1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
April 30-May 6

Thursday, April 30, 1998:
• NORML Weekly News (Colorado Legislature Okays Resolution Rejecting Efforts To Legalize Medical Marijuana; Former Marijuana Smokers Denied Entrance To The US, Canadian Paper Reports; Judge Rules Cannabis Healing Center Can Stay Open; Minnesota Governor Vetoes Hemp Research Bill)
• Trucker In Wreck Had Drugs In System (Hundreds Of Oregonians And Dozens Of Oregon Kids Die In Alcohol-Related Car Accidents Every Year And How Many Of Them Does 'The Oregonian' Cover? After All, The Alcohol And Alcoholic Industries Spend Millions On Advertising, But If There's One Fatal Accident Where The Driver Tests Positive For 'Alcohol, Cocaine, Marijuana And Methamphetamine,' The Paper Wastes No Time Sensationalizing The Cocaine, Marijuana And Methamphetamine)
• $1 Million Cost Overrun In King County Jail ('Associated Press' Says The Facility For Seattle Inmates Is Headed For A Shortfall Because Police Are Booking More Suspects Than Anticipated By Its $68 Million Budget)
• San Jose Pot Club Will Shut Its Doors Forever Next Week ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says Executive Director Peter Baez Announced Yesterday That Mounting Legal Problems And A Frozen Bank Account Would Force The Closure Of Santa Clara County's Only Medical Marijuana Dispensary)
• Medicinal Pot Center To Close ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• News Release - Rally For Marvin Chavez (Demonstration May 7 In Support Of The Director Of The Orange County Cannabis Co-op, Jailed Pending Trial)
• Medical Marijuana Patients Urged To Seek Jury Trials (News Release From Steve Kubby, Libertarian Candidate For California Governor, Says That Although Prosecutors And Judges Are Acting Illegally To Oppose The Compassionate Use Act Of 1996, 'Not One Patient Has Been Convicted In A Jury Trial, Using A Prop 215 Defense')
• New Medical Pot Club Allowed To Stay Open ('Orange County Register' Notes Superior Court Judge William Cahill Refused Wednesday To Order The Immediate Shutdown Of A Medical Marijuana Dispensary That Opened A Day After Dennis Peron's Cannabis Cultivators Club, On The Same Site, Was Closed By Court Order)
• Judge Tells Pot Club To Curb Illegal Sales ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Countywide Judge OKs Pardon For Pot Conviction ('Los Angeles Times' Says Ventura County Superior Court Judge Steven Hintz On Wednesday Approved A Request For A Pardon For The 1991 Conviction For Cultivating Pot Of Andrea Nagy Of Thousand Oaks, The Proprietor Of The County's Only Medical Marijuana Clinic, Which Was Recently Shut Down By Court Order)
• Clever Marijuana Ruse (Letter To Editor Of 'Orange County Register' Says Cannabis 'Clubs' Have Clearly Demonstrated How Proposition 215 Can Be Abused - The Measure Did Not Provide A Distribution System)
• Doug Keenan Busted (Don Wirtshafter Of The Ohio Hempery Breaks The News That An Indianapolis Medical Marijuana Patient And Popular DRCTalk List Subscriber Who Admitted To Cultivating Cannabis On Nationwide Television The Other Night On PBS' 'Frontline' Was Raided By Police Terrorists Who Ran Amok - Plus Follow-Up Bulletins)
• New Statewide Study Of Ohio 11th Graders Finds DARE Curbs Drug, Alcohol Use (A Press Release On PRNewswire From The Corporation That Administers DARE Programs Around The United States Says A New Ohio State University Study Of 3,150 High School Juniors Found That Students Who Completed Two Or More Semesters Of DARE's Drug Education Program Were 50 Percent Less Likely To Become High Risk Abusers Of Drugs And Alcohol Than Students Who Had Not Received The DARE Curriculum)
• "Attitudes And Beliefs About DARE" (A list subscriber critiques the poor methodology used by Joseph Donnermeyer of Ohio State University in another study of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program he carried out in Cedar City, Utah.)
