THIS JUST IN

COMMENT: (1-4)

Thursday more than 200 medical cannabis patients and advocates
rallied in front of the Governor's office in downtown Los Angeles
demanding that he stand up for patients' rights and the will of
California voters and lawmakers. Thursday evening the DEA and LAPD
staged a raid on one of Los Angeles' most respected collectives, the
Arts District Healing Center. Dozens of protesters turned out to
defend the dispensary. The newspaper articles did not relate the two
events, but we have to wonder if the DEA and the LAPD staged the raid
when they did to thumb their nose at both the patients and California law.

Rick Steves, a speaker at the NORML convention Friday, tells it like
it is. Your DrugSense Weekly staff wishes we could have attended the
conference.

That people become folk heroes because they thumb their nose at drug
laws is fairly common, which shows the ambivalence of the public
towards the war on some drugs.

(1) MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS ASSEMBLE DOWNTOWN

Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Copley Press Inc.

About 200 pro-medical marijuana activists demonstrated Thursday
outside Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office in downtown Los Angeles,
demanding he do more to end federal raids on cannabis clinics.

In a lively rally that lasted more than an hour, and was punctuated
by the smell of pot, the protesters gathered outside the Ronald
Reagan State Office Building to call on Schwarzenegger to urge the
Bush administration to tell federal drug agents to back off.

Representatives from Schwarzenegger's office were not immediately
available for comment.

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine did not attend today's rally,
but released a statement in support of the dispensaries.

"This year has seen a dramatic increase in federal law enforcement
activity surrounding medical cannabis, including raids, confiscation
of medicine and plants, and indictments," he stated.

Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairman Chris Norby, who also did
not attend the rally, also expressed solidarity with the protesters via e-mail.

Norby urged Schwarzenegger to implement Proposition 215, the ballot
initiative California voters approved in 1996 that legalized the sale
and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is still an
illegal drug under federal law.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1171/a08.html

(2) FEDS RAID DOWNTOWN L.A. MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2007
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times
Author: Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Federal agents seized marijuana and cash Thursday night from a
medical marijuana dispensary in the loft district near Little Tokyo,
officials said.

Twenty agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided
the Arts District Healing Center in the 600 block of East 1st Street.

DEA spokesman Jose Martinez said the agents searched the two-story
building for 3 1/4 hours.

There were no arrests.

Authorities had not determined as of late Thursday night the amount
of cash and marijuana they seized, Martinez said.

The affidavit submitted by the DEA to search the offices stated that
marijuana is classified as a schedule-one controlled substance,
"which under federal law means that is not recognized for having any
medicinal value."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1172/a01.html

(3) OPED: EUROPE: CURING, NOT PUNISHING, ADDICTS

Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2007
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times
Author: Rick Steves

In Contrast to U.S. Policy, European Countries Focus on Harm
Reduction -- and It Works.

Europe has a drug problem, and knows it. But the Europeans' approach
to it is quite different from the American "war on drugs." I spend
120 days a year in Europe as a travel writer, so I decided to see for
myself how it's working. I talked with locals, researched European
drug policies and even visited a smoky marijuana "coffee shop" in
Amsterdam. I got a close look at the alternative to a war on drugs.

Europeans are well aware of the U.S. track record against illegal
drug use. Since President Nixon first declared the war on drugs in
1971, our country has locked up millions of its citizens and spent
hundreds of billions of dollars (many claim that if incarceration
costs are figured in, a trillion dollars) waging this "war." Despite
these efforts, U.S. government figures show the overall rate of
illicit drug use has remained about the same.

By contrast, according to the 2007 U.N. World Drug Report, the
percentage of Europeans who use illicit drugs is about half that of
Americans. (Europe also has fewer than half as many deaths from
overdoses.) How have they managed that -- in Europe, no less, which
shocks some American sensibilities with its underage drinking,
marijuana tolerance and heroin-friendly "needle parks"?

