1998 News
About Cannabis and Drug Policy
May 14-20

Thursday, May 14, 1998:
• 'Oregonian' Poll (Activists From Portland And Beyond Ask You To Send A Quick E-Mail In Support Of Medical Marijuana)
• Alric Forbes Benefit (Seattle List Subscriber Asks Reformers To Attend Benefit For Ailing Supporter May 17 At Ballard Firehouse)
• Federal Judge Rules Against Clubs (Bay Area Correspondent Says The Federal Government Has Won Its Lawsuit Against Six Northern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries - Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative Considers Its Patients A Higher Priority, However, And Will Remain Open)
• Federal Ban On Medical Marijuana Could Be Put On Trial (Press Release From Americans For Medical Rights Responds To The Ruling Against Six Northern California Medical Marijuana Dispensaries)
• Judge Breyer Grants Preliminary Injunction Against Six California Medical Cannabis Providers - Stage Set For Jury Trial Of Medical Marijuana (News Release From California NORML)
• Cannabis Clubs Vow To Continue Operations Regardless Of Federal Law (Different California NORML News Release Notes Oakland And San Francisco Dispensaries Vow To Stay Open)
• Federal Judge Orders Closure Of Six Northern California Pot Clubs ('Associated Press' Version)
• US Judge Moves To Close California Marijuana Clubs ('Reuters' Version)
• Pot Ruling Disregards Legality Of Medical Use ('San Francisco Examiner' Version)
• Dave Herrick Found Guilty Of Two Counts (A Local Correspondent Writes That The Former Official With The Now-Defunct Orange County Cannabis Co-Op Was Convicted Wednesday On Two Charges Of 'Selling' Medical Marijuana By A Jury In Santa Ana, California, After The Judge Disallowed Proposition 215 And Medical Necessity Defenses - Three-Year Minimum Sentence Expected At June 26 Sentencing If Appeal Isn't Successful)
• Herrick Verdict In (Different Account From Another Orange County Witness)
• Prop. 215 No Defense For Cannabis Co-Op Volunteer ('Sacramento Bee' Version Notes Jurors Said They Were Troubled That The Issue Of Proposition 215 Was Raised In Defense Of Herrick, A Retired San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy - They Submitted A Handwritten Note To The Judge Asking About 'The Will Of The People')
• Man Who Sold Pot To The Sick Convicted ('Orange County Register' Version)
• US Approval Sought For Pot Study ('San Jose Mercury News' Version Of Yesterday's News About San Mateo County Funding Medical Marijuana Research)
• San Mateo To Design Clinical Trials Of Pot ('San Francisco Examiner' Version)
• Girlfriend Of Alleged Crack Dealer Fatally Shot ('San Francisco Chronicle' Notes 10 Police In San Francisco Trying To Apprehend A 21-Year-Old Man Who Had Failed To Appear In Court Apparently Shot The Fugitive's Teen-Age Girlfriend In The Head As The Two Made Their Getaway In A Car)
• Girl Dies In Busted Stakeout ('San Francisco Examiner' Version)
• Four Candidates In Sole Primary Debate ('San Francisco Examiner' Account Suggests Proposition 215 Was Not An Issue To Any Of The Four Primary Contenders Vying For California's Governorship)
• Senator Lockyer's Pitch (Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Says The Democratic Candidate For California Attorney General, State Senator Bill Lockyer, Fully Supports Proposition 215 And Would Shift The Department's Emphasis More Toward Consumer Rights And Civil Rights Cases And Away From 'Narcotics' Enforcement, A Cornerstone Of Dan Lungren's Administration)
• Officers Train To Eradicate Pot Plants ('Tulsa World' Says Cops From 20 Law Enforcement Agencies Have Been Training At Camp Grubor This Week For The Annual Crackdown Starting In June In Eastern Oklahoma's Marijuana Harvest - Herbicide Sprays Will Be Used For The First Time, Making Oklahoma Only The Second State To Use The Method)
• Ann Landers - Drug Policy Requires Common Sense (Syndicated Advice Columnist Notes Zero Tolerance School Policy That Led To A 6-Year-Old Boy In Colorado Springs Being Suspended For Lemon Drops Shows Zero Sense)
• ACLU In 'New York Times' (List Subscriber Notes The American Civil Liberties Union Ran A Quarter-Page Ad In Support Of Marijuana Law Reform Yesterday)
• City Is Sued by a Woman Whose Home Was Raided ('New York Times' Says A $20 Million Lawsuit Was Filed On Tuesday Against The New York City Police Department And The City Over A No-Knock Search Warrant That Led To A Vicious Drug Raid Last June In Brooklyn That Violated The Rights Of A Woman And Her Two Children, Ages 6 And 1)
• First International Conference On Heroin Maintenance - Update (The Lindesmith Center Gives New Details And Registration Information Regarding The Meeting June 6 In New York City)
• Why Needle Exchanges Stink (An Op-Ed In 'The Trentonian' By New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman Ignores The Science That Rebuts Her Position)
• Is The Drug War Racist? ('Rolling Stone' Interviews Glenn C. Loury And Orlando Patterson, Two African-American Academics And Critics Of America's War On Some Drug Users)
• Scientists See New Link To Cocaine Addiction ('Associated Press' Article In 'Oakland Tribune' Doesn't Even Bother To Name Two Research Reports Supposedly Released Wednesday Showing That Laboratory Mice Missing One Of Their Serotonin Receptors Are More Vulnerable To Cocaine Addiction, Suggesting The Importance Of Serotonin As A Factor In The Addiction Process)