• Clinton Defends McCaffrey (Transcript Of Presidential News Conference Comments On Needle Exchange Controversy)
• A Vote Against Federal Needle Swap Funds ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says The US House Of Representatives Voted 287 To 140 Yesterday To Impose A Permanent Ban On Federal Funding Of Needle Exchange Programs To Stop The Spread Of AIDS)
• Needle Exchanges Save Lives (A Letter To The Editor Of 'The Trentonian' In New Jersey Rebuts The Newspaper's Staff Editorial Opposing Needle Exchange Programs As Unsupported By The Scientific Evidence)
• House Republicans Vow To Make US Drug Free ('Reuters' Says Top Republicans Thursday Held A Packed Rally In One Of The Most Ornate Congressional Hearing Rooms To Unveil A Package Of Bills To Combat Drug Abuse, Pledgiing To Make America Virtually Drug-Free By 2002)
• Task Force Relaunches War Against Drugs (Version In Massachusetts' 'Standard-Times')
• Medical Marijuana Insanity (Letter To The Editor Of 'City On A Hill Press' At The University Of California-Santa Cruz Urges Readers To Contact Their US Representative And Ask Him Or Her To Vote 'No' On House Resolution 372, The Anti-Medical Marijuana 'Message')
• Update On House Resolution 372, Notes On Republican Drug War News Conference (An Excellent First Person Account Of The GOP Hatefest From Chuck Thomas Of The Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC - Gingrich Vows That 'Any Other Federal Spending Program Would Be Cut If Necessary To Fund The New Drug War')
• New Book Available In June - 'Drug Hate And The Corruption Of American Justice' (Review From Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Describes Work Of David Sadofsky Baggins, Associate Professor Of Political Science At California State University At Hayward, Who Says The Hatred Of 'Drugs' Has Led To A Fundamental Shift In The Nation's Policies, Away From The Progressive Orientation Dominating The Roosevelt Era Through The Sixties, And Towards The Punitive Orientation That Emerged During The Nixon Presidency And Continues To This Day)
• Bible References To Kanehbosm - Cannabis (Commentary From List Subscribers)
• Hemp BC And Cannabis Canada Raided . . . Yet Again (Bulletin From 'Cannabis Canada' Says Police In Vancouver, British Columbia, Apparently Had The Misguided Idea That Marc Emery Was Still The Owner)
• Vancouver Police Chief Wants To Preserve Status Quo (Op-Ed In 'Vancouver Sun' By Neil Boyd, A Professor At Simon Fraser University's School Of Criminology, Defends Vancouver, British Columbia Constable Gil Puder For Speaking Out Against The War On Some Drug Users)
• Illegal Drug Fight Is Costly And Ineffective (Columnist Jay Bryan Of 'The Montreal Gazette' Says Canada's Policy Of Tolerating Drugs Like Alcohol And Nicotine While Imposing Draconian Penalties On Those Who Possess Other Drugs Is So Obviously Counterproductive, So Costly And So Offensive To A Liberal Democracy's Concept Of Civil Liberties That It Is A Monument To The Power Of Myth Over Rational Thought)
• Police Snuff Out Major Pot Ring ('Canadian Press' Item In The Kitchener-Waterloo 'Record')
• Cops Net Big Pot Ring - Seven Men Charged - Drugs, Gun, Cash Seized (Lengthier Account In 'Toronto Sun' Says Most Of The 160 Pounds Of Marijuana Came From Mexico)
• From Danny Tungate, Independent Legalise Cannabis Candidate For Catton Grove, Norwich, UK (British Candidate Supports Full Legalisation)
• Less Jobs Makes For More Junkies (Translation Of An Article In Sweden's 'Svenska Dagbladet' Wherein Swedish Criminologist Leif Lenke Tells His Isolated And Insular Countrymen That A Repressive Policy May Not Be The Best Response To Drug Abuse)
• United Nations (List Subscriber Asks You To Please Sign An Online Statement To The UN Assembly)
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  Friday, May 1, 1998:

• Raid Scours Gay Youth Club, Owner's Home (The Oregonian notes Portland police are continuing their search for some way to pin an illegal-drug charge on the producer of Cannabis Common Sense for local cable television. A secret federal search warrant supposedly targeting associates of Lanny Swerdlow who are thought to be involved in child pornography allowed cops to batter down doors to Swerdlow's Portland home and nightclub, the Rage, and haul off two vehicles full of computers, videos, cameras and folders, without arresting him or charging him with anything.)
• Drug War Prison Bonanza (An analysis of the war on some drug users, in the Bellingham, Washington, Every Other Weekly, notes the battle fought in the name of the children has left one of every nine American school-age children with one or both parents in jail, a figure soon expected to increase to one of every four children.)
• Prop. 215 Delays Marijuana Trial (The Modesto Bee says the marijuana cultivation trial of Robert Galambos in San Andreas, California, was put on hold Wednesday so defense attorney Tony Serra could appeal Judge John Martin's ruling that Galambos's cultivation of more than 300 cannabis plants couldn't be defended even under California's "Defense Of Necessity" statutes.)
• New Marijuana Club Allowed To Operate (An Associated Press item in the Los Angeles Times notes Superior Court Judge William Cahill on Wednesday scheduled a June 4 hearing to determine if any drug laws are being broken at San Francisco's new Cannabis Healing Center.)
• Dan Lungren vs. the Peter Pan of Pot (The Express, in Berkeley, California, recounts the Dennis Peron saga.)
• Placing Blame For Closing (The San Jose Mercury News says Peter Baez and Jesse Garcia on Thursday blamed San Jose police and prosecutors for the shut-down of the Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, scheduled next Friday.)
• Crack Trade Has Gravitated to 'The Walk' (A San Jose Mercury News reporter and two narcs can't do anything thing about it as "everyone from street people to engineers" engages in laissez-faire capitalism on East Santa Clara Street in San Jose, California.)
• Drug Statistics (A brief letter to the editor of the Orange County Register correlates the introduction of DARE in 1989 with an increase in kids' use of illegal drugs in Orange County, California.)
• Lessons From A Killing (Extra!, published by the group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, describes how the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights got the San Francisco Chronicle to shift the focus of its racist portrayal of a victim of a police beating away from his alleged drug problem and criminal record.)
• New, Improved Medical Marijuana Drug Readied For Testing (Oncology Times, without explaining how something can be both "new" and "improved," notes the company that makes Marinol, the only form of medical marijuana approved federally for use in the United States, hopes to be in Phase I clinical trials of a new pharmaceutical form of marijuana by the second quarter of this year. Unimed has also petitioned the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to change Marinol from a Schedule II to a Schedule III drug.)