Recently, in Zurich, Switzerland, I walked into a public toilet that
had only blue lights. Why? So junkies can't find their veins. A short
walk away, I saw a heroin maintenance clinic that gives junkies
counseling, clean needles and a safe alternative to shooting up in
the streets. Need a syringe? Cigarette machines have been retooled to
sell clean, government-subsidized syringes.

While each European nation has its own drug laws and policies, they
seem to share a pragmatic approach. They treat drug abuse not as a
crime but as an illness. And they measure the effectiveness of their
drug policy not in arrests but in harm reduction.

[snip]

Meanwhile, according to FBI statistics, in recent years about 40% of
the roughly 80,000 annual drug arrests were for marijuana -- the
majority (80%) for possession.

In short, Europe is making sure that the cure isn't more costly than
the problem. While the U.S. spends tax dollars on police, courts and
prisons, Europe spends its taxes on doctors, counselors and clinics.
EU policymakers estimate that they save 15 euros in police and health
costs for each euro invested in drug education and counseling.

European leaders understand that a society has a choice: tolerate
alternative lifestyles or build more prisons. They've made their
choice. We're still building more prisons.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1172/a03.html

(4) IN MEXICO, A FUGITIVE'S ARREST CAPTIVATES THE CAMERAS

Pubdate: Fri, 12 Oct 2007
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company
Author: James C. McKinley Jr.

MEXICO CITY -- A woman who succeeds in a field dominated by men is
always intriguing to the public, but when that field happens to be
big-time cocaine trafficking, and the woman is graced with both charm
and beauty, a criminal celebrity is born.

Ever since her arrest last month, Sandra Avila Beltran, better known
as the Queen of the Pacific, has been getting the kind of press here
that would have made Jesse James envious. Mexicans are closely
following the case against her and the efforts to extradite her to
United States, where she is wanted in Florida.

Prosecutors here say Ms. Avila Beltran, a shapely, raven-haired, 46-
year-old with a taste for high fashion, has played an important role
in forging a federation of drug traffickers in western Sinaloa State
as well as creating an alliance between them and Colombian suppliers.

Along the way, she seduced many drug kingpins and upper-echelon
police officers, becoming a powerful force in the cocaine world
through a combination of ruthless business sense, a mobster's wiles
and her sex appeal, prosecutors say.

It is a measure of her importance in the Mexican underworld that some
Tijuana musicians have written a song in her honor. This "narco-
corrido" extols her virtues as "a top lady who is a key part of the
business." It has been played over and over on radio stations since her arrest.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1172/a02.html

WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW

Domestic News- Policy

COMMENT: (5-8)

Hawaiian education officials are still determining how to gently take
away student rights without seeming too unconcerned. Vocal support
for allowing school officials in the state to search student lockers
came, not surprisingly, from the industry which will gain most from
the new policy. In other education news, student activists in
Maryland are trying every route to lighten up on marijuana users at a
local college. And in New Hampshire, some college students are
unhappy about what they see as overbearing police tactics, which
relate to overbearing campus policies.

(5) BOE DEFERS DECISION ON LOCKER SEARCHES

Pubdate: Sat, 06 Oct 2007
Source: Maui News, The (HI)
Copyright: 2007 The Maui News

HONOLULU - The state Board of Education tried to settle the
contentious issue of allowing school officials to order student
locker searches with drug-sniffing dogs late Thursday, but in the end
decided to put off a decision.

With a 12-1 vote to defer a proposal to allow searches "with or
without cause" for further consideration, the board said it is not
satisfied with the proposal as written but could not decide on
acceptable language Thursday night.

The state attorney general's office is expect to come up with new
wording, but it was not clear whether there would be any significant
change in the policy proposal that would expose student lockers to
"open inspection and external dog sniff."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1156/a04.html

(6) DRUG DOGS CRITICALLY NEEDED IN ISLE SCHOOLS

Pubdate: Thu, 04 Oct 2007
Source: Honolulu Advertiser (HI)
Copyright: 2007 Honolulu Advertiser
Author: Whitney White

The Board of Education is considering the use of "drug-sniffing dogs"
as a tool to fight the substance-abuse crisis in Hawai'i public
schools. This program would use dogs that are proficient and
certified to detect not only drugs, but alcohol, gunpowder and abused
medications.

