1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
February 19-25

Thursday, February 19, 1998:
• NORML Weekly News Release (Leading Research Magazine Claims WHO Suppressed Report Showing Marijuana To Be Safer Than Legal Intoxicants; Medical Marijuana Activists To Open Dispensaries Across Eastern Canada; Criminalization Of Marijuana Coincides With Explosion In Use, Federal Data, American Journal Of Public Health Indicates)
• Ballot Proposal Would Allow Pot For Medical Use ('The Oregonian' Says Portland Internist Rick Bayer And Stormy Ray, An Ontario Resident Crippled By Multiple Sclerosis, To Be Chief Petitioners Of Initiative Limiting Patients To One Ounce, Three Plants - Oregon Chiefs Of Police Spokesman's Lies Again Go Unchallenged By Paper, Which Notes Cops Have Established Political Action Committee, Oregonians Against Dangerous Drugs, So They Can Keep Arresting Sick People Even Against Wishes Of Their Doctors - Plus Commentary From List Subscribers)
• Oregonians For Personal Privacy (Eugene-Based Group Is Circulating Initiative Petition To Legalize Personal Consumption, Cultivation, Manufacture Of Cannabis)
• Officer Keist Upped To Fair Condition ('Associated Press' Update Broadcast By KOIN, Portland's CBS Affiliate, On Portland Cop Shot During Warrantless Break-In By Marijuana Task Force)
• Private Detective Gives Emotional Testimony ('The Herald' Says Former Private Investigator Dale Fairbanks Broke Down In Tears Wednesday As He Testified About Watching Everett, Washington, Lawyer Mark Mestel Receive Marijuana From A Defendant - Mestel Not Charged, But Defendants Seek Dismissal Of Charges At Hearing To Determine Whether Federal Prosecutors Erred In 1996 When They Recruited Fairbanks To Help Investigate His Boss's Former Clients)
• Orange County Gangs - New Recruits For Mexican Druglords? ('Orange County Register' Says US Authorities Have Indicted 10 Members Of San Diego Gang They Allege Were Hired As Contract Assassins In Brutal, Gangland-Style Ambush That Targeted Drug Dealer But Instead Took Lives Of Highest-Ranking Roman Catholic Prelate In Mexico And Six Others In May 1993)
• Druglords Easily Enter The US From Mexico? (Brief Item In 'Orange County Register' Says Mariano Herran Salvatti, Mexico's Special Prosecutor For Crimes Against Health, Charged Wednesday That Mexico's Most-Wanted Druglords Travel Regularly To United States, Moving Across Border Into California With Ease)
• California Prison Industry Homepage . . . Sickening . . .
• People In The News (Separate Items In 'San Jose Mercury News' Roundup Note Bidding War For Seattle Author's Novel, 'Easy Money,' About A Cross-Country Chase Involving Female Dope Mule; And Actor Robert Downey Jr. Gets Out Of Jail Briefly)
• Group Seeks Anti-Drug Themes On TV ('Associated Press' Item In 'Los Angeles Times' Says The Caucus Of Producers, Writers And Directors, Group Of 200 Television Industry Members, Gives An Audience In Beverly Hills To US Drug Czar General McCaffrey - Jerry Isenberg, Chair Of Caucus, Says It Would Be Wise To Avoid 'The Simplistic Drugs Are Bad' Message Because It Is Old And Ineffective')
• National Public Radio - Marijuana Report Suppressed (List Subscriber Says At Least One Major US Broadcaster Is Publicizing News About WHO Report On Cannabis Being Leaked To 'New Scientist' After NIDA Helped Quash It, But Says WHO Is Claiming No Pressure Occurred, Report Is 'Speculative')
• Ex-Governor Admits Mistake ('Grand Rapids Press' Quotes Former Michigan Governor William G. Milliken Admitting He Made Mistake Signing 'Drug Lifer Law' 20 Years Ago - Current Governor Would Also Like Reform, But Chair Of Senate Judiciary Committee Says It's Unlikely This Year Because Legislators Reluctant To Appear Soft On Crime)
• There's No Pleasing Tavern League (Staff Editorial In 'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' About Attempts To Modify Bill Passed Last Legislative Session By Tavern League Of Wisconsin, Requiring Municipalities To Charge $10,000 Fee For New Tavern Licenses, Up From $500)
• Many Protest Expulsions Of Students Caught With Caffeine Pills ('St. Louis Post-Dispatch' Article About Zero Tolerance Policy At Junior High School In Collinsville Quotes One Parent - 'If School Board Believes Caffeine Is Harmful, Then Board Must Remove All Caffeine Including Soda Vending Machines, Chocolate Milk, Candy Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Brownies And Coffee From Teachers' Lounge' - And Another Who Figures Out War On Some Drugs In A Nutshell - 'I'm A Taxpayer, And My Taxes Are Paying For Prisoners In Jail To Get More Education . . . And Drug Counseling And Rehabilitation, And Our School Kids Get The Street')
• Koop Says Smokers Will Shun Cigarettes But Not Nicotine ('Orange County Register' Says Former US Surgeon General Predicts Next Few Years May See Increase In People Who Quit Smoking But Continue To Satisfy Their Nicotine Addiction - But Fails To Explain Why It Hasn't Happened Yet)
• Drug Delusions About Mexico (Staff Editorial In 'Boston Globe' Links The Certification Process To The 'Arrogance Of Power' The Late Senator William Fulbright Regarded As The True Source Of The Vietnam War)
• National Marijuana Decriminalization Petition Launched In Wake Of Olympic Controversy (Chris Clay Of Hemp Nation, Whose Unsuccessful Constitutional Challenge To Canada's Prohibitory Laws Against Cannabis Is Under Appeal, Will Organize Campaign To Deliver 100,000 Signatures To Parliament By Year's End To Encourage Government To Act. - Public Polls, LeDain Commission Support Decriminalization, But Chretien And Other Leaders Summarily Dismiss Pleas)
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Television Documentary On Cannabis February 21 ('Stoned - Hemp Nation On Trial,' Documentary On Last Summer's Constitutional Challenge Mounted By Chris Clay, To Air Saturday Night)
