-Caveat Lector- Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com/dave DrugSense Weekly, December 17, 1999 #128 A DrugSense publication http://www.drugsense.org/ TABLE OF CONTENTS: * Feature Article Calif. Drug Prison Population Up from 0 in 1900 to 46,000 at End of Century / by Dale Gieringer * Weekly News in Review Drug War Policy- (1) Editorial: Drug Treatment Gets a Boost (2) Mental Disorders Common, U.S. Says; Many Not Treated (3) Editorial: Mexico's Drug 'Denial' (4) U.S.-Mexico Border Could Become a Global Model (5) Mexico: Secrets From the Grave (6) OPED: Drug War Money Brings Ever More Corruption (7) Rep. Frank Discusses Drug Policy at U.Mass-Boston (8) LTE: Rep. Not Necessarily for Legalization Law Enforcement & Prisons- (9) Senator's Son to be Charged (10) Rampart Scandal Colors Jury Deliberations (11) Drug Use Common for Cop Hopefuls (12) Glendening Suspends Juvenile Boot Camps (13) A Fraction of Globe's People, A Quarter of its Prisoners Cannabis- (14) Editorial: Better Climate For 215 (15) DEA Permits Hawaii to Plant Industrial Hemp International News- (16) Australia: PM Pulls Rank: Halt Drug Trial (17) Australia: Heroin Deaths in Grim Rise (18) UK: Gangs Launder Billions in Pacific Island Shack (19) Canada: Safe To Rave? (20) Colombia: Rebels Hit Colombian Base Near Frontier * Hot Off The 'Net The Map News Clipping Archives Now Has Over 30 Thousand Items! State News - Topical Shortcuts Readers And Webmasters Note: Newly Designed DPF Web Site PBS "Snitch" Additional Info Online "E The People", Petition Calling for Drug Testing Reform. * Quote of the Week Frank Zappa ************************************************************************ FEATURE ARTICLE Drug Policy Forum of California Release 121099 by Dale Gieringer Cal. Drug Prison Population Up from 0 in 1900 to 46,000 at End of Century One in Eight Imprisoned for Simple Possession The century is ending with a record number of drug prisoners in California, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Corrections.As of June 1999, the state prison system held 45,874 drug offenders, a record 28.3% of the prison population. Of these, 19,743 a record 12.2% of all prisoners were being held for simple possession (not sales) of drugs that were entirely legal when the century began. The number of marijuana prisoners (1,903) is also near record levels, up 12% since the passage of California's medical marijuana initiative, Prop. 215, and nearly twenty times the level of twenty years ago. Not included in these figures are prisoners held in county jails and federal prisons. While the number of drug prisoners in California has exploded over fivefold since 1986, and their proportion in the prison population has doubled, illegal drug usage has remained more or less constant over the same period. "The figures show clearly that the war on drugs is bankrupt," comments DPFCA spokesman Dale Gieringer. "California taxpayers are spending over $1 billion per year to incarcerate people for inherently nonviolent drug crimes, with no evident public benefits. When this century began, drug crime was unknown.Opiates, cocaine and other drugs were legally available over the counter in drug stores, yet addiction rates were no higher than today." The state's war on drugs began in 1907, when the legislature banned sale of opiates and cocaine except on prescription.Since then, the century has witnessed some 6 million drug arrests in California.Over 3 million Californians committed drug crimes this year, mainly possession. A ballot initiative to eliminate prison sentences for nonviolent drug possession offenders and substitute drug diversion programs instead is being circulated by the Campaign for New Drug Policies(310)3942952. Release by Dale Gieringer, (510) 5401066. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dec 10, 1999 ************************************************************************ WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW ===================================================== Domestic News- Policy --------------- COMMENT: (1-2) In an amazing confirmation of current official schizophrenia toward the human psyche, the NYT's editorial page clucked approvingly over McCzar's announcement that our prison-based drug war would be (somewhat) "medicalized," even as its front page published the US Surgeon General's report on the shameful neglect of mental illness. (1) EDITORIAL: DRUG TREATMENT GETS A BOOST The beginning of an important shift in the nation's approach to combatting drug-related crime can be seen in the recent success of "drug courts" and other programs aimed at reducing prison costs by diverting nonviolent drug users into serious drug treatment programs. [snip] This is clearly a promising approach to a serious national problem, and General McCaffrey is right to promote it. Pubdate: Mon, 