----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 12:53:51 -0700
From: webmaster@drugsense.org (DrugSense)
Subject:DrugSense Weekly, Sept. 27, 2002, #269 Up TOC
**********************************************************************
DRUGSENSE WEEKLY
**********************************************************************
DrugSense Weekly,             Sept. 27, 2002                      #269
Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm 
Listen On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/radio/
- ------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
* This Just In
     (1) Colombian Paramilitary Chief Facing US Drug Charges
     (2) Drug Ecstasy Could Damage Users' Brains, Research Says
     (3) Canada: Stop Throwing Cash Into Pot Policing - Senator
     (4) OPED: Pot Got You Confused? You Must Be The DEA
* Weekly News in Review
Drug Policy-
     (5) Medical Pot Club Wants Plants Back
     (6) Editorial: DEA Fighting the Wrong War
     (7) Why I'm Fighting Federal Drug Laws From City Hall
     (8) New Breed of Voters May Stir Pot Of Politics
     (9) NJ School District Halting Use Of Kit To Detect Drugs
Law Enforcement & Prisons-
     (10) Unintended Effect Of War On Drugs Found In Study
     (11) Illicit-Drug Program Slammed By Auditor
     (12) Botched Raid Leaves Family In Shock
     (13) Agents Buy Heroin But Find Out It's TNT
Cannabis & Hemp-
     (14) Marijuana Protest Leads To Arrests At White House
     (15) Canadian PM Led '81 Pot Reform Attempt
     (16) Sick People Have Right To Use Pot, Lawyer Argues
     (17) The Search For A Joint Resolution
     (18) High Times For Home-Grown Cannabis
International News-
     (19) Fight Terror: Legalise The Drugs Trade
     (20) Afghanistan Back On Top In Opium Production
     (21) Don't Make Pot Legal, Un Official Warns
     (22) Judge Tosses Case, Cop Scandal Grows
     (23) WA Top State For 'Dexies'
* Hot Off The 'Net
     My Visit To The White House
     The Hospice Raid and the War on Drugs 
     Marijuana Update: National Drug Threat Assessment 
     DEA Destroys 20 Plants In Latest California Raid
     Colombia: The Forgotten War
     High Times for Alzheimers
     Drug War Terrorism
     Add our Drug War Clock to your Website!
* Letter Of The Week
     Time To Halt The Failed War Against Marijuana / By Bryan Brickner
* Feature Article
     Birth of an Activist / By Kay Busher
* Quote of the Week
     Dr. Peter Silverstone
***********************************************************************
THIS JUST IN
=======================================================================
(1) COLOMBIAN PARAMILITARY CHIEF FACING US DRUG CHARGES
WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Tuesday accused outlaw paramilitary
leader Carlos Castano and two other members of his powerful
anti-guerrilla army in Colombia of smuggling 17 tons of cocaine to the
United States and Europe over the past five years.
Attorney  General  John Ashcroft, noting that Castano recently said he
wanted  to  "face the U.S. justice system," called on the sought-after
paramilitary  leader  to  "surrender  to  United  States authorities."
 [snip]
The  indictments  of  Castano,  fellow commander Salvatore Mancuso and
paramilitary  member  Juan  Carlos  Sierra-Ramirez  came at a critical
juncture  in  U.S.-Colombia  relations  and  as President Alvaro Uribe
visited  Washington seeking sustained economic and military assistance
to regain control of his homeland.
Human  rights  monitors  blame  the  11,000 or so members of Castano's
paramilitary  forces for the vast majority of atrocities and massacres
in  Colombia in recent years. Even so, Castano has significant support
among  Colombians,  some  of  whom  view  his  armed group, the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, as fighting harder to stand up
to leftist guerrillas than the conventional army.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 26 Sep 2002 
Source: Miami Herald (FL) 
Copyright: 2002 The Miami Herald 
Contact: heralded@herald.com 
Website: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/ 
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/262 
Author: Tim Johnson 
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Carlos+Castano
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1820.a09.html
===
(2) DRUG ECSTASY COULD DAMAGE USERS' BRAINS, RESEARCH SAYS
Studies  Using  Monkeys,  Baboons  Suggest  Greater Risk Of Developing
Parkinsonism
Ecstasy,  the  club  drug  popular  at all-night dance parties, may do
serious damage to the brain.
Research  published  today  in the journal Science suggests that young
people  who  pop  two or three ecstasy pills in one evening may kill a
vast  number of brain cells and put themselves at risk of neurological
disorders  later  in life. The study, on monkeys and baboons, suggests
that one night on the drug may be enough to do the damage.
"Young adults may be increasing their risk for developing Parkinsonism,
a condition with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease," said George
Ricaurte of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
 [snip]
The drug clearly is bad for monkeys and baboons, but does that mean it 
will hurt humans?
"We  can't  be absolutely sure that the animal data will generalize to
human  beings,"  Dr. Ricaurte said. "But based on what we know so far,
that is our concern."
[snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) 
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company 
Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ 
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 
Author: Anne McIlroy, Science Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) 
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1822.a09.html
===
(3) CANADA: STOP THROWING CASH INTO POT POLICING: SENATOR
Calls  Drug  Abuse  A  Public-Health  Issue.  Head  Of  Panel  Backing
Marijuana's  Legalization  Says  Penal  Measures Have Limited Benefits
Marijuana  prohibition  is a costly failure and the federal government
shouldn't  throw  good  money  after bad by increasing law-enforcement
budgets,  says  the chairman of a Senate committee that recommends the
drug be legalized.
Senator  Pierre-Claude  Nolin  said  the  only way to stem drug use in
Canada  is to approach substance abuse as a public-health issue, not a
policing one.
"Penal measures have their place. But why do they take up so much room
in  our drug strategies? They are of limited use, and they create more
negative effects than benefits," said Nolin, who yesterday addressed a
plenary  session  of  World  Forum  2002,  a  conference  on drugs and
dependencies taking place at the Palais des Congres.