• Tobacco Black Market Rise Predicted (An Associated Press article in the Los Angeles Times says new television advertisements sponsored by the tobacco industry accuse members of Congress and the White House of courting a black market, increased crime and teen smoking by supporting a Senate tobacco bill. The White House says "Lawmakers could control any black market for tobacco products by taking a page from alcohol regulation." If the legislation passes, $5-a-pack cigarettes are predicted.)
• GOP Makes Drug War Congress' Top Priority (An Associated Press article in the Orange County Register quotes House Speaker Newt Gingrich saying at a Republican rally Thursday that winning the war on some drug users by 2002 will have the highest priority in Congress. Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey was "surprised and pleased. They want an acceleration in our own timetable. We will consider their ideas carefully.")
• House GOP Unveils Drug War Strategy (A different Associated Press version)
• Casualties Of War (An essay in Hemp Magazine by Nora Callahan, director of the November Coalition, recounts how the war on some drug users has devastated her and her family. She says if every victim of this war in America opposed it, it would end.)
• Display A Light In Your Window Campaign (Nora Callahan in Hemp Magazine urges you to burn a candle in a window until the drug war is over and all the prisoners are freed. The campaign was initiated in the 1997 Christmas season by the Delaware Cannabis Society.)
• The Right Wing Is On Drugs (This magazine finds marijuana law reformers in Canada tend to have a conservative outlook.)
• Police Arrest 72-Year-Old Suspected of Trafficking (The Guardian, in Charlottetown, says police from Surete Du Quebec arrested the Canadian man for selling cannabis to teenagers at a nearby high school. But Wally Ethier says, "I don't sell to anyone. I use [marijuana] for medical reasons. I have arthritis and nervousness.")
• Cannabis Control In Canada - Options Regarding Possession (The text of a new study from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, a federally funded think tank, proposes dropping jail as a possible punishment for marijuana possession. Instead, the offence would become a civil violation, subject to a fine only.)
• Re: Reader's Digest May cover story, "Australia's Methadone Mess" (An Australian physician specializing in drug treatment who has authored a book on methadone criticizes the biased American publication's "poor quality, sensational journalism, riddled with inaccuracies and misconceptions.")
• Drug Users Blamed For Crime Surge (The Sydney Morning Herald, in Australia, quotes Police Commissioner Peter Ryan saying the big increase in robberies involving knives and firearms in New South Wales, revealed in official figures released Thursday, is being fuelled by increased "heroin use and drug use generally.")
• Experts Will Speed Up Work On Cannabis (The British Medical Journal notes physicians in the UK will continue their alchemical quest for a way to separate beneficial cannabinoids from herbal cannabis.)
• Turkey and Drug Traffic (A letter to the editor of the Irish Times from a Turkish diplomat disputes the newspaper's claim that his country is a main producer of illicit drugs. He says Turkey is just a transit country.)
• World Cities Against Drugs - A Global Perspective, May 12-13 in Stockholm, Sweden (A list subscriber says the conference sponsored by European Cities Against Drugs, ECAD, is expected to attract representatives from 500 cities around the world who will hear about the "success" of Swedish narconazism.)
• The Development of Drug Abuse in Sweden (A translation of an article by Leif Lenke, a lecturer in criminology at Stockholm University, in Oberoende, the official magazine for the Swedish National Organization For Help to Narcotics and Drug Addicts, critically examines the official version of the history of drug abuse in Sweden.)
• Abolish the Slogan "A Drug Free Society" (A translation of an article by Henrik Tham, a professor of criminology at Stockholm University, in Oberoende, the official magazine for the Swedish National Organization For Help to Narcotics and Drug Addicts, criticizes Sweden's fanatical war on some drug users.)
• Drug Wars and the Open or Closed Society (A translation of an article by Leif Lenke, a doctor of criminology at the University of Stockholm, in Oberoende, the official magazine for the Swedish National Organization For Help to Narcotics and Drug Addicts, criticizes Sweden's unsuccessful war on some drug users as the vehicle for bringing about a repressive, close-minded society where an open and honest discussion is impossible.)
• Closing Ranks, the Lost Opportunity of UNGASS (A translation of an article in Italy's Narcomafie about the United Nations General Assembly Special Session June 8-10 in New York, dedicated to promoting the world war on some drug users, says a commercial will soon appear on televisions around the world in an attempt to rally public support.)
