-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- Dave Hartley http://www.Asheville-Computer.com/dave ********************************************************************** DRUGSENSE WEEKLY ********************************************************************** DrugSense Weekly, February 4, 2000 #135 A DrugSense publication http://www.drugsense.org/ Read This Publication On-line at: http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm ------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS: * Feature Article Kill the Meth Bill by Mari Kane * Weekly News in Review Drug Policy- (1) Attorney General Janet Reno Releases Methamphetamine Study (2) Uphill Battle Against Meth Epidemic (3) Teenage Drug Use Highest in Rural Areas (4) N.M. Gov. Chastised on Drug Stance (5) White House Accused of Hampering War on Drugs (6) Lockney District to Test Students, Teachers for Drugs (7) Struggle With a Stubborn Drug Trade (8) Heroin Overdose Deaths Rise (9) Wife of Army Anti-drug Officer Pleads Guilty to Drug Charge Law Enforcement & Prisons- (10) Cop Drug-Buy Cash Missing (11) Officer Allegedly Was Planning to Steal More Drugs (12) Cop's Allegations Investigated (13) 99 Reportedly Framed By Former L.A. Cops Cannabis & Hemp- (14) Hemp Takes a Hit (15) Medical Pot Bill Introduced (16) Woman Convicted After Using Marijuana in Congressman's (17) Jury Acquits Medical Marijuana Grower International News- (18) Anti-Drugs Chief Wanted To Buy All Taliban's Opium (19) A New Political Generation is Ending the Cannabis Taboo (20) Mexico Trumpets Drug-Fighting Success (21) Colombian Jungle Base is Focus of U.S. Anti-Drug Aid * Hot Off The 'Net Article by Dr. Dean Edell UK Medicinal Cannabis Project Launches Website MAP Media Contact Database * Quote of the Week Samuel Stiles ************************************************************************ FEATURE ARTICLE KANE'S WORLD February 2000 by Mari Kane Kill the Meth Bill America loves the outlaw, especially in glitzy Los Angeles. That's something I discovered last year over dinner at a Hollywood Bowl concert with my mother, sister and daughter. We were talking about the business I'm in- industrial hemp- and mom said she had a dream where she met a certain movie star hemp celebrity and, in it, he told her that I was going to go to jail. By the time I finished choking on my pasta salad there seemed to be a lull in the din, and I said, perhaps a little too loudly, "well, I might just have to go to jail." As soon as the words left my mouth I was in an EF Hutten commercial with the voice-over saying: "when Mari Kane talks, people listen." The vibe that a crowd of opera buffs heard my announcement of guilt was so strong you could have heard a napkin drop. Sitting there, I got the feeling they were more than a bit titillated as they wondered if they'd seen me on TV. My reason for imparting this amusing memory and the reason I blurted out that I was headed for jail, is because it now looks, more than ever, that I am. This is because the Federal bill I told my mother and sister about that evening is still alive. It is S.486, and is called the Defeat of Methamphetamine Act but will be remembered as the Death of Free Speech Act. Sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the co-author is none other than my own Senator, Diane Feinstein (D-CA) from the state where the most valuable crop is cannabis. Anyone who was shocked to learn that taxpayer dollars are being used to insert anti-drug themes into Hollywood productions will be mortified to know that producers of pro-drug information are soon to become canaries in a constitutional coal mine. The part that would put me in jail reads: "It shall be unlawful for any person to teach or demonstrate the manufacture of a controlled substance, or to distribute by any means, information pertaining to, in whole or in part, the manufacture or use of a controlled substance, with the intent that the teaching, demonstration, or information be used for, or in furtherance of, an activity that constitutes a Federal crime." I've never been arrested, have always filed my taxes and I vote regularly. But it just so happens that I have a web site devoted to industrial hemp, the legal stuff that is connected, both politically and genetically, to marijuana. I never thought of hemppages.com as a tool for teaching an activity that constitutes a Federal crime, but it does contain an excellent article on medical marijuana by Harvard MD Lester Grinspoon, as well as various stories about Prop 215 and cannabis-related books for sale. If the Meth bill becomes law, I will be a criminal for posting all of this information! It's a wacky world where one can go to jail not for growing, trafficking or dealing drugs, but by simply talking about them! Today's law-abiding activist is tomorrow's political prisoner. Last year at the Hollywood Bowl I laughed about this bill, incredulous that it would ever go anywhere. Now, I'm very, very concerned since the Senate has passed their version of the bill and has sent it off to the House. While the Meth bill is a clear violation of the First