13 December 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: NY Times Editorial URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1346/a04.html === (2) MENTAL DISORDERS COMMON, U.S. SAYS; MANY NOT TREATED WASHINGTON -- One in every five Americans experiences a mental disorder in any given year, and half of all Americans have such disorders at some time in their lives, but most of them never seek treatment, the surgeon general of the United States says in a comprehensive new report. Many people with mental disorders do not realize that effective treatments exist, or they fear discrimination because of the stigma attached to mental illness, the study found. And, it said, many people cannot afford treatment because they lack insurance that would cover it. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Robert Pear, The New York Times URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1348/a04.html === COMMENT: (3-6) Various pious ruminations over the Juarez killings called for greater Mexican "cooperation" as the key to combatting "narcotrafficking;" none more obtusely than the Augusta Chronicle. Whatever the tone, none was able to explain just how to achieve the requisite Mexican cooperation in a setting where most of those wearing uniforms either can't be trusted or must fear for their own lives. The debacle in Juarez moved Bertram and Sharpe to condemn US policy more forthrightly than in their 1996 book, "Drug War Politics;" but not quite to the extent its historical record demands. (3) EDITORIAL: MEXICO'S DRUG 'DENIAL' Even as FBI and Mexican anti-drug agents last week dug up hundreds of bodies buried in a mass grave on the ranch of a Mexican drug lord across the border from El Paso, there were rumblings of discontent among many Mexicans about U.S. meddling with their nation's sovereignty. [snip] Mexico, in fact, should learn from Colombia's tragic experience. For years, it was too proud to ask for significant U.S. help to get rid of Marxist narco terrorists who were taking over the countryside and terrorizing the government. Not until the Colombians were about to lose their sovereignty to the Red drug cartels did they turn to the Americans. But even now it might be too late for them. But it's not too late for Mexico. Without U.S. help that country will continue to sink under a wave of drug-fueled violence. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) Copyright: 1999 The Augusta Chronicle Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (LTEs from GA & SC only) Address: 725 Broad Street, Augusta, GA 30901 Website: http://www.augustachronicle.com/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1289/a02.html === (4) U.S.-MEXICO BORDER COULD BECOME A GLOBAL MODEL DRUG trafficking, mass graves and border provocations are darkening U.S.-Mexican relations on the very eve of a 21st century destined to test whether the world's developed and developing countries can coexist -- and prosper -- together. [snip] If we're not careful, this disastrous drug policy, breeding suspicion and violence, used to justify severe, Cold War-like security checks at border cross points, could start to undercut prospects for the strong, mutually supportive trade ties widened so dramatically and productively in the last decade. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 1999 Houston Chronicle Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: Viewpoints Editor, P.O. Box 4260 Houston, Texas 77210-4260 Fax: (713) 220-3575 Website: http://www.chron.com/ Forum: http://www.chron.com/content/hcitalk/index.html Page: 3C (op-ed page) Author: Neal Peirce (Washigton Post) URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1344/a04.html === (5) MEXICO: SECRETS FROM THE GRAVE Just 15 miles south of the U.S. border, officials are searching for the bodies of victims killed during a vicious drug war [snip] The main break in the search for the disappeared reportedly came from a former Mexican police officer, who described the grave sites to the FBI. Worried that corruption inside the Mexican government would spoil the operation, U.S. officials persuaded their Mexican counterparts not to notify Juarez police and to tell federal authorities only at the last moment. That deal forced Mexican officials to answer accusations that the operation violated the country's sovereignty. "I'm not selling out my country," Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar told reporters. "I'm fighting vigorously against narcotraffickers." Agents at the Bell ranch were obviously worried that the cartel was watching: many of the Mexicans wore ski masks as they went about their work. Even American forensic experts taped newspapers over their car windows. They know better than anyone what can happen to enemies of the Juarez cartel. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: Newsweek (US) Copyright: 1999 Newsweek, Inc. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 251 West 57th Street, New York, N.Y. 10019 Website: http://www.newsweek.com/nw-srv/printed/us/ Author: Alan Zarembo and Donatella Lorch with Michael Riley in Mexico City URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1338/a08.html === (6) OPED: DRUG WAR MONEY BRINGS EVER MORE CORRUPTION WASHINGTON--Plata o plomo. Silver or lead. That is the choice drug traffickers in Mexico have given their allies and enemies for years: the bribe or the bullet. [snip] The repeated failure to break the cycle of drug-war corruption is no accident. It is a product not of Mexico, but of our own drug-war strategy. As ironic as it seems, the U.S. strategy ensures that the very corruption we abhor will continue. The reason is that the drug warriors are not simply up against a particular cartel or drug lord--but an entire market system. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 1999 Los Angeles Times Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 Fax: (213) 237-4712 Website: http://www.latimes.com/ Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/ Author: Eva Bertram, Kenneth Sharpe URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1342/a08.html === COMMENT: (7-8) In an interview reported by a student daily, Mass. Rep. Barney Frank voiced some telling criticism of US policy and the attitudes of his House colleagues. But wait! He didn't go quite so far as to advocate anything so unthinkable as legalizing cannabis. Courage does have its limits. (7) REP. FRANK DISCUSSES DRUG POLICY AT U.MASS-BOSTON Current sentencing for drug possession and usage is too harsh and a waste of taxpayer money, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told a crowd of about 50 at the University of Massachusetts at Boston Wednesday. [snip] "The market is an enormously powerful force in a free society and people with money are greatly determined to do what they want, he said." According to Frank, the government's drug policies have been by-and-large unsuccessful. "I wish I could say there is a meaningful drug policy in this country, but unfortunately my colleagues are happy with a non-rational policy," Frank said. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 09 Dec 1999 Source: Daily Free Press (MA) Copyright: 1999 Back Bay Publishing, Inc. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fax: (617) 232-0592 Website: http://www.dailyfreepress.com/ Author: Hilary Bentman, The Daily Free Press Link: to Massachusetts articles: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ma URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1342/a04.html === (8) LTE: REP. NOT NECESSARILY FOR LEGALIZATION The article by Hilary Bentman ("Rep. Frank discusses drug policy," Dec. 9) is accurate in many respects in reporting the talk I gave at the University of Massachusetts-Boston on drug policy, but it is wrong in one very important area. I was very explicit in my talk that I have not called for legalization of any drug that is currently illegal, including marijuana. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: Daily Free Press (MA) Copyright: 1999 Back Bay Publishing, Inc. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fax: (617) 232-0592 Website: http://www.dailyfreepress.com/ Author: Barney Frank, U.S. Representative Related: The article in question is at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1342/a04.html URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1349/a05.html ===================================================== Law Enforcement & Prisons --------- COMMENT: (9-12) It was a bad week for the image of law enforcement: In Minnesota, an old case of favorable treatment for a Senator's son led to charges for him; typically the involved police escaped punishment. In LA, Patt Morrison reported on a surge in jury nullification, based- not on opposition to drug laws- but on disbelief of cops as witnesses following the Rampart scandal. Denver, scene of a recent police homicide, was shaken further by news that a high percentage of its police candidates had been drug users. What else would they expect of young adults coming of age during our unsuccessful drug war? Finally, the Governor of Maryland, embarrassed by a hard hitting Baltimore Sun expose of abuses and failures in a politically favored "Boot Camp" program, was forced to shut it down. (9) SENATOR'S SON TO BE CHARGED STILLWATER, Minn. - Months after a traffic stop that outside investigators describe as brimming with sloppy police work, authorities have decided to file misdemeanor traffic and marijuana charges against the son of U.S. Sen. Rod Grams. However, the outside investigators concluded there was no evidence that Morgan Grams, 21, received any special treatment in July when he