mercury News' Quotes Dennis Peron - 'A Show Of Contempt For States' Rights' - And Dan Lungren - 'Welcomes Clinton's Decision To Move Against Pot Clubs')
• US Launches Drive To Close Marijuana Clubs (When Dennis Peron Tells 'Los Angeles Times' The Feds Also Want To Discourage Fledgling Initiatives In Colorado, Alaska And Washington, DC, US Department Of Justice Spokesman Bert Brandenburg Replies, 'If Friday's Action Hurts Those Efforts, Then More's The Better')
• Assistance Needed (An 'Old Woman' Who Remembers Farmers Mixing Hemp With Tobacco During Harvest Time Seeks Help From Activist Tom Hawkins For Another Woman In Moses Lake, Washington, Persecuted Over Marijuana Laws)
• Full Text Of The Verdict In 'The People Vs Dennis Peron' Now Online (December 12, 1997, California Appeals Court Decision Saying Author Of Proposition 215 Does Not Qualify As Primary Caregiver)
• Europe Could Teach America Much About Drug Policy (Ethan Nadelmann Of The Lindesmith Center In 'The International Herald Tribune')
• Needle-Exchange Programmes In The USA - Time To Act Now (Editorial In 'The Lancet,' Britain's Leading Medical Journal)
• US Censors United Nations Reports On Cocaine, Cannabis
• Legalize! Update - 'Global Anti-Prohibition Days' June 6-7-8 (International Drug Policy Reform Event Planned In New York Immediately Preceding UNGASS - UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs - CORA, DRCNet, NORML, November Coalition, MAP/DrugSense, The Legalize! Initiative And Other Organisations Reportedly Intend To Endorse Gathering - GAD E-Mail List Announced)
• Avoiding Sensationalism (Letter Complains To Editor Of 'Houston Chronicle' About Lurid Report On Murder By Drug Addict)
• Close Reading Of Statements From CASA, Califano And McCaffrey Suggests A More Pessimistic Interpretation Is Warranted (Letter From David Hadorn)
• CASA Converted? (Another Pessimistic View Of The Statements From CASA, Califano And McCaffrey Notes Califano Didn't Argue For Any Less Coercion In Drug Policy; Just A More Progressive Type Of Coercion)
• CASA Report, 'Behind Bars' - Marijuana Section (Actual Report Downplays Numbers In Prison For Pot Possession)
• Re - CASA Report 'Behind Bars' - Marijuana Section (Complete Text)
• For Some Interests, The Drug War Is A Success (Letter To Editor Of 'New York Times' Quibbles With Anthony Lewis' Column)
• FBI Completes Probe Of Fatal Shooting Of Border Teen By Marine (The Shooting Of The Teen Sheepherder In Texas Is Being Reviewed By Federal Civil Rights Investigators)
• One-Third Of Homeless Are Veterans, VA Says ('San Jose Mercury News' Quotes US Veterans Administration - Like Other Homeless Americans, 40 Percent Of The Vets Are Mentally Ill, 50 Percent Have Alcohol Or Other Substance-Abuse Problems)
• Journalist Continues Writing After Assassination Attempt (His Bodyguard Killed In the Last Attempt, Mexican Editor Who Writes On Drug Cartels Spawned By Prohibition Now Telecommutes From His Home, Surrounded By A Brick Wall And A Small Army Of Mexican Police And Soldiers Carrying Shotguns, Automatic Rifles)
  Bytes: 87,600 Last updated: 2/3/98
  

  Sunday, January 11, 1998:

