Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 17:21:21 -0700

Subject:WA: Bong Hit Up TOC

Title: Bong Hit
Author: Brook Adam
Source: The Stranger
Contact: postmaster@thestranger.com
Website: http://www.thestranger.com/
Pubdate: Monday, June 3, 2002

On Wednesday, May 22, five police officers in a Dodge Maxi Van descended
on West Seattle's Admiral Smokes shop.

Accusing storeowners Mike Miller and Todd Marsh with possession and sale
of drug paraphernalia, officers seized and carted off the store's stock of
273 hookahs, water pipes, glass pipes, metal pipes, and pipes disguised as
cigarettes. They have not been fined and no charges were filed, but the
back half of their tiny 26- by 16-foot shop is empty, while the front
still sports a range of cigars, cigarettes, and packaged tobacco.

Miller and Marsh are outraged. The two men, both in their late 30s, opened
the Admiral last September--a small shop located at the corner of
California and Admiral in West Seattle between a bakery and a shoe-repair
shop.

Miller, a tall stout man with a shaved head, says he and his partner don't
sell the illegal "glass rose" crack pipes that have gotten other Seattle
business owners into trouble ["Crack Pipe Crack Down," Amy Jenniges, April
11], and they throw out anybody who asks for water pipes by illegal names.

But according to Police Operations Lieutenant Mike Nolan, selling any sort
of paraphernalia is illegal, and the Admiral's 13 signs--"Waterpipes are
for tobacco use only"--are no excuse.

Nolan says every shop in the area that continues to sell paraphernalia
will get its turn.

Marsh, a quiet former pool champ whose long black hair is slicked back,
isn't so sure. "I think we're being unfairly singled out," he says.

Trouble began at the Admiral on January 4, 2002, when Officer Willie
Askew, a member of the South Precinct Community Policing Team, first
visited the store following a complaint from an irate customer. Askew
refused to comment on this story.

Miller, who later discussed the complaint with the customer, says the
patron complained to police because Miller had refused to let him use the
bathroom.

However, according to Miller and Marsh, when Askew arrived, he was only
interested in drug paraphernalia.

"If someone wants to use [my products] for illegal purposes, they're not
telling me when they buy [them]," Miller says.

Since the bust, Miller says authorities continue to harass him. Raj
Veluppillai and Jim Martines from the Washington State Liquor Control
Board visited the shop, stating that they'd received a tip Miller was
selling untaxed tobacco. However, the agents found that the tobacco was on
the up and up.

Copyright The Stranger.



 
 


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Date: Sat, 08 Jun 2002 17:23:11 -0700

Subject:WI: Rally Backs Medical Marijuana Up TOC

Newshawk: Is My Medicine Legal YET? www.immly.org
Pubdate: Thu, 07 Mar 2002
Source: Capital Times, The  (WI)
Section: Page 2A
Copyright: 2002 The Capital Times
Contact: tctvoice@madison.com
Website: http://www.captimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/73
Author: Lynn Wohkwend
Note: A 5x7 inch photo of marchers accompanied the article, which also
measured 5x7 inches.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

RALLY BACKS MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Eleven years ago, Jacki Rickert began losing weight.

"It got so bad that my daughter said to me, 'Mom, you look like you just
walked out of a concentration camp,' " she said.

Rickert was eventually diagnosed with a nervous system disorder. She began
using marijuana to stimulate her appetite and now weighs about 90 pounds.

"That might not seem like a lot, but it is to me," she said.

Rickert joined a rally of protesters at the City-County Building on
Thursday as part of a nationwide push to legalize the use of medical marijuana.

Medical marijuana advocates and local and state officials made up the group
of about 25 people protesting federal medical marijuana policies.

Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Ed Thompson spoke to the protesters in
a show of support.

"I don't condone the use of illegal drugs, but the legalization of medical
marijuana is long overdue," he said.

Thompson pledged to back a state Senate bill that would legalize that would
legalize the use of medical marijuana if elected governor. The bill, which
was sponsored by state Reps. Frank Boyle, D-Superior, and Mark Pocan,
D-Madison, never made it out of committee.

"I think it's time we had the courage ton stand up and do the right thing,"
Thompson said.

Pocan also spoke in support.

"To close your eyes to compassionate use of marijuana is wrong," Pocan
said. "People have enhanced life quality because of medical marijuana."

Rally organizer Gary Storck agreed.

"It's wrong to make criminals out of sick patients like Jacki," said
Storck, who is the communications director of Is My Medicine Legal YET?, an
advocacy group for medical marijuana.

Storck, who is also a medical marijuana user, was born with glaucoma. He
lost part of his vision to the disease before he was diagnosed.

Prescription medications did not work well, he said,and he began smoking
marijuana.

"I indulged in cannabis and later saw my doctor," Storck said. "He was able
to lower the strength of my medicines."

Protests were planned for 65 cities across the country.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Ariel

 
 


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Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2002 11:09:00 -0700

Subject:CA: Medical Marijuana: Feds should stop their attack, listen to people Up TOC

   Desert Post Weekly - June, 6, 2002

   Medical Marijuana: Feds should stop their attack, listen to people

   by Terence Hallinan

   Today hundreds of people suffering from AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis 
and other terrible illnesses, along with their families, friends and 
supporters, peacefully protested at dozens of Drug Enforcement 
Administration offices around the country. They came with one simple 
request: Stop trying to take away our medicine.

