1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
April 23-29

Thursday, April 23, 1998:
• NORML Weekly News (Alaskan Voters Will Decide On Legalizing Medical Marijuana In November; DEA Marijuana Eradication Program Under Review - Department Of Justice Requests Public Comments; British Nurses To Vote On Medical Marijuana Issue At Annual Conference; San Francisco Medical Marijuana Dispensary Reopens As 'Healing Center')
• Marijuana As Morphine - Unacceptable (New Zealand Drug Policy Forum Trust Donates $2,000 NZ To Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Campaign, Saying Cannabis Law Reform Should Not Be Limited To Medical Patients Only)
• Legal Hassles Extinguishing Pot Clubs ('San Francisco Chronicle' Analyzes And Tallies The Closures Of California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries And The Inadequacies Of Proposition 215)
• Alaska Voters To Consider Medical Marijuana Use ('Reuters' Notes The Initiative Sponsored By Americans For Medical Rights Will Be On November's Ballot)
• Board OKs Jump In Private Prison Beds ('Tulsa World' Says The Oklahoma Board Of Corrections On Wednesday Approved Three Contracts For 2,240 New Private Prison Beds)
• Jury Sees Video Of Austin Cops' `Drug Raid' ('Chicago Sun-Times' Follows Trial Of Four Drug Warriors In Austin, Illinois, Caught In Corrupt Acts)
• Police Say Drug Ring Thrived By Saying, `We Deliver' ('New York Times' Notes The Bust Of A Marijuana And Cocaine Delivery Business In Queens, New York - 13 Participants Each Face Life In Prison)
• I Was Wrong! Needle-Exchange Programs Work (Syndicated Columnist Ellen Goodman Says In 'The Boston Globe' That The Moral Equation In The Needle Exchange Debate Has Shifted Now That The Scientific Evidence Clearly Contradicts The Fears Promoted By Drug Warriors)
• How Can We Lose An Internet Poll? Please Read! (List Subscriber Alerts You To An Online Poll About Needle Exchange Funding Being Sponsored By The Fort Worth, Texas, 'Star-Telegram')
• Sticking Point On Needles (Staff Editorial In 'San Francisco Examiner' Criticizes Clinton Administration's Decision That Needle Exchanges Save Lives But Won't Be Funded)
• Clean Needles, No Money (Staff Editorial In 'Washington Post' Notes The Clinton Administration Put Politics Ahead Of Public Health)
• Treatment Of Pain In Dying Patients (Letter To Editor Of 'The New England Journal Of Medicine' From A Seattle Physician Discusses The Disturbingly Large Percentage Of Dying Patients Who Experience Unrelieved Pain)
• Lawyer In Drug Case Gunned Down ('Chicago Tribune' Says The Attorney Until Recently Represented General Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo, The Jailed Former Leader Of Mexico's Anti-Drug Campaign)
• Accuser Of Top Generals Slain In Mexico ('New York Times' Notes The Assassination In Mexico City Tuesday Of Tomas Arturo Gonzalez Velazquez, A Lawyer Who Accused Top Generals And Relatives Of President Ernesto Zedillo Of Narcotics Corruption As A Defense Tactic In The Trial Of Mexico's Deposed Drug Czar)
• Drug Queen 'La Senora' Extradited To US ('Seattle Times' Says Mery Valencia, A Naturalized US Citizen From Colombia Accused Of Running A Female-Dominated Drug-Trafficking Ring That Distributed Thousands Of Kilograms Of Cocaine In The United States Since 1986, Has Been Extradited From Brazil To Face Federal Charges In New York And Los Angeles)
• Pot Smoking Admission Barring Some From US ('Vancouver Sun' Warns That Canadians Who Admit To Ever Having Used Marijuana To US Immigration Inspectors Are Being Denied Entry Indefinitely To The United States - If Canada Applied The Same Rules, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich And Donna Shalala Would All Have To Stay Home)
• Borderline Illegal - US Customs Ripped For Tough Line ('Toronto Sun' Version)
• Coca, Poppy Killer May Harm Amazon ('Associated Press' Says The United States Wants Columbian Eradication Forces To Switch From Glyphosate To The More Toxic Tebuthiuron So It Can Be Dropped In Tiny Pellets, Allowing Pilots To Fly Higher And Faster To Avoid Rebel Gunfire That Has Brought Down 12 Anti-Drug Aircraft Since 1994)
• Antiprohibitionist Action Report, Year 4, Number 8 (Summary For Activists Of International Drug Policy Reform News, From CORA In Italy)
  Bytes: 88,900 Last updated: 5/1/98
  

  Friday, April 24, 1998:

• Drug War Czar Condemns Needle Exchange - It Works Too Well; Senator Smith Attacks Medical Cannabis As Front For 'Legalization'; And Week Eight Of The 'Drug Peace' Rally To Stop The Marijuana Task Force (News Update From The American Antiprohibition League In Portland)
• Police Can Squeeze Luggage At Airports ('Orange County Register' Says The California Fourth District Court Of Appeal On Thursday Upheld The Conviction Of A Man Transporting 38 Pounds Of Cannabis, Ruling That Police Can Randomly Squeeze Airport Luggage To Expel Air That Can Be Sniffed For Signs Of Drugs)
