THIS JUST IN

(1) NATION'S POT PENALTIES CALLED A HODGEPODGE

Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc. Author: Bob Egelko,
Chronicle Staff Writer

Smoke a joint in Alabama or Oregon, and you can permanently lose the
right to adopt a child. Smoke one in Oklahoma, and you're ineligible
ever to be a foster parent. Light up in Utah, and get a lifelong
eviction notice from public housing.

Grow a marijuana plant in any one of a dozen states, including
California, and you're permanently barred from receiving welfare or
food stamps.

Those laws and others are detailed in the first nationwide study of
the consequences of marijuana convictions, in areas ranging from
family life to voting and jury service. Researchers headed by a
Northern California lawyer said they had found a hodgepodge of state
and federal restrictions that seemed to conflict with the overall
trend of reduced criminal penalties for pot.

"For many people, (the penalties) can result in a lifetime of
hardship -- an unrecognized punishment that continues long after they
have served their criminal sentences or completed probation," said
the report, which was paid for by a group that favors legalizing
marijuana under state regulation.

The chief author, attorney Richard Boire of Davis, said Tuesday that
many of those in the court system are unaware of the consequences of
marijuana convictions.

[snip]

Report: http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/rpts/col_sanctions.htm

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(2) GORE III CASE SPOTLIGHTS POT DEBATE

Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Washington Post Writers Group Author: Kathleen
Parker, Washington Post Writers Group

News that Al Gore's 24-year-old son, Al Gore III, was busted for pot
and assorted prescription pills has unleashed a torrent of mirth in
certain quarters.

Gore-phobes on the Internet apparently view the son's arrest and
incarceration as comeuppance for the father's shortcomings.
Especially rich was the fact that young Al was driving a Toyota Prius
when he was pulled over for going 100 mph -- just as Papa Gore was
set to preside over concerts during a 24-hour, seven-continent Live
Earth celebration to raise awareness about global warming.

Whatever one may feel about the former vice president's environmental
obsessions, his son's problems are no one's cause for celebration.
The younger Gore's high-profile arrest does, however, offer Americans
an opportunity to get real about drug prohibition, and especially
about marijuana laws.

For the record, I have no interest in marijuana except as a public
policy matter. My personal drug of choice is a heavenly elixir made
from crushed grapes. But it is, alas, a drug.

Tasty, attractive and highly ritualized in our culture, wine and
other alcoholic beverages are approved for responsible use despite
the fact that alcoholism and attendant problems are a plague, while
responsible use of a weed that, at worst, makes people boring and
hungry, is criminal.

Pot smokers might revolt, if they weren't so mellow.

[snip]

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(3) EDITORIAL: IN THE WAR ON DRUGS, ONE VICTORY

Pubdate: Fri, 06 Jul 2007 Source: Christian Science Monitor (US)
Copyright: 2007 The Christian Science Publishing Society Website:
http://www.csmonitor.com/

Action by states and the Congress has resulted in a sharp decrease in
the number of US meth labs.

Virginia's attorney general calls methamphetamine "probably the
ugliest drug...in 40 years." Many other law-enforcement officials
agree. So it's heartening that state and federal effort targeting
these illegal uglies is hitting a bull's eye - at least in reducing
the US supply of "meth."

Since the early 1990s, a meth resurgence has spawned thousands of
hidden labs in motel rooms, barns, and homes in rural and suburban
America. But the number of these meth kitchens is radically
declining, thanks to stepped-up law enforcement and laws that
restrict the supply of a key ingredient.

Meth is known to be quickly addictive, with severe health
repercussions. But it also has a social ripple effect. Children of
users may be abused as the user turns violent, or neglected for days
during the user's crash period. Kids and neighbors are also
endangered by the potentially explosive manufacturing process, which
produces five pounds of toxic waste for every pound of meth.

As the meth outbreak gathered steam, though, so did many states,
followed by the US Congress. Awareness, training, and shared
databases helped local and federal law enforcement, and many states
passed laws restricting the supply of the key meth ingredient
pseudoephedrine, found in cold medicines. Last year, Congress
brought uniformity to those laws by requiring pharmacies to move the
medicines behind the counter and limit the amount customers can buy
in a day. Customers must also show an ID.

The results are striking. According to the federal Drug Enforcement
Agency (DEA), the number of lab sites seized in the US has dropped by
58 percent since the peak in 2003 - to 7,347 last year. This is an
instance in which laws worked.

[snip]

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(4) EDITORIAL: HIGH TIME

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 Source: North Shore News (CN BC) Copyright:
2007 North Shore News Website: http://www.nsnews.com/

In handing a grow operator a conditional sentence last month, North
Vancouver provincial judge Doug Moss expressed frustration the court
could not do more to curb his activities.