A detection-canine program is critically needed in Hawai'i schools.
School canine programs have been proven to be effective and have been
supported by courts across the country. News reports have pointed to
U.S. Department of Justice findings that Hawai'i has the highest
rate in the nation of high school students who drink on campus --
more than twice the national average. And our state is tied for
second in the nation for marijuana use on campus.

A 2002 state Department of Health study reports that one in five high
school seniors admits to having been drunk or "stoned" on campus; one
in four needs treatment for drug and/or alcohol abuse upon
graduation. A 2003 study by the University of Hawai'i's Social
Sciences Department reports that one in three Hawai'i high school
students was "offered, sold or given an illegal drug on school
property." The same study reports that Hawai'i's youth are 26 percent
more likely than Mainland counterparts to be offered or sold drugs on
public school campuses.

Why does Hawai'i take top honors in this crisis? Perhaps because
Hawai'i and Alaska are the only two states that have not been using
detection canines in schools. Detection canines have been used in
schools for more than 30 years across the Mainland. In 2003, two
Hawai'i private schools began using this safety tool and continue to
benefit from the results.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1148/a03.html

(7) WITH NO-GO ON RESLIFE, SSDP TARGETS RAs

Pubdate: Thu, 04 Oct 2007
Source: Diamondback, The (U of MD Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Diamondback
Author: Nathan Cohen

In a "last-ditch" effort to get better treatment for students accused
of using drugs in dorms, university activists are asking resident
assistants not to immediately call police or write students up if
they smell or suspect drug use.

The university's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy is
asking RAs to use discretion before calling police when they smell
marijuana in their halls because of the harsh consequences that come
with drug violations. Those punishments include expulsion from
housing at the university level, and arrest and automatic loss of
state and federal financial aid if the case enters the judicial system.

"As you know, university policy dictates that students caught with
marijuana be automatically evicted from the residence halls and
suspended or expelled," states the letter the group has distributed
to most North Campus RAs. Over the next week, they expect to deliver
a total of 250 letters. "But as you also know, most of your residents
don't deserve such harsh punishments for a relatively minor and
common offense."

After months of lobbying for looser punishments for students caught
with marijuana, the Department of Resident Life budged slightly this
summer. Previously, community directors who doled out punishments
would automatically suspend residents from housing for at least a
year. Now community assistants can simply suspend students for a
semester or less if they have a "small" amount of marijuana. The
punishments for any large amounts remains the same.

"Something we didn't want to suggest [in a policy change] was that
the university would literally be more tolerant [of marijuana]," said
Steven Petkas, associate director of Resident Life.

Unsatisfied with the change - which would have only saved four of 92
students accused of using marijuana in the dorms during the past two
years, according to Petkas - the activists are using letters as a
last resort to curb the number of students who get in trouble for
marijuana violations in their rooms.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1140/a08.html

(8) STUDENTS PROTEST POLICE TACTICS

Pubdate: Thu, 04 Oct 2007
Source: Keene Sentinel (NH)
Copyright: 2007 Keene Publishing Corporation.
Author: Jake Berry

FPU Dorm Locked While Search Warrant Obtained

RINDGE - The handcuffs that circled Robert Braverman's wrists made
him more victim than villain in the eyes of the nearly 30 students
who rallied in support Wednesday as police escorted him from his home
at Franklin Pierce University.

"You're the bravest one of us, Rob," supporters shouted to Braverman,
one of four students displaced from their on-campus house this week
after Rindge police allegedly found marijuana paraphernalia.

"Stay strong. You'll be out soon," they said.

