THIS JUST IN

COMMENT: (1-4)

Even a Census Bureau analysis points to the war on some politically
selected drugs as a cause for the United States to be the world's
incarceration nation.

Many millions suffer needless pain because the Drug Enforcement
Agency as a matter of policy looks over the shoulders of our doctors.

Perhaps we will see some belated justice as a judge firmly slaps
Alameda County, California officials for their conspiracy to
undermine the rights of the voters.

We are reminded that a goal of MAP is to call attention to the
propaganda and spin presented by the opposition, which takes its
'facts' from the ONDCP right down to the use of the words 'smoked
marijuana,' so that readers may submit their own letters to the
editor and OPEDs in response.

(1) INFLUX OF U.S. INMATES SLOWING, CENSUS SAYS

Pubdate: Thu, 27 Sep 2007
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2007 The Washington Post Company
Author: N. C. Aizenman, Washington Post Staff Writer

Number Incarcerated Still a Record High; Sentencing in '90s Cited As Factor

After two decades of massive growth, the U.S. prison population began
to level off in the first six years of this century, according to
2006 census statistics released today.

At nearly 2.1 million, the number of adults in correctional
institutions remains at an all-time high. Still, that figure
represents a 4 percent rise since 2000 -- nowhere near the 77 percent
spike in the prison population from 1990 to 2000.

The data, from the yearly American Community Survey, represent the
Census Bureau's first in-depth look at people in prisons since the
1980 Census. Although the numbers vary, the census findings generally
track with trends in twice-yearly statistics compiled by the Justice
Department.

Many analysts point to crack cocaine in the 1980s as a catalyst for
the subsequent boom in incarceration rates. Attracted by the drug's
low price, dealers in impoverished urban neighborhoods began selling
it in open-air markets, where they and their customers were targets
for arrest. Thirst for the drug also fueled other crimes by addicts.

Perhaps the most significant factor, however, was the introduction of
tough sentencing laws in the 1990s.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1110/a07.html

(2) COLUMN: OUCH! THE DEA'S BAD-FAITH WAR ON PAIN DOCTORS

Pubdate: Thu, 27 Sep 2007
Source: Phoenix, The (MA)
Copyright: 2007 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Author: Harvey Silverglate

Things haven't been going well as of late for Needham-based
chronic-pain specialist Dr. Joseph Zolot. In May, state and federal
officials seized his office records. One month later, the state
Board of Registration for medicine revoked his license. Now that the
US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and local police have launched a
criminal investigation into whether he overprescribed narcotic
painkillers such as OxyContin to patients, Zolot's troubles are about
to multiply.

The notion that Zolot crossed the line that separates legitimate
treatment from enabling destructive narcotic addictions -- that is,
the line between ethical doctoring and a serious federal felony --
presumes that such a distinction has been made. In fact, federal
drug-enforcement authorities have never given physicians much
guidance as to what constitutes legal versus criminal prescribing conduct.

Yet the feds continue to prosecute a handful of pain specialists
every year, sending well-meaning doctors into a panic that they, too,
will be the victim of ill-defined laws. For Zolot, that threat is all
too real, as his will likely be the next name on the docket.

[snip]

In 2004, in a rare and long-overdue gesture of cooperation with
health-care professionals, the DEA produced a pamphlet, also posted
on its Web site, titled "Prescription Pain Medications: Frequently
Asked Questions and Answers for Health Care Professionals and Law
Enforcement Personnel." The tract, co-written with the Pain & Policy
Studies Group at the University of Wisconsin, was a well-reasoned and
thorough guide to prescribing controlled narcotics. June Dahl, a
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of pharmacology, even
hailed the guidelines as "a great step toward reducing the barriers"
to the treatment of severe pain.

"It's amazing how much confusion there still is," Dahl told the
Associated Press in August 2004. "There is a reluctance to give
adequate doses. It kind of seems unbelievable that there is a
reluctance to treat people who are dying."

