MS: Law Enforcement Taking Drug War To Skies
Risk-Benefit Profile of Commonly Used Herbs - Legal & Otherwise
U.S. Drug Czar Praises Mexico's Crackdown
CA: Medical Marijuana Trial On Hold Amid Arraignment Glitch
OH: Unitarians Pass Statement Calling For Radical
Canada: O Cannabis
US: Court OKs Tecumseh Drug Testing
NYT: Court's Stance On Searches Evolves
Canada: Vancouver, BC voted world's top spot for pot

Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 19:22:04 -0700
Subject:MS: Law Enforcement Taking Drug War To Skies Up TOC

Newshawk: Jane Marcus
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Natchez Democrat, The (MS)
Copyright: 2002 Natchez Newspapers Inc.
Contact: newsroom@natchezdemocrat.com
Website: http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2205
Author: Aaron Zachmeier

LAW ENFORCEMENT TAKING DRUG WAR TO SKIES

VIDALIA, La. - Few have failed to notice the ominous buzzing of law
enforcement helicopters in the area this week.

But unless you're growing a secret crop of high-grade marijuana, the
choppers are nothing to worry about.

"This is part of our ongoing battle against narcotics," Sheriff Randy
Maxwell said. "We're looking for locally grown fields of marijuana."

The airborne patrols, a joint operation between the Concordia Parish
Sheriff's Office, the Concordia Narcotics Task Force and the Louisiana
National Guard, have been checking remote areas of Concordia, Catahoula,
Tensas and Avoyelles parishes for clandestine horticulture.

Maxwell explained that helicopters are often the only way to weed out
marijuana growers, who tend to plant their crops in "the most remote
places" accessible only by air or water.

And while a pot plant might blend in with other foliage at ground level,
Maxwell said a helicopter gives law enforcement officers a different
perspective.

"You can really spot a marijuana plant sticking out," Maxwell said.

The patrols have turned up a few groves of suspected marijuana, Maxwell
said, but the cases are under investigation, and no arrests have been made.

"I can go in and destroy the plants right now," Maxwell said, "but I won't
get the bodies. And that's what I want."

The helicopter patrols, now in effect for the past several years,
concentrate on finding marijuana, and, Maxwell said, they have been
successful in doing so.

"We've gotten plants 15 to 20 feet tall," he said.

But helicopter pilots have spotted everything from meth labs to stolen cars.

Marijuana growers, Maxwell said, rarely stick solely to marijuana, but
rather branch out into "a wad of criminal activity."

- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth

------------------------------
Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 19:31:41 -0700
Subject:Risk-Benefit Profile of Commonly Used Herbs - Legal & Otherwise Up TOC

Newshawk: Rick Bayer
Pubdate: Summer/June 2002: Issue 22
Source: Alternatives Magazine (Quarterly): Salem, Oregon
Author: Dr. Rick Bayer
Contact: mailto:editor@alternativesmagazine.com
Website: http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/22/bayer.html

Risk-Benefit Profile of Commonly Used Herbs - Legal & Otherwise

Physicians and consumers need reliable information on medical herbs. The
popularity of such therapy in the US is growing rapidly but the science is
not progressing as rapidly as sales. In the January 1st, 2002 Annals of
Internal Medicine, Dr. Edzard Ernst (from the UK) wrote The Risk-Benefit
Profile of Commonly Used Herbal Therapies: Ginkgo, St. John=92s Wort,=
 Ginseng,
Echinacea, Saw Palmetto, and Kava. The Annals has a history of conservative
politics (for example, they oppose the Oregon Death With Dignity Act and
have written scathing half-truths about the medical use of marijuana). With
those conservative politics in mind, I have provided the following review of
Dr. Ernst=92s article.

The seven top selling legal herbal medicines are ginkgo biloba, St. John=92s
wort, ginseng, garlic, echinacea, saw palmetto, and kava. Dr. Ernst looked
for the best scientific articles he could find and graded them as to how
well they answered questions such as, =93Are objectives of the study clearly
stated=94, =93Are the data sources stated=94, and =93Are inclusion and=
 exclusion
criteria stated?=94. Readers are welcome to review the scientific abstract=
 at
PubMed www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/.

Ginkgo is mostly used for memory impairment, dementia, tinnitus (ringing
ears), and intermittent claudication (legs hurt when walking because of
clogged arteries). In persons with memory impairment and dementia, ginkgo is
superior to placebo but in normal persons, ginkgo does not enhance normal
function. Ginkgo may help with ringing ears but there is insufficient data
to make any consistent claims. Ginkgo is just as effective as the allopathic
drug company competitor, pentoxifylline, for intermittent claudication but
the best treatment is to stop smoking and to start walking exercise. Ginkgo
is generally safe but inhibits clotting (like aspirin does) so may interact
with other medicines such as warfarin blood thinners.

St. John=92s wort is used almost exclusively as an herbal antidepressant.=
 Its
mechanisms of actions appear similar to drug company products like
imipramine. St. John=92s wort is more effective than placebo in the=
 treatment
of mild to moderate depression and is similar in effect to moderate doses of
drug company products. My experience is that no antidepressant drug works
all the time and that persons with severe and/or recurring depression
usually benefit more from talk therapy plus chemical treatment rather than
either treatment alone. St. John=92s wort can cause sensitivity to sunlight
and can interact with other drugs such as blood thinners and oral
contraceptives. Because of drug interactions, all of your doctors should
know if you are taking this herb.