Parts of the campus community erupted in protest this week after
Rindge police locked Braverman, a sophomore, and his roommates -
juniors Jeff E. Bernier, Robert C. Nicholson and Skye Perry - out of
their on-campus home, they said, while police obtained a search warrant.

But the student body grew even more enraged when Braverman was taken
away in handcuffs, facing a misdemeanor charge of possession of a
controlled drug.

"We're students," they shouted as police walked Braverman to the
police cruiser. "Not criminals."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1139/a04.html

Law Enforcement & Prisons

COMMENT: (9-12)

Our first two stories show again that law enforcement in small towns
are not immune from drug corruption. In Portland, now that drug zone
laws have been repealed, officials are trying to figure out why the
laws impacted minorities much more heavily. And a first person story
out of California show how the drug war has failed at the street
level and what that failure is doing to one small neighborhood.

(9) ZANESVILLE COPS ARRESTED

Pubdate: Tue, 02 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Jeffersonian, The (OH)
Copyright: 2007 Jeffersonian Co, LLC.
Author: Rick Stillion, The Daily Jeffersonian

COLUMBUS -- Three Zanesville police officers remained locked up in
the Franklin County jail today following their arrest Monday on
federal charges resulting from an alleged cocaine distribution ring.

Officers Sean Beck, 28, Trevor Fusner, 31, and Chad Mills, 29, were
arrested by the FBI and Muskingum County sheriff's deputies on
charges of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

The locations of their arrests were not released by authorities.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1142/a06.html

(10) AIKEN COUNTY OFFICIALS DEAL WITH NARCOTICS UNIT'S FIRING

Pubdate: Sun, 07 Oct 2007
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2007 Wilmington Morning Star

Aiken, S.C. - Aiken County is dealing with the fallout of the firings
of the sheriff's entire narcotics unit as prosecutors check cases
made by the investigators and the county asks federal agents to help
with drug crimes.

The four officers were fired Thursday by Sheriff Michael Hunt who
said they drove unmarked, county-owned cars to bars last month. The
sheriff said at least one woman performed a sex act on one of the
officers as they drove around.

Hunt has asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to
investigate whether the officers misused government money, improperly
destroyed evidence or committed other misconduct.

Prosecutor Barbara Morgan said how she handles the drug cases made by
the fired investigators depends on whether they are charged with any crimes.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1158/a07.html

(11) POLICE TRY TO SOLVE ARRESTS DISPARITY

Pubdate: Tue, 2 Oct 2007
Source: Oregonian, The (Portland, OR)
Copyright: 2007 The Oregonian
Author: Andy Dworkin, The Oregonian Staff

Drug-Free Zones - Hidden Bias Is Among the Ideas Floated for Why More
Blacks Were Cited

A vexing mystery faces Portland police: Why did they ban African
Americans from the city's defunct drug-free zones more often than
whites or Latinos?

The drug-free zones, which faded into oblivion Sunday, lost key
political support last week when a report showed that police did not
equally issue exclusion notices, which bar people arrested or cited
on drug accusations from returning to the zones where the alleged
crimes happened.

More than two-thirds -- 68.2 percent -- of the African Americans
arrested got exclusion notices. That compares with 53.5 percent of
the non-Latino whites arrested and 46.4 percent of Latinos arrested.

"Pretty obviously, there was racial disparity in the numbers. That's
a huge concern," Police Chief Rosie Sizer said.

The numbers don't explain how that disparity came to be. But
Portland officials have hypotheses ranging from hidden bias to
inadequate training for police patrolling the most recently created
East zone, which ran along 82nd Avenue.

Mayor Tom Potter commissioned the report by consultant John
Campbell. Potter said the difference in arrests could share roots
with "racial profiling," the concept that police stop and question
minorities more often than they do whites. The mayor has started a
committee to study whether Portland has a racial profiling problem,
how bad it is and how to address it.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1152/a05.html

(12) THE DEALERS NEXT DOOR

Pubdate: Thu, 04 Oct 2007
Source: Inland Empire Weekly (Corona, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Inland Empire Weekly
Author: David Silva

Open drug dealing in a quiet Riverside neighborhood is perfectly
ignorable if you're the police--but if you're a resident?