We share Moss's frustration, but we believe it is misdirected. Moss
is right the system has little power to kill grow ops. But stiffer
sentences would do nothing to help. Our 80-year war on drugs has
shown this in abundance.

Despite the endless resources we have poured into enforcement, the
drug trade has thrived. Our efforts have driven up prices to the
point it is among the most lucrative industries on the planet.

Sky-high profits and a dependent consumer base have drawn criminal
organizations like flies, driving them to invest enormous effort into
the trade's expansion. No law will deter them.

In this sense, drug laws are arguably the biggest driver of crime in
the modern world. The trade can be tied to everything from gang
violence to property crime to the dangerous and destructive grow ops
Moss - like the rest of us - would like to see eradicated.

It is only when we realize we're heading the wrong way, when we
acknowledge our courts are indeed ineffectual under the current
system, that we will begin to make progress.

Drugs - marijuana included - should be legalized, regulated, and
restricted internationally, much the way cigarettes are. Drugs cannot
be vanquished, but the criminals who pedal them can. The dangers of
legalized drugs are manifold, but they are nothing compared to the
dangers of the status quo.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n795.a09.html

WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW

Domestic News- Policy

COMMENT: (5-8)

Pressure on Wall Street has been leading to increase drug use among
financial workers, according to a Reuters story. Some sources cited
in the article challenged the premise, but it does seem to follow
stories out of some colleges in recent years which detail
prescription drug use to cope with pressure and enhance academic performance.

Elsewhere, an indefatigable drug policy reformer from Illinois is
challenging the use of the DARE logo on local vehicle stickers; one
columnist argues its time to abandon Plan Colombia (the failures of
which are discussed in the International Section of DrugSense
Weekly); and a Wisconsin city adopts civil fines for low level
marijuana offenders, but somehow brings driving privileges into the equation.

(5) HILLBILLY HEROIN AND THE WALL STREET BOOM

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright:
2007 Calgary Herald Author: Tim McLaughlin, Reuters

Bankers Are Buckling Under The Strain

NEW YORK - Wall Street's push for record profits is ruining careers,
tearing apart families and keeping drug dealers busy, mental health
experts say.

While record bonuses make some Wall Street bankers feel invincible,
others become emotional wrecks from pressure to perform and some hit
rock bottom, experts say.

Harris Stratyner, a psychologist at Caron's New York Recovery Center,
said some executives he treats are experimenting with cocaine,
opiate-based drugs, ecstasy and marijuana, as well as abusing alcohol.

"It's like they're chasing a dream. Even when they make tremendous
profits, they're still worried," he said.

Alden Cass, a clinical psychologist who counsels Wall Streeters with
drug addictions, said drug abuse and high anxiety are undercurrents
to the current boom.

"When things are really good, they feel invulnerable," Cass said.
"That can lead to adultery, substance abuse, problems with the law."

When it comes to profits, things are really good. Six of the largest
U.S. investment banks -- Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup,
JPMorgan & Chase Co., Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns -- combined for
$17.6 billion U.S. in first-quarter profit this year. That's after
shelling out $28.8 billion U.S. for pay and benefits, financial
statements show.

Those profit and pay figures are more than double those seen in the
first quarter of 2000, the last days before the dot-com bubble
burst. New York's comptroller estimates Wall Street's 2006 bonuses
will generate $1.6 billion in state tax revenue.

"To my knowledge, we have not seen an uptick in drug use," Morgan
Stanley spokeswoman Jean Marie McFadden said.

The other five firms declined comment or did not return telephone calls.

But Cass said opiate abuse among his clients is rising and they
openly talk about being hooked on prescription drugs like OxyContin,
known as hillbilly heroin.

"That's what has changed from previous booms on Wall Street," he said.

Cass and Stratyner said their clients sometimes conceal their habits
by taking prescription drugs they get for back surgery or
sports-related injuries. The Internet has also expanded the black
market for drugs.

Wall Street professionals in their 20s use Ritalin and Adderall,
prescription drugs used to treat attention-deficit disorder and
hyperactivity, to enhance their performance as they grind out
100-hour weeks, Cass said.

[snip]

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(6) COLUMN: LAWYER WANTS DARE OFF VEHICLE STICKERS

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 Source: Daily Southtown (Tinley Park, IL)
Copyright: 2007 Daily Southtown Author: Phil Kadner

Jim Gierach has written a letter to the mayor of Oak Lawn, saying he
is offended by village vehicle stickers that feature the insignia of
one of the most popular anti-drug programs in the country -- DARE.