• ABC Refuses To Run Ads For 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas' (Filmmaker Terry Gilliam Reportedly Says His Movie Has Been Blacklisted Due To A 'Pro-Drug' Theme)
• Re - ABC Refuses To Run Ads For 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas' (Monaco Correspondent Says Tickets For The Cannes Festival Screening Are 'Nigh Impossible To Come By')
• Drug Abuse Costs US $246 Billion A Year, Study Says ('Orange County Register' Rewrites Yesterday's Press Release From The National Institute On Drug Abuse)
• Customs May Get $964 Million For Drug War ('Associated Press' Says A US House Of Representatives Panel Approved A Proposal Thursday To Increase Funding 31 Percent In Fiscal 1999, And To $1 Billion, Or 25 Percent More In Fiscal 2000, After Republicans Accused The Clinton Administration Of Withdrawing Its Support Under Pressure From Labor Unions)
• Casual Smokers Complicate Addiction Theories ('Washington Post' Article Syndicated In 'Seattle Times' Notes About 18 Percent Of The Estimated 45 Million Tobacco Users In The United States Don't Demonstrate Addictive Behavior And Can 'Take It Or Leave It')
• US Embassies Told Not To Push Tobacco ('The San Francisco Examiner' Cites An Article In 'The Wall Street Journal' Saying The US State Department Has Barred Its Embassies Worldwide From Helping US Tobacco Companies Sell Their Products Overseas)
• US Embassies To Stop Promoting Tobacco ('Reuters' And 'Los Angeles Times' Version In 'Seattle Times')
• Congratulations To Bill Kaufmann (Letter To Editor Of 'Calgary Sun' Praises Its Columnist's Stand Against Drug Prohibition)
• Stay Away From Marijuana, Bill (Another Letter To The Editor Of 'The Calgary Sun' In Support Of Columnist Bill Kaufmann Blames The United States' Inability To End Prohibition On Corrupt Politicians)
• Murder Victim `Girl Next Door' Who Battled Drugs ('Halifax Daily News' Fails To Note The Murdered Halifax Prostitute With A History Of Crack Cocaine Abuse Might Have Received More Help If It Weren't For Prohibition)
• Return Of A Prodigal Son (A Former Tory In Quebec Writes In Montreal's 'Hour' Magazine That He Is Ready To Rejoin The Party Now That Tory Leader Dalton Camp Has Come Out In Favor Of 'Legalising' Marijuana)
• Are There Real Uses For Cannabis? (A Physician's Letter To The Editor Of Britain's 'Times' Notes 'The British Medical Journal' Recently Said A Committee Of Experts To Be Headed By Sir William Asscher Had Been Set Up To Study The Role Of Cannabis And Its Derivatives In Medicine - And Mentions Evidence From Italy That Raw Cannabis Is Already Being Used There As A Popular Treatment For Psychiatric Disorders)
• Call For Increase In Price Of Drink And Cigarettes ('Irish Times' Says The Southern Health Board Has Suggested Prices Should Be Increased For Everyone In Order To Cut Consumption By Some)
• In Land Of Champagne And Croissants, Pills Are King ('San Francisco Chronicle' Notes The Average Annual Expenditure For Legal Drugs In France Is The Greatest On Earth, At More Than $300 Per Person, With The United States A Close Second At $290 - US Suppliers Aggressively Feed The French Habit, And Increasingly Drugs Are Being Shipped Illegally To Europe From The United States)
• Weekly Action Report On Drug Policies, Year 4, Number 10 (Summary For Activists Of International Drug Policy News, From CORA In Italy)
  Bytes: 185,000 Last updated: 8/4/98
  

  Friday, May 15, 1998:

• NORML Weekly News (Kentucky Farmers File First Ever Federal Lawsuit To End Hemp Prohibition; Judge Orders Closure Of Six California Medical Marijuana Providers - Intent Of Proposition 215 In No Way Challenged By Ruling)
• Oregonians For Medical Rights Web Site (Sponsors Of The Oregon Medical Marijuana Initiative Are Now Online)
• Moved For PMs ('Associated Press' Says Proposals To Privatize Oregon Prisons Are Expected To Draw Serious Consideration From The 1999 Legislature, Which Convenes In January)
• Officer In Charge Of School Strip Search Gets 30-Day Suspension ('Associated Press' Notes Despite The Zero Tolerance Attitudes Inspired By The War On Some Drug Users, The Fourth Amendment Still Applies To Girls Strip-Searched In McMinnville, Oregon)
• Federal Judge Orders Closure Of Pot Clubs ('San Francisco Chronicle' Version Of Yesterday's News)
• Judge Tells Medical Marijuana Clubs They're Going Down ('Oakland Tribune' Version)
• Judge Says Six Pot Clubs Must Close ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• Judge Will Close Clubs For Medical Marijuana ('Orange County Register' Version)
• The Peron For Governor Campaign Presents A 'Get Out The Vote' Rally (The Former Director Of The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers' Club Plans A Benefit There For His Gubernatorial Campaign Next Saturday, May 23)
• Pot Clubs Vow To Defy Judge's Order (According To 'The San Francisco Examiner,' Robert Raich, An Attorney For The Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Said Judge Breyer's Decision On Thursday Opened Up A Variety Of Legal Avenues To Pursue In Defense Of The Medical Marijuana Dispensaries)
• Trial Hinges On Pot's Purpose ('Sacramento Bee' Describes The Medical Marijuana Trial By Jury Of Placer County, California Defendant David Dale Black - Judge J. Richard Couzens Ruled The Defendant Could Not Invoke Proposition 215 As A Defense Because He Did Not Seek Or Obtain A Doctor's Recommendation To Use Marijuana Until Three Months After His Arrest, Even Though He Has Tourette's Syndrome)