• Unofficial Club Growing Like A Weed ('Ottawa Sun' Says Ron Whalen Of Ottawa, Who Has Unofficially Been Supplying Marijuana To A Widening Circle Of Users For More Than A Year, Has Organized His Efforts With The Compassionate Use Of Medicinal Marijuana, A Club With 25 Members Suffering From AIDS, Cancer, Chronic Pain And Depression)
• Cannabis And Performance Enhancement (New Zealand Physician Posts Five Studies Indicating Marijuana Enhances Performance - Four Involving Driving Skills)
• Cocaine Production In Peru Drops 27 Percent In 1997 ('Chicago Tribune' Article In 'Orange County Register' Seems To Cite US State Department Statistics Indicating Colombia Now Produces More Cocaine Than Peru - And US Embassy In Lima For Explanation That 'The Dramatic Decrease In Peru Is Largely The Result Of A Government Get-Tough Policy On Drugs, Combined With A Timely Infusion Of US Aid To Coca Farmers Looking For Alternative Crops')
• Cannabis - UN Report Leaked (Britain's 'Guardian' Says Finding That Cannabis Is Safer Than Either Alcohol Or Tobacco, Leaked To 'New Scientist,' Was Suppressed By US National Institute On Drug Abuse, UN International Drug Control Programme)
• Cannabis 'Safer Than Alcohol' (British 'Telegraph' Account Of WHO Report Quashed By US Officials)
• Blocked Report Says Cannabis Safer Than Tobacco And Drink (Version In 'The Scotsman' About UN Report Leaked To 'New Scientist' - Analysis Withdrawn Because Of Fears It Would Give Ammunition To The 'Legalise Marijuana' Campaign - Church Of Scotland Repeats Call For Cannabis To Be Decriminalised)
• Marijuana Special Report - Let's Be Adult About This ('New Scientist' Says Politicians Will Just Have To Bite The Bullet - Dope Will Be Decriminalised - After Thirty Years Of Research Into Harmful Effects Of Cannabis, There Can Be No Hidden Dangers Left To Discover)
• Marijuana Special Report - Drop In With Dr. Dave (In Keeping With Its Series On How Drug War Corrupts US Science And Health Professionals, 'New Scientist' Interviews David Smith, Founder And President Of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics In San Francisco, Whose Funding Would Dry Up Immediately If He Said Anything Other Than That Marijuana Should Remain Illegal)
• Marijuana Special Report - Opening Comments ('New Scientist' Begins Four-Part Analysis Of Four Anti-Pot Claims Frequently Made By US National Institute On Drug Abuse, Whose Simple Statements Are Never Quite As Simple As They Seem)
• Marijuana Special Report - A Safe High? Claim One ('New Scientist' Examines Research Behind US National Institute On Drug Abuse's Claim That Marijuana Impairs Memory And Cognitive Functions And Finds Its Methodology Fundamentally Flawed, Allowing NIDA To Make 'Subtle And Subclinical' Impairments Sound Worse Than Those Attributable To Alcohol Use)
• Marijuana Special Report - Claim Two ('New Scientist' Examines Research Behind NIDA's Claim 'More Than 120 000 People In The US Seek Treatment Each Year For Their Marijuana Addiction' And Says It 'Cannot Be Taken Seriously' Since It Includes People Forced To Go Into Treatment As An Alternative To Prosecution, As Well As Workers Who Test Positive For Cannabis In Random Urine Tests And Opt For Rehabilitation Rather Than Unemployment - Age Group Usage Rates And Comparisons With Tobacco Addicts Also Show Very Different Pattern, Little Dependency)
• Marijuana Special Report - Claim Three ('New Scientist' Examines Research Behind NIDA's Claim 'Smoking Marijuana Can Lead To Abnormal Functioning Of Lung Tissue,' And Discovers 'Epidemiologists Have So Far Failed To Find A Link Between Marijuana And Serious Lung Diseases' And 'No Impact On Any Physical Measure Of Lung Function,' Though Dr. Taskhin At UCLA Is Hard At Work Coming Up With Theoretical Long-Term Dangers From America's 'Marijuana Epidemic' That Will No Doubt Continue To Yield Him Research Funding From US Government For Years To Come)
• Marijuana Special Report - Claim Four ('New Scientist' Examines Research Behind NIDA's Claim That 'Marijuana Causes Long-Term Changes In The Brain Similar To Those Seen With Other Drugs Of Abuse' And Recaps Dr. John Morgan's Rebuttal In March 1's 'Reason' Magazine)
• Marijuana Special Report - Vraag Een Politieagent . . . ('New Scientist' Examines Cannabis Usage Rates In The Netherlands, US And Other Countries After Holland Ended Penalties For Use In 1976 - Let The Drug Warriors Respond To These Numbers)
• Marijuana Special Report - Some References ('New Scientist' Sources For Its Special Report)
• Fortress Schools ('Herald Sun' Says Hundreds Of Schools All Over Australia Are Resorting To Surveillance Cameras, Armed Security Guards To Combat Vandalism, Theft, Drug Dealing - Growth Industry Got Push Last Year After Controversial Drug Bust At Glen Eira Secondary College, Where Students Were Charged With Drug Offences After Being Filmed By Surveillance Camera In Male Toilets)
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  Friday, February 20, 1998:

• Legal Marijuana Use Aim Of Local Petition ('Island News' In Key West Says A Dozen Florida Medical Marijuana Groups Will Try To Place A Statewide Referendum On November's Ballot)
• DC-Based Drug Reform Groups Set Up Support Fund (Press Release From NORML In Washington, DC, Says Drug Policy Foundation, NORML Foundation, Criminal Justice Policy Foundation And Drug Reform Coordination Network Have Joined Forces To Establish Medical Marijuana Support Fund To Provide Technical And Monetary Assistance To Eligible State Organizations Sponsoring Medical Use Projects)