An attorney with offices in Oak Lawn, Gierach has spent nearly 20
years campaigning for the legalization of drugs such as marijuana,
cocaine and heroin.

"There isn't a single problem in this country, make that the world,
that isn't somehow tied to this country's prohibition against certain
drugs," Gierach said during a recent telephone conversation.

"You can't afford new schools because tax money is being used to
build new prisons to hold the people arrested for using or selling drugs.

[snip]

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(7) COLUMN: TIME TO END PLAN COLOMBIA

Pubdate: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 Source: Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA)
Copyright: 2007 The Spokesman-Review Author: Froma Harrop, Providence Journal

How to make enemies, squander billions and accomplish nothing: That's
a U.S. program called Plan Colombia. Its central idea is to slow the
flow of cocaine into the nostrils of American night-clubbers by
poisoning crops in the Andes.

Five billion wasted dollars later, cocaine surges cheaper and purer
into our cities and suburbs.

Since 2000, Plan Colombia has sprayed an area the size of Delaware
and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, Colombia's coca acreage rose 9 percent last year.

Indigenous peoples have been growing coca in the Andes for the last
2,000 years, give or take a few centuries. These farmers are not keen
on having their culture destroyed as they're dragged into our
War-on-Drugs lunacy. You can imagine.

So why do we do it?

Here's a hint: Almost half of the $630 million in military aid to
Colombia last year was scooped up by U.S. defense contractors.
There's money in the madness.

[snip]

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(8) CITY ADOPTS BOND AMOUNTS FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSORS

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 Source: Herald Times Reporter (Manitowoc,
WI) Copyright: 2007 Herald Times Reporter Author: Kristopher Wenn

MANITOWOC - First-time offenders of the city's new marijuana and drug
paraphernalia ordinance will have to account for hefty bond amounts
after Monday's Manitowoc Common Council meeting.

In June, the council moved to make possession of marijuana an
ordinance violation instead of a misdemeanor charge in circuit court.

Under the recently adopted rules, first-time offenders caught with
less than 8 grams will receive a city ticket. Those caught with more
than 8 grams of marijuana will face a misdemeanor charge, and second
and later offenses will be handled in circuit court, District
Attorney Mark Rohrer said in February.

On Monday, the council voted unanimously to adopt bond amounts that
were recommended by Municipal Judge Daniel Glaeser.

Adults found in possession of marijuana will have to pay a $300 bond
and get a minimum six-month driver's license suspension. For
possession of drug paraphernalia, adults will have to pay a $150 bond
and get a six-month or longer driver's license suspension.

A juvenile in possession of marijuana will have a $150 bond and a
six-month or longer suspension of the juvenile's driver's license.
For possession of drug paraphernalia, juveniles will have a bond
amount of $75 plus costs and will have their driver's license
suspended for six months or longer.

"I think it's reasonable," said Alderman Paul Tittl. "I believe that
it is painful enough to cause people to think twice . There has got
to be some teeth to it for it to be effective."

[snip]

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Law Enforcement & Prisons

COMMENT: (9-12)

At least one columnist made the connection between President Bush's
commutation of Lewis Libby's prison sentence as "excessive," and the
hundreds of thousands of people incarcerated for excessive terms due
to the war on drugs. In other news, some activists in Florida are
speaking out against the racism inherent in "drug-free zones"; some
drug cases are dropped in the wake of a police corruption scandal in
North Carolina, but not all the cases involving the controversial
officers; and the criminal case against Oxycontin continues, with the
judge arranging time for victim statements.

(9) COLUMN: LIBBY'S INDEPENDENCE DAY

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc. Author: Debra J. Saunders

OK. I'M GLAD President Bush commuted the 30-month prison sentence of
Scooter Libby, the former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Like Bush, I buy the jury's verdict that Libby committed perjury and
obstructed justice in a Department of Justice probe to discover who
leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson. Perjury is
no small crime and Libby could have spared himself a long legal
ordeal, if only he had not lied to investigators. Libby made his own bed.

That said, Libby's prosecution has seemed overwrought and overly
political from the beginning. Note that Special Prosecutor Patrick
Fitzgerald never prosecuted Richard Armitage, who originally leaked
the operative's identity.

Bush split the judge's sentence down the middle. He did not pardon
Libby, but instead upheld the $250,000 fine and two years of
probation. Bush reasoned that the fine, probation and prison time,
however, were "excessive."

As Bush noted in a written statement, in making the sentencing
decision, the judge "rejected the advice of the probation office,
which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors
that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation."