The neighbors to the right of us are moving, which bothers me like
you wouldn't believe. Good neighbors are hard to come by, and these
folks--a couple and their three small children--were good neighbors.
My wife talked to the husband, who confirmed what we already knew:
The family was moving to get away from the drug dealers.

If it were just he and his wife, they'd try to stick it out, he
said. But they had kids to think about, and the dealers were a
problem that wouldn't go away. They'd tried getting the city to do
something, but nothing had been done and there was every reason to
believe nothing would continue being done. For all practical
purposes, our little corner of central Riverside had been ceded to
the drug trade. No one at City Hall seemed to care, and the Riverside
cops were invisible.

Was the husband bitter about any of this?

"I'm selling to the worst buyer I can find," he said. "For every car
the buyer agrees to park on the grass, I'm dropping the price $10,000."

From what we could tell, the plight of the neighbors to the right of
us affected the neighbors to the left of us not at all. Those
neighbors, who we refer to as "the dealers next door" to distinguish
them from our other neighbors, don't care about quality of life or
property values, and they sure as hell don't care about who lives
next to them. These neighbors--a constantly shifting assortment of
parents, adult siblings, aunts, uncles and assorted nephews and
nieces--appear to care about only one thing: making money as fast as
they can by selling drugs to anyone who wants them.

With an invisible police department and a city hall that can't be
bothered, business is booming.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1144/a06.html

Cannabis & Hemp

COMMENT: (13-16)

The Canadian Medical Association Journal inexplicably published a
target-rich oped for MAP letter writers. It seems chronic cannabis
consumers face a 200 per cent risk of schizophrenia, a brain disorder
exacerbated by stress.

A British mother who allowed her teenagers to raid her hashish stash
concluded that there is "nothing relaxing about it if you think the
police are going to burst into your home at any moment."

Would-be presidents Giuliani, McCain and Romney were agitated by
wheelchair-bound patients asking if and why they should worry about
federal agents bursting into their homes.

Is the fastest way to a cold heart through the stomach? Is the
slippery slope lubricated with Canadian hemp oil?

(13) REEFER MADNESS

Pubdate: Tue, 09 Oct 2007
Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal (Canada)
Copyright: 2007 Canadian Medical Association
Webpage: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/177/8/988
Author: Margret Kopala

Studies have suggested that as many as 1 in 4 cannabis users may be
genetically at risk for developing schizophrenia or a related
psychotic disorder. Now, a new study reveals all users are at risk.

Given recent United Nations' statistics citing Canada as the
industrial world's leading consumer of cannabis, this news should set
alarm bells ringing. After all, a leading role in cannabis
consumption sets the stage for a leading role in psychotic
disorders. Instead, Canada's mainstream media responded in chorus
from The Happy Hippy Hymn Book, failing to notice that it is 10 years
out of date.

"Legalizing pot makes sense," intoned a National Post editorial
earlier this summer, while a Globe and Mail article entitled "The
True North Stoned and Free" giggled about Canada's "little pot habit."

Schizophrenia, a severe form of psychosis, is a brain disorder that
typically produces delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, disturbances
in problem solving, memory and concentration, along with depressed
mood, anxiety and social withdrawal. Its causes are not fully
understood though environmental stressors (e.g., childhood trauma,
neglect) are thought to interact with genes to produce disruptions in
brain chemistry.

[snip]

According to a recent study, 14% of British patients with
schizophrenia could have avoided the illness if they had not used
cannabis. This meta-analysis also reveals that while the issue of
whether cannabis causes psychosis remains unclear, the risk of
developing psychosis from cannabis use by the general population,
irrespective of age or genes, is 41%. For heavy users - defined as
daily or weekly - the risk is in the range of 50% to 200%.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1163.a02.html

(14) SPARED JAIL, THE TEACHING ASSISTANT WHO GAVE CHILDREN CANNABIS
SO THEY WOULDN'T GO TO DEALERS

Pubdate: Tue, 09 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd
Author: Andrew Levy

A teaching assistant who gave her children cannabis was spared jail
yesterday after a judge heard she did it to stop them visiting street dealers.