• Transcript Of 'Politically Incorrect' May 15, 1998 (Bill Maher's Topic Is Proposition 215 And Medical Marijuana In A Television Talk Show Featuring Dr. Drew Pinsky, Todd McCormick, Natalie Maines And Woody Harrelson)
• Addicted To Pleasure And To Pain (An Unapologetic Heroin User Speaks Out In Cintra Wilson's Column In 'The San Francisco Examiner' - 'After Eight Years In Narcotics Anonymous, I Renounced Abstinence From Drugs')
• Cop Shot In Pursuit Of Drug Suspects ('San Francisco Examiner' Notes Cop Shoots Cop In A Drug War Battle That Has Already Claimed The Life Of One 17-Year-Old Girl, Also Shot By Police)
• Teenage Shooting Victim Ran With Wrong Crowd ('San Francisco Examiner' Tries To Portray The 17-Year-Old-Girl Killed By Police In San Francisco Who Were Trying To Bust A Fugitive Wanted On Crack Cocaine Charges, But Refuses To Examine The Failed Policies That Led To Her Death)
• Cocaine Convictions Are Reinstated ('San Francisco Examiner' Says A Federal Appeals Court On Thursday Reinstated The 20-Years-To-Life Sentences Of The Alleged Leader Of An Oakland Drug Gang And Four Of His Colleagues, Overturned By A Federal Judge Because A Juror Commented During Deliberations That He Believed The Leader Of An Associated Gang Had Killed A Government Witness)
• DARE We Ask? (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Orange County Register' From A Parent In Irvine, California, Says The DARE Program There Is Trying To 'Teach' His Son The Dangers Of Private Firearm Ownership)
• State High Court Ruling Toughens Three-Strikes Law ('Los Angeles Times' Notes The California Supreme Court Decided Thursday That A Single Criminal Act Can Count As More Than One Crime - 4-To-3 Ruling Upholds Sentence Of 25 Years To Life Given To A Man Convicted Of Stealing A Carton Of Cigarettes Who Had Been Convicted 15 Years Earlier Of Two Felonies Stemming From A Single Knife Attack On A Neighbor)
• Man To Be Evicted (A Reporter For The 'South County Journal' In Seattle Says He Interviewed A Medical Marijuana Patient Today Who Is Being Evicted From His King County Housing Authority Apartment - And Wants To Know About Any Similar Cases Locally)
• District Apologizes For Drunken Driving Exhibit (School Officials In Sandpoint, Idaho, Haul A Smashed Car To School, Providing An Inadvertent Warning To Students About The Dangers Of Sobriety)
• Customs Seizes Two Tons Of Cocaine In Laredo ('Orange County Register' Says The Load Worth $200 Million, The US Custom Service's Biggest Confiscation Of The 'Narcotic' In At Least Three Years, Was Found By Texan Prohibitionists In A Steel Tank Usually Used To Haul Animal Fat)
• Student Rioters Demand The 'Right To Party' (First Of Four Articles In 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education' Summarizes The Recent Outbreak Of Campus Violence And Its Connection To Drug Policy)
• At Michigan State, A Protest Escalates Into A Night Of Fires, Tear Gas, And Arrests (Second Of Four Articles In 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education' Says Students, Administrators, And Police Have Different Views About Why 2,000 Students Rioted In East Lansing On May 1, But Admits The Event Began At Munn Field As A Protest Against The Administration's Recent Decision To Ban Alcohol There During Football Season)
• At Connecticut's Party Weekend, Days Of Music Replaced By Nights Of Vandalism (The Third Of Four Articles In 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education' About Student Violence Notes Another 2,000 Students Fought With Police At The University Of Connecticut In Storrs On The Weekend Of April 25, And Suggests Students Were Rebelling Against Increasing Restrictions On Underage And Other Drinking)
• Some Experts Say Colleges Share The Responsibility For The Recent Riots (Last Of Four Articles In 'The Chronicle Of Higher Education' About Natives Getting Restless On American College Campuses Describes The Recent And Widespread Crackdown On Student Drinking)
• Wrong Police Raid Brings $20 Million Lawsuit ('United Press International' Says A Brooklyn Woman Is Suing The City Of New York For $20 Million Over Police Who Terrorized Her And Her Young Children By Raiding Their Apartment For Drugs By Mistake Last June)
• Farmers Will Sue To Legalize Hemp Crops ('New York Times' Says A Group Of Kentucky Farmers And Trade Organizations Plans To File A Lawsuit Against The Federal Government On Friday To Make Hemp A Lawful Crop Again - Plaintiffs Intend To Argue That The Illegal Status Of Hemp, As Defined By The Controlled Substances Act Of 1972, Violates A 1937 Determination By Congress That The Plant Poses None Of The Psychoactive Problems Supposedly Caused By Its Cousin, Marijuana)
• Kentucky Farmers Filing Suit In Attempt To Legalize Hemp (Lexington, Kentucky, 'Herald-Leader' Version)
• Farmers To Sue Government Over Hemp Production Source ('Associated Press' Version)
• Kentucky Farmers Will Sue For Right To Grow Hemp (Louisville, Kentucky, 'Courier-Journal' Version)
• Kentucky Historical Hemp Signs (Roadside Attraction At The Jessamine County Courthouse In Nicholasville, Kentucky)
• Democrats Say Cigarette-Tax Bill Can Pass ('Associated Press' Article In 'Seattle Times' Says The US Senate Finance Committee Voted 10 To Nine Yesterday To Raise Cigarette Taxes By $1.50 A Pack Over Three Years - Clinton Vows To Sign It If It Meets 'Other Anti-Smoking Goals' - Proposal Will Be Offered As An Amendment To The Comprehensive Tobacco Bill Sponsored By Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain, Whose Bill, Set For Debate Monday, Had Proposed Raising Cigarette Taxes $1.10 Over Three Years As A Way Of Reducing Teen Smoking, Though The Tobacco Industry Said That Would Actually Raise The Cost To $5 Per Pack)