• Propaganda Or Just Outreach? ('Sacramento Bee' Columnist Dan Walters In 'The Oakland Tribune' Says California Television Ads Paid For By Cigarette Taxes That Promote Political Support For The State's Unique Prohibition On Smoking In Bars Cross The Line From Government Produced Health Propaganda Into Political Advocacy)
• War On Drugs Ineffective (Letter To Editor Of 'Daily Arizona Star' By A Former Heroin Addict Of 25 Years Says Prohibition Was Never More Than A Brief Nuisance)
• Tulsa Firefighter Charged In Methamphetamine Case ('Tulsa World' Says Tulsa, Oklahoma, Firefighter Johnny Mark Kirk Is Charged With Keeping An Apartment Where Methamphetamine Was Produced)
• Ex-Con Just Keeps Finding His Way Back To Prison ('Tulsa World' Notes Oklahoma Keeps Finding A Way To Lock Up A Harmless Man - This Time He Gets A Year For Failing Urine Tests For Cannabis, Cocaine)
• Department Of Corrections To Step Up Tests For Drugs ('Tulsa World' Says Five Percent Of Oklahoma's Inmate Population Of 20,466 Will Be Tested For Drug Use Every Month)
• Two Caught Selling Cigarettes To Inmates ('Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Notes The Two Milwaukee Men Face Two-Year Sentences For Passing Legal Drugs To Jail Inmates At A Huber, Wisconsin, Release Center)
• News Update Of The Global Coalition For Alternatives To The Drug War (Details On Public Demonstrations Against The War On Some Drug Users June 5-10 In 33 Cities Around The Globe)
• Vote On House Resolution 372 Is Not On The House Schedule For Next Week (Bulletin From NORML In Washington, DC, Says The Vote In The US House Of Representatives On The Anti-Medical Marijuana Resolution Has Been Delayed Until At Least Tuesday, May 5 - Renewed Call For Letters)
• DEA Invites Your Comments On Cannabis Eradication In The United States (List Subscriber Posts Information From Drug Enforcement Administration About Who To Call, Public Meetings To Attend Around The United States)
• White House Reacts To Congressional Black Caucus Demand For Resignation Of Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey (Transcript Of Excerpts From The White House Press Briefing About The Needle Exchange Controversy)
• Soros Offers Pledge For Needle Programs ('Orange County Register' Says International Financier George Soros On Thursday Offered $1 Million In Matching Funds In Response To The Clinton Administration's Refusal To Fund The Programs)
• $1 Million Pledged For Needle Exchanges ('New York Times' Version)
• HIV's Spread Is Unchecked AIDS-Slowing Treatments ('Washington Post' Background Article On AIDS And Needle Exchange Programs Notes Data Released Yesterday By The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention In The First Direct Assessment Of HIV Infection Trends Shows HIV Continues To Spread Through The Population Essentially Unabated)
• Legal Drugs Kill 20 Times More Americans Than Illegal Drugs, Says Embarrassing New Study (Press Release From The US Libertarian Party Criticizes Current Drug Policy In Light Of Recent JAMA Report)
• Hemp Cultivation Sows High Hopes In Canada ('Wall Street Journal' Notes Canada's Industrial Hemp Industry Is Legal Now And Poised To Dominate The US Market, While The Main US Lobby Group For Industrial Hemp, The North American Industrial Hemp Council, Refuses Membership To Anyone Who 'In Any Way, Form Or Fashion Openly Advocates The Legalization Of Marijuana Or Any Other Drug')
• Hemp Store Owner Still In Jail For Literature (Canadian List Subscriber Seeks Your Help In The Case Of The Proprietor Of Hemp, Head And Sound, A Hemp Store In Hamilton, Ontario, Who Is Charged Under An Invalidated Statute)
• Cop Shop Bombed ('Canadian Press' Item In 'Toronto Sun' Says A Dynamite Bomb That Caused Extensive Damage Yesterday At A Police Station In Saint John, New Brunswick, Is Believed To Be Connected To The City's Prohibited Drug Trade)
• How To Lose The Battle ('Ottawa Sun' Says Canada's Rank And File Cops Are Losing Faith In Tough-Talking Politicians' Rhetoric About Cracking Down On Biker Gangs, Whom The Newspaper Describes As The New Mafia)
• City Man Caught With 5 UKP Of Cannabis Lost Job (Britain's 'Evening Express' Says An Aberdeen Offshore Worker With Five Previous Illegal Drug Convictions Lost His Job After Being Caught With Cannabis On A North Sea Oil Platform, And An Aberdeen Sheriff Court Will Send Him To Prison If He Doesn't "Behave' Over The Next Six Months)
• Testing Of Athletes For Marijuana (Frenchmen's Letter To Editor Of 'The Scotsman' Says There Is No Logical Reason For The International Olympic Committee's Decision To Drug Test Athletes For Cannabis)
• Italy Joins Belgium In Decriminalizing Marijuana ('Marijuananews.com' Quotes Britain's 'Telegraph' Saying Italy's Center-Left Government Is Preparing A Draft Law To Decriminalise The Possession, Use And Cultivation Of Small Amounts Of Cannabis)
  Bytes: 96,300 Last updated: 5/2/98
  

  Saturday, April 25, 1998:

• Initiative A Reaction To Draconian Laws (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Oregonian' By Dr. Richard Bayer, A Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, And Dr. Nancy Crumpacker, Rebuts Robert Landauer's Uninformed And Uncompassionate Staff Editorials)
• When Credibility Is Lost (Yet Another Staff Editorial By Robert Landauer Of 'The Oregonian,' Who Cites A Variety Of Informed And Misinformed Opinions, And Concludes, 'Prescribing Marijuana For Therapeutic Uses Without First Conducting Large-Sample Peer-Reviewed Studies With Controlled Dosages And Potencies Strikes Me As A Risky Way To Practice Medicine,' Even Though Cannabis Has Received More Scrutiny Than The Vast Majority Of FDA-Approved Pharmaceutical Drugs, And Was A Widely Prescribed Medicine Until Congress Banned It In 1937 Despite The AMA's Objections)
• Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Receives More Than $11,000 In Donations During Last Two Weeks (Update From OCTA Chief Petitioner Paul Stanford - Campaign $15,000 Away From Certification - Work Available For Signature Gatherers At $10 Per Hour)
• Drug Sting's Tactics Helped 'Poison The Public,' Judge Says ('Sacramento Bee' Notes US District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton Is Considering Whether To Dismiss Charges Against A Methamphetamine Manufacturing Ring Due To Outrageous Conduct By The Police Who Supplied The Operation)
• Drug Tests For New Teachers Approved ('Burbank Leader' In California Notes The Burbank Board Of Education Allocated $3,150 To Drug Test Approximately 70 New Employees In July And August At $45 Per Person)
• Alaskans Will Vote On Marijuana Medical Use ('Orange County Register' Version Of Old News)
• Wayne Judge Sends Ex-Deputy To Prison ('Akron Beacon Journal' Notes A Cop In Wayne County, Ohio, Was Sentenced To Two Years For His Role In A Methamphetamine Manufacturing Operation In His Home While On The Force)
• Veteran Officer Suspended Over Drug Case ('New York Times' Says A 34-Year Veteran New York Cop Was Placed On 30-Day Suspension And Ordered To Take A Drug Test After An Undercover Unit Saw Him Take A Woman To A Known Drug Location - After She Returned, The Other Police Stopped The Car And Found A Bag Of Heroin On The Woman)
• Million Marijuana March (Final Details On Saturday's Rally In New York City's Battery Park, Sponsored By Cures Not Wars)
• Herbal Remedies Will Soon Face FDA Regulations - Tobacco, Gambling, Liquor Interests Make Large Donations (First Of Two Brief Items In 'San Jose Mercury News' Says The Food and Drug Administration Friday Prohibited Makers Of Vitamins And Herbal Remedies From Claiming They Can Cure, Prevent Or Alleviate Specific Diseases)
• Republicans Plan Major Campaign For Drug-Free America ('Copley News Service' Item In 'San Diego Union Tribune' Notes US House Republicans, Following In The Demagogic Footsteps Of Nixon And Reagan-Bush, Are Preparing To Launch A Highly Publicized Election-Year Anti-Drug Campaign - Next Week More Than 100 House Republicans Are Expected To Endorse A Dozen Bills)
• Needle-Funding Refusal Disappoints Satcher ('Orange County Register' Notes The New US Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, Officially Expresses Regret At The Clinton Administration's Decision To Let Countless Americans Contract AIDS By Not Funding Needle Exchanges)
• Clinton Spineless On Needle Funds ('Atlanta Constitution' Columnist Cynthia Tucker In 'San Francisco Chronicle' Notes The Political Backlash Clinton Sought To Avoid Broke Out Anyway)
• FDA Approval Is Just The First Step (Op-Ed In 'New York Times' By Stephen Fried, Author Of 'Bitter Pills - Inside The Hazardous World Of Legal Drugs,' Follows Up On The Recent Report In 'The Journal Of The American Medical Association' About More Than 100,000 Americans Who Die From FDA-Approved Drugs Annually, Noting The Problem Is Even Worse Than The Report Indicated, Since It Took Into Account Only Hospitalized Patients, And Plenty Of People Have Bad Reactions To Pharmaceutical Drugs At Home - When The Drug Companies Agreed In 1992 To New Fees For Certifying New Drugs, They Tacked On A Rule That None Of The Money Generated Could Be Used To Track Adverse Reactions)
• Tobacco Industry Launches Ads To Fight Congress ('Associated Press' Item In 'Boston Globe' Predicts An Aggressive Advertising Campaign Warning That Passage Of Federal Antismoking Legislation Would Lead To A Cigarette Black Market And A Huge New Federal Bureaucracy To Monitor Tobacco Sales)
• Land Of The Smoke-Free (Editorial In Britain's 'Economist' About The Political Battle Over The Future Of America's Tobacco Industry Says That, To Judge By The Rhetoric Of The Anti-Tobacco Campaign, America Has Taken Leave Of Its Senses When It Comes To Smoking - The Intolerance Of The Anti-Smoking Movement Is A Greater Threat Than Smoking)
• Two Nations Team Up To Tame Tijuana ('Orange County Register' Article In 'The San Francisco Examiner' Says Mexico And The United States Are Attempting To Stop Underage Drinking By Americans)