Two months later, though, the tract was removed from the DEA's Web
site. Doctors expressed shock, while 30 state attorneys general
signed a letter to the Justice Department protesting the puzzling
move. "Adequate pain management is often difficult to obtain," wrote
the attorneys general, "because many physicians fear investigations
and enforcement actions if they prescribe adequate levels of opioids
or have many patients with prescriptions for pain medication."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1107/a09.html

(3) MARIJUANA INITIATIVE WILL BE ON 08 BALLOT

Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2007
Source: Oakland Tribune, The (CA)
Copyright: 2007 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
Author: Chris Metinko, Staff Writer

An Alameda County Superior Court judge has nullified the results of a
hotly-contested 2004 election due to mishandling of a recount by
Alameda County election officials, and ordered Berkeley's Measure R
- -- a citizen-sponsored medical-marijuana initiative -- back on the
ballot for a re-vote in 2008.

Judge Winifred Smith upheld a tentative decision from July where she
sided with an organization of medical marijuana advocates who sought
to contest the narrow defeat of the marijuana dispensary initiative
that year. The initiative failed by 191 votes, or less than half a
percent of the ballots cast.

[snip]

Smith found that the medical-marijuana group never could exercise its
right to contest the election because county officials barred access
to electronic voting machine records needed to show whether the
ballots were recorded accurately.

Within days after voters went to the polls and voted on Measure R,
Alameda County's then-Registrar of Voters Bradley Clark charged
Americans for Safe Access a little more than $22,600 to recount
electronic ballots on the county's touch-screen voting machines, made
by Diebold Election Systems Inc.

[snip]

Smith ruled Tuesday that Alameda County officials have engaged in "a
pattern of withholding relevant evidence and failing to preserve
evidence" necessary to conduct a recount of the hotly contested
measure, evidence the judge found "to be irretrievable due to (the
county's) mishandling" of the Diebold voting machines.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1110/a08.html

(4) OPED: MEDICAL MARIJUANA A DECOY IN EFFORT TO LEGALIZE ALL DRUGS

Pubdate: Fri, 28 Sep 2007
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Author: Brenda Chabot, Guest Columnist

The Inland Valley Drug Free Community Coalition stands firmly against
medical-marijuana dispensaries. We have a tough fight in front of
us, but one that we are winning - and it's due in large part to the
efforts of political leaders, community volunteers and parents who
are standing up against the plight of medical-marijuana dispensaries.

Leadership in this community has helped to expose the dangers of
smoked marijuana and the dangers of allowing marijuana shops to
operate in our communities. We applaud Ontario and Norco, just to
name a few, who have had the courage to stand up and ban these
dispensaries outright from their cities. We want other cities to do
the same, especially those who continue to sit on the fence with a moratorium.

Research has not demonstrated that smoked marijuana can be helpful as medicine.

Marinol is a medicine - smoked marijuana is not. Unfortunately,
positive coverage of the medical-marijuana debate has contributed to
misperception that marijuana is harmless or may even have health
benefits. Interviews with teens found that some believe that
marijuana can cure cancer and other serious diseases.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1111/a01.html

WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW

Domestic News- Policy

COMMENT: (5-9)

The drug war is supposed to protect kids, but who's protecting their
sense of liberty? As drug testing gains popularity in high schools,
one school district is looking at drug testing junior high students.
A private high school in Illinois which has implemented mandatory
drug testing for all students reflects on the policy as about half
the students have completed testing. The flaws and expenses are
recognized, but the administration still seems happy with it. And,
the war on drugs certainly isn't helping families involved in medical
marijuana in California. And, finally, in meth news: The big federal
grants are being handed out, and at least one area is planning on
overtime for drug officers.

(5) HALL SCHOOLS LOOK AT EXPANDING DRUG TESTING TO MIDDLE SCHOOL

Pubdate: Wed, 19 Sep 2007
Source: Times, The (Gainesville, GA)
Copyright: 2007 Gainesville Times
Author: Jeff Gill, The Times

The notion of expanding random drug screening beyond high school
athletics is picking up steam in Hall County schools.

A systemwide committee has been exploring that possibility as it
relates to students in middle and high school athletics and other
extracurricular programs, as well as students who drive their cars to school.