"Some  might say it's immoral to allow children access to psychoactive
substances.  It's  also immoral to encourage organized crime by making
those substances illegal," he said.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 27 Sep 2002
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Copyright: 2002 The Gazette, a division of Southam Inc.
Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: Sean Gordon
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/F1BD21AA-878C-4AF0-A517-95DA372C8E3F
===
(4) OPED: POT GOT YOU CONFUSED? YOU MUST BE THE DEA
Raids On Medical Marijuana Are Reefer Madness
The  leaders of the federal war on drugs are upset. At the very moment
they  were  launching  a multimillion-dollar media campaign to educate
parents  and  kids  about  the risks of marijuana, the city fathers of
Santa  Cruz  gathered  on  the  steps  of  City  Hall  to  witness the
distribution  of  marijuana  to  the  patients  of a medical marijuana
collective.
A  representative  of  the Drug Enforcement Administration decried the
confusion  this will create among our adolescent population: The Santa
Cruz festivities sent "the wrong message."
 [snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Sep 2002
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Gerald F. Uelmen
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1808.a09.html
Author: Gerald F. Uelmen
Note: Gerald F. Uelmen is a professor at Santa Clara University School 
of  Law,  represents the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in a 
federal court challenge to the Sept. 5 DEA search.
***********************************************************************
WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
=======================================================================
Domestic News- Policy
- ----------------------------------
COMMENT: (5-9)
 The  fallout  from DEA raids at medical marijuana clubs in California
 continues  to  develop.  Protests are covered in the Cannabis section
 of  DrugSense Weekly, but in some more recent action, representatives
 of  the Santa Cruz's Wo/Mens Alliance for Medical Marijuana are suing
 the  feds  to  get  their  medicine  back  after  recent  raids. Some
 observers  believe  the  case  could  go to the Supreme Court, and it
 will likely question the legality of the federal raids.
 If  editorials and oped columns are any indication, the federal raids
 are  becoming  a  public  relations disaster for the drug warriors. A
 number  newspapers  and  individual writers have condemned the raids,
 particularly  the  raid in Santa Cruz. The New York Times allowed the
 mayor  of  Santa  Cruz  some oped space to explain why he was passing
 out marijuana on the steps of city hall.
 Harsh  marijuana  laws  may be re-igniting young people's interest in
 voting.  Observers  in  Nevada  said  there are signs that more young
 people  are  registering to vote, and they are being motivated by the
 marijuana initiative being sponsored in the state.
 And  a  slight  update  from last week's issue, where it was reported
 that  some  New  Jersey  high  schools are part of a pilot program to
 seek  out  drug  residue  inside schools using new technology. One of
 those  high  schools  has  already  dropped  out of the program after
 questioning the reliability of the tests.
===
(5) MEDICAL POT CLUB WANTS PLANTS BACK
A  medical  marijuana collective near Santa Cruz went on the offensive
Tuesday,  asking  a  federal  judge  to  order  the  return of 167 pot
plants seized in a raid by federal drug agents.
The  unusual  legal  motion, filed in San Jose, was based on a states'
rights  constitutional  defense  of California's medical marijuana law
that is expected to find its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The  federal  government  will fight the motion "tooth and nail," said
Richard Meyer, spokesman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration,  who  said  he believed the request to be the first of
its kind.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Wed, 25 Sep 2002
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Webpage: http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/4540540p-5559974c.html
Copyright: 2002 The Sacramento Bee
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/376
Author: Claire Cooper, Bee Legal Affairs Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
===
(6) EDITORIAL: DEA FIGHTING THE WRONG WAR
THE  SANTA  CRUZ  rally  for  medical  marijuana  shows  how strongly 
Californians feel about using cannabis products to relieve human suffering.
Hundreds  came  to Tuesday's City Hall pot giveaway -- even the mayor,
council members and a county supervisor. As did most of the
participants,  the  public  officials  came to support the dozen or so
gravely  ill  residents  who  rely on marijuana to ease the effects of
chemotherapy, cancer and other diseases.
But  the  rally went beyond a mere demonstration of compassion. It was
an  act  of  defiance  in  the biggest skirmish yet between California
voters  and  the  federal government over medical marijuana. Two weeks
ago,  the  Drug  Enforcement  Agency  raided  Santa  Cruz's  Wo/Mens
Alliance  for  Medical  Marijuana,  which  opened in 1996 after voters
overwhelming passed Proposition 215, the medical marijuana
initiative.  The  raid curtailed pot distribution to the cooperative's
230 members.
But  the  alliance  is  precisely  what voters had in mind - a tightly
regulated  program  that  mandates  identification  before giving away
organically  grown  pot.  It's  a  program for very sick people with a
doctor's  prescription.  The  DEA  should  wisely  direct its drug war
efforts elsewhere.
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc.
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
===
(7) WHY I'M FIGHTING FEDERAL DRUG LAWS FROM CITY HALL
How  did  I,  a  mayor of a small town in California, wind up in a tug
of war with the Drug Enforcement Agency?
This  week,  I  stood  in  front  of Santa Cruz's city hall as a local
group  that  provides  medical marijuana went about its weekly task of
distributing the drug to the sick and dying.
My  story  begins on the morning of Sept. 5 when approximately 30 men,
dressed  in  military  fatigues  and  carrying  automatic  weapons,
descended  on  a  small  cooperative farm run by the Wo/Men's Alliance
for  Medical  Marijuana  in northern Santa Cruz County, about 65 miles
south  of  San  Francisco.  They  were  pulling  up  organically grown
marijuana plants.
 [snip]
And  if  there  are more raids, more mayors and elected officials will
find  themselves  doing  what  we  did  here  this week: standing with
people  like  the  Corrals  as  they  deliver  medical  marijuana  to
patients  who  are  using  the  drug  on  the  advice  of a physician.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Sat, 21 Sep 2002
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The New York Times Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Christopher Krohn
Note: Christopher Krohn, a Democrat, is mayor of Santa Cruz, Calif.