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  Saturday, May 2, 1998:

• No Snooping! Privacy Laws And Modern Technology Don't Mix (An Account Of The Legal Case Originating In Florence, Oregon, Challenging The Use Of Infra-Red Or Heat-Mapping Sensors To Invade People's Privacy In Order To Detect Indoor Marijuana Cultivation - Britain's 'New Scientist' Notes Modern Technology Is Making It Easy To Throw Privacy Laws Into Disarray, Though It Misidentifies The Location Of The San Francisco-Based US Ninth Circuit Court Of Appeals)
• Doctors Worry Impotence Pill May Be Abused (KATU In Portland Tries To Launch A Nationwide Drug Menace Over Viagara)
• California Reports Record Number Of Pot Prisoners In Spite Of Prop. 215 (News Release From California NORML Says New Figures From The State Department Of Corrections Show The Number Of Marijuana Felons In State Prisons As Of December 31, 1997, Was Up More Than 10 Percent From The Previous Year)
• Rappers Arrested For Investigation Of Pot Possession (Cable News Network Notes Bust Of Snoop Doggy Dogg And Delmar Arnaud At The Universal Amphitheatre Northeast Of Los Angeles Just After They Performed On The 'I Got The Hook Up' Comedy Show - CNN Notes Former Cocaine Convict Snoop Doggy Dogg Was Sentenced To Three Years' Probation And Ordered To Make Anti-Violence Advertisements In 1993 After Being Found Guilty Of Being An Ex-Felon In Possession Of A Firearm After A Handgun Was Found In His Car During A Traffic Stop)
• Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg Cited For Having Pot ('Reuters' Version)
• Anybody Get A Number Off The Truck That Hit My Home? (Update From Indianapolis Medical Marijuana Patient Doug Keenan, Who Admitted To Cultivating Cannabis Last Week On PBS' 'Frontline' Only To Suffer A Home Invasion By Police)
• Girl Punished For Going To Aid Of Fellow Asthma Sufferer ('Associated Press' Notes Zero Tolerance Drug Policy In Mount Airy, Maryland, Punishes 12-Year-Old For Saving Her Classmate's Life)
• Urgent Alert - First Ever Medicinal Marijuana Vote To Be On Tuesday (Marijuana Policy Project Asks You To Call Or Fax Your US Representative Monday To Vote Against House Resolution 372, Opposing Medical Marijuana - Instructions Included)
• Give Them Their Pills, The Fuddled Masses - America's Addiction Is Not Just To Illegal Drugs (Britain's 'Economist' Covers US Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey's Speech Last Week To The American Bar Association, And, Noting That Sales Of Over-The-Counter Drugs Have Increased In The US From $2.7 Billion In 1970 To $16.6 Billion Last Year, Suggests That Drugs Meet An American Need For A Quick Fix For Any Problem, However Complex)
• House Republicans Vow To Make US Drug-Free ('Reuters' Notes House Republicans On Thursday Unveiled A Package Of Bills To Escalate The War On Some Drug Users And Vowed To Make America Virtually Drug-Free By 2002)
• Funding Futility (Letter To Editor Of 'Chicago Tribune' Observes That When The Clinton Administration And Congress Demanded Scientific Evidence That Needle Exchange Programs Reduce HIV Transmissions Without Increasing Drug Use, They Got What They Asked For, But It Wasn't Good Enough Because The Drug War Is Based On Mindless Blind Faith, Not Rationality - And Imagines A Ban On Federal Funding For Drug Prohibition Until Drug Warriors Can Prove Scientifically That Their Policies Decrease Drug Abuse Without Increasing Other Types Of Harm To Society)
• The Politics Of Needles In Washington (Syndicated Columnist Molly Ivins In The Fort Worth, Texas, 'Star-Telegram,' Says The Actions Of President Clinton And Republicans In Congress Regarding Needle Exchange Programs Sends The Message To American Children That The People Who Run This Country Are Idiots)
• States Crack Down To Shield Fetuses From Drugs ('Los Angeles Times' Article In Eugene, Oregon, 'Register-Guard' Notes Wisconsin And South Dakota Passed Laws This Spring That Mandate Incarceration For Pregnant Women Who Use Alcohol Or Illegal Drugs, Signaling That A Fetal-Protection Movement That Largely Failed In The Courts Over The Last 15 Years Might Find A More Receptive Audience In Statehouses)
• Hemp BC And Cannabis Canada Raid Updates (Bulletin From 'Cannabis Canada' Says Police Search Warrants Were Invalid And Lawsuits Are Planned Against Officials In Vancouver, British Columbia)
• Good Morning, Vietnam (A Letter To The Editor Of The Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Praises Vancouver Police Constable Gil Puder For Courageously Opposing The War On Some Drug Users, Drawing A Parallel With Another Recent But Less Bloody And Less Expensive American-Led Conflict)
• Atlantic Provinces Survey Teens On Drug Habits (According To The Canadian Press, The Nova Scotia Health Department Says Dalhousie University Is About To Follow Up On A Survey Two Years Ago That Showed A Dramatic Rise In The Number Of Young People Using Marijuana And Alcohol)
• Cannabis Day Rally July 1 And Hempstock July 1-3 In Sturgeon Falls, Ontario (Tarzan's Hemp Company And The Organization Objective Tolerance 2000 Sponsor Two Events)
• How To Start A Nationwide Drug Menace (Letter To Editor Of 'Edmonton Sun' Attributes Rohypnol's Reputation As A Date Rape Drug To Sensational Mass Media Coverage)