   As District Attorney of San Francisco, I support their effort, and I 
implore the DEA to stop its attack on the medical use of marijuana.

   In 1996, 56 percent of California voters -- some five million people -- 
endorsed legalizing medical marijuana by voting yes on Proposition 215. In 
my city the yes vote was 80 percent. The measure even carried Orange 
County, one of the most conservative areas of the state. Since then, seven 
other states have adopted similar laws, six of them by votes of the people.

   George W. Bush recognized that public sentiment during his 2000 
presidential campaign. He told the Dallas Morning News that, while he was 
personally opposed to medical marijuana, he believed states should be able 
to decide the issue "as they so choose."

   As president, however, Mr. Bush has taken a different course. Justice 
Department lawyers -- continuing a Clinton administration policy -- have 
argued in federal court that the government has the right to take away the 
prescribing rights of doctors who recommend marijuana to patients. In other 
words, the administration believes that politicians and bureaucrats should 
be able to dictate to your doctor what advice he or she can give you.

   Armed DEA agents have raided medical marijuana dispensaries operating 
legally under state law in San Francisco, Los Angeles and El Dorado 
counties, seizing patient records and sending waves of fear up and down 
California. Some of these facilities have been forced to close permanently.

   These raids do not help local law enforcement or protect the public 
health or safety. Instead, they endanger our most vulnerable citizens and 
make my job as District Attorney more difficult.

   From a law enforcement perspective, Proposition 215 has been implemented 
successfully in San Francisco. It has reduced crime as well as the costs 
associated with arrest, prosecution and incarceration. It contributes to 
public health and safety.

   Our Department of Public Health has established a system of 
identification cards that protects patient confidentiality while helping 
law enforcement identify documented medical marijuana patients. Nonprofit 
medical marijuana dispensaries have become an important part of this 
system, providing a safe, quality-controlled supply of medicinal cannabis 
to seriously ill people and working closely with local law enforcement and 
public health officials. Many also function as support groups for people 
who often are very, very ill.

   But it is precisely these dispensaries that the DEA has raided. Patients 
and their caregivers have been calling my office asking for reassurance 
that their access to a medicine they rely on will not be denied -- 
reassurance I would like to be able to give them, but cannot. At any moment 
the DEA could stage more raids, depriving sick people of their medicine or 
forcing them to turn to street drug dealers instead of safe, supportive 
providers.

   I hope the DEA, the Justice Department and the entire Bush 
administration will heed the "Cease and Desist" orders delivered by 
yesterday's protesters. Surely at a time when we face so many real threats 
- -- like the senders of anthrax-laced letters who still have not been caught 
- -- the federal government has better things to do than to deprive sick 
people of their medicine.

   Terence Hallinan is the district attorney of San Francisco

- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachment: http://www.drugsense.org/temp/part166.html

 
 


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Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2002 11:14:41 -0700

Subject:Canada: Doctor prefers pot Up TOC

Newshawk: http://www.canadianmedicalmarijuana.com/
Pubdate: Saturday, June 08, 2002
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Feedback: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/letters_to_editor/index.html
Address: 1355 Mountain Avenue, Winnipeg Manitoba R2X 3B6
Contact: letters@freepress.mb.ca
Copyright: 2002 Winnipeg Free Press
Fax: (204) 697-7288

AROUND CANADA

Doctor prefers pot

WINDSOR, Ont. -- Marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco and
should be decriminalized, a federal committee examining the country's drug
policies was told yesterday.

"If we discovered three drugs today and they were alcohol, tobacco and
marijuana, there isn't an expert in the country who would recommend that
marijuana be the one that is banned based on individual and societal harm,"
Dr. Patrick Smith of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health told the
Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs.

 
 


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Date: Sun, 09 Jun 2002 20:14:23 -0700

Subject:OR: Supporters Rally For Medical Marijuana Up TOC

Newshawk: allan
Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002
Source: Register-Guard, The (OR)
Copyright: 2002 The Register-Guard
Contact: rgletters@guardnet.com
Website: http://www.registerguard.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/362
Alert: Please read 'Major Media Ignores National Protest Against DEA' at
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0243.html  This item arrived too late to be
included in the alert.
Cited: Hemp Education Network http://www.olywa.net/when/
Compassion Center http://www.compassioncenter.net/
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SUPPORTERS RALLY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

About 30 people rallied in front of the federal courthouse in downtown
Eugene on Thursday to protest the federal government's interference in
state medical marijuana laws.

Protesters want federal authorities to "respect the legal rights of
medical marijuana patients," said Jonathan Gutstadt of Eugene, the
23-year-old leader of the Hemp Education Network.

Similar rallies were planned in as many as 60 other cities
Thursday.

Drug enforcement agents have raided a number of medical marijuana
dispensaries in California in recent months. Oregon has seen no such
crackdown so far, mainly because no advocacy groups here are
exchanging medical marijuana for money, said Todd Dalotto, founder of
the Compassion Center, a Eugene group that helps medical marijuana
patients learn how to grow their own crops.

Nine states, including Oregon, have approved medical marijuana laws.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake

 
 


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End of Restore-Digest V2002 #105
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