• Drug Money Linked To Kin Of Ex-Mexican Chief ('Associated Press' Article In 'Boston Globe' Says Court Documents Released Yesterday In Lausanne, Switzerland, Claim US Investigators Have Traced $132 Million In Swiss Banks To Raul Salinas De Gortari, The Brother Of Former President Carlos Salinas De Gortari, And That At Least Some Of The Money Came From Drug Traffickers)
• Goody Two Shoes Barren Of Ideas (Letter Sent To Editor Of 'Calgary Herald' Suggests A Recent UN-Sponsored Youth Conference Was Stage-Managed - The Young People 'Chosen To Attend These Government-Sponsored Conferences Are Incapable Of Coming Up With Any Fresh Ideas - Come To Think Of It, That's Probably Why They Were Chosen')
• Ritalin Story Cut To Shreds (Staff Editorial In 'Toronto Star' Apologizes For Misrepresenting 'New Scientist' Article On Ritalin)
• Herbicide Could Be Used In Drug War Despite Dire Warning By Maker ('The Scotsman' Says Even Though Colombia Has Carried Out 'The Largest Eradication Of Coca And Poppy Crops' In History, The United States Wants It To Switch From Glyphosate, Which Has Only A 50 Percent Success Rate, To The Much More Dangerous Tebuthiuron, Even Though Its Manufacturer, Dow Agro Sciences, Specifically Says It Is Not The Product For Wide-Scale Eradication Of Illicit Drug Crops)
• Colombian Rebels Send Message To Washington ('Associated Press' Notes FARC, Colombia's Oldest And Largest Rebel Group, Released One American Bird Watcher And Promised Three Others Would Soon Follow, And Used The Opportunity To Denounce US Intervention In Colombia)
• Marijuana Special Report: Newswire: From on high (New Scientist, in Britain, says a new survey by the Centre for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam indicates that only 3 per cent of Dutch people smoke cannabis regularly, not 5 per cent as had been thought. Either rate is lower than in many countries that criminalize users of the herb.)
• Letter From The Editor (Andrew Marr, Editor In Chief Of Britain's 'Independent,' Notes The Departure Of Editor Rosie Boycott, Who Spearheaded The Cannabis Campaign For 'The Independent On Sunday' That Saw Its Circulation Increase Significantly)
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 39 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's News Summary For Activists Features An Original Editorial By Adam J. Smith, 'Tobacco, America's Newest Drug')
  Bytes: 108,000 Last updated: 3/2/99
  

  Sunday, April 26, 1998:

• Doctors Take Neutral Stand On Medical Marijuana, Oppose Abortion Measure ('Associated Press' Omits The Vote Count Sunday By The Oregon Medical Association's House Of Delegates, Representing 5,800 Of The State's 8,300 Physicians, Meeting At Gleneden Beach)
• Doctors Take Neutral Stand On Medical Marijuana (Version From KOIN, Portland's CBS Affiliate)
• State's Physicians Debate Medical Value Of Marijuana ('Oregonian' Version)
• Oregon Medical Association Votes To Remain Neutral On Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (News Release From Oregonians For Medical Rights, Sponsors Of A Ballot Initiative Expected To Make The November Ballot, Notes The OMA Also Called For Continued Research Into Possible Benefits Of Medical Marijuana)
• Portland-Eugene Split Ten Thousand Medical Marijuana Petitions (Update From Bruce House Of The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act On Progress Of OCTA And OPP Initiative Campaigns)
• Child Abuse Rises With Drug Abuse ('The Oregonian' And The Oregon State Office For Services To Children And Families Disserve The Public By Pretending Alcohol Is Not A Drug And That It Is Not Responsible For The Vast Majority Of Drug-Related Child-Abuse Cases)
• Can The Los Angeles Criminal Justice System Work Without Trust? (Op-Ed In 'Los Angeles Times' Discusses The Recent Revelation That Los Angeles Police And Prosecutors Assigned To Enforcement Of Drug Laws Have Secretly Relied On Illegal Wiretaps For Years To Gather Evidence - Never Have So Many Prosecutors Lied For So Long About So Much, Resulting In The Unconstitutional Convictions Of So Many)
• Lab Problems Spoil LAPD Drug Arrests ('Associated Press' Article In 'San Jose Mercury News' Says Staff Shortages And Procedural Glitches Have Forced The Los Angeles Police Department To Free Up To 300 Felony Drug Suspects So Far This Year Because Officials Didn't Receive Drug Analysis Results In Time For Their Arraignments)
• Hastert Carries GOP Flag In War On Drugs ('Chicago Tribune' Reprint From 'DC Journal' Gives A Completely One-Sided Portrait Of Suburban Chicago US Representative Dennis Hastert, But Lets It Slip That Republican Leaders Recently Signaled They Would Use A Hard Stand On 'Drugs' To Fend Off Criticism They Are Too Soft On Cigarette Makers)
• Prisoner Benefit Cutoff Expanded ('Washington Post' Says President Clinton Yesterday Ordered Federal Agencies To Take New Action To Prevent Prisoners From Receiving Federal Benefits While They Are Behind Bars)