School officials issued a statement Tuesday summarizing the
committee's work, which includes a survey of staff members at several
schools over the potential policy expansion.

"The vast majority ... supported the possible expansion of the
program," the report stated.

District spokesman Gordon Higgins, who directs the committee, said
that possibly by January the committee could ask the Hall County
Board of Education to schedule public hearings on the matter.

The panel comprises administrators, coaches and parents. School
board approval would be required for any changes to the current policy.

Higgins said that at this point, the committee envisions changes, if
they happen, taking effect in the fall of 2008.

"The middle school piece (of the potential changes) is the most
interesting thing to me," he said. "I don't know how parents will
think about kids at those ages being tested for drugs."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1078/a01.html

(6) IS ST. VIATOR PASSING THE DRUG TEST?

Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2007
Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)
Copyright: 2007 The Daily Herald Company
Author: Kerry Lester, Daily Herald

With More Than Half of School Tested, Even President Admits It's Not Perfect

Four months after announcing its controversial decision to drug test
every student with a sample of hair, reality has hit at St. Viator High School.

And for some students, reality bites.

"I had to have part of my leg shaved," said senior Rob Smith.

Smith, who sports a close cropped hairstyle, didn't have long enough
hair on his head to clip for drug testing.

A sample, which must be several centimeters long and approximately
the diameter of a shoelace, is taken from each student's body and
sent to Psychemedics Corp. laboratories in California, where it is
evaluated for traces of marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines,
PCP and ecstasy.

Buzz cut or long flowing locks, everyone is getting tested.

"There have even been guys who have lost some armpit hair," said
freshman Cory Kay.

More than half of the Arlington Heights school's 1,000 students have
been tested since Aug. 27, according to the Rev. Mick Egan, president
of St. Viator. Those who refuse the test face the possibility of expulsion.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1103/a04.html

(7) THE FEDERAL WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA BECOMES A WAR ON CHILDREN

Pubdate: Tue, 25 Sep 2007
Source: AlterNet (US Web)
Copyright: 2007 Independent Media Institute
Author: Dan Bernath

Automatic weapons. Check. Helicopters. Check. Dogs. Check.
Bulletproof vests. Check.

You may not buy the government's characterization of its campaign
against medical marijuana patients as a "war on drugs," but
increasingly violent, militaristic tactics in recent months offer a
troubling glimpse into the federal law enforcement community's
mentality: To them, this is war.

Raids on medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California on July
17 by federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents, often with
local law enforcement officers in tow, seemed designed to send a
clear signal that the feds were deliberately escalating their war on
medical marijuana patients.

The enemy, then, are people like Ronnie Naulls, a Riverside medical
marijuana patient who owned two of the dispensaries raided that day.

A church-going family man who used medical marijuana to ease chronic
pain from injuries sustained in a 2001 car accident, Naulls already
had two successful businesses -- one as an IT consultant and another
as a real estate property manager -- when he established the Healing
Nations Collective to save fellow Corona patients the hours-long
drive to Los Angeles for medicine.

By all accounts, Naulls ran his collectives with exemplary
scrupulousness. He maintained strict dress codes and professional
standards for all employees. He paid state taxes on the dispensaries
- -- amounting to several hundred thousand dollars a year -- even when
loose tax regulations allowed other dispensary owners to slip through
the cracks. Profits from the dispensaries went to local and national
cancer organizations.

Nevertheless, at 5:50 a.m., July 17, Naulls' home and businesses were
invaded by DEA agents armed with shotguns, automatic rifles -- even
helicopters. They seized everything he owned: his businesses, his
property, all of his accounts.

But that wasn't the worst of it. County child protective services
came along on the raid and took Naulls' three daughters, aged 1 to 5,
and charged him and his wife with child endangerment. They weren't
even accused of breaking any state laws.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1099/a05.html

(8) GRANT AIDS WAR ON DRUGS

Pubdate: Tue, 25 Sep 2007
Source: Republican & Herald (PA)
Copyright: 2007 Pottsville Republican, Inc
Author: Stephen J. Pytak

The Schuylkill County district attorney will hire a third full-time
prosecutor and Pottsville police will have the ability to give
officers overtime in the war on drugs thanks to a $449,993 federal
grant, city and county officials said Monday.