• Lungren Lies (Letter To Editor Of 'Santa Rosa Democrat' Explains Evidence Contradicting California Attorney General's Assertion That Proposition 215 Has Resulted In Higher Marijuana Use By Teens)
• New Bill Asks State To Rethink Proposition 215 ('Contra Costa Times' Account Of Legislative Bill Introduced By Republican California State Senator Richard Rainey Of Walnut Creek Fails To Note California Compassionate Use Act Already Limits Medical Marijuana To 'Seriously Ill Californians' - Rainey's Bill, Which Would Have To Be Endorsed By Voters As Well As Legislature And Governor, Would Put Medical Cannabis Patients In Jail Even Against Their Doctors' Wishes, Unless They Suffer From HIV, Cancer, Glaucoma Or 'Muscle Spasms Associated With A Chronic Debilitating Condition')
• A New Attack On Drugs - Certification Doesn't Work; Proposed Treaty Might (Staff Editorial In 'Los Angeles Times' That Will Prompt A Response From US Drug Czar McCaffrey)
• San Francisco Decorators Convicted ('Associated Press' Says Couple Arrested At San Francisco Home On New York Warrant Will Appeal Federal Conviction For Laundering Millions Of Dollars For Colombian Drug Lord By Buying Art, Furnishings For His Homes)
• An Act Relating To Medical Marijuana (Draft Of Washington State Ballot Initiative From Medical Marijuana Now PAC - A Work In Progress)
• 0.08 Drunk Limit May Be In Trouble ('Seattle Times' Says Attempt By Washington Legislature To Lower Legal Threshold From 0.10 May Face Opposition Due To Effectiveness, Cost - Story Notes In 1996, Drunken Drivers Were Involved In More Than 12,000 Collisions In Washington That Killed 331 People And Seriously Injured 1,333)
• Marijuana Charge Dismissed Against Packers' Jervey ('Associated Press' Says Police In Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Dropped Marijuana Possession Charge Against Green Bay Packers Running Back Travis Jervey After Tests Showed Cannabis Was Not Among Evidence Seized From His Car)
• A Painful Lesson On Peril Of Drugs ('Des Moines Register' Says 57-Year-Old Mother Of Ron Corbett, Speaker Of Iowa House Of Representatives, Has Been Treated For Addiction To Crack Cocaine, Has Recovered And Is Back At Work - What Has Corbett Learned? 'Most Of All, We Need To Punish Those That Prey On People And Entice Them Into Using Drugs' - Good Thing For His Career She Didn't Take Up Legal Alcohol Or Tobacco)
• Drug-Free Myth (Staff Editorial In 'Austin American-Statesman' Notes A 1996 Survey By The Texas Alcohol And Drug Abuse Commission And Texas A&M University Suggested Statewide, About 7 Percent Of Survey Participants Said They Had Tried Crack Or Cocaine, And That Drug Use In Rural Areas Is Comparable To That In Cities)
• In Today's News - After Tobacco, Is Alcohol Next? (Recap Of February 12 'Investor's Business Daily' Article About Success Of Lawsuits Against Tobacco Companies Based On Medicaid Reimbursements Spurring Attempts To Use Same Legal Tactics Against Manufacturers Of Alcohol, Guns, Pharmaceutical Drugs)
• Official Accuses Rebagliati Of Lying About Pot Habit ('Ottawa Citizen' Quotes Olympic Official Prince Alexandre de Merode Saying He Has 'Confidential' Test Reports Indicating Snowboarding Gold Medal Winner Had High Levels Of Marijuana In Urine Samples Taken In December - Eight Months After Rabagliati Said He Stopped Smoking)
• Rabagliati Denies He Lied ('Vancouver Sun' Says Rebagliati Stands By Initial Denial)
• Pro-Pot Activist Sees Golden Opportunity ('Canadian Press' Notes Chris Clay Of Hemp Nation, Who Lost A Constitutional Challenge To Canada's Prohibitory Laws Against Cannabis Last Year, Announced Friday He Will Use The Support That Swept Across Nation For Olympic Gold Medallist Ross Rebagliati To Launch A Cross-Country Petition To Push For Decriminalization Of Marijuana)
• Cannabis 'Obvious' Threat To Health, Agency Says ('Reuters' Article In 'Toronto Star' Says World Health Organization Claims It Didn't Suppress Report On Cannabis That Was Leaked To 'New Scientist,' It 'Dropped The Analysis' Because It 'Contained Contradictions' And Its 'Conclusions Were Not Scientifically Sound' - Marijuana Causes 'Mind-Altering Activities In Users' And 'Changes Your Judgement And Thinking')
• Re - Cannabis 'Obvious' Threat To Health (Letter Sent To Editor Of 'Toronto Star' Lampoons Logic Of World Health Organization)
• Contact Information - World Health Organization (List Subscriber Posts URL, E-Mail Address So You Can Tell 'Em What You Think Yourself)
• Drug Deaths Spark Cheap Heroin Fears ('The Scotsman' Quotes David Macauley, Director Of Scotland Against Drugs, Saying Streets Are Being Flooded With Cheap Heroin, While Cannabis Is Being Withdrawn, Leading To Greater Number Of People Injecting Drugs - Another Observer Says, 'A Lot Of Kids I Know Are Using Drugs Instead Of Alcohol Because It's Cheaper - They Can Buy A Wrap Of Heroin For Less Than 5' - But Detective Superintendent Barry Dougall Of Strathclyde Police Says 'Street Prices Have Remained Stable And We Are Continuing To Increase Our Seizures')
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 30 (News Summary For Activists, From The Drug Reform Coordination Network - Original Articles Include - Needle Exchange Volunteer Arrested In New Jersey - Protesting Penn State Professor, Four Others To Be Charged, Also, 18-Year-Old High School Student Suspended For Three Days Without Hearing For Being Arrested With Heicklen - Interview With Canadian Medical Marijuana Activist Peter Young - Job Opportunity For Master's-Level Public Policy Director - And Editorial, 'Bill, Newt, And The Coming Battle Over The War,' By Adam J. Smith)
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  Saturday, February 21, 1998:

• Joe Hart Defense Fund Announced (AIDS Patient And Director Of Medical Cannabis Providers Club Of Key West, Florida, Recently Arrested After No-Knock Raid By 25 State And Federal Agents For Possession Of Cannabis With Intent To Sell)