• Statistics Distort Drunken-Driving Standards Debate (Syndicated Op-Ed In 'San Jose Mercury News' By Paul Mulshine Of The Newark, New Jersey 'Star-Ledger' Says The Congressional Debate Over A National Standard For What Blood-Alcohol Level Constitutes Drunken Driving Is Taking Place In The Light Of Statistical Definitions Established By The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, In Which Accidents Are Routinely Attributed To Alcohol Even When Alcohol Had No Discernible Role, Allowing One Politician To Say 41 Percent Of About 42,000 Traffic Deaths Were Alcohol-Related, When The Actual Figure For Drunken Drivers Is Less Than Half That, About 19 Percent According To NHTSA)
• Darwinian Thought (Letter To Editor Of 'Chicago Sun-Times' Notes The Newspaper Reached The Same Position As The Clinton Administration On Needle Exchange More Than Two Years Ago - And Asks It To Editorialize Again To Save Lives And Taxpayer Dollars)
• 'Jailing The Healers And The Sick,' By Rufus King (Cliff Schaffer, Creator Of The Largest And Best Online Library Of Drug Policy Information, Posts The URL For The 1953 Article From The 'Yale Law Journal,' Noting The Rufus King Collection Of Documents Will Soon Join The Schaffer Library)
• DrugSense Focus Alert Number 61 (DrugSense Asks You To Write A Letter In Support Of Police Officers In Vancouver, British Columbia, Who Spoke Out For Drug Policy Reform)
• Legalize Drugs, All Of Them - It's The Only Way We're Going To Win The War (Op-Ed In 'Halifax Daily News' Says Regulating Currently Illegal Drugs Would Be Rather Unpleasant, With A Mountain Of Logistical Problems, But It Would Be A Far Sight Cheaper Than The Current Band Aid Solution - Policing, Prosecuting And Imprisoning)
• US Drug Accord With Panama Hits Snag ('New York Times' Suggests Panamanians Have Figured Out How To Keep The United States From Maintaining A Military Presence There After The Panama Canal Treaty Expires In 1999 - Plans For A US-Led International Anti-Drug Center Are Off)
• Cannabis Campaign - Prepare To Quiz The Drugs Tsar (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Continues Its Weekly Appeal For Reforming The Marijuana Laws By Noting Keith Hellawell, The Government's Anti-Drug Co-Ordinator, Is To Unveil New Proposals Tomorrow For Controlling Cannabis Use - But The Public Can Protest And Pose Questions To Hellawell During Upcoming BBC Programs)
• Labour Puts Schools In Front Line Of War On Drugs (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Discusses A New Package Of Proposed Laws Designed To 'Choke Off Demand' Among Young People, To Be Unveiled By The Government Tomorrow)
  Bytes: 127,000 Last updated: 5/7/98
  

  Monday, April 27, 1998:

• Doctors Neutral On Medical Marijuana, Oppose Abortion Measure ('Associated Press' Account In Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Says Oregon Medical Association Vote May Help State Voter Initiative)
• Doctors Keep Mum On Marijuana ('Oregonian' Version)
• Myers Declares Liquor Ban Unconstitutional ('Associated Press' Article In Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Says The Decision Monday By Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers Prompted The State Liquor Control Commission To Promise To Lift The 40-Year-Old Ban On Television And Radio Advertising)
• Study - Drug Use Behind Increase In Child Abuse (KATU, Portland's ABC Affiliate, Doesn't Consider Alcohol A 'Drug')
• Let Health Workers Distribute Pot (Op-Ed In 'San Francisco Chronicle' By District Attorney Terence Hallinan Says That If California Attorney General Dan Lungren And The Federal Government Successfully Shut Down Safe Access To Medical Marijuana, Cities Must Seriously Look Into Developing Distribution Plans That Will Implement The Will Of The Voters)
• McCormick OK'd For Provisional Pot Use (KNBC In Los Angeles Says A Federal Judge Pledged Monday He Would Allow Cancer Patient And Medical Marijuana Defendant Todd McCormick To Use Marinol, Pending His Trial On Cultivation Charges, If Federal Prosecutors Cannot Prove He Is Using The Legal Prescription To Mask Marijuana Use)
• Marijuana Maneuverings (Staff Editorial In 'Orange County Register' Suggests California Communities Who Haven't Yet Fulfilled Proposition 215's Mandate To Provide Medical Cannabis To Patients Whose Physicians Recommend It Should Follow The Model Being Established In Arcata, California)
• Violence Linked To Drug Policy ('Saint Paul Pioneer Press' Quotes Some Officials In Minnesota's Twin Cities Area Who Say America's War On Some Drug Users Has Actually Caused An Increase In Crime)
• 19-Year-Old Sentenced To Jail For Delivering Three Pounds Of Pot ('Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says The Young Man Was Sentenced To 10 Months - Two Others Received Four Years And A Fourth Participant Received Two Years)
• The Coward ('Salon' Magazine Says US Health And Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala Should Resign To Protest The Clinton Administration's Decision That Needle Exchange Programs Help Prevent The Spread Of AIDS But Shouldn't Be Funded)