Amendment, House sponsor Chris Cannon is unconcerned about it's constitutionality and is emboldened by a recent case where Paladin Press settled a suit in which a reader of their how-to-commit-a-murder guide, "Hit Man," used the book in a real-life triple murder. The victim's families sued Paladin in civil court and the publisher settled for $5 million. If S.R. 486 is passed, the government will use this precedent to defend drug censorship. However, Paladin's book promoted murder- an age-old crime against humanity, where anti-drug war publishers are non-violently passing information on a 70 year-old political quagmire. There is a difference. The desire for free speech and religion are what drove the Pilgrims to this continent in the first place and by abandoning these principles to Drug War hysteria we will propel ourselves back to pre-Enlightenment Europe. If the drug debate is allowed to be silenced by the law then any kind of speech can be repressed. The Defeat of Meth bill should be killed immediately and our representatives need to be reminded that while drug paranoia may come and go, the Constitution is here to stay. As for me, I won't ever shut up - even under lock-down. --- Author Mari Kane is the publisher of The International Hemp Journal (formerly known as HempWorld), and Hemp Pages-The Hemp Industry Source Book, and is a board member of the Hemp Industries Association and Californians for Industrial Renewal. She can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED], or visit the Hemp Pages website at http://www.hemppages.com/ ************************************************************************ WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW ===================================================== Domestic News- Policy --------------- COMMENT: (1-3) The interlocking and self-reinforcing 'anti-meth" propaganda campaign ground on with some help from CASA's Joe Califano and the AG. The thrust is that meth is ravaging the rural poor, much like crack attacked inner-city ghettos in the Eighties. The remedy being prepared by a compliant Congress which this propaganda seems intended to support: more money, more cops, stiffer penalties, and- in fine print that activists are hip to- but has yet to make it to media radar screens: potential cancellation of the First Amendment for all druggies and legalizers. (1) ATTORNEY GENERAL JANET RENO RELEASES METHAMPHETAMINE STUDY; Collaboration Among Education, Public Health, Law Enforcement, Public Safety Agencies Needed to Address Problem WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 -- Attorney General Janet Reno and General Barry McCaffrey, Director of the Office of the National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), released a report recommending that collaboration among education, public health, law enforcement and public safety agencies is critical to addressing the growing methamphetamine problem in the United States. [snip] "The findings of the Methamphetamine Interagency Task Force will enable us to take the next step toward ridding our communities of the public safety and health problems caused by methamphetamine," stated Attorney General Reno. "By combining prevention and treatment with education and enforcement, we can enable those who are abusing methamphetamine to break the cycle of drugs and crime and become productive citizens." [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 Source: Boston Globe (MA) Copyright: 2000 Globe Newspaper Company. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Feedback: http://extranet1.globe.com/LettersEditor/ Website: http://www.boston.com/globe/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n148/a09.html === (2) UPHILL BATTLE AGAINST METH EPIDEMIC - DAY 5A Despite increasing resources, authorities say they've been unable to slow production or use of methamphetamine in the Inland area. The insatiable demand for methamphetamine generates billions of dollars a year nationwide, fueling an industry of clandestine manufacturers undeterred by prison, poor health or the threat of death. Despite state-of-the-art technology, expertly trained staff and increasing financial resources, many law-enforcement experts question whether even their best efforts will allow them to suppress the meth trade. "Definitely, there's no light at the end of the tunnel on this," said Lt. Al Hearn, who heads the Riverside County Sheriff's Department's major narcotics unit, which targets large-scale trafficking operations. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Press-Enterprise (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Press-Enterprise Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.inlandempireonline.com/ Author: Aldrin Brown The Press-Enterprise URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n132/a09.html === (3) TEENAGE DRUG USE HIGHEST IN RURAL AREAS WASHINGTON -- Adolescents in small-town and rural America are much more likely than their peers in urban centers to have used drugs, according to a private study released yesterday. The report urges the government to reverse the alarming trend by funding the war on drugs in non-metropolitan areas as well as it does in foreign countries such as Colombia. Eighth-graders in rural America are 104 percent likelier than those in big cities to use amphetamines, including methamphetamines, and 50 percent likelier to use cocaine, according to the study released by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Author: Genaro C. Armas, The Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n128/a08.html === COMMENT: (4-6) Despite the AG's reassuring promises to "control" meth if given enough money and power, there was (the usual) abundant evidence of drug warrior paranoia and frustration with any sign of heresy. (4) N.M. GOV. CHASTISED ON DRUG STANCE SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- The New Mexico Senate condemned Gov. Gary Johnson on Wednesday for supporting the legalization of cocaine, heroin and marijuana. Senators voted 37 to 4 for the resolution, which was brought to the floor by Johnson's fellow Republicans in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The House is considering a similar measure. [snip] Pubdate: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://www10.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: The Associated Press Related: http://www.mapinc.org/johnson.htm Related: http://www.mapinc.org/states/nm URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n124/a10.html === (5) WHITE HOUSE ACCUSED OF HAMPERING WAR ON DRUGS WASHINGTON - A key House subcommittee chairman is accusing the Clinton administration of sabotaging the war on drugs by sharply reducing the Pentagon's ability to stop U.S.-bound shipments. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., based his accusation on a report by congressional investigators that said the number of flight hours devoted to counterdrug missions declined 68 percent from 1992 through 1999. [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 2000 The Seattle Times Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111 Fax: (206) 382-6760 Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: George Gedda, The Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n130/a11.html === (6) LOCKNEY DISTRICT TO TEST STUDENTS, TEACHERS FOR DRUGS Lockney, Texas - Beginning Tuesday, students from sixth through 12th grades and all teachers in the Lockney Independent School District will be tested for drugs. All students, not just those in athletics or other extracurricular activities, will be required to take the test, school officials said. Lockney is a town of 2,100 people 43 miles northeast of Lubbock. Parents have been asked to sign consent forms. If parents refuse the tests are considered positive, and students will face repercussions the same as if they had failed the test, officials said. [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jan 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: Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n137/a10.html === COMMENT: (7-9) Also as usual, there was enough evidence that our national policy really is a catastrophic failure to justify the warriors' worst fears and frustrations. Now; if they could only be induced to recognize the role of their policy in creating the problem... (7) STRUGGLE WITH A STUBBORN DRUG TRADE Closing D.C. Open-Air Markets Isn't Easy A police cruiser recently rolled up on 57th Place, a troubled patch of Southeast Washington. Behind the wheel, Anthony Guice, a stern and strapping public housing police officer, spotted a group of young men he had come to know as neighborhood drug dealers. [snip] The 57th Place project illustrates the difficulties - even with the most extraordinary efforts - of eliminating open-air drug markets, one of the most visible symbols of lawlessness in urban America. More than a decade after the city began a concerted effort to eliminate street sales, Washington today has at least 60 open-air markets, each defined as a two-to three-block area where drugs are peddled outdoors. [snip] Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 Source: Washington Post (DC) Section: Front Page Copyright: 2000 The Washington Post Company Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ Author: Allan Lengel, Washington Post Staff Writer URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n139/a04.html === (8) HEROIN OVERDOSE DEATHS RISE Factory-direct drug shipments from Mexico are bringing more powerful and less-expensive loads of heroin into Salt Lake County, resulting in a sixfold increase in overdose deaths in recent years. [snip] The number of heroin deaths increased from 20 in 1991 to 130 in 1998, the latest year for which statistics are available [snip] Pubdate: Sun, 30 Jan 2000 Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT) Copyright: 2000, The Salt Lake Tribune Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://utahonline.sltrib.com/ Forum: http://utahonline.sltrib.com/tribtalk/ Author: Norma Wagner, The Salt Lake Tribune URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n136/a03.html === (9) WIFE OF ARMY ANTI-DRUG OFFICER PLEADS GUILTY