1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
April 16-22

Thursday, April 16, 1998:
• NORML Weekly News (New Zealand Report Urges Government To Legalize Marijuana, Exposes US Role In Maintaining Worldwide Prohibition; San Francisco Medical Marijuana Dispensary Ordered Closed By Judge; Iowa Legislature Okays Bill Enhancing Marijuana Penalties, Granting Police Power To Drug Test Drivers; Oklahoma Rally To Be Held Monday To Address Plight Of Medical Marijuana Patients)
• McMinnville - Drug Team Tallies Arrests (Salem, Oregon, 'Statesman Journal' Says The Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team Arrested 28 Suspects On 64 Drug-Related Charges During The First Quarter Of 1998 - To Report Suspected Drug Activity In Confidence, Call The Team's Tip Line, 503-472-6565)
• Judge Orders Pot Club Closed Again ('San Francisco Examiner' Says Superior Court Judge David Garcia On Wednesday Ordered The San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators' Club To Close, Citing Founder Dennis Peron's Admission He Sold Medical Marijuana To Primary Caregivers - Peron Says He'll Appeal)
• Judge Orders Shutdown Of San Francisco Pot Club ('San Francisco Chronicle' Version)
• Judge Orders Closure Of Marijuana Club ('Orange County Register' Version)
• Marvin Chavez's Trial (Update From Orange County, California, Correspondent Notes The Co-Founder Of The Orange County Cannabis Co-op Is Being Held In Jail On $100,000 Bail - Body-Neck Brace Disallowed Because It Could Be Used As A Weapon - Next Hearing May 7)
• On 4-20 'Politically Incorrect' Smokes (Los Angeles Cancer Patient And Medical Marijuana Defendant Todd McCormick To Appear With Actor And Hemp Activist Woody Harrelson On ABC's 'Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher' Monday Night, April 20)
• Court Releases Police Transcripts In Slaying Of Teen Drug Informant ('San Diego Union Tribune' Quotes The Lawyer For The Mother Of Slain And Tortured 17-Year-Old Chad MacDonald Saying At A News Conference Yesterday That The Transcripts Of Brea, California, Police Recordings Support Cindy MacDonald's Story That Police Forced Chad To His Death)
• Company Starts Test Of Cocaine Vaccine ('Reuters' Notes ImmuLogic In Massachusetts, With NIDA Funding, Has Started Phase I Safety Tests Of A Vaccine Purported To Prevent Users From Getting High - NIDA Believes 10 Percent Of All People Who Try Cocaine Eventually Become Addicted)
• Sources - Needle-Exchange Funding Ban To Be Lifted (CNN Cites Unnamed 'Sources' Who Say Clinton Administration Will Override General McCaffrey's Objections And Allow Funding For Needle Exchanges)
• Deadly Prescriptions ('San Francisco Chronicle' Belatedly Notes Report In 'Journal Of The American Medical Association' Finding An Average Of 106,000 Patients Die In American Hospitals Every Year From Adverse Reactions To Prescription Medicines)
• Drug Use At Border Concerns Authorities ('Orange County Register' Refuses To Acknowledge The Drug War's Role In Exacerbating Illegal Hard-Drug Use At The Mexican Border Town Of San Luis Rio Colorado)
• Clinton's Talks To Focus On Trade, Drugs ('Associated Press' Article In Massachusetts' 'Standard-Times' Notes US President Has Arrived In Santiago, Chile, For A Two-Day State Visit)
• The Netherlands - Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than US ('Reuters' Article Broadcast By CNN Notes New Survey By The Centre For Drug Research At The University Of Amsterdam Showing Only 2 Percent To 3 Percent Of Dutch Over The Age Of 12 Had Used Marijuana Over A One-Month Period, Compared To Around 5 Percent In The United States)
• A Fresh Line On Drugs (Staff Editorial In Britain's 'Times' Says Prohibition Is Not Working And A Royal Commission Should Be Appointed To Examine The Nature Of Britain's Drug Problem And Make Recommendations)
  Bytes: 63,100 Last updated: 5/23/98
  

  Friday, April 17, 1998:

• Morphine And Marijuana (Staff Editorial In 'Register-Guard' In Eugene, Oregon, About Senator Gordon Smith's Anti-Medical Marijuana Campaign, Says Classing Marijuana With Heroin And Cocaine, While Denying Potentially Beneficial Medical Uses, Does More To Undercut The Credibility Of Current Drug Policy Than 'Pro-Marijuana' Activists Ever Could)
• MAMA's Vision Oregon Tour April 20-May 8 (Sandee Burbank, Founder Of The Drug Education Group, Mothers Against Misuse And Abuse, Will Be Making Presentations Around Oregon - Help Publicize These Public Events)
• Report Depicts How Oregonians Die ('The Oregonian' Cites Oregon Vital Statistics Annual Report 1995 Compiled By The Oregon Health Division, Which Suggests 22.3 Percent Of Deaths Were Linked To Tobacco Use, And That Alcoholism Was The 11th Leading Cause Of Death - Not A Single Death From Cannabis Mentioned)
• Operator To Close San Francisco Cannabis Club ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says Dennis Peron Announced Thursday That His Medical Marijuana Dispensary Would Close Next Week - But That It Would Instantly Reopen With A New Name, New Rules, And A 78-Year-Old Woman As Its New Director)
• Cannabis Club Leader Resigns In An Effort To Keep Shop Open ('Los Angeles Times' Version)
• Pot Club Founder Vows To Continue ('Oakland Tribune' Version)
• Cannabis Club To Be Reborn ('San Francisco Examiner' Version)