• Drug Czar To Be Asked To Tackle Alcohol, Too? (According To The Richmond, Virginia 'Times-Dispatch,' George Hacker, Director Of The Alcohol Policies Project At The Center For Science In The Public Interest, Asked Attorney General Janet Reno, And Reno Is Considering, Whether The Fact That 40 Percent Of Violent Crimes And Fatal Car Accidents Involve Alcohol Should Induce The Office Of National Drug Control Policy To Include Alcohol Abuse Among The Scope Of Its Mission, For Example, In The Drug Czar's $195 Million-A-Year Advertising Campaign - So Far General McCaffrey Has Evaded Any Confrontations With The $106 Billion-A-Year Industry)
• House GOP Offering Anti-Drug Plan ('Associated Press' Version Of Saturday's News)
• Hatch Says No Deal Without Tobacco (United Press International Quotes Utah Senator Orrin Hatch Saying There Can Be No Tobacco Settlement Without Tobacco Companies' Participation And Anything Requiring Them To Pay More Than $398 Billion Over 25 Years Will Push Prices Up, Forcing Kids To Turn To Marijuana As An Alternative)
• Republicans Quarrel Over Tobacco Bills ('Associated Press' Article In 'Seattle Times' Notes Senior Republicans Are Divided Over How Far They Can Go In Penalizing Cigarette Smokers, Caught In The Middle Between Nearly All The Democrats In Congress Who Are Demanding The Toughest Possible Anti-Tobacco Legislation, And The Tobacco Industry That Has Threatened To Fight Any Bill Harmful To Its Interests)
• International Olympic Committee Cracks Down on Marijuana (According To 'The Los Angeles Times,' The IOC Executive Board, Meeting In Sydney, Australia, Said Today That Marijuana And Other 'Social Drugs' Will Be Included On Its List Of Banned Substances, Closing What The Newspaper Calls A 'Loophole Exposed By The Ross Rebagliati Case' In Nagano)
• Olympics - The IOC Plans To Outlaw Marijuana ('Reuters' Version)
• Straw Rejects Report Of Rise In Drugs Use (Britain's 'Guardian' Says Home Secretary Jack Straw Rejected A Report From Britain's Biggest Drugs Charity, Turning Point, Which Said The Number Of Young People It Treated Last Year Increased By 12 Per Cent, Claiming The Government's Indices Showed Use Rates Were 'Stabilising')
  Bytes: 74,600 Last updated: 5/25/98
  

  Tuesday, April 28, 1998:

• Signature Count (Paul Loney, An Attorney And Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Petition, Says The Campaign Has Officially Bagged And Tagged 29,050 Signatures Of The 73,261 Needed By July)
• Second Drug Case Tied To Israel Dismissed ('The Daily Olympian' Says A Thurston County, Washington Judge Has Thrown Out Charges Against A Second Person Arrested In Connection With Multiple Drug Raids In November Against Rock Festival Promoter Gideon Israel's Mobile Home Property South Of Littlerock - Police Warrants Didn't Cover A Bus On The Property)
• San Francisco Marijuana Club Under New Legal Attack ('Reuters' Says California Attorney General Dan Lungren Asked Today For A New Restraining Order Against The San Francisco Medical Marijuana Dispensary That Sidestepped An Order Earlier This Month Shutting It Down)
• Candidates Are Using The Internet To Plug Into . . . A Wired Electorate ('San Jose Mercury News' Says With More Than Four In 10 Californians Already Plugged Into The Internet, Cyber-Technology Is Reshaping The Electoral Process)
• Bill Is Signed Outlawing `Date Rape Drug' ('Tulsa World' Says Oklahoma House Bill 2654, Introduced By Representative Phil Ostrander, A Democrat From Collinsville, Will Place Gammahydroxybuterate, Also Known As Liquid X, Fantasy, And Grievous Bodily Harm, On The State's List Of Controlled Dangerous Substances - Bill Also Increases Penalties For Other Drug-Law Violations)
• New Way To Fight Drugs Needed, Researcher Says ('Saint Paul Pioneer Press' Gives A Weak Account Of A Speech In Minnesota's Twin Cities By Ethan Nadelmann Of The Lindesmith Center In New York City - But Gives More Space To The Local Prosecutor For Him To Urge On The War Against Some Drug Users)
• Media Criticism Nark Style - Indiana Sheriff's Office Locks Up Reporter Who Had Been Investigating Them ('The Times Of Northwest Indiana' Says The Lake County Sheriff's Department On Friday Arrested A Times Reporter Who Has Been Investigating Allegations Of Corruption And Mismanagement In The Lake County Drug Task Force)
• Alert - Cleveland Needle Exchanger Arrested (Drug Reform Coordination Network's Rapid Response Team Asks You To Write A Letter On Behalf Of The Xchange Point)
• Blowing Smoke (Staff Editorial In 'New York Times' Pans The New Statewide $150,000 Television Anti-Smoking Ad Starring New York Attorney General Dennis Vacco Lecturing About The Perils Of Teen-Agers Smoking)
• Drug Stings At High Schools Waste Tax Dollars (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Sun' In Baltimore, Maryland, Says The Tactic Of Using Undercover Cops To Pose As Students Invariably Involves Entrapment, Wasted Resources)