• Outrage At Cops Boils Over ('San Francisco Examiner' Says An Overflow Crowd Testified All Day Friday In Santa Rosa, California, Where US Commission On Civil Rights Heard Allegations Of Brutality And Neglect Against County's 11 Law Enforcement Agencies)
• Pot Is On A Roll (Staff Editorial In California's 'San Luis Obispo Telegram-Tribune' Says New But Unnamed Report From National Institute On Drug Abuse Has Cannabis Smoking Increasing Among College Freshmen, From 16.7 Percent To 35.2 Since 1989 - Among High School Seniors, Use Rose From 33 Percent To 50 Percent)
• 'Crime City' - A New Look ('Sacramento Bee' Notes Gentrification Of Three-Story Midtown Sacramento Apartment Complex That Was Previously Scene Of Daylight Drug Deals, Shootings, Murders, Other Crimes)
• Needle Exchange Headed To House With Senate's OK ('Rocky Mountain News' Says 20-15 Vote Sends Bill To Colorado House Of Representatives)
• Hall Tip Leads To Drug Arrest ('Daily Times' In Maryland Says A Tip From Salisbury City Council President Carolyn Hall Led Police To Arrest A 21-Year-Old Man On Suspicion Of Selling Pieces Of Soap Passed Off As Crack Cocaine - He's Held At Wicomico County Jail For $7,500 Bond)
• Killer Heroin Batch ('Herald Sun' In Australia Says Two People Have Died And 27 Have Collapsed In One Of Melbourne's Worst Heroin 'Overdose' Outbreaks)
• Marijuana Special Report (An introduction and hyperlinked directory to more than a dozen articles on cannabis published over several issues by New Scientist, in Britain)
• Marijuana Special Report: Decriminalisation, Yes. Totally safe, No (New Scientist, in Britain, says attitudes towards illegal drugs are becoming more sophisticated and discriminating. After thirty years of research into the harmful effects of cannabis, there can be no hidden dangers left to discover. Only the politicians still seem irrationally terrified by the idea of any relaxation in the law: they think they can continue in the old way, lumping all drugs together.)
• Marijuana Special Report: High Anxieties: What The WHO Doesn't Want You To Know About Cannabis (New Scientist says a document leaked to the magazine shows that World Health Organization officials in Geneva have suppressed the publication of a politically sensitive analysis that confirms what aging hippies have known for decades: cannabis is safer than alcohol or tobacco.)
• Marijuana Special Report: A safe high? What is left after smoking 10 joints a day for 30 years? Claim 1 (New Scientist, in Britain, debunks a claim that "heavy" marijuana use impairs critical thinking related to attention, memory and learning. Differences between users, non-users and heavy users are generally slight, or arguable. In some tests, the heavy users actually do better. For 25 years Jack Fletcher at the University of Texas in Houston and his colleagues have been visiting Costa Rica to test the mental skills of very heavy users. Their scores fall well within the normal range.)
• Marijuana Special Report: Does marijuana press the same chemical buttons as heroin and cocaine? Claim 2 (New Scientist, in Britain, examines the research behind NIDA's claim that "more than 120 000 people in the US seek treatment each year for their marijuana addiction" and says it "cannot be taken seriously" since it includes people forced to go into treatment as an alternative to prosecution, as well as workers who test positive for cannabis in random urine tests and opt for "rehabilitation" rather than unemployment. Age group usage rates and comparisons with tobacco addicts also show a very different pattern, with little dependency.)
• Marijuana Special Report: Are athletes better off smoking marijuana or tobacco? Claim 3 (New Scientist debunks the claim that smoking marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue. "Even heavy smoking of marijuana has no impact on any physical measure of lung function.")
• Marijuana Special Report: Which is most addictive: coffee, alcohol, marijuana or shopping? Claim 4 (New Scientist, in Britain, debunks U.S. drug warriors' claim that marijuana use causes long-term changes in the brain similar to those seen with drugs of abuse.)
• Marijuana Special Report: Aerosols: The Future Of The Spliff? (Britain's New Scientist notes fear of cannabis smoke leads many doctors to wish for a better delivery system.)
• Marijuana Special Report: What happens to Dutch dope smokers at the age of 26? (New Scientist, in Britain, examines the comparative success of the Netherlands' policies, implemented in 1976, separating cannabis from more dangerous illegal drugs, effectively decriminalizing possession and low-level sales. The vast majority of people who use cannabis do so almost exclusively in their 20s. The data suggest that more people did experiment with cannabis after decriminalisation, but the increase mirrored that in other countries, and new users generally didn't continue using it for long, leaving Holland with perhaps the lowest rate of cannabis use - and hard-drug addiction - in industrialized Europe. Cannabis dependency and other problems are uncommon. "The number of cannabis users treated in drugs outpatient facilities is low," says Frits Knaak of the Trimbos Institute in Utrecht, the Dutch national institute for mental health and addiction. "In 1996, there were only 2000 in the whole country - just 0.3 per cent of all Dutch cannabis users." Of those, 42 per cent "are also having trouble with alcohol or other drugs - the rest usually just need counselling to help change their lifestyle." Dutch teenagers get among the highest scores in the world on international science and mathematics tests.)