• Senior Charged For Trafficking ('The Record' In Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Notes Bust Of 72-Year-Old Self-Described Medical Marijuana User Accused Of Selling Cannabis To High School Kids In Hull, Quebec)
• Crime Figures Fall When Heroin Addicts Get Help (Britain's 'New Scientist' Says Preliminary Results From Britain's National Treatment Outcome Research Study, Released This Week, Suggest That Every £1 Spent On Treating Heroin Addicts Brings A Return Of £3 In Reduced Crime)
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  Sunday, May 3, 1998:

• Criminal Justice - Waiting To Inhale ('Orange County Register' Commentator Regrets That Proposition 215 Has Not Yet Been Implemented In California, But Suggests Workable Distribution Systems With Patients At The Center Have Been Created In The Cities Of Arcata And West Hollywood That Could Serve As Models For Other Cities)
• Scientology Funding A Surprise To Many `Drug Free Marshals' ('San Jose Mercury News' Says The Church Of Scientology Sponsors The Nationwide Anti-Drug Program 'Drug Free Marshals' - One Of Several Techniques The Church Uses To Recruit New Members And Legitimize Itself)
• Idaho Pushes Prisons Over Social Welfare (An Interesting 'New York Times' Article In 'The San Jose Mercury News' Says Idaho, Completely Dominated By The Republican Party, Has Reduced Its Welfare Rolls By 77 Percent, The Steepest Cut In The Nation, Its Rate Of Incarceration Is Growing Faster Than All But Two Other States, And Only One Other State, South Dakota, Spends Less Per Capita On Child Welfare - But By A Huge Margin, Idaho's Proportion Of Abused Or Neglected Children Leads The Nation)
• Michigan State Students Protest Liquor Ban ('Associated Press' Article In 'The New York Times' Says A Student Protest Against A Ban On Alcohol At Munn Field In East Lansing Turned Into A Confrontation Between Police In Riot Gear And A Mob Of About 3,000 - A Study Released Hours Later By 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education' Reported The School, With More Than 41,000 Students, Leads The Nation's Universities In Alcohol-Related Arrests)
• Students Are Told - Drop A Dime, Win Rewards ('Los Angeles Times' Article In 'San Jose Mercury News' About A New Program In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Offering Rewards To Student Snitches At Public High Schools, Is A Source Of Controversy, But Such Programs, Adopted At Scores Of Other High Schools, Are Simply Copying Programs Already In Place In The Adult World)
• Girl Called Pusher For Loaning Inhaler ('Chicago Tribune' Version Of Yesterday's News About The 12-Year-Old In Mount Airy, Maryland, Punished For Saving Her Classmate's Life Despite Her School's Zero Tolerance Drug Policy)
• Campus Alcohol And Drug Arrests Rose In '96, Survey Says ('New York Times' Says Alcohol Arrests Rose By 10 Percent And Arrests For Other Drugs Increased By 5 Percent On College Campuses In 1996, The Fifth Consecutive Increase, According To A Survey To Be Released On Monday By 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education')
• Pot-Smoking Hippies Yield New York Park ('Orange County Register' Account Of Million Marijuana March)
• Greenwich Village Pot Devotees Bumped by Family Festival ('New York Times' Version)
• Million Marijuana March In New York City (First Person Accounts By List Subscribers)
• UN To Support Caribbean Effort To Curb Drug Trafficking (Cable News Network Says A United Nations Supported Regional Training Center In Kingston, Jamaica, Is Turning Out New Drug Warriors For Barbados And Other Caribbean Countries - UN Representatives Plan To Meet Next Month To Find New Tactics)
• Colombia Police Make Massive Marijuana Bust ('Reuters' Item Broadcast By Cable News Network Notes Columbia Interdicted A 17-Ton Shipment Saturday - Columbian National Police Say They Have Already Seized Twice As Much Cannabis This Year As They Did In All Of 1997 - Most Colombian Bud Now Goes To Holland, Germany And Italy)
• Cannabis Campaign - A Squandered Opportunity (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Continues Its Drive For The Decriminalisation Of Marijuana With An Editorial By Graham Ball Critiquing Drugs Tsar Keith Hellawell's White Paper - Quoting Paul Flynn, The Welsh Labour MP, Who Said, 'The White Paper Is No More Than An Exercise In Finetuning The Engines On The Titanic. We Have The Greatest Amount Of Drug-Related Crime In Europe And Yet This Flatulent And Inadequate Response Goes Nowhere Near Addressing The Heart Of The Problem Of Drugs In Society And The Absurd Illegal Status Of Cannabis In Particular')
• Amsterdam In Purge On Sex And Drugs (Britain's 'Sunday Times' Says The 'Sex And Drugs Capital Of Europe' Is Undergoing A Purge To Rid Itself Of Its Reputation As A City Where Anything Goes)
• Heroin Puts Burma In Crisis Over AIDS ('New York Times' Says That In Rangoon, Burma, Also Known As Yangon, Myanmar, Tea Is The Gateway Drug To Heroin Addiction, Which Is The Primary Cause Of An Alleged AIDS Epidemic - By 1994, The World Health Organization Reported Burmese Addicts Had Infection Rates Of 74 Percent To 91 Percent - But The Newspaper Fails To Explain How The UN Or Anyone Else Could Manage The Expense Or Logistics Of A Credible HIV-Infection-Rate Survey In Burma)