• Pot Club Founder Rolls With Ruling, Vows It'll Reopen ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Chief Of San Francisco Pot Club Quits, Says Facility Will Open Again ('Sacramento Bee' Version)
• San Francisco Sheriff Vows To Close Pot Club (Brief Item In 'Orange County Register' Says Sheriff Mike Hennessey Will Officially Close The Dispensary Monday)
• San Francisco's Political Potboiler ('Washington Post' Say San Francisco's Reputation As A Municipal Iconoclast And Proving Ground For Unconventional Ideas Got A Major Boost Today When San Francisco County Sheriff Michael Hennessey Refused To Padlock The Cannabis Cultivators' Club As Ordered Wednesday By Superior Court Judge David Garcia)
• The Joint Debate (Transcript Of 'The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer' Newscast On PBS About Developments Regarding California Cannabis Dispensaries)
• New Charge Filed Versus Cannabis Co-Op Founder ('Orange County Register' Says Orange County Deputy District Attorney Carl Armburst Thursday Charged Marvin Chavez, Director Of The Orange County Cannabis Co-Op, With Mailing Seven Ounces Of Cannabis To A Woman In Northern California - Central Municipal Court Judge Charles Margines Sets Bail At $100,000)
• Police Dispute Pot Club Costs ('San Jose Mercury News' Says San Jose Police Are Alleging In Court Documents That Peter Baez, Director Of The Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, Charged Clients Four Times What The Center Paid For Pot, Sold To Nearly 70 People Without A Required Doctor's Recommendation, And Used Center Money To Pay For Such Questionable Expenses As His Satellite Television Bill - But Baez's Lawyer Says He Will Be Vindicated Of Any Financial Wrongdoing)
• Newport Man's Arrest Jars Neighbors ('Orange County Register' Notes Bust Of Gentry In The Gated, Beachfront Community Of Bayshores, California, For Participation In Smuggling Nine Tons Of Marijuana In September 1995 In A Sailboat That Docked At Boat Harbor, Near Anacortes, Washington)
• Sheriff, Prosecutors End Tiff Drug Money's Fate Undecided ('The Oklahoman' Describes A Dispute Over Money From The Illegal Drug Market)
• ACLU Against Westport Prom Testing ('Standard-Times' In Massachusetts Notes School Officials In Westport, Massachusetts, Are Considering Whether To Require Breath Analysis Alcohol Tests For Participants In School Events)
• Ritalin May Encourage Drug Abuse, Study Says (Ignorant Journalists At 'Orange County Register' Completely Misunderstand And Misrepresent The Article In Tomorrow's 'New Scientist')
• Hyperactive Child Drug Like Cocaine ('Reuters' Version In 'Toronto Star')
• Re - Ritalin May Encourage Drug Abuse, Study Says (Letter Sent To Editor Cites Research Contradicting Theory That Ritalin Is A Gateway To Cocaine Abuse)
• Chat Saturday-Sunday Nights (The Drugsense/Media Awareness Project's Weekly Online Chat Forum At 9 PM Saturdays-Sundays Eastern Time, This Week Features Members Of The Alliance Of Reform Organizations)
• Crusader For Medical Pot Use Fed Up With Hassle, Expense ('London Free Press' In Ontario Says Multiple Sclerosis Patient Lynn Harichy Of London Needs $20,000 For Expert Witnesses To Present Her Constitutional Challenge To Canada's Prohibition On Medical Marijuana)
• Marijuana Found Growing In Home ('Edmonton Sun' Doesn't Say What Led Police In Edmonton, Alberta, To Discover 33 Plants At A Townhouse, Or How They Came Up With An Estimated Value Of Almost $30,000)
• Accused A Robot - Woman Has No Memory Of Crash ('Calgary Sun' Says A Psychiatrist From The Clark Institute Of Psychiatry In Toronto Has Testified That A Woman Who Killed Another Motorist While Driving The Wrong Way Was Not Negligent Due To The Two Drinks Of Alcohol She Had - He Attributes Her Involuntary Incapacitation To Not Taking Her Anti-Depressant, Paxil)
• Law Used To Seize Biker Pad - Proceeds Of Crime Legislation ('Toronto Sun' Says The Seizure Of The Satan's Choice Clubhouse In Hamilton By Ontario Provincial Police, Who Allege It Was Purchased With Drug Money, Is The First Of Its Kind In Canada)
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 38 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's News Summary For Activists Features Nine Original Articles Including - Special Report - Medical Marijuana In Canada, And Its Potential Impact On The US; And Editorial - The 4-20 Debate, By Adam J. Smith)
  Bytes: 127,000 Last updated: 5/1/98
  

  Saturday, April 18, 1998:

• Thinking About Police And Politics - 'K-News' Story - Police Chiefs Say No To Drug Laws (Or.Politics Newsgroup Subscriber Objects To Law Enforcement Officials Lobbying Against Oregon Marijuana Initiatives)
• Smoke Troubles Away? (Staff Editorial By Robert Landauer In 'The Oregonian' Admits Government Has Blocked Medical Marijuana Research, But Then Goes On To Practice Medicine And Pharmacology By Making Numerous Factual Misstatements, Including About Marinol Versus Raw Cannabis, While Ignoring Marinol's Cost Of $7 Or More Per Pill - And Seems To Suggest It Would Be Better For Countless Sick People To Suffer And Die Than That Anyone Should 'Abuse' Cannabis, Though No Evidence Is Offered That A Single Patient Has Ever 'Abused' Medical Marijuana)
• Pharmacists Accept Right To Legal Lethal Dose ('The Oregonian' Says The American Pharmaceutical Association Approved A Resolution At Its National Meeting In Miami Last Month That Both Allows Pharmacists To Refuse To Fill Prescriptions For Such Practices As Assisted Suicide, While Recognizing The Right Of Patients To Get A Legal Lethal Prescription Filled By A Pharmacist Willing To Do So)