• Violence By Mentally Ill Tied To Substance Abuse ('New York Times' Says A Report Published Thursday In 'The Archives Of General Psychiatry,' A Publication Of The American Medical Association, Found That Mental Patients Discharged From A Hospital Were No More Violent Than Other Members Of Their Community, Unless They Had Been Abusing Alcohol Or Other 'Drugs' - But No Mention Is Made Of Those Labeled 'Drug Abusers' Who Successfully Use Medical Marijuana To Ameliorate Psychoses)
• Wesley Pomeroy, 78, Security Chief At Woodstock (Obituary In 'New York Times' For A Peace-Loving Peace Officer And Longtime Supporter Of Marijuana Law Reform Who Worked In A Variety Of Jobs Ranging From Chief Of Police In Berkeley, California, To Board Member Of The National Organization For The Reform Of Marijuana Laws, To Assistant Director Of The Drug Enforcement Administration)
• A Valuable Program (Letter To The Editor Of 'The San Jose Mercury News' From The Church Of Scientology Notes The Church Is A Big Supporter Of The War On Some Drug Users)
• McCaffrey - Videotape Of Peru Visit Doctored (According To 'The Orange County Register,' The US Drug Czar Says Vladimiro Montesinos, A Fellow Drug Warrior Working For Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, Edited A Videotape Of The General's Visit To Peru Last Month In A Bid To Improve Montesinos' Shadowy Public Image)
• Pray For Peace Foundation News, May 1998 (Articles Include - Woody Harrelson And Todd McCormick Tonight On 'Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher'; This Year's Insensitivity Award Goes To Dick Gephart; New Book - 'Drug Crazy'; Activists Wanted; Internet-Telephone Campaign Successful; Plus An Excellent And Informative Editorial, 'Ganja In The Hindu Religion' By Nori Muster)
• Cannabis Canada Changes Its Name To Cannabis Culture Magazine (News Release From The Home Office In Vancouver, British Columbia, Says The Change Becomes Effective With The July/August Issue)
• Cannabis Canada's New Online Cannabis Event Listings (Have Your Event Publicized For Free)
• Amsterdam Cafe Raided (Bulletin From 'Cannabis Canada' Says Police Confiscated Pipes, Bongs And Seeds From The Store In Vancouver, British Columbia - Raid Thought To Be Prompted By American Television Coverage)
• Son Of Justice Has Drug Case Moved To British Columbia ('Halifax Daily News' Says The 27-Year-Old Son Of Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Gordon Tidman, Who Was Busted With 5.5 Kilograms Of Cannabis When He Came To Nova Scotia To Get Married, Is A Resident Of British Columbia, Where He Works At A Snowboard Factory)
• Substance Abuse Problem Grows In The Military ('Vancouver Sun' Account Makes It Clear The Big Problem In Canada Is With Alcohol)
• Silenced On Drug Policies, Says Police Chief (According To 'The Sydney Morning Herald,' Australian Police Commissioner Ryan Disclosed Figures Yesterday Which Suggest Heroin Use Is Increasing, But He Said He Would No Longer Discuss Alternative Harm Reduction Policies After Being Warned To Stay Silent By State Politicians)
• Heroin Hooks Children Of New Russian Rich (Britain's 'Guardian' Plays Up The Extent Of Heroin Use In The Former Soviet Union While Noting Russia Has Some Of The Harshest Drug Laws In The World - Recently They Were Tightened Still Further To Criminalise Not Only Dealing And Possession But Also Use, Making It Possible To Imprison Anyone Who Tests Positive For Drugs, Or Admits To Having Used Drugs)
• The Week Online With DRCNet, Issue Number 42 (The Drug Reform Coordination Network's Original News Summary For Activists, Including An Article On Multiple Sclerosis Patient Craig Helm, Convicted In Hillsboro, Oregon, Despite The Help Of The NORML Medical Marijuana Defense Fund, Which Paid The Air Fare For Virginia Neurologist Dr. Denis J. Petro To Fly To Portland To Present Expert Testimony)
  Bytes: 236,000 Last updated: 5/25/98
  

  Saturday, May 16, 1998:

• 1998 Anti-Prohibition And Oregon Relegalization Days (Oregonians For Personal Privacy Sponsor Events In Eugene And Salem June 6-8 To Protest The United Nations' International Drug-War Conference June 8-10 In New York - Events Are Intended To Shed Light On The United Nations' Intentions To Criminalize Certain Speech Worldwide)
• It's Not The Cancer That's Killing Her . . . (A Woman Trying To Live With Cancer, Her Husband Imprisoned On Marijuana Charges, Limits Her Use Of Medicine, Waiting 'Til Midnight Lest The Authorities Take Away Her Children, Again)
• US Agents Raid Peron's Pot Farm ('San Francisco Chronicle' Says DEA Agents Handcuffed Four Patients With AIDS And Other Serious Illnesses And Seized 250 Marijuana Plants Yesterday Morning At A Rural Lake County, California Resort Run By Dennis Peron, Founder Of San Francisco's Biggest Medical Marijuana Dispensary, Who Said, 'Every Plant Was Assigned To A Patient Who Has A Letter From A Doctor')
• DEA Agents Take Plants From Medical Pot Club ('Orange County Register' Version)
• DEA Raids Lake County Site Used By San Francisco Cannabis Club ('San Francisco Examiner' Version)