Ginseng is a confusing herb looking for a home in allopathic circles. The
studies are poor and conclusions are not reliable. Sold as an ergogenic
(energy giving) booster or an aphrodisiac or =93other=94, the reviews do not

show ginseng to enhance performance. It does interact with warfarin blood
thinners.

Echinacea preparations contain many potentially active ingredients but no
single active constituent has been found. The best-researched indications
are prevention and treatment of uncomplicated upper respiratory infections.
In prevention trials, the results were not conclusive but suggested that
groups receiving echinacea received benefit compared to control groups. In
treatment trials, most groups showed benefit with echinacea compared to
placebo. Dr. Ernst states, =93Echinacea (particularly E. purpurea) may be
efficacious, but the trial data are weak and inconclusive=94. Side effects
from echinacea are rare. I use echinacea during high-risk settings (like air
travel) to prevent a cold. It seems to help and there is no alternative
because antibiotics are ineffective and dangerous in this setting.

Saw palmetto is almost exclusively used to treat benign prostatic
hyperplasia, a condition of aging men when the prostate grows and interferes
with normal urinary flow. The results show superiority of saw palmetto over
placebo in terms of urination frequency and peak flow and suggest similar
effectiveness to finasteride (the drug company competitor). In some European
countries, saw palmetto is considered first-line therapy over finasteride.
Side effects are rare but long-term studies are lacking.

Kava is mainly used for its anti-anxiety effects and short-term
administration of kava appears to be effective. Unfortunately, several cases
of toxic liver damage requiring liver transplants have been reported. Kava
also interacts with other drugs, including alcohol, that impair the central
nervous system. A skin condition can occur with long-term use of kava at
high doses.

Garlic was reported on by Dr. Ernst in a prior Annals article (19 Sept
2000). Garlic was reported to be superior to placebo in decreasing
cholesterol levels. However, the impact was small (around 5% compared to the
drug company =93statins=94 impact of about 20% or more). About 20% of garlic
users complained of indigestion and odor.

General Findings

It is encouraging that we know this much about the best-selling legal herbal
remedies. Some herbs demonstrate attractive risk-benefit profiles,
particularly ginkgo (for dementia and intermittent claudication), St. John=
=92s
wort (for mild to moderate depression), and saw palmetto (for benign
prostatic hyperplasia). Echinacea appears to have modest benefits. Claims
for ginseng appear to be more myth than fact. Kava and garlic are superior
to placebo but inferior to other pharmaceutical options when treating severe
anxiety or elevated cholesterol levels.

Dr. Ernst concludes, =93trials of herbal medicine products have been too=
 few,
too small, and too short=94. This limits our abilities to predict drug
interactions and yields inadequate information to consumers or doctors.

In my opinion, though he didn=92t say it, Dr. Ernst=92s caution may be=
 applied
equally to allopathic drug company products. Pharmaceutical drugs are often
recalled after severe events (liver failure, kidney failure,
gastrointestinal bleeding, and death). Consumers and doctors can never know

too much about any drug. Finally, choices should be made on scientific merit
rather than dogmatic viewpoints shaped by profit motives, our country=92s=
 War
on Drugs, or bigotry against certain types of medical practitioners.

The 8th Herb: Medicinal Marijuana

What would happen if we took an enlightened pro-patient approach and applied
the same risk-benefit profile to medical cannabis/marijuana as was applied
to the previous seven herbs?

Towards that end, addictions specialist nurse, Mary Lynn Mathre, from the
University of Virginia, and her nonprofit group, Patients Out of Time
(www.MedicalCannabis.com/) presented The Second National Clinical Conference
on Cannabis Therapeutics on May 3 & 4, in Portland. The conference theme was
Analgesia and Other Indications and was co-sponsored by the Oregon
Department of Human Services, Oregon Nurses Association, Mothers Against
Misuse and Abuse, and the Portland Community College (PCC) Institute of
Health Professionals.* Patients Out of Time presented their first conference
at the University of Iowa in 2000.

Cannabinoids are the scientific name for the natural agents found uniquely
in the cannabis plant but includes the synthetic compounds made in the lab
(synthetic cannabinoids) and naturally occurring hormones in our body that
are similar to cannabis (endogenous cannabinoids). The main psychoactive
ingredient in cannabis is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) although there are many
other cannabinoids in cannabis such as cannabidiol. The only cannabinoid
that doctors can prescribe is synthetic oral THC called dronabinol and sold
under the brand name Marinol; which under the Controlled Substances Act is a
schedule III drug (same group as acetaminophen with codeine).

Conference Findings

On Friday, May 3, Dr. Esther Fride from Israel reviewed the molecular
biology of cannabinoids and how they work in the body. She explained how
cannabinoids and opioid pain medicine (like morphine) work together in a
synergistic fashion. New research shows there are at least three different
endogenous cannabinoids. One of these has been shown to be essential for
suckling in newborn rat pups. If the action of the cannabinoid is blocked
with an antagonist drug, the newborn pups do not suckle and thus die.
Therefore, not only is the internal cannabinoid system important for pain
control but it also regulates important appetite areas in the brain that are
essential for life in newborn mammals.