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 40 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original News Summary For Activists Features A DRCNet Special Report, 'Drug War Under Fire From Left, Right - The Battle Begins' - Plus An Update On Former Professor Julian Heicklen's Penn State Protests; An Editorial By Adam J. Smith, 'Prohibition's Final Battle,' And Much More)
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  Monday, May 4, 1998:

• Don't Treat As Criminals Very Ill People Using Pot (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Oregonian' From Portland Physician Esther Gwinnell)
• Medical Marijuana Trial In Portland (Bulletin From Portland NORML Director Terry Miller Says The Cultivation Trial Of Craig Helm, A Multiple Sclerosis Patient, Begins Tomorrow In Hillsboro, Oregon - Nationally Recognized MS Specialist Dr. Petro To Testify)
• Re - Medical Pot Trial (Leland Berger, Attorney For Multiple Sclerosis Patient Craig Helm, Notes He Will Ask Judge Milnes To Allow His Client To Invoke Oregon's 'Choice Of Evils' Defense)
• Signature Count (Paul Loney, An Attorney And Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative, Says The Campaign Has Officially Collected 30,606 Signatures Of The 73,261 Needed By July)
• Cannabis Club Case Tests Reading Of Medicinal Pot Law ('Los Angeles Times' Notes David Lee Herrick, Marvin Chavez And Jack Schachter Of The Doctor, Patient, Nurse Support Group In Garden Grove, California, Are To Begin Their Jury Trials Wednesday In Orange County Superior Court)
• Marijuana Still Divides California ('Christian Science Monitor' Update On The Battle Between California Voters And The Governments And Courts Thwarting Their Will)
• Anti-Smoking Campaign Gutted, Activist Claims ('San Francisco Examiner' Says Dr. Stan Glantz, The Prominent Anti-Smoking Activist, Is Accusing Governor Wilson's Appointees Of Sabotaging California's $30 Million-A-Year Advertising Campaign Against Smokers Mandated By Voters, Paid For By Tobacco Consumers)
• Can Issue Be Diminished To 'Coincidence'? (An Excellent Op-Ed In The Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 'Journal Sentinel' Documents Racism Statistically On The Local And National Levels, Noting, For Example, That Even Though Their Chance Of Using Illegal Drugs Is Equal, A Milwaukee County Resident Of Color Is 10 Times More Likely Than A White Resident To Be Charged With Drug Possession, According To The Wisconsin Correctional Service)
• Teens Have Changed The Way They Use Drugs ('Newsday' Columnist Sheryl McCarthy Says Researchers At John Jay College Who Are Studying Drug Use In New York City Have Found That Teenagers Are Avoiding Hard Drugs Like The Plague, While Use Of Marijuana Is On The Rise)
• Reefer Madness (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Washington Times' From An Alaskan Reader Claims, Without Any Evidence, And Contrary To The Government's Surveys, That 'Marijuana Users Invariably Start Smoking Cigarettes After They Begin Smoking Marijuana' And Therefore The Increase In Teen Smoking Is Due To A Dramatic Increase In Marijuana Use Among Youth)
• Medicinal Marijuana Vote Postponed (Marijuana Policy Project In Washington, DC, Says The Republicans In Charge Of The US House Of Representatives Have Again Put Off A Vote On House Resolution 372 - Call Your Congressman Now!)
• Status Of Vote On House Resolution 372 (More Details From Keith Stroup Of NORML)
• Letter To US Representative Conyers From The American Bar Association (Opposing House Resolution 372, The Anti-Medical Marijuana Legalism)
• Winning The War On Drugs (Op-Ed By House Speaker Newt Gingrich In 'The Washington Times' Outlines The Former Pot Smoker's Battle Plan For Halving Illegal Drug Use Nationwide By 2002, Reducing The Percentage Of All Americans Using 'Drugs' From Today's Figure Of 6.1 Percent To Less Than 3 Percent - But Fails To Say What The Cost Will Be To Taxpayers For New Prisons, Police, Public Defenders, Probation Officers And So Forth)
• Legal Hammer Falls Less Heavily On British Columbia Pot Users ('Vancouver Sun' Says Its Own Analysis Of Canadian And British Columbian Crime Statistics Shows That People Caught With Marijuana In British Columbia Are Half As Likely To Be Charged With Simple Possession As Users In Canada As A Whole - But More Than Twice As Many People Are Caught With The Drug In British Columbia As The National Average)
• Cannabis Boosters Dispute Info On Warrant ('Vancouver Province' Notes The Owners Of Sister Icee's Hemp BC And The Cannabis Cafe In Vancouver, British Columbia, Are Suing For $20,000 After Losing $15,000 In Goods And A $4,000 Computer In A Police Raid Aimed At Former Owner Marc Emery)
• Coast Apathy Feeding Local Drug Trade ('The Reporter' In Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Says The West Sechelt Community Association Expressed Deep Disappointment Over The Lack Of Young People At A Drug Information Forum - But Considering The Easily Disproved Myths About Marijuana Imparted By The Local Cops, One Assumes The Kids Were All At Home Looking Up The Real Facts On The Internet)
• Story On Drug Labs Demonstrates Poor Math Skills, Descriptive Powers (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Toronto Star' Faults The Newspaper For Accepting Exaggerated Police Estimates Of The Value Of Eradicated Pot)
• Players Rewarded With Drugs Says Policeman (Associated Press World News Says A Cop In Kaitaia, New Zealand, Claims Regional Rugby Players Are Being Given Cannabis As A 'Player Of The Day' Award, And Marijuana Is Also Being Raffled In Bars To Raise Cash For Sports Clubs In The Northland Area)
