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AN UNCERTAIN SCIENTIST'S GUIDE TO TAKING RISKS

2009-11-09T13:36:00.000-08:00

Be cautious about invoking the 'precautionary principle'. We can never be sure how dangerous - or safe - cannabis really is

Last year 509,090 people died in England and Wales, and the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) has just released full details of what they died of. For a statistician this means 346 riveting pages of morbid detail, ranging from the rare fatalities from hang-gliders ( 2 ), dog bites ( 4 ), lightning ( 0, down from 2 the previous year ), men-in-their-40s on playground equipment ( 1 ) to the usual blockbusters such as ischaemic heart disease ( 76,985 ).

Twelve riders were killed after falling off their horse in 2008, the consequences of what David Nutt once called "equasy" - or the addiction to horse-riding. The sacked chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs got into trouble earlier in the year for comparing the risks of equasy with Ecstasy, which directly led to 27 deaths in 2006.

Since both have similar numbers of participants my guess is that Ecstasy pips horse-riding in the risk stakes by a length. But given that around 1,000,000 Ecstasy tablets are taken a week, these are not high risks compared to the effects of alcohol, and certainly not other Class A drugs with which Ecstasy is lumped.

In 2006 heroin was mentioned on 713 death certificates, and the British Crime Survey estimated that 41,000 people used heroin that year - this produces a ( very ) crude annual death rate of 1 in 58. Put another way, heroin users have roughly the same death rate as an average 65-year-old man or 71-year-old woman. You would have to go hang-gliding eight times a day, all year, to have a similar risk.

But measuring the harm of drugs is not just about official statistics. Most of us have our own stories about sad changes in young people that appear closely associated with cannabis, and Professor Nutt points out that users do have increased risk of psychotic episodes. Parents are naturally concerned about the effects on the mental health of their children, and although surveys show that cannabis use has fallen among 11 to 15-year-olds, and schizophrenia rates have also fallen, these will provide little reassurance.

The ACMD acknowledges this and produced a ranking of the relative danger of drugs based on nine aspects of harm, including the broader social consequences.

The problem came when this harm ranking placed Ecstasy and cannabis below alcohol and tobacco. Although Professor Nutt claims these legal drugs can make useful benchmarks that help public understanding, the arguments concerning lethality and legality get hopelessly entangled, so that it is considered improper to "calibrate" illegal activities against legal ( and in the case of horse riding, admirably wholesome ) pursuits.

Jacqui Smith, the former Home Secretary, used public concern as part of the basis for rejecting the council's recommendation to downgrade cannabis, and also cited "doubt about the potential harm", saying "we must err on the side of caution". As Professor Nutt pointed out, this is a form of the precautionary principle, which says that if there is a possibility of severe outcomes we should not wait for complete certainty before acting.

This idea has been applied to man-made climate change, where if we waited for full understanding it would be too late to do anything about it. But the precautionary principle should be invoked with great caution: otherwise every claim of possible harm, from autism after the MMR jab to brain tumours from mobile phones, would lead to government action - and careful weighing of evidence would be washed away in the rush to bring about the illusory goal of "safety".

This means that the crucial role of any scientific advice is to assess and communicate reasonable uncertainty, rather than just list what "might" happen. Which is why it is so bizarre to have A. N. Wilson in the Daily Mail caricaturing scientists as "arrogant gods of certainty".

Perhaps the author of this wonderfully ill-informed comment would like to examine the recent UK Climate Impact Projections? There he would find uncertainty by the bucket-load: projections allow for doubt about how climate system works, accuracy of computer models and so on. A wide distribution of possibilities is given, with even a small probability that average temperatures will not increase at all.

The main problem is that if scientists and politicians are too certain, then adapting to new information can be slow or embarrassing. In 2007 the National Heart Forum made a projection that 48 per cent ( uncertainty range from 40-57 per cent ) of girls aged 2-11 would be overweight or obese in 2020. Yesterday, based on an additional three years data, it radically reduced the projected proportion to 27 per cent. How can this happen? The problem is that the projections are based on a simple extrapolation of the data up to 2020, and so the uncertainty limits do not allow for our doubts about what is going on in the population.

It's only by acknowledging the "unknowns", and trying to quantify how big they are, that scientists can give balanced, and appropriately uncertain, advice.

Politicians need to be willing to accept scientific uncertainty and still take decisions, and this means getting an idea of the magnitudes of the risks, even when our understanding is incomplete. None of us expects certainty in our lives, but we could all get better at acknowledging our ignorance without succumbing to the twin perils of panic or paralysis.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1008/a04.html
Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Wed, 4 Nov 2009
Source: Times, The (UK)
Page: 31
Copyright: 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd
Contact:
letters@thetimes.co.uk
Website: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/454
Author: David Spiegelhalter
Note: David Spiegelhalter is Winton Professor of the Public
Understanding of Risk at Cambridge University

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PEACE PRIZE WINNING OBAMA BACKS MILITARY GROWTH IN COLOMBIA

2009-11-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

Hours after this year's Nobel Peace Prize was announced, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson spoke to a college audience and gently admonished "our new Nobel Peace Prize-winning president."

Richardson, the ex-presidential candidate, diplomat and a past Nobel nominee, relayed a simple message to President Barack Obama: "Pay more attention to Latin America."

But in an ironic twist shaken out from last month's Nobel surprise, Obama beat out the odds-on Nobel favorite, Piedad Cordoba, a Colombian senator and successful hostage negotiator who for years has promoted negotiations to end the four-decades-long civil war in Colombia. Oddly enough, Obama has embraced the opposite solution to the tragic conflict in South America - a military expansion.

In July, the Obama administration announced a deal with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe - Cordoba's nemesis, America's ally - that will send at least hundreds of U.S. troops to seven Colombian military bases. The idea behind the expansion, U.S. officials said, is to track cocaine traffickers and the insurgent forces they fund.

But Obama's first major policy decision on inequality-stricken Latin America also reinforces a regional arms race, an unsettling trend that diverts more and more resources to building up armies instead of bolstering social development.

At a talk to students at UCLA last month, Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, addressed the deal, "You cannot be talking about peace and at the same time increasing the presence of the military in Colombia."

The comment was made the day before Obama's Nobel Peace Prize was announced.

The deepening U.S.-Colombia military partnership has been roundly criticized, but the story suffers from Latin America's second-thought status among many in the U.S. The criticism comes not just from Venezuela, but even moderate governments in Brazil and Chile.

"It was kind of sprung on people. Nobody saw it coming," said Michael LaRosa, a Rhodes College professor, of the decision to send troops to Colombia. "To some degree, it goes against everything that President Obama has been trying to do in Latin America, which is openness, transparency, reaching out."

John Lindsay-Poland, a California-based Latin America researcher, also has suggested that the expanded military partnership isn't in tune with Obama's latest accolade.

"This is a time when Washington should invest in peace talks, not institutionalizing its relationship with the military," Lindsay-Poland wrote on his blog.

LaRosa noted that three of the Colombian military installations where U.S. forces will be renting space are on the country's tense eastern border with Venezuela. "So it looks like we're trying to get close to Venezuela - and not because we want to get to know the Venezuelan people better," he said, "but because of the oil reserves there."

Weeks after news of the U.S.-Colombia deal broke, Venezuela's oil-rich leader, Hugo Chavez, promptly announced another major arms purchase with Russia - $2 billion worth of surface-to-air missiles, battle tanks and anti-aircraft missile launching systems. Chavez specifically invoked the U.S.-Colombia pact as a justification.

Meanwhile, Brazil, the regional heavyweight, spent a record $24.6 billion bulking up its military last year.

But Venezuela and Brazil aren't the only nations in the region devoting large sums to military spending. In 2008, so did Colombia ( $12.3 billion ), Chile ( $4.9 billion ), Ecuador ( $1.3 billion ) - even Bolivia ( $1 billion ), home to Latin America's most extreme poverty. Nor is the trend a one-year phenomenon. According to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, overall military spending in Latin America and the Caribbean spiked by 91 percent over the past five years, to $47.2 billion in 2008.

Even a respected analyst who favors U.S. assistance in combating Colombia's leftist guerillas cautions against the trend.

"We do have an arms buildup, which I think is worrying because Latin America, in relative terms, has been pretty peaceful," said Michael Shifter, director of the Andean program at the Inter-American Dialogue. "But the risks are increasing. There's very little transparency about the arms purchase and what their purposes are."

A decade ago, Plan Colombia was launched with the aim of interdicting drugs and supporting the Colombian government, not going after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

"But after 9/11, quietly, Plan Colombia funds began to go after three terrorist organizations as the United States names them in Colombia - the FARC, the paramilitary groups and the ELN [National Liberation Army]," LaRosa said. "So there was mission creep and mission change."

It's a mission creep our newly minted Nobel laureate endorses.

Nowadays, Cordoba, the Colombian politician and peace activist Obama beat for the Peace Prize, is still pressing the Uribe government for a prisoner swap with the FARC as a way to stimulate a different approach.

But unlike Obama, she'll have to press forward on that thankless task without the prestige of a Noble Prize to back her up.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1008/a03.html
Newshawk: Suzanne Wills
Votes: 0
Webpage: http://drugsense.org/url/0POlyY3n
Pubdate: Sun, 8 Nov 2009
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2009 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/cgi-bin/lettertoed.cgi
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: David Alire Garcia
Note: David Alire Garcia is a freelance writer on Latin America.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/opinion.htm (Opinion)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Plan+Colombia

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NORML WARMS UP MEDICAL POT PROPOSAL

2009-11-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

In a panel discussion yesterday in Ellis Auditorium, nine patients described a dizzying array of illnesses ranging from epilepsy to a rare joint disorder known as Larsen syndrome. Two sat in wheelchairs, and one young man told the audience he was there to speak on behalf of his father, who is bedridden with multiple sclerosis.

All panelists said they had found one drug that significantly calms the symptoms: marijuana.

The Missouri conference of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws gathered yesterday at the University of Missouri, and advocates say they are gearing up for a renewed push to pass medical reform legislation in the state.

In a daylong roster of speakers, none was more powerful than the sufferers of chronic illnesses who say smoking marijuana calms their nerves, decreases nausea and eases pain. And, they say, they're tired of being treated like criminals for using it.

"It's a real human tragedy to find a safer alternative" to pharmaceuticals "and then to be hit so hard by a legal system that doesn't understand," said a Columbia resident and marijuana user who was charged with a felony in South Dakota for growing cannabis. The man, who asked not to be named, said he smokes to treat pain associated with a urological condition.

Brian Chitwood of Farmington said that when he was being treated for Hodgkin's lymphoma he was given chemotherapy drugs that left him with a nonstop feeling of nausea. He found that smoking a joint could restore his equilibrium.

There were other cancer patients that asked me, 'How come you go out back and you come back smiling?' " Chitwood said. "So I took two of them out back, and they came back smiling, too."

In 2004, Columbia became the first municipality in the state to allow patients with a doctor's written permission to possess less than 35 grams of marijuana. At the conference, one patient proudly displayed her written doctor's recommendation, and others discussed creating a database for the public of sympathetic Columbia physicians.

But advocates said Columbia laws don't go far enough, that they put medical users in a bind by stipulating that they cannot legally grow their own crop and forcing them onto the streets to enter into a criminal transaction to make a purchase.

Over the past year, Columbia has had two murders associated with robberies during marijuana transactions.

"I can't buy it. I wish I could grow it on my porch, and then I would know exactly what I was getting," said Christy Welliver, an MS sufferer who has a medical recommendation from a Columbia physician to use marijuana to prevent muscle spasms. "But I can't do that, so I do have to rely on people giving it to me because I won't break the law."

A House bill introduced during the last legislative session in Jefferson City would have legalized medical marijuana for a long list of afflictions such as MS, cancer, fibromyalgia and AIDS. NORML advocates plan to urge the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kate Meiners of Kansas City, to file it again in the upcoming session.

But Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the national NORML organization, urged advocates to push for a bill that gives doctors the widest possible latitude in prescribing cannabis. As a cautionary example, he cited the medical marijuana law in Vermont, where strict qualifications have limited marijuana treatment to only 35 people.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1008/a01.html
Newshawk: Jay Bergstrom
Pubdate: Sun, 8 Nov 2009
Source: Columbia Daily Tribune (MO)
Page: A16
Copyright: 2009 Columbia Daily Tribune
Contact:
editor@tribmail.com
Website: http://www.columbiatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/91
Author: T. J. Greaney
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/NORML (NORML)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?253 (Cannabis - Medicinal - United States)

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LEGISLATOR WANTS CSU TO GROW POT FOR THE STATE

2009-11-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

A state legislator is hoping to corner the market on medical marijuana by having Colorado State University oversee the cultivation of all pot used in the burgeoning industry.

It could give a new meaning to "higher education." At least half of the revenue generated by the proposal would be used to fund the state's colleges and universities.

Sen. Al White, R-Hayden, told Boulder Weekly that the state's marijuana-growing operation should be handled by CSU because it is the state's primary agricultural school. White says the operation could probably be accommodated with about 10 acres of land.

He says has not yet discussed the issue with CSU or higher-ed leaders.

"This is the first I've heard of it," CSU spokesman Brad Bohlander told Boulder Weekly. He declined to comment on the substance of the proposal until after CSU officials discuss it with White and see some draft language.

"It's going to spark some interesting conversation," he says. "And that's not a joke."

White has proposed legislation that would effectively give the state complete control over the growth, sale and distribution of medical marijuana, possibly putting an end to the gold rush of dispensaries that has emerged in Boulder and around the state. He says the state would contract with "licensed pharmacists" to sell the marijuana, whether that pharmacist is based at an established pharmacy like Walgreens or a dispensary.

"It kind of throws that whole 'caregiver' thing out the window," he says, acknowledging that "it would be a monopoly."

Half of the money generated by the marijuana sales would be used to support higher education in the state, White says. The other half would be used to build up a "rainy-day" fund, and once that fund exceeds $1 billion, the remainder would be sent to higher-ed, which has been "taking it in the shorts" financially in recent years.

White told The Denver Post that the revenue generated by his proposal in the first year could reach $160 million, after overhead costs are taken out.

White told Boulder Weekly that the reasoning behind the bill is that there isn't enough order or regulation in the medical marijuana industry, and that if the state were in charge, there would be some consistency in the quality of the pot being provided to patients. He describes the two extremes of marijuana quality now as everything from "ditch weed that's really better suited for sandals or doormats" to "THC so strong it would make a rocket scientist a drooling cookie monster."

He also expresses concern that demand seems to be outstripping supply right now, and that weed is being purchased on the black market. White attributes a degree of that black market to "Mexican drug cartels" and asks why the state should continue to support "narco-terrorist killers."

Asked whether his plan flies in the face of the tradition Republican stance of less government and a free market, White replied, "This is more of a law-and-order deal, which Republicans are always about."

He says no other state has approved such a plan, but several have similar controls over the liquor industry within their boundaries.

He says his bill would contain a five-year sunset provision in case it needs to be tweaked or discontinued at that point. White stops short of predicting whether pot could be legalized by that time, and he says his plan is not an effort to legalize the substance, but also says that "the feds may respond to what we're doing in Colorado by moving it from a banned substance to a controlled substance." The program would also undergo an annual audit under the legislation.

Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, who is proposing medical marijuana legislation of his own, told Boulder Weekly that he is not in favor of White's plan, in part because of the damage it could do to the state's reputation.

"I don't think we want to be known as the state that is growing marijuana," he says.

As for the idea of having CSU grow the marijuana, Romer says facetiously, "Every parent in America will want to have their kid going to 'Pot U.'"

CU spokesman Ken McConnellogue told Boulder Weekly that CU officials had not yet heard about or discussed the proposed bill either, adding, "It's not surprising, given the dire straits that higher ed is in."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1009/a03.html
Newshawk: The GCW
Pubdate: Fri, 06 Nov 2009
Source: Boulder Weekly (CO)
Copyright: 2009 Boulder Weekly
Contact:
letters@boulderweekly.com
Website: http://www.boulderweekly.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/57
Author: Jefferson Dodge

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA ALREADY PAID FOR

2009-11-05T13:32:00.000-08:00

Re: "Feds demand users prepay for their pot," Nov. 1.

I have to say, I'm absolutely disgusted at this move from Health Canada. It has been demanding payment for something that has already been paid for. Health Canada has tendered the contract to grow cannabis and has paid out millions of dollars for acquiring its supply of medical marijuana. Taxpayers have already paid in full for this medication. Demanding that ill and infirm patients pay -- for what has been called an inadequate product -- on top of what Canadians have already paid, is as insulting as it is disgusting.

Ethan Erkiletian

( More money going up in smoke. )

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n1009/a02.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Sun, 08 Nov 2009
Source: Edmonton Sun (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 Canoe Limited Partnership.
Contact:
mailbag@edmsun.com
Website: http://www.edmontonsun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/135
Author: Ethan Erkiletian
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n988/a01.html
Note: Parenthetical remark by the Sun editor, headline by newshawk.

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BACKING FOR DRUG EXPERT'S REVOLT

2009-11-04T07:25:00.001-08:00

Alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than cannabis and Ecstasy - this was the controversial view that cost the Government's chief drug adviser Professor David Nutt his job. Here Darren Devine asks whether Professor Nutt is a dangerous radical trivialising harmful substances or an expert who has paid a high price for highlighting the hypocrisy at the heart of Government drugs policy.

WHEN professor David Nutt said horse riding or "equasy" was as dangerous as taking the class-A drug Ecstasy it put him on an inevitable collision course with his political masters.

The scientist and then chair of the Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs ( ACMD ) said he was trying to question why society tolerates some potentially harmful behaviours but not others, such as drug use.

He argued "equasy" could be blamed for 10 deaths a year and more than 100 traffic accidents.

His article in a scientific journal produced a backlash from drugs hard-liners opposed to any reform, with then Home Secretary Jacqui Smith ordering him to apologise.

And when he continued to campaign for the Government's drugs classification system to be replaced with an index of harm current Home Secretary Alan Johnson decided enough was enough.

Within his index of harm the professor, who has four children aged 18 to 26 - more than one of whom has confessed to taking drugs - wanted alcohol and tobacco ranked higher than cannabis and Ecstasy.

Amidst the threat of mass resignations from ACMD and the announcement of a review of its functions Mr Johnson decided the scientist could not continue being both a "government adviser and a campaigner against government policy".

But within Wales there is sympathy for the professor's position.

Chief executive of South Wales drugs charity Kaleidoscope Martin Blakebrough said Professor Nutt was right to suggest alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than cannabis and Ecstasy.

Despite concerns over the binge-drinking culture Mr Blakebrough said the Government has liberalised the country's alcohol laws with 24-hour licensing.

The 47-year-old believes this is because the industry is estimated to be worth ?28bn to the British economy and makes a hefty contribution to the Treasury's annual tax take.

Mr Blakebrough, who served on the ACMD with Professor Nutt for nine years between 1998 and 2007, said: "We need to have tougher laws in relation to alcohol because this Government has seen a reduction in the price of alcohol and has extended the licensing hours. It's done everything to facilitate the alcohol industry in every way it could.

"And they've always got away with pretending they're tough on drugs and the causes of crime while practically being in league with the alcohol industry.

"On a Friday night in Newport what's the biggest problem - people shooting heroin up their arms, or getting drunk and urinating in the streets and shouting and attacking people?

"I think most people would say alcohol is our biggest problem."

But Mr Blakebrough said Professor Nutt has "wanted to be a martyr" through his protests against Government policy and should have resigned before he was sacked.

He believes as chair of ACMD he had a duty to look beyond his own professional perspective and take "collective responsibility" for the committee's position.

He added: "He has continued to make the point that it was a stupid decision by the Government ( to reclassify cannabis as a class B instead of a class C drug ) but remained as their chief adviser.

"And that is inconsistent. He can argue he's a scientist, but he was head of a committee that included people from the police and drugs services and he had a responsibility to look beyond his own professional discipline."

But Clive Wolfendale, chief executive of Welsh drug and alcohol agency CAIS, suggested if the Government was going to appoint scientific advisers it had a duty to listen to them.

The 51-year-old former deputy chief constable of North Wales said: "The whole issue is ripe for an independent Royal Commission to look at the science, look at the risks, examine the issues of legality and point a way forward for the next 30 years.

"It's about 40 years now since the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act and it's probably run its course in terms of setting a platform for setting a sensible way forward."

Mr Wolfendale, who during his 34 years as a policeman spent much of his time investigating drug-related gang warfare in Manchester, said there is little doubt that alcohol and tobacco are "very damaging drugs of misuse".

"If it wasn't for the fact they've been around for centuries then they'd be categorised in the way narcotics are now."

Mr Wolfendale said though he would be against a "free for all" by legalising all drugs, ways of taking the supply of narcotics out of the hands of "evil" dealers must be looked at.

"Because of the way the thing's set up there's a huge incentive for very evil people to make huge amounts of money out of peddling other people's misery.

"So what we end up with is a small number of very evil, very rich drug dealers and thousands and thousands of victims.

"While I'm not in favour of a free-for-all on drugs policy we need to look at other ways of controlling the supply rather than handing the entire business over to evil criminals."

One Ecstasy and cannabis user from Newport, who did not wish to be named, believes Professor Nutt lost his job for daring to tell the truth about drugs.

The 25-year-old man, who has been a user for seven years, said: "I've had friends who have had major accidents through the use of alcohol, and tobacco-related illness is a well documented fact.

"The only death you can have from cannabis is if it falls on you from a great height, but I understand there's an inherent health risk for people who smoke tobacco with cannabis."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a09.html
Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Western Mail (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Media Wales Ltd
Contact:
readers@mediawales.co.uk
Website: http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2598
Author: Darren Devine, Staff Writer

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DRUG EXPERTS RALLY ROUND SACKED DAVID NUTT

2009-11-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

David Nutt Receives Support Over Alan Johnson Row

Members of the drugs advisory body have demanded showdown talks with the home secretary after his sacking of Prof David Nutt.

Scientists said they had 'serious concerns' about Alan Johnson's decision to remove their colleague and questioned whether they could continue to work with the government.

In a letter to Mr Johnson, members on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs threatened to quit and called for 'clarity and assurances' from ministers about how their advice would be treated in future.

Earlier, Mr Johnson escalated his criticism of Prof Nutt, accusing him of breaching the official code of conduct for advisers.

Prof Nutt had failed to give advance warning of last week's paper in which he said alcohol and tobacco were more dangerous than ecstasy and LSD, and questioned the decision to downgrade cannabis, Mr Johnson said.

Mr Johnson, called to the Commons to answer an emergency question from the Tories, denied a review of the body - announced two weeks ago - was linked to the row over Prof Nutt.

While praising the work of the ACMD as invaluable, and agreeing to meet its remaining members in person, he stated again he had lost confidence in the professor.

Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling said the decision was 'the right one'.

Two other scientists quit over the weekend. Last year, alcohol directly caused 7,341 deaths, while cigarettes led to 114,000.

There were 12 deaths from ecstasy and none from cannabis, according to the University of London.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a08.html
Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Metro (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Associated Newspapers Limited
Contact:
mail@ukmetro.co.uk
Website: http://www.metro.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4714
Author: John Higginson, Staff Writer

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MAN WANTS TO SEE LEGAL POT DISPENSARY IN MANTECA

2009-11-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

Richard Norris, 36, wants to create a non-profit marijuana dispensary in Manteca saying he can bring in funds for police, fire, and the small businesses he sees struggling in the down economy.

Norris promises to be at the Manteca City Council meeting tonight to make his pitch in the three-minute time frame members of the public are allotted when they are not listed on the agenda. He said he is continuing to use that format to get the council members to see his side of the issue.

The former construction worker, who says he was injured in the building of the Kaiser Hospital in Modesto, also wants to establish a cannabis nursery, but claims no one will sponsor him to be on the council agenda. Any council member can sponsor a citizen who wants a specific action item brought before the council as a whole for possible action.

He said he believes there are more than 2,000 medical marijuana card holders in the area who would patronize a dispensary and a nursery if it were in Manteca bringing in millions of dollars.

Under California law, individual jurisdictions can allow pot dispensaries for medicinal purposes.

I've been out of work four years and on disability for three years -- had a stroke and have no money," Norris said. He added that if he had a small nursery he could put a lot of people to work and keep some from losing their homes.

Norris is calling for a rally in a city park that would bring people together and "to bring them out of the closet," saying that since he has used marijuana for the last six months he has quit using some 17 prescriptions. He says that council members and other city officials have turned deaf ears toward him.

Manteca Police Chief Dave Bricker said in his research he has only seen that marijuana has no analgesic affect on pain. It has often been reported to help with nausea that keeps patients from eating, however.

The council still sees this as a violation of federal law," the chief said.

He quoted California Attorney General Jerry Brown as saying every marijuana dispensary in the state is operating outside the law.

Bricker said there is no way someone could operate a non-profit dispensary and give the profits to a community, its fire department or police department to help defray costs. Once the profit is turned, it is no longer a "non-profit" and is in violation of the law, he said.

He also noted that marijuana collaborative may only sell to its members and such a group must have some medical responsibility for those they are supporting in their demands.