TO DRUG CHARGES NEW YORK - The wife of a former U.S. Army anti-drug officer in Colombia has pleaded guilty to drug charges in a scheme to smuggle $700,000 worth of heroin into the United States from her husband's post. Laurie Anne Hiett said her husband, Col. James Hiett, the former head of U.S. anti-drug operations in Bogota, never knew of her plan. [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) Copyright: 2000 Seattle Post-Intelligencer Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: P.O. Box 1909, Seattle, WA 98111-1909 Website: http://www.seattle-pi.com/ Author: Tom Hays, The Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n132/a01.html ===================================================== Law Enforcement & Prisons --------- COMMENT: (10-13) Army wives aren't the only ones tempted to stray; substance prohibition creates myriad chances to corrupt police: as the first- and only- agents empowered to deal directly with criminal entrepreneurs, they are tempted both by pay offs and the chance to enter the drug business for themselves. They also have special incentives to lie- both in order to cover for aggressive colleagues and to secure convictions in victimless crimes. The LAPD Rampart scandal, which continued to unfold at a glacial pace under Garcetti's reluctant direction, may ultimately dwarf all others. (10) COP DRUG-BUY CASH MISSING EVANSVILLE, INDIANA - Thousands of dollars disappeared from the drug-purchasing fund of the Evansville Police Department while former Vanderburgh County Sheriff Ray Hamner was chief from 1980-89, authorities said. The discovery, announced Tuesday, was made in the course of a probe of the drug-buying money that disappeared from Hamner's office during his two terms as sheriff from 1991-98. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2000 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Address: 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066 Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n131/a07.html === (11) OFFICER ALLEGEDLY WAS PLANNING TO STEAL MORE DRUGS LONG BEACH--A Long Beach police officer accused of stealing six kilograms of cocaine from an undercover law enforcement agent was contemplating two other narcotics thefts before his arrest, a federal prosecutor said Friday. Officer Julio A. Alcaraz, 36, was taken into custody early Thursday following a nearly three-year investigation into allegations that he was stealing narcotics from drug dealers while on patrol in his police cruiser. [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jan 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/ URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n135/a08.html === (12) COP'S ALLEGATIONS INVESTIGATED Officer said she felt pressured to falsify documents in shooting after 'no-knock' raid A special prosecutor is looking into allegations by a well-respected Denver cop that her superiors pressured her to falsify documents in a controversial police shooting. [snip] Specifically, the Denver Rocky Mountain News has learned from police sources, the officer felt pressure to make it appear as though there had been earlier reports of trouble at Mena's home when there had not. The officer filed a complaint against superiors with the department's Internal Affairs Bureau, the sources said. Then, on Tuesday, she was transferred from her post in District 2 to a position in the office of Division Chief Gerry Whitman, who oversees the department's patrol officers, the sources said. Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO) Copyright: 2000 Denver Publishing Co. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.denver-rmn.com/ Author: Kevin Vaughan URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n134/a07.html === (13) 99 REPORTEDLY FRAMED BY FORMER L.A. COPS LOS ANGELES -- Significantly broadening the scope of the Rampart Division corruption scandal, Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks has disclosed that 99 people are believed to have been framed by disgraced ex-officer-turned-informant Rafael Perez and his former partners. Parks, in his most detailed update on the scandal since it broke in September, also called upon District Attorney Gil Garcetti to move forward as quickly as possible to dismiss cases "en masse" instead of prolonging the investigation and delaying "the obvious." He said at least three wrongly convicted people remain behind bars. Others have either served their time, have been paroled or placed on probation, officials said. [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 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: Los Angeles Times URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n128/a05.html Related: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm ======================================================= Cannabis & Hemp- ------------- COMMENT: (14) Anyone tempted to regard ONDCP bureaucrats as either honest or rational would have to explain their behavior in literally changing a long-standing policy for indefensible reason. No wonder the Dept. of Agriculture sees little economic future for industrial hemp. Talk about self- fulfilling prophecies! (14) HEMP TAKES A HIT The Feds Just Might Drive This Growing Industry Out Of Its Head. Five years ago, vocal hemp supporters Kathleen Chippi and David Almquist put their money where their mouths were by opening the Boulder Hemp Company. The pair's activism by way of commerce has since produced a line of cookies, snacks and baking mixes made with hemp flour, which they grind from hemp seeds shipped in from around the globe... But Chippi and Almquist's struggle to meet consumer demand has been nothing compared to their battle with more formidable foes: the U.S. Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the nation's "drug czar," retired four-star Army general Barry McCaffrey. This coalition has deemed that sterilized industrial-hemp seeds -- which have been legally shipped into the United States for decades -- are a threat to public safety. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Westword (CO) Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.westword.com/ Author: Marty Jones URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n125/a08.html === COMMENT: (15-17) On the medical cannabis front, the good news is that a bill was introduced in the Maryland Legislature; the bad news is that a DC federal judges (predictably) found Renee Emery-Wolfe guilty- although letting her off with a slap on the wrist. In California, William Harrison became the second patient acquitted by a jury on ridiculous "cultivation for sale" charges but the DA still got her pound of flesh: a gun police found could be combined with a pre-215 conviction for cultivation to produce another "felony." That's Harrison's second strike; do you see how California's system works to protect the innocent? (15) MEDICAL POT BILL INTRODUCED Three Frederick County state lawmakers are co-sponsoring a bill to legalize marijuana for medical uses. Delegate David Brinkley, R-Frederick, Delegate Louise Snodgrass, R-Frederick/Washington, and Delegate Sue Hecht, D-Frederick/Washington, are backing the bill to allow people suffering from certain medical conditions to use marijuana. [snip] Source: Frederick News Post (MD) Copyright: 2000 Great Southern Printing and Manufacturing Company Fax: 301-662-8299 Website: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ Author: Krista Brick URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n138/a02.html === (16) WOMAN CONVICTED AFTER USING MARIJUANA IN CONGRESSMAN'S OFFICE A woman with multiple sclerosis has been convicted of drug possession for lighting a marijuana cigarette in a congressman's office when she felt the onset of an attack related to her illness. [snip] She could have sentenced the mother of four to six months in jail and fined her $ 1,000, but instead ordered Wolfe to perform 50 hours of community service and pay court costs of $50. [snip] Pubdate: Sat, 29 Jan 2000 Source: Independent, The (UK) Copyright: 2000 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/ Author: Catherine Strong, Associated Press URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n137/a07.html === (17) JURY ACQUITS MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROWER A Calaveras County jury on Friday acquitted an Angels Camp man of felony cannabis cultivation charges and charges of possession for sale. However, the jury found William Harrison, a local sculptor, guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 Source: Calaveras Enterprise (CA) Copyright: 2000 Calaveras Enterprise Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fax: (209) 754-4396 Website: http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/ Author: Scott Mobley URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n150/a09.html ====================================================== International News ------------- COMMENT: (18-19) An interesting item from Britain confirms that their drug tsar doesn't think any more clearly than ours- no matter how his title is spelled. Still in Britain, Mary Ann Sieghart's opinion that there's a disconnect between the public and politicians on cannabis prohibition is no doubt true; she may not be giving enough weight to the deterrent effect implacable US opposition can exert on the Blair (or any other) Government. (18) ANTI-DRUGS CHIEF WANTED TO BUY ALL TALIBAN'S OPIUM A plan to buy up and destroy all the heroin produced by Afghanistan to stop it reaching Britain was floated by Keith Hellawell, the Government's drugs tsar. Details of the plan were disclosed to The Telegraph as Mr Hellawell faced what he said was a new whispering campaign on the day he was called before three departmental ministers over their concern that Whitehall's drug policy was ill-coordinated. [snip] Pubdate: Tue, 01 Feb 2000 Source: Daily Telegraph (UK) Copyright: Telegraph Group Limited 2000 Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Author: Robert Shrimsley, chief political correspondent URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n148/a02.html === (19) A NEW POLITICAL GENERATION IS ENDING THE CANNABIS TABOO You're Only As