Schuylkill Community Education Council "This is a substantial grant,"
said District Attorney James P. Goodman, "and it will go a long way
in helping local law enforcement."

The COPS 2007 Methamphetamine Initiative grant is targeting
communities facing significant meth problems. This year, the federal
government awarded 117 law enforcement agencies across the nation a
total of $43.6 million through the program. And the only other grant
this year was awarded to a law enforcement agency in the state, a
$377,965 grant to state police, according to the Department of
Justice Web site.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1104/a02.html

Law Enforcement & Prisons

COMMENT: (9-13)

Another botched drug raid results in a lawsuit; how many happen that
don't get reported because no one sues? In Alaska, federal
authorities may be forced to reimburse a man for improperly seizing
his property after a drug investigation.

The Boston Globe featured an interesting analysis of how the
drug-war-driven prison binge is fundamentally changing culture in
America; while another study confirms again that minorities are
treated more harshly for drug crimes. And, in Missouri, a police
chief who actually understands the nature of democracy, even when it
comes to cannabis.

(9) SUIT OVER DRUG RAID

Pubdate: Tue, 25 Sep 2007
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Press Democrat
Author: Lori A. Carter, The Press Democrat

Damages Sought Against DEA Agents, Petaluma Officer In Mistaken ID Case

A North Bay couple whose home was raided by drug agents has filed a
federal lawsuit against the officers, claiming they violated their
civil and constitutional rights in a slipshod investigation that
ended with the case being dismissed for lack of evidence.

[snip]

No drugs, drug residue, money or weapons were found during the search
of Keane's house, which included the use of Accornero's drug-sniffing dog.

Still, Sonoma County prosecutors charged Keane with felony possession
of marijuana and he was booked into Sonoma County Jail.

Prosecutors later conceded there wasn't enough evidence to prove
Keane, 49, had committed any crime and dismissed the case "in the
interest of justice." The lawsuit was filed Thursday in U.S. District
Court. No hearing dates have been set.

[snip]

"They were so physically and emotionally abusive and excessive in how
they handled them," he said. "These are two very low-key, docile
people who were treated as if they were ax murderers."

Strange, 63, said in the suit that a DEA agent held her down with a
boot on her head as agents stormed through the house yelling, "Where
are your weapons?" and "You know why we're here." The officers
damaged the home furnishings, threatened and intimidated the couple,
ransacked their personal belongings and left the home "violated and
in disarray," the suit claims.

The couple says police violated their constitutional rights when they
failed to properly announce their presence or identify themselves,
didn't have permission to seize their property or arrest Keane,
lacked probable cause to search and used excessive force.

Keane says he spent about $20,000 trying to clear his name, and still
feels traumatized.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1104/a07.html

(10) FEDS MAY HAVE TO REIMBURSE MARIJUANA GROWER

Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2007
Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (AK)
Copyright: 2007 Fairbanks Publishing Company, Inc.
Author: Amanda Bohman

A Fairbanks man whose multimillion-dollar marijuana growing operation
was disbanded in the early 1990s is poised to be reimbursed for
hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property seized by the
federal government.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that John
Collette did not receive proper notice for items confiscated,
including two aircraft, a dump truck, snowmachines, a computer and
more than $40,000 from bank accounts, according to court documents.

A lower court will determine the items' worth, plus interest, unless
the federal government settles with Collette or exercises an appeal.

"Beating up on the government at every opportunity has been my deal
since I was 20 years old," said Collette, who is now 60.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1086/a01.html

(11) COLUMN: LIFE SENTENCE

Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2007
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2007 Globe Newspaper Company
Author: Christopher Shea

It's A Government Program Whose Impact Rivals the New Deal. It Pushes
Whole Communities Out of Society's Mainstream. It Costs Tens of
Billions of Dollars a Year. Scholars Are Just Beginning to
Understand How Prison Is Reshaping the Country.