My complaint is that Bush did not commute other sentences for
individuals serving "excessive" time under the federal
mandatory-minimum sentencing laws.

About an hour after the news, Amy Ralston called me. Ralston had been
sentenced to 24 years for her role in her former husband's reputed
Ecstasy ring, until President Clinton commuted her sentence in July 2000.

"I only look at it one way," Ralston said. "I want to know if he
granted additional pardons for other people who are serving 20 to
life for minor drug crimes. I know so many who have had their
petitions denied by the Bush administration, who are deserving."

Ralston was crying as she discussed friends left behind in prison,
serving sentences far longer than their crimes warranted. ( Her Web
site is http://www.candoclemency.com/ )

As long as Bush is looking at "excessive" sentences that cry out for
a presidential fix, he should consider the sad case of Clarence
Aaron. Aaron was 22 years old when he made the huge mistake of
hooking up two drug dealers for two cocaine deals. He was paid $1,500
- - -- but because he did not testify against the big fish in the deal
and he pleaded not guilty, he was sentenced to life without parole --
that's right, life without parole -- for a first-time nonviolent drug offense.

[snip]

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(10) DRUG-FREE ZONES UNFAIRLY TARGET BLACKS, CRITIC SAY

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Jul 2007 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL)
Copyright: 2007 The Palm Beach Post

BOYNTON BEACH -- The 400 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, where
four men stood on a recent Sunday beckoning passing cars, doesn't
appear to enjoy special protection from drug crimes.

But with two signs warning that this city street is a "drug-free"
zone, this neighborhood of modest homes and aged apartment complexes
is one of the front lines of a quarter-century-old "war on drugs."

It is a war that has seen years of casualties with no end in sight;
the number of people imprisoned for drug-related crimes has only
climbed each year since 1982. And while police say the heightened
penalties for selling drugs in drug-free zones fortify their
position, critics say the size and number of these zones have only
increased the toll with a disproportionate impact on black offenders.

"The crimes aren't being displaced because there's nowhere to
displace them to. There's no incentive for drug dealers to move,"
said Ben Barlyn, a New Jersey deputy attorney general who heads a
state commission that in 2004 examined the impact of drug-free zones
in that state.

That study, followed by two more, concluded that drug-free zones
cover densely populated urban corridors where black neighborhoods
predominate. As a result, researchers said, zones have created two
systems of justice, penalizing black offenders for where they live as
well as for their crimes, while white offenders who tend to live and
work out of the zone face lesser penalties.

Those examining the impact of drug laws have pointed to other factors
leading to disproportionate numbers of blacks serving time for drug
crimes, including higher penalties for crack cocaine than powder
cocaine, and for street narcotics than unauthorized prescription
drugs. Racial profiling also has been cited as contributing to
racially disparate incarceration rates.

[snip]

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(11) FORMER DEPUTIES' CASES TO PROCEED

Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 Source: Fayetteville Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2007 Fayetteville Observer Author: Venita Jenkins

LUMBERTON -- The Robeson County district attorney says he plans to
prosecute cases that were handled by deputies who have pleaded guilty
as part of a federal investigation into corruption in the Sheriff's
Office. Johnson Britt said he doesn't think the recent pleas by the
former lawmen will have an adverse effect on the cases.

Britt said he plans to prosecute what he calls victim cases --
murders, assaults and robberies -- where the state can rely on
testimony from victims and other witnesses.

"If you have a confession or statement of omission of responsibility,
there is no grounds to dismiss it," he said. "There may be other
evidence to substantiate the statements. So the former deputies'
involvement doesn't become a major issue."

Sixteen deputies with the Robeson County Sheriff's Office pleaded
guilty between December and May to various charges in U.S. District
Court. Their pleas came after a four-year investigation called
Operation Tarnished Badge. High-ranking officers, including the
chief of detectives and a homicide investigator, were among those
accused of various criminal violations, including conspiracy to
violate racketeering laws, conspiracy to commit money laundering,
conspiracy to defraud the government, conspiracy to commit satellite
piracy, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute
cocaine and use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of
violence. The number of cases involving the lawmen is in the
hundreds, Britt said. Those cases include forgery, breaking and
entering and at least a dozen murder cases.

"It runs the gamut," Britt said. The District Attorney's Office has
dismissed 200 to 300 drug cases involving 130 defendants since 2004.

Those cases included drug trafficking charges, Britt said. The cases
were investigated by members of the sheriff's Drug Enforcement
Division. Several of its members were charged with racketeering,
conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the
government and conspiracy to commit satellite piracy.