Later in the morning, Dr. David Bearman provided a historical review of
medical cannabis that has been used as medicine for thousands of years. Dr.
Rick Musty reviewed the studies that showed pain relief with cannabinoids in
patients with multiple sclerosis. Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos talked about how
cannabinoids might help some persons with movement disorders such as
Parkinson=92s disease.

Dr. Donald Abrams discussed his odyssey of having to spend years trying to
study cannabis in persons with AIDS/HIV. The federal government blocked his
study on the possible benefit of cannabis until he changed his study around
to look for the bad effects rather than the good effects of cannabis. In
spite of this federal stonewalling that lasted for years, Dr. Abrams finally

completed a study and published it last year showing that smoking cannabis
has no negative effect on the immune system of persons with AIDS and
actually helps patients improve appetite and gain weight. He is looking
forward to more clinical studies to include using cannabis for pain
management in persons with prostate cancer and breast cancer whose cancer
has spread to the bones.

Dr. Stuart Rosenblum, the director of the Legacy Emanuel Pain Clinic in
Portland, reviewed clinical case studies from Oregonians who are
participating in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act (OMMA) and who volunteered
to fill out questionnaires and pain diaries. Dr. Rosenblum reported,
=93Patient comments emphasize efficacy and functional improvement=94. Dr.=
 Wenner
from Hawaii also discussed positive clinical experience with more than 250
patients in Hawaii.

At lunch, Oregon State Health Officer, Dr. Grant Higginson, discussed The
Oregon Medical Marijuana Act=97Three Years of Experience. He reported there
are currently some 3003 patients and 628 doctors participating in the OMMA.
The average age of the patients is 46 years old and most are men. The most
common reason for using cannabis in Oregon is to control pain.

In the afternoon, the editor of Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Dr. Ethan
Russo, and other researchers discussed a study in which they looked at the
effects of cannabis on four patients who have been using cannabis daily for
many years under the now-discontinued federal Investigational New Drug (IND)
trials. Three of the four patients attended the conference and told their
stories. One of the patients has smoked 10 joints (7 to 9 grams of cannabis)
daily for 31 years and the other two have used cannabis medically for nearly
as long. Sadly, George Bush (the elder) shut the program down to new
applicants in 1992 because there were =93too many applicants=94. Dr. Russo=
=92s
conclusion is that cannabis works for pain, spasms, and reducing eye
pressure while the major risk is some inflammation of the airways. No
evidence of liver damage, kidney damage, brain damage, or malignancy has
been found. The authors strongly encouraged our federal government to
re-open the IND program for sick and dying persons.

On Saturday May 4, persons from Hawaii, California, and Colorado discussed
the state programs. The Hawaii program is the only program in the country
that was created by the legislature and governor and it was modeled after
the OMMA. Like Oregon, all the other states with medical marijuana programs
had to bypass an ignorant or uncompassionate legislature and governor who
forced the citizens to seek justice through the Initiative process.

Oregon patients under the OMMA told their stories at the conference
reporting on the benefit they receive and the improvement they seek in the
laws. Medical cannabis providers from Oregon, Washington, California, and
British Columbia also spoke on issues of access to medical cannabis for
patients. Interestingly, the Americans uniformly described our federal
government as the major obstacle for patient access to medical cannabis;
while the speaker from British Columbia praised her federal government and

said that in Canada, it is the doctors who slow down federal political
gains. Dr. Mark Ware from Quebec discussed Canadian clinical trials of
Cannabis for chronic pain. He confirmed that by the time that patients got
to pain clinics a significant percentage have already tried cannabis.
Doctors are taught that cannabis is not medicine so tend not to ask if the
patient is using cannabis to control pain. Our medical educators need to get
with the program. He also confirmed that there is no causal relationship
between cannabis smoking and the development of head and neck cancer. The
positive image of the Canadian federal government depicted by its citizens
contrasted dramatically with the endless condemnation of the US drug policy
by all American participants.

Dr. Geoffrey Guy, founder of GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK, spoke on matching
medicinal cannabis strains with symptoms. His company is testing cannabis
extracts that are higher in THC and lower in cannabidiol versus extracts
that are lower in THC and higher in cannabidiol versus extracts that have an
equal THC to cannabidiol ratio. This is some of the most exciting research
headed our way because under-the-tongue spray preparations are currently
undergoing clinical trials in the UK and may be on the market next year,
plus GW Pharmaceuticals is committed to using a whole plant extract rather
than synthetic products.

I have concerns that if the only products available to patients are
synthetics then there may be an escalation of the War on Drugs aimed at
cannabis, sick patients and their doctors (see my article in the Fall 2000
issue of Alternatives)

Using medical herbs as an alternative to medical pharmaceuticals must be a
patient=92s choice. Having many preparations of therapeutic agents to tailor
therapy is good but patients should not be arrested for using the
=93politically incorrect=94 medi-cine. Right now, in spite of polls showing=
 that
most Americans support allowing patients medical access to cannabis, the
major health risk of using marijuana in the US is being arrested. This is
inhumane in a civilized society. Period.

Dr. Audra Stinchcomb from the University of Kentucky shared interesting
research on the transdermal (skin) patch. The good news is that the American
Cancer Society funded her study to deliver a cannabinoid through a patch but
the bad news is the research has just started on lab animals and human
trials may be years away.

