-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Dave Hartley http://www.asheville-computer.com/dave ********************************************************************** DRUGSENSE WEEKLY ********************************************************************** DrugSense Weekly, March 3, 2000 #139 A DrugSense publication http://www.drugsense.org/ Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm ------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS: * Feature Article The DrugSense Weekly; Evolution & Hints for Easy Reading by Tom O'Connell M.D. * Weekly News in Review Drug Policy- (1) Ecstasy Seizures Soar as Use Increases (2) Meth Labs an Increasingly Common Problem in Area (3) More Pre Schoolers on Psychiatric Drugs (4) MI: D.A.R.E. Doesn't Work (5) Drug Tests on Pregnant Women Studied (6) Benedictine to Test for Drugs (7) Students Skip Drug Question on Federal Form Law Enforcement & Prisons- (8) Many Snitches Still Doing Crime (9) FBI Launches Probe into Rampart Scandal (10) CA: Guards Accused of Arranging Attacks (11) Column: Plan for Police Falls Short Cannabis & Hemp- (12) IL: U.S. Drug Czar Opposes Plan in Illinois (13) Hemp Growers Reluctant To Abandon Their Dream (14) CA: Pair Guilty of Conspiracy (15) CA: Most Doctors Reluctant to Recommend Marijuana (16) Pot Farms Invade National Parks International News- (17) Australia: $5 M Ecstasy Scam (18) RCMP Want Nude-Cam for Toronto's Airport (19) UK: Drug Abuse Deaths Among Young Men Double in 4 Years (20) Scotland: Row Over 'Benign' Drug Use Report (21) Colombia: Contractors Playing Increasing Role in U.S. Drug War (22) Entering Colombia's Civil War Won't Solve the U.S. Problem (23) Mexico: Tijuana Official Says Slaying Shows Traffickers' Power * Hot Off The 'Net Great Web Site for Contacting Congress DPF Conference Deadlines Nearing NetZero Offers FREE Internet access * Quote of the Week William Lloyd Garrison ************************************************************************ FEATURE ARTICLE The DrugSense Weekly; Evolution & Hints for Easy Reading by Tom O'Connell M.D. The DrugSense News Archive is now just three years old and the Weekly, which attempts a comprehensive review of the latest trends in drug policy, is half-way through its third year. With that in mind I thought it might be useful to review their origins and explain how the current format of the newsletter evolved. Shortly after MAP began, the News Archive- almost an afterthought to the main goal of encouraging letters to editors (LTEs)- grew quickly and was soon recognized as an asset in its own right. Kevin Zeese and Mark Greer decided a newsletter focused on the latest additions would help advertise the archive. It was our good fortune that webmaster Matt Elrod was both librarian and computer genius; thus, our database has always been well organized, searchable, and expandable; qualities which later proved indispensable. Also indispensable was Richard Lake; he recruited and organized a corps of volunteer NewsHawks to find and transmit pertinent material from around the world; he also recruited editors to follow high standards in rapidly formatting and archiving submitted items. The bedrock of the newsletter has thus always been a timely, reliable, and ever more inclusive database representing (for the past year or more) most of the drug policy material published in English by the popular press. At first, newsletters were just lists of excerpted articles and URLs deemed by informal consensus to be the more interesting- with no effort to determine significance or relate them to reform efforts or media patterns. I first became involved when the newsletter was about 6 months old; since I'd never done anything similar before and was also a computer novice, it was very much a learning experience. I had to struggle just to track the constant (and ever-growing) stream of submitted items; let alone make some sense of them and communicate that sense to a busy, informed, and growing readership. Trial and error eventually produced the four durable categories now in use: policy, law enforcement, cannabis and international. I gradually learned to use the briefest possible excerpts of each item in order to cover the most policy ground in the fewest words (4000, plus a short feature is ideal). In that sense, HTML links are invaluable; readers with a good Internet connection can go directly to the text of articles which interest them; they can still get a useful gist of other items from the combination of headline, COMMENT, and excerpt. Since most of the words in each issue are either boilerplate or were written by others, developing a style was a challenge. The guiding principle turned out to be Joe McNamara's observation that "the drug war can't stand scrutiny." This is especially true when comparing proclaimed goals with obtained results- even when reported by a supportive media. Over time, my weekly immersion in press reports of the drug war made clear that the policy is not only much worse than I first imagined, its patterns of failure are monotonously repetitive within the same policy areas. They no longer have to be sought, but literally jump up from the long lists of articles received each week in my Eudora Pro mailboxes. Recognition of various items' relationship to each other allows presentation in groups of two and three; thus enhancing flow and readability. Spotting a repeating pattern of failure has also allowed linkage of related items with increasing facility. The best measure