• Feds Sue To End California Pot Clubs ('Chicago Sun-Times' Erroneously Says This Is The First Federal Attack On CBCs)
• Marijuana Clubs Vow To Continue Operations (Almost All 17 Clubs In California 'The San Francisco Examiner' Knows About Said They Are Seeking New Ways To Continue Serving Their Estimated 6,300 Clients - CBCs Have 20 Days To Challenge Injunction)
• Cannabis Clubs Face Shutdowns ('Knright-Ridder' Summary Of Federal And State Actions Against California CBCs)
• There's No Justice In The War On Drugs (Milton Friedman In 'The New York Times' Says Prohibition Is An Ethical Failure, Generating Only Informers, Corruption, Overflowing Prisons, Disproportionate Imprisonment Of Blacks, Destruction Of Inner Cities, Compounded Harm To Users, Undertreatment Of Chronic Pain, And Harm To Other Countries)
• White Flag Time (Letter To Editor Of 'Chicago Sun-Times' Notes The Shooting Of A 3-Year-Old Boy In The Back Was Caused By Prohibition, Not Drugs)
• Clinton Will Require States To Cut Prison Drug Use ('New York Times' Says The President Is Scheduled To Sign A 'Directive' Monday Requiring States To Determine And Report The Extent Of Illicit Drug Use Among Inmates Before They Can Receive More Federal Money For Prisons)
• Drug Testing Of Workers Keeps Rising (Chicago's Police Recruits Now Face Hair Analysis)
• Scan Shows Effects Of Cocaine On Brain (The Ways In Which Addicts' Brains May Be Different Is A Question Beyond The Scope Of Boston Boys With MRI Toys Funded By Alan Leshner's NIDA)
• New UK Drug Tsar Has An E-mail Address (Keith Hellawell Wants To Know Your Views At CDCU@gtnet.gov.uk)
• Gotcha! 'Sun' Splatters Egg On Its Face With Telephone Poll (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Publicizes Backfire Ensuing After Attempt By Its Rival, 'The Sun,' To Turn The Tide Against The Popular Mood To Decriminalise Cannabis)
• Two Charged Over £32M Cocaine Haul (British Customs Nabs Cargo In Wheels Of Land Rover About To Cross The Chunnel)
• Drugs Football Team Blows Final Whistle (Britain's 'Sunday Times' Reports Calton Athletic, The Football Team Of Former Drug Addicts In Glasgow Which Advised The Makers Of 'Trainspotting,' Is Disbanding)
  Bytes: 59,500 Last updated: 1/31/98
  

  Monday, January 12, 1998:

• Update From The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Campaign (http://www.crrh.org/)
• California Petition Drive Begins To Make Hemp Use Legal (Petitioners Must Collect Verified Signatures Of 433,269 Registered Voters By May 18)
• Santa Cruz Cannabis Buyers' Club Puts New Members On Hold (Records Audit And Protocol Review Announced After Feds Launch Effort To Close California CBCs)
• Help Sought For Medical Pot Users (UPI Reports California State Senator John Vasconcellos Held A Sacramento News Conference Monday To Announce Six New Measures To Implement 11362.5, The Medical Marijuana Law Approved By 6 Million California Voters In November 1996)
• Feds Begin Civil War In California (News Release From American Medical Marijuana Organization Includes Details For Activists On Who To Write To About The Federal Attack On CBCs)
• New Attack On California Pot Clubs ('Philadelphia Inquirer' Contrasts Dennis Peron's Club In San Francisco With Scott Imler's In Los Angeles)
• The Many Implications Of Friday's Surprise (Tom O'Connell And Others Ponder The Federal Lawsuits Against Six California CBCs)
• Is The Government's War Against Marijuana Justified As Public Policy? (Debate In 'Washington Post' Between Mark Souder, Vice Chairman Of US House Government Reform And Oversight Subcommittee On National Security, And Lynn Zimmer, Associate Professor Of Sociology At Queens College In New York, Coauthor Of 'Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts - A Review Of The Scientific Evidence')
• US Seventh Circuit Court Of Appeals Expands Drug Testing Of Students (A School Board Is Allowed To Randomly Test Not Just High School Athletes, But Now Also All Students Involved With Extracurricular Activities And Those Who Drive To And From School - Text Online)
• Drug Testing Of Workers Keeps Rising ('ACLU News' Comments On Yesterday's 'Chicago Sun-Times' Article, Citing Federal Survey Reporting 44 Percent Of Workers Around The US Say Their Employers Require Drug Testing - Profits For SmithKline Beecham, Psychemedics Booming)
• A Drug-Testing Blunder Versus Why Not Test Students? ('USA Today' Contrasts Its Position Opposing Random Testing Of High-School Students In Miami, Florida, With That Of Renier Diaz de la Protilla, A 26-Year-Old Miami-Dade County School Board Member)
• Israelis Skip Out On Drug Trial ('Associated Press' Reports Three Men Expected To Link Israeli Mob To Colombian Cocaine Cartel Abscond From Florida Trial Involving $44 Million In Money Laundering)
• Clinton Orders Steps To Combat Prison Drug Use ('Reuters' Says Clinton Will Propose $197 Million In New Spending In His 1999 Budget Request To Promote 'Coerced Abstinence,' Also, Reno Will Write Legislation Requiring States To Increase Penalties For Drug Trafficking In Prison)
• Clinton To Order States To Fight Prison Drug Use ('Los Angeles Times' Reports The White House Credits UCLA Professor Mark Kleiman For Inspiring The President's Anti-Drug Efforts In Prisons)
• President To Order States To Assess Prison Drug Use, Chart Battle Plan ('Houston Chronicle' Version Of 'Los Angeles Times' Report Notes Last Year, As A Condition Of Federal Prison Grants, Clinton And Congress Gave States Until March To Announce Plans For Combating Prison Drug Use)
• Drug Use - Prisons ('Associated Press' Rewrite Of 'New York Times' Article Notes Clinton Also Asked Attorney General Janet Reno To Draft Legislation Allowing States To Use Federal Money Earmarked For Prison Construction To Test And Treat Prisoners And Parolees For Drugs)
• Clinton Targets Inmate Drug Use ('Orange County Register' Version Of 'New York Times' Article)
• Re - Clinton Goes After Prison Drug Use (Commentary From List Subscribers)
• Better Sense On Drugs (Letter To Editor Of 'San Francisco Examiner' Questions Why Abstinence Needs To Be Coerced)
• Chris Farley Remembered As A Loyal Friend Who Helped Many Kick Drug Habit ('Associated Press' Report On Comedian's Funeral In Santa Monica, California, Notes He Died From Mixing Morphine And Cocaine, With A Narrowing Of Heart Arteries Also A Significant Contributing Factor)
• Galbraith Asks Judges OK Pot As 'Natural Remedy' (The Kentucky Lawyer, Former Gubernatorial Candidate And Self-Proclaimed Lover Of The Weed Files Motions In Five Counties, Asking Judges To Recognize Cannabis As A Medicine And 'The Safest Therapeutic Substance Known To Man')
• Mexican Drugs - Don't Blame Free Trade For Their Increase In Texas ('Dallas Morning News' Editorial Suggests Interdiction Is Still Feasible - 'Take Aggressive Yet Reasonable Steps To Ensure Mexican Trucks Carry No Drugs')
• Philadelphia Marching To The Beat Of Hope ('New York Times' Feature On The North Philadelphia Foot Stompers, A Neighborhood Drill Team Hoping To Promote Urban Revitalization)
• Farmers To Debate Hemp (The American Farm Bureau Federation, Which Has 4.6 Million Members, Is Reconsidering Its Endorsement Of Research Into Hemp At Its Annual Convention In Charlotte, North Carolina)
• Second International Industrial Hemp Conference Happens February 18-19, 1998, In Vancouver, BC
• Cops Hurt Coke Trade (A Two-Year Vancouver RCMP Undercover Investigation Leads To The Arrest Of Three Men, But 'North Shore News' Offers No Evidence Of Any Impact On Cocaine Market)
• Neither Side In Pot Debate Has Proven Case (First Of Several Letters To Editor Of 'Toronto Star' Notes Logical Flaws In Previous Columns)
• US To Fund Crack Honduran Police Drugs Unit ('Reuters' Says US Ambassador James Creagon Makes Announcement - Interdiction Funding To Honduras Doubles To $195,000 This Year)
• Minister's Son Admits Sale Of Hash ('Associated Press' Notes The Warning To British Home Secretary Jack Straw's Son Will Be Deleted From His Record If He Commits No Further Offenses For Three Years)
• Nine Letters To The Editor Of Britain's 'Daily Mail' (Special Section Responds To The Arrest Of Jack Straw's Son For Selling Cannabis)
• Editorial In 'Wellington Evening Post' (New Zealand Paper Warns Youth About Pot By Noting International Travel Restrictions For Those With Criminal Records, Response From David Hadorn)
  Bytes: 151,000 Last updated: 2/3/98
  

  Tuesday, January 13, 1998:

• DEA Admits 'Sufficient Grounds' To Re-Schedule Marijuana (US Drug Enforcement Administration Acknowledges Evidence Cannabis Is Not Addictive Or A Drug Of Abuse - Then Hands Case To US Health And Human Services Department - Press Release From Lawyer For 'High Times' Says Legally Binding Results Will Likely Mean An End To Marijuana Prohibition)
• Making Crime Pay ('St. Paul Pioneer Press' Report On Prisons For Profit Notes 1996 Study By GAO Found 'No Credible Evidence' Of Savings, Yet Correction Corporation Of America In Less Than 20 Years Has Taken Over Almost Half The 140 Private Prisons In The US - Profit Taking By Investors Leads To High Turnover Among Guards, High Rate Of Violence, Exploitation Of Inmates)
• Clinton Plan To Fight Drug Use In Prisons ('San Francisco Examiner' Quotes McCaffrey Saying Last Year, 9 Percent Of Those Checked Tested Positive For Drugs Behind Bars, And The Rate Was 'Much' Worse In State And Local Jails Than In Federal Prisons)
• Clinton Orders Steps To Combat Prison Drug Use (More From 'Reuters' On The Prohibitionists' Latest Utopian Pipe Dream)
• Lawmaker Seeks Summit On Medicinal Marijuana ('San Jose Mercury News' Reports John Vasconcellos, Chairman Of The California Senate Public Safety Committee, Will Invite Governor Pete Wilson, Attorney General Dan Lungren And US Attorney General Janet Reno To Join The Committee At A Summit Within The Next Month)
• State Senator Wants A Marijuana Summit ('Orange County Register' Makes California Senator John Vasconcellos, D-Santa Clara, Seem A Bit Extreme)
• Man In Wheelchair Faces Third Strike (California's 'Three Strikes' Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Law Continues To Inflict Disproportionate Punishment On Victimless Offenders)
• Fairfax Board Plans New War On Drug Use By County's Youth Police ('Washington Post' Covers Drug War On Youth In Fairfax County, Virginia)
• Church's Leader Faces Drug Charges (Wisconsin's 'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Reports Bishop Of Holy Angels Old Catholic Church Busted For Pot Possession, Paraphernalia)
• Lindesmith Center Drug Policy Seminar Series (Winter 1998 Programs Open To Public In New York, San Francisco)
• Marijuana Should Be Legalized For Medical, Healing Purposes (Letter To Editor Of 'Lethbridge Herald,' Canada)
• Hemp Processing Plant (KittyHawk Securities In Victoria, British Columbia, To Finance $1.5 Million Of $4 Million Kenex Industrial Hemp Plant In Southwestern Ontario, Canada)
• Kingston Stores Busted (More On The Police Raid Of Ontario Hemp Stores Last Week)
• Mexico Holds Two US Students For Gun-Running ('New York Times' Says The Investigation Involves More Than 1,000 Automatic Rifles And Other Firearms Transferred To 'Drug Traffickers')
• Straw's Son Gets Police Caution (Britain's 'Guardian' Claims Home Secretary 'Politically Undamaged')
• Straw's Son Cautioned In Drug Case ('The Scotsman' Says A Tape Recording Of A 'Mirror' Reporter Purchasing Hash From The 17-Year-Old Son Of The British Home Secretary 'Clearly Disproved Any Claims That The Teenager Had Been Entrapped By The Paper')
• Pressure For Drugs U-Turn ('Evening News' Reports British Home Secretary Jack Straw Urged To 'Go Dutch' And Legalise Cannabis, Just Hours After His Son Is Cautioned By Police For Selling Drugs)
• 'Respectable' Pair Jailed For Cocaine Smuggling (Britain's 'Guardian' Reports Traces Of Cocaine On Bank Notes Were Enough To Convict The Couple In Rochdale, Greater Manchester)
• Legalising Dope Will Create More Addicts (And Six More Brief But Varied Letters To The Editor Of Britain's 'Sun')
• Dunphy Apology For Irresponsible Drugs Comments (Ireland's 'Examiner' Recaps 'Today FM' Anchorman's Statements On Cocaine To 'Ireland On Sunday' - 'Fucking Yes. I Take It If I Am Offered. I Would Be A Regular User Of Marijuana')
• Lobby Grows For Medicinal Marijuana ('Le Monde' Reports Jurists With The Movement For Controlled Legalisation - MLC - Ask French Health Minister Bernard Kouchner To Authorise The Import Of Cannabis For Therapeutic Uses - Doctors Recommending It For Epilepsy, Glaucoma, Tinnitus, Headaches, HIV Infection And 'Psychological Support')
  Bytes: 79,000 Last updated: 1/24/98
  