• Marijuana Special Report: A safe high? Is there such a thing as a cannabis addict? (New Scientist says that according to Wayne Hall, director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, cannabis is not generally regarded as a drug of dependence because it does not have a clearly defined withdrawal syndrome. But, he says, that is an old-fashioned definition of addiction. "While there may be debate about whether there is a cannabis withdrawal syndrome there is no doubt that some users want to stop or cut down their cannabis use and find it difficult or impossible to do so, and they continue to use cannabis despite the adverse effect it has on their lives." But Hall's definition of addiction would also include gambling, sex, shopping, exercise and eating disorders.)
• Marijuana Special Report: Some references (New Scientist cites about a dozen scientific articles and books about cannabis and its effects on users.)
• Drugs Shock At Primary Schools ('The Telegraph' In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Says Survey Commissioned By Southern Health Board Found One In 10 Primary Schoolchildren Had Been Offered 'Drugs,' Four Out Of 100 Had Tried Them)
• Drugs Courier Gets Eight Years ('Irish Times' Notes Dublin Man Sentenced For Ecstasy Tablets, Cocaine, Was Very Small Cog Trying To Pay Off Debt For Drugs - Judge Replies Couriers Have To Be Treated Very Harshly With Long Prison Sentences Because Without Couriers, Dealers Would Have To Put Themselves At Risk)
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  Sunday, February 22, 1998:

• DUI Provides Drama As Washington Legislature Ends ('Associated Press' Notes Democratic Governor Locke And Legislators Are Trying To Persuade Republican Controlled Legislature Not To Bust $19 Billion Two-Year Budget By Boosting Drunken Driving Penalties)
• Caucus Participation (List Subscriber Encourages Cannabis Activists Who Are Eligible To Vote In Washington State To Get Involved In Its Unusual Elections Process - Precinct Caucuses Coming Up March 3)
• Woman Arrested In Connection With Deadly Black Tar Heroin ('Associated Press' Notes 30-Year-Old In Longview, Washington, Busted For 'Controlled Substance Homicide')
• Solving Drug Epidemic In Nation's Prisons (Staff Editorial In 'San Francisco Chronicle' About Clinton's Proposed $17 Billion Federal Budget For War On Some Drugs Contradicts Itself, Endorsing Both More Prison Drug Testing - And Presumably Punishment - And Reversal Of Trend Toward Ever Tougher Sentences)
• Lungren Takes On Education (With California's Self-Described 'Law And Order' Candidate For Governor Trailing Democrats' Davis In Field Poll, As Well As Businessman Al Checchi, 'San Francisco Examiner' Helps Try To Rehabilitate Image Of Compassionate Use Act Nemesis, Whose Impact On California Education As Part Of Wilson Administration Has Already Been Significant)
• DrugSense Focus Alert - WHO Suppresses Important Report On Marijuana (Activists Are Asked To Write To US Media About Lack Of Coverage)
• Cannabis Is King In This Remote Mexican Corner ('Orange County Register' Says About 450 Miles South Of US-Mexico Border, In Oak-Studded Mesas Of Durango State, Lies The Independent Republic Of Dope, Where Marijuana Is Main Pillar Of Local Economy - Told That US Congress Will Vote Soon On Whether To Recertify Mexico As A Reliable Drug-Fighting Ally, One Resident Hoots Derisively, 'It's A Good Thing We're Not Part Of Mexico,' He Says, Sweeping An Arm Over A Vista Where Cannabis Fields Seem To Go On Forever)
• Eric Voth Is Very Upset At The IOC (List Subscriber Posts Release From Notorious Anti-Cannabis Zealot At Drug Watch International Protesting Return Of Olympic Gold Medal To Canadian Snowboarder Whose Urine Supposedly Tested Positive For Pot)
• No Smoking Gun For Pot (First Of Two Letters To Editor Of 'Ottawa Sun' Slams Earl McRae's 'Rebagliati Disgraces Medal' Column - Second Letter Says Pot Should Remain Illegal Even If Less Harmful Than Alcohol)
• Cannabis Campaign - Less Risk Than Booze And Fags (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Continues Its Weekly Push For Reform Of Marijuana Prohibition With Account Of WHO Report Leaked To 'New Scientist' After Being Suppressed By United States' NIDA)
• Cannabis Campaign - Sport Set To Accept Recreational Use (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Quotes Simon Easson, Director Of Centre For Applied Sport Philosophy And Ethics Research At De Montfort University, Who Says, 'Sport's Governing Bodies Do Not Want To Be Seen To Be Swimming Against The Tide Of Public Opinion')
• Cannabis Campaign - Hunt On For The Stoned Civil Servant (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Says They Are Smoking Pot At The Treasury - Remains Of A Cannabis Cigarette Were Found In An Ashtray In The First-Floor 'Sin Bin' Where Civil Servants Go If They Want To Smoke - One Floor Below Office Of Keith Hellawell, Government's New 'Drugs Tsar')
• Cannabis Smoker Under Drug Tsar's Nose (Version From Britain's 'Sunday Times')
• Drugs Crisis Warning By Shotts Staff (Britain's 'Sunday Times' Says Figures Showing Number Of Prisoners Testing Positive For Drugs At Shotts Prison, One Of Scotland's Most Secure Jails, Have Been Manipulated To Mask Growing Crisis - Random Tests Suggest 85 Percent To 90 Percent Of Inmates Use Illegal Drugs, According To Staff Members)