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1776/a11.html
===
(8) NEW BREED OF VOTERS MAY STIR POT OF POLITICS
The  politics  of  pot  is  usually  relegated  to  the extremes, with
libertarians  arguing  for  legalization,  liberals asking for lighter
sentences  and  social conservatives viewing marijuana as a scourge on
society.
But  Question  9  --  a  Nov.  5  ballot  initiative  asking voters to
support  legal  possession  of up to 3 ounces of marijuana for private
use -- has entered the mainstream this election cycle.
A  new  breed of voter is registering for the first time and political
parties  are  at  odds  about  whether  the question will affect their
candidates.
Already  more  than 100,000 registered voters signed the petition that
put  the  question  on  the ballot. And election officials and parents
of  teenagers  are  noticing  a  spike  in  interest  from a typically
apathetic voting demographic -- 18- to 25-year-olds.
Clark  County's  Registrar  of  Voters  Larry Lomax says that although
specific  statistics  on  the  number of teenagers registering to vote
for  the  general  election  are  not  kept,  he  has  seen signs that
Question 9 is motivating teens to get involved.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Sep 2002
Source: Las Vegas Sun (NV)
Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Sun, Inc
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/234
Author: Erin Neff
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1798/a03.html
===
(9) NJ SCHOOL DISTRICT HALTING USE OF KIT TO DETECT DRUGS
NEPTUNE  -(AP)-  Four New Jersey school districts have been conducting
drug  residue  tests  at some of their schools for several months, but
one  has  discontinued  the practice because it found the testing kits
to be unreliable.
 [snip]
Craig  Henry,  principal  of  the  district's  high  school,  said the
agents  used  to  clean  the surfaces before the tests would sometimes
react with the sprays, causing false positives.
"We  saw  no  practical application because of its lack of reliability
at  the  stage  that  we last saw the product," he said. "There was no
point in pursuing it."
The  Washington  D.C.-based  Mistral  Group,  which  manufactures  the
kits,  said  the  kits  have  been  modified  since  the  problem  was
discovered.
Pubdate: Tue, 17 Sep 2002
Source: Bergen Record (NJ)
Copyright: 2002 Bergen Record Corp.
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/44
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1757/a02.html

=======================================================================
Law Enforcement & Prisons
- -------------------------
COMMENT: (10-13)
 Yet  another  study has concluded that many prisoners in the U.S. are
 nonviolent  drug  offenders.  The  study estimates that $5 billion is
 spent  each year to jail drug offenders. While it's clear what effect
 the  drug war is having on the United States, a new study from Canada
 states  that  efforts  and results are at best hazy there. The report
 suggests it's impossible to determine whether Canadian law
 enforcement efforts are impacting the drug trade.
 Canadian  citizens  are  also  not immune to terrifying, botched drug
 raids.  A  family  in  Vancouver  was  shocked  when gun-totting drug
 agents  burst  into their house looking for a marijuana operation. An
 86-year-old  man  in the house was said to be to disturbed to eat for
 some  time after the raid. Another scary situation in New York, where
 drug  agents  were  shocked  to  find TNT being passed off as heroin.
===
(10) UNINTENDED EFFECT OF WAR ON DRUGS FOUND IN STUDY
Crime: of Inmates in Survey, More Than Half Were Nonviolent with No Serious
Narcotics  Record.  Also,  Minorities  Made  up  a  Large  Percentage.
WASHINGTON  --  More  than  half  of convicted drug offenders at state
prisons  have  no  history  of violent crime or serious drug offenses,
and  a  disproportionate  number  of  them  come  from  poor, minority
communities, a study to be released today has found.
The  study  by  the  Sentencing  Project,  a Washington-based advocacy
group  that  promotes  alternatives  to prison, offers a detailed look
at  state-incarcerated  drug  offenders,  who made up almost a quarter
of  all  inmates.  It  is based on information collected in 1997, when
the  last  federal  survey  of  state drug prisoners was conducted. An
estimated  $5  billion  is  spent  each  year  to  keep drug offenders
locked up.
The  findings  suggest  that  what  critics call harsh sentencing laws
and  shortsighted  law enforcement policies to combat illicit drug use
have  had  the unintended consequence of imprisoning mostly nonviolent
drug offenders, many of them black and Latino.
The  record-setting  incarceration  policies  over  two decades of the
country's  war  on  drugs have been misguided, ineffective and costly,
said  Marc  Mauer, coauthor of the study and assistant director of the
Sentencing Project.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Webpage: http://www.latimes.com/la-na-drugs20sep20.story
Copyright: 2002 Los Angeles Times
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Eddy Ramirez, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?194 (Hutchinson, Asa)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)
===
(11) ILLICIT-DRUG PROGRAM SLAMMED BY AUDITOR
VANCOUVER  --  In  a  strong  indictment  of  Canada's  illicit-drug
strategy,  a  representative  of  the  federal auditor-general charged
yesterday  that  the  10-year  program lacks leadership, focus and any
information about whether it works.
"Are  we  any  better  off  than we were 10 years ago? We don't know,"
declared  David  Brittian,  author  of an investigative report for the
auditor-general  that  found  gaping  data  holes  in  the  extent  of
Canada's drug problem and what is being done about it.
The  federal  government spends $450-million a year addressing illicit
drugs,  with  95 per cent of that earmarked for enforcement. Yet there
are  no  national  figures on convictions and sentencing, Mr. Brittian
said.
Although  the  estimated  economic  cost  of  illicit  drugs  now tops
$5-billion  a  year  in  Canada,  just $28-million goes toward federal
treatment programs, according to the auditor-general.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Rod Mickleburgh
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1761/a08.html
===
(12) BOTCHED RAID LEAVES FAMILY IN SHOCK
Police  'apologize'  For  Invading  Their  Home  During  East-end Drug
Search
Rowena  Liu  says  she was scared to death when a small army of police
officers  put  a  gun  to  her  head  and  handcuffed her in a botched
marijuana raid on her 86-year-old father's east-end home.