Unfortunately for the users, it stays in the system for 45 days," Bricker said.

He said that most of the people who acquire cards as from the Cannabis Coalition in Oakland must stay within the collaborative. And those collaboratives don't have to keep records as to who they issued cards, the chief said.

Bricker said since marijuana is not recognized under federal law to be a medication, physicians can't issue prescriptions. They can only offer a suggestion that a patient use it -- often writing the suggestion on nothing more than a napkin. There is no organized process, he said.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a07.html
Newshawk: Jay Bergstrom
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Manteca Bulletin (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Manteca Bulletin
Contact:
news@mantecabulletin.com
Website: http://www.mantecabulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3670
Author: Glenn Kahl, Staff Writer

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA CREATES WORKPLACE DILEMMA

2009-11-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

Steven Karapandza says his use of prescription marijuana to help ease the pain of daily migraine headaches is none of his boss's business.

He never smokes pot on the job. He doesn't come to work high, and he gets his work done without fail, he said.

"In my mind, it's like any other medication," said Karapandza, 28, a Sterling Heights, Mich., resident and cell phone repairman. "You wouldn't go up to your boss and tell him you've got a prescription for Vicodin."

Karapandza is among 5,108 Michiganders registered as medical marijuana users since a new law passed last fall by voters took effect in April.

Another 2,092 people have been approved as caregivers. About 1,100 applications have been denied under the law that permits marijuana prescriptions for pain relief among people who are chronically and terminally ill.

For employers, the issue is less clear-cut than the way Karapandza sees it.

"It's hard enough to run a business," said Kurt Sherwood, an attorney with Miller Canfield, a big Detroit-based law firm that held a seminar last week addressing employment issues, including medical marijuana. "I can see this creating a nightmare scenario."

Employers are facing tough issues as they try to navigate the state's fledgling medical marijuana law, such as the difference between "smoke" and "ingest."

Or whether company policies on drug testing still apply in a state where 63 percent of voters approved a new law last fall allowing medical use of marijuana.

During an employment seminar hosted last week by the Miller Canfield law firm in Troy, business owners heard they're in limbo, at least for now.

Since the law took effect in April, more than 7,200 people have been registered either as users of medical marijuana or their caregivers. So far, no employee or job applicant has filed a lawsuit saying he or she was fired or denied a job because of a positive drug test.

"We check the filings every day," said attorney Kurt McCamman of Miller Canfield. "We just don't know where Michigan is headed."

There are 13 states, including Michigan, that have approved decriminalization of medical marijuana use. In the lawsuits filed by employees fired for having positive drug tests - even though the employees were approved as medical marijuana users - so far all have been decided in favor of the employers.

Michigan's law is confusing, McCamman said, with conflicting language on whether a medical marijuana user is protected against disciplinary action.

One section of the law says a registered user can't be "subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty in any manner or denied any right or privilege including ... disciplinary action by a business ... for the medical use of marijuana."

Another portion of the law says "nothing in this act shall be construed to require an employer to accommodate the ingestion of marijuana in any workplace or any employee working while under the influence of marijuana."

A third section says no one can possess or use medical marijuana on a school bus or on school grounds, but smoking pot is expressly prohibited only on public transportation or in any public place. It's unclear, McCamman said, whether it's OK for a certified user to eat, for example, marijuana-laced brownies in a public place.

"Our advice is you need to continue to enforce your regular rules because if you don't you're opening up a Pandora's box," said Miller Canfield attorney Kurt Sherwood.

Clouding the issue even more is a decision last month by the U.S. Justice Department not to pursue criminal charges against medical marijuana producers and users in states where it's legal.

"That's a very significant retreat from federal policy," said Mark de Bernardo, executive director of the Institute for a Drug Free Workplace. "Marijuana is a dangerous drug that detrimentally affects the workplace. It has impacts on health care costs, productivity, accidents and employee turnover."

Gary Francisco, executive director of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Project, which pushed for passage of the law last year, said he's not so concerned about the law's implication in the workplace.

"Nobody is arguing that we should be impaired in the workplace," he said. "We're more concerned about uneven enforcement by police."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a06.html
Newshawk: Jay Bergstrom
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Copyright: 2009 The Tribune
Contact: letters@thetribunenews.com
Website: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391
Author: Kathleen Gray, Staff Writer

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STREET OUTREACH GROUP EVICTED BY VICTORIA CHURCH

2009-10-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Program That Helps Teens, Adults Couldn't Maintain Drug-Free Zone

A Victoria church, citing an increasing number of problems that require calls to police, is evicting an outreach program that helps street teens and adults.

StreetHope, a program run by the Canada-wide evangelistic group Church Army, has leased a cottage at 930 Mason St. from St. John the Divine Anglican church for the last decade.

But with increasing drug and criminal activities in the area, StreetHope is being evicted on New Year's Eve.

Drug problems have increased dramatically over the last year since the closing of the Cormorant Street needle exchange, said Rev. Harold Munn of St. John the Divine.

Also, homeless people who had been congregating on a median on Pandora Avenue are being moved away from there. The combination means many with severe addiction problems have shifted to Mason Street.

"Our parish council can't turn a blind eye to the significant increases in drug-related activity we're seeing around our church," Munn said.

Neighbours are faced with almost daily police visits because of drug trafficking, violence or loud disturbances. StreetHope has not been able to keep the area around the cottage a drug-free zone, which is part of the St. John's good-neighbour policy.

The Cool Aid emergency shelter opened at the church last Sunday, bringing more people into the area. So it was felt something had to be done, even though the congregation of St. John's is known for its social conscience, Munn said.

"This is not in any way the fault of the Church Army. It's an illusion to think volunteers can deal with that extreme level of addiction," he said.

"People with severe raging addictions are beyond the capacity of the church and a volunteer congregation to respond to adequately, without substantial government support."

A fixed-site needle exchange and supervised-injection site would steer addicts toward the help they need, Munn said.

"Our congregation feels strongly these people suffer from a severe medical condition. No one wakes up one day and says, 'I want to crawl around in the gutter addicted.' We need a fixed needle exchange and supervised consumption site."

Rick Sandberg, StreetHope outreach director, acknowledges street problems have increased.

"There's been some social engineering, with people moving here from the [closed] needle exchange," he said.

Also, StreetHope now provides soup, sandwiches and companionship to adults as well as homeless youth.

"It was a natural thing. We started opening our doors to the adults shooting up on our doorstep when we were giving lunch to teenagers," Sandberg said.

The number of adults has been increasing while the number of homeless teens shrinks. Last year, StreetHope provided 1,200 lunches to teens instead of the usual 2,000-plus.

Inside the cottage, the mood is usually calm, Sandberg said. "I don't have global solutions, but we offer solutions to one person at a time."

StreetHope will search for another location, and that will not be easy, Sandberg said. "We might have to be mobile for a while."

Bruce Smith, Church Army national director, said changing demographics mean the outreach effort is attracting older people in need of help. "We don't believe the issues are present because we are there. We are there because the issues are present," Smith said.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a05.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Webpage: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/todays-paper/Street+outreach+group+evicted+Victoria+church/2175485/story.html
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Judith Lavoie, Staff Writer

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'HARDENED' PRISONS CALLED BAD FOR REHAB

2009-10-30T07:19:00.000-07:00

System 'Seems To Be Preparing' For Overcrowding, Watchdog Says

Canadian prisons are becoming "hardened" places where inmates are increasingly confined to their cells, prohibited from having visitors, restricted in their exercise, subjected to lockdowns, and less likely to secure temporary absences, says a report from Canada's prison watchdog.

"Many on-site visits this year confirmed that the physical conditions of confinement have been significantly hardened, especially at the high-security levels" wrote correctional investigator Howard Sapers in his annual report, released Monday.

"The problem, of course, is that a more punitive and restrictive environment is not one that is likely to promote rehabilitation of inmates."

The prison ombudsman's report also confirms that temporary absences, work releases and day parole grant rates are now at their lowest level this decade, and consequently, offenders are often freed at the end of the their term without the benefit of discretionary releases behind them.

The report surmises that the crackdown -- an "us-versus-them mentality" -- is an attempt to control gang affiliation and drug use in prisons.

Sapers, however, told Canwest News Service that he believes the prison system is becoming meaner to "brace itself for the storm" of an anticipated influx of inmates who will be captured by the Harper government's tough-on-crime laws that will put more people in prison for longer.

"The system seems to be preparing itself for more people," said Sapers, who predicted prison over-crowding and a proliferation of "double bunking."

For the last several years, Sapers has highlighted the problem of the prison system warehousing mentally ill offenders and this year's report said that it is getting worse without adequate treatment or workers to cope with people who often should be cared for by the health system rather than in penitentiaries.

"Mental health-care delivery and related services and supports in federal corrections are perhaps the most serious and pressing issues facing the service today," he wrote.

Sapers issued a report earlier this year that said that the risk of suicide in prisons remains unacceptably high because of the government's focus on security over the needs of mentally ill inmates such as Ashley Smith. A New Brunswick teen with mental-health problems, Smith was 19 when she killed herself in 2007 at the Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ont.

The prison ombudsman's latest report notes that there has been a substantial increase in reports of "self-harm" incidents, which more than doubled in the six-month period from April to September 2008, compared to the same period in 2006.

Sapers reported that the gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal offenders continues to grow and that the rate for aboriginal incarceration last year was nine times the national average.

There are about 13,000 offenders serving sentences of two years or more in 54 federal penitentiaries.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a04.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Webpage: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-paper/Hardened+prisons+called+rehab/2175120/story.html
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Ottawa Citizen
Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326
Author: Janice Tibbetts, Staff Writer

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THE END OF PROHIBITION

2009-10-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Getting High, Gay Marriage And Going To Cuba Will Soon Be Legal In The U.S.

'I think this would be a good time for a beer," Franklin D. Roosevelt said upon signing a bill that made 3.2% lager legal again, some months ahead of the full repeal of Prohibition. I hope Barack Obama will come up with some comparably witty remarks as he presides over the dismantling of contemporary forms of prohibition in the U.S. --laws that prevent gay marriage, restrict cannabis as a Schedule I Controlled Substance and ban travel to Cuba.

Prohibition now is different from Prohibition then. When the 18th Amendment went into effect in 1920, it was a radical social experiment challenging a custom as old as civilization. Its predictable failure came to an end when Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment in 1933. Today prohibition is a byword for futile attempts to legislate morality and remake human nature.

Our forms of prohibition are more sins of omission than commission. Rather than trying to take away long-standing rights, they're instances of conservative laws failing to keep pace with a liberalizing society. But like Prohibition in the '20s, these restrictions have become indefensible as well as impractical, and as a result are fading fast. Within 10 years, it seems a reasonable guess that Americans will travel freely to Cuba, that all states will recognize gay unions and that few will retain criminal penalties for marijuana use by individuals. Whether or not Democrats retain control of Congress, whether or not Obama is reelected, these reforms are inevitable -- not because politics has changed but because society has.

A few reference points: In April, Obama lifted restrictions on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans. Last month, the U.S. Justice Department announced that it would no longer prosecute cases involving medical marijuana in the 14 states where it is now permitted. Same-sex marriages are recognized in six states and counting. In a larger frame, loosening restrictions and lax enforcement reflect evolving social norms. Since Bush left office, American tourists no longer worry about being prosecuted for visiting Havana without a Treasury licence. Gay unions have been celebrated on the New York Times "Weddings" page since 2002. And have you been to Los Angeles recently? You need only tell an on-site doctor at a cheerful, walk-in pot emporium that you've been suffering from anxiety to walk out with a perfectly legal bag of Captain Kush.

The chief reason these prohibitions are falling away is the evolving definition of the pursuit of happiness. What's driving the legalization of gay marriage is not so much the moral argument but the pressures from couples who want to sanctify their relationships, obtain legal benefits and raise children in a stable environment. What's advancing the decriminalization of marijuana is not just the demand for pot as medicine but the number of adults who use it and don't believe they should face legal jeopardy. What's bringing the change on Cuba is not just the epic failure of the 48-year-old U.S. embargo, but the demand on the part of Americans who want to go there.

For similar reasons, there is not likely to be any retreat on the basic legal status of the right to have an abortion or own a gun. In each of these cases, popular demand for an individual right is simply too powerful to overcome. The Internet has been a crucial amplifier of all such claims. With pornography, and gambling, the Web itself became an irrepressible distribution tool for indulgences that were once perforce local. When it comes to gay marriage, the Web has accelerated the recognition of a new civil right by serving as an organizing tool and information clearinghouse. More broadly, the freest communications medium the world has ever known has raised expectations of personal liberty. In a world where everyone has his own printing press, restrictions on private behaviour become increasingly untenable.
.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a03.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Votes: 2
Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays-paper/story.html?id=2174968
Pubdate: Tue, 03 Nov 2009
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2009 Washington Post.Newsweek Interactive Co. LLC
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/O3vnWIvC
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Jacob Weisberg, Slate

SELECTMEN DENY OFFICER'S BID FOR PUBLIC HEARING

2009-10-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

EPPING - A local police officer fighting his suspension may not get the public hearing he wanted to air his complaints.

Selectmen have rejected a request by Officer Bradley Jardis for a hearing before the board.

In a letter dated Oct. 26, Tom Gauthier, chairman of the board of selectmen, wrote that the board turned down the request because it wasn't "written, delivered or filed" in a timely manner.

Jardis is challenging Police Chief Gregory Dodge's decision last month to uphold a six-day suspension brought against him in July. The suspension followed an internal investigation into a dispute between Jardis and then-Sgt. Sean Gallagher and an e-mail that Jardis sent to police union members which police Lt. Michael Wallace felt contained "inflammatory" language directed at him and Detective Richard Cote.

Jardis has claimed that he has been the target of harassment by Gallagher and others at the police department since the New Hampshire Sunday News published a story in February about his active role in Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an international nonprofit group that supports the legalization of drugs.

Dodge and Gallagher have declined to comment on the situation, but a letter from the town's attorney said the disciplinary action against Jardis wasn't related to his involvement with LEAP.

The appeal came after Dodge sustained the suspension on Oct. 13 following a grievance hearing. Lawrence Vogelman, the attorney representing Jardis, filed the appeal with selectmen on his behalf as a union member on Oct. 19. However, Philip Pettis, the town's attorney, wrote a letter on Oct. 22 saying that the town had rejected the request for a hearing with selectmen because the contract between the town and the police union states that only the union may appeal a grievance on an employee's behalf.

The appeal must be made within five business days of the chief's decision on the grievance. Jardis said he met the deadline, only it was his lawyer who filed the appeal.

Pettis also pointed out that Jardis had rejected union representation at the grievance hearing with the police chief.

Jardis said he felt "forced" to get his own attorney to represent him because he didn't feel that the union president, Detective Cote, was "effectively protecting" his rights.

In another attempt to get his hearing, Jardis contacted Richard McFadden, the police union vice president, and asked that the union file a grievance with selectmen. The grievance was filed on Oct. 23

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n996/a01.html
Newshawk: Videos of LEAP cops http://YouTube.com/CopsSayLegalizeDrugs
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Tue, 3 Nov 2009
Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright: 2009 The Union Leader Corp.
Contact: letters@unionleader.com
Website: http://www.theunionleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Note: Out-of-state letters are seldom published.
Author: Jason Schreiber, Union Leader Correspondent
Cited: Epping Board of Selectmen
http://www.ci.epping.nh.us/BOS%20Meetings2008new.htm
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?233 (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Bradley+Jardis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/corrupt.htm (Corruption - United States)

PERTH OFFICIAL EXPERT ON FIGHTING METH

2009-10-27T09:52:00.000-07:00

DRUGS: Once Considered The Meth Capital Of Ontario, Perth County's Collaborative Approach To Eradicating The Drug Labs Has Made It A Model For Others

OTTAWA -- When mayors have a drug problem in their communities, they call Dan Mathieson for advice.

Mathieson knows a thing or two about fighting dope and improving public perception.

As mayor of Stratford, he woke up one morning in June 2005 with a newspaper declaring his city and surrounding Perth County the "meth capital" of Ontario.

"There were two trains of thought developed in the community," Mathieson said recently.

The community could either fire back at the newspaper or admit it had a problem.

Choosing the latter, Mathieson helped form an anti-drug task force to face the trouble head-on.

Today, the group has 30 members and Perth County, which in 2005 was home to 12 meth-cooking labs, is no longer the meth capital.

Mathieson will be in the Ottawa area this week addressing a conference organized by the Prescott-Russell Coalition Against Drugs, which is trying to avoid the same drug stigma in the municipalities east of Ottawa.

Mathieson figures it will be the 15th conference he has attended since the war on meth started back home.

"We haven't been shy about raising the visibility of the issue," Mathieson said.

The task force has diminished the drug culture and the social impacts of drug abuse and Mathieson said methamphetamine would no longer be considered the top drug in the community. The number of addiction cases recorded by emergency wards and doctors has decreased 30% from its peak a few years ago, he said.

Since the spotlight was shone on Perth County, communities across the province have been on high alert for meth, a drug that is highly addictive with harsh withdrawal symptoms.

In the Ottawa area and in Prescott-Russell, police have increasingly encountered meth masked as ecstasy.

The number of crystal meth seizures haven't been as frequent, but Staff Sgt. Pete Gauthier, head of the Ottawa police drug squad, said lab results on the seized pills frequently show quantities of the addictive ingredient.

"There's definitely meth in Ottawa, no question," Gauthier said.

Mathieson said any community threatened by drugs needs to develop a collaborative plan to reduce the impact.

"You have to be out front of the problem," Mathieson said. "You have to admit you don't have all the answers and you have to have a tent big enough for everyone to get in it."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n967/a06.html
Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Mon, 26 Oct 2009
Source: London Free Press (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The London Free Press
Contact: http://www.lfpress.com/comment/letters/write/
Website: http://www.lfpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/243
Author: Jon Willing, Staff Writer

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RED RIBBON WEEK: STUDENTS SAY DRUGS A MISTAKE SOME WILL MAKE

2009-10-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Red Ribbon Week: Students Say Drugs A Mistake Some Will Make

Each student at Central High in Phenix City attends a class warning about the dangers of using drugs.

It doesn't stop the activity.

"There are still some students who do it," said junior LaQuesha Hoskins. "It's around the school and elsewhere. You can see it every day."

"Drugs are easy for students to get in Phenix City," said senior Darren Daniel.

Students, not only in Phenix City, but Columbus and LaGrange, Ga., discussed drugs this week and what should be done about them.

While Daniel said some Central students feel peer pressure to use drugs, junior Kearson Roberts remarked most drug users don't invite other students to join them. However, she said, "they won't turn you away."

Counselors from TEARS ( Teens Empowerment Awareness with Resolutions ) are regulars at the school.

Sophomore Jonathan Wallace said he knew of no particular areas in town where drugs are more readily found than others.

"I hear it's everywhere," he said.

Central junior Reid Rhoden said more drug awareness programs might help but "there are still people who will choose to use drugs."

Roberts said programs with "students talking straight to their peers" are the ones most likely to get teens to stop. Wallace agreed.

SADD at Spencer

In Columbus, the Muscogee County School District is doing its part to deal with the drug problem.

The MCSD will hold a variety of activities celebrating Red Ribbon Week, Oct. 26 through Oct. 30.

Students and teachers will be encouraged to wear red ribbons in support of a drug-free environment. Many classes will make banners to hang outside classrooms.

At Spencer High School, members of the school's anti-drug campaign, Spencer Against Destructive Decisions, will do seat belt checks as students arrive in the morning. They will play Red Ribbon week trivia during the morning announcements and have a banner for students to sign saying they are drug free.

SADD members Devon Blackmon, a junior, and Quashundra Manuel, a senior, believe students pay attention to the organization's drug free message.

"I got in SADD to help my peers know its OK to be drug free," Manuel said.

Blackmon said older students can have a positive influence on younger students. She knows her younger sister looks up to her so she stays out of trouble.

Blackmon and Manuel said drug use could lead to crime.

"You start small," Blackmon said.

"As you get older, it gets worse," Manuel said.

Both said they don't hear about drug use at their high school.

"I don't surround myself with those people," Blackmon said.

She also said extracurricular activities help keep students busy and away from drugs. Older students are also usually more focused, she said, thinking about the future, college and careers.

"The older they get the more serious they get," she said.

Manuel said students thinking about getting into drugs should talk to an adult they trust.

"Go to someone to talk about it," Manuel said.

Granger: It's not cool

LaGrange High School students said they are not aware of any serious drug problems in their school or the area.

"I've never heard of anyone taking hard stuff," LaGrange senior T.J. Harlin said.

Classmate Luke Criddle agreed. He said people at school certainly are not using heroin or creating meth labs.

LaGrange students said the school system plays a role in drug awareness and prevention, which is largely effective.

"I think the school system does a good job," said Joe Farkus, a freshman.

"They do as much as they can," Harlin said.

He added it would be impossible for school officials to reach everyone all the time.

At LaGrange, students said they are made aware in physical education classes of illegal substances and their danger.

Some recalled participating in D.A.R.E. ( Drug Abuse Resistance Education ), as elementary school students. A decade later, they still remember songs and lessons from the drug prevention activities.

A couple of students recalled speakers who recently shared specific stories about how drugs affected them. They said hearing first hand stories makes the consequences of drug use clear.

Criddle said the stories make students take pause.

These LaGrange students reported the people they know don't use drugs or harbor serious addictions.

The most common drugs used are likely marijuana and alcohol but most students don't abuse restricted substances.

Lindsey Cole said, "It's not cool."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n965/a05.html
Newshawk: Jim
Pubdate: Sat, 24 Oct 2009
Source: Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus,GA)
Copyright: 2009 Ledger-Enquirer
Contact:
letters@ledger-enquirer.com
Website: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237
Authors: Larry Gierer, Sara Pauff, and Annie McCallum
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

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'NOT A GOOD DAY TO BE A DRUG DEALER'

2009-10-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Police Promise Not To Rest On Their Laurels Following The Biggest Drug Bust In City History

SAINT JOHN - The world of drug dealers is a murky place governed by paranoia and populated by cagey and shadowy figures. If police want to infiltrate that world, they have to become part of it.

Operation Portland, which netted 48 people and resulted in 120 charges, used three undercover officers who infiltrated street-level and mid-level drug dealers. For six months they lived in a world that most only see on TV or read about in the news.

Const. Darin Clarke was one of three undercover officers used in the operation. Calling them drug cells, Clarke said undercover officers had to assume a believable role. "The drug world is constantly changing," Clarke said.

Looking from the outside in wasn't an option.

Police set up a number of fake companies to build covers for the officers. They were set up as common citizens yet unbeknownst to their targets - the drug dealers - there was nothing common about the people they were selling drugs to.

"We were surprised at how high ( Clarke ) could infiltrate," said Sgt. John Wilcox, who headed the operation.

The drug buys were made on the street and in bars from a cross-section of dealers. Mid-level dealers supply the street dealers. In at least one case, a wire - a recording device hidden on an officer or informant - was used and intelligence gathered.

While the undercover officer played a game of cat and mouse with a particular target, a team of police officers watched and waited. With an agreed upon signal, the cover team would rush in and bring the operation to an end.

But that never happened.

"There were all kinds of moments - not knowing who was coming through the door," Clarke said in a non-chalant tone as he sat in an office chair and leaned to one side.

But, said Clarke, it's not bravado. It's just a job.

Even the street level dealers are carrying guns or weapons of some kind. Those weapons are mostly to protect themselves from other dealers and not police. Infighting is rampant and the competition often steals drugs and money from each other.

"To date we haven't reached that level of threat," Wilcox said.

Most of the drug buys involved crack cocaine. The marijuana that was purchased was used to build trust and get to the next level.

In a small city the drug world is just as tiny. All the players know each other and that complicates the final days of the operation. Arrests have to be planned so the warning can't be sounded to other dealers, some of whom often live right next door.

"It's an extremely daunting task," said Clarke.

One of the north end homes raided by the force's heavily armed emergency services unit was the target of a drive-by shooting earlier in the year. When police raided the house, they found drugs and a 9mm pistol.

With the six-month operation winding down, the days have become long and the sleep rare for the officers involved in the operation. On Wednesday, all three courtrooms at provincial court were pressed into service to deal with the people netted in Operation Portland.

"To close the operation is bloody exhausting," said Wilcox, the bags evident under his eyes and his speech dragging. "It's a feverish pace."

While the operation hit almost every part of the city, the drug-plagued old north end was front and centre.

Following the arrests, which began on Oct. 18, Wilcox said the cellphones that north end drug dealers use to run their businesses have fallen silent and are not being answered. An eerie calm hangs over the streets.

"You could drive over and hear a pin drop," Wilcox said. "She's quiet. It's nice to see the community get a break from it."

For Clarke, Operation Portland was the most successful operation he's ever been involved in during his nine years as an undercover officer.

Not only were 48 people arrested, more than he's seen in one operation, he caught two people he's been chasing for almost decade.

"Not a good day to be a drug dealer," Clarke said.

And for those who slid under the net this time, Wilcox said there will be a next time.

