Wednesday, October 28, 1998:
Measure 57 - Marijuana Possession (The Oregonian doesn't make it hard to figure out how it wants you to vote as it describes the state ballot measure that would recriminalize possession of less than one ounce of marijuana.)
Orange County Patient-Doctor-Nurse Support Group (A local correspondent says the medical marijuana support group continues to serve patients, despite the prosecutions of Marvin Chavez and Jack Shachter and the seizure of the group's bank account. Please send donations to help with copying costs, postage, phone bills, and so forth.)
An In Depth Look At Question No. 9 (An MSNBC story broadcast by KRNV in Reno about the Nevada medical marijuana ballot measure quotes District Attorney Dick Gammick saying that in California, Proposition 215 "has already broken down, and a movement is under way for repeal," a patently false statement.)
Buckley Lied On Recount, Her Own Workers Allege (According to The Gazette, in Colorado Springs, employees of Colorado Secretary of State Vikki Buckley say they never completed a line-by-line recount of 88,815 signatures submitted for Amendment 19 - contrary to what Buckley told the Colorado Supreme Court after she disqualified the medical marijuana ballot measure.)
Ruling On Leniency Shakes A US Legal Pillar (A New York Times article in The International Herald-Tribune discusses the hearing next month by the 12-member 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, on whether prosecutors' offers of leniency in exchange for testimony against other defendants constitutes bribery. A three-judge panel from the same court disrupted proceedings around the nation in July when it said that was the case in the prosecution of Sonya Singleton, 25, who maintains her innocence from prison after being charged with involvement in a drug conspiracy and money laundering. "In the culture of this country nobody likes a snitch, yet that has become the crux of the criminal justice system," said Steven Zeidman, a professor of criminal law at New York University Law School. "But nobody likes to think about it, and now we're being forced to think about it.")
Officer Charged In Oregon Case Will Go To Trial (The Houston Chronicle says James Willis, a Houston prohibition agent, has been charged with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, after he and five other cops broke into the home of Pedro Oregon Navarro without a warrant and shot the innocent man 12 times, nine times in the back. Willis' attorney said Tuesday "He's not guilty." "There will be a lot of information that will come out in trial that will shed new light.")
The People Behind The Medical Marijuana Conspiracy (Richard Cowan, writing in marijuananews.com, notes it is a staple of prohibitionist opposition to medical marijuana that the movement is "exploiting" patients. He then shares a poignant tale about a friend in the District of Columbia who was about to go to bed rather late on a cold night last week. When he looked out his window, he saw a man in a wheelchair dragging himself along by his one leg. He was putting up posters that said, "Vote Yes on 59 - Medical Marijuana.")
Medical Marijuana in the Federal Budget (A list subscriber notes Congress recently confirmed Dr. Jane Henney, a cancer specialist, as director of the Food and Drug Administration while inserting the language of Senate Joint Resolution 56 into the federal budget law. This means that the FDA must report back by Jan. 21, 1999 on its "new drug" evaluation process and the "interstate commerce" aspects of medical marijuana.)
Ex-Presidents Rail Vs. Marijuana (The Associated Press says former US presidents Bush, Carter and Ford have responded to a plea by the White House Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, and written an open letter to voters in several states where initiatives have been placed on the ballot that would legalize marijuana as medicine. The rationale offered by the three stooges was that allowing sick people to be treated with cannabis would "undercut public confidence in the safety of medicines.")
States Set to Confront Medical Marijuana (FoxNews says medical marijuana initiatives facing voters in five states are increasing pressure on federal drug policy.)
5 States Face Vote On Medical Pot (The San Francisco Examiner notes the White House is lobbying against medical marijuana measures that will be on the ballot next Tuesday in five states and the District of Columbia. "The goal is to change national policy, but we know we will have to win more battles in 1999 and 2000 before that happens," said Dave Fratello, spokesman for Santa Monica-based Americans for Medical Rights, which is coordinating the initiatives in Alaska, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state.)
Stirring the Pot (abcnews.com covers a press conference in Washington, DC, Tuesday at which the White House drug czar, General Barry McCaffrey, criticized the effrontery of voters who think they're more qualified than the FDA to choose which medicines seriously ill patients and doctors should be allowed to use.)
Some depressed people missing brain cells - study (According to Reuters, neurobiologist Joseph Price and colleagues at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, have reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that people inflicted with depression who also have a family history of depression have a relatively low number of glia cells in the part of the brain known as the subgenual prefrontal cortex. However, since the research as described was carried out on patients with bipolar disorder, it's not clear how the scientists arrived at their conclusions.)
Man Who Grew Dope For Son Sentenced (According to The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, in Ontario, a Kitchener father with a colostomy who said he grew marijuana at home so his son wouldn't have to buy it on the street, escaped a jail sentence Tuesday. Lawyer Aaron Grupp said the man did it because his 15-year-old stepson was using marijuana and wouldn't stop. He didn't want the son exposed to the "dangers of street drugs," which could be cut with unsafe substances.)
Bytes: 62,900 Last updated: 11/2/98
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