The  police  left  an  hour  later  after  searching every room in the
house  --  and  then told the 43-year-old Vancouver woman that someone
had apparently supplied the wrong information.
Her  elderly  dad  was  so  shaken he has barely eaten in more than 24
hours  since  the  raid,  Liu  said  yesterday  as she took a reporter
around the neatly kept home.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/6D9CA53D-7C8B-4DB8-8B56-638A4BD89922
Copyright: 2002 The Province
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Salim Jiwa, The Province
===
(13) AGENTS BUY HEROIN BUT FIND OUT IT'S TNT
Federal  agents,  working  on a tip from an informant, were all set to
buy  3  kilos  of  heroin  Thursday at a Town of Evans motel. But when
they  tested  samples  to  make sure they were getting the real thing,
they got a big surprise.
Field  tests  on  two  samples  from  different  parts of the shipment
didn't  test  positive  for  heroin  -  or anything else, said Special
Agent  Mark  Peterson of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's
office in Buffalo.
The  deal  wasn't  going to go through unless what the man was selling
was  a  controlled  substance,  so  the  Erie  County  Central  Police
Services  laboratory  agreed  to  do  a more sophisticated analysis of
the second sample. The result wasn't what anyone expected.
"They  said,  "Come  and  get  this  stuff  out of here - it's TNT,' "
Peterson said Thursday night.
"I  have  never  had  anybody  purport  a  high  explosive  to us as a
controlled substance," he said.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002
Source: Buffalo News (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The Buffalo News
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/61
Author: Janice L. Habuda
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1784/a05.html

=======================================================================
Cannabis & Hemp-
- ---------------------------
COMMENT: (14-18)
 This  week's  protests  over  DEA persecution of legitimate medicinal
 cannabis  users  and distributors resulted in the arrest of two brave
 activists  in  Washington D.C. (DSW sends respects and condolences to
 Doug  McVay and Chuck Thomas - thank you for saying what needed to be
 said).  The  protests, took place on Monday across the U.S., were the
 largest  rallies  in  support  of  medical  marijuana rights to date.
 Meanwhile,  a  document  showing  that  Canadian  Prime Minister Jean
 Chretien  led  the fight to reform the country's cannabis laws in the
 early  eighties  surfaced  this week. The document delighted cannabis
 reform  activists  who  have  been pressuring the government to relax
 the  laws around personal possession with renewed intensity since the
 Senate  Special  Committee  on  Illegal  Drugs recommended legalizing
 cannabis  use  and distribution 3 weeks ago. The document should also
 please  Alan  Young, the Toronto lawyer who is currently suing Health
 Canada  on behalf of 7 medical users and one caregiver. In court last
 Thursday  and  Friday,  he  asked the judge to either strike down the
 regulations  dealing  with  the  medical  use  of  cannabis  as being
 unconstitutional  -  as they only provide the "illusion" of access to
 cannabis  -  or  to  force  Health  Canada to begin distributing it's
 government-grown supply.
 Next,  a look at cannabis use and sports in light of the "scandal" of
 alleged  pot  use by the New York Mets. It's interesting to note that
 although  cannabis  is  deemed  to be non-performance enhancing, over
 27%  of college athletes reported using it, a far higher average than
 the  general  population.  And  lastly, a look at the growing use and
 cultivation  of  cannabis  in  France,  which  still  boasts  one  of
 Europe's most Draconian drug policies.
===
(14) MARIJUANA PROTEST LEADS TO ARRESTS AT WHITE HOUSE
Two  people  were  arrested Monday after handcuffing themselves to the
White  House  fence  to  protest  recent  federal  government raids on
"medical marijuana" cooperatives in California.
The  arrests  occurred after about two dozen demonstrators gathered in
front  of  the  White  House,  holding  signs  and  chanting  slogans
demanding an end to what they see as Bush administration
interference  with  state  laws governing marijuana use. About an hour
after  the  protests  began,  US Park Police took a pair of protesters
into custody who had bound themselves to the iron barricade
separating the White House lawn from Pennsylvania Avenue.
"Stop  the  war  on  patients.  Support the patients by any nonviolent
means  necessary,"  protester  Charles  Thomas said through a bullhorn
before being removed and handcuffed by police.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Mon, 23 Sep 2002
Source: Reuters (Wire)
Copyright: 2002 Reuters Limited
Author: Todd Zwillich
Cited: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1792.a06.html
===
(15) CANADIAN PM LED '81 POT REFORM ATTEMPT
Jean  Chretien  helped  launch  an  initiative  to  radically  reform
marijuana  laws  when  he was justice minister in 1981, newly released
records show.
Cabinet  documents  from  the government of then-Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau  show  that  Chretien  pressed  cabinet to lower fines, reduce
jail  sentences  and  eliminate  the  criminal  records  of  Canadians
convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana.
Chretien  also  tabled a discussion paper at cabinet that, among other
things, raised the possibility of legalizing marijuana.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Sep 2002
Source: Halifax Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2002 The Halifax Herald Limited
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Canadian Press
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1795.a01.html
===
(16) SICK PEOPLE HAVE RIGHT TO USE POT, LAWYER ARGUES
Laws  Governing  Marijuana As Medication Violate Constitution, Ontario
Court Hears
 [snip]
"This  is  about  the  right  to make fundamental personal decisions,"
Toronto  lawyer  Alan  Young  told  Mr. Justice Sidney Lederman of the
Ontario Superior Court.
"Forcing  the  applicants  by  threat of criminal sanctions to refrain
from  using  marijuana  unless  they  meet  criteria  is  a  profound
interference  with  the  right  to  make personal decisions," he said.