• Let's Test Driving On Pot ('Associated Press' Says A Member Of The German Parliament's Transportation Committee Has Suggested That Members Gauge Their Skill At Driving While Stoned On Cannabis - The Greens Politician Notes Alcohol Was Blamed For 4,000 Automobile Deaths In Germany Last Year, Whereas Illegal Drugs Were Blamed For Only 16 Deaths)
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  Monday, February 23, 1998:

• Police Act Cautiously With Search Law ('The Oregonian,' In Its Characteristic Role As Public Relations Flak For Police, Notes So Far, No Disasters Have Been Attributed To New State Law That Went Into Effect October 4 Allowing Cops To Stop, Question, Search Anyone They 'Have Reason' To Suspect Might Have Committed Crime Or Could Be About To Commit Crime)
• Failing Parole - Lack Of Services Hurts Public Safety And Taxpayers (Staff Editorial In 'Sacramento Bee' Notes California Has Worst Rate Of Recidivism Among 50 States - 67 Percent Return To Prison - No Mention It Also Has Some Of Most Stringent Anti-Marijuana Laws)
• Five Arrested In Black-Tar-Heroin Bust ('Seattle Times' Notes King County Sheriff's Deputies Seized What They Said Was $500,000 Worth Of Smack And Made Five Arrests Late Saturday In Federal Way, Washington, After Four-Year Investigation Helped By Informants Already In Custody)
• `Morning After' Pills Don't Need A Prescription ('Seattle Times' Says First Program Of Its Kind In US Benefits Women In Puget Sound)
• Marijuana Ban To Remain In Force ('Honolulu Advertiser' Reviews Recent Hawaii Supreme Court Ruling That The State's 1978 Constitutional Amendment Protecting Privacy Does Not Protect Smoking Of Marijuana For Recreational Purposes - The Court Left The Door Slightly Ajar, However, For Allowing Marijuana For Medical And Religious Uses)
• Police Hoods Violate Court Order, Judges Say - Officers' Practice Protecting Themselves By Wearing Hoods Over Their Faces Is Seen By Some As Intimidation ('Wichita Eagle' Says In Recent Cases, Two Sitting Judges Have Found That Police In Wichita, Kansas, Violated The Court Order On Three Separate Occasions, But In Each Case, The Judges Opted Not To Hand Down Any Sanctions)
• Anton Rosenberg, The Hipster Ideal Artist Was An Icon Of 1950s Atmosphere In Greenwich Village (Obituary In 'San Jose Mercury News' Says Man Who Became Julian Alexander In Jack Kerouac's Novel, 'The Subterraneans,' Another Character In William Burroughs' 'Junkie' Was A Storied Sometime-Artist And Occasional Musician Who Embodied The Ideal Of Cool With Such Determined Detachment That He Never Amounted To Much Of Anything)
• Miss Montana Wears Hemp! (Perhaps Even More Surprising, Director Of Montana USA Pageants Tracks Down Washington State Hemp Activist To Tell Him About It)
• High Time ('North Shore News' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Notes Return Home Of Olympic Gold Medal-Winning Snowboarder Ross Rebagliati, Observing That With Rebagliati Being Claimed As Poster Boy By Both Pro-Marijuana And Anti-Marijuana Advocates, It's High Time Canadians Engaged In A Worthwhile Debate On The Issue Of How Canadian Society Treats The Weed And Those Who Smoke It)
• Ross Has The Chance To Be A Real Winner (Letter To Editor Of 'Vancouver Sun' Urges Olympic Snowboarder Who Supposedly Tested Positive For Pot To Urge Children Not To Use Illegal Drugs)
• Re - Ross Has The Chance To Be A Real Winner (Letter Sent To Editor Of 'Vancouver Sun' In Response To Another Letter Says Such Messages, That Drugs At Any Time Are 'Unacceptable,' Undermines Efforts To Teach Children Difference Between Responsible Drug Use By Consenting Adults And Irresponsible Drug Abuse By Minors - Also Notes Rabagliati Refused To Condemn Friends Or Parrot Simplistic 'Just Say No' Slogan That Failed To Prevent His Generation From Using Illegal Drugs)
• Lying To Your Kids About Marijuana Even More Dangerous (Five Letters To Editor Of 'Toronto Star' Regarding Olympic Snowboarder Who Tested Positive For Pot)
• Marijuana Smokers Not Dimwitted Dudes (Letter To Editor In Bellingham, Washington, 'Herald,' Notes Case Of Olympic Gold Medal Winner Who Supposedly Tested Positive For Cannabis Poses Challenge To Mass Media And 'American Mind')
• Brewery Plans Hemp-Flavoured Beer ('Vancouver Sun' Says Bowen Island Brewing In Vancouver, British Columbia, Plans To Sell Hemp Cream Ale - Canada Scheduled To Enact Changes Next Month To Controlled Drugs And Substances Act, Making It Legal To Grow And Process Hemp For Commercial Purposes)
• Get Hep To The Value Of Hemp (Letter To Editor In 'North Shore News' In Vancouver, British Columbia, Responds To Earlier Letter Protesting North Vancouver District Council's Recommendation To Federation Of Canadian Municipalities That Possession Of Marijuana Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol)
• Tobacco Company Was Ready For Marijuana - Report ('Canberra Times' In Australia Quotes London's 'Observer' Saying British American Tobacco, Britain's Largest Such Company, Discussed Lacing Its Cigarettes With Marijuana So It Could Cash In If Drug Were Legalised)
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  Tuesday, February 24, 1998:

• Pot Grower Faces US Sentence - Her Medical-Use Claim May Win A Lighter Term (Outrageous Story In 'Sacramento Bee' Documents Selective Enforcement Of Federal Marijuana Laws In Attempt To Nullify California Compassionate Use Act - No Jury Has Yet Convicted A Medical Marijuana Patient, But Intimidated Defendant Copped To Plea Offered By Assistant US Attorney Nancy L. Simpson - 'Defendant Agrees To Make A Public Statement, Urging Others Not To Be Misled Into Believing That They May Grow Medicinal Marijuana Without Being In Violation Of Federal Law . . . If The Defendant's Public Statement . . . Receives Media Coverage, The Government Agrees To Move For A Reduced Sentence')