"Who we didn't get this month we'll get next month or the month after," Wilcox said. "The gloves are off. We're coming."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n965/a03.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 23 Oct 2009
Source: Telegraph-Journal (Saint John, CN NK)
Copyright: 2009 Brunswick News Inc.
Contact: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/onsite.php?page=contact
Website: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2878
Author: Jeff Ducharme
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

U.S. ARRESTS HUNDREDS IN RAIDS ON DRUG CARTEL

2009-10-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

HOUSTON -- Staging raids in 19 states, the Justice Department struck this week at one of Mexico's most ruthless drug-trafficking organizations, a cultlike group known as La Familia Michoacana and notorious for beheading its enemies.

Calling it the largest strike ever undertaken against a Mexican drug cartel, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced the arrests of 303 people in the past two days, the latest action in a four-year investigation.

Law enforcement officials said the arrests and indictments would deal a major blow to a distribution network that trucked methamphetamine and cocaine to major cities in the United States, then sent cash and arms in the other direction.

La Familia controls much of the drug traffic in central Mexico and terrorizes the population there, the authorities said, torturing and killing its enemies, including police officers, and leaving the bodies in public with cryptic religious messages saying the dead suffered divine retribution.

"The sheer level and depravity of violence that this cartel has exhibited far exceeds what we, unfortunately, have become accustomed to from other cartels," Mr. Holder said. He added: "While this cartel may operate from Mexico, the toxic reach of its operations extends to nearly every state within our country."

The arrests were made Wednesday and Thursday in 38 cities, with major distribution rings the focus in Dallas, Atlanta and Seattle. The raids were part of a larger push against La Familia, Project Coronado, which had led to about 900 arrests in the past four years, Mr. Holder said.

As the raids were carried out in the United States, the Mexican authorities on Thursday arrested six members of the cartel, including two midlevel commanders in the towns of Taretan and Morelia.

None of those arrested in the United States were major figures in the upper echelons of the organization, law enforcement officials said. They ran the gamut from people who oversaw city distribution networks to street-level dealers and gun-smugglers. The authorities said the sheer number of arrests would seriously disrupt the cartel's distribution system.

In addition, Mr. Holder said, the authorities have seized more than $32 million in American currency, 2,700 pounds of methamphetamine, 4,400 pounds of cocaine, 16,000 pounds of marijuana and 29 pounds of heroin. More arrests are expected.

"These are drugs that were headed for our streets and weapons that often were headed for the streets of Mexico," Mr. Holder said. "That's why we are hitting them where it hurts the most -- their revenue stream. By seizing their drugs and upending their supply chains, we have disrupted their 'business-as-usual' state of operations."

Since its emergence as a major player in Mexican trafficking in 2006, La Familia has specialized in smuggling methamphetamine, rather than cocaine and heroin. The group controls the port of Lazaro Cardenas, where many of the precursors for the highly toxic, synthetic drug arrive, and it manufactures thousands of pounds of the drug strictly for export to the United States.

The cartel's leader, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez, known as El Mas Loco, or The Craziest One, has said his aim is to drive other drug dealers out of Michoacan and to protect Mexicans from the influences of narcotics.

He carries a Bible along with a book of his own quotes, espouses a pseudoreligious philosophy and requires the core members of the group to attend church. The organization recruits heavily among drug addicts in the state's many drug-rehabilitation clinics, experts on drug cartels said.

"What is distinctive about them is they are messianic," said George W. Grayson, a professor of government at the College of William & Mary. "They justify their actions because they are carrying out divine justice."

The group began 25 years ago as a vigilante organization aimed at removing the influence of drug dealers in the state of Michoacan, but it has evolved into a ruthless cartel itself. For years, members of La Familia were allied with the Gulf Cartel, based in Tamaulipas, and fought against the Sinaloan gangs for control of the local police and officials in Michoacan. But that alliance fell apart in 2004, and La Familia has since gone into business for itself. Now it competes with both the Gulf and Sinaloa Cartels, and has become a major exporter of methamphetamine to the United States, officials said.

"This is an organization that just recently we started calling a cartel because of how they've grown and the violence that they spread," said Michele Leonhart, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "And it is the first time we have seen a cartel take on meth trafficking, where they are the direct pipeline from Mexico to the U.S. of multi-hundred-pound quantities of methamphetamine."

The group first gained attention in 2006 when more than a dozen masked gunmen burst into a nightclub in Uruapan and tossed five heads of drug dealers on the dance floor, with the message: "The family doesn't kill for money. It doesn't kill women. It doesn't kill innocent people, only those who deserve to die. Know that this is divine justice."

Last July, the cartel's gunmen tried to liberate one of their lieutenants who had been arrested, and, when their effort failed, they attacked federal police stations in a half-dozen cities. Three days later, on July 14, cartel members tortured and killed 12 members of the Mexican Federal Police.

In the past year, the Mexican authorities have made some progress against the cartel, arresting two capos. But Mr. Moreno Gonzalez and his top lieutenants have eluded capture.

One of those lieutenants is Servando Gomez Martinez, who was indicted on drug trafficking charges in Manhattan as part of the nationwide crackdown. Though Mr. Gomez remains in Mexico, federal prosecutors in New York have linked him to a cocaine shipment in the city.

After the murder of Mexican federal officers in July, Mr. Gomez gave a recorded statement to a local television station in which he said the cartel was locked in a battle with the Mexican police, the indictment said.

Although most of the indictments this week had to do with drug trafficking and arms smuggling, federal authorities said that in three cases, members of La Familia had kidnapped other drug dealers in Houston and held them for ransom, in effect bringing common practice in Mexico to the United States.

Mr. Holder said the sweep was intended to support President Felipe Calderon in his campaign to dismantle the major drug cartels that have wracked Mexico. More than 10,000 people have died in the violence in the last two and half years, among them hundreds of police officers.

"This is not a one-country problem," Mr. Holder said. "The government of Mexico has taken courageous steps to combat the cartels, and we stand with them in that fight."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n956/a01.html
Newshawk: Help for LTE writers www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 23 Oct 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Page: A1, Front Page
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Contact: letters@nytimes.com
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: James C. McKinley Jr.
Note: Liz Robbins contributed reporting from New York, Charlie Savage
from Washington and Solomon Moore from Los Angeles.

HOW TO FIX CRACK-HOUSE CONUNDRUM

2009-10-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

As you know from previous columns, there are a handful of crack houses in Parkdale, and maybe there are one or two in your neighbourhood as well.

What to do?

The answers are not as obvious or as immediate as you might think. Here's what I think:

The first thing, let's license all the landlords. Because this is how easy it is to turn an apartment building or a rooming house into a hellhole:

If you're a dealer, find somebody living on a two-bit pension in a part of town where you want to do business, and offer him a hundred bucks a week for the use of his room during the day. Bingo -- all of a sudden you have a base from which to deal.

After all, a hundred bucks a week is peanuts to a pusher, but it is hard to turn down 20 per cent of your monthly income, tax free, no questions asked, if you are on assistance of some kind.

This is a particularly easy deal to make with someone who is weak or easily intimidated.

Once a dealer moves in, here comes a long line of the hard, the desperate, the weak and the miserable, and there goes the building.

But too many landlords -- the guy who owns the crack house on Wilson Park Rd. is a prime example -- don't give a damn about what goes on, and they don't support their superintendents -- if they even have supers -- as long as the rent money keeps flowing.

But if landlords were licensed ... well, either you get this picture or you don't.

The second thing, let's give the cops useful tools. Not the ones you might think.

If enforcement was an answer to the drug problem, our streets would have been swept clean long ago, because we have pretty good enforcement here.

Alas, when the cops sweep up, the drug mess simply moves -- from Seaton St. to Bloor and Lansdowne, and from there to Parkdale, and then over to Etobicoke.

And back again.

There is another problem, particularly vexing, with successful enforcement: when a drug bust nets a major haul, the law of supply and demand kicks in -- drug prices rise, and the dealers get even richer.

And then there is the problem within the problem: when pot is hard to find, certain dealers offer crack at introductory rates -- try this, it will get you higher faster, it's cheap, the first hit's on me.

As for the little fish in this festering pond, jail is no deterrent. Arrests only work if there is help and encouragement for users. We do have a superlative drug treatment court in Toronto, where addicts are offered a chance to dry up and clean up in lieu of jail.

But we need to expand the program.

At the moment, there are precious few treatment beds in Toronto. Use your rational mind: what's the better solution -- building more and bigger jails, or helping people quit?

Here's another part of the solution: Harm reduction.

For serious addicts, there is a limited range of outcomes. Death is one. Long-term disease is another. Dead people offer us nothing. And addicts who pick up serious diseases before they quit require major lifelong health care.

And so harm reduction is in our interests socially. But it is also in our interests financially, which ought to be enough to make conservatives hold their noses and support harm reduction.

One final thing.

There is a municipal election on the horizon. Ask candidates in your ward where they stand on the licensing of landlords, on drug treatment programs, and on harm reduction.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n957/a03.html
Newshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Wed, 21 Oct 2009
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 The Toronto Star
Contact:
lettertoed@thestar.ca
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Author: Joe Fiorito
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

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Mexico Under Siege

2009-10-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

U.S. TARGETS CARTEL AND ITS 'TOXIC REACH'

300 Suspects Are Held in Nationwide Raids on La Familia, a Brutal and Fast-Growing Drug Gang From Mexico.

Drug agents swept through Los Angeles and dozens of other locations Wednesday and Thursday, arresting more than 300 people and seizing large quantities of drugs, weapons and money in the biggest U.S. crackdown against a Mexican drug cartel.

The months-long offensive, the fruit of dozens of federal investigations over the last 3 1/2 years, will put a significant dent in the U.S. operations of La Familia Michoacana, one of Mexico's fastest-growing and deadliest cartels, authorities said.

"The sheer level and depravity of violence that this cartel has exhibited far exceeds what we unfortunately have become accustomed to from other cartels, [and] the toxic reach of its operations extends to nearly every state within our own country," Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. said at a news conference in Washington to announce the arrests.

The investigation has involved hundreds of agents and analysts from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as prosecutors and other officials from the Justice Department.

"We're hitting them where we believe it hurts the most: their revenue stream," Holder said. "By seizing their drugs and upending their supply chains, we have disrupted their business-as-usual state of operations."

In all, authorities have arrested nearly 1,200 suspected La Familia members or associates in recent months as part of "Project Coronado," the multi-agency effort to dismantle the organization's methamphetamine and cocaine distribution network in the United States.

But Holder and other officials acknowledged that La Familia has become too powerful, too politically entrenched -- and too popular with Mexico's citizens -- for the arrests to deal the cartel any kind of death blow.

"We have to work with our Mexican counterparts to really cut off the heads of these snakes and get at the heads of the cartels . . . either in Mexico or extradite them to the United States," he said.

For that to happen, U.S. authorities need the full cooperation of the Mexican government in arresting and prosecuting the leaders of La Familia. But according to court documents unsealed Thursday, few if any leaders have been taken into custody by Mexican authorities despite several being indicted in U.S. courts.

La Familia has been linked to hundreds of drug-related killings in Mexico, including the kidnapping, torture and killing of 12 federal agents in the western state of Michoacan, La Familia's home base.

Several senior U.S. drug officials said Mexico was cooperating but that La Familia's leaders were too well insulated to go after, protected not only by their own army but by corrupt police and politicians.

"It's a full-blown military operation to go in and get them," said one drug enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of U.S.-Mexico counter-narcotics relations.

A Mexican counter-narcotics official agreed, saying his country had thrown thousands of troops and police at La Familia but that the cartel's chieftains were even more elusive than others.

"They rarely spend two or three nights in the same place, and when they do, they live in these very fortified compounds," said the official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing similar sensitivities. "It is even more difficult for us because they buy not only information, but they buy protection from the very guys that are supposed to get them."

Although a relative newcomer to Mexico's drug underworld, La Familia has quickly become one of the most violent, quick to attack Mexican troops and lawmakers who have tried to halt its expansion, U.S. counter-narcotics officials said.

La Familia now competes with the established Gulf and Sinaloa cartels. But in an unusual twist, its leaders espouse a religious philosophy, asking core members to carry Bibles and attend church.

The cartel manufactures tons of methamphetamine strictly for export to the United States, prohibiting its own soldiers from using illegal drugs or selling them in Mexico, said Michele Leonhart, acting administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Such tactics have made La Familia something of a Robin Hood-type organization within Mexico, several drug enforcement officials said Thursday.

"We are fighting an organization whose brutal violence is driven by so-called divine justice," Leonhart said. "Accordingly, La Familia's narco-banner declared that they don't kill for money and they don't kill innocent people. However, their delivery of that message was accompanied by five severed heads rolled onto a dance floor in Uruapan, Mexico."

The indictments unsealed Thursday provide a rare look inside the highly disciplined and secretive organization, which is also involved in counterfeiting, extortion, prostitution and armed robbery.

Most of those arrested in the U.S. are believed to be foot soldiers or associates of the cartel, but some have direct ties to La Familia leadership in Michoacan, authorities said.

Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have indicted five suspected La Familia members with the help of several undercover informants. One of the indicted is Gerardo Rodriguez-Lopez, a fugitive who authorities allege ran a methamphetamine smuggling operation from Mexico through Los Angeles County to Minnesota, Kansas, Georgia and Texas.

Overall, the DEA said, at least 24 people were arrested in Southern California during the latest raids, many of them alleged La Familia members or associates from three separate drug distribution cells.

Over the last two days, authorities arrested 90 people in Dallas and dozens more in Atlanta and other large urban hubs of La Familia.

But many other arrests occurred in small towns and rural communities in Washington state, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Missouri, North Carolina and elsewhere.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n957/a05.html
Newshawk: The WOD Is Not Just About Marijuana www.mapinc.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 23 Oct 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Page: Front Page, continued on page A22
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/bc7El3Yo
Website: http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Josh Meyer, Reporting from Washington
Note: Times staff writers Tracy Wilkinson in Mexico City, Sam
Quinones in San Bernardino and Richard Winton in Los Angeles
contributed to this report.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?255 (Mexico Under Siege (Series))

TIGUAS ENCOURAGE DRUG-FREE LIFESTYLE

2009-10-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

EL PASO -- The Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo wants help the El Paso community live drug-free.

The pueblo had its Red Ribbon Block Party on Saturday to help its efforts.

"Every year we come," Mirna Diaz said. "We walk around, eat ... things like that. It's just to support everything they do."

The community event included music, hay rides and a mini health fair.

Angel Montoya, the event's program coordinator, said the Tigua Indian tribe works with the community as much as possible, and tries to partner with outside agencies to battle drug abuse.

He said drug legalization is not the right approach to fight drugs.

"We need to look at healthy lifestyles," Montoya said. "Now we're more conscious of what we eat ... and we need to take the same approach to drugs and alcohol. ( We need ) to look at what we're really doing."

Representatives from several drug recovery nonprofit agencies were at the event to answer questions about drug abuse, recovery and awareness.

Leticia Miranda, a victim services specialist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said the organization often partners with others to increase awareness about the dangers of alcohol.

"We're not against drinking alcohol," she said. "We're for responsible drinking."

Congress proclaimed the first Red Ribbon Week in 1988, honoring Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who in 1985 was kidnapped and killed in Mexico shortly after he uncovered a multibillion-dollar scam, possibly involving the Mexican army, police force and government.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n947/a01.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Webpage: http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_13587609
Pubdate: Sun, 18 Oct 2009
Source: El Paso Times (TX)
Copyright: 2009 El Paso Times
Contact: http://www.elpasotimes.com/formnewsroom
Website: http://www.elpasotimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/829
Author: Isabel Rodriguez

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KEEP A WATCHFUL EYE ON TEENAGERS DURING LUNCH

2009-10-20T13:51:00.001-07:00

As a parent, you should be aware of what your high-school-age kids are doing during the lunch hour.

Typically, open campus lunch allows students to leave school property, if they would like during the lunch period. Schools usually offer this option because of limited cafeteria space and because many students live close enough to head home for lunch.

However, situational awareness is important. All too often, time away from school is time that can include opportunities to use drugs and alcohol. Teens who are in treatment programs reveal that drug and alcohol use and other risky behaviors happen away from school during the lunch hour.

As program director at Libertas Treatment Center in Green Bay, each day at work is a reminder of the devastating impact that alcohol and drug addictions can have on young people and their families and friends.

I've said this many times, but it bears repeating: Studies have shown that teens who begin drinking at 15 are at least four times more likely to become alcoholics than those who wait until age 21. Wisconsin adolescents are just as much at risk for developing an addiction as any other teen in our country.

A survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that 8.7 percent of adolescents in Wisconsin are in need of substance abuse treatment. This translates to more than 1,000 teens in Brown County alone. These statistics hammer home the importance of talking with our teens about ways they can avoid pressures to abuse drugs and alcohol.

Parents must be aware of where their high school age kids are spending the lunch hour. Are they getting a nourishing lunch? What else are they doing? Is it at school; is it a local fast-food restaurant, at the home of a friend?

If at the home of a friend, ensure that there is parental supervision there and confirm that with the parent. If this activity rotates among homes, be sure there is adult supervision at each. It is also a good idea to introduce yourself to the parents of all the lunch companions so that whereabouts can be coordinated.

Don't be afraid to occasionally show up to confirm the story. If their plans happen to change for the lunch hour, be sure they communicate those changes with you. If attendance or performance in after-lunch classes is declining, an examination of the lunch hour and activities is certainly indicated.

Parents know they can't be with their teenagers every moment or protect them from all pressures to abuse drugs and alcohol. But talking to them about the dangers and knowing their whereabouts can hopefully minimize the risk.

Remember to watch for warning signs of drinking or drug use -- deteriorating grades, skipping school, changes in energy levels, sleep patterns, appetite and hygiene, a persistent surly attitude, a change to a negative peer group, or disrespect or unwillingness to follow rules or family structure.

Let's strive to put a focus on helping our teens make the right decision when it comes to alcohol or drug use this school year and beyond.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n942/a08.html
Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate/
Votes: 0
Webpage: http://drugsense.org/url/W811LibO
Pubdate: Sun, 18 Oct 2009
Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette (WI)
Copyright: 2009 Green Bay Press-Gazette
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/NWYAfkkj
Website: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/879
Author: Patrick Ryan, Guest commentary
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment)

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CITY'S DRUG POLICY LACKS COORDINATOR

2009-10-19T13:44:00.000-07:00

Resignee Notes Need For Law Reform

Does the city need a drug policy coordinator now that the person who held the position for almost a decade resigned?

The short and quick answer from Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang is, of course.

But should the coordinator's position left vacant by Donald MacPherson be held by one person, or have the work spread out among senior staff?

The answer is not clear.

"Maybe there's somebody on staff who wants to take that on as part of their current workload," said Jang, who is his party's point person on mental health and addictions.

What the future of the city's drug policy work will look like is a question Jang has asked frequently since MacPherson announced his resignation in September.

He pointed to senior staff in housing and social planning as capable of continuing MacPherson's work. He noted homelessness, mental health issues and drug addiction are intertwined.

He said MacPherson's steering of the city's Four Pillars drug strategy in the early part of this decade was crucial to tackling the drug problem.

Fewer Vancouverites are dying of drug overdoses and contracting infectious diseases. The city also opened North America's only legal drug injection site on East Hastings in September 2003.

But the strategy, which includes police enforcement and drug treatment, is largely dependent on funding, political will and amending drug laws.

MacPherson, who laid out drug decriminalization options in reports to council, felt that full implementation of the strategy was hampered by the federal government's views on drug policy and its continued focus on the so-called war on drugs. It is the reason MacPherson is seeking to form a national drug policy network to critique drug policy at provincial and national levels.

"A whole group of people are being criminalized who are really in need of health services," he said. "We keep behaving as if [drug addiction] is a criminal issue. So I want to put much more energy into that, and that is well beyond the municipal level."

He wouldn't weigh in on whether the city should have a stand-alone person to continue his work. That's up to city council, he said.

Former NPA mayor Philip Owen, who was mayor when MacPherson became drug policy coordinator in 2000, is worried that tackling drug addiction is not a priority at municipal, provincial and federal levels of government.

Owen pointed out that drug policy was absent in political campaigns during recent elections at all three levels of government.

"It's just not on the radar screen anywhere and I'm really pissed off about it," he said, noting the Lower Mainland's gang violence is largely drug-related.

MacPherson said leadership on drug policy must come from politicians. "They have to keep pushing and doing that advocacy work. If the politicians don't advocate, it's very difficult for staff to."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n942/a02.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 16 Oct 2009
Source: Vancouver Courier (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Vancouver Courier
Contact: editor@vancourier.com
Website: http://www.vancourier.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/474
Author: Mike Howell

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VICTIM'S GRANDSON EXPRESSES REMORSE

2009-10-18T13:35:00.000-07:00

PITCAIRN -- Michael F. Lewis's life was pocked with drug use, failed rehab stints and run-ins with the law, but his grandmother -- with whom he lived on and off -- always seemed willing to give him another chance to turn himself around.

Irene D. Layboult's chances of seeing that turnaround were erased, however, when she died in a pickup crash with her drugged grandson behind the wheel on a Saturday night in July. Why she was in the truck that night is something Mr. Lewis and other family members debate. He says his grandmother wanted to take a ride in her husband's truck to relieve stress after an argument at her home with relatives. Others say Mrs. Layboult would go with Mr. Lewis when she let him use the truck because of fears he might not bring it back right away.

What isn't in dispute is the 70-year-old Pitcairn resident cared for her troubled grandchild. And her hopes he would one day shake his bad habits were not realized in her lifetime.

"All my mother did was love that child too much," said Vicki L. Layboult, Mrs. Layboult's daughter. "My mother was a very special person and didn't deserve to go this way."

About a mile from her home on July 18, Mr. Lewis apparently fell asleep behind the wheel and crashed into a utility pole on Garrison Road. Police said he was impaired by drugs and had an open beer in the truck, though no trace of alcohol showed up on a test given to him the night of the crash. He is charged with vehicular manslaughter and awaits a court hearing that could land him in prison.

"I am very remorseful," Mr. Lewis said. "I would trade my own life for hers to bring her back. It is killing me inside. I loved the woman."

Family members aren't buying the remorse. They say they have heard such claims too many times from Mr. Lewis over the years.

"Mike has been a lost soul for the last 10 years," Vicki Layboult said. "He used to be good kid; then he would do things with drugs and alcohol. I don't know him anymore. I couldn't tell you how many times he has been sent to rehab. Not a week later after he's out, he's off doing it again."

Mark Trombley, Mrs. Layboult's nephew, said he thinks the remorse Mr. Lewis is expressing is designed to help him when the case comes up in court.

"He's trying to get people out there to feel sorry for Mike Lewis," Mr. Trombley said. "He knows how to use the court system. The guy is out of control."

Mr. Lewis has been to five drug rehabilitation programs over the past few years, but was booted each time. He successfully completed his first rehab program after the accident.

"In retrospect, I wish I had completed them," Mr. Lewis said. "Relapse is a process. Very few people make it the first time."

He's also had several brushes with St. Lawrence County law enforcement, some stemming from his drug and alcohol addictions.

In November 2005, he was accused by Gouverneur village police of choking his mother, Patricia I. Lewis, and resisting arrest.

He also has been arrested on charges of sexual abuse and child endangerment for an incident involving two girls in December 2005. The charges later were dropped.

He was convicted a few years ago in Gouverneur Town Court on a reduced charge of driving while ability impaired. He was stopped in October 2003 for driving recklessly, then fighting with police after being pulled over. He registered a 0.14 percent blood alcohol content. Under state law, a BAC of 0.08 percent or more constitutes intoxication.

"I have been heavily addicted to drugs," Mr. Lewis said. "I have been through the wringer of drugs. I have done the vast majority of them. I am not proud of that."

About a month after the fatal accident, he reportedly smashed an aunt's window with a rock in the village of Gouverneur. He was charged with felony criminal mischief.

Mr. Lewis said he was upset over a family argument and tossed several rocks through a few windows. Family members said his aunt, Terri J. Layboult, didn't want him on her property since the accident and he became upset about that decision.

"That's not showing remorse for his grandmother," Mr. Trombley said.

Family members simply want Mr. Lewis to steer clear of them.

"We don't want to have anything to do with him," said Kelly Layboult, Mrs. Layboult's daughter. "None of the family does."

Mr. Lewis, 30, of 65 Austin St., Gouverneur, faces charges of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while ability impaired by drugs, failure to keep right, consuming alcohol in a vehicle, speeding and not wearing a seat belt, state police said. He waived a preliminary hearing last week in Fowler Town Court and will let a grand jury hear the case.

Mr. Lewis admitted he took a muscle relaxant a few hours before the accident that killed his grandmother. He said he was prescribed the muscle relaxant after having back surgery a few years ago. A toxicology report found he had drugs in his system at the time of the accident, but state police investigators declined to reveal the medication.

Mr. Lewis said he also was drinking alcohol that night, including some while driving the pickup. He said he doesn't remember crashing into the telephone pole because he fell asleep.

"I was overexerted that day. I did too much work," he said. "I had a beer about an hour before, then a few sips from a can I opened up in the car. I had a few sips of beer about 20 to 30 seconds before the crash."