Nicola Cooper, 43, intervened when she learned her teenage son and
daughter had experimented with the drug.

She feared they would be lured into trying harder drugs and become
involved in crime.

When police raided her home they found 116 grams of cannabis resin,
worth UKP200.

Cooper could have been jailed but a district judge ordered her to 200
hours' community work after hearing about her good character.

She had already quit her job following her arrest earlier this year.

Speaking after the hearing, Cooper insisted she had "done the right
thing" to keep her children away from dealers.

But she added: "I don't want my children involved in it any more.

"I think I was very lucky today. I could have been given a much
heavier sentence or even jailed.

"The kids would just come down and say, 'Do you mind if we pinch a
little smoke because we fancy one?'

"I regret breaking the law and feel sorry for that.

"Some people give their children alcohol and cigarettes at an early
age - but I gave mine cannabis."

[snip]

Cooper, a former nursery nurse, nanny and ceramics painter, added
after the case that while she had smoked cannabis since her teens,
she had often gone without it for long periods.

"I don't want to touch it again," she said.

"The whole point was that it was a relaxing thing. But there is
nothing relaxing about it if you think the police are going to burst
into your home at any moment."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1163.a08.html

(15) THE TRUTH ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Pubdate: Mon, 8 Oct 2007
Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL)
Copyright: 2007 Creators Syndicate
Author: Steve Chapman, Creators Syndicate

Through all his years in politics, despite the endless obligation to
shake hands, smile for the cameras and coax money out of
contributors, John McCain has somehow avoided becoming a complete
phony - something that John Edwards and Mitt Romney managed to
achieve within a week of entering politics. Annoy McCain, and you
won't have to wait long to find out.

Even a sickly, soft-spoken woman in a wheelchair gets no pass from
him. The other day, at a meeting with voters in New Hampshire, Linda
Macia mentioned her use of medical marijuana and politely asked his
position on permitting it. Barely were the words out of her mouth
before the Arizona senator spun on his heel, stalked away and heaped
scorn on the idea.

"You may be one of the unique cases in America that only medical
marijuana can relieve pain from," he said, in a skeptical tone.
"Every medical expert I know of, including the AMA, says there are
much more effective and much more, uh, better treatments for pain."
He also ridiculed the notion that police would arrest patients for
using marijuana as medicine.

It's refreshing that McCain is willing to state his position with
such unvarnished candor. It would be even better if he knew what he
was talking about.

[snip]

The mystery is not why anyone believes cannabis can be safe and
effective therapy. The mystery is why so many politicians,
particularly Republican presidential candidates - Ron Paul, a
physician, being the heroic exception - are unwilling to consider the
possibility, or to leave the matter up to the states. It's not even
clear their hardline stance is smart politics in their own party.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1163.a07.html

(16) GREAT HEMP HOPE

Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 2007
Source: NOW Magazine (CN ON)
Copyright: 2007 NOW Communications Inc.
Author: Wayne Roberts

Is Barrie Farmer's Hemp Oil The Key To The Future Of Ontario Agriculture?

"Rope, not dope" was my slogan some years back, when I was involved
in a successful campaign (yes, we do win some battles) to legalize
industrial hemp in Canada.

My eye was on the 25,000 industrial products hemp was thought to
offer, a farm-friendly, pesticide-free, green source for everything
from clothing to rope to paper to plastic.

It never occurred to me that food would be first out of the gate once
the plant was legalized.

But it did occur to Greg Herriott, who was then running a design shop
that had just won acclaim for producing a reusable takeout coffee cup.