was allowed to go free. Officers involved in the traffic stop won't face any charges but one, Anoka County's chief deputy, is retiring. [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 1999 The New York Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1342/a01.html === (10) RAMPART SCANDAL COLORS JURY DELIBERATIONS Pick a cliche that applies: reaping what's been sown, making your bed then lying in it, chickens coming home to roost. Home to the Rampart Division. Home to the LAPD. Home to the courtroom. Already, in the noxious wake of the Rampart bad-cop scandal, the L.A. city attorney's office is noting an up tick in acquittals and hung juries, a few more jurors telling prosecutors they just didn't believe the cops in the witness box. [snip] Pubdate: December 10, 1999 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 1999 Los Angeles Times Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 Fax: (213) 237-4712 Website: http://www.latimes.com/ Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/ Author: Patt Morrison, [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1334/a07.html === (11) DRUG USE COMMON FOR COP HOPEFULS Dec. 9 - A growing number of applicants for police jobs admit having used drugs - a big problem given the shrinking pool of people who want law-enforcement careers, local officials say. It's a national problem, they say. "We have very, very few candidates who don't have prior usage,'' said Ellen Reath, a member of the Denver Civil Service Commission, which tests and screens applicants. [snip] Pubdate: Thurs, 9 Dec 1999 Source: Denver Post (CO) Copyright: 1999 The Denver Post Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202 Fax: (303) 820.1502 Website: http://www.denverpost.com/ Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm Author: Marilyn Robinson URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1335/a10.html === (12) GLENDENING SUSPENDS JUVENILE BOOT CAMPS Top state officials knew of beatings but failed to act, task force finds; National Guard takes over; Governor and Townsend order camps converted into residential centers Gov. Parris N. Glendening suspended Maryland's boot camp operations yesterday, turning them over to the commander of the state's National Guard, and a task force in Baltimore concluded that top state officials knew delinquents at the camps were routinely being beaten but did almost nothing to protect them. After a dizzying week of action surrounding the military-style camps, Glendening and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend ordered the facilities converted into interim residential centers. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 12 Dec 1999 Source: Baltimore Sun (MD) Copyright: 1999 by The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.sunspot.net/ Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?actionintro Author: Todd Richissin, Sun Staff URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1344/a11.html === COMMENT: (13) Nationally syndicated columnist William Raspberry of the WP wrote provocatively about the US incarceration binge; his last paragraph asks a very logical question. (13) A FRACTION OF GLOBE'S PEOPLE, A QUARTER OF ITS PRISONERS WASHINGTON - Americans love nice round numbers. Anticipation of a 200-yard game, the year 2000, or a 12,000 Dow can make us downright giddy. Try this one: 2,000,000. The folks at the Justice Policy Institute have vetted the trends, crunched the numbers and come up with a nice round prediction. On Feb. 15, 2000, America's prison and jail inmate population will top 2 million. What is involved, though, is a lot more than roundness, says JPI analyst Jason Ziedenberg. "What blew me away when I was doing this research was the whole issue of where we stand internationally," he told me. "Next year, America, with under 5 percent of the world's population, will have a quarter of the world's prison inmates." [snip] But what may be needed is for us simply to step back and look at what we're doing - what we're becoming - and ask ourselves how much sense it makes to continue along the present path. Pubdate: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 1999 The Seattle Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: William Raspberry, Syndicated columnist URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1352/a01.html ======================================================= Cannabis ------------- COMMENT: (14-15) A quiet week on the cannabis front, but a momentous event for the cause of industrial hemp: the OC Register continued in its role as the most astute source of information and interpretation on California's volatile medical cannabis front, and a mere press release marked the planting of Hawaii's first legal hemp crop. (14) EDITORIAL: BETTER CLIMATE FOR 215 It would be premature to detect a trend in two recent decisions by the Orange County District Attorney's office not to prosecute key people involved in the Orange County medical marijuana movement. The cases against continuing to prosecute Jack Schachter and David Herrick were so strong that it would have been extraordinary to the point of vindictiveness to decide otherwise. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 1999 The Orange County Register Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: P.O. Box 11626, Santa Ana, CA 92711 Fax: (714) 565-3657 Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1350/a03.html (15) DEA PERMITS HAWAII TO PLANT INDUSTRIAL HEMP Hawaii makes American history as the first industrial hemp seeds are planted in U.S. soil since the crop was banned after WWII. Hawaiian Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano will host the historical hemp seed planting ceremony at the Alterna Hemp Research Project agricultural plot in Whitmore Village on Oahu on Dec. 14, 1999, at 10 a.m. Hawaiian time. [snip] Esteemed plant geneticist David West, Ph.D., one of very few plant breeders in the United States actively involved in reestablishing industrial hemp, directs Alterna's hemp seed variety trial research in Hawaii. "This is a huge step for Hawaii and the U.S. as a whole. Once the DEA removes its restrictions on growing industrial hemp freely outside of the test plot trials, the vast economic and ecological benefits of this plant will make themselves known to American farmers." [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999 Source: Business Wire Note: MAP's policy is to focus on what has been published in the media. Of the nearly 30,000 clippings archived we have made an exception for less than a dozen press releases. This one of them. Bookmark: Link to hemp articles at: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1347/a04.html ====================================================== International News ------------- COMMENT: (16-17) Prodded by the UN, Australian PM John Howard pulled rank to veto injection rooms- at least temporarily- despite the continuing rise in Australia's heroin-related deaths. Does anyone detect a Yankee odor? === (16) AUSTRALIA: PM PULLS RANK: HALT DRUG TRIAL JOHN Howard has called on the states to abandon plans for safe heroin-injecting rooms following UN advice that NSW plans were illegal and could damage the image of the Sydney Olympics. The UN International Narcotics Control Board has advised the NSW Government that its plans for safe shooting galleries were contrary to international drug-control conventions, had serious legal problems and might expose the Government to complicity in criminal offences. [snip] Pubdate: Wed, 15 Dec 1999 Source: Australian, The (Australia) Copyright: News Limited 1999 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Author: Dennis Shanahan, Political Editor URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1351/a10.html === (17) AUSTRALIA: HEROIN DEATHS IN GRIM RISE Heroin overdose deaths across Australia increased by 23 per cent in 1998, figures released by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre showed yesterday. The number of overdose deaths in all states and territories rose to 737, with NSW and Victoria accounting for 77.1 per cent (568) of all opiate deaths in the country. [snip] Pubdate: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 Source: Australian, The (Australia) Copyright: News Limited 1999 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Author: D. D. McNicoll URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1351/a03.html === COMMENT: (18) A tiny South Pacific Island received scrutiny from the London Times. Anyone doubting that the illegal drug trade has carved out a niche in world financial markets should read this article and then do a web search on Nauru. (18) UK: GANGS LAUNDER BILLIONS IN PACIFIC ISLAND SHACK IT IS 13,500 miles from the City of London to the bamboo shack on the Pacific island of Nauru, but pounds 1m can cover the distance in a fifteenth of a second. The tiny sovereign state has become a safe haven for the proceeds of drug trafficking, prostitution, people smuggling and other rackets by gangs in Britain, Russia and America. [snip] The discovery is a potential headache for John Battle, the Foreign Office minister with responsibility for the area. Britain endorsed Nauru's associate membership of the Commonwealth in May, yet it is hard to see how Nauru meets the banking rules. Its relaxed regime is an open invitation to financial crime and money laundering. Pubdate: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 Source: Sunday Times (UK) Copyright: 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/ Author: Maeve Sheehan Note: Additional reporting: Paul Ham URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1342/a01.html === COMMENT: (19) Canada continued to be troubled by the surging popularity of raves which are becoming ever more popular and attracting huge crowds of generally well-behaved, drug-using teens. (19) CANADA: SAFE TO RAVE? Putting a Price on Partying: With bigger raves, younger ravers and more drugs, Vancouver wants to regulate the tribal stomps. But will that kill their spirit? [snip] Raves grow up The rave scene has set off alarm bells in city halls where municipal authorities are trying to figure out what to do about these bashes that gather as many as 7,000 kids in one place, with all the attendant problems of noise, traffic congestion, crowd control, inadequate fire exits, not to mention the big concern -- drugs. [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 10 Dec 1999 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Section: News / Front Page: A1 Copyright: The Vancouver Sun 1999 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 200 Granville Street, Ste.#1, Vancouver BC V6C 3N3 Fax: (604) 605-2323 Website: http://www.vancouversun.com/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1334/a07.html === COMMENT: (20) Another recurrent headache for drug policy planners: FARC's latest success showed that they still have plenty of military clout. (20) COLOMBIA: REBELS HIT COLOMBIAN BASE NEAR FRONTIER Attack Prompts Worry Over Panama Security BOGOTA, Colombia, Dec. 13 - Left-wing rebels overran a Colombian naval base and police station 15 miles from the Panamanian border, killing at least 45 marines, as well as one policeman, a regional official said today. [snip] The clash, one of the most successful FARC attacks against the Colombian military in months, came just two days before Tuesday's formal ceremony in Panama marking the transfer of the Panama Canal into Panamanian hands, which officially occurs on Dec. 31. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 Source: Washington Post (DC) Copyright: 1999 The Washington Post Company Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071 Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Steven Dudley, Special to The Washington Post URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n1349/a12.html ************************************************************************ HOT OFF THE 'NET ------------- The Map News Clipping Archives Now Has Over 30 Thousand Items! All fully Searchable on ANY subject in seconds! Another milestone! Thank You NewsHawks! Thanks to Richard Lake Senior Editor and Matt Elrod Web Master Extraordinaire as well as all the hard working Editors and NewsHawks who have helped archive the largest collection of drug related news articles in the world. See the details and the names of hundreds of volunteers at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n1351.a07.html Source: The Media Awareness Project Pubdate: Tue, 14 Dec 1999 Website: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/ === State News - Topical Shortcuts Readers And Webmasters Note: You can now link or bookmark to news items for your state, which MAP updates daily: Simply use a URL in this format: http://www.mapinc.org/states/## Where ## is the two letter postal code for your state. For example, the bookmark or link for California news items reads: http://www.mapinc.org/states/ca === Newly Designed DPF Web Site The Drug Policy Foundation is proud to announce the launch of its newly-designed website, http://www.dpf.org/ === DanceSafe - New Harm Reduction Site supported by DrugSense A new Email list and web site aimed at harm reduction among the rave community has been set up. DrugSense is providing email list and support as well as on topic news. http://www.harmreduction.net/dancesafe/ and http://www.harmreduction.net/dancesafe/emedia.html === PBS "Snitch" Additional Info Online PBS recently re-aired the powerful documentary "Snitch" Additional information has been posted. Check out http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/snitch/ Shocking info on the effects of the war on drugs. === "E The People", Petition Callin for Drug Testing Reform. E The People, a petition site, has a currently active petition calling for drug testing reform. Please help the cause by signing the petition. http://www.e-thepeople.com/affiliates/national/index.cfm?PC=PETFV1&PETID=290 675 ************************************************************************ QUOTE OF THE WEEK ------------ "A drug is neither moral nor immoral - it's a chemical compound. The compound itself is not a menace to society until a human being treats it as if consumption bestowed a temporary license to act like an asshole" - Frank Zappa *********************************************************************** DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for you. 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