[snip]

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(12) JUDGE IN OXYCONTIN CASE INVITES VICTIMS TO SPEAK

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Jul 2007 Source: Roanoke Times (VA) Copyright: 2007
Roanoke Times Author: Laurence Hammack

Prosecutors Have Already Said That Identifying Victims Of The
Deceptively Marketed Drug Would Be Difficult

981-3239 Those wishing to speak at the July 20 hearing must notify
the U.S. Attorney's Office in Abingdon by July 18.

Before sentencing three pharmaceutical executives for overpromoting
OxyContin, a federal judge wants to hear from the victims of what
prosecutors are calling one of the greatest prescription drug
failures in U.S. history.

In an order filed Monday, U.S. District Judge James Jones said he
will allow brief statements at a July 20 sentencing hearing from any
of those who consider themselves a victim of Purdue Pharma's crimes.

That could include a grieving parent who lost a child to an overdose,
an addict who emptied his bank account to pay for pills, or an
insurance company that paid millions of dollars a year to cover
OxyContin prescriptions.

Jones -- who has raised questions about a plea agreement that calls
for $634.5 million in fines but no jail time for Purdue's top three
executives -- apparently intends to hear from the witnesses before
deciding whether to accept the agreement.

[snip]

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Cannabis & Hemp

COMMENT: (13-16)

The potential consequences of a marijuana conviction vary
considerably within the United States. Thus a new report from the
Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics, "Life Sentences: Collateral
Sanctions Associated With Marijuana Offenses," on line at
http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/rpts/col_sanctions.htm, should be a
"Must Read" for not only users but also any lawyer who defends anyone
arrested for marijuana.

In Canada popular support for legalizing marijuana is close to a
majority nationally, and has a solid majority in a few provinces. The
efforts to send the message to Parliament are many. One is the Freedom Tour.

In Colorado a judge questions the logic behind a Colorado Department
of Health and Environment five-patient policy for the number of
patients an authorized medicinal marijuana grower may have.

In Oregon an attempt is being made to destroy the state's medicinal
marijuana law through an initiative. Hidden deep in the proposed
initiative is a requirement that only pills containing a synthetic
form of THC be authorized for use, as if the 59 other known medically
active chemicals in marijuana did not exist. While the initiative is
a long way from even being on a ballot, patients and their supporters
need to be alert for efforts like The Oregon Crimefighting Act of
2008, on line at http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/irr/2008/104text.pdf

(13) NATION'S POT PENALTIES CALLED A HODGEPODGE

Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jul 2007 Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Hearst Communications Inc. Author: Bob Egelko,
Chronicle Staff Writer

Smoke a joint in Alabama or Oregon, and you can permanently lose the
right to adopt a child. Smoke one in Oklahoma, and you're ineligible
ever to be a foster parent. Light up in Utah, and get a lifelong
eviction notice from public housing.

Grow a marijuana plant in any one of a dozen states, including
California, and you're permanently barred from receiving welfare or
food stamps.

Those laws and others are detailed in the first nationwide study of
the consequences of marijuana convictions, in areas ranging from
family life to voting and jury service. Researchers headed by a
Northern California lawyer said they had found a hodgepodge of state
and federal restrictions that seemed to conflict with the overall
trend of reduced criminal penalties for pot.

[snip]

The study was released by the Center for Cognitive Liberty and
Ethics, which Boire described as a group of academics and lawyers
studying ethical and legal issues involving new technologies and
drugs. It was funded by the Marijuana Policy Project.

The report ranks states by the extent of the penalties that accompany
a marijuana conviction, apart from a criminal sentence. California --
where legislators reduced criminal penalties for personal possession
of pot to a traffic-ticket-type infraction in 1975, and where voters
passed the nation's first law legalizing medical marijuana in 1996 --
was among the least severe in noncriminal sanctions. The report
ranked it as tied with Pennsylvania and Kansas for 42nd among the 50
states and the District of Columbia.

Florida was listed as having the harshest noncriminal penalties and
New Mexico the least severe.

The lifetime ban on welfare and food stamps for anyone convicted of a
drug-related felony, which includes cultivation of marijuana, was
part of a 1996 federal welfare law signed by President Bill Clinton.

The law allows states to pass their own laws that partly or
completely restore eligibility for welfare and food stamps. All but
12 states have passed some such law, the report said. California is
one of the 12.

[snip]

Other findings included:

Possession of marijuana can result in ineligibility to become an
adoptive parent in 38 states, and a lifetime ban in seven states.
California is not among them.

Twenty states, though not California, allow their agencies to deny
professional and occupational licenses to anyone convicted of a
marijuana-related misdemeanor, regardless of whether it had any
connection to the person's work.