• Pot Sentencing Shows Federal/State Differences ('Orange County Register' Version)
• Garden Grove May Hold Off On Marijuana Clubs ('Los Angeles Times' Notes Officials In California City Are Expected To Approve Ban On Medical Dispensaries Despite California Compassionate Use Act)
• Meeting Examines Medicinal Marijuana ('Reuters' Article About Two-Day Conference On Medical Marijuana Called By Institute Of Medicine In Washington, DC, Third And Final Meeting Scheduled As Part Of Drug Czar McCaffrey's $1 Million Commissioned Study, 'Medical Use Of Marijuana - Assessment Of The Science Base,' To Be Issued In December 1998)
• Comments To NAS Committee On Medical Marijuana (Rick Doblin Of Multidisciplinary Association For Psychedelic Studies Shares His Testimony At The IOM Conference)
• Dignity (Floyd Ferris Landrath Of American Antiprohibition League Gives An Update On Weekly Demonstrations In Support Of Portland Methadone Clinic Being Challenged By Ignorant Neighbors)
• Molokai Gov Candidate Will Halt Drug War ('Molokai Advertiser News' Notes Its Publisher, George Peabody Of Molokai, Has Announced He Is A Libertarian Party Contender To Be Hawaii's Next Governor)
• Supreme Court Reviews Rockford Cocaine Case ('Chicago Tribune' Article About 'The Men Who Introduced Crack Cocaine To Rockford, Illinois,' Now Serving Mandatory Minimums Including Life Without Parole, Says The Issue Being Considered By The US Supreme Court Is Whether The Jury Rather Than The Judge Should Have Determined The Type And Amount Of Cocaine Attributable To Each Defendant)
• Drug War A Matter Of Health (Letter To Editor Of 'The Oklahoman' By Mark D. Woodward, Public Information Officer For Oklahoma Bureau Of Narcotics And Dangerous Drugs Control, Says Laws Against Illegal Drugs Are Based On Public Health Concerns, A Demonstrably Untrue Assertion)
• Judge Rules Signatures Should Count (Maine Public Radio Says Superior Court Justice Donald Alexander Has Ruled That Mainers For Medical Rights Should Be Allowed To Submit 2,500 Signatures To The Secretary Of State That The City Of Portland Failed To Process On Time - Getting On Ballot Still Unlikely)
• Scare Tactics By Drug Companies ('Associated Press' Says US Food And Drug Administration Has Logged More Than 2,500 Reports Of Side Effects, 79 Deaths Associated With Herbal Dietary Supplements - American Association Of Poison Control Centers Is Beginning Study To Track Poisonings From Supplements, Something US Government Has Yet To Do With Most Pharmaceutical Drugs)
• Five Hundred Treated After Used-Needle Jabs ('Vancouver Sun' Says About 500 British Columbian Public Health And Safety Workers Had To Be Placed On Anti-HIV/AIDS Drug Regimens Last Year As A Precaution After Being Jabbed By Used Needles - Alarming Rate Prompts Lower Mainland Hospitals To Try Out New Safety Syringe)
  Bytes: 54,300 Last updated: 4/6/98
  

  Wednesday, February 25, 1998:

• Suspect In Slaying Of Officer Commits Suicide In Jail ('Associated Press' Article About Target Of Warrantless Break-In By Portland Marijuana Task Force That Resulted In One Cop Killed, Two Wounded, Fails To Address Essential Factual Issue - Was Cannabis Found In Dons' Fireplace, Corroborating Basis For Break-In, Or Was There No Cannabis In Fireplace, Meaning Police Lied, Break-In Was Illegal, And Dons Was Innocent And May Have Been Killed By Cops To Prevent Lawsuits And Appeals In Hundreds Of Cases Where Cops Said They Smelled Pot Burning Or Growing?)
• Accused Cop-Killer Kills Self - Man Accused Of Shooting Police Apparently Committed Suicide (Version Broadcast By KOIN, Portland's CBS Affiliate)
• Marijuana Task Force Suspect Dies In Custody (Press Release From Portland's American Antiprohibition League Calls For Independent Investigation Of Hanging Suicide By Prone, Partly Paralyzed Man With Bullet Hole In His Chest Who May Have Thought His Innocence Would Protect Him)
• Do As I Say ('Willamette Week' In Portland, Oregon, Says Frank Caywood, Who Spent More Than Two Years Supervising Felons As A Multnomah County Parole Officer, Will Spend Year In Prison After Pleading No Contest To 12 Counts Of Theft, Official Misconduct, Possession Of Heroin)
• Jackson County Offers Pregnant Women Drug Test ('Associated Press' Story In 'The Oregonian' Says Tests Are 'Voluntary' But Beginning In January, Gynecologists And Other Doctors Told Pregnant Patients A Drug Test Would Be Included In Prenatal Screenings)
• Ruling Barring CBCs Left Standing By Supreme Court ('Associated Press' Says California Supreme Court Leaves Intact December Appellate Decision Closing Medical Marijuana Dispensaries)
• Ruling May Close California Pot Clubs (Slightly Different Version Of 'Associated Press' Story)
• Plea Deal Cuts Pot Grower's Jail Term To 10 Months ('Sacramento Bee' Notes First Successful Federal Intimidation Of A Marijuana Cultivator Who Claimed Protection Under Proposition 215 - Roni L. Aurelio Cops Plea, Gets 10-Month Jail Sentence Rather Than Demand A Jury Trial - Federal Judge In Sacramento Grants Leniency Due To Conflicting State Law, Coerced Attempt By Defendant At Media Coverage - Defendant Likely To Have Been Convicted As Non-Qualified Primary Caregiver?)