Mrs. Layboult, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, hit her head in the accident, state police Investigator Peter T. Kraengel said. Emergency responders had to help her out of the car and into the ambulance.

She was taken to E.J. Noble Hospital, Gouverneur, then was transferred to Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, where she died the next day.

Family members described Mrs. Layboult as a homemaker who raised seven daughters. She enjoyed talking with neighbors on the phone, spending time with family and collecting Avon figurines.

"She was the heart of our family," Vicki Layboult said. "Our family is torn apart, because the heart of the family is gone."

She said her father, Floyd, is heartbroken over the loss of his wife. Family members have helped fill the void by recently surprising him on his birthday with a puppy named Bow. The family dog, Elmo, also was killed in the accident.

"The dog has helped him smile a little," Mr. Trombley said. "But Floyd hasn't been the same since the accident. He lost the love of his life. He worshiped the ground she walked on."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n942/a10.html
Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate/
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sun, 18 Oct 2009
Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 Watertown Daily Times
Contact: letters@wdt.net
Website: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792
Author: David Winters, Times Staff Writer

WAGING WAR ON MARIJUANA

2009-10-17T13:34:00.000-07:00

Despite Efforts, Cultivation on the Rise

A marijuana farm discovered and destroyed in July in the Belleview area of Tuolumne County was an all too normal sight.

The garden was divided into three large plots slanting down a hillside-- linked by a network of tubes sucking water from a makeshift pool lined with blue tarps.

There were two camping areas, nestled between the gardens and bordering manzanita trees, littered with Spanish-language comic books, cookware, toilet paper, Mexican food products, a torn tarp serving as a canopy for dirt-caked sleeping bags, and the usual environmentally hazardous products: bags of fertilizer, mole traps and insect poison.

There was no sign of the people -- most likely "Mexican nationals" working for a "Mexican drug cartel," officials said -- tending nearly 10,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $21 million.

As the routine goes, law enforcement officials from several law enforcement agencies ripped the plants from the ground, threw them into piles, bundled them together by large nets and hooked the bundles to a long line draped from a helicopter hovering above.

The plants were then flown out to be incinerated.

"It's pretty sad," said Ryan Pontecorvo, regional operational commander for the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting ( CAMP ), while looking at the mess left behind.

The bust represented only a fraction of the plants pulled from Tuolumne and Calaveras counties this year. Law enforcement officials have yanked more than 200,000 plants in Tuolumne County -- double the previous record, set last year -- and more than 26,000 plants from Calaveras County.

In total, CAMP -- which aids local agencies with manpower and equipment, including helicopters -- this year has seized more than 4.4 million plants statewide, compared to last year's record of 2.9 million.

The rising volume of marijuana being grown poses problems for law enforcement, but so does the evolving nature of the clandestine trade, which today involves hundreds of operators rather than a few big cartels.

"The amount of illegally cultivated marijuana is obviously on the rise," said Sgt. Craig Davis, Tuolumne Narcotic Team commander.

Despite proposed solutions to the problem -- ranging from legalizing pot, to throwing more money at eradication and investigations, to harsher penalties for those who are caught -- there's no fool-proof answer to ending the epidemic.

The Gardens

The one non-typical characteristic of the Belleview-area bust was the location.

"It's rare for it to be so close to residential neighborhoods," said A.J. Ford, spokesman for the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office.

But the garden illustrates that marijuana farmers will set up just about anywhere these days.

"As they adopt their techniques to our techniques, they change up their tactics to sneak it by us," said Diana Nichols, a special agent with the Stanislaus National Forest. "When I first started, they were only growing at elevations around 4,000 feet. We found a garden in the Inyo National Forest at over 9,000 feet. They've found gardens here ( Stanislaus Forest ) that were over 7,000 feet."

Sometimes growers use rural private property, as in Belleview, unbeknownst to the land owner. But most of the gardens are found on U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service or Bureau of Land Management land.

It's problematic from the public safety standpoint, and also an environmental one.

"Pictures cannot capture what goes on out there," Nichols said. "Environmentally, it's a mess."

Grow sites tear up the ground, use highly-toxic chemicals and leave behind months worth of trash in remote areas where water quality and wildlife are affected, officials say.

Even when gardens are raided, the damage to the environment has already been done.

"They're destroying our public lands," said Kevin Mayer, special agent with the Sierra National Forest. "They're killing wildlife -- mountain lions, bear and deer. They're killing fish. They're poisoning our water system."

Mayer estimates that during the growing season-- typically between spring and fall -- there are between 2,000 and 5,000 people living on public lands growing marijuana in California.

After the plants are eradicated, agents do their best to clean up the damage, but it's a tall task-- especially because most gardens are in very remote areas of the forest.

"Everything they pack in, we have to pack out," Mayer said. "It all needs to get brought out."

The Growers

Many times, law enforcement agents won't try to nab the often-armed men protecting the marijuana gardens because of potential lethal dangers.

Also, they are hard to catch, agents say.

For example, marijuana growers evaded law enforcement agents from the U.S. Forest Service and TNT in an August sting on a grow site near Cherry Lake.

At the site, more than 5,000 plants, 100 pounds of trimmed and processed marijuana and three firearms were found.

"At the first sign of danger, they're like rabbits," Nichols said. "They know all the tiny holes in the forest. So, a lot of times, it's hit or miss. We have caught them."

In one of the few cases where arrests were made, Fidencio Castro-Meza, 29, and Jose Guadalupe Castro-Meza, 35, in September were caught and charged with felony marijuana growing charges after community members tipped off agents to a grow site in Groveland. The bust also yielded 799 plants and a high-caliber rifle.

As marijuana gardens become more prevalent, federal investigators are seeing a shift in who's behind the operations and how much men like Fidencio and Jose Castro-Meza might know about the larger operations.

At one point, about a decade ago, the gardens were mostly controlled by a handful of influential Mexican-national drug cartels, said Brent Wood, lead investigator with the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement.

For instance, in 2001, after years of investigation, nine members of the Mexico-based Magana drug cartel pleaded guilty in federal court to growing large marijuana gardens in the Stanislaus, Sierra, Sequoia and Mendocino national forests.

The cartel was similar to the type movies paint -- rich and influential. Investigators said the family owned lavish resorts, among other businesses, all over Mexico.

"The year after we did that, there was a substantial drop in the amount of marijuana found in the forests," Wood said. "But soon after, it went right back up."

Nowadays, Wood said, it's no longer a few influential Mexican drug cartels, like the Magana family, behind the massive amount of marijuana growing in California.

"There's hundreds and hundreds of smaller groups now," Wood said.

The groups are still predominately Mexican Americans or Mexican nationals, Wood said.

Also, the armed men protecting the gardens are no longer thought of as hired hands that know little about the operation, but trusted associates, even family members, Wood said.

"What we've learned listening to their lines is that the people in the forest are not the guys you pick up on the street corner but trusted members of the organization," he said.

"Closer to harvest time, they might get the workers from the corner."

Once the crop is harvested, dragged out of the forest, dried and processed, it's shipped all over the nation.

"The distribution is pretty quick," Wood said. "Once it's dried, it goes all over the place. We've followed it to Chicago and New York. And it's also local. They do amazing things. They'll trade marijuana for cars."

Futile Fight?

Many have opinions on how to stop the growing marijuana epidemic in California.

The most debated is legalization. The theory goes that legalizing it would kill the black market for the drug.

Marijuana advocates across the state are currently gathering signatures to get as many as three marijuana legalization measures on the 2010 state ballot.

And some polls show that voters would support lifting the state's pot prohibition-- backing legalization advocates who say it could cure many of the state's financial woes.

"Law enforcement officers point to a 2,000 percent increase in plants seized in the past decade and hold that as a sign of success," said Aaron Smith, the policy director of Marijuana Policy Project. "But these efforts have no effect on the widespread prevalence of marijuana in our society.

"At a time when California is facing drastic budget cuts, it's beyond irresponsible to continue this costly and ineffective policy," Smith added. "The only way to get these illegal grows out of our parks and neighborhoods is by ending marijuana prohibition and regulating the drug's production. After all, you don't see wine producers sneaking into forests and setting up covert vineyards."

Many in law enforcement say the idea is ludicrous.

"You have a drug whose potency has increased five to 10 times of what it use to be," said Nichols. "It is really becoming a true gateway drug."

Law enforcement officials say that more funding, stricter laws, and broader use of federal laws in prosecuting cases could begin to clean up the problem.

"State charges are 18 months in a best-case scenario," said Mayer. "Ultimately, we don't have the resources."

"If it's state charges, it's absolutely a waste of time," Wood agreed. "Why make the effort?"

Wood said he currently has a team of eight investigating marijuana growing networks. "We have an average of 25 investigations going at once," he said. "Five of them we can maybe get our hands on."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n943/a04.html
Newshawk: Kirk
Votes: 1
Pubdate: Sat, 17 Oct 2009
Source: Union Democrat, The (Sonora, CA)
Page: Front Page, top of page, feature article
Copyright: 2009 Western Communications, Inc
Contact: letters@uniondemocrat.com
Website: http://uniondemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/846
Author: James Damschroder, The Union Democrat
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)

SMOKE, BUT NO FIRE OVER PRO-POT SIGN

2009-10-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Downtown Hilo business owners are being asked to oppose the pro-marijuana "cannabis college" that recently put up its shingle on Kamehameha Avenue.

"We need more attractive storefronts and positive community role models," states an anonymous, one-page letter that several shop owners said they received Tuesday.

A spray-painted sign displayed in the vacant storefront "gives a low first impression of our great city," the letter adds.

The "cannabis college" is located on the ground floor of the Moses Building at 94 Kamehameha Ave. and is part of the THC Ministry, which has its headquarters on the second floor.

The Rev. Roger Christie, who has rented space in the building for the past five years, runs the ministry. He promptly removed the sign Tuesday after being shown a copy of the letter.

One sign read "cannabis college," while on the floor was a second sign stating "cannabis cup," which is an international competition to select the most potent and desirable pot strain. Each was about 20 square feet.

Pro-marijuana literature also was posted on the windows.

"I've exceeded the comfort level of some in the community, and, for that, I apologize," Christie said while sitting next to two immature pot plants growing on his desk, which also contained small amounts of dried marijuana.

"I want to comfort this anonymous person," he said. "At the same time, I want to stay here."

Christie said the "college" was a one-day seminar held Oct. 3 as a way of trying to promote business in the former art gallery. Participants paid $100 apiece to learn marijuana-growing techniques, he said.

"We had standing-room only," Christie said of the turnout, adding he had opted not to buy a professional sign he commissioned to advertise the event.

Wanting to promote "ganja-nomics" as a way of improving the island's economy through greater use of cannabis, Christie said he's considering using the space for a marijuana museum, gift shop, weekend "college," and Sunday church services.

Whatever the operation, he vowed to display a sign that reflects the "beautiful nature of the neighborhood."

"To the best of my abilities, I'm a good neighbor," he added.

But apparently not to the person or people behind the letter, which encourages business owners to contact "your state/county office or mayor. We did."

Shop owners interviewed Tuesday said they won't follow that advice.

"Sounds like a Republican ploy, doesn't it?" asked Nelson Makua, owner of the Na Makua Hawaiian clothing store on Waianuenue Avenue.

Noting he's a graphic artist, Makua said his daily commute takes him past the building, and he would have noticed the sign if it was blatant.

"Freedom of speech. I mean, come on," Makua added about the letter found at his door Tuesday.

Its author or author drew no sympathy from James Stoeckel, who owns Frame It! Hawaii Inc. on Waianuenue Avenue.

"To me, anybody who opens their mouth about marijuana is a good guy," said Stoeckel, adding he's been a medical marijuana patient "since the beginning" of the program.

Stoeckel complained that the letter he found when opening his shop Tuesday included Mayor Billy Kenoi's office number, but not the author's number.

"This is really manini, and it's cowardly," Stoeckel said. "I'm not calling the mayor."

About a week ago, Kenoi's office received one call "from somebody who was unhappy with ( Christie's ) operation," said Kevin Dayton, one of Kenoi's executive assistants.

Janet Louise, owner of the Village Toy Shop located next to Stoeckel's store, said she also won't complain about the sign or activities.

"I don't like tacky signs, but I have no problem with Roger Christie," she said.

The Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce is located next door to Christie's ministry, but did not receive the letter opposing his operations, said Mary Begier, chamber president.

Begier said some people have asked her what she thinks of Christie's sign.

"It's their building, and it's a free country," she said.

Layne Oki, owner of Cronies Bar & Grill, which is the ministry's other immediate neighbor, declined to comment on the letter.

Efforts to identify who wrote the letter were unsuccessful.

It didn't come from the Downtown Improvement Association, said Kauilani Perdomo, DIA administrative aide.

"I don't really know anything about this," she said.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n943/a03.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Oct 2009
Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald (Hilo, HI)
Copyright: 2009 Hawaii Tribune Herald
Contact: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/share/letters/
Website: http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/185
Author: Jason Armstrong

SOLICITOR GENERAL TO TAKE AIM AT GANG PROFITS

2009-10-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Victoria set for record year auctioning items seized via the province's proceeds of crime legislation

The B.C. government plans to increasingly hit Lower Mainland gang members in the pocketbook, according to B.C.'s solicitor general.

"We're going to ramp up civil forfeiture here in B.C. and put more resources into civil forfeiture proceedings," B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed told Business in Vancouver in an exclusive interview.

A key target will be marijuana grow-ops. Experts estimate that B.C.'s marijuana trade employs 150,000 people and generates double the roughly $3 billion that BCStats says forestry annually contributes to the provincial economy.

In November 2007, Burnaby RCMP became the first B.C. police force to successfully navigate the B.C. Supreme Court process and win the right to seize a residential property because it had been used in an illegal activity. The house was sold using a conventional real estate broker instead of being auctioned off.

Eight vehicles have been forfeited so far. Three of them have been sold and four are scheduled to be put on the auction block later this month. The other vehicle is still being processed by the police. Heed envisions an increasing number of the car auctions.

All proceeds from sales, he said, will be used to combat gang activity.

B.C.'s proceeds of crime legislation, the Civil Forfeiture Act, allows Victoria to appeal to a B.C. Supreme Court judge for the authority to seize homes, cars and other property that criminals have bought with money generated from crime.

The program started in June 2006 and by March 31, 2007, it had produced $609,000 in provincial-government revenue.

Annual proceeds from seizures jumped 462% to more than $2.8 million the next year. They slumped to $2.1 million in the fiscal year that ended March 31, but are set to grow again.

Victoria has generated $1.7 million in proceeds of crime seizures during the first five months of the current fiscal year and is on track to generate $4.2 million by the March 31, 2010, year-end.

"We need to take away proceeds that gang members are deriving from their crimes, arrest them, throw them in jail and make sure they stay in jail," Heed said.

He stressed that police are not going to penalize landlords who perform proper due diligence yet inadvertently rent their homes to marijuana growers.

Nor does B.C.'s top cop want police to use scarce resources to arrest casual marijuana smokers.

"We need to make sure that we go after the gang members, organized-crime syndicates and organizations in a very, very aggressive manner," he said.

Heed told BIV during an exclusive hour-long interview that he has had plenty of run-ins with organized crime.

Before he was elected as the MLA for Vancouver-Fraserview, he spent 30 years in policing, working his way up through the Vancouver Police Department before becoming the first Indo-Canadian police chief in Canada when he took the reins in West Vancouver.

Heed said he has been in restaurants where gang members flashed hand gestures at him that indicated they were going to shoot him.

Braving that intimidation has become second nature, although he said he is concerned about his family's safety.

The 53-year-old is a first-time father of a 20-month-old girl.

Heed fidgeted with two BlackBerry devices that were on vibrate mode and revealed that the second prong of his anti-gang strategy is to invest in children.

"I really want to stress this," he said. "If we want to get ahead of this problem, we have to invest in kids at an early age." .

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n933/a02.html
Newshawk: Free Marc Emery: http://www.freemarc.ca/
Pubdate: Tue, 13 Oct 2009
Source: Business In Vancouver (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 BIV Publications Ltd.
Contact:
letters@biv.com
Website: http://www.biv.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2458
Author: Glen Korstrom

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LEGALIZE MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION DEBATE

2009-10-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

It's time to take a good, hard look at marijuana prohibition.

Despite society's most assiduous efforts over nearly a century to extirpate marijuana, and the consumption of untold billions of the taxpayers' dollars to wage a war against it, marijuana is ubiquitous in our culture, and ineradicable from it. That's not a 900-pound gorilla in the corner; it's a naked emperor.

So what do we do?

We can ignore the economic crisis and keep throwing good money after bad, passing this war along to the next generation to wage and pay for, or we can look for a better way to curb drug abuse, protect the public health and safety and eliminate the crime and violence associated with illicit trafficking.

And, while we're at it, we can save a lot of money currently being squandered in the earnest but futile attempt to eradicate marijuana from our culture, and, oh, by the way, raise copious amounts of new revenue. Rough estimates suggest that the prospective revenue is at least what casinos are expected to produce, without the need to destroy any forests and pave them into parking lots.

Whether marijuana is a good thing or a bad thing is irrelevant to this discussion. Even if it were as dangerous as its worst critics allege, that would not alter the facts of its ubiquity and indelibility. The exaggerated claims of marijuana's harm only raise the questions of why the sky isn't falling and why the bodies aren't piling up.

The question in 2009 is whether we keep the prohibition laws in place or repeal them, replacing them with a system of regulation and taxation, with controls over cultivation, purity, distribution and sales, and age limits on purchases.

There's a big problem with that suggestion, however, and it's not that it's a radical idea. Privately, people readily agree that we shouldn't be arresting people for pot — growing it, selling it or using it — and ought to be looking seriously at the revenue potential. The problem is they say it only in private, fearful that speaking up in public about the wrongheadedness of the marijuana laws would put their job, security clearance or custody of their children in serious jeopardy. It's a simple matter of priorities, and they have theirs right.

The immediate struggle is not to legalize marijuana, but to legalize discussion about it.

Rhode Island has made an extraordinary beginning. By a formal resolution adopted this past July, the Rhode Island Senate set up a commission to make a thorough study and issue a full report on the efficacy of marijuana prohibition. The commission is charged with, among other tasks, evaluating whether prohibition has kept marijuana from the reach of children, whether the illicit earnings from marijuana fund organized crime or drug cartels and whether prohibition begets crime and violence instead of preventing it. The commission is also to look at the revenue potential of a regulated, taxed system of cultivation, distribution and sale. Watch for the report of their findings and recommendations in late January 2010.

In California, three legalization initiatives are working their way to the 2010 ballot, and a regulate-and-tax bill is pending in the state Legislature. Nobody is snickering, not least the governor, who has urged serious consideration of this approach. A similar bill, called "An Act to Regulate and Tax the Cannabis Industry," will be considered by the Revenue Committee in the Massachusetts Legislature this week.

Marijuana's detractors are fond of pointing out how marijuana has changed over the years, increasing in potency. I don't know about that, but I do know that the marijuana issue has certainly changed. For generations, marijuana law reform advocates have pointed to the injustice of prohibition. Now they are also pointing to the obsolescence and inaffordability of prohibition.

Marijuana is here to stay. Let's get serious, and get real, about it.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n933/a01.html
Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
Votes: 2
Pubdate: Tues, 13 Oct 2009
Source: Herald News, The (Fall River, MA)
Copyright: 2009 The Herald News
Contact: editor@heraldnews.com
Website: http://www.heraldnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3604
Author: Richard M. Evans
Note: Richard M. Evans is an attorney in Northampton. To reach him, and for more information on the proposal to regulate and tax marijuana, go to www.cantaxreg.com.

ARE HIGHWAYS BECOMING SAFER THAN DRUGS?

2009-10-13T09:10:00.001-07:00

Statistics released in the United States reveal that in 16 states - or almost one-third - drug overdoses will kill more people than car accidents.

According to the Centre for Disease Control ( CDC ), the drug-related death rate has doubled in less than 10 years.

And we are not talking about heroin or hard drugs necessarily but prescription drugs, many of which are being abused.

Although it is true cocaine and heroin are common overdose killers, most of the increase is due to prescribed opiates such as methadone, Oxycontin and Vicodin.

Worse, death rates rose for all age groups.

Our neighbours working in Seattle reported half the deaths from overdoses came from legal prescriptions.

Researchers believe the rising death rate may be caused by the change in how doctors prescribe painkillers.

It is estimated about one in five U.S. adults and one in 10 adolescents are prescribed an opiate each year.

Although 90 per cent of the deaths accounted for in the study came from sudden death due to overdoses, about 10 per cent of the deaths was caused by organ damage inflicted by long-term opiate use.

The study did not count other drug-related deaths such as accidents caused by impairment or HIV infection resulting from the abuse of injected drugs.

In Massachusetts, there was double the number of drug fatalities compared with traffic deaths, while Michigan had about 500 more drug deaths than vehicle fatalities.

In New York, drugs killed 350 more people than car accidents.

Is this the picture for Canada, especially British Columbia?

The best guess is "no," but it is difficult to ferret out numbers.

One advantage the B.C. medical system has is the computerized database that emergency rooms and other physicians can access to determine if someone is receiving narcotics on a regular basis and from more than one physician - an indication of abuse.

Despite the checks and balances, prescription painkillers are abused on a regular basis and it becomes very difficult for patients with legitimate pain, as the dosage of the narcotic has to increase over time to have the same painkilling effect.

But, as many people now know, taking pain killers over extended periods of time not only causes addiction, damages internal organs, and causes impairment in driving or other activities, but it also increases peoples' perception of pain.

They begin to suffer more.

Prescribed narcotics are widely sold on the street, and sometimes morphine and codeine have been reported for sale for as little as three dollars each.

Low prices mean supply is readily available and something to be concerned about.

If you require narcotics to manage your pain, talk to your physician about alternative ways to manage pain.

In many studies, meditation and hypnosis proved as effective - for some people moreso - than narcotics.

Thank you for reading Mental Health Matters and write to us about your thoughts on prescribed narcotics a Kamloops@cmha.bc.ca

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n929/a04.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 09 Oct 2009
Source: Kamloops This Week (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Kamloops This Week
Contact: editor@kamloopsthisweek.com
Website: http://www.kamloopsthisweek.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1271

DRUG-SMUGGLING GANGS HIGH ON HELICOPTERS

2009-10-12T07:27:00.000-07:00

Big Payoffs Tempt Young Trainee Pilots To Make Cross-border Trips

A $50,000 payday looked easy for 29-year-old Jeremy Snow. With some helicopter training in his past, the man from Kelowna was recruited to fly payloads of B.C. marijuana into the United States and hook up with a cocaine connection for the return trip to Canada.

He never got his money.

Shortly after taking off from Kelowna's Okanagan Mountain Helicopters without a licence, Snow was arrested when he touched down in a forest landing pad in northern Idaho with 80 kilograms of marijuana on board.

He was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle earlier this month to just under four years in jail for his part in a cross-border drug-smuggling ring.

His case highlights a problem that has U.S. authorities worried.

Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office, says a report was filed into the case record detailing the ease with which B.C. pilots are trained for drug-smuggling runs.

Helicopter flight-school operators don't check students' backgrounds, and criminal-record checks are not required for licence approval.

Smuggling by chopper is a "very serious" border-integrity and public-safety issue, Langlie said. "We've seen a lot of smuggling by air from Canada into the U.S."

Sometimes the pilot trainees drop out of pilot school once they know just enough to handle the machine.

Johannes Vates, chief flight instructor at Okanagan Mountain Helicopters, said Snow raised no suspicions, even when he dropped out several weeks before completing his four-month basic-training course. "He was quiet and polite," Vates said.

Authorities allege that 24-year-old Sam Lindsay-Brown, another B.C. pilot, was involved in the same ring as Snow. He was arrested in February after landing near Spokane, Wash., with a load of marijuana and ecstasy, according to police.

Four days later, he hung himself in the Spokane County jail.

Lindsay-Brown started training at Chinook Helicopters in Abbotsford in December 2007. Like Vates, Chinook Helicopters owner Cathy Press says little can be done to check on students.

An employee of the school who asked not to be named said: "Sam was super. None of the other students could believe he was involved in smuggling."

Michael Chettleburgh, an author and expert on drug crime, said helicopters are increasingly being used for smuggling by sophisticated gangs that are flush with cash from a $6-billion to $8-billion annual cash crop of B.C. bud, which is traded for cocaine, heroin and guns.

"The helicopter is a growing tool for gangs," Chettleburgh said.

"We're standing there with our pants around our ankles saying, 'We'd better get some more regulations.' It's organized crime versus disorganized police and authorities like Transport Canada."

There is a strong appetite for B.C. bud in the U.S., said RCMP Cpl. Richard De Jong, adding that grow-ops "continue to be the No. 1 source of income for organized crime" in B.C.

Chettleburgh said choppers are perfect for dropping into "off-the-beaten-track" marijuana grow-ops and drug labs before nipping across to the U.S. and back.

Chettleburgh noted the chopper is not just a cross-border tool for gangs. Crime groups are increasingly accessing northern B.C. communities by air, and trying to cultivate more domestic customers outside the Lower Mainland.