WHAT if America launched a new New Deal and no one noticed? And what
if, instead of lifting the unemployed out of poverty, this
multibillion-dollar project steadily drove poor communities further
and further out of the American mainstream?

That's how America should think about its growing prison system, some
leading social scientists are saying, in research that suggests
prisons have a far deeper impact on the nation than simply punishing criminals.

Fueled by the war on drugs, "three-strike" laws, and mandatory
minimum sentences, America's prisons and jails now house some 2.2
million inmates - roughly seven times the figure of the early 1970s.
And Americans are investing vast resources to keep the system
running: The cost to maintain American correctional institutions is
some $60 billion a year.

For years sociologists saw prisons - with their disproportionately
poor, black, and uneducated populations - partly as mirrors of the
social and economic disparities that cleave American life. Now,
however, a new crop of books and articles are looking at the penal
system not just as a reflection of society, but a force that shapes it.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1092/a10.html

(12) DRUG SENTENCES WORSE FOR BLACKS

Pubdate: Wed, 26 Sep 2007
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2007 Journal Sentinel Inc.
Author: David Doege

Hispanics, Too, Sent to Prison More Than Whites, Study Finds

African-Americans and Hispanics convicted of drug trafficking in
Wisconsin are more likely to wind up in prison than white drug
dealers, according to a report on race and sentencing by the state
Sentencing Commission.

Compared with whites, Hispanics are 2 1/2 times as likely to be
imprisoned, while blacks are nearly twice as likely to end up behind
bars for dealing drugs, according to the report issued last month.

The amount of racial disparity found in sentences increased as the
offense severity decreased. Less severe crimes, such as drug
trafficking, robbery, burglary and third-degree sexual assault,
showed greater levels of prison/probation racial disparity than more
severe offenses such as armed robbery, sexual assault of a child and
first- and second-degree sexual assault.

"Racial disparities do exist within Wisconsin's sentencing system,"
the report concludes. "Yet the true causes of these disparities are
often difficult to identify and measure."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1103/a09.html

(13) CHIEF SAYS HIS JOB IS TO SUPPORT PUBLIC'S MANDATES

Pubdate: Fri, 21 Sep 2007
Source: Joplin Globe, The (MO)
Copyright: 2007 The Joplin Globe
Author: Dave Woods

Joplin police Chief Lane Roberts interview

Joplin police Chief Lane J. Roberts, a self-described child of the
'60s with more than 30 years of law-enforcement experience, makes no
bones about his previous use of marijuana.

As a young man serving in the U.S. military, he says he smoked the
drug a couple of times, but unlike former President Bill Clinton,
Roberts acknowledges he inhaled. "Like a lot of people my age, I had
an opportunity to experiment with it," he said during a recent
interview with the Globe concerning the launch of a marijuana
decriminalization initiative, spearheaded by a petition signature
drive in Joplin. "I didn't like it. It made me feel like a criminal.
I don't know how else I can put it."

For Roberts, it is not about what he thinks of marijuana use that
matters, it's what the voters in Joplin choose at the polls, he said.

"My opinion about the use or non-use is frankly irrelevant," he said.

"I will be objective about it. So, if the public says this is what we
want ... my job is to support the public's mandates."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n1101/a04.html

Cannabis & Hemp

COMMENT: (14-17)

Yet another "canna-panic" article from the British tabloids. Admire
how they associate the new "cannabis slave" problem with the
reclassification of cannabis in 2004, which, contrary to the article,
did not increase the rewards nor decrease the risks of cannabis
cultivation in the U.K.

Advocates of a decrim' initiative in Joplin, Missouri seem to have
their work cut out for them, including winning the support of young
voters turned off by their parent's cannabis use.

A veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom discovered and insightfully
explored the question, "Can medical marijuana help returning soldiers
from the Iraq and Afghanistan war deal with post- traumatic stress disorder?"

Last week the DEA continued their campaign against California's
medicinal cannabis dispensaries, raiding clubs in Sacramento and
Oakland, and sending intimidating letters to landlords in Santa
Barbara. Be sure to chuckle at the obligatory pot puns.