  Wednesday, January 14, 1998:

• Search-And-Seizure Case Goes To Supreme Court ('Associated Press' Account In 'Orange County Register' Notes The Case Originated In The Portland Suburb Of Boring, Oregon, When A 45-Member SWAT Team Invaded A Man's Home Without Knocking)
• Follow-Up - Time Served ('Willamette Week' Notes Portland Attorney Found Guilty Of Giving $40 To Heroin Addict To Buy Another Fix, Which He Died From, Gets His Life Restored - Oregon Supreme Court Is Satisfied One Of Its Own Deserves No More Than 18 Months Probation, One-Year Suspension From Practicing Law - Time Served)
• Chief Deputy Prosecutor Charged With Driving Drunk (Jim Townsend, Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor In Snohomish County, Washington, Will Be Arraigned Tuesday In Seattle)
• DEA - Sufficient Grounds Exist To Remove Marijuana From Schedules I And II (Press Release Update On Yesterday's News, With More Commentary By Jon Gettman)
• DEA Seeks Medicinal Review For Marijuana (CNN Report)
• Medical Marijuana Patients' And Caregivers' Fund Will Defend 11362.5 (An Immediate, Urgent Goal Of The Fund Is To Support Litigation In Opposition To The Federal Lawsuit Against Six Northern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries)
• How To Help The Cannabis Buyers Clubs (News Release From American Medical Marijuana Organization Provides E-mail Addresses And Other Contact Information For Online Activists)
• Garden Grove Targets Cannabis Clubs ('Orange County Register' Reports City Revokes Business License Issued To CBC Only Three Months Ago)
• Re - Questions (E-Mail Cites Research Cannabis Use Decreases Alcohol Use)
• Use Of Medication Should Not Be A Crime (Letter To Editor Of 'San Francisco Chronicle')
• Farmers Reject Hemp (Delegates To The American Farm Bureau Convention In Charlotte, North Carolina, Reverse Position On Research In 198-168 Vote, Cutting Off Nose To Spite NORML's Face)
• Lungren - Stop Selling Marijuana Trading Cards (California Attorney General Tries To Intimidate San Francisco's InLine Trading Cards)
• Attorneys General Slam Marijuana Trading Cards (AGs From 22 States Jump On The Demagogic Bandwagon To Censor InLine Classic Cards)
• Lungren Vs. Medical Pot (Letter To Editor Of 'San Francisco Examiner' Criticizes California AG)
• Crackdown To Hit East Palo Alto Gangs (City Officials Upset San Mateo County Sheriff Didn't Consult With Them Before Announcing 10-Officer Strike Force That Will Target Four Key Gangs And Drug Dealers In Minority Community)
• Young Start To Drinking Predicts Alcoholism - Report ('Reuters' Item On New Study From National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, NIAAA)
• Gingrich Promotes Drug War (The GOP Speaker Of The US House Of Representatives Addresses Lawmakers In Olympia, Washington, Suggesting They Focus On Four Goals, Beginning With 'Ridding The Nation Of Drugs' - No Comment Reported From American Medical Association)
• How To Lobby Online In Support Of SB 6271, Washington State's Medical Marijuana Bill (Including A List Of Legislators' E-mail Addresses)
• Boston Sheraton Settles Employee Spying Case (ACLU News Reports Attempted Persecution Of Pot Smokers Costs Boston Hotel $200,000)
• Pentagon To Scrap Armed Patrols Along Border (The Defense Department Decision Comes In the Wake Of The Fatal Shooting Of A Teenage Goat Herder Along The Texas Border Last Year By A US Marine)
• Focus On The Family - Marijuana Usage (Dr. Voth Strikes Again! - Notorious Topeka Anti-Pot Zealot Given Airtime To Spread Lies About Cannabis By KXXV-TV In Waco, Texas)
• Renewed Call To Decriminalise Cannabis (Britain's BBC Relates What Home Secretary Jack Straw Heard When His Own Backbencher, Labour MP Paul Flynn, Urged Him To 'Go Dutch' And Decriminalise Cannabis)
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 29 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists)
  Bytes: 128,000 Last updated: 5/23/98
  

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