• Amnesty Focuses On US Death Penalty ('Irish Times' Says Pierre Sane, The Secretary General Of Amnesty International, Spoke At The Annual Convention Of The Organization's Irish Section This Weekend In Dublin, And Reserved His Strongest Criticism For The Growing Popularity Of Executions In The US, Carried Out In An Atmosphere Of 'Total Indifference')
• New Global War On Drugs Tackles A Losing Battle ('Toronto Star' Says The World Is About To Go To War Against 'Drugs' - 27 World Leaders Are Set To Sign A United Nations Pledge Next Month To Reduce The $400 Billion A Year Industry)
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  Tuesday, May 5, 1998:

• Well-Being Of Oregon's Kids Falls (Eugene, Oregon 'Register-Guard' Notes The Baltimore-Based Annie E. Casey Foundation Ranked Oregon 23rd Among The 50 States In This Year's 'Kids Count' Standings, Down From Number 14 Only Five Years Ago - But The Newspaper Fails To Explain Why It's The Drug War Making Things Worse)
• War On Drugs Is Anti-Christian (List Subscriber Notes The Debut Of A New Web Site For Christian Hempsters)
• Update On Orange County - Three Cases (Local Correspondent Notes Developments In Cases Of Proposition 215 Defendants Dave Herrick, Marvin Chavez And Jack Shacter)
• Defendant, Jurors Protest Stiff Sentence In Drug Case ('Associated Press' Says Jurors In Birmingham, Alabama, Expressed Surprise When A Woman First-Time Offender They Found Guilty Of Selling A Bottle Of Morphine For $150 Was Sentenced To Life Without Parole)
• Congress Takes Aim At Drug Use In College (Gannett News Service Article In 'Seattle Times' Notes The US House Of Representatives Was Set Tuesday Night To Pass A Little-Noticed Law To Withhold Federal Loans, Grants, Or Other Financial Aid From College Students Convicted Of Any Drug Offense, Including Simple Possession Of Marijuana - Prospects For Senate Passage Also Appear Solid)
• Gingrich Wants To Drug Test Staff ('Associated Press' Notes The Former Pot Smoker And Speaker Of The House Joins Two Other US House Republicans Who Say They Test Their Employees)
• High Court To Hear Property Seizure Case ('Los Angeles Times' Says The US Supreme Court Agreed Monday To Hear A Forfeiture Case That Grew Out Of A Faulty Police Raid In West Covina, California - At Issue Is Whether Police Officers Who Seized An Innocent Homeowner's Cash And Valuables Should Have Told Him How To Get Them Back)
• A Two-Edged Sword For The War On Drugs ('Toronto Star' Article In 'Dallas Morning News' About The United States' Wish To Spray Tebuthiuron, Or Spike, On Illicit Crops In Colombia As Part Of The War On Some Drugs' Eradication Effort)
• Firefighters Find Marijuana Plants - Two Men Face Five Charges (Cautionary Tale From 'The London Free Press' In Ontario Suggests Canadians' Right To Privacy Extends Only To Their Neighbor's Stove)
• Decrim Doesn't Cause Increase In Use (Summary Of Four Australian Newspaper Articles Notes Results Of Two-Year Nationwide Study By The Drug And Alcohol Services Council Of South Australia)
• Decriminalising Dope Produces No New Highs ('The Australian' Version)
  Bytes: 39,300 Last updated: 5/25/98
  

  Wednesday, May 6, 1998:

• State V. Craig Helm, Update (Portland Attorney Leland Berger Writes That Washington County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Milnes Ruled Yesterday That Berger's Client, A Multiple Sclerosis Patient Charged With Medical Marijuana Cultivation, Could Invoke Oregon's 'Choice Of Evils' Defense)
• Thursday OCTA Mailing Party At Phantom (Bulletin From American Antiprohibition League Invites You To Help Stuff Envelopes For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Campaign Tomorrow Night In Southeast Portland)
• OCTA Update! Meetings! Call for Activism And/Or Money! (Paul Stanford, A Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Ballot Initiative Campaign, Notes Paid Signature Gatherers Are Needed - Monthly Campaign Meeting May 13 At The Rage)
• Signature Count (Paul Loney, An Attorney And Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Petition, Says The Campaign Has Officially Collected 31,774 Signatures Of The 73,261 Needed By July)
• Eggleston Didn't Know He Was Firing At A Deputy (Tacoma, Washington, 'News Tribune' Article Recounts Testimony In Trial Of Brian Eggleston, Who Shot And Killed A Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Who Broke Into His Parent's Home In 1995 In Search Of Marijuana)
• Mendocino County To Keep Funds To Fight Pot ('The Press Democrat' In Santa Rosa, California, Says Mendocino County Supervisors John Pinches And Charles Peterson On Tuesday In Ukiah Couldn't Find A Third Vote To Stop The County From Accepting An Annual $250,000 CAMP Allocation Targeting Marijuana Growers - Pinches Is A Candidate For State Senate)
• Mendocino County Continues Funds To Target Marijuana Growers ('Associated Press' Version In 'Sacramento Bee')
• Brown Wants To Save For Rainy Day ('San Francisco Examiner' Article About The Budget Proposed By San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown Notes More Resources Will Be Devoted To Achieving Drug Treatment On Demand)
• Connecticut Plan Would Cut Prison Time For Some Drug Offenders ('New York Times' Says The Connecticut Legislature Passed A Bill This Week That Will Drastically Cut Prison Time For Nonviolent Offenders On The Condition That They Undergo Intensive Testing For Drug Use)