"If you are getting into remote communities, nothing is as effective as a helicopter," he said.

The Chinook Helicopters employee said students, mostly males aged 20 to 30, are warned not to get sucked into the "easy money" of drug-smuggling schemes. She said it's well known in the flight-school community that the eldest of the famous Bacon-gang brothers, Jonathan, was trained at B.C. Helicopters in Langley.

"Transport Canada works with the RCMP when it suspects that aircraft are being used in criminal activities," said spokesman Rod Nelson.

"If any violations are found, we can order immediate corrective action or take appropriate punitive actions."

But he conceded: "Having a clean criminal record is not a requirement for obtaining a pilot's licence."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n927/a10.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Votes: 0
Webpage: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/news/2091709/story.html
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Oct 2009
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Sam Cooper, Canwest News Service

COCAINE CASE IS THE BUZZ OF UNC

2009-10-11T07:24:00.000-07:00

CHAPEL HILL - In a college town where booze is king and pot is popular, the recent arrests of seven current or former UNC-Chapel Hill students on cocaine charges created a stir.

The charges were unusual -- particularly because two people were charged with felony drug trafficking. But experts say all this is not likely an indicator of a surge in cocaine's popularity.

"I haven't noticed a huge problem with it," said Scott Gallisdorfer, who, as the university's undergraduate student attorney general, evaluates students charged with crimes to decide which will face the student honor court. "We don't get a ton of cocaine cases. The vast majority are marijuana."

During the past four years, the number of students facing honor court charges for alcohol violations has outpaced all drug charges, according to the most recent honor court data available.

And a 2008 survey of UNC-CH students revealed a wide disparity in the use of these vices: 69 percent of respondents said they'd consumed alcohol in the last 30 days, about 20 percent had used marijuana in that period and just 2.5 percent had used cocaine.

Still, the cocaine busts last month at a local apartment have been a hot topic among students and parents. Several students arrested were in fraternities or sororities, including two women who lived in the Chi Omega house -- a detail the student newspaper The Daily Tar Heel pointed out repeatedly in its reporting.

That led to debate about drug use and the Greek system.

"It's not confined to the Greek community," said Winston Crisp, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs. "I don't think the Greek community gets excused, but more generally, drugs and alcohol are problems that go throughout the student body."

Crisp issued a stern warning to Greek organizations recently, saying the university would no longer tolerate drug and alcohol abuse and the destructive behavior it spawns.

UNC-CH officials have not created new drug policies or regulations, but they say the recent busts have provided an opportunity for introspection.

"We continue to look into what the culture is on our campus," said Bob Winston, chairman of UNC-CH's Board of Trustees. "We don't think we have a pervasive drug issue."

On Sept. 15, Chapel Hill police raided a Church Street apartment and confiscated 75.6 grams of cocaine broken into one-gram packets, a clear indication of intent to sell, police said.

In the raid, [redacted] were charged with trafficking, cocaine possession and intent to distribute the drug. Police subsequently found an additional 121 grams of cocaine when they searched [redacted]. The street value of all the cocaine is about $7,500, police said.

[redacted].

"It's not normal for us to catch students with trafficking amounts," said Sgt. Jabe Hunter, head of Chapel Hill Police Department's narcotics division. "That's definitely unusual."

While other drugs are more popular, cocaine has been a consistent presence on this and other college campuses for decades, experts say. But it has a stigma that others do not and thus is generally consumed out of public view, students and health experts say.

"It's such an undercover thing," said Jasmin Jones, UNC-CH's student body president. "It's condemned so much and there are such repercussions, people know to hide it."

The university's honor court takes it seriously. Consider: A student's first sanction for marijuana possession is a semester of probation; for cocaine possession, a semester suspension. If you're caught dealing cocaine, you get expelled.

Second Shock

The September arrests were another blow to the Greek system, already shaken by the recent death of fraternity president Courtland Smith.

Smith, president of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, was shot dead by Archdale police last month after a bizarre evening that began at a fraternity party and ended after Smith, while driving on I-85, told a 911 operator he was drinking, had a gun and was trying to kill himself.

The fraternity was subsequently sanctioned by a Greek judicial board for serving alcohol at events, including the party the night before Smith died. The fraternity was put on social probation for a year and prohibited from hosting parties; it is now under review and could lose its official recognition by the university.

Wes Minton, a Raleigh real estate broker, said this fall's events have forced parents to acknowledge that there are substance-abuse problems on college campuses. Minton, a 1978 UNC-CH graduate, has two children at UNC-CH. He's had the drugs-and-alcohol talk with them plenty of times, starting when they were 11 or 12, Minton said.

He hopes it sank in.

"I'm doing the best I can with a very difficult culture out there," Minton said recently.

"It's not just in Chapel Hill, and it's not just a Greek [system] problem. It's campus-wide and all over this country. It's scary."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n928/a10.html
Newshawk: chip
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sun, 11 Oct 2009
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2009 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html
Website: http://www.newsobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Authors: Eric Ferreri and Jesse James Deconto
Note: MAP archives articles exactly as published, except that our
editors may redact the names and addresses of accused persons who
have not been convicted of a crime, if those named are not otherwise
public figures or officials.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

CANNABIS ON THE SYLLABUS

2009-10-10T07:23:00.000-07:00

Entrepreneur Trains Caregivers on Issues of Medical Marijuana

Nick Tennant intends to cash in on what he believes is literally a booming "green" growth industry: medical marijuana.

Tennant is the founder and president of Southfield-based Med Gro Cannabis College, a new trade school offering training courses for adults interested in becoming state-qualified caregivers under the medical marijuana law.

His idea to open such a school was in anticipation of voters last November approving state-regulated therapeutic use of marijuana for people suffering from specific chronic medical conditions. He began organizing the school in December.

Med Gro's first class of 25 students launched in September, and a new class began Thursday night. The six-week curriculum, which is 25 to 30 class hours and meets one night a week, covers legal and business issues, pot history, cultivation, cooking and medical/caregiving training.

Degreed botanists and lawyers teach the classes, Tennant said, and the student body ranges from recent high school graduates to church pastors who minister to people suffering from AIDS and other diseases.

The Michigan Department of Community Health this year has issued nearly 1,800 cards to caregivers that allow them to grow marijuana for more than 4,400 qualified patients who also have state-issued cards.

Tennant wants to capitalize on what's a growth industry elsewhere. In California, where medical marijuana has been legal since 1996, it's estimated to be a $14 billion industry. A dozen states have similar laws.

"We saw the market opportunities and did some research" into what he calls a recession-proof industry.

Thus far, Tennant's risk has paid off. He said the school was in the black in its first month, and its first-year revenue is projected at $500,000.

A full semester at Med Gro Cannabis College costs $475 ( payable in three $183 installments ) and two-day weekend seminars are $250.

Tennent said his venture also will sell related supplies and services to students and those in the medical marijuana field.

Because the school isn't providing a state-recognized certification, it doesn't need a state certification to function, Tennant said.

"We are going through the process of becoming a state-registered post secondary school," he said.

Tennant would like to see the law changed to regulate medical marijuana training to ensure it's professional.

"There is nothing written in the state law that requires caregivers to have a formal education like we are offering," he said. "This is no doubt a young industry, and the law needs amending. We really have to be pioneers and set precedent. Like I said before, a little professionalism goes a long way."

Tennant, a business major at Walsh College, previously ran an auto detailing shop before turning to his current endeavor.

"I always had interest in the medical-marijuana field. It seemed like it always had a place in my life, marijuana in general," he said. "When we knew this law was coming through, we knew we wanted to get into this industry."

The school is marketing itself through a Google Adwords campaign, print advertising in alternative publications such as Metro Times and Real Detroit, and through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

"We're trying to do whatever we can to make a name for ourselves," Tennant said.

He's not alone. Since Michigan's law went in effect, there's been a budding interest in medical marijuana.

Most recently, student chapters of the National Lawyers Guild and the Police Officers for Drug Law Reform jointly hosted a medical marijuana symposium last week at Wayne State University with the goal of educating medical and legal professionals.

In December, nonprofit The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation opened a clinic in Southfield that pairs qualified patients with physicians willing to handle the state's medical marijuana paperwork.

Marijuana is Michigan's third most valuable cash crop behind corn and soybeans at $350 million annually, claimed Greg Francisco, executive director of the Paw Paw-based Michigan Medical Marijuana Association, which also has an office in Detroit and claims 1,000 paid members.

Francisco is also part of Oaksterdam University, an Oakland, Calif.-based organization that does traveling medical marijuana education events and has been operating out of Ann Arbor since May.

"It's a friendly competition ( with Med Gro Cannabis College )" he said. "We need to get this information out. There's a huge need to grow this medicine and to train entrepreneurs to operate an ethical medical marijuana business."

He likened the industry to the 1849 California gold rush and noted that the real money is to be made from businesses that provide supplies and information rather than the pot itself.

"It's not really the caregivers, per se, but the entrepreneurs," Francisco said.

Tennant and others in the medical marijuana business know there is a stigma to overcome.

The "higher education" jokes are obvious: Do course materials include "High Times" and Twinkies? Will Cheech & Chong be teaching?

The school intends to counter that.

"Professionalism goes a long way. Our teachers are not just some stoner off the street. These are degreed botanists and attorneys teaching classes," he said.

Educating the public on what he believes are the benefits and safety of medical marijuana is part of his school's mission, too.

"The fact we don't embrace ( marijuana as a growth industry ) is silly. It's a safer substance than alcohol," he said. "We could be grabbing a significant share in tax revenue and income."

[sidebar]

THE LAW

About the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act ( the unusual spelling stays consistent with that in a 1978 Michigan law ), approved by voters in November:

Permits physician-approved use of marijuana by registered patients with medical conditions including cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and other conditions as may be approved by the Michigan Department of Community Health.

Permits registered individuals to grow limited amounts of marijuana ( up to 60 plants for the limit of five qualifying patients ) in an enclosed, locked facility.

Permits registered and unregistered patients and primary caregivers to assert medical reasons for using marijuana as a defense to any prosecution involving marijuana.

The state charges $100 for a medical marijuana card for qualified patients age 18 and older.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n928/a04.html
Newshawk: Award Winning Service http://www.drugsense.org/awards/
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Mon, 12 Oct 2009
Source: Crain's Detroit Business (Detroit, MI)
Page: 1, Front Page, center of page
Copyright: 2009 Crain Communications Inc.
Contact: cgoodaker@crain.com
Website: http://www.crainsdetroit.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5085
Author: Bill Shea
Referenced: Initiated Law 1 of 2008 http://micares.org/
Referenced: Michigan Medical Marihuana Program
http://drugsense.org/url/nDFeNDPs
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Michigan+medical+marijuana
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

L.A. COUNTY PLANS STRATEGY FOR MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

2009-10-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles County's top prosecutor seemed to tilt the balance against providers of medical marijuana Thursday when he said he would prosecute for-profit dispensaries.

District Attorney Steve Cooley was one of dozens of guests at a conference in Montebello at which the topic was the "eradication of medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County," according to a flier advertising the event hosted by the California Narcotics Officers' Association.

After the meeting, Cooley said he would prosecute any for-profit dispensaries.

"It is our job to ensure that the law is followed as written and approved by California voters," he said in a statement to the press. "Current and future enforcement and prosecution actions are directed at illegal over-the-counter sales for profit operations."

District attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said too many dispensaries were claiming that they were "caregivers," which would allow them to provide marijuana to anyone with a doctor's note. The caregiver is supposed to be a family member who provides for a disabled relative, not someone in a shop, she said.

"They're selling marijuana basically over the counter, and that's illegal," she said of the about 900 dispensaries in Los Angeles County, most of which are in Los Angeles.

Nonprofit cooperatives of medical-marijuana patients would not be prosecuted, she said.

A spokesman for a major medical-marijuana advocacy group wasn't sure what to make of the statement.

Attorney General Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown Jr. has set guidelines prohibiting for-profit dispensaries, said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access.

Very few dispensaries operate in a for-profit manner, but they are often raided anyway, advocates said.

Hermes said police often use military-style raids on dispensaries rather than using civil measures common to investigations of most businesses.

"They would fine them or subpoena their records," he said. "I would argue that law enforcement doesn't really know if a dispensary ( is for-profit ) until they look at the paperwork. These raids are completely unjustified."

California voters in 1996 approved Proposition 215, which legalized possession and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes.

About 75 people protested the meeting, which was held in the Quiet Cannon restaurant.

"The voters of California have made it clear, Los Angeles City Council has made it clear, we don't want them eradicating medical marijuana. We want them implementing it," said Don Duncan, who helped organize the protest.

"I'm a primary caregiver for an AIDS patient," Duncan said. "Doctors have nothing to stem his pain or help him hold down food."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n918/a09.html
Newshawk: Writing Letters to the Editor Works www.mapinc.org/alert/0416.html
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Fri, 9 Oct 2009
Source: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Ontario, CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Newspaper Group
Contact: letters@inlandnewspapers.com
Website: http://www.dailybulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/871
Authors: Ben Baeder and Thomas Himes, Staff Writers
Cited: District Attorney Steve Cooley http://da.co.la.ca.us/
Cited: California Narcotics Officers' Association http://da.co.la.ca.us/
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org
Referenced: The Attorney General's guidelines http://drugsense.org/url/kKMJR2lu
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215

SOME SHOW SUPPORT FOR LEGALIZATION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

2009-10-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

A medical marijuana hearing Wednesday in Iowa City provided a platform for those in favor of legalizing the substance for medicinal purposes.

The overwhelming majority of testifiers supported the medical-marijuana cause, with few offering any opposing views.

Patients with chronic pain, doctors, a former drug prosecutor, and Iowa City residents partially made up the crowd and spoke before the Iowa Board of Pharmacy.

The bulk of those who testified noted the medical benefits marijuana would provide to suffering patients and contended it would be a good replacement for powerful prescription narcotics.

This was the third of four hearings held statewide regarding the reclassification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II substance. The final hearing will take place on Nov. 4 in Council Bluffs.

Robert Manke, a Des Moines resident, stood before the board and described how several traffic accidents and a bout with cancer led him to rely on painkillers.

After a car accident left his back broken, Manke was prescribed powerful painkillers, including Fenotra -- a potent painkiller that has occasionally resulted in deaths of patients who use it.

Manke said many prescribed narcotics have bad side effects, whereas marijuana has none.

"I've never had a drug hangover with marijuana," he said.

Manke also noted he must buy his marijuana from drug dealers who sell cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs instead of going through a legal state program.

Doctors also testified before the board, delivering evidence of marijuana's beneficial medical uses.

Dale Todd, a doctor and board member of the National Epilepsy Foundation and former head of the Iowa Epilepsy Foundation, said marijuana helps slow the sporadic firing of neurons, leading to fewer seizures in those plagued with the disorder.

"We know people use it, and we know it helps," said Todd, who was asked to speak on behalf of people who use marijuana for seizure control.

James Gierach, a former prosecuting attorney for drug crimes, represented Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

"The war on drugs doesn't work," said Gierach, whose organization deals heavily with the fight against drugs. "It puts more drugs, contaminated drugs everywhere. It is the heart of the drug problem."

George McMahon, the fifth legal medical marijuana recipient in the United States, receives monthly prescriptions for medical marijuana because he is terminally ill.

"Well, I'm terminally ill, and I didn't die; marijuana is the only drug I use," he said. "When I stopped the other drugs, I stopped dying."

McMahon said he thinks the hearings are pointless.

"I would like to see the hearings totally quit," he said. "I would like to see the evidence that really does exist -- that [the board] doesn't admit exists -- presented to the Legislature."

Nick Manna, an Iowa City resident, said he is neither for or against legalized marijuana. But he doesn't believe marijuana fits the criteria for a Schedule I drug.

"I would consider [the hearing] a win if the pharmacy provides good scientific reasoning for whatever decision they make," he said.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n916/a01.html
Newshawk: Kirk
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Thu, 8 Oct 2009
Source: Daily Iowan, The (IA Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Daily Iowan
Contact: daily-iowan@uiowa.edu
Website: http://www.dailyiowan.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/937
Author: Kevin Hoffman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

ANOTHER STORY ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

2009-10-07T06:42:00.001-07:00

Re: 'Leave me the hell alone'

I am a fellow Kamloops resident with a licence from Health Canada to possess marijuana, and having experienced my own harassment by Kamloops RCMP concerning my medicine, I must say I am not surprised by their actions against Mr. Anderson. Although my situation was not on the magnitude of what was perpetrated against Carl Anderson, It still left me feeling like a dirty criminal, instead of the upstanding citizen I try to be.

My marijuana is shipped to me by a grower who is licensed by Health Canada to grow it. A little over a month ago, my package was turned into the police by somebody believing it was an illegal shipment. I was made to wait four days, with several trips and many hours spent down at the police station before they returned my medicine.

What really upsets me about the whole thing is the absolutely ridiculous amount of time and money the RCMP spend on ridiculous activities like these.

There was no reason for the Kamloops RCMP to raid Mr. Anderson's house. They should be ashamed of themselves and owe Mr. Anderson an apology.

GREG McCOY

Kamloops

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n000/a138.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Thu, 02 Jul 2009
Source: Kamloops Daily News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Kamloops Daily News
Contact: kamloopsnews@telus.net
Website: http://www.kamloopsnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/679
Author: Greg McCoy
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n640/a04.html

LOCKING UP DRUG OFFENDERS A WASTE

2009-10-07T06:41:00.000-07:00

Regarding your June 26th editorial, Florida is not the only state grappling with overcrowded prisons. Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders.

A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. There is far more at stake than tax dollars.

The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too.

Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior.

Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is.

Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Arlington, VA

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n000/a135.html
Newshawk: http://www.drugwarfacts.org
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Thu, 2 Jul 2009
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2009 The Gainesville Sun
Contact: cunninr@gvillesun.com
Website: http://www.gainesville.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n662/a08.html
Author: Robert Sharpe

10 YEARS OF DEALING POT

2009-10-07T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Marijuana Party of Canada's founder was on hand to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of medical marijuana distribution in Montreal.

The past 10 years have been a bit of an uphill battle, Marc-Boris Saint-Maurice said.

Medical marijuana is available to members of Montreal's Compassion Centre where the celebration, hosted by two original founders of the movement, took place last week.

While the centre aims to provide safe and reliable marijuana ( and cookies and muffins ) for medicinal purposes, its mission has been challenged by Health Canada and family doctors.

"Doctors are afraid to sign the permit, due to increased discrimination against them, so we take responsibility for those patients," said Saint-Maurice.

Patients with HIV/AIDS, cancer, hepatitis C or epilepsy, for example, need official documents attesting to their illness in order to become members. The centre will examine patients who can't obtain a signed Health Canada permit from their doctors.

The centre makes a point of telling its clients that although their membership allows them to administer their medication wherever they please, it does not give them immunity from authorities.

A Health Canada spokesperson said the centre does not have the right to operate. "It has no legal authority to provide access or to produce and distribute marijuana," said Health Canada spokesperson Gary Scott Holub.

According to Health Canada, once a patient has a permit, they can either get their medication from the government agency, or apply for a licence allowing them or a friend to grow a crop.

Of the estimated million medical marijuana users nation-wide, only 3,000 Canadians ( about 10 per cent of which are Quebecers ) have official permits, according to the centre's statistician.

Saint-Maurice said the process of obtaining a permit, which can take months, is too long and complex. "This is time most suffering people don't have," he said.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n914/a09.html
Newshawk: Herb
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Tue, 06 Oct 2009
Source: Concordian, The (CN QU Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Concordian
Contact: concordianeditors@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.theconcordian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3153
Author: Ioana Vanessa Bezman

Medical Marijuana Moves Mainstream

2009-07-01T15:16:00.000-07:00

David Goldman has a chronic headache, but help is on the way. A driver arrives at his apartment and rings the doorbell, checks Goldman's ID card, then hands over a small bag of marijuana.

"It's really nice to have the convenience of delivery," said Goldman, a retired teacher who orders medicinal marijuana about once a week from the Green Cross, a medical marijuana delivery service. "I trust their product, and their prices are competitive."

As Californians consider legalizing marijuana, the Green Cross in San Francisco is a signal of just how mainstream pot has become. In some ways, the medical marijuana dispensary is just like any other retail business: It takes credit cards; it's reviewed on Yelp; and it promises delivery within an hour - there's even a $10 discount if the pot is late.

"Drivers are clean-cut, professional, and bring your goods in a discreet white paper bag," wrote one Yelp user. "Like ordering a pizza, but, of course, much better," wrote another.

Since November 1996, when California voters passed Proposition 215, medical marijuana has been steadily moving toward mainstream acceptance. Thirteen states, including Maine, Michigan, Montana and New Mexico, have passed laws allowing seriously ill patients access to medical marijuana. The cause has celebrity advocates: singer Melissa Etheridge, who used marijuana to alleviate the effects of chemotherapy, is among those now pushing for its legalization, and television host Montel Williams openly talks about using marijuana to relieve the pain of his multiple sclerosis.

Meanwhile, California's battered economy and $24 billion budget gap is fueling calls for marijuana use to be more widely legalized, as well as taxed like alcohol and cigarettes, a tactic supported by 56 percent of voters, according to an April Field Poll. And a statewide initiative to legalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for all Californians 21 and older is expected to go before voters in November 2010.

Currently, only medicinal marijuana is legal and there are about 400 medical marijuana dispensaries in California, including 25 in San Francisco, though none in Santa Clara County.

The Green Cross operates out of founder and owner Kevin Reed's apartment in a large Victorian house at 11th and Howard streets. Here, 19 employees bake brownies and other THC-infused "edibles," stock cabinets with more than 40 different strains of marijuana from a changing menu ( an ounce is $310 ), and assemble orders.

Office workers wearing headsets begin taking orders for medical marijuana and edibles at 10 a.m., when the phones start ringing nonstop. Delivery service starts at noon and ends around 7 p.m., but there's usually a big rush at the end of the day.

Drivers use a fleet of tiny Smart Cars to crisscross the city's hilly streets. On a busy day, a driver will make about 25 deliveries.

"People who don't have health insurance are the people using medical marijuana the most," said Reed, an Alabama native who founded the Green Cross five years ago. "Delivery is key because some of our patients literally cannot get out of their beds. It's like hot pizza to me: Once an order is in, you've got to get it out the door in 20 minutes."

Other dispensaries in California also deliver. But the Green Cross is one of the largest, with about 2,500 active "patients," as they refer to all clients. Some struggle with depression or chronic pain; others have AIDS or cancer.

The Green Cross only delivers within San Francisco city limits. Its client base, however, extends far beyond the city, including 176 patients in San Jose. Drivers typically arrange to meet those patients or their caregivers in the parking lot of the Stonestown mall near Interstate 280.

Santa Clara County's Public Health Department has issued 993 medical marijuana identification cards to date, according to spokeswoman Joy Alexiou.

Reed grew up in Mobile, Ala. He began smoking marijuana - he prefers to call it by its Latin name, cannabis - years ago, after seriously hurting his back in a car accident. At the time he didn't have health insurance, and marijuana was easier to get than pain pills. He moved to California 13 years ago, shortly after voters passed Proposition 215, and has been involved in the medical marijuana movement ever since.

He began the Green Cross with a storefront dispensary in tony Noe Valley, but complaints by neighbors about all the foot traffic in and out eventually shut him down. He tried to open a storefront in Fisherman's Wharf, but other businesses fought the idea, saying it would scare away tourists.

Reed finally decided to sell medical marijuana out of his apartment via delivery service. He first liked the idea because it solved the problem of annoyed neighbors; he quickly learned that it was also a huge hit with customers.

Reed is a stickler for rules: Patients must show him the original recommendation for medical marijuana from their health care professional, and Reed will then verify that the doctor's license is current.

One of Reed's peeves is that most people don't understand the many difference between indica and sativa, the two main strains of marijuana. Indica is commonly used for pain or to induce appetite; Sativa reduces depression and is more stimulating and creatively enhancing. Detailed "Know Your Medication" pamphlets describing various products ( type of high, scent/taste ) go out to all patients, and all employees must pass an extensive written test.

"I go overboard because I want people to know that this can be done right," said Reed, who smokes about 10 joints a day. "Cannabis is a drug. It has side effects. It's not something that should be readily available to anyone and everyone."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n666/a04.html
Newshawk: mmfamily
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Tue, 30 Jun 2009
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2009 San Jose Mercury News
Contact: letters@mercurynews.com
Website: http://www.mercurynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Dana Hull, Mercury News
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Proposition+215
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California)

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HELPING ADDICTS GET CLEAN IN METHADONE CLINICS IS TOUGH AT THE BEST OF TIMES BUT HARDER STILL WITH NIMBY BACKLASH

2009-06-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Cue the outrage, the community meetings and the angry calls to city hall.

Act Two, as always, will be the accusations.

Residents of Braeside and Cedarbrae are only upset because they are selfish, clinging to a Not-In-My-Backyard mentality, rather than embracing those who most need society's support.

Of course, those reading the script of sanctimony will live nowhere near the Braecentre strip mall, nor will they have children going to school nearby.