Old As Your Reefer What I like about Labour's attitude to drugs is that they say one thing and do another. They say they are acting tough, when in fact they are focusing more on treatment than punishment... [snip] You can see these people not so much inching as millimetring their way towards a more sensible policy. Dr Mowlam thinks cannabis should be allowed for the terminally ill - only they, it seems, will not be gripped by reefer madness. The Liberal Democrats think they are brave in calling for a royal commission, though many of them privately would be happy to legalise. What they all want is the cover of respectability. And that is arriving. The Police Foundation report on cannabis is imminent, and likely to call for a softening in the law... [snip] It is demographics that will soon make such a policy politically palatable. A senior Liberal Democrat told me last week that drug legalisation, along with housing, was the main subject broached by his young constituents. As the 1960s generation takes power, in Westminster and elsewhere, the taboo will dissolve. [snip] Pubdate: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 Source: Times, The (UK) Copyright: 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.the-times.co.uk/ Author: Mary Ann Sieghart URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n131/a04.html Related: http://www.mapinc.org/uk.htm === COMMENT: (20-21) Mexico, confident after being told by Albright not to sweat certification, held a news conference stressing how much dope and property they've seized lately; doesn't that make you want to pop down for a mid-winter vacation? Further South, the US contribution to Colombia's military build-up was fleshed out by Eric Lichtblau of the LA Times. I've appended the URL for an analysis which should be read in tandem: "Latin American Lebanon," by Canadian journalist Eric Margolis. (20) MEXICO TRUMPETS DRUG-FIGHTING SUCCESS NARCOTICS: In a wide-ranging report,officials say they seized 6,224 tons in the past five years, most of it marijuana. MEXICO CITY - Mexican police and soldiers over the last six years have destroyed more than 800 square miles of marijuana and poppy crops - an expanse bigger than Orange County, officials said Wednesday. In one of their most comprehensive reports on counternarcotics, Mexican officials said they have seized 6,224 tons of illicit drugs since December 1994, most of it marijuana. They've arrested tens of thousands of suspects. And they've confiscated scores of homes, automobiles, boats and planes. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Orange County Register (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Orange County Register Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.ocregister.com/ Author: Tracey Eaton, The Dallas Morning News URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n129/a03.html === (21) COLOMBIAN JUNGLE BASE IS FOCUS OF U.S. ANTI-DRUG AID TRES ESQUINAS, Colombia--This base in the lush South American jungle is ground zero for President Clinton's emergency proposal to help fund a massive expansion of Colombia's anti-narcotics operation. [snip] Billed as a way to reduce the drug production of a country that supplies 80% of the world's cocaine, the aid package could turn out to be merely "a smoke screen" for fueling Colombia's 40-year battle against leftist guerrillas, said Winifred Tate, a Colombia specialist at the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonprofit research group. "This isn't good drug policy, and it isn't good human rights policy. I think this is going to make everything much worse," she said. [snip] Pubdate: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website: http://www.latimes.com/ Forum: http://www.latimes.com/home/discuss/ Author: Erich Lichtblau, Times Staff Write URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n125/a05.html Also see: A Latin American Lebanon by Eric Margolis http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n136/a06.html ************************************************************************ HOT OFF THE 'NET ------------- Article by Dr. Dean Edell Please visit Dr. Dean Edell's web site today for an article titled "New Marijuana Research Guidelines Should Go Up in Smoke," in addition to other marijuana and re-legalization related articles. Article by Dr. Dean Edell at http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/deanfulltexttopics.cfm?id=10913 === UK Medicinal Cannabis Project Launches Website The Project is a group of organisations and individuals committed to the development of non-smoked prescription cannabis-based medicines for treating a wide variety of conditions with a view to making these medicines available to patients as soon as possible. All research and development being carried out as part of the Project is performed under government licences and in co-operation with appropriate branches of government. http://www.medicinal-cannabis.org/ === MAP Media Contact Database Need an email address or URL for virtually any print publication? 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