Seven  seriously  ill  people  from  across  Canada  and one caregiver
launched  the  constitutional  challenge against two federal laws, the
Medical  Marijuana  Access  Regulations,  and  the  section  of  the
Controlled  Drugs  and  Substances  Act  that  prohibits possession of
marijuana.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Sep 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Gay Abbate
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmjcn.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal - Canada)
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1765.a05.html
===
(17) THE SEARCH FOR A JOINT RESOLUTION
Marijuana Use In All Sports, But Detection Is Inconsistent
As  controversy  surrounding  alleged  marijuana use by players swirls
around  the  Mets, baseball officials have embraced a familiar mantra:
We're just a reflection of society.
 [snip]
Reports  about  marijuana  use  among  the  Mets, Wadler said, "really
call  into  play  the  comprehensiveness of the drug-testing policy in
baseball and how the new agreement has dealt with that."
When  players  and  owners agreed last month to establish Major League
Baseball's  first  drug-testing  program,  the  only  banned substance
listed  was  steroids.  Besides  raising  eyebrows,  the  agreement
underscored  the  different  ways  various  sports  organizations have
dealt  with  drugs and, in particular, with marijuana, which enjoys an
unusual  status  - illegal but not performance-enhancing, and socially
acceptable by many.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Sun, 22 Sep 2002
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2002 Newsday Inc.
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Michael Dobie
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1793.a04.html
===
(18) HIGH TIMES FOR HOME-GROWN CANNABIS
Cultivation  And  Consumption  Of  The  Plant In France Have Soared In
Recent Years
In  France  the  secret  growing of Cannabis sativa , which existed on
only  a  small  scale  a few years ago, is booming. More than 50 shops
around  the  country now sell the equipment required for this new form
of "gardening", whose practitioners, according to Ananda, a
specialised wholesaler, number tens of thousands.
The craze for home-grown cannabis is also evident from the
proliferation  of  books,  magazines  and  websites  devoted  to  the
subject,  as  well  as  from the increase in the number of events that
aim  to  promote  the  plant's  legal and industrial form, hemp, which
contains  almost  no  psychoactive  substances. This has already given
its  name  to  a  trade show, the Salon Europeen du Chanvre, which has
been  held  in  Paris for the past two years, to a line of mass-market
cosmetics,  and  to  a  folkloric  festival  in  Montjean-sur-Loire,
western France.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: Guardian Weekly, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Publications 2002
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/633
Author: Alexandre Garcia
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n1792.a08.html
=======================================================================
International News
- ---------------------------
COMMENT: (19-23)
 In the UK, former drugs policy minister Mo Mowlam last week called for
 worldwide  legalization  of  the drugs trade, as way to fight terror.
 Legalization, noted Mowlam, would solve problems caused by drugs, and
 could help isolate terrorists as well.
 Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN drug control agency admitted last
 week  that  Afghanistan was once again the number one opium producing
 nation. But the top UN drug bureaucrat optimistically forecasted poppy
 production  could be erased there in several years. Estimates peg the
 seasons's  bountiful Afghan opium harvest at up to 2,700 metric tons.
 Costa,  in  Montreal  for an international anti-drug conference, also
 decreed  that  Canada should not legalize marijuana. Echoing the "bad
 message to children" prohibitionist line familiar to US readers, Costa
 claimed that western nations might confuse other countries and send a
 "bad  message"  to  them  by eschewing harsh punishment for drug use.
 Costa asserted that marijuana was a health hazard and that prohibiting
 it  was necessary in the global fight against "drugs." Costa may want
 to consider Mowlam's sage advice and ponder the corruption wrought by
 modern  Al  Capones:  elsewhere  in  Canada  last week the government
 quietly  dropped  charges  against  a  "drug kingpin" caught with "$4
 million in marijuana, hashish, LSD and ecstasy." Why? Narcotics police
 had  stolen  over  $300,000  from  the bank safety deposit box of the
 so-called "kingpin", it was alleged.
 In  western  Australia, the government announced schoolchildren there
 are  more  likely  to  be given amphetamines (often at the request of
 government  officials)  than  children  elsewhere  in  the  nation.
 Government figures show 4.3 percent of all western Australians (adults
 and children) were prescribed amphetamines in 1999-2000.
===
(19) FIGHT TERROR: LEGALISE THE DRUGS TRADE
Prohibition Only Fuels Criminality, Corruption And Violence
 [snip]
Even  President  Bush  has  made  the connection: "It is important for
Americans  to  know  that  the  traffic  in drugs finances the work of
terror,  sustaining  terrorists,  that  terrorists use drug profits to
fund their cells to commit acts of murder."
May  I  suggest  that  rather than bombing civilians in various Muslim
countries,  the  United  States  and  Britain  begin  to  take  a more
intelligent  approach  to  the  international  drugs trade: namely, to
legalise  it.  For  by  doing this, not only will we help solve one of
the  major  problems facing the world today, the unregulated growth of
drugs  trafficking,  but it would also further isolate the terrorists.
 [snip]
Drugs  and  terrorism  are  linked  and  are  set  to  become more so.
Legalisation  of  drugs  would stop this connection: it would begin to
solve problems caused by drugs today and would isolate the
terrorists.
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Mo Mowlam
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?203 (Terrorism)
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1763/a03.html
===
(20) AFGHANISTAN BACK ON TOP IN OPIUM PRODUCTION
Time  And  Financial  Aid  Are  Needed To Curb Soaring Cultivation, UN
Drug Official Says
MONTREAL  --  Afghanistan  has  reclaimed  the  top  spot  as  a world
producer  of  opium,  and,  despite  optimistic  signs,  it  will take
several  years  to  erase  poppy  production,  the  head of the United
Nations drug control agency said yesterday.
 [snip]
Mr. Costa was in Montreal for the World Forum on Drugs and
Dependencies, which has drawn 3,000 delegates.