If they did, the idea of 500 addicts attending a methadone clinic metres away from homes and playgrounds would outrage them too -- and they, in turn, would be condemned as NIMBYs.

So goes the cyclical drama of trying to locate an undesirable business in a city where it's every alderman for himself, and where shelters and rehab centres struggle for a place to stay open.

In this case, it's the Second Chance Recovery Centre, a methodone clinic forced to close its current location in a northeast industrial park due to zoning rules.

Medical clinics aren't allowed in the Greenview industrial area, and the clinic, one of two in Calgary, can't afford the $130,000 rezoning fee demanded by the city.

The city wasn't willing to waive the fee to keep the clinic in a non-residential area.

And so, Second Chance needs a new home, but attempts to move have so far been blocked by nervous landlords and neighbours.

A location in Forest Lawn looked promising, but fell through after residents, businesses and the area alderman complained.

Now, a vacant medical clinic in a strip mall located at Braeside Dr. and 24 St. S.W. looks ideal -- unless, of course, you live nearby.

Dr. Ian Postnikoff, who runs the clinic, said he's wary of even talking about the possibility of moving to the mall, which is on the edge of Braeside and Cedarbrae, in a mainly residential area.

"We're negotiating to sub-let the lease," admits Postnikoff.

He says patients will likely have to take a C-Train and bus to reach the relatively far-flung location, but at this point, he'll be happy to call anywhere home.

"Being in an ideal location doesn't matter, when being in any location is what we need."

The strip mall, in some ways, is ideal -- a community police station is located steps away from the proposed clinic, and the area is served by a busy bus route.

On the other hand, condominiums and homes surround the site, along with soccer fields and family-run businesses.

Officials with the Braeside Community Association, having only just learned of the clinic's intention, are looking to organize an emergency meeting of the association board.

Association president Kim Edwards said she personally isn't opposed to the clinic, but she can't speak for residents who live near the former walk-in medical clinic.

"I have to speak first to the board and get their feedback -- speaking for an entire community is very difficult," said Edwards.

"I think the clinic offers a good service and if it's successful in rehab, then great, but then I'm living far enough from that mall that it may not affect me or my home.

"We need to speak to residents in that area."

Braeside, if it embraces the clinic, would be unique among Calgary communities.

Be it a homeless shelter, halfway house, or drug-rehabilitation centre, the script calls for outrage from the community and opposition from the alderman.

Brian Pincott, who represents Ward 11 on city council, couldn't be reached.

But Ald. Bob Hawkesworth, who helped remove Second Chance from its old location over zoning violations, expressed sympathy for Braeside.

Normally the social conscience of city council, Hawkesworth said methadone clinics and the addicts who use them are difficult for any community to accept, because they are too busy.

Hawkesworth said methadone is an essential service, but forcing every addict into just two Calgary clinics creates too high a concentration of clients.

"Maybe Alberta Health Services could make this available in every health care facility in the city, in which case you don't just have it in one residential area," said Hawkesworth.

"If it's dispersed all over the city, you don't have it concentrated in one location."

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n665/a07.html
Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap
Pubdate: Mon, 29 Jun 2009
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 The Calgary Sun
Contact: callet@calgarysun.com
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Michael Platt, Columnist
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

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Ruling Stands Against Hip Hop Hippies Owner

2009-06-29T20:30:00.001-07:00

A federal appeals court has upheld a drug paraphernalia conviction against a man who said smoking accessories he sold from his Gillette store weren't intended for smoking marijuana.

A federal jury found Jeffrey Wayne Doles guilty last year of three felony counts of selling drug paraphernalia. A judge sentenced Doles to three years in prison.

Police raided Doles' store, Hip Hop Hippies, soon after it opened in 2005 but a state jury acquitted Doles of drug paraphernalia charges.

In appealing his federal conviction, Doles argued that the federal jury should have been told about his earlier acquittal in state court. The 10th U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver disagreed, saying that wasn't necessary and would have been confusing.

In December, Doles became a fugitive after he didn't show up to serve his federal sentence. He was captured in April after calling The Associated Press to proclaim his innocence.

In May, Doles was indicted on a felony count of knowingly failing to surrender for the service of his sentence. If convicted, he could serve an additional two years in federal prison.

Doles attorney, Megan Hayes, could not immediately be reached for comment.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n662/a10.html
Newshawk: http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Sat, 27 Jun 2009
Source: News-Record, The (WY)
Copyright: 2009 The News-Record
Contact: news@gillettenewsrecord.com
Website: http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2504
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?228 (Paraphernalia)

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Attorney General Wants Review Of Cocaine Sentences

2009-06-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - Attorney General Eric Holder sought support Wednesday for erasing the gap in prison sentences for crack and powder cocaine crimes, a disparity that hits black defendants the hardest.

The effort to change federal sentencing laws for cocaine has broad support but may still unravel amid disagreements about how equal the sentences should be, and whether the whole sentencing system needs to be changed.

"One thing is very clear: We must review our federal cocaine sentencing policy," Holder said at a legal discussion sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus.

Under current law, it takes 100 times more powdered cocaine than crack cocaine to trigger the same harsh, mandatory minimum sentences.

"This administration firmly believes that the disparity in crack and powdered cocaine sentences is unwarranted," Holder said. "It must be eliminated."

The law was passed in the 1980s during the spread of crack in American cities, which officials blamed for a rise in violence. Yet in the years since, worries about crack have declined.

The most recent government figures show that 82 percent of crack offenders are African-American, while just 9 percent of them are white.

In remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus event, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who helped craft the sentencing guidelines that now are the subject of so much criticism and debate, urged Congress to focus first on the laws creating mandatory minimums for certain crimes.

"My goodness, those mandatory minimums drive ( sentencing ) guidelines in 100 different ways," Breyer said.

The justice acknowledged that curtailing mandatory minimums is not politically popular, or easy. "It's very, very hard to explain to people," he said.

The Obama administration wants to change the law to end the 100-to-1 ratio in sentencing, and make it strictly 1-to-1. Some lawmakers also want to change the law but aren't sure it should be reduced that drastically. There also is debate over whether to close the gap by raising the penalty for powder cocaine, in addition to lowering the penalty for crack.

Holder, the nation's top law enforcement officer and a former judge in Washington, D.C., said that juries have acquitted black defendants because they knew the suspects faced what jurors viewed as an unfairly long prison sentence.

The 100-to-1 ratio "is racial discrimination in practice," said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., who is pushing legislation that would end the gap by eliminating crack as a category in the criminal code.

"I think there is a complete consensus that the present pattern for sentencing crack and powder is absurd," Scott said. "There is not complete consensus about what to do about it."

Mark Osler, a law professor at Baylor University and a former prosecutor, said there is general agreement on changing the law on crack cocaine but that any such change is likely to lead to other, more difficult questions.

"Going to 1-to-1 is a big change. The question that really hasn't been resolved is 1-to-1 at what level. Is the penalty for cocaine powder going up?" Osler asked. "Also, there's a general consensus that we'll see something happen with crack. I'll be very interested to see if they argue for a move toward broader reform in sentencing."

The Bush administration fought vigorously to preserve the current drug law that President Barack Obama, Democrats and some Republicans say is unfair and outdated. Individual prosecutors and judges have also criticized the law.

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n653/a03.html
Newshawk: chip
Votes: 0
Pubdate: Wed, 24 Jun 2009
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2009 The Associated Press
Contact: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/contact/#editor
Website: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78
Author: Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?199 (Mandatory Minimum Sentencing)
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/find?258 (Holder, Eric)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

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US OK: DOC Boss Wants To Close One Female Prison

2009-02-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

DOC BOSS WANTS TO CLOSE ONE FEMALE PRISON Laura Pitman Would Like To See One Of Oklahoma's Female Prisons Closed. As the boss of the state Department of Corrections's female prisons, Pitman knows it will take time to reduce the female prison population enough to accomplish that, but around 700 fewer women in prison would mean that the Eddie Warrior prison in Taft could shut its doors. Then she would like to do it again with another prison. Trimming about 1,400 women from the state prison rolls would mean Oklahoma would no longer rank No. 1 in the country in female incarceration. The state's rate would be just average. Becoming average is on the top of Pitman's things-to-do list as she begins work as the department's deputy director of female operations. The position was created late last year with a goal of reducing the number of imprisoned female offenders. Here are the numbers: As of late January, 2,665 females were behind bars in Oklahoma. That works out to 131 women behind bars for every 100,000 females in the state. Oklahoma's female incarceration rate is second to Mississippi's and nearly twice the national average of 69 women per 100,000 females. Pitman said change both within and outside the prison system is needed to lower the female incarceration rate. Within the system, Pitman said, she plans to review the way women move through the system. Her goal is to find ways to reduce their amount of time spent behind bars. "We'll be looking at how we classify women in terms of their risks and needs, and do we need as many women as we have at higher security levels than lower," Pitman said. Increasing time earned off their sentences for good behavior and reducing the number of days left on a sentence before moving an inmate to a lower security level are other areas under consideration, Pitman said. She also plans to look at programs that will be geared towards reducing recidivism. Why should people care how many females are behind bars? "For the state of Oklahoma, the question to be answered is can we maintain public safety and reduce the amount we spend on corrections," Pitman said. "I believe so because I think we over-incarcerate low-risk offenders. "When you are talking about a $503 million budget for the Department of Corrections, that means you are not spending it in other areas." In the longer term, Pitman will push to expand the use of drug and mental health courts as alternatives to imprisoning females. "Roughly 40 percent of our female offenders are incarcerated for drug-related crimes," said Pitman, who had been the department's deputy chief mental health officer . Pitman points to Tulsa County's 2007 launching of Mental Health Court as an example of programs that should be expanded throughout the state. "It disturbs me that people come into contact with law enforcement before treatment," she said. "When you don't have treatment available in the community, unfortunately persons with mental illness come into contact with law enforcement before they come into contact with treatment." The Oklahoma Academy, a nonprofit organization that identifies critical public policy issues facing the state, recommends that the state strive to lose its No. 1 ranking in female incarceration within the next five years. The Oklahoma Academy also recommends that the state female incarceration rate be reduced to less than the national average within 10 years. Pitman said she believes Oklahoma can bring its female incarceration rate down to the national average and maintain public safety. "It's obviously not an overnight thing," she said, regarding the time it will take. "It took longer than overnight to get here." As for closing Eddie Warrior, the prison likely would not actually be abandoned. Instead, it would more likely become a male prison and potentially reduce the need for private prison beds for men, Pitman said.

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US CA: Column: Olympian's Pot Case Distracts From True Goal of Drug Laws

2009-02-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

OLYMPIAN'S POT CASE DISTRACTS FROM TRUE GOAL OF DRUG LAWS It's hell being a celebrity, especially if you're young and find yourself at a party, where marijuana and cameras should never mix. And it's not exactly heaven being the sheriff of a county with escalating drug crimes and pressure to treat all offenders equally. Thus it is that Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps and Sheriff Leon Lott of South Carolina's Richland County are being forced to treat seriously a crime that shouldn't be one. As everyone knows by now, Phelps was photographed smoking from an Olympic-size bong during a University of South Carolina party last November. As all fallen heroes must – by writ of the Pitchforks & Contrition Act – Phelps has apologized for behavior that was "regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment." Check. Lott, meanwhile, is threatening action against Phelps because … he has to. Widely respected and admired as a "good guy" who came up through the ranks, Lott is in a jam. Not one to sweat the small stuff, he nevertheless has said that he'll charge Phelps with a crime if he determines that the 14-time gold-medal winner did, in fact, smoke pot in his county. Phelps has said that the photo is legit. The only missing link, apparently, is the exact location of the party. What's tough is that Lott probably doesn't want to press charges, because it's a waste of time and resources. He's got much bigger fish to fry, but several recent drug-related crimes – including at least two high-profile murders – have captured community attention. And the law is the law. Therein lies the problem. Our marijuana laws have been ludicrous for as long as we've been alive. Almost half of us ( 42 percent ) have tried marijuana at least once, according to a report published last year in PLoS Medicine, a journal of the Public Library of Science. The United States, in fact, boasts the highest percentage of pot smokers among 17 nations surveyed, including the Netherlands, where cannabis clouds waft from coffeehouse windows. Among them are no small number of high-ranking South Carolina leaders ( we knew us when ), who surely cringe every time a young person gets fingered for a "crime" they themselves have committed. Other better-known former tokers include our current president and a couple of previous ones, as well as a Supreme Court justice, to name just a few. A complete list would require the slaughter of several mature forests. This we know: Were Phelps to run for public office someday and admit to having smoked pot in his youth, he would be forgiven. Yet, in the present, we impose monstrous expectations on our heroes. Several hand-wringing commentaries have surfaced the past few days, lamenting the tragic loss for disappointed moms, dads and, yes, The Children. Understandably, parents worry that their kids will emulate their idol, but the problem isn't Phelps, who is, in fact, an adult. The problem is our laws – and our lies. Obviously, children shouldn't smoke anything, legal or otherwise. Nor should they drink alcoholic beverages, even though their parents might. There are good reasons for substance restrictions for children that need not apply to adults. That's the real drug message that should inform our children and our laws, rather than the nonsense that currently passes for drug information. Today's anti-drug campaigns are slightly wonkier than yesterday's "Reefer Madness," but equally likely to become party hits rather than drug deterrents. One recent ad produced by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says: "Hey, not trying to be your mom, but there aren't many jobs out there for potheads." Whoa, dude, except maybe, like, president of the United States. Once a kid realizes that pot doesn't make him insane – or likely to become a burrito taster, as the ad further asserts – he might suspect that other drug information is equally false. That's how marijuana becomes a gateway drug. Phelps may be an involuntary hero to this charge, but his name and face bring necessary attention to a farce in which nearly half the people in the nation are actors. It's time to recognize that all drugs are not equal – and change the laws accordingly.

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n129/a03.html?1140

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Warrantless Search Raises Questions

2008-02-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

City Bylaw Allows RCMP, Fire to Inspect Home If Hydro Use Deemed High

If the Jensen family is guilty of anything, it's that they are ordinary, say Fay and Lee Jensen.

They run a business in Vancouver, pay their taxes and volunteer their time.

They admit they use a lot of electricity but didn't think that might be a crime, until last week, when the RCMP showed up at their home on Goldstream Drive.

"It was such a bizarre experience," Fay Jensen said of an inspection involving the RCMP, Richmond Fire-Rescue and City of Richmond.

The inspections are part of a crackdown on marijuana grow operations and are permitted under a bylaw that the B.C. Civil Liberties Association suspects may be unconstitutional.

Jensen was at home having a shower on Jan. 28 when she heard her dogs whining. When she looked out the window, she saw two uniformed officials, including a fire inspector, looking around her house outside. She poked her head out a window and asked the fire inspector if there was a problem.

"He said, 'Yeah, you're consuming too much hydro.' It totally took me off guard," Jensen recalls.

The inspector started asking questions, like how many people live in her home. After they left, Jensen went to the front door and saw the officials had placed a large, yellow official notice there stating she had 48 hours to schedule an electrical safety inspection or the family's power would be cut off.

"I flipped when I saw that on my door," Jensen said.

The Jensens called and arranged for the inspection, which took place two days later. Having police cars parked outside their home was "a total embarrassment," Fay Jensen said. "People see a cop at your house and they say, 'What's happening?'"

Two RCMP officers accompanying a fire inspector and electrical safety inspector told the Jensens they would open every door and look in every closet throughout the home, before the inspection was done.

"I thought, 'What is going on?'" Fay Jensen said. "Is this Moscow or what? They don't have to have a search warrant to go through your house. This is a police state."

"They were pretty aggressive when they came," said Lee Jensen, who admits he was aggressive back. "I was pretty ugly to them. This is brown-shirt Germany shit. We're supposed to be living in a free country here."

When an RCMP officer approached a bedroom where the Jensens' two teenaged sons were still sleeping, Fay Jensen got worried.

"He's got his hand on his gun," she said. "This is bloody scary."

Darrell Evans, executive director of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association, agrees warrantless searches by police are scary.

"What if one of the kids ran from the room and was carrying a toy shotgun?" he wonders. "This is like the tactics of a police state. I find it completely unacceptable. This is an invasion of privacy."

Marijuana grow ops are often booby-trapped and the growers are sometimes armed, which is why police are needed to do a sweep first.

"The officer, having their hand on their gun, I guess it's upsetting for people to see, but those are the tools we have on our belt," said Cpl. Nycki Basra of the Richmond RCMP.

"We've received no complaint about this," Basra added. "If she's got a complaint, she should call us."

The inspection team found neither marijuana nor any problems with the home's electrical system. What they did find was an outdoor pool, an air conditioning system, two teenagers and a family that has been the target of thieves often enough that they now leave their lights on all the time.

The Jensens knew $200 per month was high for an electrical bill, but didn't think it would result in a search of their home by police.

Such searches only became possible in 2004, when the provincial government introduced the Safety Standards Act. Prior to that, privacy legislation prevented utility companies like B.C. Hydro from releasing information about customers' consumption habits to municipalities or police.

The City of Richmond is one of several municipalities with an electrical safety inspection bylaw, which is aimed at shutting down marijuana grow operations.

Grow-ops consume large amounts of electricity and the growers often rewire the electrical systems, which can pose a fire hazard.

Of the 106 inspections conducted in Richmond since August 2007, the city found 60 grow-ops, Brodie said.

Brodie pointed out that the inspections are voluntary. However, citizens who refuse to allow inspections may find their power cut off.

That was the case in Surrey. In June 2007, a judge ordered the power reconnected to a Surrey home after it was disconnected.

The power was cut off when Jason Arkinstall refused to allow police into his house for an electrical safety inspection.

Like the Jensens, Arkinstall has an outdoor pool, which may account for the highelectrical bill that triggered an inspection.

But he also has a record for drug trafficking, and his lawyer suggested that the electrical safety inspection "is not only being done at the behest of the police but solely for their purposes."

When inspectors showed up, Arkinstall agreed to let inspectors into his home, but not police. His power was cut off.

In June 2007, a judge ordered the power reconnected, and the search is now the subject of a constitutional challenge. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has applied for intervener status in the case. "We have deep concerns that this is being used as a means for warrantless searches," said Micheal Vonn, policy director for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

Her organization fears police may be using "alleged safety concerns" to conduct searches without getting a search warrant, which Vonn said is "obviously problematic from a constitutional perspective." While he supports Richmond's electrical inspection program, Brodie said he will ask for a review of the recent Jensen home inspection.

"I'm going to speak to staff and ask for more information as to this particular inspection and inspections in general, how they're being handled," Brodie said.

"From what I've seen to this point, we're trying to protect the safety of the people, we're trying to protect the safety of property. We're trying to reduce the number of grow-ops in our community. "I think this has been a way to protect our citizens and their property. That doesn't mean it doesn't need to be fine-tuned."

Lee Jensen said he isn't sure he wants to go to court over the recent search of his house. But he wants ordinary citizens who think they are protected from illegal searches that that may not always be the case.

He said citizens who do not speak up against authoritarianism should not be surprised to wake up one day and find they have no freedoms left.

"Do you want to wake up one morning and find out it's all gone?" he said. "I don't want to lose every freedom."

If there is one consolation for the Jensens, it is a letter they received from the city last week informing them that they would not have to pay the $3,500 fee often levied to cover the cost of an inspection.

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Taxing Marijuana Not A Bad Idea

2008-02-05T11:06:00.000-08:00

To the Editor:

Taxing marijuana wouldn't be a bad idea, providing sales were regulated and could be taxed. New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer can't rely on organized crime to submit tax returns for his budget shortfall plan. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records.

What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, marijuana consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy.

Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol -- the plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death -- it makes no sense to waste tax dollars on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs. Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.

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The Pot Prescription

2006-08-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

For more than a decade, Mark Tucci has been perfecting the art of suffering. And before his journey is over, he is bound to become a master. But despite his body being wracked with uncontrollable spasms, a feeling like his legs are being electrocuted and arms that don't react to his thoughts no matter how hard he concentrates, Tucci, of Manchester, does not cry for his own suffering. Tucci, 49, does, however, weep when he thinks about the suffering of others, like when he thinks about dear friends who struggled through their last hours on a hospital bed, contorted, and their "medication" - only a breath away - blocked from ever reaching them by the government.

It is for his fellow suffering human beings that Tucci has written "The Patient's Simple Guide to Growing Marijuana," a simple 31-page booklet for people like him, who are in the throes of a debilitating illness such as multiple sclerosis ( which Tucci has ), advanced HIV/AIDS and cancer. Tucci, at regular intervals throughout an interview with the Banner in late July, puffed on a hand-blown glass pipe and a marijuana cigarette. The smoked substance was marijuana: a drug that the state of Vermont not only allows him to smoke, but also permits it to be grown for him at a secure, undisclosed location. When smoked, marijuana eases Tucci's pain, he said, and also restores his hunger after his appetite is killed from a number of medications he takes. Tucci is not alone.

There are 29 people licensed to possess and grow small amounts or marijuana in Vermont, and there are also five licensed caregivers, who go through a criminal background check and grow solely for sick friends, clients or family. To get a license in Vermont, sick individuals must apply online, fill out a registry form, have a physician's confirmation and send in two self-portraits, Tucci said. If denied, the applicant can go before a three person panel for review and reconsideration. With the passage of bill S.76 in 2004, Vermonters with AIDS, or the health equivalent of AIDS, cancer and MS are permitted to grow one mature marijuana plant, two immature plants and to possess two ounces of the cured product. Possessing more than this amount can put the individual at risk of being arrested.

Tucci has been taking all kinds of prescribed drugs since he first became ill with MS in 1994. After years of taking medications, he has found that marijuana eases his symptoms more than most. MS is a disease that attacks the sheath on nerve endings, and when those sheaths are destroyed, it sends mixed signals to the brain, causing blindness, paralysis, muscle weakness, tremors and spasms.

"Basically, it's your nervous system attacking itself," said Tucci. Tucci said the result is pain, and lots of it. "I've got pain. Like five different kinds of pain," Tucci said. "When you have the flu, and the body ache pains and stuff like that, I get that all the time. My legs feel like someone beat on them, I'm on an electric fence, and my feet are burning at the same time. And I have spasms, a lot of spasticity in different parts of the day, but mostly in the morning. Obviously, I don't walk and run like I used to."

As a result of the MS and restricted movement, Tucci's muscles have atrophied, and he walks with the deftness of a drunkard.

His spasticity, as he calls it, is so bad that his torso and legs can contract in the middle of the night to the point when they'll almost touch. His mind, though, is fine. That wasn't always the case. "I'm much more aware than when I was on narcotics and things like that," he said. Narcotic pills, of which Tucci was given a laundry list by doctors to take daily, suppressed his immune system.

It was a counterproductive treatment, Tucci said, that did more harm than good. Marijuana, on the other hand, helped Tucci more than most of the pharmaceutical drugs combined, he said. Further, he didn't build a tolerance to the drug, unlike other narcotic medications.

It's the phenomenon of "reverse tolerance," Tucci said. "You take any drug - alcohol, cigarettes, synthetic drugs of any kind, and you start doing it, and you will have to at some point do more to maintain the same high, to get the same happiness out of it. You talk to any old hippie, any old pothead, any sick person puffing weed for 20 years, they still just have to take a few hits. Isn't that amazing?

No matter how bad things are in my pain spasm world, I don't have to juice up with four joints in the morning. It's been the only drug - this and the Neurotin - that have maintained their usefulness that I haven't built up a tolerance to. What a blessing that is? Holy crap, let me tell you." Tucci was no stranger to marijuana before his MS took hold. He grew up in Danby in the 1960s and '70s, he explained.

Back then, he used pot recreationally. Whereas Tucci smoked only occasionally 30 years ago, now it's daily.

He smokes about four joints a day, sometimes even in the middle of the night to ease the wild contractions of his body. "It keeps it at bay and knocks the spasms out," he said. "It helps you eat, and it helps your attitude and helps you through the periods when you feel like crap." In writing his book, Tucci hoped to take the glamour and the mystery out of growing marijuana. Tucci believes there are many more who could reap its medicinal benefits. Tucci said that other people who are suffering - such as those with Krohn's disease, fibromyalgia and other auto-immune illness - should be allowed by the state to use medical marijuana. He said his book is for these people, and for people who just don't understand what marijuana is about.

"It tells you how to grow in the simplest terms in accordance with Vermont law," Tucci said. His target audience is sick people in the 11 states where medical marijuana has been legalized to an extent, such as Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Kerry Sleeper is the state's commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, the branch of government responsible for the oversight of both Vermont's legal and illegal pot users. He said the law was drafted in such a way to prevent abuse by people seeking the ability to grow and sell marijuana for profit by focusing narrowly on the very ill people who make use of it.

"In the sense of law that was passed, I don't believe that there's any significant abuse of it," Sleeper said in an interview Wednesday. However, Sleeper said the drug grown for people like Tucci is not "medical marijuana," but rather a drug permitted for "compassionate use" by the state. He said there is no concrete evidence that marijuana has medicinal benefits, but that it does seem to provide some kind of solace for people dealing with end-of-life issues and long-term, debilitating illness.