Most states make people with any marijuana conviction ineligible for
publicly subsidized housing for a certain period, usually at least
three years. California is one of only four states with no such
restriction. A separate federal law allows public housing tenants to
be evicted for any drug-related activity, on or off the premises, by
any resident or guest.

A 1998 law bars federal grants and loans to any student with a drug
conviction. In addition, 28 states, though not California, withhold
state financial aid from students with drug convictions, including
marijuana possession.

In 21 states and the District of Columbia, a conviction for marijuana
possession can result in a driver's license suspension for at least
six months. California is not among them, but the state suspends a
driver's license for up to three years for driving under the
influence of drugs or committing a drug crime that involved a motor
vehicle. Minors convicted of any drug crime in California lose their
license for at least a year.

In six states, people convicted of marijuana cultivation and other
felonies can be banned from voting for life. In 23 states, including
California, and the District of Columbia, drug felons are barred from
jury service for life.

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(14) MEN ROLLING CROSS-COUNTRY TO FREE POT

Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Times Colonist Author: Lexi Bainas

If you saw a man rollerblading through the Cowichan Valley late last
week following a vehicle sporting a huge flag and sign, you were
seeing the first leg of a cross-Canada trek that won't finish until
Remembrance Day.

It's a long haul for the rollerblader Neil Magnuson and his driver,
Bert Easterbrook, but both men say it's worth it to get across their point.

They're concerned that government, particularly in Ottawa, is
beginning to look upon itself as Canada's moral arbiter, even though
no one elected politicians to fulfill that role.

Magnuson laced up the blades last year on his first trip to Ottawa.
This is the second of what both men hope will be an annual event.

[snip]

He wants government to take control of the pot trade. "There's
enormous costs and damage that's being done by anti-drug
prohibition. Criminal groups are being formed to handle the supply
side because the government refuses to take control of these
substances the people demand. The very act of prohibition only makes
these drugs more alluring for some people so use and abuse goes up."

Easterbrook said they're operating on a shoestring but are hopeful
they'll be able to get their points across. They're posting their
progress at freedomtour.ca

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(15) JUDGE TEMPORARILY HALTS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LIMIT

Pubdate: Wed, 04 Jul 2007 Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright: 2007 Denver Publishing Co. Author: David Montero, Rocky
Mountain News

For now, David Damien LaGoy can get his marijuana - thanks in large
part to a judge's ruling Tuesday.

LaGoy sued the state because the registered medical marijuana
provider he wanted to use, Daniel Pope, had reached the state's
five-patient maximum and couldn't help him.

The lawsuit claimed the five-patient rule was unfair. Denver
District Judge Larry Naves agreed, calling the policy arbitrary.
Naves granted an injunction that temporarily allows registered
providers to take on as many patients as they like.

"There is no reason this plaintiff should suffer," Naves said.

[snip]

Lawyers for the Colorado attorney general's office argued there were
many medical marijuana providers registered with the state and that
LaGoy had options. State Registrar Ron Hyman testified that of the
636 caregivers registered with the state, 548 were single-patient
providers - meaning each one could take on four more patients under
the state statute.

But LaGoy said providers were hard to find and that he had developed
a trusting relationship with Pope.

[snip]

No date has been set for LaGoy's lawsuit to be tried on its merits,
although attorneys for LaGoy believe it could happen in the fall.
Based on LaGoy's health, Naves said he was inclined to hurry things along.

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(16) TAKING UP THE FIGHT TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 Source: Newberg Graphic (OR) Copyright:
2007 Newberg Graphic Author: David Sale, Newberg Graphic reporter

Newberg resident Pamela Sterling is not ashamed of her drug use. Due
to chronic illness, the 43-year-old former registered nurse enrolled
four years ago in Oregon's medical marijuana program, one of 231
current members in Yamhill County.

Approved by voters in 1998, participants are issued cards identifying
them as members on the recommendation of a qualified doctor -- a M.D.
or osteopath (D.O.) -- who has diagnosed them with a qualifying
condition such as glaucoma, cancer, Alzheimer's disease or chronic
pain. Enrollment allows members to possess and use marijuana, as
well as to grow up to seven marijuana plants for personal use.

"I used to work as a labor and delivery (OB/GYN) nurse and I injured
my neck and shoulder (on a difficult birth)," Sterling said. "I have
a lot of muscle tremors and spasms and I used to be on a lot of
pills, but medical marijuana has taken the place of that."

Sterling is not alone in her experience. A 2004 study at the
University of California in San Francisco has shown that medical
marijuana can lower, by up to half, a patient's narcotics use.