• Marvin Chavez Needs Support (Local Correspondent Notes Bail For Orange County Medical Marijuana Activist Has Been Reduced From $250,000 To $100,000 - Here's An Address To Write Him A Letter Of Support)
• Pot Club In Oakland Enduring ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says The Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative Appears To Be The Last One Standing Relatively Clear And Easy In The Bay Area)
• Verdict Against Customs Agents Upheld By Judge ('San Francisco Examiner' Says A Federal Judge Has Upheld A Jury's $451,002 Verdict Against US Customs Employees Who Strip-Searched, X-Rayed And Forced An Airline Passenger To Repeatedly Take Powerful Laxatives In An Unsuccessful Search For Drugs)
• Award Upheld On Agents Who Fed Woman Laxative ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Damages Upheld In Passenger's Search ('Orange County Register' Version)
• Court Rejects Religious Pot Defense ('The Daily Olympian' Says The Washington State Court Of Appeals In Tacoma On Friday Threw Out The Defense Bid Of Gene Balzer, A Littlerock Shaman Who Belonged To Two Religious Groups, The Rastafarians And The Rainbow Family Of Living Light)
• Lawyer Convicted Of Extortion - Payoff Scheme Involved Police, Former Clients ('Boston Globe' Says A Jury Convicted Attorney Joseph P. Murphy Yesterday Of Brokering Payoffs From A Seller Of Illegal Drugs To Two Former Boston Police Detectives)
• Drug Research On Kids Attacked As Racist, Risky ('Associated Press' Story In 'Orange County Register' Adds Details To Previous Article About Testing Of Fenfluramine, Or Fen-Phen, On New York Children)
• Mayors Urge Funding For Needle Exchanges ('Orange County Register' Says The Mayors Of San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, Baltimore And New Haven Urged The Clinton Administration Friday To Allow Federal Funds To Be Used For Needle Exchange Programs)
• GOP Balks At Idea Of Lifting Ban On Needle Funding ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says Conservatives Reacted Angrily Yesterday To News That The Clinton Administration Was On The Verge Of Lifting A 10-Year-Old Ban On Using Federal Funds For Needle Exchange Programs To Prevent The Spread Of AIDS)
• Prohibition Won't Win Drug War (Five Letters To The Editor Of 'The New York Times' Respond To AM Rosenthal's Ignorant Rant Urging A Continuation Of The War On Some Drug Users)
• Pot Of Gold (The Complete Text Of The ABC Television Special Narrated By Peter Jennings, About The 'Role Marijuana Already Plays In American Life, Especially The Economy')
• Pelosi Wants Laws On Sale Of US Tobacco Abroad ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says US Representative Nancy Pelosi, A Democrat From San Francisco, And Richard Durbin, The Democratic US Senator From Illinois, Tried To Drum Up Support In Chinatown Yesterday For A Set Of Rules For International Marketing To Be Included In Any Comprehensive Federal Tobacco Legislation)
• Drug Smugglers Use Body Parts ('Reuters' Article In 'Seattle Times' Notes US Border Patrol At Falfurrias, Texas, Gets A Leg Up On Smugglers Of Marijuana, Cocaine)
• Drug Probe Spotlights Corruption In Mexico ('Orange County Register' Version Of Last Week's 'New York Times' Story About The US Pursuit Of Rafael Munoz Talavera, A Mexican Multimillionaire Accused Of Running A Cartel That Smuggled Tons Of Cocaine Into California Several Years Ago)
• British Columbian Border Is New Focus For Pot Trade ('Associated Press' Article From 'The Herald' In Everett, Washington, Says US Customs Service Has Nearly Doubled Its Marijuana Interdiction Effort Along The Canadian Border)
• Judge Blames Booze ('Calgary Sun' Says A Judge Has Rejected A Canadian Woman's Defence That A Combination Of Two Drinks And Going Without Her Anti-Depressant, Paxil, Caused Her Incapacitation That Led To Another Motorist's Death)
• Killer Cocktail Fear For Addicts (Australia's 'Herald Sun' Says A Lethal Additive In Street Heroin Almost Killed More Than 30 People Thursday Night In One Of The Worst Heroin 'Overdose' Outbreaks In Melbourne)
• Calm Before The Storm (Britain's 'New Scientist' Discusses The Science Behind Ritalin, Or Methylphenidate - This Autumn, The US National Institutes Of Health Will Sponsor A Conference Focusing On The Popular Remedy For Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder)
• Legal Heroin (Letter To Editor Of Britain's 'Independent' By A Reverend Who Has Worked With Heroin Addicts For 35 Years Supports Another Reverend's Public Call For Legal Heroin, And Suggests A Return To Britain's Rolleston Principles Allowing Prescribed Use, Which Governed British Heroin Policy From The 1920s Until The Late 1960s)
  Bytes: 149,000 Last updated: 5/30/98
  

  Sunday, April 19, 1998:

• Drug War Is A Lost Cause - Like Prohibition (Op-Ed In 'Los Angeles Times' By Mike Gray, Author Of 'Drug Crazy - How We Got Into This Mess And How We Can Get Out,' Explains Why Prohibition Leads Ineluctably To Dead Teenage Informants)
• Small Plane Carrying Pot Crashes After Chase With Customs Officials ('Associated Press' Says The Pilot Of A Small Plane Loaded With Marijuana Died After It Crashed In A Detroit Field Sunday Night After Being Chased From Texas By US Customs Planes)