The intent of the law then, according to Sleeper, was to permit the use of marijuana for only this group of people. Sleeper said he would advocate against any kind of expansion of S.76, as it would be counter-productive to the efforts the state and his department are making in a long-standing battle against substance abuse, especially with Vermont's youth.

"We can't be hypocrites and recognize that we have a substance abuse problem and then advocate marijuana use," said Sleeper, a former state trooper and former head of the Vermont Drug Task Force with nearly 30 years of law enforcement under his belt. Further, Sleeper believes the same groups of people who advocate for expansion of medical marijuana laws are often working for the same organizations that promote total marijuana legalization.

S.76 passed in 2004, with the help of people like state Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington/Wilmington, a legislator who has always been a strong proponent of law enforcement. Sears said Wednesday that the next legislative session would be a good time to review how S.76 has worked so far, and to expand and overhaul the scope of the law. Sears, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he believes the law should be expanded to include people who suffer from diseases like Krohn's and fibromyalgia, despite Sleeper's recommendation to do otherwise. Sears would also like to see the law shift the oversight from the Department of Public Safety to the Department of Health.

"It clearly to me is a health issue," Sears said. But Sears said he is far from approving the uncontrolled growing of marijuana throughout the state.

For him, the marijuana grown and used by people dealing with impending death or severe pain and discomfort still needs to be regulated.

"Like any prescription drug, if you abuse it, you ought to be held accountable for that," Sears said. "It's the obligation of the user to use it responsibly."

The rules regarding how much a sick person or caregiver could grow would also change if Sears has his way. He acknowledges, just as Tucci does, that one mature plant and two ounces of cured marijuana does not give people what they need to manage their illnesses successfully. He said the original Senate version of the bill provided more leeway than the current law, and that's a direction he'd like the state to move. However, Sears said he wasn't always a believer in marijuana use. That changed after he heard from the family members of those dying from cancer and from people like Tucci.

"The most dramatic thing for me was the testimony," Sears said, who led the committee that oversaw the birth of the bill in the Senate. "When you hear the testimony, you really get a feel for what these folks are going through.

If people could hear more of Mark's story, and more people like him, they'd be convinced." Before recently retiring, Sears ran 204 Depot Street, a half-way house for delinquent youth aged 14 to 18. He knows all too well the dangers of drugs and alcohol, he said.

"I'm certainly not one to want to legalize drugs," Sears said. "It's just that I think we have a substance ( in marijuana ) that many people find relief from." With some expected resistance to the expansion of the law, Tucci still advocates for the sick and those who cannot advocate for themselves. His book, he said, is for them.

"Someone in every state knows someone who is sick, someone who can be helped by this," Tucci said. "So if you live in a state like Illinois or Connecticut, that's had legislation introduced for three or four years now, even though it's not legal, buy my book and become an activist and write a little letter to your ( legislator ). Call someone and say, 'Hey, this does help this person.' It's meant for that."

Tucci's book is available online at - - www.patientssimpleguide.com- ( http://www.patientssimpleguide.com/ ) and sells for $10.50.

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Pressure Mounts To Keep Injection Site

2006-08-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

PRESSURE MOUNTS TO KEEP INJECTION SITE

Canada's Health Minister Tony Clement was put under the spotlight yesterday when supporters of a safe-injection site for IV drug users demanded to know whether the federal government was going to renew its legal exemption.

But Mr. Clement was not providing hints on what the future holds for Vancouver's landmark safe-injection site, which sparked the concern of doctors, researchers and drug users.

"The evidence is irrefutable," Julio Montaner, director of the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS and president-elect of the International AIDS Society, said at a press conference yesterday.

Researchers cited studies they had done on Insite, a place where drug addicts get clean needles, medical help in the event of an overdose and assistance entering detoxification programs, should they desire it. For instance, a study published in The Lancet found the safe-injection site has reduced overall rates of needle-sharing in the community. ( Those who share needles run the risk of spreading HIV. )

The safe-injection site -- the only one in North America -- was granted a three-year operating exemption by the previous Liberal government under Section 56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. That exemption ends on Sept. 12.

Without it, Insite, which accommodates more than 600 drug addicts each day, would have to shut down.

During the last federal election campaign, while still Opposition Leader, Stephen Harper said he was opposed to providing government support for the use of illegal drugs.

And that has made people such as Mark Townsend, with the Portland Hotel Society, the non-profit affordable housing charity that administers Insite in conjunction with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, concerned.

Mr. Townsend was concerned enough that he attempted to confront Mr. Clement about the federal government's position in the morning at the International AIDS conference, without much success.

But by afternoon and in front of an audience of about 1,000 people, Mr. Townsend made the bold move of jumping on stage, where members of a panel that included Mr. Clement were discussing HIV vaccine research. Mr. Townsend took to the podium, where he stressed the importance of the Vancouver site. The B.C. government lent its weight yesterday to the campaign to keep the safe-injection site operating.

Weighing in on the controversy for the first time, Premier Gordon Campbell said he feels the clinic has done a good job of improving services to people. He noted that numerous studies, including one commissioned by the RCMP, have reported positive benefits from the site.

"We think it's a positive step, and we believe it should continue. We have let the federal government know that," Mr. Campbell told reporters, after announcing a mid-term cabinet shuffle.

Its supporters unexpectedly found another ally in former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who, at another press conference yesterday, spoke in favour of harm-reduction measures like needle-exchange programs and safe-injection sites for intravenous drug users.

While he did not specifically mention the Vancouver site, Mr. Clinton did say the scientific evidence clearly shows that these programs reduce the transmission of HIV-AIDS and do not lead to higher rates of drug use.

Mr. Clinton's position is particularly notable because, as president, he opposed harm-reduction measures.

"I think I was wrong," Mr. Clinton said candidly.

Meanwhile, Mr. Clement announced yesterday an immediate, comprehensive review of the legislation that was supposed to send less expensive, generic versions of HIV-AIDS drugs to Africa. Calling the legislation flawed, he said it must be reviewed sooner rather than later. Canada's Access to Medicines Regime is two years old but not one pill has been exported.

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Thinking In The Wright Direction

2006-08-15T13:39:00.000-07:00

THINKING IN THE WRIGHT DIRECTION

Blair Wright, the man behind the Alberta timothy success story wants to undertake another alternative crop market.

Hemp crops, which are similar in biomass to timothy would allow farmers to diversify their crop choices while maintaining the existing infrastructure in the agriculture processing sector.

"You've got to start sometime," said Wright. "I don't think there is a farmer out there who thinks we shouldn't have more crop choices, especially in this part of the world where the choices are slim."

Wright, who is the former president and co-founder of Transfeeder Inc. in Olds, saw an opportunity years ago to ship high fibre timothy hay into Asian markets. Now with the timothy market declining, he has been thinking hemp for the last five years.

With the help of Trevor Kloeck, senior development officer of bioindustrial development for Alberta Agriculture they presented it to Mountain View County council during their July 19 meeting of policies and priorities committee.

Olds and surrounding areas may need to look to Europe for innovations in the commercial production and use of industrial hemp.

Deemed the world's premier renewable resource by the Government of Canada and since the lifting of a 60-year ban, hemp has seen a re-emergence worldwide as the market becomes a thriving and commercial success.

Kloec, feels that Alberta, especially Peace River Country and areas on the eastern slopes of the Rockies, the black soil areas of the province, are optimum locations for hemp production.

"This is a great growing area for these crops, we can produce these crops in large volumes, it has good transportation volume ... so from a business standpoint in the province the Highway two corrider in general is the best place around for it," said Kloeck.

There are a few challenges that the industry is facing.

"There are no grading standards," said Wright. "The harvesting process is not easy."

With Europe ahead of the curve in the production and use of industrial hemp, Canada will have to play catch-up in order to advance our technology, especially in the harvesting and processing machinery.

"We don't have to start all over again. We can take what Europe has and utilize it here," Wright said.

From 1982 to 2002, Europe provided the equivalent of $50 million to develop new flax and hemp harvesting and fibre processing technologies. The similarities between flax and hemp have furthered the technological advancement for both products because the technology developed for one is usually adaptable to the other.

Although Europe is advanced on the technological side, it has failed to generate the biomass needed to get the industry going because of the small parcels of land typically found in European farms. Kloeck feels without the restrictions of land mass, that Canada would be able to set a global standard in the industry.

"We can catch up or pass our competitors very quickly if we get our act together," Kloeck said. "This is an industry on the verge of getting big."

So far, the province of Manitoba has been the leading force in Canada as far as industrial hemp growing.

With organizations like the Saskatchewan Hemp Association and Manitoba Industrial Hemp Association it's hard to imagine why Alberta is lagging behind.

Economics may be the biggest factor, since little hemp has been harvested in Alberta, cost information for hemp production is difficult to obtain.

New entrants to the industry must be prepared to carefully assess the profitability and cash flow implications of their proposed operation.

Kloeck is hoping to see Alberta's involvement change in the near future.

Wright also feels that Canada has a window of opportunity with the United States typically choosing to be anti-drug.

The stigma attached to the crop, although it has 0.03 per cent THC levels, while marijuana has somewhere between five and 25 per cent, is what is holding the American market back.

"This stuff has no drug in it, no THC," said Wright.

All the challenges aside, Wright is still thinking of the positives.

"When you think about hemp, and its biomass per acre, it is one of the highest yielding crops in this part of the world," Wright said.

Wright, who appears young at heart, also feels that he may not have the energy it will take to see this project to fruitation.

"Do I want to start this?" Wright said. "Maybe a younger man should take it on. This will take a lot of energy and a sizeable investment."

If it is anything like the timothy process, he could be labouring through the process for another 20 years.

"I have been a little bit of an innovator," Wright said modestly. "I can get people motivated, but you have to make sure the trend and the timing is right."

With rumours of the province administering a $100 million rural development fund, to be administered through county or municipal districts, Wright and Kloeck hope to ensure industrial hemp production will see some government dollars.

"You want to leave an indelible footprint in rural Alberta," Wright said. "And I think in 20 years we will see the bio-economy take a step forward."

Murders, Assaults And Overdoses, The City's Heart Is Bleeding

2006-08-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

MURDERS, ASSAULTS AND OVERDOSES, THE CITY'S HEART IS BLEEDING

If all goes according to plan, Toronto mayoral candidate Jane Pitfield will take a walk on the wild side tomorrow with a tour of the epicentre of a ghetto in this city that is saturated with illegal rooming houses, homeless shelters, derelict buildings, crack dens, drug dealers, alcohol detox centres, substance-abuse clinics, low-end hooker strolls and condom-littered alleyways spiked with discarded syringes.

And all within a few blocks of the Eaton Centre.

It should be an eye-opener for the Ward 26 councillor who hails from the leafy quietude of Leaside -- even if she is co-chairman of both the Homeless and Socially Isolated Committee and the Aboriginal Affairs Committee.

This ghetto, of course, has its bull's eye at the corner of Jarvis and Shuter, and ripples out from there -- east to River, west to Church, south to King, and north to Carlton.

It is where this city bottoms out, and where crime is chronic.

According to a 2005 United Way report, this small patch of the city's core has more social services agencies dealing with the poor, the disenfranchised and the addled than any other section of Toronto, making oft-maligned Parkdale a veritable paradise by comparison.

Super-Sized Shelter

It has the lowest median income in the city, at $15,000, an unemployment rate of 11.5%, and a population in which 44% of the people lack a secondary school education.

And city hall seems not to care about the continuing erosion and decay -- at least not Mayor David Miller and certainly not local councillor Kyle Rae.

But there is an election in November.

There are those who write about this part of town who know little or nothing about it. But I do. It is where I live while searching for the fodder for this space, in a basement apartment right by the aforementioned bull's eye.

And there is little here that I have not witnessed, including the aftermath of murders, assaults and overdoses.

Drug dealing is done openly.

A few metres down a lane from where I live, the Salvation Army is tearing down its Harbour Light Mission at the corner of Jarvis and Shuter and, with funds from the province and the feds and the approval of city hall, it will begin building a facility virtually double in size -- with 100 units of transitional housing for the homeless, and a 100-bed residential care hostel for drug addicts.

From the outside looking in, this is good.

But, according to research by those who oppose it, led primarily by the optimistically named Garden District Residents Association, this project will only oversaturate an area already saturated with everything but an officially declared red-light district and legalized shooting galleries.

And the group has a legitimate argument.

Within four blocks of the Sally Ann's planned redevelopment, for example, some 20-plus agencies are involved in administering 2,500 emergency shelter beds, 12 group homes for criminal offenders, 20 group homes for the mentally ill, six harm-reduction resource centres handing out free needles and crack pipes, 1,000 long-term care beds, thousands of social housing units and 18 cooperatives designed for affordable housing.

All close to the bull's eye.

If this is not ghetto creation, then what is it?

And then there is what has been referred to as "demolition by decay," a phenomenon which city hall bureaucrats cannot combat because there is no bylaw in existence to force developers to maintain minimum standards of maintenance for buildings that have gone derelict.

A prime example is Walnut Hall, described by the Toronto Star's architecture columnist, Christopher Hume, as the only block of Georgian townhouses left standing in the city.

That row of old homes, on the north bank of Shuter, just east of Jarvis, has been boarded up and unheated for the last 20 years. When bricks began falling off the building, the owner, Joe Jonatan, was ordered by the city to put up protective fencing, but that was it -- with Jonatan's excuse being that it has taken "longer than expected" to come up with a feasible business plan to make Walnut Hall work.

Where's The Planning

The block, however, is now for sale, with $2.2 million reportedly being the asking price for this ruin.

But, as Hume wrote back in July: "In some cities, a developer like Joe Jonatan would be heavily fined for his actions and even have his property expropriated. In Toronto, ( however ), we have no choice but sit by and watch as he lets a unique and valuable heritage site fall apart."

Eva Curlanis-Bart is the president of the Garden District Residents Association, and the woman who will be escorting Pitfield on tomorrow's scheduled walkabout -- one that has been confirmed by Pitfield's special assistant, Paul Virdo, as definitely being on her agenda.

A year ago, to prove one of her many points about the decay and ghettoization of her neighourhood, Curlanis-Bart pulled statistics compiled by 51 Division which showed police being involved in more than 1,200 "interventions" in her district -- and that's just in the roominghouses alone.

"What has happened to urban planning, to balancing the socio-economic mix of neighbourhoods?" she asked.

"Victimhood, expediency and political correctness are not substitutes for vision, wisdom, justice and courage."

Tomorrow, therefore, will be Pitfield's opportunity to see for herself what Miller and Rae tend to see with a blind eye.

Hopefully she will not be wearing blinders.

Argentine Cocaine Trade Growing

2006-08-13T12:56:00.000-07:00

ARGENTINE COCAINE TRADE GROWING

Traffickers are setting up cocaine labs in Argentina, long merely a transit point for cocaine, and creating new addicts with 'paco,' a cheap, toxic byproduct with a short, intense high.

'Paco' boosts Argentine drug trade

Matias Salas tried marijuana when he was 11. By age 17, he smoked pot every day, sniffed cocaine when he could get it and was a regular user of pills.

Then, a new drug hit Argentina.

"I have never tried anything so addictive in my life. I am no rookie, but this just hit me like a log. I couldn't stop," says Salas, now 20 and one of thousands of working-class youths in that country hooked on smoking paco.

Experts say the sudden availability of paco, also known as basuco, is a sign that cocaine is being produced in Argentina. The white crystals, left over from refining coca paste into cocaine, are too cheap and low in quality to make them worth transporting. So wherever cocaine is refined, paco is sold.

This is a turning point for the drug business in Argentina, which until recently was only a transit point for Colombian, Peruvian and Bolivian cocaine largely on its way to Europe.

Argentina's counter-drug officials attribute the surge of cocaine laboratories to their efforts to control the export of chemicals used to refine coca paste into cocaine.

"Traffickers have changed their strategy. Instead of taking the chemicals to countries where the coca paste is produced, they bring the coca paste here and they install laboratories, primarily in the outskirts of Buenos Aires," says Jose Ramon Granero, director of Argentina's counter-drug agency, known as SEDRONAR.

Cocaine seizures in the country doubled in 2004 compared to 1999, and authorities discovered 10 clandestine cocaine laboratories in 2003, 20 in 2004 and 14 last year. Granero says seizures so far "are in line with last year's."

The State Department's 2006 international drug report said there was evidence that more drug trafficking organizations are entering Argentina, lured by the advanced chemical industry there and the low risk in shipping the coca paste into the country.

Paco is at the lowest rung of the drug business ladder.

In Argentina, paco-laced cigarettes are sold almost out in the open in poor neighborhoods -- even in kiosks that sell regular cigarettes and candy -- addicts say. A paco cigarette goes for 30 U.S. cents, compared to $1.50 for a marijuana joint.

"In my barrio, it's everywhere. It's very easy to get," Salas told The Miami Herald in a telephone interview from Fundacion Manantiales, a nonprofit Buenos Aires organization that treats addicts with government money.

Salas checked in voluntarily and has been living in the rehab center for four months. He says he tried to quit paco once on his own, but he relapsed. Now he doesn't want to return to the working-class neighborhood where he grew up until he is certain he can stay clean.

Paco is highly addictive because its effect is so short -- a couple of minutes -- and so intense that many users resort to smoking 20 to 50 cigarettes a day to try to make its effects linger.

Used regularly, it can devastate a person physically, emotionally and mentally within six months, says Cristian Laclau, a spokesman for Fundacion Manantiales.

Paco is even more toxic than crack cocaine because it is made mostly of solvents and chemicals, with just a dab of cocaine, said Jim Hall, executive director of Up Front Drug Information Center, a Miami nonprofit that has been tracking cocaine abuse for more than two decades.

Argentine media reports have blamed the surge of paco consumption -- up 200 percent to an estimated 50,000 users to 70,000 users in the last four years, according to local authorities -- on the 2001 economic meltdown that pushed thousands of Argentines into poverty and despair.

But authorities and experts look north for the answer.

The multimillion-dollar U.S.-backed Plan Colombia is disrupting the operations of traffickers there and forcing them to look for new bases for their business, said Eduardo Gamarra, of Florida International University's Latin American and Caribbean Center.

Farther south, the recent election of President Evo Morales in Bolivia, which capped three years of political instability in that country, raised concerns that his policy to clamp down on cocaine but decriminalize coca farming for traditional, legal uses may result in more paste shipped to its neighbors.

There are no statistics available, but the Argentine and U.S. governments, and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, agree that most of the coca paste entering Argentina comes from Bolivia, the world's third-largest cultivator of coca leaves after Colombia and Peru.

Argentina and Bolivia share a long, porous border through which coca paste is smuggled, Granero says. It enters the country in small planes that land on clandestine airstrips, by truck in cargo containers, or in boats.

"The border is very extended, in some places inhospitable and almost deserted, in others made of small rivers. It's difficult to patrol," Granero says.

The State Department's 2006 drug report said Argentine authorities had expressed concern that Bolivia's new policy, dubbed "Yes to coca, no to cocaine," could greatly increase the production of illegal drugs there.

But Granero was far more diplomatic.

'We think Evo Morales has good intentions. But his policies will be measured by the results. If 'Yes to coca, no to cocaine' results in an excess of coca leaves, we'll have to see where that excess goes."

30 Arrested In Bay Drug Bust

2006-08-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

30 ARRESTED IN BAY DRUG BUST

As the sun rose yesterday, 60 police officers suited up, ready for the culmination of a 10-month-operation aimed at cracking an organised drug ring in Hawke's Bay.

By the time the tired officers left work last night, 30 people had been arrested and faced charges including possession of cannabis, sale of methamphetamine and possession of a firearm without a licence.

Some were members of a prominent gang but police refused to specify which one.

Police raided 24 addresses in Hastings, Napier, Waipukurau and Wairoa, seizing more than 70 cannabis seedlings, 3kg of cannabis, several bags of methamphetamine, ecstasy tabs, a sawn-off shotgun and thousands of dollars in cash.

Police also found and dismantled two hydroponic set-ups for growing cannabis.

Eastern Police District crime services manager Detective Inspector Sam Aberahama said Operation Oyster was one of the biggest operations in recent years and they were pleased with the outcome.

The operation targeted organised crime in the region, and Mr Aberahama said police believed they had cracked the ring. "We enlisted the help of an undercover police officer," he said, but refused to elaborate.

"This is just one tool in the box of investigative techniques that we used," Mr Aberahama said.

The district commander, Superintendent Grant Nicholls, said he was delighted with the success of the operation particularly as it followed a recent successful operation in Wairoa where 17 gang members were arrested.

"This district is committed to targeting organised crime and getting to the heart of their drug-distribution networks," he said.

"We have an ongoing interest in apprehending those involved in organised crime. We will continue to focus on reducing opportunity for this type of offending."

Mr Aberahama asked people to continue passing information on to the police because it would be acted on. "If you are involved in drugs and it's reported to the police, expect some attention," he warned.

"People who choose to be involved face a real risk of apprehension."

Five people appeared in the Hastings District Court yesterday afternoon following the early-morning searches.

Although all were released as police did not oppose bail, Judge Richard Watson warned four of them that because of the serious nature of the charges they faced life imprisonment.

They were all remanded to the Hastings District Court on August 17. More of those arrested in yesterday's raids were expected to appear before the court this morning.

NC: Meth Users Put Strain On Hospitals

2006-02-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

FOREST CITY -- Emergency room visitors with methamphetamine-related illness are causing major burdens on local hospitals across the country. Patients suffering from heart, lung, kidney and brain problems associated with meth are straining hospital budgets and treatment facilities, according to two surveys to be released in Washington, D.C., this month. Studies conducted by the National Association of Counties indicate the severity of the toll of the drug on local communities, especially in rural areas where social service networks are ill-prepared to deal with the problems associated with meth. The survey revealed that 73 percent of the 200 county and regional hospitals polled reported an increase in the number of people visiting emergency rooms for meth-related problems over the last five years. Of the hospitals polled, 68 percent reported a continued increase in the last three years. Dr. John Tolhurst, Emergency Room Physician and Medical Examiner at Rutherford Hospital, began working in Rutherford County in 1989. "When I first came there was virtually no meth use here," said Tolhurst. "In the last four or five years we have seen a big increase." Tolhurst said that he has treated people with chest pain associated with smoking meth. He said the drug can cause major lung and heart problems, including heart attacks. Tolhurst said that he has treated patients with shin problems associated with what addicts call "skin popping." Skin popping is when meth, or another drug, is injected into the shin with a needle. The addicts purposefully miss the veins so that the drug is slowly released into their system. Tolhurst said that shared use of needles creates a concern for spreading diseases like Hepatitis and AIDS. Tolhurst said that patients with meth-related problems are not tracked because a problem associated with meth is not a diagnosis. But he said that he has seen a significant increase in the past five years. He said a lot of the trauma cases treated in the ER, where people are severely beaten, often involve drugs. Meth makes users agitated because it is a central nervous system stimulant that increases heart rate and irritability. Other problems associated with meth patients are financial. "The majority of the people we see here with meth problems have no insurance," said Tolhurst. "We end up treating them for free." Sheriff C. Philip Byers said that the majority of meth users in Rutherford County are unemployed and have no assets. "Treatment at the hospital is not something that most of these people can afford,' said Byers. Meth addicts in the county have been profiled as mostly white males between the ages of 20 and 35. The life expectancy of a meth addict is about ten years if they stay on the drug, according to the State Bureau of Investigation. Rutherford Hospital Vice President of Marketing and Planning Karen Moore said that meth patients also create safety concerns. Moore said that if a patient brings a hazardous material into the hospital the staff will go into a code orange and set up for the detoxification of the area, staff and other patients. When children are removed from homes with a presence of meth they have to be detoxed at the scene by firefighters before they can ride in an ambulance. The chemicals from meth labs can be very hazardous and flammable. "Our whole system comes to a stop," said Moore. "If a hazardous chemical is present in the hospital it presents a major burden for us." In the nationwide survey, 14 percent of the hospitals reported that meth-related cases make up 20 percent of their emergency room visits and 56 percent of hospitals said their costs had risen because of the growing abuse of the drug. In the second survey, 69 percent of the hospitals reported an increased demand for treatment for methamphetamine abuse and 63 percent of the hospitals reportedly do not have enough capacity to meet the demand. Treatment for meth addiction is generally long and intensive and often fails when the proper models are not use. Meth addicts do not respond as well to typical drug treatment programs and only programs specifically intended for meth users report high recovery rates. The primary ingredient used to make meth is cold medication that contains ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. Meth is made in makeshift and often mobile labs in homes, sheds and cars. Addicts us common household items like lye, coffee filters, Law enforcement officials ranked meth as their worse drug problem in a survey of 500 agencies in 45 states also conducted by the National Association of Counties. In the survey, 70 percent of local law enforcement agencies said that robberies, burglaries, domestic violence, assaults and identity thefts have increased due to the meth problem.