Dr. Sumner Burstein, from the University of Massachusetts, discussed very
early research on a synthetic cannabinoid called ajulemic acid or CT3. He
has removed the section of the THC molecule that causes psychoactivity (the
=93high=94). His reports in mice indicate it is equivalent to morphine in=
 pain
control but has no psychoactive effects and it is equally effective as the
potent anti-inflammatory medicine, indomethacin (Indocin). To have a drug
that would control pain like morphine, cool off joints without the bleeding
risk of most anti-inflammatory drugs, and still allow one to drive a car or
work crossword puzzles sounds almost too good to be true. My recommendation
is to be cautiously optimistic and stay tuned.


Finally, Professor Mathre moderated a panel for questions and answers.

Prescription: Sane Public Policy

This conference shows what can happen when health care professionals and
others apply the same risk-benefit analysis to cannabis and cannabinoids
that we apply to other medicines, whether complex herbs or space-age
designer drugs. Ideally, if everyone was in the same business to practice
safe medicine and protect consumers/patients, we could use science to break
through the bigotry and propaganda that clouds all herbal drug discussion
but especially the medical use of the ancient herb cannabis.

There will never be enough information to satisfy some people. Some persons
will always oppose medical access to cannabis for reasons unrelated to
science. This includes those who are committing senseless violations of
constitutional rights while enriching the huge drug testing industry. This
includes most law enforcement and the prison industrial complex, which has
become a major political force and needs a steady stream of =93customers=94
(prisoners) to satisfy its profit quota driven by shareholder expectations.
Private industry entering the prison business is especially scary.

But most of all, this includes the barbarians in the current Bush
Administration such as Attorney General Ashcroft and his cronies at the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP). Doesn=92t US Justice, DEA, and ONDCP have better things to=
 do
than raid medical cannabis clubs in California, take medicine from dying and
suffering patients, block medical research, convolute administrative rules
concerning controlled drugs and threaten doctors? Their War on Drugs is a
war on good American citizens whose crime is =93illness=94 and it must stop.
Americans must stand up for our fellow citizens who are chronically and
terminally ill. This is an issue of personal choice for them and, after all,
we may be sick someday and want the same choices available to us. In spite
of the harsh reality of the =93War on Drugs=94 and the =93War to Make=
 Money=94,
common sense must prevail and patient advocacy must come first.




=



**




web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:19:04 -0700
Subject:U.S. Drug Czar Praises Mexico's Crackdown Up TOC

Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Webpage:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dallas/world/stories/062802dnintmexd=
rugs.d1cb3.html
Copyright: 2002 The Dallas Morning News
Contact: letterstoeditor@dallasnews.com
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author:  RICARDO SANDOVAL

U.S. DRUG CZAR PRAISES MEXICO'S CRACKDOWN

Change In Strategy Has Disrupted Cartels, Driven Prices Up, He Says

MEXICO CITY - After a two-year run in which army and federal agents have
captured three dozen drug lords and arrested thousands of street dealers,
Mexicans are outpacing Americans in the fight against drugs, the United
States' drug czar said.

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control
Policy, on Thursday lauded the work of Mexican President Vicente Fox and
his various organized crime strike forces.

In Mexico to learn more about Mr. Fox's strategy against drug traffickers
and to attend the opening of the headquarters for the country's new federal
investigations agency, Mr. Walters said the Mexican effort has led to a
noticeable disruption in the drug trade in the United States.

Cutting cocaine

"There has been a 9 percent drop in the purity of cocaine" sold in the
United States, Mr. Walters said in an interview. "And more of the cocaine
is being cut, with substances such as caffeine." There's also evidence, Mr.
Walters said, that street prices for drugs are going up, because
enforcement efforts and a tighter U.S.-Mexico border in the months after
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have driven up drug traffickers' costs of
doing business.

In addition, Mr. Walters confirmed what U.S. anti-drug agents have been
saying privately for months: Better enforcement has caused Mexican drug
cartels to fall behind in payments to Colombian producers who sell them the
drugs that they move into the United States.

All of this, he said, is the result of Mexico's abandoning the traditional
methods of attacking cartels in a "vertical" strategy - that is, going
after small-time dealers and then moving up an organization's ladder - in
favor of a horizontal attack in which senior cartel leaders are
simultaneously targeted. That approach has created holes in drug
organizations that cartels have struggled to fill, Mr. Walters said.

The results "are historic. We've never seen this kind of achievement by any
country," Mr. Walters said. "I want to see us with the same kind of tempo
of success as we see here. Right now, Mexico is working ahead of us in
attacking the problem."

Mr. Walters said he was meeting this week with his Mexican counterparts to
learn more of their new strategy.

Corrupt agents fired

Since Mr. Fox's upset victory in 2000 over the long-ruling Institutional
Revolutionary Party, Mexico's drug enforcement agencies, primarily the
federal attorney general's office, have been undergoing an overhaul in
which hundreds of corrupt or ineffective agents have been fired or
arrested. In turn, Mr. Fox has ordered a new, better trained and equipped
force of investigators. And while those new gumshoes are being trained, the
president has tapped the Mexican military's intelligence units and elite
commando groups to lead raids against the cartels.