Herriott understood that paper, clothing and plastic are volume
businesses. Manufacturers won't switch inputs until they can be
guaranteed a continuous and reliable supply. So the place to start
ramping up the volume of the hemp supply was food, he figured.

Food products are small-scale, niche-friendly and offer a base for
independent entrepreneurs who can substitute sweat and chutzpah for
equity a gateway industry, so to speak.

As soon as he tasted some hemp oil in 1993, Herriott was hooked. "It
was a no-brainer, since it could work itself into gourmet and health
circles," he said, referring to the rich store of essential fatty
acids and antioxidants that make hemp oil an alternative to flax and
fish oils, the latter not an option for vegans or those concerned
about mercury contamination.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1166.a09.html

International News

COMMENT: (17-20)

Pressure mounts on U.S.-installed Afghan "president" Hamid Karzai to
allow the U.S. to put chemicals on Afghan poppy crops. Like the
proverbial pusher trying to foist unwanted chemicals on his little
brother, U.S. officials are again trying to "persuade" Karzai to
give in and take the spray according to a report in this week's San
Jose Mercury News. Of course, "Bush administration officials say
they will respect whatever decision the Afghan government makes on the matter."

In Canada this week, a chorus of articles across the country gave
Prime Minister Steven Harper rotten tomatoes for his blatant
electioneering of the drugs issue. The Vancouver Courier this week
saw Harper's handling of Insite as playing politics. "This is simply
a delaying tactic to get Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his
minority government past the next general election. Once it's over,
the injection site will be shut down."

The Edmonton Criminal Trial Lawyers Association saw Harper's
mandatory minimum sentences for drugs announcement last week as
"electioneering", also. Quoted in the Edmonton Journal last week,
association president Brian Hurley describes Harper as, "a man in
full election mode who would like nothing better than his government
to be brought down on a piece of legislation for mandatory minimum
drug sentences... This is about a callous, callous effort by Mr.
Harper to win votes and get a majority."

And from the U.K. this week, police chief Richard Brunstrom of North
Wales joins the ranks of police officials who have denounced the
prohibition of drugs, calling present drugs laws "not fit for
purpose" and "immoral," labeling the drug war "unwinnable." Said
Police Chief Brunstrom, "The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 should be
repealed and replaced by a new Substance Misuse Act based upon the
legalisation and careful regulation of all substances of abuse in one
consistent manner... one based upon evidence, not moralistic dogma."

(17) AFGHAN PRESIDENT RECONSIDERS REQUEST TO SPRAY OPIUM CROP

Pubdate: Tue, 09 Oct 2007
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The New York Times Company
Authors: Kirk Semple and Tim Golden, New York Times

KABUL, Afghanistan - After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan's
history, U.S. officials have renewed efforts to persuade the Afghan
government to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies, and they
have found some supporters within President Hamid Karzai's
administration, officials of both countries said.

Since early this year, Karzai has repeatedly declared his opposition
to spraying the poppy fields, whether by crop-dusting airplanes or by
eradication teams on the ground.

But Afghan officials said that the Karzai administration was now
re-evaluating that stance. Some proponents within the government are
pushing a trial program of ground spraying that could begin before
the harvest next spring.

[snip]

"There has always been a need to balance the obvious greater
effectiveness of spray against the potential for losing hearts and
minds," said Thomas Schweich, the assistant secretary of state for
international narcotics issues.

Bush administration officials say they will respect whatever decision
the Afghan government makes on the matter. Crop-eradication efforts,
they insist, are only part of a broad, new counter-narcotics strategy
that will include increased efforts against traffickers, more aid for
legal agriculture and development and greater military support for
the drug fight.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1158.a06.htm

(18) TORIES PUT GAG ON INSITE STUDIES

Pubdate: Fri, 05 Oct 2007
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Vancouver Courier
Author: Allen Garr

No one should have any illusion about Ottawa's decision to grant the
supervised injection site a six-month extension.