• Temperance Movement Grows In Chicago, A Precinct At A Time ('New York Times' Says Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley Has Been Promoting A 'Vote Dry' Campaign, With City Hall Lawyers Teaching Residents How To Outlaw The Sale Of Alcohol In A Precinct, Typically A Few Blocks Of 400 To 500 People, Or Even At A Particular Address)
• Pot Finds Fresh Crop Of Users (Biased 'New Haven Register' Article About Johnes Festival '98 At Western Connecticut State University In Danbury Saturday Ignores Its Call For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws In Favor Of The Traditional Mass Media Treatment - Start With An Interview Of The Youngest Person The Reporter Can Find Smoking Cannabis, And Be Sure To Quote Lots Of Discredited Drug Warrior Propaganda)
• The Volatile Career Path Of A Drug Corner Kingpin (Morality Tale In 'Washington Post' About A Local Seller Of Illegal Drugs Shows More Danger From Prohibition Than Drugs)
• Five Big City Mayors Back Needle Exchanges ('Reuters' Says The Mayors Of San Francisco, Detroit, Seattle, New Haven And Baltimore Urged The Clinton Administration On Friday To Allow Federal Money To Be Used For Needle Exchange Programs, Noting That 33 Americans Are Infected Every Day With The Virus That Causes AIDS As A Result Of Injecting Illegal Drugs - But Representative Gerald Solomon, The New York Republican Who Heads The House Rules Committee, Said He Would Act To Stop Such A Move And Work To Pass Legislation Permanently Banning Such Payments)
• Americans Prefer Smack To Crack (Britain's 'Independent on Sunday' Says The Precise Figures For Drug Use In The United States Are Notoriously Unreliable But The Overall Trend During The Nineties Indicates Cocaine Use Is Down And Heroin Use Is Up - Drug Enforcement Administration Figures Based On Hospital Emergency Room Admissions Suggest Heroin Use Has More Than Doubled Since 1990 - However, The Actual Number Of People Who Use Cocaine Remains Significantly Higher, Possibly By A Factor Of Five)
• Another Round On Booze Lobbies ('Edmonton Sun' In Alberta, Canada, Assumes That With 40 Percent Of Traffic Fatalities In The US Traceable To Alcohol, Setting A National Standard For Drunken Driving Should Be A No Brainer - But A Measure To Equalize Standards That Won Approval In The US Senate Recently And Was Backed By The President Never Even Got To A Vote In The House, Providing A Lesson In American Politics And The Strange Bedfellows That Lie Together When Cash, Votes, And Local Customs Are Involved)
• Warning - Zealotry May Be Hazardous (Op-Ed In 'Washington Post' By Fred Barbash Examines The Hypocrisy Evidenced By The Demise Of Joe Camel While The Budweiser Frog Dances On)
• Two Major Conferences On Pharmacotherapy For Opiate Dependence At The New York Academy Of Medicine (Bulletin And Registration Information From The Lindesmith Center About Events June 6 And September 25)
• Drug Conference - Global Solution Needed, Say Youth ('Calgary Herald' Says 200 Delegates From Around The World Who Gathered For The Youth Vision Drug Abuse Prevention Forum Last Week In Banff Will, In Their Infinite Wisdom, Tell The United Nations In New York This June That Drug Abuse Is A Global Issue Requiring A Global Solution)
• Summit Leaders Agree On Anti-Drug Alliance ('San Jose Mercury News' Says The Leaders Of 34 American Nations Agreed Saturday To Form An Anti-Drug Alliance - Empire To Be Launched With Negotiations Beginning In Washington, DC, Next Month - Clinton Administration Wants Alliance To Replace 12-Year-Old Certification Process, But Congressional Republican Majority May Prevent That)
• Clinton Laments Americas' Problems ('Washington Post' Account Of The Second Summit Of The Americas, In Santiago, Chile)
• Cannabis Campaign - Win A Video (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Continues Its Push For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws With A Contest Featuring As Prizes 25 Copies Of Australian Documentary Film Maker Anthony Clarke's 'Hemp Revolution,' Which Has Just Become Available In Britain)
• The Euro - Ideal For Drug Barons (Britain's 'Observer' Says A Book Out Tomorrow, 'EMU - Prospects And Challenges For The Euro,' Suggests People In The Illegal Drug Industry Could Be Among The Main Beneficiaries Of The Single European Currency, As Large Denomination Euro Notes Make It Easier And Cheaper To Smuggle Illegal Profits Across Borders)
• Nurses Set To Back Use Of Cannabis ('Scotland On Sunday' Says A Motion Calling For Patients To Be Prescribed Cannabis Products Has Been Put Forward By The Royal College Of Nursing's Pain Forum And Will Be Debated At The RCN's Annual Conference In Bournemouth This Week)
• Where Opium Reigned, Burmese Claim Inroads ('New York Times' Says The Military Junta That Seized Power In Burma In 1988 May Be Shifting Its 'Attitude' Toward The Illegal Opium Market)
• Customs Officers 'Set Up Bogus Drug Deals' (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Says British Customs And Excise Officers In Pakistan Are Being Investigated Following Allegations That Asians In The UK Were Set Up In Bogus Drug Deals)
  Bytes: 87,700 Last updated: 5/1/98
  

  Monday, April 20, 1998:

• Medicinal Pot Needs A Vote (Staff Editorial By Don Bishoff In Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Pans US Senator Gordon Smith's Campaign Against Medical Marijuana, Endorses The Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative As Necessary In The Face Of Politics And Government Indifference, And Recounts Oregon's Brief History Of Legal Medical Marijuana, In 1979)
• Seattle Media List (List Subscriber Puts Together An Excellent And Comprehensive List With Contact Information)
• Sheriff Closes Pot Club, Slams Court Order ('Associated Press' Notes San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey Reluctantly Shut Down The San Francisco Cannabis Cultivators Club Today)
• Linda McCartney Dies Of Cancer At 56 ('Washington Post' Says The Former Photographer Who Died April 17 In Santa Barbara, California, Like Her Husband, Former Beatle Paul McCartney, Made Headlines As A Result Of An Open Fondness For Marijuana)
• Drug Plane Crashes, Bystanders Steal Cargo ('Orange County Register' Notes One Informal Man-On-The-Street Poll In Detroit Finds Little Support For Marijuana Prohibition)
• An Ally In The War On Drugs (Letter From US Representative Silvestre Reyes Of Texas, A Former US Border Patrol Agent, To Editor Of 'Washington Post,' Says The Most Important Lesson He Learned While Working On The Border Is That To Be Successful In The War On Some Drugs, The United States Must Help Mexico Reform Its Police Apparatus And Legal And Judicial Systems)
• Charges Dropped Against MS Patient Who Used Medicinal Marijuana In Congressman's Office (Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Says Cheryl & Jim Miller Go Free After Eating Cannabis In DC Office Of California Representative James Rogan - More Civil Disobedience Expected In Near Future)
• US Won't Fund Needle Exchanges ('Associated Press' Says The Clinton Administration Declared Today That It Will Not Allow Federal Tax Dollars To Fund The Programs)
• No Federal Funds For Needle Exchange Efforts (Cable News Network Version)
• US Backs Needle Exchange, But Opposes Funds ('Reuters' Version)
• Three On The Needle Exchange Cop-Out (MAP Combines Three Articles From Business Wire And PRNewswire, Including Responses From Health Professionals, AIDS Experts)
• Smoke And Mirrors In The Tobacco Crusade (Syndicated Columnist Debra J. Saunders In 'The Orange County Register' Says The National Policy And Youth Smoking Reduction Act Being Crafted In Congress Allows Politicians To Drastically Increase Taxes With No Repercussions - Only 2 Percent Of All Cigarettes Are Consumed By Teens, But Most Adult Smokers Are Lower Or Middle Class - The Nonpartisan Tax Foundation Estimates That 59 Percent Of The Tax Boost Would Be Paid By People Earning Less Than $35,000 A Year, 34 Percent By People Who Earn Under $15,000 - The Average Single Smoker Will Pay $599 More Annually In Taxes By 2003 If The McCain Bill Becomes Law)
• Attacks On Cigarettes Reek Of Hypocrisy (Letter To Editor Of 'Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says What Else Can You Call It Except Hypocrisy When The President And Congress Want To Hold The Tobacco Industry Liable For Kids Smoking After The President Is Caught On Camera Smoking A Cigar, And Then Wants To Ban Billboards?)
• Summit Ends With Promises - Hemisphere Leaders Focus On Trade ('Washington Post' Says The Second Summit Of The Americas Ended Monday In Santiago, Chile, With US President Clinton And 33 Other Western Hemisphere Leaders Signing A Declaration That Promised Everything From A Rethinking Of The War On Some Drugs To Negotiations That Could Create The World's Largest Free Trade Zone)
• Chretien Vows Deal To Curb Drugs ('Ottawa Sun' Quotes Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien Saying Yesterday In Santiago, Chile, That A Proposed New Free Trade Deal Covering North, South And Central America Will 'Curb The Scourge Of Illegal Drugs')
• Bloc MP Claims She Was Detained By US Customs Officials ('Ottawa Hill Times' Says Bloc Quebecois Member Of Canadian Parliament Monique Guay Wants To Ensure That Federal MPs Can Travel Freely To The United States)
• It's High Time For A National Debate (Letter To Editor Of 'Edmonton Sun' Notes A Recent Angus Reid Poll Found That 51 Percent Of Canadians Want The Full Legalization Of Marijuana)
• Lesson To Be Learned (Two Letters To Editor Of 'Calgary Sun' Respond To Different Items)
• Police Win War In Drug Capital ('The Daily Telegraph' In Australia Says That After Almost A Year Of Zero Tolerance Enforcement Resulting In More Than 2,500 Charges, Police Claim To Have Turned Around The Face Of Australia's Heroin Capital, Cabramatta)
• Medicine May Encourage Cocaine Use (Ignorant Journalists At 'The Age' In Australia Misrepresent Recent Article About Ritalin In 'New Scientist')
• Cleaning Up The Fun Parlors (Staff Editorial In 'The Age' Describes An Attempt To Purge A Seamy Area In Melbourne, Australia, Of Illegal Drug Sellers And Users)
• Ex-Liberal On Drug Charges ('The Australian' Says Michael Brazier Of Mount Lawley, Perth, Who Was Involved In The Liberal Party In The Mid-1980s, Was Charged Friday With Depravation Of Liberty, Threats With Intent To Influence, Assault Occasioning Bodily Harm And Possession Of Ecstasy, Cocaine And Amphetamines With Intent To Sell Or Supply)
• Local Elections (Britain's Campaign To Legalise Cannabis International Association Announces Endorsement Of Danny Tungate, A Local Candidate In Norwich, England)