 [snip]
The  UN  is to release its survey of Afghanistan's opium production in
a  few  weeks. Although Mr. Costa would not confirm figures, estimates
so  far  indicate  that this year's harvests will yield 1,900 to 2,700
metric tonnes of opium.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Tu Thanh Ha
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1800/a08.html
===
(21) DON'T MAKE POT LEGAL, UN OFFICIAL WARNS
MONTREAL  --  Canadian  politicians  will  be  making a major error if
they  try  to  legalize  cannabis, the head of the United Nations drug
control agency warned yesterday.
While  marijuana  does  not  have  the  same  association with violent
crime  and  severe dependency as harder narcotics, it remains a health
hazard  and  its  prohibition  is  needed in the global effort against
drugs  and  criminality,  said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director
of  the  Vienna-based UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.
 [snip]
Western  countries  are  sending  a  bad message to other countries by
being  lax  against softer drugs, he warned. "The drug scene cannot be
parcelled  out  to  individual countries. The dug scene has to be seen
in its totality."
 [snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002
Source: Globe and Mail (Canada)
Copyright: 2002, The Globe and Mail Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168
Author: Tu Thanh Ha
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1800/a02.html
===
(22) JUDGE TOSSES CASE, COP SCANDAL GROWS
Charges Dropped Because Of Crown Delays
Trafficking  charges  against  an alleged drug kingpin who has accused
police  of  stealing more than $300,000 from a bank safety deposit box
were  stayed  yesterday  in  a development linked to the widening drug
squad scandal.
Roman  Paryniuk  was  charged  with  possessing  almost  $4 million in
marijuana,  hashish,  LSD and ecstasy stemming from a March, 1999 bust
but  these  charges  were  tossed after Justice Russell Juriansz ruled
that  Paryniuk,  39, had been deprived of his right to be tried within
a reasonable time.
His  lawyer  Edward  Sapiano  was denied information on the RCMP probe
into  drug  squad  officers.  Sapiano  has  alleged in court documents
there  was  a  "long-standing pattern" of "theft by search warrant" by
central field command drug squad.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002, Canoe Limited Partnership.
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/457
Author: Sam Pazzano
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1803/a06.html
===
(23) WA TOP STATE FOR 'DEXIES'
WA  Schoolchildren  are  more  likely  to be prescribed dexamphetamine
than  students  in  any  other State or Territory, according to Health
Minister Bob Kucera.
Mr  Kucera  said  dexamphetamines  were  over-prescribed  in WA and he
hoped to set up a policy to tackle the problem.
 [snip]
Australian  Bureau  of  Statistics  figures  published  in  June  2000
showed  that  43.2  out  of  1000  West  Australians  were  prescribed
dexamphetamine in 1999-2000.
 [snip]
Australian  Medical  Association  State  president  Bernard Pearn-Rowe
said WA doctors did not over-prescribe dexamphetamine.
Other  States  and  Territories  in Australia under-prescribed because
they  did  not have as many paediatricians who specialised in treating
ADHD, he said.
 [snip]
Pubdate: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 
Source: West Australian (Australia)
Copyright: 2002 West Australian Newspapers Limited 
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/495 
Author: Amanda James 
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1799/a01.html
***********************************************************************
HOT OFF THE 'NET
- -------------------------------
My Visit To The White House
by Doug McVay- for DrugWar.com
September 26, 2002
Things  would  have  turned out differently if we'd gone to Sacramento
instead. After all, that's where the big rally was being held. Monday,
Sept. 23rd, nearly a thousand protesters gathered at the state capitol
to  call  for  an  end  to  federal  harassment of California cannabis
clinics.
Continues: http://www.drugwar.com/mcvaywhitehouse.shtm
Photographer  Jeremy  Bigwood  has  a set of 122 photos from the White
House medical marijuana demonstration on line. The images are available
at: http://bigwood.biz/MedMJ/index.htm
===
The Hospice Raid and the War on Drugs
The war on drugs keeps getting bigger and meaner. 
Just when you think the tide is beginning to turn, someone in 
charge takes it a step further. 
Pubdate: Thu, 19 Sep 2002
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2002 Ethan Nadelmann
Author: Ethan Nadelmann
Note: Ethan Nadelmann is executive director of Drug Policy Alliance, a 
national organization that promotes alternatives to the war on drugs based 
on science, compassion, public health and human rights. 
http://www.drugpolicy.org/
Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/newsdpa/v02/n1804/a11.htm
===
Marijuana Update: National Drug Threat Assessment
An "Intelligence Brief" from the U.S. Department of Justice
http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs/1335/index.htm
===
DEA Destroys 20 Plants In Latest California Raid
A DrugSense Focus Alet.
http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0253.html
===
Colombia: The Forgotten War
For  almost  40  years,  Colombia  has  been  torn  apart  by violence
Reporter: David Halton
Producer: Carmen Merrifield
Editor: Bob Schroeder
Sept. 24, 2002
http://cbc.ca/national/news/colombia/
===
High Times for Alzheimers
Does cannabis help to prevent Alzheimers?
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14254.shtml
===
Drug War Terrorism
Thursday, September 26, 2002
By Radley Balko
On  the heels of the "I Helped _" commercials that began last January,
the  Drug Enforcement Administration has again engaged in a propaganda
campaign  aimed at likening drug-using Americans to the most notorious
financiers of terrorism.
This  time,  it's a traveling museum exhibit entitled "Target America:
Traffickers,  Terrorists  and  You."  The exhibit harmonizes chunks of
World  Trade  Center  rubble and pictures of the scarred Pentagon with
paraphernalia  seized  in  international  drug  busts,  and  offers  a
"history"  of  the  links  between  the  drug  trade  and  terrorism.
The aim? Stain the hands of the growing decriminalization movement with
the  blood  of  Sept. 11 victims. It's shameless, exploitative and not
even remotely accurate.
Continues: http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,64092,00.html
===
Add our Drug War Clock to your Website
http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
DrugSense now offers the gadget below which will generate a snippet of 
JavaScript that webmasters may use to add our Drug War Clock to their 
websites.
Our JavaScript clock will always be up-to-date with the latest figures. 