Rather than breathing a sigh of relief at Tory Health Minister Tony
Clement's curt announcement Tuesday, people were outraged. Former
mayors, leading scientists and community activists have all come to
the same cynical conclusion: This is simply a delaying tactic to get
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his minority government past the
next general election. Once it's over, the injection site will be shut down.

[snip]

Meanwhile, qualified scientists have been refusing the work in
droves. And not just because of the short time frame. Ottawa is
insisting on a gag rule in all its contracts. People involved in the
research are prohibited from talking about their results publicly
until six months after their work is completed.

[snip]

The B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at UBC had one project
approved but turned it down. Both UBC's lawyers and the university's
research ethics board considered the gag order "unethical."

Further, an article in Open Medicine by University of Toronto
researcher Stephen Hwang, signed by 130 Canadian doctors, scientists
and public health public health professionals, denounced Clement
saying: "Scientific evidence is about to be trumped by ideology."

And do the Tories care? Apparently not.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1153.a01.htm

(19) HARPER PLAN 'REPUGNANT ELECTIONEERING'

Pubdate: Sat, 06 Oct 2007
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2007 The Edmonton Journal
Author: Duncan Thorne, The Edmonton Journal

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Don't Work, Local Criminal Trial Lawyers Group Says

EDMONTON - The Harper government's promise of mandatory jail
sentences for drug pushers is repugnant electioneering, says the
Edmonton Criminal Trial Lawyers Association.

The federal government knows through its own studies that mandatory
minimum sentences don't work, association president Brian Hurley said Friday.

[snip]

Harper announced his government will introduce legislation this fall
to impose minimum jail terms for making and trafficking dangerous
drugs such as methamphetamines and cocaine. He has suggested the
defeat of major government bills may trigger an election.

"This is a man in full election mode who would like nothing better
than his government to be brought down on a piece of legislation for
mandatory minimum drug sentences," Hurley said.

"This is about a callous, callous effort by Mr. Harper to win votes
and get a majority," he said. "To do something as significant as to
change the criminal code in a way you know is not going to be
helpful, for pure electioneering, is just repugnant."

[snip]

The promise of minimum prison terms comes as federal prosecutors, who
handle drug prosecutions in Alberta, are negotiating for higher
pay. Most of the 2,900 federal prosecutors across Canada were
unionized last year, under the Association of Justice Counsel.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1155.a04.htm

(20) POLICE CHIEF CALLS FOR DRUGS LEGALISATION BY SCRAPPING
CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 2007
Source: Daily Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2007 Associated Newspapers Ltd

Controversial police chief Richard Brunstrom has called for the
legalisation and regulation of all drugs in a report published today.

Mr Brunstrom, the chief constable of North Wales, described the
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as "not fit for purpose" and "immoral" and
urged its repeal.

Mr Brunstrom, in a report to North Wales police authority, described
the current UK drugs strategy as "unwinnable".

He said: "The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 should be repealed and
replaced by a new Substance Misuse Act based upon the legalisation
and careful regulation of all substances of abuse in one consistent manner."

Mr Brunstrom urged his authority to support the stance in its
response to the Government's Drugs: Our Community, Your Say consultation paper.

In a 30-page document - Drugs Policy, A Radical Look Ahead - Mr
Brunstrom said: "UK drugs policy for the last several decades has
been based upon prohibition with a list of banned substances placed
into three classes - the ABC system - and draconian criminal
penalties for the possession or supply of controlled drugs.

"This system has not worked well. Illegal drugs are now in plentiful
supply, and have become consistently cheaper in real terms over the years.

"The number of users has increased dramatically. Drug crime has
soared equally dramatically as a direct consequence of the illegality
of some drugs and the huge profits from illegal trading have
supported a massive rise in organised criminality.

"Most importantly, the current system illogically excludes both
alcohol and tobacco.

"A new classification system, a 'hierarchy of harm' encompassing all
substances of abuse and based upon identified social harms, should,
in my opinion, be at the centre of a new substance misuse regime -
one based upon evidence, not moralistic dogma."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1168.a09.htm