[snip]

So when Sterling heard that former state representative and political
activist Kevin Mannix (R-Salem) was preparing an initiative that
would replace Oregon's medical marijuana program with synthetic
alternatives, she decided to speak out.

"I'm not lighting a joint and trying to stick it in someone else's
mouth," she said. "I only want the right to medicate myself the way
my physicians and I see fit."

Mannix' proposal, titled "The Oregon Crimefighting Act of 2008,"
addresses many more issues than medical marijuana. Among its
provisions are a program of tax credits to fund methamphetamine
investigation and treatment; stiffer sentences for repeat arrests for
drunk driving or sexual offenses; and increasing law enforcement.

But the act would also require the use of Marinol or Cesamet -- pills
containing a synthetic form of THC, the active ingredient in
marijuana -- to be used in place of medical marijuana.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07/n774/a08.html

International News

COMMENT: (17-20)

Ten Ugandan nationals who were arrested for body-packing heroin into
China "will soon be lined up for public execution as punishment,"
said Ugandan youth minister James Kinobe this week. Apparently, the
trial is a mere formality, the outcome having been decided already.
"It's very sad that our people will soon be killed in China for drug
trafficking... They were arrested recently and are now still in jail
waiting for trial."

Canadians in British Columbia want the Insite supervised injection
center to stay, according to the results of a poll of almost 900
adults in the province that was released last week. 63% of adults
asked in a Mustel Group survey said the government should allow
Insite to stay, and 76% of those polled in Vancouver agree. Such
results were surprising, given the government's low-key approach to
telling the public about the site. "What is significant is that a
majority of people support it when no effort has been made by the
government to educate the public about the site or harm reduction,"
noted Ann Livingston, executive director of the Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users.

The U.S. has dumped more than 5 billion dollars into Plan Colombia
since 2000, and what's there to show for it? The U.S. cocaine market
is saturated. Cocaine is cheaper, more pure, and more plentiful than
ever, despite dousing Colombian rainforests with plant poisons. A
piece from this week's St. Petersburg Times newspaper puts the
situation in a bit of perspective. Although U.S. prohibition
officials paint a scary scenario where, "funding cuts in the spraying
program could flood the United States in even more cocaine,"
Congressional Democrats proposed cutting the Plan Colombia budget,
and diverting much of the money to economic and social programs, away
from military and spraying.

And we leave you this week with news from New Zealand, where, after
months of political posturing, moralizing and grandstanding, New
Zealand politicians banned the so-called "party pill" BZP. BZP,
popular in New Zealand precisely because the more popular MDMA was
already banned, will join the ranks of drugs for which possession
will result in fines and jail time. Although the government "found no
evidence of deaths from the pills," and "conceded there was no
guarantee a ban would lead to decreased use of party pills," a ban
was sought anyway by prohibitionists. Expect deaths to rise as
adulterated "party pills" containing the more popular MDMA quickly
fills the demand, as elsewhere worldwide.

(17) 10 UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER NARCOTICS

Pubdate: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 Source: Monitor, The (Uganda) Copyright:
2007 The Monitor. Authors: Yasiin Mugerwa and Jude Luggya

KAMPALA -- TEN Ugandans held on charges of illicit drug trafficking
in China will soon be lined up for public execution as punishment, a
government minister has said. James Kinobe, the state minister for
youth who has just returned from China, said some 10 Ugandans were
duped into illicit drug smuggling by a network of gangs to act as
carriers of heroin pills to China.

[snip]

"The suspects, who are aged between 18 and 23, including one woman,
were found with heroin amounting to over 1.5kg each, far beyond the
limit. This automatically spells a death sentence," Mr Kinobe said.

While speaking on a local FM radio in Kampala on Thursday, Mr Kinobe
revealed that if the 10, Ugandans are found guilty, they will be
executed. The minister, however, said there are diplomatic efforts
by the two governments to try and save the lives of the suspects.

[snip]

"It's very sad that our people will soon be killed in China for drug
trafficking. Most of these people are youth who wanted to make cheap
money. They were arrested recently and are now still in jail waiting
for trial," Mr Kinobe said.

[snip]

A source told Daily Monitor over the weekend that the Ugandan
government, through Amnesty International, is desperately calling on
the Chinese government to halt these executions pending diplomatic
negotiations.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n783.a03.html

(18) 63% OF B.C. PEOPLE WANT INSITE TO STAY

Pubdate: Thu, 28 Jun 2007 Source: Vancouver 24hours (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Canoe Inc Author: Matt Kieltyka, 24 Hours

The future of Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site may be in doubt,
but harm reduction advocates are encouraged by the results of a
recent public survey.