The efforts have worked so far, Mr. Walters said. In recent months three
major Mexican cartels - the Tijuana-based Arellano F=E9lix Organization, the
Ju=E1rez cartel, and the Gulf cartel - have each seen their chiefs or a=
 large
number of lieutenants jailed or killed.

Mexican officials say that this year they've seized 36 tons of cocaine,
2,500 tons of marijuana, 717 kilos of opium paste, and 439 kilos of heroin.
Mexico is believed to supply 70 percent of the cocaine consumed in the
United States. The total American drug market is worth an estimated $60
billion a year.

American field agents now routinely laud the work of their Mexican
counterparts even as they increasingly share confidential information about
traffickers.

In the past, U.S. officials were reluctant to pass on sensitive information
to Mexico's corruption-addled federal prosecutors. Now, there's a greater
flow of information to a smaller, more reliable set of Mexican officials
and military commanders, Mexican and U.S. drug enforcement officials said.

"In this government, we are stopping narco-trafficking," Mr. Fox said this
week. "The battle is life and death, and nothing and no one will intimidate
us. We've organized and prepared very well to wage a profound battle."

In-depth study

Mr. Walters said he is initiating a drive by U.S. enforcement agencies to
study, in-depth, how the illicit drug business works - and how American
enforcement efforts can be better used to disrupt the marketplace. "I've
told [U.S. drug agents] that I don't care about numbers of seizures. ... I
care more about how they're making a difference, how they are disrupting
the drug market," Mr. Walters said.

Despite the successes, Mexican officials and Mr. Walters acknowledge that
Mexican drug trafficking remains a huge threat to North American society.

Indeed, according to Mexican drug enforcement officials, the cartels are
splitting into ever-smaller groups of dealers and cross-border traffickers
- - a move that is forcing anti-drug agents to track a greater number of
suspects, where before they had focused on just a few large organizations.

The Mexican cartels "have been seriously damaged," Mr. Walters said. "But
they've not been taken out."

- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart




=



**




web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:19:39 -0700
Subject:CA: Medical Marijuana Trial On Hold Amid Arraignment Glitch Up TOC

Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA)
Copyright: 2002 The Media News Group
Contact: letters@chicoer.com
Website: http://www.chicoer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861
Author: Chris Rizo
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

MEDICAL MARIJUANA TRIAL ON HOLD AMID ARRAIGNMENT GLITCH

SACRAMENTO - The federal prosecution of a north state medical marijuana
dispensary operator stalled Thursday amid concern that the due-process
rights of defendant Bryan James Epis were violated.

The case against Epis, the first federal criminal case involving a cannabis
buyers' club, has intensified already-growing tensions between the federal
government and local advocates who point to a 1996 voter-approved state law
that allows the use of medically-necessary marijuana for the seriously ill.

In an unforeseen motion calling on U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.
to dismiss the case accusing Epis of conspiring to grow at least 1,000
marijuana plants near a Chico school, high-profile defense attorney J. Tony
Serra argued his client was not arraigned on the charges for which he now
faces.

The mix-up presumably comes as the result of several federal indictments
that were submitted over a period of five years. Serra asserts his client
was not charged with the last indictment, which he claims superseded the
previous two complaints.

"The U.S. attorney wanted my client so bad that they forgot something as
fundamental as arraigning him," Serra said after Thursday's half-day
hearing, which the prosecution spent outlining its evidence against Epis.

Because the call for dismissal came after the trial officially began and
evidence was already presented, there comes into play the question of
whether a new trial would expose Epis, 35, to double jeopardy.

If convicted, he could face a mandatory 10-year federal prison sentence
stemming from charges that he conspired to grow at least 1,000 pot plants
and grew at least 100 plants near Chico High School.

A law school graduate and co-founder of the Medical Marijuana Caregivers in
Chico, Epis contends he began operating the local cannabis buyers' club
after state voters approved Proposition 215, which allows for the medical
use of marijuana with a physician's signed recommendation.

Asst. U.S. Attorney Samuel Wong maintains Epis was growing pot before
passage of Prop. 215, and that he ultimately hoped to glean huge profits
from his operation, as shown by a multi-year business plan that was seized
by federal agents.

Serra, a famous San Francisco defense attorney, quickly scoffed at Wong's
claims, calling them specious.

"My client is not ashamed of cultivating because ... what he was doing was
a good thing, not a bad thing," Serra said. "My client has no motive of
greed. The evidence will show he had no need for money," Serra continued,
pointing to Epis' family wealth.

Upon ordering the trial recessed until Tuesday, when the status of Epis'
arraignment can be determined, Judge Damrell said the lack of Epis'
arraignment was "not conclusive, but pretty persuasive."

"I hope that this (trial) hasn't been a total waste of time and money, but
I suspect that it may have been," Damrell said.

Only a day earlier, the court was forced to comb a second pool of
prospective jurors after dismissing a potential panel that was tainted by
pro-medical marijuana, anti-jury protesters dispensing leaflets outside the
court building.