of this is uncannily accurate: the more aptly two items illuminate their mutual absurdity, the shorter the COMMENT necessary to point that out; the shorter the COMMENTS, the more readable the Newsletter. The more readable the newsletter becomes, the more ridiculous the drug war appears. ************************************************************************ WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW ===================================================== Domestic News- Policy --------------- COMMENT: (1-2) As usual, evidence of our national drug policy's schizophrenia wasn't hard to find: despite repeated recent claims of wod success, McCzar's underlings continue to issue feverish bulletins about "explosions" of ecstasy and methamphetamine use. (1) ECSTASY SEIZURES SOAR AS USE INCREASES NEW YORK -- Some of the small tablets are shaped like the familiar Playboy magazine rabbit ears and are known as Bunnies. Others are called Buddhas because they bear his likeness. Some are stamped with the Nike swoosh, a shamrock or Dino the Dinosaur. All are part of an alarming explosion in MDMA, the synthetic psychoactive drug called Ecstasy. [snip] Salvatore Gravano, the Mafia turncoat arrested Thursday in Arizona, was charged with financing a ring that sold 20,000 to 25,000 tablets of the drug a week. But those sales figures pale in comparison with those of an organization shut down one day earlier in New York: Police said they arrested several Israelis who were selling 100,000 tablets weekly. [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Copyright: 2000 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 Author: William K. Rashbaum, New York Times URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n274/a09.html === (2) METH LABS AN INCREASINGLY COMMON PROBLEM IN AREA Speed kills. While still true, the drug culture slogan about the stimulants methamphetamines from years past is no longer limited to health and psychological risks associated with abuse of the drug. Law enforcement officials say meth labs can cause fires, explosions and environmental contamination. A change in drug market dynamics also has caused new clandestine laboratories that make the drug to pop up across the nation, said Donnie R. Marshall, acting administrator of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Central Texas drug agents have busted six such labs in as many months. [snip] Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 Source: Waco Tribune-Herald (TX) Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://accesswaco.com/news/index.html Forum: http://www.accesswaco.com/cgi-bin/pforum/show?ROOT7 Author: Richard L. Smith Bookmark: MAP's link to Texas articles is: http://www.mapinc.org/states/tx URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n264/a04.html === COMMENT: (3-4) The major reason offered for continued government sponsorship of profitable illegal drug markets is concern for "the kids." As usual, there was evidence that while such anxiety might be well founded, actions taken to address the problem are self-defeating. For example, the billion dollar a year D.A.R.E. program received another failing grade; this time, from the Detroit News (3) MORE PRE SCHOOLERS ON PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS In a finding that medical experts called "troubling" and "very surprising," researchers reported yesterday that the number of preschoolers taking stimulants, anti-depressants and other psychiatric drugs rose sharply from 1991 to 1995. The use of stimulants - most commonly methylphenidate, the generic form of Ritalin - increased twofold to threefold for children ages 2 through 4 enrolled in two state Medicaid programs and one health maintenance organization in the Northwest, the researchers found. [snip] Pubdate: Wed, 23 Feb 2000 Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Copyright: 2000 Pulitzer Publishing Co. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.azstarnet.com/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n272/a01.html === (4) MI: D.A.R.E. DOESN'T WORK POPULAR ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM NOT MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN METRO DETROIT Money Can Be Better Spent Elsewhere, Some Experts Say -- First Of Two Parts DARE, a billion-dollar national drug prevention program, has no impact on alcohol or drug use among Metro Detroit teen-agers, according to a Detroit News investigation. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Detroit News (MI) Copyright: 2000, The Detroit News Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Feedback: http://data.detnews.com:8081/feedback/ Website: http://www.detnews.com/ Author: Jodi Upton, (Staff writer Katie Merx contributed to this report) URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n281/a04.html Note: The URLs and titles for all articles in this series can be found at: http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0154.html === COMMENT: (5-6) Testing remains a burning issue; even as the Supremes announced they will review two intrusive laws, more private schools and public school districts announce new random testing programs every week. (5) DRUG TESTS ON PREGNANT WOMEN STUDIED WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court today agreed to decide whether public hospitals can test pregnant patients for drug use and tell police who tested positive. The justices said they will review a challenge to a South Carolina hospital's policy