• Tobacco Deaths - 400,000 A Year, Marijuana Deaths - 0 (British Columbian's Letter To Editor Of 'Irish Independent' Cites US Drug Deaths In Order To Rebut Earlier Letter From George Maybury, General Secretary Of Ireland's Association Of Garda Sergeants And Inspectors)
• Tobacco Debate Drags On ('The European' Says The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee Voted 12 To Seven Last Week That The EU Institutions Were Exceeding Their Mission In Imposing A Ban On Tobacco Advertising)
• In A Turnaround, Burmese Junta Moves Against Opium (According To 'The New York Times,' The Military Junta That Took Over Burma In 1988 Says It Wants To Eradicate All Opium Within Five Years, Though The Economy Has Become Dependent On It - Burrna Produced An Estimated 2,600 Tons Of Opium Last Year, Enough To Make More Than 200 Tons Of Heroin - At Least 60 Percent Of The World Total)
  Bytes: 105,000 Last updated: 5/2/98
  

  Tuesday, April 21, 1998:

• Can Weeds And Bark Be Better Than Drugs? (Staff Editorial In Vancouver, Washington, 'Columbian' Casts A Skeptical Eye On The Recent Anti-Medical Marijuana Copfest In Eugene, Oregon, Featuring Both Of Oregon's US Senators, Wyden And Smith)
• Sheriff Forced To Shut Down Cannabis Club He Supports ('San Diego Union Tribune' Notes San Francisco Sheriff Mike Hennessey Served Cannabis Cultivators Club Founder Dennis Peron With An Order Monday Closing The Operation, As Organizers Waited In The Wings To Reopen Under Another Name)
• San Francisco Sheriff Closes Medical Marijuana Club ('Los Angeles Times' Version)
• San Francisco Cannabis Club Officially Shut Down, Grand Reopening Today ('San Francisco Chronicle' Version)
• Sheriff Reluctantly Shuts Down San Francisco Pot Club ('Associated Press' Version)
• San Francisco Medicinal Pot Club Closed - For a While ('Sacramento Bee' Version)
• Lungren Forces Largest Pot Club In San Francisco To Close ('Orange County Register' Version Of 'Associated Press' Account)
• Grandma, 79, Takes Over Pot Club ('San Francisco Examiner' Notes Hazel Rodgers Assumes Helm Of Dennis Peron's Former Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Now The Cannabis Healing Center)
• Club Dies, New One Sprouts In Its Place ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Lode Going To Pot ('Modesto Bee' Notes Developments Monday In Two Proposition 215 Legal Cases - First, A Judge Ignores The Law And Gives A Blind Diabetes Patient In Sonora Five Years' Probation For Growing Pot, And Then Attorney Tony Serra Leads A Rally In San Andreas For A Cultivation Defendant Who Says He Was Growing For Cannabis Clubs)
• Pot Club Law Might Require Novel Approach (Letter To Editor Of 'San Jose Mercury News' By Scott Imler Of The Los Angeles Cannabis Buyers Club Suggests For The Sake Of Innocent Sick People, Police And Prosecutors In San Jose, California, Should Hold Discussions With Peter Baez And Others From The Local Medical Marijuana Community - Outside A Courtroom)
• More From Scott Imler On The Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center (He Suggests San Jose Law Enforcement Is More At Fault Than Peter Baez For The Crisis)
• Three San Francisco Men Sentenced For Crack Trade ('San Francisco Chronicle' Notes Prosecutions Based On Court-Ordered Telephone Wiretaps Yield Two 10-Year Sentences, One Five-Year Sentence)
• Police As Judge And Jury ('Oakland Tribune' Columnist Faults Oakland's Distinction As The First City In California To Seize Cars From Drug And Prostitution Offenders Without Due Process)
• Linda Smith, Congress Person (List Subscriber Shares Letter Opposing Medical Marijuana From Conservative Republican US Representative From Southwest Washington State - Plus Commentary From Others)
• Alaska - AMR Initiative Official (Dave Fratello Of Americans For Medical Rights Says AMR Has Succeeded In Getting A Medical Marijuana Voter Initiative On Alaska's November 1998 Ballot)
• Web Draws Clients For Doctor But Concerns Impotence Pill Maker ('Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says A Physician In Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, Has Provoked Controversy By Setting Up A Web Site To Solicit Patients And Issuing More Than 600 Prescriptions For Viagra, The New Pill For Impotence Manufactured By Pfizer)
• Plane Full Of Marijuana Crashes ('Reuters' Says The US Customs Service Tracked The Single-Engine Craft 1,400 Miles From The Mexican Border Before It Crashed In Detroit, Killing The Pilot)
• Powell's Youth Corps On The March ('Boston Globe' Says A Year After The Launch Of 'America's Promise - The Alliance For Youth,' Retired General Colin Powell's Effort To Marshal A National Corps Of Volunteers To Quell Drug Wars In Central Cities, The Campaign Is Far From Done But Is Showing Progress)
• Recent Nahas-Led Medical Marijuana Conference (List Subscriber Shares First-Person Account By A Scientist Who Attended The Recent Conference In New York Sponsored By Notorious Anti-Marijuana Zealot Gabriel Nahas)
• Fighting The Drug War (Letter To Editor Of 'New York Times' By A Rehab Professional Objects To 'Legalizers And Their Sympathizers Who Flood Newspapers With Letters Whenever An Anti-Legalization View' Like AM Rosenthal's Appears)
• Administration Backs Off Support For Needle Exchange ('Associated Press' Article In Massachusetts' 'Standard-Times' Says The Clinton Administration Refused Monday To Use Federal Tax Dollars To Buy Clean Needles For Drug Addicts In Order To Reduce The Incidence Of AIDS)