• Jailhouse Dog To Sniff Out Drugs (Raleigh, North Carolina 'News & Observer' Says State Department Of Correction Officials, Noting That About A Dozen Prison Personnel Get Caught With Drugs Each Year, Have Hired A Drug-Sniffing Dog To Inspect Correctional Employees As They Arrive For Work)
• Rats' Nicotine Withdrawal Studied ('Associated Press' Says New Research Reported In Thursday's Issue Of 'Nature,' Funded Partly By The US National Institute On Drug Abuse, Or NIDA, Suggests Rats Going Through Nicotine Withdrawal Showed A Brain Reaction Similar To What's Seen In Amphetamine And Cocaine Withdrawal)
• Study - College Athletes Drink Most ('Associated Press' Article Says That College Athletes, Far From Being Health-Conscious Role Models, Tend To Binge Drink And Get Into More Alcohol-Related Trouble Than Other Students, According To A New Study Reported In The May Issue Of 'The Journal Of American College Health')
• Anti-Smoking Bill Should Also Be Anti-Drug Use, GOP Leaders Say ('Associated Press' Says Senior Senate Republicans Unveiled A Proposal Wednesday They Will Try To Attach To Whatever Tobacco Bill Comes To The Floor That Would Tax Tobacco Consumers $3 Billion To Use On Anti-Illegal Drug Programs)
• Sending Mixed Messages On Drugs (Courtland Milloy In 'The Washington Post' Marvels At The Double Standards In The United States Between Legal And Illegal Drugs)
• Viagra Theme - Love Is Blue ('Toronto Sun' Says The American Academy Of Ophthalmology Has Called For More Studies Into Pfizer's Newly Approved Drug For Impotence, Suggesting That Users With Certain Eye Problems Should Stay Away From Higher Doses)
• Mexican Military Blames Drug Traffickers For Fires In Two Western States ('Associated Press' Cites Article In Mexico's 'Reforma' Quoting Military Commanders In Michoacan And Guerrero Saying Marijuana Cultivators Clearing Land In Preparation For New Crops Were To Blame For As Many As 30 Percent Of The Fires That Have Claimed At Least 23 Lives)
• Massive Drug Seizure - Hamilton Men Charged In Smuggling Plot ('The Hamilton Spectator' In Ontario Says A Routine Customs Check In Halifax, Nova Scotia, Led Police To Arrest Of Four Hamilton-Area Men For Attempting To Smuggle 314 Kilograms Of Cannabis Oil In A Boat Cradle - Corporal Michele Paradis Of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Valued The Shipment At $12.5 Million)
• Re - Massive Drug Seizure - Hamilton Men Charged In Smuggling Plot (A Letter Sent To The Editor Of 'The Hamilton Spectator' In Response To Today's Article Finds Police Statements To Be Unreliable And Motivated By Self-Interest)
• Chief Hails Cash For War On Crime - A 'Thrilled' Fantino Was Even On Hand When Budget Was Read ('London Free Press' In Ontario Says Outlaw Biker Gangs, Code Words In Canada For 'Illegal Drugs,' Were Singled Out For New Heat In Tuesday's Ontario Budget - And London's Top Cop, Julian Fantino, Couldn't Be Happier)
• Tories Beef Up Police, Task Forces, Laws ('Ottawa Sun' Version)
• Ontario Budget '98 - Crime Down But Public Not Getting The Message ('Canadian Press' Quotes Alberta Justice Minister John Havelock Saying Crime Is Down But 90 Percent Of The Public Thinks The Crime Rate Stayed The Same Or Increased - Media Play A Role In Scaring People)
• Hazardous Hash Warning Issued ('Toronto Star' Quotes One Police Detective Who Says Some Unidentified Young People Who Allegedly Used Hashish Supposedly Developed Hives And Their Skin Broke Out In A Rash)
• Watch Your Corn, It May Hold A Pot Surprise ('The Record' In Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Publicizes Message To Farmers From Ontario Provincial Police)
• New Anti-Gang Law Not Tested In Court (Kingston, Ontario, 'Whig-Standard' Notes The Conviction Of Just One Man, A Former Member Of The Motorcycle Club, Rock Machine, For Conspiring To Traffic In The Designer Drug Nexus)
• Latin American Briefs ('Associated Press' Says A Colombian Appeals Court Has Increased The Sentences Of Two Jailed Cali Cartel Leaders And Ordered An Investigation Of A Lower Court Judge Accused Of Granting Unwarranted Sentence Reductions)
• Scientist Calls For New Cannabis Law (Aberdeen, Scotland 'Press & Journal' Notes Dr. Roger Pertwee Of Aberdeen University Is To Tell A House Of Lords Committee That A Strong Case Can Be Made On The Grounds Of 'Commonsense And Compassion' For Allowing Cannabis Derivatives To Treat Muscle Spasm)
• Hemp Hotel Opens In Amsterdam, Holland (Spam From Dutch Proprietors Includes URL For What Is Sure To Be A Popular Tourist Destination)
• UN Board Questions Colombian Member ('Associated Press' Says Alfonso Gomez Mendez Has Declined A Request From UN Officials To Resign From The International Narcotics Control Board, One Of The Most Influential And Secretive UN Organizations - They Fear A Conflict Of Interest Since He Was Appointed Colombia's Top Federal Prosecutor)
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 45 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists, Including Original And Excellent Commentary Such As The Feature Article By Kevin B. Zeese, 'Republicans Promise A Bigger And More Expensive, Ineffective Drug War')
  Bytes: 117,000 Last updated: 7/12/98
  

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