(14) CHILDREN TRAFFICKED FROM ASIA TO UK TO WORK IN CANNABIS FACTORIES

Pubdate: Sun, 23 Sep 2007
Source: Independent on Sunday (UK)
Copyright: Independent Newspapers Ltd.
Contact: sundayletters@independent.co.uk
Author: Nina Lakhani

Youngsters Are Being Shipped Across the World and Held Captive in
Towns and Suburbs Up and Down the Country.

Hundreds of young children illegally trafficked into the UK are the
new victims of Britain's booming cannabis trade. Figures obtained by
The Independent on Sunday reveal that, as organised criminals push
cannabis production to record levels, at least one child a week is
being found by police raiding cannabis factories.

Experts warn that children as young as 13 are been smuggled from
south-east Asia to work as "slaves" for gangs in dangerous
conditions, being kept captive in towns and suburbs across the UK.
They believe there has been a five-fold increase in the trade in the
past 12 months.

Police believe organised crime gangs, largely Vietnamese, have moved
quickly to dominate the UK cannabis market after declassification in
2004 increased the potential rewards of growing and selling the drug
and decreased the risks of punishment.

[snip]

Martin Barnes, chief executive of the charity DrugScope, said: "Many
of these young people are victims twice over - at the hands of the
criminal gangs who brought them to this country, forcing them to work
in cramped, dangerous conditions, and again when they find themselves
treated as criminals by the UK authorities. The presumption should be
against these young people serving jail terms and instead given
support and protection."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1101.a08.html

(15) INITIATIVE PETITION AIMS TO DECRIMINALIZE MARIJUANA

Pubdate: Fri, 21 Sep 2007
Source: Joplin Globe, The (MO)
Copyright: 2007 The Joplin Globe
Author: Dave Woods

Kelly Maddy, president of the Joplin chapter of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, took a deep breath on
Friday and started his fight.

Joplin's City Hall was chosen as the starting point of a year-long
battle to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in
Joplin and the paraphernalia that's used to smoke it.

"We are here today to introduce an opportunity for the citizens of
Joplin to enact a more sensible marijuana policy," he announced.

Maddy was flanked by Kris Krane, the executive director of national
organization, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Ryan Denham,
president of the Alliance for Drug Reform Policy in Arkansas.

[snip]

The Sensible Sentencing Initiative, as proposed by Maddy and Joplin
NORML, would, if endorsed by a majority of Joplin voters in November
2008, make possession of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana or
marijuana paraphernalia an administrative offense.

The petition also makes clear that adults arrested for simple
possession of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia would not be
jailed or have to post bond. Those found guilty of the infraction in
municipal court would be subject to a $250 maximum fine.

[snip]

For R. Lewis Phillips, 69, of Joplin, the idea of decriminalizing
marijuana is a non-issue.

"No, not even ... no way would I support that," said Phillips.

"It's (marijuana) a drug. I don't approve of drugs at all. Marijuana,
cocaine ... they are all the same. I don't think medical marijuana is
the answer either. Once you open that can of worms, there is no end
to it," he said.

[snip]

Paula Phillips, 68, agreed with her husband, R. Lewis Phillips, about
the possible decriminalization of marijuana and said her mind is made
up about the initiative petition.

"I would not sign it. It sends the wrong message," she said. "We
older citizens should give the younger people an example of what is
right and what is wrong. Just say no."

At 19 years old, Joplin resident Samantha Helmes said she would not
support the decriminalization effort either.

"I'm against the whole drug, tobacco and alcohol thing anyway," she
explained. "I don't think the laws against it are tough enough as it
is. I'm the daughter of a marijuana addict and don't think it's a
good idea. It's an issue I've faced a long time, I would never sign
the petition."

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1101.a01.html

(16) MEDICAL POT AND THE IRAQ VETERAN

Pubdate: Mon, 01 Oct 2007
Source: Esquire (US)
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications, Inc.
Author: Colby Buzzell

We're Back From the War. We Can't Sleep. We're Getting Divorced. If
Marijuana Is Good for Post-Traumatic Stress, Who Are We to Deny Its
Medicinal Properties?