Please help yourselves.
http://www.drugsense.org/myclock.htm
***********************************************************************
LETTER OF THE WEEK
- ------------------------------------
TIME TO HALT THE FAILED WAR AGAINST MARIJUANA
By Bryan Brickner
The  recent  image  of  "victory" in the war on marijuana was too much
to  take.  The Aug. 16 story reported that Cook County Forest Preserve
police  spent  the  day  destroying  millions of dollars of marijuana.
The  only  criminals  arrested were seven teenage boys, ranging in age
from 16 to 19, all charged with marijuana possession.
The  seven  teens, seemingly guilty of being at the wrong place at the
wrong  time,  did  not have any criminal intent. The police report the
teens  were  looking at the leaves of one of the large plants and then
tried  to  hide  it  under  a car. The teens said they didn't grow the
marijuana. Now, thanks to the social policy of marijuana
prohibition, they have a criminal record.
In  the  war  on  marijuana,  their arrest is a trivial statistic, but
its  consequences,  from  possible  expulsion  from  school,  loss  of
federal  student  loan  opportunities  and  the  social  stigma  of  a
criminal record, are not trivial.
But is any of this doing any good?
The  1999  National  Household  Survey estimates that 472,000 Illinois
residents  use  marijuana  every  month.  The  Illinois  State  Police
report  that  in  1999  there  were  3,590  arrests  per month for all
marijuana  violations,  to include the crimes of dealing, trafficking,
cultivation,  etc.  That  means we arrest an individual less than 99.2
percent  of  the  time  for  the crime of marijuana possession. If all
marijuana  crimes  were  included,  the failure rate would inch closer
and closer to 100 percent.
With  such  a high failure rate, it is irrational and irresponsible to
pursue  this  policy  any longer. Victory in the war on marijuana is a
mirage.  The  war  is successful less than 0.8 percent of the time. No
other  social  policy has failed so miserably, cost so much and harmed
so  many,  as  marijuana  prohibition.  It  is  time  to end the smoke
screen  of  success  and look at the alternatives to the failed policy
of marijuana prohibition.
Bryan Brickner
Chair
Illinois Chapter of NORML
Pubdate: Sept. 17 2002
Source: Daily Herald (IL)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily Herald Company
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107
***********************************************************************
FEATURE ARTICLE
- -------------------------------
Birth of an Activist
By Kay Busher
Today  I  was  arrested.  Until today I have spent my life quietly and
far from the interest of law enforcement.
It  began  in  1996  when  Proposition  215,  the  Medical  Marijuana
Initiative,  was  passed  by  California  voters  by  an  overwhelming
margin.  Despite  never even having tried marijuana I was one of those
voters.  I  was  happy  that  the  initiative  won the day and went on
about life mostly forgetting about the issue.
Yet  over  the  past  year more and more DEA & FBI raids on compassion
clubs  filtered  through  the  media. This summer there was a trial in
my  hometown  of  Sacramento  against  Bryan Epis, a medical marijuana
patient  and  founder  of  the  Chico  Compassionate  Club.  The judge
ordered  that  no  mention  of  Prop  215;  medical marijuana, medical
conditions  or  Bryan's  physician's  recommendation  for  medical
marijuana was to be allowed in the trial.
Mr.  Epis'  trial got a lot of media attention, in part due to a small
band  of  activists who kept coming back to the Federal Courthouse day
after  day  in  support  of  him.  Judge Garland Damrell dismissed the
entire  first  pool of jurors fearing the they had been "contaminated"
by  pamphlets  on juror's rights which the protesters had been passing
out.  I  wondered  what was so inflammatory about the rights of jurors
that  a  federal  judge  would  dismiss  an  entire  pool of potential
jurors on the mere chance that they're read a pamphlet.
I  did  some  research and discovered what no judge had told me on any
of  the  three  juries  upon  which  I've  served.  That  is  that the
Constitution  of  the United States gives jurors the right not only to
judge  upon  the  law, but specifically gives jurors the duty to judge
the  law  upon  which  the  defendant  was brought to trial. If a jury
decides that the law itself is wrong they may acquit the
defendant(s)  and  even  the Supreme Court must bow to the will of the
jury  with  no  recourse or penalty against them. This is called "Jury
Nullification"  and  is  where  our  freedoms  are  truly protected. I
asked  myself  why  Federal  Judges  didn't  want jurors to know about
that.
Bryan  Epis  was convicted, no doubt by a jury which was instructed to
judge  based  on  the  law  alone.  He will be sentenced on October 7,
2002  and  under  federal mandatory sentencing guidelines will face no
less  than  ten  years and up to life in prison. On September 5, 2002,
just  a  few  weeks  after  Mr. Epis' conviction, the WoMen's Alliance
for  Medical  Marijuana  (WAMM), in Santa Cruz, California, was raided
by  the  DEA.  It was raided even though they were breaking no laws in
the  State  of California and had the support of community leaders and
local law enforcement.
All  of  WAMM's  patients  are  seriously  ill. Eighty-five percent of
them  are  living  with  terminal  illnesses.  Forty of them died last
year.  No  money  ever  changed  hands,  and  other  patient  services
besides  medical  marijuana  were provided at the center. The founders
of  WAMM,  Valerie  &  Michael Corral along with others, were arrested
and  their  garden  destroyed.  In response to the raid the Santa Cruz
City Council, and a thousand others stood with WAMM as they
distributed  their  weeks'  supply of medical marijuana to patients on
the steps of City Hall. I was one of the thousand.
I  have  never been an activist, I didn't know anyone who was. I drove
five  hours  that  day  to stand in support of WAMM, the City of Santa
Cruz  and  the  right  of  the people of California lawfully using and
providing  medical  marijuana  to live in peace. The next day I looked
up the Sacramento Chapter of Americans for Safe Access and
discovered  that  these  four people had been the courageous activists
who  stood  at  the  courthouse  and  refused  to  let  Bryan  Epis be
railroaded  into  prison  with  out  a fight. I am proud to be counted
among them now.
