Wednesday, November 18, 1998:
AIDS increasing among minorities, women (The Associated Press says AIDS-related deaths in Oregon dropped 62 percent from 1996 to last year, from 238 to 90, according to the annual AIDS/HIV report released Tuesday by the state Health Division. However, a greater percentage of women and minorities have contracted the disease. No mention is made of what proportion of new cases were attributed to intravenous drug users sharing needles.)
Medical-Pot Advocate's Trial Now In Jury's Hands (The Orange County Register says the outcome of the trial of Marvin Chavez, founder of the Orange County Patient, Doctor, Nurse Support Group, on trafficking charges, could determine police conduct in future medical-marijuana cases.)
Final Arguments Made In Pot Case (The version in The Long Beach Press-Telegram)
NORML Opposes Drug Testing of Taxi Drivers (A press release from California NORML follows up on its bulletin Monday about a new study showing companies that drug test employees have lower productivity. California NORML will cite the study Thursday at a hearing before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' Housing and Neighborhood Services Committee. At issue is a proposal to require urine testing for employment and renewal of licenses for Communication Workers of America and San Francisco taxi drivers.)
Alterna Hemp Hair Care Company Sues President Of DARE America In Support of Salons - Alterna Seeks Public Retraction of False Statements (A company press release says the lawsuit was prompted by a statement in the Nov. 6 Los Angeles Times by Glenn Levant, president and founding director of DARE America, Inc., which nationally promotes the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or DARE. Levant said Alterna was "promot[ing] an illegal substance.")
War on Crime (The San Francisco Bay Guardian describes the The San Francisco Police Department's use of SWAT-style equipment to carry out a drug raid Oct. 30 on a Western Addition housing project. At a Nov. 4 police commission meeting, a train of furious and sobbing residents from the raided housing complex - all of them African American - described how officers slapped them, stepped on their necks and put guns to their heads while other officers ransacked their homes. Weeping and terrified children, some as young as six, were handcuffed and separated from their parents. SFPD narcotics lieutenant Kitt Crenshaw said the operation was designed to "put fear in the hearts" of a gang called the Knock Out Posse. "The raid went off, more or less, without a hitch," Crenshaw said. "I feel bad for the innocent women and children that were there, but in a way they do bear some responsibility for harboring drug dealers.")
Session On Drug Tests Is A Bust (The Deseret News, in Utah, says a national school-athlete drug-testing conference came to Salt Lake City Monday, but no Utah school representatives showed up, and only about two dozen officials from neighboring states attended. American Bio Medica Corp., a pharmaceutical and drug-testing company, funded the appearance of Randall Aultman, the retired principal of Vernonia High School in Oregon, where random drug-testing of athletes was endorsed by the US Supreme Court in 1995.)
Common sense and drug woes (Houston Chronicle columnist Thom Marshall previews a local presentation on drugs and the drug war by Sandee Burbank of Mosier, Oregon, founder of MAMA, Mothers Against Misuse And Abuse. Sandee believes that education and individual common sense can be far more effective than the government's oppressive war on drugs.)
Congressman's Son Sentenced In Marijuana Conspiracy (Reuters says Randall Todd Cunningham, 29, of San Diego, the son of US Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, was sentenced Tuesday to two-and-a-half years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute marijuana.)
Oregon's Kin File Suit Against City, 6 Officers (The Houston Chronicle says the family of Pedro Oregon Navarro filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the city of Houston and six Houston police officers, alleging the officers acted as "judge, jury and executioner" when they killed the Mexican immigrant in a botched drug raid July 12."I think the forensic, physical and photographic evidence will clearly point to a man who was not in a position to resist, did not resist, had no reason to resist and was gunned down, indeed probably executed, without cause," Oregon family attorney Richard Mithoff said at a news conference.)
Congress Lands A Historical Blow To Democracy (River Cities Reader columnist Jenny Lesner provides an Iowan's perspective on Congress's decision to quash Initiative 59, the District of Columbia medical-marijuana ballot measure.)
NYC Parade Permit Law Is Struck Down (The Boston Globe version of Monday's news about a federal judge ruling that New York City unconstitutionally stymied the Million Marijuana March. US District Judge Leonard Sand said guidelines that allow police to delay their response to permit requests raise a "risk" of censorship.)
Two soldiers arrested after fleeing pot deal (According to the Associated Press, the soldiers from Fort Polk, Louisiana, were stopped for speeding and told police they were trying to flee "drug peddlers" from whom they had taken money without delivering marijuana.)
Study Finds A Sharp Rise In Smoking Among College Students (According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, a study released in today's Journal of the American Medical Association says the smoking rate among students at four-year colleges rose by 28 per cent from 1993 to 1997. In previous studies, students were less likely to smoke than adults or peers who were not in college. In the new study, however, 25 per cent of the students surveyed said that they had become regular smokers while they were in college.)
28% Jump In College Smokers - Researchers Alarmed (The Los Angeles Times version)
Trial Of Marijuana Crusader Delayed By Wait For Ruling (The London Free Press, in Ontario, says the trial of multiple sclerosis patient Lynn Harichy, for sitting on the police station steps and lighting up a joint, was postponed again yesterday, to Feb. 3. The Ontario Court of Appeal continued to ponder its long-awaited decision in the medical marijuana case of Terry Parker, a 43-year-old Toronto epileptic who won the first round of a constitutional challenge to Canada's ban on medical marijuana after being busted for cultivation in 1996.)
Heads In Clash With Minister On Drugs (The Times, in Britain, says Estelle Morris, the Schools Minister, defended the government's new guidelines recommending that schools not adopt a zero tolerance approach. The minister's suggestion that possession of drugs should not automatically lead to exclusion caused disquiet among some heads who felt that she had created a conflicting message for pupils.)
Christa Nickels New Federal Drug Czar (According to a translation and summary of an article from Schwaebische Zeitung, in Germany, the former state health minister said she would be tackling drug addiction as a health problem rather than a law-enforcement problem, and that a bill would be drafted to establish safe injection rooms for addicts.)
Countdown To The First Fixing Rooms (A translation of excerpts from an article in Sueddeutsche Zeitung, in Germany, says an "emergency room" will be opened in Sshwabingen next summer with the support of the red-Green coalition government. However, the Catholic Party threatens to force a referendum over the proposal.)
DrugSense Weekly, No. 74 (The weekly summary of drug policy news features a special edition, "The Pendulum Swings Toward Reform," linking news with original commentary. The Feature Article discusses the Swiss vote on complete decriminalization of drugs later this month. The Weekly News In Review includes Medical Marijuana news articles and editorials such as Get your hands off those ballots; A man caught in a Kafkaesque trap; Mainstream voters buying into medical marijuana; Pot politics - Lords back cannabis use for patients suffering pain. Other articles on Drug War Policy include Nixon had it right; A big-time bust; Report criticizes probe of Texas border shooting; Transcript - Jesse Ventura on "Meet the Press." International News includes And what if the state should take charge; Weighing pot legalization; Drugs Tsar tells customs to go soft on cannabis smugglers; Drug reform - US says yes; Vetter wants to give Heroin to sick addicts; Heroin on prescription as addiction solution urged; War on drugs has failed; Editorial in The Lancet - Dangerous Habits. The weekly Hot Off The 'Net features UK Cannabis Internet Activists. The Quote of the Week cites Thomas Jefferson. The Tip of the Week gives you the URL for the recent NORML conference. The Fact of the Week notes letters to the editor are the second most read feature in print media.)
Bytes: 113,000 Last updated: 12/13/98
to Portland NORML news archive directory