• LA Unified Police Will Carry Shotguns ('Orange County Register' Says Los Angeles Unified School District Board Of Education Approves Controversial Plan To Buy 75 Remington Shotguns For School Police)
• Woman Wins Court Battle Against US Customs ('San Francisco Chronicle' Notes Drug War Just Got $451,000 More Expensive - 'No Other Person Should Go Through This Hell' Says Woman Whose Trip Around The World Turned Into A Nightmare When She Was Strip-Searched For Drugs And Detained Almost 24 Hours By Federal Agents In San Francisco)
• Woman Wins $450,000 For Airport Strip-Search ('Associated Press' Version In 'Orange County Register')
• Woman Wins $450,000 In Customs-Search Suit ('San Jose Mercury News' Version Of 'Associated Press' Article Has Two More Paragraphs)
• Woman Wins $450,000 In SFO Drug Search Suit ('San Mateo County Times' Version Of 'Associated Press' Account Is Lengthier Still)
• Bill Proposes Stiffer Penalties For Drug Abuse ('Los Angeles Times' Says California State Senator Pete Knight, A Republican From Palmdale, Has Introduced A Bill Directed At Athletes At State Universities That Would Ban Any Player Who Fails Two Drug Tests And Would Require Drug Testing And Attendance At Drug-Prevention Seminars)
• Pot Grower Tells All In Fight Over Legal Rights (Everett, Washington, 'Herald,' Continues Series About Ongoing Marijuana Cultivation Trial In Which Federal Prosecutors Turned Lawyer's Private Investigator Into Confidential Informant Against Him And His Clients)
• Good Drugs Bad Drugs ('Seattle Weekly' Highlights Two Seattle 'Post-Intelligencer' Items Suggesting Hypocrisy Is Alive And Well At Both The P-I And Winter Olympics In Japan)
• Spokane County Considering Expanding Drug Court Program ('Associated Press' Notes Eastern Washington State County Wants Drug Courts For Juveniles)
• Hysteria About Marijuana (Pharmacist's Letter To Editor Of 'Oklahoma Gazette' Faults Prohibition Hysteria That Has Stifled Virtually All Therapeutic Research Into Cannabis In United States - Cites Will Foster And Jimmy Montgomery Cases As Examples Of Oklahoma's War On Sick People)
• Cannabis Stupida Billboards (List Subscriber Notes The Hoosier Cannabis Relegalization Coalition Recently Paid For An Indiana Highway Billboard Advocating Re-Legalization Of Marijuana)
• 'Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts - A Review Of The Scientific Evidence' Reviewed In 'Journal Of The American Medical Association' (Writer Can't Cite Anything To Contradict Zimmer And Morgan's Science But He Calls The Book Title 'Pugnacious' And Authors' 'Extraordinarily Well-Researched And Passionately Argued' Approach 'Inflammatory')
• Time To Grow Up About Tobacco (Op-Ed In 'Wall Street Journal' Suggests, 'In A Collective Act Of Memory Repression, We Have Convinced Ourselves That We Didn't Know Smoking Was Dangerous - Our Basic Dilemma Has Been An Unwillingness To Decide Between Banning Tobacco Or Saying That Smokers Smoke At Their Own Risk - Antismoking Crusade Demonstrates Autonomy Of The Political Process, For Only After Smoking Fell By Half Was It Decreed A Crisis')
• Tobacco Giants Won't Scale Back Ads Without Lawsuit Protections ('San Francisco Examiner' Says Five Major Tobacco Companies Have Told The US Senate That They Will Not Agree To Curtail Advertising Unless Congress Grants Them Some Protection Against Lawsuits)
• Uncertain Drug Strategy ('Wall Street Journal' Editorial Says There Is Increasing Understanding In Washington That Decertification Process Simply Isn't Meeting Goal Of Diminishing Supply Of Drugs In US - Ultimate Goal Cannot Be Met By Placing Major Responsibility On Shoulders Of Poor Countries, Even If Their Leaders Are Ethically Suspect - Supply Will Find Demand And We Should Start To Wonder Why Demand Is So High In This Country)
• Crooked Cops ('Orange County Register' Quotes Mexico's Attorney General, Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, Saying Mexico's Police Are 'Living With The Enemy,' Urging Constitutional Changes, Tougher Laws To Eliminate Corruption)
• Reno Praises Mexico's Anti-Drug Cooperation ('Orange County Register' Quotes US Attorney General Telling US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, 'I Never Dreamed Three Years Ago I Would Be Seeing Extradition At The Rate That We're Seeing It')
• 'Comical' Pot Grower Fined ('Bracebridge Examiner' Suggests Ontario Marijuana Cultivator Got Off Lightly Because Of His Poor Cultivation Skills)
• Heroin Cure May Have Killed Six (Britain's 'Independent' Says Vietnamese Promoter Of Heantos, A Herbal Remedy For Opiate Addiction, May Have Covered Up Deaths Of Patients In His Care)
• Cannabis Use Rates Highly ('Sydney Morning Herald' Says The United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board Report For 1997, Released Yesterday, Alleges That The Rate Of Cannabis Use In Australia Is Among The Highest In The World)
• 'Heroin Chic' Threatens Young - UN Report Assails Pop Culture As Making Drugs Seem Alluring ('Agence France Presse' Article In 'International Herald Tribune' About The United Nations' International Narcotics Control Board Annual Report)
• UN General Assembly Special Session On Narcotic Drugs In New York June 8-10, 1998 (Lengthy Briefing Paper By Transnational Radical Party In New York Documents Some Recent UN Reports And Statements On Drugs And Drug Policy)
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 35 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists, Including Such Original And Excellent Commentary As The Feature Article, 'Policing For Profit - The Drug War's Hidden Economic Agenda,' By Eric Blumenson And Eva Nilsen)
  Bytes: 136,000 Last updated: 4/6/98
  

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