Can medical marijuana help returning soldiers from the Iraq and
Afghanistan war deal with post-traumatic stress disorder?

This question -- that it might, that it might not, or that it might
even make it worse -- hadn't even occurred to me until recently, when
I was on the phone with the receptionist at a local medical-marijuana
clinic trying to line up an appointment with a doctor in high hopes
of obtaining a California medical-marijuana ID card so that I could
purchase some cannabis as "medication."

I'm what you might call a recreational drug user, as well as an
Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran and a card-carrying member of
the VFW. To be honest, the real reason I was looking to score a
coveted medical-marijuana card was because I had plans that night to
go and watch Zodiac at the Los Feliz theater here in Los Angeles. I
read the book years ago, thoroughly enjoyed it, and wanted to see the
movie adaptation while under the influence of a narcotic, which at
that moment I didn't have.

The idea to obtain a medical-marijuana card came after I clicked on a
link that was posted on the Drudge Report that morning, "Calif. high
school students 'openly smoking medical marijuana in class'..."

The article essentially said that some high school students down in
San Diego armed with medical-marijuana cards were coming to class
baked, thinking that these cards might help them get away with it.
Hysterically brilliant yet insanely retarded way of thinking. But
this got me thinking that if high school kids can easily obtain these
cards, then I could, too. Right?

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1106.a07.html

(17) FEDS TARGET S.B. MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

Pubdate: Thu, 27 Sep 2007
Source: Santa Barbara Independent, The (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Santa Barbara Independent, Inc.

Up in Smoke?

After enjoying years of relatively hassle-free business, Santa
Barbara's medical marijuana scene is feeling the heat this week, with
a distinctly ganja-scented cloud of uncertainty hanging over its
future in the wake of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
letter-writing campaign.

In recent days, more than a dozen local property owners have received
word from the DEA that they could face the potential seizure of their
property and assets if they continue to rent space to cannabis
companies - a threat that has dispensary operators and building
owners alike waiting to exhale. Feeling the fallout from the
letters, at least two of the City of Santa Barbara's 10 dispensaries
are facing eviction notices, while many others are working overtime
with their landlords to prevent a similar fate from befalling their
storefronts. "Make no mistake about it: The DEA has officially come
to Santa Barbara," said Jennifer Nelson, the head of Santa Barbara's
chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national nonprofit
dedicated to protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients.

Though no actual litigation has yet resulted, the DEA has in the past
month sent out at least 150 similar letters to property owners
throughout the state - the bulk of them to addresses in Southern
California, said Kris Hermes, an ASA spokesperson. "Basically, for no
more than the cost of postage, [the DEA] gets to shut down as many
dispensaries as possible," Hermes said.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1107.a05.html

International News

COMMENT: (18-21)

From Mexico this week, the army is again accused of rape and torture
in their execution of President Calderon's drug war, but this time
the accusations carry a new twist. The Mexican government's own
"Human Rights Commission" were the ones making the accusation. Get
the military out of the business of enforcing prohibition, says the Commission.

In New Zealand, the Greens and a nationalist party wrangled over a
proposed "stoned driver law" which, on the surface, is intended to
spare the public from impaired drivers. But when the nationalist NZ
First party wanted to go beyond getting impaired drivers off the
road, and expressed a desire to heap punishments on such drivers -
beyond punishments meted out to drunk drivers - the Greens balked.

In Bolivia, it has been legal to grow almost an acre of coca per
farm, for almost three years, the length of time Evo Morales has been
in office. While Washington prohibitionists lust after the day the
coca plant is extinct, peasant farmers on the ground in Bolivia are
pleased they may legally grow a limited amount of the sacred leaf.

And finally this week, we leave you with a thought-provoking piece
from Matthew Claxton of the Langley Advance newspaper in British
Columbia, Canada. "Legalize drugs, and we can forget about grow ops
destroying houses, about chemicals from meth labs being dumped in
local creeks. We can stop worrying that the Hells Angels or the Big
Circle Boys are controlling the drug trade; the trade will be
controlled by dull pharmaceutical firm executives."