• Message On Marijuana Gets Through To Reader (Funny Letter To The Editor Of 'The Sun' In Baltimore, Maryland, Responds To The Drug Czar's Ad Campaign)
• Busted - America's War On Marijuana (Transcript Of Public Broadcasting Service's Television Special About The War On Some Drug Users)
• Stop Herbicide DEAth Squads (Bulletin From Colorado Hemp Initiative Project And Hawai'i Hemp Council Tells How To Lobby Against The DEA's Plan To Use Herbicide Against American Wild Hemp)
• HIV/STD Prevention Needed For Crack Users ('Reuters' Says The April Issue Of 'Sexually Transmitted Diseases' Warns That Efforts Are Urgently Needed To Prevent The Spread Of Disease Via Crack Cocaine Users Who Sell Sex To Sustain Their Habits)
• US Health Secretary Draws Jeers ('Philadelphia Inquirer' Says AIDS Activists Disrupted A Visit To Bryn Mawr By Health And Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, Demanding Federal Funding For Needle Exchange Programs And Challenging Her To Resign If She Wouldn't Stand Up For A Disease-Prevention Technique She Herself Said Is Successful)
• Needles, Pinheads And Politicians ('San Francisco Chronicle' Columnist Endorses Needle Exchange But Says Maybe It's All For The Best That The Federal Government Doesn't Get Involved)
• Anti-Drug Initiative ('USA Today' Says US House Republicans This Week Will Unveil Anti-Drug Proposals That Include A Ban On Loans For Students Convicted Of Drug Violations, And Funding Of Groups Involved In Needle Exchange Programs)
• Ron Paul's Statements On The Drug War (Comments From The Congressional Record For April 28, 1998, March 6, 1997, And June 25, 1997, By The Texas Republican US Representative Show A Consistent Disdain For The War On Some Drugs' Impact On The Constitution)
• Report Warns Of Rise In Ethnic Smoking ('New York Times' Says The US Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, Warned Monday That Increases In Smoking By Minorities, Especially Minority Teen-Agers, Threaten To Reverse Significant Declines In The Incidence Of Cancer)
• Smoking Rises Among Minority Teens ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Minority Smoking Is Up ('Seattle Times' Version)
• Federal Judges Get More Power In Drug Sentencing ('Associated Press' Says The US Supreme Court Today Gave Federal Judges Greater Power To Impose Longer Terms Behind Bars For Some Convicted Drug Sellers, Unanimously Upholding The Prison Sentences Given To Five Illinois Men)
• Text Of US Supreme Court Decision In Edwards Et Al. V. United States (Defendants Lose Crack-Cocaine Sentencing Appeal)
• Recovering Our Honour - Why Policing Must Reject The War On Drugs (URL Posted For Text Of Controversial Recent Speech At The Fraser Institute By Vancouver, British Columbia, Constable Gil Puder)
• There Must Be A Better Way Than The War On Drugs (Staff Editorial In Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Praises Vancouver Constable Gil Puder For Risking His Career To Speak Out Against The War On Some Drug Users)
• Shameless Admission (Letter To Editor Of 'Halifax Daily News' Faults Columnist For Her Admission That She Has No Compassion For Drug Addicts)
• US Vets Level Charges At Mexico ('Associated Press' Notes A Group Of US Military Veterans Charged Friday That The Mexican Army Is Using US Anti-Drug Military Equipment To Intimidate Indians In Southern Mexico)
• Resort Seized By Mexican Drug Agents ('San Diego Union Tribune' Says The Mexican Attorney General's Office Wants To Take The Oasis Resort Hotel And Convention Center In Tijuana Through Forfeiture Because Of Purported Evidence The Property Belongs To Alleged Illegal Drug Seller Manuel Aguirre Galindo, Though The Official Owners Deny It)
• Hemp Group To Contest Seats (Australian Broadcasting Corporation Says The Group Help End Marijuana Prohibition, In Northern New South Wales, Will Contest Seats In Three States At The Next Federal Election)
• The Dangerous Ignorance Of Those Who Say 'Legalise Pot' (Op-Ed In Britain's 'Daily Mail' By A Psychopharmacist Admits Cannabis Is Less Dangerous Than Tobacco Or Alcohol, But Alludes To Discredited 'Studies' Purporting To Show Its Dangers, And Cites Her Own Perceptions That Cannabis Causes Long-Term Harm To The Brain)
• Children To Get Drugs Warning From Age 5 ('The Scotsman' Notes British Drugs Tsar Keith Hellawell Has Unveiled A UK Anti-Drugs Strategy For The Next Ten Years)
• Teachers Attack Drugs Education For Infants (Britain's 'Daily Telegraph' Says The Government's Plan To Educate Children As Young As Five About The Dangers Of Drugs Was Criticised By Education Leaders Last Night, While The General Secretary Of The National Association Of Schoolmasters Union Of Women Teachers Also Accused Prime Minister Tony Blair Of Setting A Bad Example By Receiving Noel Gallagher Of The Band Oasis, Who Said Last Year That Taking Drugs Might Be As Normal As Getting Up And Having A Cup Of Tea In The Morning)