- ---
MAP posted-by: Ariel



------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:20:50 -0700
Subject:OH: Unitarians Pass Statement Calling For Radical Up TOC

Newshawk: Jim White
Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jun 2002
Source: Blade, The (OH)
Copyright: 2002 The Blade
Contact: letters@theblade.com
Website: http://www.toledoblade.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/48
Author: David Yonke, Blade Religion Editor

UNITARIANS PASS STATEMENT CALLING FOR RADICAL ALTERNATIVE TO DRUG WAR

The U.S. government's war on drugs has been a failure and Americans have a
moral obligation to try a different approach, such as legalizing marijuana
and decriminalizing cocaine and heroin, according to the Unitarian
Universalists Association.

More than 4,100 delegates approved a "Statement of Conscience" at the
denomination's 41st General Assembly calling for a radical alternative to
the war on drugs. The four-day convention in Quebec City, Canada, ended
Monday night.

"We want to do just like Jesus did," said Charles Thomas, executive
director of Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform. "The people who
were the most ostracized in society in Jesus' day were lepers. Today's drug
addicts are modern-day lepers. We feel that, according to our Christian
heritage, it 's important to follow Jesus."

Among the proposals:

Establish a legal, regulated, and taxed market for marijuana. Treat
marijuana as we treat alcohol.

Remove criminal penalties for possession and use of currently illegal
drugs, with drug abusers subject to arrest and imprisonment only if they
commit an actual crime (e.g. assault, burglary, impaired driving,
vandalism). End sentencing inequities drive by racial profiling.

Make all drugs legally available with a prescription by a licensed
physician, subject to professional oversight. End the practice of punishing
an individual for obtaining, possessing, or using an otherwise illegal
substance to treat a medical condition and allow medically administered
drug maintenance as a treatment option for drug addiction.

"We are hopeful that this powerful statement will pave the way for other
denominations to join the movement for more just and compassionate drug
policies," Mr. Thomas said.

He said an earlier, more moderate statement calling for alternatives to
current U.S. drug policies was signed by representatives of the Lutheran,
Quaker, and United Church of Christ denominations and the National Council
of Churches.

The Statement of Conscience that was approved last weekend had been debated
among Unitarian Universalist congregations nationwide before coming to the
floor of the General Assembly.

The denomination plans to lobby government officials and promote education
among its members and the general public, Mr. Thomas said.

Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform, based in Takoma Park, Md.,
is an independent affiliate of the UUA. Mr. Thomas said the group studied
drug policies in other countries and found that Unitarian Universalist
ideals affirming the inherent worth of every person and a commitment to
compassion, justice, and equity are found in many of the European nations'
drug policies.

Mr. Thomas said the U.S. system has led to prisons jammed to capacity,
rising violent crime, and racial injustices.

He compared the results of U.S. drug policies to the "bad fruit" Jesus
spoke of in a parable in Matthew 7.

"Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

It's time to chop down the tree and plant new ones, Mr. Thomas said. He
cited Switzerland as an example.

"Heroin addicts who are unable to quit can obtain the drug from medical
clinics and through doctors' prescriptions instead of dealers on the street
corners. This has cut down on violent crimes and reduced the risk of
disease. "And what they've found is that people who go into the medical
clinics are actually more likely to quit," Mr. Thomas said.

Dr. Lawrence Anderson-Wong, president of the Toledo District of the
Unitarian Universalists, said he voted in favor of the statement.

"It was not so much the content of what should take the place of the war on
drugs, but the fact that the war on drugs has been a complete failure. ...
In part, the purpose of such statements is to raise our own consciences as
well as get the public's attention."

In other action at the assembly in Quebec, delegates approved amendments
giving Canadian Unitarians and Universalists independence from the U.S.
denomination

- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:22:19 -0700
Subject:Canada: O Cannabis Up TOC

Newshawk: Join CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap/lists.htm)
Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jun 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Contact: letters@globeandmail.ca
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Section: Page A16
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1195/a05.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

O CANNABIS

We congratulate Vancouver on being named the world's best marijuana city by
venerable High Times magazine. Though naturally we've never inhaled, we
understand -- from a friend, of course -- that the city on the left coast
is a deserving winner.

There are reportedly more than 20,000 marijuana-growing operations in
Vancouver and the surrounding Lower Mainland, providing ample supplies of
high-quality, reasonably priced weed to complement some superb scenery in
which to smoke. The crop generates annual revenues estimated as high as
$30-billion, rivalling the $36-billion in cash receipts generated last year
by all of Canada's "legitimate" crops combined. (And you thought that all
those smiling, relaxed Vancouverites were simply enjoying the natural high
from their beautiful surroundings.)

Given such a concentration of pot in one city, we eagerly await other,
related honours for Vancouver. Like the 7-Eleven award for highest per
capita purchases of hoagies and nacho chips after midnight.

- ---
MAP posted-by: Ariel

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:23:09 -0700
Subject: IN: Officers Learn How To Conduct Marijuana Test

Newshawk: D. Mikel Z. - http://yahoogroups.com/group/AMSL3Discuss
Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jun 2002
Source: Indianapolis Star (IN)
Copyright: 2002 Indianapolis Newspapers Inc.
Contact: stareditor@starnews.com
Website: http://www.starnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/210
Author: Shannon Tan

OFFICERS LEARN HOW TO CONDUCT MARIJUANA TEST

Alex Petty has seen a lot of marijuana, smelled a lot of marijuana, and
seized a lot of marijuana.

But this was the first time the Hamilton County sheriff's deputy actually
saw marijuana up close.