According to a Mustel Group survey released yesterday, 63 per cent of
B.C. adults think the federal government should extend InSite's
licence beyond this year.

Among Vancouver residents alone, that number jumps to 76 per cent.

The survey, which polled 852 B.C. adults, has a margin of error of
3.4 per cent.

"What is significant is that a majority of people support it when no
effort has been made by the government to educate the public about
the site or harm reduction," said Ann Livingston, the executive
director of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU).

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n781.a08.html

(19) BILLIONS SPENT, BUT DRUG TRADE GROWS

Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007 Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2007 St. Petersburg Times Author: David Adams, Times Latin
America correspondent

Critics And Farmers Say Old Approaches Aren't Working In Colombia.

[snip]

Despite its apparent lack of precision, U.S. and Colombian officials
defend the spray program as the most efficient means of eliminating
coca production in Colombia, the world's largest producer of cocaine.

But critics of antinarcotics policy in Colombia say the latest data
shows that eight years of intense spraying of coca crops, at a cost
of billions in U.S. taxpayers' money, have failed to make a dent in
the illegal drug market.

The latest U.S. government estimate puts the amount of coca in
Colombia at 385, 500 acres in 2006 -- 27 percent more than in 1999
when "Plan Colombia" was enacted. It was the third straight year of increases.

More coca has meant more cocaine. A recent dip in the street price of
cocaine and a rise in purity points to an abundant supply.

Democrats in Congress, concerned over the disappointing results of
the drug war, want to slash funding for the spray program. Instead,
they propose spending more on social and economic projects, including
funding for alternative crops to replace coca.

But U.S. and Colombian officials warn that funding cuts in the
spraying program could flood the United States in even more cocaine.
Colombia says it cannot afford to run the spray program on its own.

[snip]

Colombia is the largest recipient of U.S. aid outside the Middle East
and Afghanistan, more $5.4-billion since 2000 when Plan Colombia went
into effect.

Of that money about $4.4-billion is military-related aid, while
$1-billion is social and economic funds, including alternative
agriculture and support for democratic institutions.

About three-quarters of the military aid is dedicated to supporting
the aerial crop spraying program, which uses an enhanced form of
Roundup weed killer, containing the chemical defoliant glyphosate.

What's next -- the 2008 budget

The Bush administration has asked Congress for $590-million for
Colombia in the Foreign Aid Bill. As in previous years the majority
of this money -- $450-million -- would be dedicated to military support.

Democrats in Congress this week proposed cutting the overall budget
by about 10 percent to $530.6-million, of which only $290-million
would be for military support, including deep cuts in the aerial
fumigation program. Democrats have proposed increasing economic and
social funding by $100-million.

"This is a major step away from what's happened in the last years,"
said Adam Isacson with the Center for International Policy.

[snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n780.a09.html

(20) BAN MAKES PARTY PILL TRADE WORSE

Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 Source: New Zealand Herald (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2007 New Zealand Herald

Matt Bowden, of the Social Tonics Association, doubts the
Government's decision to ban the manufacturing and sale of party
pills will be the end of the matter. "Legal party pills are an
established part of the social scene and you can't pretend that you
can just ban them without generating a reaction," he says. He, and
others in the trade, see it prospering underground, possibly with
gangs becoming far more involved. They would, of course, say that,
especially while fighting to keep the trade legal to those aged over
18. Unfortunately, however, there is a good chance they are right.

[snip]

The Government has acted on the recommendation late last year of the
Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs, which studied research on the
danger of party pills containing benzylpiperazine (BZP). It found no
evidence of deaths from the pills but worried about their frequent
use with other substances, such as alcohol, or in high doses. It
conceded there was no guarantee a ban would lead to decreased use of
party pills but suggested their side-effects, such as nausea,
dehydration and lack of appetite, would dissuade use if they became
harder to find, more expensive and carried the risk of a fine or imprisonment.

[snip]

Yet, in practice, a ban will, as those in the industry suggest, drive
the pill trade underground with the rest of the illegal drug
business. A more cogent response would have been to place stricter
regulations on the making and sale of party pills, especially in
relation to the BZP dosage and the presence of illicit substances.

[snip]

This would certainly suffice until more definitive research is done
into the long-term consequences of BZP use. This may, or may not,
confirm the validity of the Government's decision. Until then, a ban
is based more on morality than measured thought. One thing is
certain. The party pill trade is about to become more dangerous for
all those involved and significantly harder to control.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v07.n777.a04.html