• Don't Toy With Drugs (Staff Editorial In Britain's 'Daily Telegraph' Also Takes A Dim View Of Anti-Drug Education For Five-Year-Olds)
  Bytes: 187,000 Last updated: 7/30/98
  

  Wednesday, April 29, 1998:

• Turning The Other Cheek ('Willamette Week' Notes There Are Nearly 250 Caseworkers In The Portland Area Empowered And Obligated To Remove Children From The Homes Of Cannabis Consumers, And At Least Nine Of Them Have Criminal Convictions For Theft, Assault, Drunken Driving, Unlawful Possession Of A Weapon, Criminal Trespass, And Domestic Violence)
• US School Is A Vital Tool (Letter To The Editor Of 'Willamette Week' From The Public Affairs Officer For The School Of The Americas Criticizes The Portland Weekly For Making A 'Hero' Of A Protestor Imprisoned For Interfering With The Military School's Mission Of 'Providing Counter-Drug Operations Training, Our Primary Focus Now')
• State Again Asks Court To Shut Down Cannabis Club ('San Francisco Examiner' Says California Attorney General Dan Lungren Asked Superior Court Judge William Cahill Tuesday For A Temporary Restraining Order Against The San Francisco Cannabis Healing Center, Dennis Peron's Former Club Now Run By 79-Year-Old Hazel Rodgers)
• Judge To Decide Fate Of New Pot Club Today ('San Francisco Chronicle' Version)
• San Francisco Cannabis Center Faces New Crisis ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Legal Victory For San Francisco Marijuana Club ('Reuters' Says San Francisco's Main Medical Marijuana Club Scored An Unexpected Legal Victory Wednesday When Superior Court Judge William Cahill Refused California Attorney General Dan Lungren's Request For An Immediate Injunction To Close It Down)
• Capitol Rally Opposes Marijuana Ballot Issue ('Rocky Mountain News' Says Former US Drug Czar Bill Bennett Led The Rally At The Colorado Capitol Tuesday In Opposition To A November Ballot Proposal And Said Pot Has No Medical Benefits)
• Appalachia's Marijuana Belt - Biggest Cash Crop In 65 Counties ('Associated Press' Article In 'Washington Post' Says 65 Counties In Kentucky, West Virginia, And Tennessee - Three Of The Five States That Comprise The 'Marijuana Belt' - The Region That Produces 90 Percent Of The Nation's Domestically Grown Marijuana - Were Designated A High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, With $6 Million Earmarked To Combat Marijuana Growth - Appalachia Is The 20th Region To Be Designated A High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Since The Program's 1990 Inception)
• House Votes To Bar Federal Funds For Needle Exchange (ACLU News Says The US House Of Representatives Voted 287-140 Today To Bar Federal Funds For Needle Exchange Programs, Nine Days After President Clinton Also Ignored The Advice Of Scientists And His Own Department Of Health And Human Services)
• 'Drug Crazy' - Important New Book Needs Your Support This Month (Drug Reform Coordination Network Asks You To Help Mike Gray's New Book Reach A Wider Audience)
• DrugSense Focus Alert Number 62 (DrugSense Also Asks You To Help Promote Mike Gray's New Book, 'Drug Crazy')
• New Discussion Web (Longtime Marijuana-Law Reform Activist Carl Olsen Has Launched An Online Rastafari Discussion Forum)
• High Court Hands Judges More Say In Drug Cases ('Washington Post' Version Of Yesterday's Supreme Court Decision In 'San Jose Mercury News')
• Surgeon General Attends To Health ('USA Today' Talks To Dr. David Satcher About Why A Smaller Proportion Of Minority Teens Smoke Than Other Teens, His Role In Helping Legislate New Tobacco Policy, AIDS Prevention, Gun Violence, Alcohol And 'Narcotics' Abuse - And Even The New Drug Viagra)
• It's Time We Declared Failure And Learned To Live With Drug Addiction ('Vancouver Echo' Columnist Kevin Potvin Says Instead Of Chasing The Elusive Goal Of Wiping Out Hard Drug Use, If We Turned Our Attention To Reducing The Impact Drug Addicts Have On Our Lives, Then We Might See Some Result For All Our Energy And Money)
• Hellawell's Report Online (List Subscriber Posts URL With Complete Text Of The Drugs Tsar's New Report, 'Tackling Drugs To Build A Better Britain')
• Drugs White Paper Gives Wrong Signal (Letter To Editor Of Britain's 'Daily Telegraph' From A Man Who Sought Keith Hellawell's Job Says 'The Culture Of Harm Reduction And Support For Addicts Does Support The Drugs Use And Does Harm Society')
• Reformists Aware Of Plight Facing Addicts Families (Letter To Editor Of Britain's 'Evening News' Notes The Situation We Are In Now Has Arisen Under Prohibition - Prohibition Means That The Supply Of Drugs Is In Criminal Hands)
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 44 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists, Including Original And Excellent Commentary Such As The Feature Article On 'Human Rights And The Drug War,' An Exhibit Opening At The San Francisco Public Library)
  Bytes: 104,000 Last updated: 5/14/98
  

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