• Drug Czar Underlines Prevention (According To 'The San Antonio Express-News' In Texas, General Barry Mccaffrey Was In Town Saturday And Indicated The Federal Government Planned To Increase Use Of Military Technology In Border Drug Interdiction Efforts, Using Police Rather Than Soldiers To Operate Such Technology As Much As Possible)
• Metal Detector Spots Pot (Cautionary Tale From 'The Wisconsin State Journal' Reminds Cannabis Consumers To Use All-Plastic Film Canisters)
• Man's Death In Police Custody Was Cocaine Accident, DA Says (According To 'The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,' District Attorney E. Michael McCann And Milwaukee Police Said Friday That A 25-Year-Old Victim Of Prohibition Who Died In Police Custody Last Week Apparently Swallowed An 'Eight Ball' Of Cocaine In An Attempt To Hide The Drug From Authorities)
• Those Filing Hemp Suit Say Issue Is Money (Lexington, Kentucky, 'Herald-Leader' Elaborates On The Federal Lawsuit Filed Yesterday By Kentucky Farmers Seeking The Right To Grow Industrial Hemp)
• Drug Agency On Defensive At Hearing On Pot Spraying (Honolulu 'Star-Bulletin' Notes The First Of Several Public Forums Scheduled Around The United States By The Drug Enforcement Administration On Using Herbicides To Eradicate Marijuana Plants Didn't Yield The Usual Orchestrated Results - Most Speakers Urged 'Legalization' Of The Drug, Downsizing Of The Drug Agency And Government Promotion Of A Hemp-Production Industry)
• Director Says 'Fear' Takes Grown-Up View Of Drugs (A Review Of 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas,' Starring Johnny Depp As Writer Hunter S. Thompson, Debuting At Cannes, In 'The San Francisco Examiner')
• Woman, 69, Arrested For Drug Trafficking ('Halifax Daily News' Says The Arraignment Of The Woman, Busted For 500 Grams Of Hash, Was Set Over Until May 27 When She Had To Be Taken From Bedford Provincial Court In An Ambulance Yesterday)
• Colombian General Denies Abuses As US Cancels Visa ('Chicago Tribune' Says The United States Has Revoked The Visa Of General Ivan Ramirez, A Senior Colombian General, Who Human Rights Groups Say Has A Lengthy Record Of Backing Paramilitary Forces Involved In Death Squad Activity - Apparently It Was The First Time The United States Has Revoked The Visa Of A Colombian Military Official In Connection With Human Rights Abuses)
• G-8's Second Day Focuses On Crime, Drugs, Poverty . . . And Sports (Cable News Network Says The Leaders Of The World's Eight Leading Industrialized Nations Met In Birmingham, England, Watched Police Videos And Sifted Through A Batch Of Statistics On The Growth Of The Illegal Drug Industry)
• Sex And Drugs And Teenage Boys (Britain's 'New Scientist' Says Charles Turner And Colleagues At The Research Triangle Institute And The Urban Institute In Washington, DC, Found That When Teen-Agers Used Computers In Surveys, They Said They Had Injected Street Drugs At About Four Times The Rate Of Those Answering The Survey On Paper - Everyone Involved Assumes The Computer Responses Are More Valid)
• Heroin Addicts Are Being Turned Into Zombies ('Evening Express' In Aberdeen, Scotland, Interviews Janice Jess, Who Runs The Grampian Addiction And Drugs Problem Service - He Favors Abstinence-Oriented Treatment And Criticises The Use Of Methadone, Claiming Health Authorities Aren't Interested In Curing Heroin Addicts, Only In Turning Them Into Zombies)
• Ultra-Rapid Opiate Detoxification Under Anaesthesia - UROD (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Lancet' From Juan J Legarda Of Spain's CITA, Or Centre For Investigation And Treatment Of Addiction, Denies Previous Allegations In 'The Lancet' About The Risks And Benefits Of UROD)
• Woman Guilty Of Supplying Drugs ('Irish Times' Says A Paraplegic Who Allegedly Used A Specially Adapted Mercedes And A Young Addict To Distribute Heroin In Dublin Was Convicted Of Having For Sale 11 'Deals' Of Heroin Worth £110)
• Cannabis - Man Escapes Gallows ('The Daily Express' In East Malaysia Says A 26-Year-Old Man From Kudat Who Originally Was To Receive A Mandatory Death Penalty For Possession Of 228 Grams Of Cannabis, A Little Over Eight Ounces, Was Offered A New Plea And Will Receive 12 Years In Prison And 12 Strokes Of The Rotan - The Man Originally Expected The Death Penalty, In Accordance With The Dangerous Drug Act 1952, One Assumes Written Under US Sponsorship)
  Bytes: 64,400 Last updated: 8/4/98
  

  Sunday, May 17, 1998:

• Signature Count (Paul Loney, An Attorney And Chief Petitioner For The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act Initiative Petition, Says The Campaign Has Officially Collected 35,500 Signatures Of The 73,261 Needed By July)
• Legal Questions Entangle Measure ('The Oregonian' Notes Legal Challenges Besetting Measure 40, Promoted By The Newspaper As A 'Victims Rights' Initiative Even Though It Was Really Written By Prosecutors To Make It Easier Than Ever For Them To Convict People, No Matter What The Evidence)
• Medical Marijuana - A Better Approach (Staff Editorial In The Seattle 'Post-Intelligencer' Endorses Washington State Initiative 692 - 'We Urge Registered Voters To Seek Out The Signature Gatherers For I-692, Get The Measure On The Ballot And Strongly Support Its Passage In November')