• US Decision Against Funding Needle Plan Draws Fire ('Los Angeles Times' Version)
• Shalala Backs Needle Swaps But Not Federal Funding ('Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Version)
• Needle Exchange Endorsed, But No Federal Funding ('Chicago Tribune' Version In 'Seattle Times')
• Ban On Federal Funds For Needle Exchange To Continue ('New York Times' Version)
• US Likes, Won't Pay For Needle Exchanges ('San Mateo Times' Version)
• Clinton Supports Needle Exchanges But Not Funding ('Washington Post' Version)
• White House Needle Swap Surprise ('San Francisco Chronicle' Version)
• Needle Exchange Cowardice (Staff Editorial In 'San Francisco Chronicle' Accuses US Health And Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala Of Craven Political Double-Talk, When Her Mission Is To Protect The Health Of The Nation)
• Decision Against Funding Needle Plan Draws Fire ('Los Angeles Times' Follow-Up)
• Alert - Needle Exchange Poll In 'USA Today' - Protest In Washington, DC, April 21-22 (Drug Reform Coordination Network Asks You To Respond To An Online Poll)
• Reason Goes Up In Smoke (Op-Ed By MIT Economist Lester Thurow In 'Boston Globe' Says The Hypocrisy And Bad Economics Of Controlling Smoking Have Gotten Completely Out Of Hand - We Are Radically Raising The Taxes On One Class Of Low-Income Individuals - Doing So Simply Isn't Fair - It Also Does Not Work - Sweden Just Reduced Its High Tobacco Taxes By Almost One Third Since The Taxes Just Caused A Crime Wave Of Smuggling Without Doing Much To Control Smoking)
• Judge Defends Use Of Pot ('Vancouver Sun' Notes Randy Caine Lost His Constitutional Challenge To Canadian Cannabis Prohibition - But British Columbian Provincial Court Judge Frances Howard Ruled There Is No Evidence Marijuana Use Causes Health Problems, And That The Laws Prohibiting It Cause Harm To Society - However, Parliament Still Has The Legal Right To Outlaw Marijuana)
• Caine Judgement (Randy Caine Himself Summarizes His Near-Victorious Challenge To Canadian Cannabis Prohibition)
• Letter From Allan Rock (London, Ontario, MS Patient Lynn Harichy Says The Canadian Health Minister Has Reneged On A Promise To Make Medical Marijuana Available Through Pharmacies And Doctors 'Within Months')
• Protestors Plant Pot In Valley Park ('Edmonton Sun' Says The Cannabis Relegalization Society Of Alberta Organized An Arbor Day Plant-In Where About 30 Protesters Planted More Than A Thousand Marijuana Seeds To Demonstrate Opposition To Canadian Cannabis Prohibition)
• Syndicate Bribed Detective, Court Told ('The Age' In Australia Says The Melbourne Magistrates Court Was Told Yesterday That A Detective Senior Constable In Victoria Took Thousands Of Dollars In Bribes To Supply An Illegal Amphetamine Maker With Chemicals By Turning Over Keys To The Drug Squad's Storage Compound)
• Drugs Hot Topic At Olympic Meeting ('Reuters' Says Heavyweights From The International Olympic Committee Will Be Meeting In Sydney, Australia, This Week, And Drug Test Policies At Future Olympic Games Are Expected To Be A Major Issue On The Agenda)
• Belgium Officially Decriminalizes Cannabis (Bulletin From DrugText Says Justice Minister De Clerck Issued An Administrative Order Today Decriminalizing Personal Possession - No Coffeeshops Yet)
  Bytes: 160,000 Last updated: 5/6/98
  

  Wednesday, April 22, 1998:

• Smith's Actions Prove He Represents Mormons (Letter To Editor Of 'Statesman Journal' In Salem Says US Senator Gordon Smith Should Resign Because He's Just A Mormon Missionary, Without Explaining What If Anything The Book Of Mormon Has Against Medical Marijuana)
• Haunted House - Nearly 20 Years After A Drug Bust Gone Bad, A North Portland Parcel Of Land Still Is Causing City Officials Grief ('Willamette Week' Conjures Up The Ghost Of Steven Dons With An Article About The Site Of A Previous Warrantless Break-In By Portland Drug Warriors That Resulted In A Dead Police Officer)
• Jack Shacter Of The Orange County Cannabis Co-Op Out On Bail (Local Correspondent Notes Next Court Dates, Other Developments In Case Of Shacter And Marvin Chavez)
• Initiative Petitioner Gets $2 Million Damages (Unfortunately, 'Associated Press' Says The Oregon Court Of Appeals Judgment Against Fred Meyer Shopping Centers Doesn't Benefit Petitioners For Any Of The Five Drug Policy Reform Initiatives Circulating)
• San Francisco Marijuana Club Reopens Peacefully To Cheers ('Standard-Times' In Massachusetts Notes California Attorney General Dan Lungren Is Already Considering Action Against The New Center)
• Calling Itself A Healing Center, Defiant Marijuana Club Reopens ('New York Times' Version)
• San Francisco Marijuana Club Changes Name, Reopens ('Associated Press' Version In 'Orange County Register')
• Lawyers Say Marijuana Club Illegal ('Los Angeles Times' Takes The Government's Side Without Even Mentioning It Will Require A Jury To Convict Anyone Of Anything)
• Only The Name Has Changed At San Francisco Pot Club (Bedridden Patients Who Can No Longer Obtain Medical Marijuana Via Their Caregivers Might Disagree With 'San Francisco Chronicle,' Among Others)
• The Fight Over Medical Marijuana (Columnist Peter H. King In 'The Sacramento Bee' Recaps The Case Of Myron Carlyle Mower, Convicted By Tuolumne County Superior Court Of Growing Medical Marijuana Despite Proposition 215, But Fails To Explain Why The Terminally Ill Man Wasn't Given A Jury Trial)
• Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Filed By Pro-Pot Advocates ('Hawaii Tribune Herald' Says A Federal Judge Ruled Roger Christie And Aaron Anderson Did Not Sufficiently Show That The Hawaii County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Had An Actual Policy Singling Them Out For Prosecution Because Of Their Outspoken Views In Favor Of Cannabis Law Reform)
• Medical Marijuana Put On Ballot ('Anchorage Daily News' Notes The Alaskan State Division Of Elections Announced Tuesday That The Medical Marijuana Initiative Sponsored By Alaskans For Medical Rights Will Be On This November's Ballot)
• Legalize Marijuana As Medicine (Letter To Editor Of 'Anchorage Daily News' By Kim Kentch, One Of Three Sponsors Of The Proposed Alaskan Voter Initiative)
• Accused Counterfeit Drug Dealer Says Politics Prompted His Arrest (Disturbing Account From 'The Salisbury News And Advertiser' About A 21-Year-Old Black Political Candidate Locked Up In Wicomico County Jail Since February 19)
• Patch That Might Keep Tabs On Drug Use Will Be Tested In Philadelphia ('Philadelphia Inquirer' Says The Federal Government Is About To Field Test A Watch-Sized Patch That Will Send A Signal If The Wearer Takes Drugs, And Will Relay To Authorities The Person's Whereabouts Within 150 Feet)
• Gingrich Blasts Clinton Needle Exchange Stance ('San Francisco Examiner' Allows Congressional Republican Know-Nothings To Practice Demagoguery Without Citing The Scientific Evidence Contradicting Their Discredited Rationale)
• Clean Needles May Be Bad Medicine (Op-Ed In 'Wall Street Journal' By Beltway Statistician Says The Science Justifying Needle Exchanges Isn't Conclusive)
• Needle Exchange - AIDS Prevention Efforts Should Include Syringe Programs (Staff Editorial In 'Dallas Morning News' Says The Clinton Administration Has Sacrificed Public Health On The Altar Of Political Expedience)
• Sticking It To Needles (Staff Editorial In 'USA Today' Gives The Craven Cop-Out Of The Week Award To The Clinton Administration For Its Decision To Continue Denying Federal Funds To Needle Exchange Programs Even Though It Believes Such Programs Slow The Spread Of HIV Without Encouraging Drug Abuse)
• DrugSense Focus Alert Number 60 - Needle Exchange (DrugSense Asks You To Write A Letter To The Media On Behalf Of Needle Exchange Programs)
• Toker To Appeal Roach Ruling ('Vancouver Province' Notes Randy Caine Will Appeal His Nearly-Successful Constitutional Challenge To Canadian Cannabis Prohibition)
• Defiant Cop Says Call Off War On Drugs ('Vancouver Province' Says Outspoken Vancouver, British Columbia Police Constable Gil Puder Has Defied Efforts By Police Chief Bruce Chambers To Muzzle Him From Speaking Freely On Drug Decriminalization - The 16-Year Police Veteran Faces Disciplinary Action After He Presented A Paper On Drug Policy Reform At A Vancouver Conference Yesterday)
• Decriminalize Street Drugs, Speakers Urge ('Vancouver Sun' Article About The Fraser Institute Forum On Tuesday, Sensible Solutions To The Urban Drug Problem, Says Vancouver Police Constable Gil Puder Was Joined By 'Many Other Speakers' Who Agreed That 'Decriminalizing Street Drugs Is The Only Way To Address Drug Epidemics')
• Police Officer Slams The War On Drugs (Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Version)
• Cannabis Is Safe (Letter To Editor Of 'The Record' In Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Notes That While More Than 100,000 People Are Killed Annually By Prescription Drugs, Cannabis Has Never Produced A Single Documented Death In Over 5,000 Years Of Use)
• US Teaches Peru To Plug River Of Drugs ('Washington Post' Article In 'Seattle Times' Says 30 Members Of Special Forces From The Army, Navy And Marines Sent To Train And Equip A Specialized Peruvian Counterdrug Unit That Will Operate On Water And Land To Cut Off The Increasing Flow Of Cocaine)
• Don't Punish Cannabis Users, Says British Medical Association (Britain's 'Independent' Says The BMA Yesterday Threw Its Weight Behind Members Of Parliament Who Have Been Campaigning For Medical Marijuana Reform By Urging The Home Secretary Not To Punish Sick People For Taking The Drug Illegally)
• Drug Link To Crime Revealed In Tests (Britain's 'Independent' Uncritically Publicizes Illusory Correlation In Home Office Statistics On Prisoners Who Test Positive For Illegal Drugs)
• What About Addicts' Families? (First Of Two Letters To The Editor Of Britain's 'Evening News' Worries Drug Policy Reform Would Leave Families Of Drug Abusers Helpless - But Fails To Acknowledge That's The Situation Now With Prohibition)
• Eastern Europe New AIDS Region, Report Says ('Associated Press' Article In 'Seattle Times' Notes A United Nations Study Released Today Says HIV Infection Rates Have Increased At Least Sixfold Since 1994, A Contagion Rate Driven By A Sharp Rise In The Use Of Injected Drugs)
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 43 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists, Including Original And Excellent Commentary Such As The Feature Article About HHS Secretary Donna Shalala's Announcement On Needle Exchange Policy, By Mathilde Krim, Chairman Of The Board Of The American Foundation For AIDS Research - AmFAR)
  Bytes: 142,000 Last updated: 5/6/98
  

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