I  voted  for  Prop 215 six years ago. Over the past few months I have
been  so  outraged  by  the brutal actions of my federal government in
terrorizing  law  abiding  Californians that I could no longer justify
standing  idly  by.  I  can  no  longer sit comfortably on the passive
side  of  my  television  and  watch  my  federal  government  subvert
democracy in California.
This  weekend  I  worked  helping  to  put  on  the  Protest  Rally in
Sacramento;  I  stood  in  the  one-hundred  and  four degree sun, and
walked  as  one with them to the Federal Courthouse. With twenty-eight
others  I  sat  in  front of the police line at the doors, not for the
purpose  of  being  arrested, but allowing ourselves to be arrested if
necessary  in  protest  of the conviction of Bryan Epis and the brutal
actions of the Bush Administration against sick and dying
Californians.
>From  here  on  I stand with them and with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
who  taught  me  from  the  Birmingham  jail  that  it  is the duty of
honorable  people  to obey just laws and to disobey unjust laws. It is
unjust  to  terrorize  and  imprison  patients  and caregivers who are
acting  in  compliance  to the laws of the state in which they live. I
will no longer stand by and let that happen.
Come  on,  Mr.  President,  how hard a job is it really to send dozens
of  agents  under  cover  of  darkness armed with automatic weapons to
kick  in  the  doors  of  the  sick and dying? I'm amazed and dismayed
that  you  can  stomach  it.  You  work  for us, remember? As a fellow
citizen  and  a  voter  I  demand  that  you  answer  for  why you are
unleashing  paramilitary  operations  against  the  most vulnerable of
Americans. I promise you that I will no longer tolerate it.
In  your  campaign  you  said  that each state has the right to choose
their  own  laws  on  medical  marijuana.  It's time to keep your word
about  that  and  call off of your federal enforcers. You are ordering
officers  of  the  law  to become government sanctioned thugs, and I'm
sure  many  of  them  would  be  relieved  to  no longer be used in an
immoral  war  against  helpless  U.S.  citizens.  Medical  marijuana
patients  are  not  the  problem,  Mr. President. Why not give federal
officers  an  honorable  job,  like  protecting us against terrorists?
***********************************************************************
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
- ------------------------------------
"Cannabis  is  essentially  a  good  drug  with  a  bad  reputation."
- -  Dr.  Peter  Silverstone,  a  psychopharmacologist  and  clinical
psychiatrist  from  Edmonton  who helped organize the Banff conference
on neuropsychopharmacology. See
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread14257.shtml  for  more details.

***********************************************************************
DS  Weekly  is  one  of  the  many free educational services DrugSense
offers  our  members.  Watch  this  feature  to  learn more about what
DrugSense can do for you.
TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS:
Please utilize the following URLs
http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm
http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm
CREDITS:
Policy  and  Law  Enforcement/Prison content selection and analysis by
Stephen  Young  (maxharm@maximizingharm.com),  Cannabis/Hemp  content
selection  and  analysis  by  Philippe  Lucas  (phil@drugsense.org),
International content selection and analysis by Doug Snead
(doug@drugsense.org), Layout by Matt Elrod (webmaster@drugsense.org)
We  wish  to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter
writing  activists.  Please help us help reform. Become a NewsHawk See
http://www.mapinc.org/hawk.htm  for  info  on  contributing clippings.
===
NOTICE:
In  accordance  with  Title  17  U.S.C.  Section 107, this material is
distributed  without  profit  to  those  who  have  expressed  a prior
interest  in  receiving  the  included  information  for  research and
educational purposes.
===
MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO DRUGSENSE ON-LINE
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
- -OR-
Mail  in  your contribution. Make checks payable to MAP Inc. send your
contribution to:
The Media Awareness Project (MAP) Inc. 
D/B/a DrugSense 
PO Box 651
Porterville, CA 93258 
(800) 266 5759 
MGreer@mapinc.org
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 22:21:11 -0700
Subject: CA: MCNAMARA TELLS CALIFORNIA TO STOP ARRESTING DRUG USERS 
September 26, 2002
MCNAMARA TELLS CALIFORNIA TO STOP ARRESTING DRUG USERS AND TO OFFER 
VOLUNTARY TREATMENT INSTEAD
Sacramento:  Retired San Jose Police Chief, and Hoover Institution Research 
Fellow  Joseph D. McNamara testified as an expert witness on California's 
drug and alcohol policies at a hearing held by the Little Hoover Commission 
on State Government.
McNamara quoted a study originating from the National Academy of Sciences 
declaring that the lack of adequate data to judge the impact of the 
nation's drug policies was "unconscionable."   McNamara said the same may 
be said of California's policies, and the state's current fiscal problems 
call for changes in an expensive and failing drug policy.
He said that using the police in a doomed effort to stop people from using 
drugs in private resulted in less enforcement for serious crimes and 
discriminated against Hispanics, African-Americans and young 
people.  Stigmatizing all drug users as criminals and locking them up, 
damages their futures, and harms families, communities and all of 
California, according to McNamara.
He criticized the lack of treatment available for drug users, citing a 
federal government study showing that California has more than half a 
million people desiring treatment for whom no treatment is available.
McNamara recommended to the Little Hoover Commissioner on state government 
that California should stop arresting people whose only crime is use or 
possession of small amounts of drugs for their own use. He said the 
enormous savings could be used to provide voluntary treatment.
Quoting former drug Czar General Barry McCaffrey's statement that we should 
not consider it a drug war but as a long-term struggle similar to that 
against cancer or heart disease, McNamara noted that we do not lock up 
people with those problems or even those who ignore medical warnings about 
how to avoid those and other diseases.
McNamara is available in the State Capitol on Thursday, September 26 for 
comment or on mcnamara@hoover.stanford.edu
------------------------------
End of Restore-Digest V2002 #204
********************************