• Caretakers Routinely Drug Foster Children (An Otherwise Excellent Article In 'The Los Angeles Times' Doesn't Say How Many Children Are Removed From Their Parents' Homes Because Of Marijuana, Only To Be Subjected To Mandatory Chemical Intervention, But It Does Note A Large Proportion Of The 100,000 Children Under State Protection In California Group And Foster Homes Are Being Drugged With Potent, Dangerous Psychiatric Medications, Often Just To Keep Them Obedient And Docile For Their Overburdened Caretakers - A Review Of Hundreds Of Confidential Court Files And Prescription Records, Together With Observations At Group Homes And Interviews With Judges, Attorneys, Child Welfare Workers And Doctors Revealed That Youngsters Are Being Drugged In Combinations And Dosages That Experts In Psychiatric Medication Say Are Risky And Can Cause Irreversible Harm)
• A Foul Third Strike (Staff Editorial In 'Orange County Register' Slams California's 'Three Strikes' Law And Last Week's State Supreme Court Ruling That Strengthened It, Allowing A Man To Be Sentenced To 25 Years To Life For Non-Violently Stealing A Carton Of Cigarettes)
• 'Fear And Loathing' In Hollywood ('San Francisco Chronicle' Interviews Film Director Terry Gilliam About His New Adaptation Of Hunter S. Thompson's 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas')
• Praise, Loathing Greets Thompson Adaptation ('Chicago Tribune' Says Terrv Gilliam's 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas' Has Been An Argument-Starter At The 51st Cannes Film Festival)
• Teen's Death One Year Ago Brought End To Marine Border Patrols ('Dallas Morning News' Recounts The Drug-War Homicide Of Esequiel Hernandez, A 10th-Grader From Redford, Texas, A Remote Border Town 200 Miles Southeast Of El Paso, As He Grazed His Goats Near The Rio Grande)
• Leading Question - Milton Friedman ('San Jose Mercury News' Columnist Interviews The Nobel Prize-Winning Economist About Why Ending Drug Prohibition Won't Increase Harm)
• Don't Ask, Don't Tell ('In These Times' Examines The Testimony March 16 Of The CIA's Own Top Watchdog, Inspector General Frederick P. Hitz, To The House Select Committee On Intelligence, And Concludes The Central Intelligence Has Not Fully Disclosed Its Involvement In The Contra-Cocaine Scandal)
• Clinton To Endorse McCain Tobacco Bill (According To Massachusetts' 'Standard-Times,' Newt Gingrich And Other House Republican Leaders Denounced The McCain Bill, Saying It Reflects The Big-Government, Pro-Tax-Spend Policies Of Liberal Democrats, And Legislation Wouldn't Get Through Their Chamber)
• Cannabis Campaign - MP Hails Reform Of Jail Rules (Britain's 'Independent On Sunday' Says Brian Iddon, The Member Of Parliament Representing Bolton South East, Has Joined Other Labour Backbenchers In Publicly Welcoming The Government's Decision Last Week To Let Up On Cannabis And Focus On Reducing Hard-Drug Use In Prisons)
• Dutch Woman Arrested Trying To Smuggle Cocaine In Shampoo ('Associated Press' Describes One Attempt To Smuggle Cocaine In Liquid Form And Another Attempt To Smuggle It Mixed With Iron Dust And Charcoal)
• Gangsters Declare War On Mandela (Britain's 'Sunday Times' Says The 'Gangsters' Who Control South Africa's 'Burgeoning' Prostitution, Drugs And Protection Rackets Have Been Angered By The Plan Of President Nelson Mandela's Government To Seize Their Assets)
  Bytes: 100,000 Last updated: 5/30/98
  

  Monday, May 18, 1998:

• Medical Pot Needs Supply In Wake Of Federal Decisions ('San Francisco Examiner' Says California Politicians And District Attorneys From San Francisco To Los Angeles Are Planning A Summit May 26 In Sacramento To Figure Out How To Legally Distribute Medical Marijuana)
• California Officials Set Medical Marijuana Summit ('Reuters' Version)
• Caretakers Routinely Drug California's Foster Children ('Associated Press' Recounts An Article In Sunday's 'Los Angeles Times' Saying Children Are Being Drugged In Combinations And Dosages That Psychiatric Medication Experts Believe Are Risky And May Cause Irreparable Harm)
• Drug Policy Chief Is Facing Some New Foes ('Washington Post' Says Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey May Have Won The Battle On Needle Exchange, But He Made A Lot Of New Enemies In The Process)
• Phony War (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Washington Times' Responds To House Speaker Newt Gingrich's Recent Op-Ed Pretending He's Going To Impact The $400 Billion Illegal Drug Industry By Adding $.01 Billion To The War On Some Drug Users And Asking All 'True Americans' To Wear A Colored Ribbon)
• Newt World Order (A Second Letter To The Editor Of 'The Washington Times' In Response To Newt Gingrich's War-Mongering Asks Gingrich To Delineate What It Would Cost Taxpayers To Lock Up All The Millions Of People Involved With Illegal Drugs)
• Amnesty International - Human Rights Abuses On The Border ('Associated Press' Says The Group Will Release A Report This Week On Human Rights Abuses By Immigration And Naturalization Service Agents On The US-Mexico Border On The First Anniversary Of The Death Of A Texas Teenager Shot And Killed By A Camouflaged Marine On The Mexican Border - The Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project Has Documented 139 Civil Rights Abuses From January 1997 To August 1997, When The Border Patrol Launched Operation Rio Grande, And The Count Increased To 192 In The First Eight Months Of The Operation)
• Waging War Against AIDS ('Calgary Sun' Columnist Bill Kaufmann Says The War Is Being Complicated By Complacency And Misconceptions About AIDS Being A 'Gay Disease' - When Twice As Many New Cases Are Caused By Infected Needles)