aimed at detecting pregnant women who use crack cocaine. The policy's opponents say it violates women's Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 2000 Associated Press Author: Richard Carelli, Associated Press Writer URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n282/a09.html === (6) BENEDICTINE TO TEST FOR DRUGS Random Screening Of Students, Faculty Benedictine High School will give random drug tests to its students, faculty and staff members starting this fall. School officials said yesterday that the private, all-male Catholic military school does not have a drug problem. Instead, they believe the program will deter future drug use among students. [snip] Newshawk: Sledhead Pubdate: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2000 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Address: P.O. Box 85333, Richmond, VA 23293-0001 Fax: (804) 775-8072 Note: LTEs by FAX or mail only! Website: http://www.gateway-va.com/ Author: Kristen Noz URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n271/a04.html === COMMENT: (7) 20% of applicants for student loans either failed or refused to answer the new question about drug convictions. It won't hurt them this time, but this could become a major bone of contention after July. (7) STUDENTS SKIP DRUG QUESTION ON FEDERAL FORM WASHINGTON - More than 100,000 applicants for federal college aid in the coming school year didn't answer a question about whether they recently have been convicted of drug crimes. [snip] So many skipped the new question that the Education Department has decided to let colleges promise federal grants or loans to students who didn't answer it. After July 1, a student cannot receive federal financial aid within one year of a first conviction for possessing illegal drugs or two years of a first conviction for selling them. Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 Source: Tampa Tribune (FL) Copyright: 2000, The Tribune Co. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.tampatrib.com/ Forum: http://tampabayonline.net/interact/welcome.htm Author: Andrew Millison, Cox News Service URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n270/a02.html ===================================================== Law Enforcement & Prisons --------- COMMENT: (8) Arrest of Sammy, "The Bull" for Ecstasy trafficking emphasized the critical importance of career criminals to US "Justice." (8) MANY SNITCHES STILL DOING CRIME Salvatore Gravano, the Mafia underboss turned government snitch, may be the most notorious example of a growing problem for America's justice system: protected witnesses who return to crime under the noses of law-enforcement agents. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Arizona Republic (AZ) Copyright: 2000 The Arizona Republic Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 200 E. Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85004 Website: http://www.azcentral.com/news/ Forum: http://www.azcentral.com/pni-bin/WebX?azc Author: Dennis Wagner and Pat Flannery URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n281/a01.html === COMMENT: (9-10) In Southern California, the FBI entered the Rampart scandal. This LAT analysis covers the murky politics now dominating this unbelievable case, in which the sentencing of the original informant (a mere 5 years!) is already an afterthought. Meanwhile, a prison riot in Northern California served as backdrop for announcing two more indictments in the far longer-running prison scandal. (9) FBI LAUNCHES PROBE INTO RAMPART SCANDAL LAPD: Six agents are assigned to investigate alleged civil rights abuses. District attorney says murder, attempted murder charges are being pursued against some officers. Marking a milestone in the 5-month-old Rampart corruption scandal, authorities announced Wednesday that federal prosecutors and half a dozen FBI agents would begin investigating alleged civil rights abuses by Los Angeles police officers, while the district attorney's office said it is pursuing murder and attempted murder charges against some officers. [snip] Yet, despite pronouncements of "teamwork" and "common goals" of rooting out police corruption, it was clear that turf wars and personality clashes already are complicating matters. Most striking was the tension between Parks and Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti. Parks has made no secret of his belief that the D.A. is dragging his feet in prosecuting corrupt officers. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2000 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: Matt Lait, Scott Glover, Times Staff Writers Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rampart.htm URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n264/a06.html === (10) CA: GUARDS ACCUSED OF ARRANGING ATTACKS Cresent City Prison Employees Allegedly Pitted Inmates Against Each Other SAN FRANCISCO - Two more former Pelican Bay State Prison guards have been charged with violating the civil rights of inmates of the maximum-security prison by setting up attacks, one of them fatal, by other prisoners over a nearly three-year period. [snip] The prison near Cresent City also was the site of a riot Wednesday that started as a fight between black and Hispanic inmates, a prison spokesman said. One inmate was fatally shot by guards. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 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/ Author: Bob Egelko, The Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n268/a03.html === COMMENT: (11) Denver Post Columnist Diane Carman began with the festering police scandal in that city; then traveled efficiently across the country to add up reasons for American Law enforcement's appalling loss of credibility. (11) COLUMN: PLAN FOR POLICE FALLS SHORT The mayor's goal for reforming the Denver police is laudable. He says he wants to "create a culture of excellence ... that breeds respect among the citizens and among the police." But his plan for achieving it overlooks the reason that respect does not exist. There's no accountability. [snip] The Denver P.D.'s problem is far more than a minor public-relations misstep to be glossed over with a management change and a commitment to stop hiring cops who've snorted cocaine. It's part of a national epidemic of serious human-rights abuses in departments from New York and Los Angeles to New Orleans and even tiny Steubenville, Ohio (pop. 21,000). [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 Source: Denver Post (CO) Copyright: 2000 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: Diane Carman - Denver Post Columnist, [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n278/a05.html ======================================================= Cannabis & Hemp- ------------- COMMENT: (12-13) The next two articles demonstrate how MAP's archives make it easier than ever to connect the drug war's dots. Perhaps the Canadian hemp farmers would be even less optimistic if they knew it took McCzar less than a week to respond to the IL legislature's endorsement of a hemp study. (12) IL: U.S. DRUG CZAR OPPOSES PLAN IN ILLINOIS TO EXPLORE INDUSTRIAL HEMP DEVELOPMENT SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Illinois' efforts to develop hemp into an industrial product might open the door to legalization of marijuana, the federal government's drug czar warned Monday in a letter to the speaker of the Illinois House. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) Copyright: 2000 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.postnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/Home Forum: http://www.postnet.com/postnet/config.nsf/forums URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n281/a01.html === (13) HEMP GROWERS RELUCTANT TO ABANDON THEIR DREAM DAUPHIN, Man. -- The old curling rink in the middle of the community is empty. Its doors are locked. Down the street, an odd-looking German forage harvester sits in the shadow of a farm supply centre, waiting for the finance company that now owns it to take it away. [snip] "We're waiting to see," said Nicholson. "You can't expect a business to continue to put out substantial sums of money on what-ifs." Nicholson said company officials have indicated they are prepared to start work on the temporary plant within four weeks of a green light for hemp seed imports from the American government. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2000 Source: Western Producer (CN SN) Copyright: 2000 The Western Producer Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: Box 2500, Saskatoon, SK, Canada S7K 2C4 Fax: (306) 934-2401 Website: http://www.producer.com/ Author: Roberta Rampton, Winnipeg bureau URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n264/a03.html Related: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm === COMMENT: (14-15) As a prelude to the Placer Co trial of Steve & Michele Kubby opening this week, the Redding Record-Searchlight has been covering several other medical cannabis trials. One of the strangest verdicts imaginable emerged last week. Clearly, the same craven ambivalence exhibited by the jury also affects the state's medical community. (14) CA: PAIR GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY Mother, Son Cleared Of Other Pot Charges In verdicts that raise more questions about medicinal marijuana law, a Shasta County jury Tuesday acquitted a Redding mother and son of growing marijuana and the son of possessing pot for sale, but found both guilty of conspiracy to cultivate marijuana. [snip] The mother and son face up to three years in prison if the verdicts stand. It was the second time since December that a Shasta County jury has acquitted a medicinal marijuana patient of growing marijuana for sale. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA) Copyright: 2000 Redding Record Searchlight - E.W. Scripps Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 Website: http://www.redding.com/ Forum: http://www.redding.com/disc2_frm.htm Author: Maline Hazle URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n272/a07.html === (15) CA: MOST DOCTORS RELUCTANT TO RECOMMEND MARIJUANA Conflicting state and federal laws about marijuana, a lack of clinical research on the drug and threats to their livelihoods make most doctors unwilling to recommend its medical use. Dr. Tod Mikuriya of Berkeley, who signed the doctor's note approving marijuana use for Redding's Richard Levin, is one exception. He said he has been investigated by the California Medical Board for years; and although he's never been criminally charged, he fears prosecution. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Redding Record Searchlight (CA) Copyright: 2000 Redding Record Searchlight - E.W. Scripps Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: PO Box 492397, Redding, CA 96049-2397 Website: http://www.redding.com/ Forum: http://www.redding.com/disc2_frm.htm Author: Kimberly Bolander Note: Reporter Kimberly Bolander, [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n278/a05.html === COMMENT: (16) On the recreational front; the following demonstrates both the futility of "narcotics control" and how it's become such lucrative make-work for law enforcement. (16) POT FARMS INVADE NATIONAL PARKS SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. - They were spotted from the air, as conspicuous as sharks in a school of guppies: Three plots of land, seemingly stripped of the towering oaks and manzanitas that shroud this patch of Southern California forest. These were not natural formations. They were entirely man-made - and entirely illegal. [snip] As money and manpower continue to flow to the Southwest border to stop illegal drugs coming into this country, traffickers - many employed by drug gangs - are producing vast quantities of marijuana right here in the United States, on land owned by the federal government. The reasons are obvious: the land is fertile, remote and free. There's no risk of forfeiture, plantations are difficult to trace, and growers have land agents out manned, outspent and outgunned. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Daily Herald (IL) Copyright: 2000 The Daily Herald Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Author: Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n286/a02.html ====================================================== International News ------------- COMMENT: (17-18) A disturbing report from Australia underscores another aspect of prohibition: the drug being demonized is often not even the drug being used. RCMP enthusiasm for the DEA's latest toy happened to coincide with UN (read US) pressure for Canada to get tougher on drug law enforcement. (17) AUSTRALIA: $5 M ECSTASY SCAM VICTORIANS are spending up to $5 million every weekend on ecstasy tablets laced with heroin, speed, cocaine and horse tranquillisers.Police say drug manufacturers are putting "whatever they can get their hands on" into the pills and selling them as ecstasy. Forensic tests have shown up to 98 per cent of "ecstasy" being seized by police does not even contain the ecstasy drug MDMA. [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 Source: Herald Sun (Australia) Copyright: News Limited 2000 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n271/a03.html === (18) RCMP WANT NUDE-CAM FOR TORONTO'S AIRPORT TORONTO -- The RCMP are asking to test a controversial X-ray machine that strips the clothes off travellers in their fight against drug smuggling at Toronto's Pearson airport. The hi-tech device allows Customs and airport cops to "see through" the clothes of suspects to reveal if drugs or weapons are hidden underneath. The Rapiscan Secure 1000 system, which is banned by Health Canada, is so sensitive it can show a woman's nipples and an outline of her underwear. Some U.S. critics say ogling operators can violate a person's privacy. But the Rapiscan, which uses X-rays to display concealed objects, has been used since last summer at six U.S. airports and two in Britain. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB) Copyright: 2000, Canoe Limited Partnership. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: #250, 4990-92 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta, T6B 3A1 Canada Fax: (780) 468-0139 Website: http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonSun/ Forum: http://www.canoe.ca/Chat/home.html Author: Tom Godfrey URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n278/a09.html === COMMENT: (19-20) Two reports from the UK will heighten the already considerable tension between the out-of-power majority which prefers a Dutch enforcement model and those clinging to power along with their insistence on a law-and-order American model. (19) UK: DRUG ABUSE DEATHS AMONG YOUNG MEN DOUBLE IN 4 YEARS Drug abuse deaths among men have doubled in four years, with heroin and cocaine blamed for the rise, according to figures published yesterday. [snip] However Keith Hellawell, anti-drugs co-ordinator, said yesterday that the true number of drug deaths could be far higher. He said: "For some time, we have acknowledged that the reported number of drug-related deaths is not a true reflection of the actual number. All deaths from drugs misuse are tragic and the Government's anti-drugs strategy was drawn up specifically to tackle the misuse of illegal drugs." [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 Source: Daily Telegraph (UK) Copyright: Telegraph Group Limited 2000 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Author: Sally Pook URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n276/a08.html === (20) SCOTLAND: ROW OVER 'BENIGN' DRUG USE REPORT A new survey which claims to show that most drug-taking among young people is "benign" has provoked fresh debate on how Scotland should lead the fight against drugs. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Sunday Herald (UK) Copyright: 2000 Sunday Herald Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fax: +44 (0)141 302 7809 Address: 195 Albion Street, Glasgow, G1 1QP Website: http://www.sundayherald.com/ Author: Sarah-Kate Templeton, [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n280/a05.html === COMMENT: (21-22) A report in the Dallas Morning News suggests that the US will make use of mercenaries to disguise the extent its nationals are engaged in Colombian combat; nothing new here. A penetrating analysis from the International herald Tribune pinpoints exactly why McCzar's Colombian adventure is a chimera. (21) COLOMBIA: CONTRACTORS PLAYING INCREASING ROLE IN U.S. DRUG WAR BOGOTA, Colombia - Alex B. Pinero's resume reads like that of a man looking for a lot of action and maybe even a little trouble. A former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, Mr. Pinero has served in three combat theaters, speaks three languages and specializes in field medicine, intelligence-gathering and psychological operations. "I am also well-acquainted with and can operate in virtually any hostile (geographic, literal or temporal) environment," his resume boasts. Mr. Pinero is working in Colombia on a noncombat, private contract with the U.S. government. Because he is a contract employee, he said, the government would bear no responsibility should he run into trouble while helping wage a rapidly escalating U.S. war on drugs in a land where more than 20,000 leftist guerrillas are gunning for people like him every day. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Copyright: 2000 The Dallas Morning News Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, Texas 75265 Fax: (972) 263-0456 Feedback: http://dmnweb.dallasnews.com/letters/ Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Forum: http://forums.dallasnews.com:81/webx Author: Tod Robberson URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n278/a08.html Related: http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm === (22) ENTERING COLOMBIA'S CIVIL WAR WON'T SOLVE THE U.S. PROBLEM PARIS - The Clinton administration has put before Congress an "emergency" $1.6 billion program to expand military assistance to the Colombian army and security forces fighting both an insurrection and the drug trade. [snip] The drug trade responds to U.S. demand. Colombia's production and exports are merely a sideline in an indigenous political and social struggle whose causes have nothing to do with drugs, and for which the United States has no answers. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 Source: International Herald-Tribune Copyright: International Herald Tribune 2000 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.iht.com/ Page: 10 OPED Website: http://www.iht.com/ Author: William Pfaff, International Herald Tribune Los Angeles Times Syndicate URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n286/a03.html Related: http://www.mapinc.org/latin.htm === COMMENT: (23) Just as the skids are being greased for quick US approval of Mexico's "cooperation," in the drug war comes an ugly reminder of reality. (23) MEXICO: TIJUANA OFFICIAL SAYS SLAYING SHOWS TRAFFICKERS' POWER MEXICO CITY, Feb. 28 - A day after gunmen killed the police chief in Tijuana, the sprawling city that borders California, the state governor said drug traffickers were out of control there partly because many federal authorities were in their pay. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Sam Dillon URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n288/a05.html ************************************************************************ HOT OFF THE 'NET ------------- Great Web Site for Contacting Congress Below is a wonderful nationwide tool. "Contacting the Congress !!" just click on a state on the map, and do it! http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ Thanks to Ken Brown for the heads up. === DPF Conference Deadlines Nearing The 13th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform is taking place May 17-20 in Washington, DC. The deadline for paper and panel abstracts has passed. It was Monday, February 28. The deadline for scholarship requests is Monday, April 3. Submissions can either be e-mailed to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or faxed to (202) 537-3007. If you would like more information on the conference or need the abstract submission form, please visit http://www.dpf.org/ === NetZero Offers FREE Internet access Drug policy reformers are notoriously under funded. We came across the website below that offers FREE Internet access. http://www.netzero.com/ This can be a great way to save about $250 a year if you are willing to put up with a few small banner ads which is how NetZero pays for this service. According to ZDTV this is among the best and most reliable services offering free web access but there are many such as http://www.Altavista.com/ and http://www.lycos.com/ Web access will become an ever increasing necessity for drug policy activists. Don't let monthly cost concerns dissuade anyone from getting active on this important medium. ************************************************************************ QUOTE OF THE WEEK ------------ "Enslave the liberty of one human being and the liberties of the world are put in peril." - William Lloyd Garrison *********************************************************************** DS Weekly is one of the many free educational services DrugSense offers our members. Watch this feature to learn more about what DrugSense can do for you. TO SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS: Please utilize the following URLs http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm News/COMMENTS-Editor: Tom O'Connell ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Senior-Editor: Mark Greer ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) We wish to thank all our contributors, editors, NewsHawks and letter writing activists. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. 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