"It's awesome," Petty said, as he intently examined a mixture of marijuana
and pipe tobacco under a microscope, noting the distinctly shaped marijuana
seeds and flowering tops.

Petty was one of 10 officers from eight agencies training this week to
identify marijuana in hopes of easing the backlog at Indiana State Police
labs, which have about 4,000 cases pending.

If the 10 officers score at least a B on the written and practical exam,
they will qualify to testify in court as expert witnesses.

This is the first time the Marijuana Identification Program has been
developed in Hamilton County, said Fred Huttsell, a state police forensic
scientist.

"Instead of waiting six months for the lab" it will take about a week for
local agencies, Huttsell said.

"It's going to help the courts," said Dan Henke, Hamilton County Chief
deputy prosecutor. "Their cases are going to be resolved more quickly."

The Marijuana Identification Program was started after county law
enforcement officials approached the State Police to develop the training,
which took place at the Fishers Police Department.

Participants learned how to examine marijuana under the microscope,
comparing it with other items, such as parsley.

"We can get convictions and the people that sell this stuff off the
streets," Petty said, "And it starts here."

- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:24:24 -0700
Subject:US: Court OKs Tecumseh Drug Testing Up TOC

Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact: yourviews@oklahoman.com
Website: http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Christy Watson

COURT OKS TECUMSEH DRUG TESTING

A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of the Tecumseh School
District, granting schools the right to drug-test middle school and high
school students in competitive after-school activities. The 5-4 decision
allows schools to test without proof of an epidemic drug problem and
expands a previous court decision that sanctioned random testing only of
student athletes. Justices wrote that giving schools an opportunity to rid
their campuses of drugs outweighs privacy rights.

The case centered on the Pottawatomie County district's 1998 drug-testing
policy. It called for random urine testing of students in competitive
activities such as band, choir, cheerleading and FFA.

A student who refused to take the test or who tested positive more than
twice could not compete for the rest of the school year. Students were
tested at the start of the school year and then randomly throughout the
year, with names drawn monthly.

Lindsay Earls, a former Tecumseh honor student who competed on an academic
quiz team and sang in the choir, challenged the policy with help from the
American Civil Liberties Union.

A self-described "goody two-shoes," Earls tested negative but called the
policy humiliating and accusatory and a violation of a constitutional
protection against unreasonable searches. She attends Dartmouth College.
"We find that testing students who participate in extracurricular
activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school
district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug
use," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for himself, Chief Justice William H.
Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Stephen Breyer.

The court stopped short of allowing random tests for all public school
students, although several justices indicated they are interested in
answering that question.

"This is a sad day for students in America," Earls said Thursday from New
Hampshire. "The ruling is in the name of protecting students from drug use,
but I don't really see how that works."

Earls said some Tecumseh students dropped extracurricular activities to
protest the policy.

"I find it very disappointing that the court would find it reasonable to
drug-test students when all the experts, from pediatricians to teachers,
say that drug-testing is counterproductive," said Graham Boyd, Earls'
lawyer and director of drug policy litigation at the ACLU.

"The best way to prevent drug use is to involve them in extracurricular
activities," Boyd said.

Boyd said he hopes schools will find more effective ways of dealing with
drug use that don't usurp parents' rights and student privacy.

Justices found the privacy intrusion was minimal. They said the policy only
prevents students from participating in extracurricular activities and has
no academic or criminal consequences.

Breyer wrote that Tecumseh's policy offers teens a "nonthreatening reason"
to reject drug-use invitations.

Lori Earls, Lindsay Earls' mother, said dealing with drug use is a parental
responsibility, not the school's.

Tecumseh schools Superintendent Tom Wilsie expressed immediate relief the
case has ended. He said he expects the district to consider re-implementing
the twice-suspended policy. School board members will make the final
decision on any policy changes.

"We have to do something to try to make a dent in this drug situation we
have in our society," he said.

Wilsie said the district enjoyed community support for the policy even
before it was approved by school board members. However, several Tecumseh
residents filed a brief supporting Earls. David Earls, Lindsay's father,
said the issue has been divisive.

"The particular testing program upheld today is not reasonable, it is
capricious, even perverse," Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the
dissenters.

In a brief, separate dissent, Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter
said they disagreed with the court's ruling in 1995 regarding random
testing of athletes.

Ginsburg rebutted the district's argument that like athletes, students
involved in other activities face health and safety risks.

"Notwithstanding nightmarish images of out-of-control flatware, livestock
run amok and colliding tubas disturbing the peace and quiet of Tecumseh,
the great majority of students the school district seeks to test are
engaged in activities that are not safety-sensitive to an unusual degree,"
she wrote.

Of the estimated 14 million American high school students, more than half
probably participate in some organized after-school activity, educators say.

Drug-testing became more popular after a 1995 ruling involving athletes
when an Oregon district demonstrated a widespread drug problem spearheaded
by athletes and that athletes had a lower expectation of privacy than other
students.

Wider testing remains sparse in Oklahoma and throughout the country, with
only about 5 percent of schools testing student athletes and only 2 percent
testing other students.

U.S. District Judge David Russell upheld the drug-testing policy in
Oklahoma City federal court but was overturned by the 10th Circuit Court of
Appeals in Denver. The district appealed to the Supreme Court.