• What Are G8 Leaders Smoking? (Staff Editorial In The Toronto 'Globe And Mail' Does A Nice Job Summing Up The Case Against Prohibition)
  Bytes: 40,700 Last updated: 5/30/98
  

  Tuesday, May 19, 1998:

• Summit's Agenda Is Medical Marijuana ('Oakland Tribune' Says California Senator John Vasconcellos And Other Leaders From Around The State Seeking A Way To Uphold Proposition 215 Announced Monday They Will Hold A 'Medical Marijuana Distribution Summit' Next Week)
• Officials To Offer Plan For State-Sponsored Medical Pot Program ('Sacramento Bee' Version)
• Cannabis Club Backers Seek Alternatives ('Los Angeles Times' Version)
• Summit Aims To Rescue Pot's Legal Status ('San Jose Mercury News' Version)
• The Medical Marijuana Summit's Hidden Agenda (Letter To Activists From Steve Kubby, A Cancer Survivor And Libertarian Candidate For California Governor, Charges That Senator Vasconcellos And Others Sponsoring Next Week's Medical Marijuana Summit Want To Create A 'Law Enforcement Model' Of Proposition 215 To Appease Attorney General Dan Lungren And Others Who Are Already In Violation Of The California Compassionate Use Act)
• Baez Facing New Charges ('San Jose Mercury News' Says Peter Baez, Director Of The Defunct Santa Clara County Medical Cannabis Center, Has Been Indicted By A Secret Grand Jury For Stealing Funds From The Club He Co-Founded)
• California Election Guide (California NORML Summarizes Important State Races, The Positions Of The Candidates And Who Deserves Support From Reformers)
• Jury Trial Begins June 1, 1998 (Kansas Hemp Activist Debby Moore Seeks Your Support As She Takes On The Forces Of Darkness, Facing 40 Years For .091 Grams Of Cannabis)
• Hemp Aid '98! Memorial Day Weekend, 1998 May 22 Through May 25 (List Subscriber Posts URL With Details About Michigan Festival This Weekend Featuring Music, Speakers, More)
• DrugSense Focus Alert Number 62 - Write A Letter, Help Change The World (DrugSense Asks You To Respond To Yesterday's 'Washington Post' Interview With Drug Czar Barry McCaffrey)
• Drug War's Labor Battle (Legi-Slate News Service Says A Bill In The US House Of Representatives Targeting People In The Illegal Drug Industry Is Facing Opposition Over Provisions That Would Suspend The US Customs Service's Union Agreements)
• Teen's Death Illustrates The Danger Of Border Militarization ('Daily Arizona Star' Commemorates The One-Year Anniversary Of The Death Of Esequiel Hernandez, A High School Senior And Goatherder In The Border Town Of Redford, Texas, Who Was Stalked, Shot And Left To Bleed To Death By A Four-Member Marine Unit In Camouflage, Becoming The First US Citizen Killed By US Troops On US Soil Since Kent State)
• Mexican Banks, Bankers Charged With Laundering Drug Profits ('New York Times' Says A Federal Grand Jury In Los Angeles On Monday Charged Three Mexican Banks And 26 Mexican Bankers With Laundering Millions Of Dollars In Drug Profits, Culminating A Three-Year Undercover Sting Operation Described As The Largest Drug Money Laundering Case In American History)
• Mexican Banks Indicted In Drug Money Probe ('Los Angeles Times' Version)
• Marijuana - The Real Dope ('Sydney Morning Herald' Provides A Forum For Australian Prohibitionists To Arouse People's Fears With Bad Science And Worse Assumptions)
• International Olympic Committee To Add Marijuana To List Of Banned Substances (Houston Chronicle News Service Says The IOC, Meeting In Sydney, Australia, Is Closing The 'Loophole' That Allowed Ross Rebagliati To Keep His Gold Medal)
• Methadone Has Given Me New Life And Hope (Letter To The Editor Of The Aberdeen, Scotland 'Evening Express' Responds To A Claim In The Newspaper That The Opiate Substitute Turns Heroin Addicts Into 'Zombies')
  Bytes: 101,000 Last updated: 5/30/98
  

  Wednesday, May 20, 1998:

• Doctors Prescribed Marijuana Until Government Clamped Down (Physician's Letter To The Editor Of 'The Oregonian' Rebuts Earlier Letter Making False Statements About Medical Marijuana, Written By Sandra And Dr. William Bennett, The Notorious Portland Zealots Who Dedicated Themselves To Promoting Pot Prohibition In Response To The Cocaine-Related Death Of Their Son At A Eugene Fraternity)
• Medical Mishmash (A Well-Informed Staff Editorial In 'The Orange County Register' Points Out That Judge William R. Froeberg, Who Prevented David Herrick, A Retired San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputy, From Invoking Proposition 215 As A Defense, Allowing Him To Be Convicted Of Marijuana Felonies In Orange County Superior Court At Santa Ana, California, Ignored Two Other Legal Decisions That Contradicted The Judge's Opinion)
• Response To Federal Judge's Ruling (Press Release From Dennis Peron Says The San Francisco Cannabis Healing Center Has Adopted New Procedures In Response To US District Court Judge Breyer's Opinion And Court Order Issued Today)
• Support SB 535 - Medical Marijuana Research Bill (California NORML Asks California Constituents To Lobby Four Key Assembly Members Who Did Not Support SB. 535 Last Year - Howard Wayne Of San Diego, Joe Baca Of Rialto, Sally Havice Of Cerritos And Dennis Cardoza Of Merced - Sample Letter Included)
• Medical Marijuana Summit - An Alternative Proposal (American Medical Marijuana Organization Publicizes An Open Letter From Colorado Citizens For Compassionate Cannabis To California Senator John Vasconcellos Calling For The Appointment Of An Independent Commission To Implement The Compassionate Use Act)