(18) MEXICAN SOLDIERS ARE ACCUSED OF RAPE, TORTURE, REPORT SAYS

Pubdate: Sat, 22 Sep 2007
Source: Tampa Tribune (FL)
Copyright: 2007 The Associated Press
Author: The Associated Press

Panel: Pull Troops Out of Drug War

MEXICO CITY - A government-run human rights commission accused
soldiers of rape and torture on Friday and recommended the army be
pulled out of Mexico's nationwide drug war.

The report by the National Human Rights Commission is the first
official document to back up long-standing allegations of human
rights abuses by soldiers who are under orders by President Felipe
Calderon to retake large swaths of territory controlled by powerful
drug cartels.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1095.a03.html

(19) ROADBLOCK FOR STONED DRIVER LAW

Pubdate: Mon, 24 Sep 2007
Source: Dominion Post, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2007 The Dominion Post
Author: Haydon Dewes

Government plans to crack down on stoned drivers have stalled, with a
political scrap emerging over whether the culprits should also face
drugs charges.

The Government is drafting laws to make driving while impaired by
illegal drugs an offence similar to drink-driving.

But it is now unclear whether the law change, yet to be introduced to
Parliament, has the support to pass.

Government allies the Greens and NZ First are on a collision course
over whether motorists who are proved to be on drugs should face
prosecution for also using illicit substances before getting behind the wheel.

It is understood the Greens have insisted on a provision being added
to the bill preventing evidence gathered during bloodtesting of
impaired drivers being used for any other purpose - including
prosecution under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

It is highly unlikely that NZ First would support such a move, which
would see police turning a blind eye to concrete evidence of illegal drug use.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1105.a03.html

(20) GOVERNMENT SAYS MOST OF THE CROP BEING USED LEGALLY

Pubdate: Fri, 21 Sep 2007
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2007 The Charlotte Observer
Author: Jack Chang, McClatchy Newspapers

Farmers Hope They Have A Friend In President, Who Was Once A Grower

SHINAHOTA, Bolivia -- Vitalia Merida grows as much coca as Bolivian
law allows -- four-tenths of an acre, or a "cato," as the measure is
known here.

[snip]

"Our belief is that if we could eradicate all coca, we could
eradicate all cocaine, because it is the basic ingredient for
cocaine," said Christy McCampbell, the State Department's deputy
assistant secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement.

[snip]

"There are no soldiers who show up at 3 or 4 in the morning with tear
gas to take away your crops," she said one afternoon as she rested in
the shade of a tree. "We have Evo now, and he's protecting us."

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1085.a09.html

(21) LEGALIZED DRUGS COULD SAVE LIVES

Pubdate: Fri, 21 Sep 2007
Source: Langley Advance (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Author: Matthew Claxton, Langley Advance

Here's A Few Headlines You Won't See Any Time Soon:

. Coors kingpin held in murder of Molson's godfather

. Police blame massacre on whiskey dealers

. Tobacco pusher gunned down in drive-by

. New strain of booze kills addicts

We don't see headlines like this because the drugs involved, alcohol
and nicotine, are legally available. You can follow government
guidelines to make them, sell them, ingest them and even commit slow
suicide, if that's your pleasure.

[snip]

Legalize drugs, and we can forget about grow ops destroying houses,
about chemicals from meth labs being dumped in local creeks. We can
stop worrying that the Hells Angels or the Big Circle Boys are
controlling the drug trade; the trade will be controlled by dull
pharmaceutical firm executives.

The life of an addict, I admit, will still be miserable. But a few
things will be better. With drugs made legally, dosages and purity
will be standard. Accidental overdoses will be less frequent.

The petty property crime that is necessary to pay for drugs - one of
the most massively marked-up products in the world - will drop.

The most important thing to do for a society contemplating this
legalization is to spend the money needed for education and
treatment. The policing money saved has to go into realistic and
comprehensive warnings, and help for the people who ignore those
warnings. Then we can start dealing with the problem.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n1086.a05.html

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