Court documents show that during the 1998-99 school year and the first
semester of the 1999-2000 school year, as many as 800 Tecumseh students
participated in extracurricular activities. Only three students, all
athletes, tested positive.

- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:25:08 -0700
Subject:NYT: Court's Stance On Searches Evolves Up TOC

Newshawk: Amanda
Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jun 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Neil A. Lewis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

COURT'S STANCE ON SEARCHES EVOLVES

WASHINGTON, June 27 - It was not until 1985 that students had any rights to
be free of random searches in public schools. Principals and teachers were
thought of as surrogate parents, and thus could legally order a student to
open a locker or turn out a backpack, even if there was no reason to
suspect a problem.

But the Supreme Court ruled that year that school administrators were not
really in loco parentis or acting in place of parents. The school staff
members were, in fact, agents of the government, the court said, and were
bound by the constitution's limits against intrusive and unreasonable searches.

The court's view has evolved over the years, and the reasoning behind
today's ruling all but restores the situation to what it was before 1985,
with school officials able to conduct random searches of students to
maintain order.

The 5-to-4 decision today upheld the right of the Pottawatamie School board
in Tecumseh, Okla., to conduct random drug tests on any student who is
involved in an extracurricular activity, estimated to be the majority of
the school population.

The ruling was an extension of a 1995 case in which the court first
substantially increased the authority of school officials to conduct
searches. At that time, it said student athletes could be randomly tested
for drugs. Today's ruling explicitly expanded those who are covered from
the likes of the football and tennis teams to those who belong to the
Spanish Club and the school's Future Farmers of America chapter.

Legal scholars and even some of the justices said the logic behind the
expansion almost certainly meant that officials may now, without running
afoul of the constitution, randomly search any student.

Prof. Yale Kamisar, of the Michigan and San Diego University law schools,
said the reasoning of the five-member majority meant that there was little
question that a program of testing all students would be approved by the court.

During the oral argument in the case in March, Justice David J. Souter said
that any decision extending drug testing to those involved in
extracurricular activities would inevitably allow the testing to be schoolwide.

Surveys have shown that about 5 percent of schools nationwide have
performed drug tests on student athletes and an additional 2 percent have
been testing students involved in other extracurricular activities.

It was unclear whether many school districts would now put programs in place.

"Schools now have the go ahead to do this, but many won't because it is so
costly," said Michael Carr, spokesman for the National Association of
Secondary School Principals. He said that drug testing kits typically cost
$30 to $60 per individual.

His greater worry, Mr. Carr added, is that students who use drugs will now
avoid extracurricular activities.

Edwin Darden, a senior staff attorney for National School Boards
Association which sought the authority for increased testing, said, "This
is not the kind of thing that will become a standard among school districts."

Mr. Darden also cited the cost of drug testing as an inhibiting factor. He
praised the ruling, saying, "There doesn't have to be a full-scale drug
abuse problem. What that says is you can preemptively and penetratively act
against drugs and it gives the local community the right to make that
decision."

Graham Boyd of the American Civil Liberties Union, who had argued against
the searches before the Supreme Court, said, "Every available study
demonstrates that the single best way to prevent drug use among students is
to engage them in extracurricular activities." Mr. Boyd said he hoped that
"school boards will follow the advice and pediatricians and other experts
by sticking to solutions that work."

One group delighted by the ruling was the Drug and Alcohol Industry
Association, which expects a surge in testing among the nation's schools.
The association, a coalition of private drug-testing companies, had already
scheduled a workshop in Washington on July 18 for school board members and
principals on how to use dug-testing programs.

"We've heard from a lot of school people who wanted to put testing programs
in place but were waiting to see how the court ruled in this case," said
Laura E. Shelton, the association's executive director.

"We are so excited to be able to present this much-needed information to
testing and education professionals. Drug and alcohol testing has shown to
be a very effective means of deterring drug use, and the nation's children
need to live healthy and drug and alcohol free lives."

- ---
MAP posted-by: Alex

------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 10:29:11 -0700
Subject:Canada: Vancouver, BC voted world's top spot for pot Up TOC

Newshawk: http://www.bcmarijuanaparty.ca/
Pubdate: June 30, 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/
Address: 200 Granville Street, Ste. #1, Vancouver, BC V6C 3N3 Canada
Contact: provletters@pacpress.southam.ca
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/43D4B8EB-83CC-4633-A417-9295C6235A90

City voted world's top spot for pot

The Province

Move over Amsterdam, Vancouver is burning bright as the world's el primo
spliff-city.

It's official. Vancouver has been voted the world's best spot for marijuana
smokers, according to the summer edition of High Times, which has a
circulation of 200,000.

Even though it's against the law to smoke weed in Vancouver, the magazine
chose Terminal City over longtime No. 1 Amsterdam, where it's legal to light
up. Vancouver's "pot cafes," the seeming tolerance for bud and the
availability and high quality of locally grown cannabis earned Vancouver its
title.

Magazine editor Dan Skye said of Vancouver: "You could walk down the street
[smoking pot] and no one bothers you."

Tourism Vancouver's Paul Vallee said the top billing adds to the city's hip
image.

The cannabis crown comes on the heels of a recent report stating the number
of marijuana home-grow operations in B.C. are out of control and police are
powerless to stop it.

------------------------------
End of Restore-Digest V2002 #120
********************************