• Notorious Pair Fail To Avert Drug Trial ('Sacramento Bee' Says Federal Judge Lawrence K. Karlton Has Decided Not To Dismiss Charges Against Two Methamphetamine Manufacturers, Even Though The California 'Narcotics' Agents Who Entrapped The Brothers Broke The Law)
• Lieutenant Governor Facing Ethics Hearing For Alleged Campaign Activity ('Associated Press' Says The Washington State Executive Ethics Board Has Announced It Has 'Reasonable Cause' To Contend Brad Owen Improperly Used His Office To Fight Last Year's Initiative 685, The Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure)
• King County Arts Funding Loses To Criminals ('Seattle Times' Notes The Seattle Symphony And Other Cultural Groups Lose Out To The War On Some Drug Users As King County Officials Dedicate All Available Funds To Maintaining Packed Jails)
• Unified Alcohol Policies For Campuses Statewide Under Discussion ('The Indianapolis Star' Says Bill DeLong, Director Of The National Higher Education Center For Alcohol And Other Drug Prevention, Told 30 College Officials From Across Indiana On Tuesday That A Strict Unified Policy Is Necessary Because Students Currently Won't 'Listen' To Warnings About Alcohol Abuse - Colleges Are Like Brothels, Says DeLong)
• Drug Deal 'Patsy' Gets 40-Year Term For Man's Death ('The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel' Says The Walworth County, Wisconsin, Man Who Killed A Marijuana Dealer For $350 Was Described By His High School Guidance Counselor As 'Someone Who Could Be Talked Into Anything By Anybody')
• Marijuana Prohibition, Media Criticism, Copyrights And The Eighth And Ninth Commandments (An Editorial By Richard Cowan, Former Director Of NORML, In 'Marijuananews.com,' Explains How America's Biased Mass Media Are The Primary Cause Of Continued Marijuana Prohibition - And How The Internet Will Cause A Paradigm Shift)
• Disputed Statistics Fuel Politics In Youth Smoking ('New York Times' Notes That, As Usual, Drug Policy Being Forged In Washington, DC, Is Based On Bad Statistics And Worse Assumptions)
• Trying To Think About Drugs ('San Francisco Chronicle' Columnist Jon Carroll Says The War On Some Drug Users Is The Moral Equivalent Of Terrorism Against The Constitution - And Promises To Share Some Ideas About New Approaches In His Column Tomorrow)
• Three Mexican Banks Snared In US Drug-Money Sting ('Washington Post' Article In 'International Herald Tribune' Notes The United States Used 'About 200 Undercover US Customs Agents' To Produce Indictments Charging Three Of Mexico's Largest Banks And Officials From 12 Of The Country's 19 Largest Banks Of Knowingly Aiding People In The Illegal Drug Industry Launder Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars)
• Mexicans Stunned By US Drug Arrests (Britain's 'Guardian' Suggests The Mexican Government Is Shocked, Shocked That 'Operation Casablanca' Discovered Improprieties - See The Next Article To Find Out What Usual Suspects Got Rounded Up)
• Mexican Officials Belittle Drug-Money Sting ('Orange County Register' Notes The Mexican Finance Minister And The President Of The National Banking Commission On Tuesday Made Light Of A Huge US Undercover Operation That Exposed The Laundering Of Drug Money In 12 Mexican Banks, Noting That None Of The Mexican Bank Employees Arrested Were Top-Level Executives, And The Amounts Of Money Involved Were Not Large Enough To Pose A Risk To The Banking System As A Whole)
• Subpoena Planned In Border Shooting (According To The Austin, Texas, 'American-Statesman' US Representative Lamar Smith, A Republican From San Antonio, Is Frustrated With The Answers He Has Received So Far About The Killing Of Esequiel Hernandez, Jr., 18, One Year Ago Today By US Marines Patrolling The Border With Mexico, And Said Tuesday He Will Seek To Subpoena The Justice Department For More Information)
• From San Diego To Brownsville - Human Rights Violations On The USA-Mexico Border (News Release From Amnesty International Describes The Organization's New Report, Which Says The United States Is Violating International Treaties In Its Enforcement Of Immigration Laws, Aggravating The Turbulence And Friction That Have Characterized The Region Throughout This Century)
• Group Urges More Monitoring Of Border Abuses ('Los Angeles Times' Article About Amnesty International's Human Rights Report)
• Reefer Madness ('Calgary Sun' Recounts A Day In Court During Alberta's First Marijuana-Rights Trial, A Constitutional Challenge To Canada's Prohibition On Medical Marijuana By Multiple Sclerosis Patient Grant Krieger)
• Medical Use Of Pot Urged ('Calgary Herald' Version)
• Re - War On Drugs Disastrous Failure (Letter To The Editor Of 'The Calgary Sun' Says Columnist Bill Kaufmann Has Done His Homework)
• Drug Epidemic On Way - Book ('The Evening Post' In Wellington, New Zealand, Publicizes A Sensational New Australian Book, 'Drug Precipice,' Full Of Classic Prohibitionist Biases - Plus A Draft Of A Letter To The Editor In Response By A New Zealand Physician Who Says Instead Of Continuing With Prohibition, Society Should Try To Make Cannabis Boring - 'Fueling The Fires Of Teenage Curiosity With Claims That The Sky Is Falling . . . Only Makes Teenagers Want To Rush Outside And Look Up')
• DrugSense Weekly, Number 47 (Summary Of Drug Policy News For Activists, From DrugSense)
  Bytes: 134,000 Last updated: 6/7/98
  

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