Australia: Towns In For A Shock

2006-02-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

No Drug Problem, Say Residents, But THE results of a survey in Culcairn and Holbrook which showed participants predominantly thought neither town had a drug problem was a major shock, the chairman of the Culcairn Holbrook Youth Action Team, David Dunbar, said yesterday. The team is presently presenting the results of its research project to meetings in both towns with guest speakers providing details about the types of drugs available in the region and strategies parents might adopt to help reduce the risk of their children using and abusing drugs. Mr Dunbar, a Culcairn pharmacist, said those survey respondents who denied the existence of a drug problem in either town were ignoring crime statistics from the region related to drug use. "Over the past five years in Holbrook and Culcairn there have been 327 criminally recorded drug and liquor offences," he said. "There are many others who do not engage in criminal activity but are regularly using alcohol and other drugs in our towns." He said acceptance of the problem was an important step. "As with any social issue, recognition of the problem is the first step toward possible change," he said. "The community and each individual member of it must decide whether they accept the statistics showing there is a drug and alcohol problem in our community and whether or not they are comfortable with local drug and alcohol misuse. "Id like to think Im the only person in town selling drugs but the truth is Im not." The teams research project, undertaken by Serena Kent over three months, was completed in December. It focused on parents of pre-school and primary school aged children and aimed to identify strategies that could motivate parents to attend anti-drug information events. Miss Kent said the results indicated an overwhelming amount of participants were not sure if there was a drug problem in the area and consequently could see no reason to implement intervention programs to their children. The regions drug and alcohol liaison worker, Adelle Kennedy, said she had clients in the area with drug problems who purchased drugs locally. "Drugs may not be as big a problem in rural communities as in the cities but they are still a problem and parents should not assume living in a small town will ensure their children will be safe from drugs," Ms Kennedy said. The team has already held a meeting in Holbrook this week and will hold a second meeting looking at the research results on Wednesday, February 22 at the Culcairn Public School from 7.30pm. l For details of the teams activities contact Mr Dunbar on ( 02 ) 6029 8917 or Ms Kennedy on ( 02 ) 6029 8917.

IL: Medical Cannabis Bill Gains Momentum

2006-02-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Legislation Makes Third Appearance In General Assembly Julie Falco came to Springfield last week for the third year in a row to persuade lawmakers to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. With her, she brought a Tupperware container with marijuana-laced brownies and "popped them right in the room." That drew reactions - "most of them were grins or something's up" looks, she said - from people in the hearing room. "I would not have been able to testify in front of the Senate ( committee ) if I did not have my cannabis because I get very sensitive to really loud atmosphere, a lot of people, a lot of movement," said Falco, a Chicago resident who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 20 years ago. "It's just too much on my nervous system." With her doctor's written endorsement, Falco eats three 1-inch marijuana brownie squares a day to treat her condition, which causes her legs to lock up and shake. On Wednesday, she said, the brownies "made it tolerable to be in an arena like that." Under legislation that passed out of the Senate committee to which Falco spoke, Illinoisans could legally grow and use marijuana to treat terminal illnesses and other debilitating health conditions. Although the bill, Senate Bill 2568, was moved to the full Senate by a vote of only 6-5, the committee's action signaled a growing push in Illinois to legalize use of marijuana for medical purposes. The medical cannabis bill is making its third appearance in the General Assembly and is as close as it has ever been to becoming a legislative reality. Previous bills have not made it through the committee stage. Earlier this year, Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for patients with terminal illnesses and other debilitating conditions, such as AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. New Mexico and Connecticut reportedly are debating the issue this year. "There's more support than people realize," said Dr. Christopher Fichtner, a medical adviser to Illinois Drug Education and Legislative Reform and a former mental health director for the state Department of Human Services. Among those backing the bill is the Illinois Nurses Association, he said. If the proposal passes the full Senate and the House and is signed by the governor, it would allow patients with a doctor's prescription to grow as many as 12 marijuana plants each. A patient could possess no more than 2 1/2 ounces of the drug in its usable form at any one time. Critics say the legislation is unnecessary because Illinois has a 1978 statute that allows patients to apply for federal research projects in which marijuana would be provided. But no one has applied to undertake such research, according to Tom Green, spokesman for the Department of Human Services. Opponents of the bill also say Marinol, a prescription drug that contains tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, an active cannabis ingredient, is available for patients. Aside from that, the Federal Drug Administration has not labeled marijuana as medicine. "We should hold it to the same standards as any other medicine, and we're simply not ready in terms of research," said Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, who voted against the bill. Falco and other medical cannabis advocates said drugs such as Marinol do not work for everybody. People respond differently to how marijuana is consumed, she said. "Smoking it, for me, didn't really work as did eating it," Falco said. Laimutis Nargelenas, deputy director of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, said the legislative action to legalize medical marijuana is moving too fast and sends mixed messages to the public about the dangers of controlled substances. "We're a compassionate community, but at the same time we have a job to do right now on the war on drugs, and marijuana is an illegal drug," Nargelenas said. "We have now gone so far to take meth and most cold medicines behind the counter, and yet to turn around and legalize marijuana, it doesn't make sense." Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems also is against the bill because it would be "very difficult to regulate and control who has the marijuana," said executive director Anita Bedell. Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, the legislation's sponsor, said the bill still needs work to "assure the other senators that the law won't be abused" by caregivers who would be responsible for dispensing the drug to patients unable to take it independently. "When people realize that cannabis will be used as medicine, I think we can gain support," he said. Falco said she uses only the word "cannabis" in the ongoing debate because "marijuana" is a loaded word that keeps the issue bogged down in controversy. "Medical patients do not get high," she said. "It's a pain reliever. But that's where people go ... to the old stereotypes about what cannabis is." And although she has never been arrested or confronted by law enforcement, Falco said she fears getting that knock on the door. "Multiple sclerosis is a stress-related disease, and I can't even imagine myself sitting a jail cell without the cannabis," she said. "I'm doing this because I know there are thousands of others using it for medicinal reasons. We have illnesses we deal with every day ... we don't want to be worrying about getting arrested."

NC: Drug Busts Slowing Trade

2006-02-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

CLINTON -- The Sampson County Sheriff's Office saw drug seizures rise by more than $7million from 2004 to 2005. And this year, officers grabbed $20 million in cocaine in one incident. The rising drug amounts reflected in the increased value of seizures is an indicator of the county's persistent drug problem, Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said. Deputies recovered $1 million worth of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamines in 2004. The amount skyrocketed to $8.8 million last year. So far this year, agents have uncovered three meth labs and seized 440 pounds of cocaine in one of the largest arrests in county history. The street value of the cocaine was estimated at $20 million. Two men were charged with trafficking the drug by possession. Court records say the men were carrying the cocaine in a 1997 Ford Ranger. The drugs were confiscated Jan. 23 along Edmond Matthis Road, a rural road in southern Sampson County. Investigators are not releasing details in the case. On Feb. 9, deputies raided a home on Jeanette Lane near Godwin where they seized $561 worth of marijuana and charged two people who live in the house with intent to sell and make the drug. Breeding ground Sampson County has become a hotbed for drug activity, Thornton said, and he wants it stopped because drugs breed other crimes such as break-ins and robberies. The number of robberies, especially, has increased, he said. "I think that we are seeing more violence now," the sheriff said, "whereas before I don't know that we had that much." The amounts are alarming, he said, but the figures also show law enforcement's commitment to battling the drug problem. The Sheriff's Office often teams with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, the State Bureau of Investigation, the state Highway Patrol and surrounding sheriff's offices to build cases against drug dealers. "They've all shared in this," Thornton said. "We didn't do it without help." Emmett Highland, resident agent in charge with the DEA office in Wilmington, said the state in general has experienced an increase in drug trafficking because the population has grown. Highland said state, federal and local agencies have combined their resources to target the larger drug dealers. By doing so, they are able to seize bigger amounts of drugs. Cocaine is the top drug that is being trafficked in southeastern North Carolina, he said. The state is not only a destination for the drug, the DEA Web site said, but a distribution point for northern states on the East Coast. Statewide, the number of federal cocaine seizures rose from 275 pounds in 2003 to 862 pounds in 2004. Sampson County belongs to a DEA task force of local and federal officers. Over the past year, the task force has made significant seizures that have hurt the drug trade in the southeastern part of the state, Highland said. "We've had some great successes over the last 18 months or so," he said. The seizure of the 440 pounds of cocaine in January has been one of the biggest in the region, Highland said. He would not discuss details of that case but said it is an indicator of what law enforcement agencies are facing "I think people have to wake up and realize that we've got a serious problem," Thornton said. Thornton attributes the increase in drug seizures to better cooperation and coordination with local, state and federal agencies and his office's philosophy for vigorously targeting drug dealers. Interstate connection Chief Deputy John Conerly said Sampson County is an easy target for drug dealers because it is rural and because of its proximity to Interstates 40 and 95. Interstate 40 runs through the eastern part of the county and has exits near Newton Grove. I-95 meets I-40 in Johnston County near the Sampson County line. The county has 500,000 miles of paved highways, which makes it appealing to drug traffickers who want to travel undetected on back roads. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the production, trafficking and use of illegal drugs is a growing problem in rural counties. A 1997 report on the issue says that "growing competition and effective law enforcement efforts" in cities have forced drug dealers and producers into remote areas where they can avoid being seen and the competition is less hostile. Law enforcement's best weapon against them, Conerly said, has been anonymous tipsters. People report suspicious activity in their neighborhoods and investigators follow those leads. "We need those tips," he said, "to point us in the right direction."

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Two Australians Sentenced To Death

2006-02-17T09:42:00.002-08:00

BALI, Indonesia Two Australians were sentenced Tuesday to death by firing squad for leading a drug smuggling ring on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, verdicts that could strain ties between the countries. Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24 who masterminded the trafficking of 18 pounds of heroin to their homeland showed little emotion as their verdicts were read in a packed courtroom. Four other members of the so-called "Bali Nine," all of them Australian, have been given life sentences. The sentences for the final three were expected Wednesday. Indonesian anti-drugs campaigners cheered after the death sentences were read out for Chan and, in a separate trial, for Sukumaran. Family members in the public gallery broke down in tears. The verdicts were broadcast live in Australia, where recent drug trials involving citizens in Indonesia have triggered intense public interest. Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose government opposes capital punishment, said the sentences were predictable given the "weight of the evidence." Some members of the ring were arrested at Bali's airport with heroin taped to their bodies, while others were in a hotel room purportedly plotting another shipment. "I feel desperately sorry for the parents of these people, I do," Howard told reporters in Canberra. "But the warnings have been there for decades, and how on Earth any young Australian can be so stupid as to take the risk is completely beyond me." Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, under pressure to crack down on illegal drugs in the world's most populous Muslim nation, said he hoped the verdicts would serve as an example. Judge Arief Supartman said a panel of three judges at the Denpasar District court found Chan guilty of "exporting heroin in an organized ring," and accused him of "damaging Bali's international reputation." He also criticized Chan for showing no remorse. Later, judges found Sukumaran guilty of involvement in an organized drug ring and said he, too, would face a firing squad. "There is no reason to justify the actions of the defendant," said Judge I Gusti Lanang Dauh. Police escorted the two out of the courtroom in handcuffs, pushing them past hundreds of reporters and television crews and into a prison van. Four of the "Bali Nine" drug mules Michael Czugaj, 20; Martin Stephens, 29; Renae Lawrence, 28; and Scott rush, 20, - were sentenced to Life in Prison in separate trials on Monday and Tuesday.

Growth In 'Trendy' Drugs Sparks Concerns

2006-02-17T09:42:00.001-08:00

Have You Heard Of Jimson Weed? Chances Are, Your Kids Have. The ancient, and occasionally deadly intoxicant has lately been enjoying resurgence as a "trendy drug," according to Marilyn Belmonte, co-chair of the Burlington Drug and Alcohol Task Force. "Middlesex County is seeing a huge problem with heroin, Oxycontin, prescription drugs and lots of other drugs," Belmonte said. "There are so many different drugs that kids are abusing, and as a community we need to work together to try to solve this problem" Belmonte will be conducting a Citizen Drug Recognition Academy beginning March 1, at 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the theater of the Wilmington Middle School, 25 Carter Lane. During the five-week - each Wednesday at 7 p.m. in March - in a multi-media program, Belmonte will train parents to be on the lookout for signs of drug use in their children, and give them tools to combat potential addiction. Topics will include traditional and plant based drugs, prescription and over the counter drugs, club drugs including Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine, and more, and drug-facilitated sexual assaults. The final session will discuss how parents can talk with their kids about drugs. The program is being offered in cooperation with the Wilmington Police Department. Belmonte began her career as a drug educator as a volunteer with Burlington' s drug task force. She began taking classes at the Massachusetts State Police Academy, eventually becoming certified as a trainer, and working with parents and school faculties. The program was created, Belmonte said, in order to enlist parents on the front lines of the drug war. The need for such a program is acute, Belmonte said, as rates of drug use and overdosing has been on the rise in local communities. Helplessly hoping "Parents often feel they have no control," she said. "They don't know enough about the different drugs and they feel helpless. They tell their kids to pick up their socks and they don't listen to them, they think they won't listen about drugs." Belmonte says in truth, parents have a huge impact on whether or not kids do drugs, "more than they realize." "Studies show that when kids who don't do drugs are asked why they don't, they say it is because of their parents. They don't want to lose their parents' respect." Belmonte's program trains parents how to spot potential drug use and abuse by identifying a wide variety of drugs and their paraphernalia, and physical effects and behaviors. To find the reason for the dramatic growth in drug abuse, look no further than your own medicine cabinet, Belmonte said. Kids, accustomed to self-medicating all their lives with sweet-tasting medicines, think nothing of popping a few Vicaden or Oxycontin to deal with the stress of their lives. Since a prescription high gets expensive, the next step is often heroin, which is terrifyingly cheap and easy to procure. "Parents need to be watch dogging their kids," she said. "When parents are empowered, they can do so much more."

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Supes OK Medical Marijuana IDs

2006-02-17T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hollister - While the Board of Supervisors complied with state law Tuesday and approved a county program to issue medical marijuana identification cards to afflicted locals, supervisors made it clear that they did not want marijuana to be dispensed within the county. Under the program, county residents with a doctor's prescription for medical marijuana may apply to receive an ID card that will allow them to purchase and transport medical marijuana. The county won't actually be providing the marijuana, however a state law passed in 2003 requires all counties to offer medical marijuana ID cards to those with a doctor's prescription to use the drug to treat illnesses ranging from cancer and AIDS to anorexia and chronic pain. Supervisors Anthony Botelho and Don Marcus said they had concerns about having a county medical marijuana ID program, however Supervisors Jaime De La Cruz and Reb Monaco said that they had no problem with it. "In my book, it is still an illegal substance," Botelho said after the meeting. "I just don't want to see our program abused and subsidized by taxpayers." San Benito's program will cost about $8,500 per year - which includes the purchase of a digital camera and other supplies. Those costs will be covered by a fee that participants will pay. There are 230 potential participants in San Benito, according to state estimates. The fee charged for an ID will be determined by an ongoing countywide fee study. While the medical marijuana ID program won't begin until the county's fee study is finished and a fee for the program has been determined, County Administrative Officer Susan Thompson said they are working hard to get the study done, but did not know exactly when that will be. De La Cruz said that he supported the ID program and thought medical marijuana was a good thing for people suffering from an illness. "I have friends who are sick, and actually they use medical marijuana," he said. "So I see the benefits first hand." Though they hold different views on medical marijuana, supervisors were united in their desire not to have medical marijuana dispensed in San Benito. "At this point, unless we hear more testimony I'd be opposed to dispensaries in the county," Marcus said. De La Cruz said that having establishments that distribute medical marijuana within the county would make it easier for the general population to obtain marijuana for non-medical use. "We will provide the card only," he said, "but not allow people to sell marijuana." Medical marijuana is dispensed through clubs and cooperatives, rather than through the government. Within the region, there are medical marijuana cooperatives in Santa Cruz. Before voting to approve the medical marijuana ID card program, the board directed county staff to draft an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries within the county. During Tuesday's meeting, Sheriff Curtis Hill was neutral on the issue of ID cards. He said he will work with the county health department to make sure all his deputies knew what the cards looked like and how they are issued. "For me it's a non-issue," he told supervisors. "We're going to follow what ( the law ) says." After the meeting Hill said that if a deputy stops a person who has marijuana and a medical marijuana ID card, the deputy will allow that person to keep the marijuana and be on their way, unless there is some other violation. Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller also told supervisors that he doesn't have any major concerns about the county's medical marijuana ID card. While San Benito is adhering to the law, not all of California's 58 counties are willing to go along with it. In January, San Diego County sued the state of California and its director of health services, saying federal law that prohibits marijuana use trumps state law that allows it. Soon after, San Bernadino County joined the lawsuit. California voters approved the use of marijuana for medical purposes a decade ago with the with the passage of Proposition 215. The debate made its way to San Benito County last month in a court case involving medical marijuana which was confiscated by the Hollister-Gilroy California Highway Patrol. In defiance of a court order, CHP Cmdr. Otto Knorr had refused to return the marijuana for months, saying it would violate federal drug laws. However, on direction from the Attorney General's Office, Knorr relented just days before a contempt of court hearing which was scheduled for January. During Tuesday's meeting, Knorr voiced concerns about people not having their ID cards with them while they are transporting marijuana, ID cards being counterfeited and people driving under the influence of marijuana, which is illegal regardless of whether a person has an ID card.

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TeamUp Brings Abuse Prevention Expert To Town

2006-02-17T09:40:00.000-08:00

As the generation gap between parent and child continues to stretch beyond recognition, many parents begin to view their own children as strangers and are unsure how to open up the lines of communication with out sounding like the enemy. Tuesday, Feb. 28, TeamUp Inc. of Marblehead will present "Understanding the Teenage Brain: A Discussion on Drug and Alcohol Use, Risky Behaviors and Prevention Strategies," a program featuring consultant, teacher, coach and former director of the Training Institute of Narcotic and Drug Research Inc. Michael Nerney. The program will run from 7-9 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of the Marblehead Veterans Middle School. During the presentation, which is geared for an adult audience, Nerney will provide extensive, concrete evidence of the effects of alcohol and drug use on an adolescent brain, as well proactive steps towards building a strong line of communication between parent and teen. Nerney is also speaking in Swampscott the following day. In both March and May, Nerney will come back to speak directly to several adolescent groups,50 students at a time in both Marblehead and Swampcott middle and high schools, along with hosting a pre-prom seminar at the high school level. Nerney will also hold special professional development programs with teachers and faculty over the next few months. In Massachusetts, 28 percent of children 13 and under have had a drink, and 12 percent have used marijuana. With the percentages constantly rising, Joyce Alla, marketing chairwoman of TeamUp, which is sponsoring Nerney's appearance in Marblehead, says more needs to be done. "The 'just say no' slogan doesn't work anymore," Alla said. "As parents we really need to work on opening the lines of communication." TeamUp President Susan Hauck added. "We need to increase awareness of the effects of drugs and alcohol as well as promote the tactic of early education." Swampscott guidance counselor Reardon said seeing Nerney last year in Marblehead was the motivation for bringing him to Swampscott, thanks to a grant from the local educational support organization, SUCCESS. For many parents, the thought of talking to their elementary and middle school aged children doesn't seem necessary, but TeamUp advocates feel the sooner the better. "It's better to be talking to your children all along than when it's too late," said Elizabeth Moore, principal of Marblehead Veterans Middle School. "Parents should just cater their talks to the different age levels their children are at." Moore, who has attended presentations by Nerney in the past, thinks children relate to the research Nerney brings to the table, and that they like to have evidence that they can hold in the palm of their hands. "Children like to see concrete evidence showing them what definitively what can happen to them if they do something," Moore said. "Last year [Nerney] showed parents and teachers research he had done on the brain, showing that as they enter adolescence their forebrain is not as developed and they become impulsive." In terms of when to talk with your children, Steve McFadden, guidance counselor at the Village School, also in Marblehead, has also adopted a sooner rather than later view on the situation. "Though a lot of parents may think how does this relate to my young child, they have to realize that these issues come up quicker than you think and it is always best to be prepared," McFadden said. Local counselor Larry Robinson says the main thing most parents need to learn is how not to talk down to their children as if they know everything, yet instead create an equal playing field where the kids feel that they can talk to their parents rather than fight with them. Part of his own method in his Lynn office is making his clients feel comfortable from the moment they step over the threshold, whether it be from the soothing smell of incense of the Native American pictures and artifacts placed around the waiting room. "Children need to gain your trust, otherwise if you criticize them from A to Z they are not going to listen to anything you have to say," Robinson said. "Kids at this age are angry because they have to be. Their parents are no longer their friends and they are now responsible for making adult decisions." Robinson says a lot of the problem is that middle schoolers see what their older siblings are doing and figuring that this what is "cool," creating a tremendous amount of pressure to be just that. "We need to work toward changing what defines 'cool'," Robinson said. "If we accepted kids more for who they are then they would be better at deciding what 'cool' actually is." Currently one of the more effective programs in place is the athletic department's social contract which was brought in by director Michael Plansky. Since putting the contracts in place, Plansky says they have only had to in force the policy once this year. "We bring the responsibility to the kids by making them form their own social contracts saying here's what they want to do and if we want our team to succeed we all need to follow by these rules," Plansky says. "The students are in charge of assigning penalties unanimously so that everyone is on the same page and they can look out for each other." Plansky added, "The goal is to have the students looking out for each other and learning together how to be responsible. Our hope is that if they are out and see someone breaking the rules they will say 'hey, that's in our contract and you shouldn't be doing that'." Swampscott High School has a similar student teaching student method known as SADD, an organization of Students Against Destructive Decisions. "We are an active chapter and two of our high school students are on the board," Reardon said. "We do presentations every year that are funded through a SUCCESS, Inc. grant and this year we are going to mirror what Marblehead did last year by having 50 students at a time work with Nerney." "Many parents are trying so hard to be there child's best friend, but as parents that is not what we signed up for," said Marblehead Police Detective Sgt. Marion Keating. "Parents should create an information exchange where they have all the cell phone numbers and email addresses so that at any point in time they are able to get in touch with their child." Keating added, "Parents are now having to talk to their children about subjects they never thought they would have to before. For example, what should your child do if they are babysitting and the parents come home drunk and are going to drive them home? These are things that we don't think of but need to because they happen." Judy Luise, adjustment counselor at Marblehead High School, suggests teaching children how to act in advance, trying to advert problems rather than deal with the consequences. "We try and teach them in a non-judgmental environment how to react rather then reflect after the fact," Luise said. According to Jim Ryan, director of Northeast Center for Healthy Communities, several surrounding communities have taken the initiative to effectively attack the problem. "Hamilton-Wenham is currently collecting data to develop strategies, and Lynn has a whole study done up on risk factors along with protective factors and building strong neighborhoods," Ryan said. "Many communities are forming coalitions trying to get parents engaged in the issue and building communication so they can be mentors in the situation." "No parent can fully protect their child," said Moore. "What they can do is continue the conversation. It can be as simple as asking you kids how they feel after you both witness a character in a television show doing something wrong. As parents we should always be talking." JUST THE FACTS What: TeamUp lecture on drug and alcohol awareness and prevention, featuring former Director of the Training Institute of Narcotic and Drug Research, Michael Nerney, now working with Partners in Prevention. Not recommended for student attendance. When: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 7-8:30 p.m. Where: Marblehead Veterans Middle School Performing Arts Center

Mexican Press Faces Bullets For Their Drug

2006-02-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

R Recently there were stories on the Mexican government's hiring of an American public relations specialist to improve its image in the U.S. Other elements of Mexican society, it seems, are also concerned about what appears in the press. But even as the government's PR man plans a "feelgood" campaign, those other elements are carrying out a "feel-bad" one. Very bad. In Nuevo Laredo, a border city of 300,000 that has been wracked by turf wars between rival drug-trafficking gangs, at least four men attacked the editorial office of the newspaper La Manana with automatic weapons and a hand grenade last Monday. Reporter Jaime Orozco Tey was hit five times. If he lives, he will never walk again, doctors report. Orozco Tey, 40, worked with the paper 14 years. He has two daughters, ages 9 and 7. Witnesses said the goons kept shooting him even as he fled to cover. Nuevo Laredo journalists were already walking on eggshells -- they have told the Associated Press that names of drug-gang victims have been omitted and stories held after traffickers have called and threatened reporters. And now they are throwing in the towel. On Tuesday, Ramon Cantu Deandar, the owner and general manager of La Manana, announced a "zero investigations" policy regarding the drug trade. "They are forcing us to do that, to not inform about violent incidents so that the city's image and credibility are not stained," he told the Laredo ( Texas ) Morning Times. Well, that's one way to keep your coverage from having a negative spin. Mexican President Vicente Fox denounced the attack in loud tones and promised safety for border journalists. But in a city where the murder rate has been running at about one a day since the beginning of the year, and in a country whose law-enforcement agencies are hamstrung by its long-standing culture of "impunidad" -- the impunity purchased by stacks of criminal cash -- faith in such promises is utterly lacking. Such Mexican lawmen as have not been bought off by the traffickers are likely to be outgunned by them. Reports emerged last year that the mega-gang run by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has set up "Los Zetas," a paramilitary group manned by former Mexican army special operations commandos, some trained at Fort Benning in the U.S. The attack on La Manana, which has all the earmarks of a military operation, is likely to have been conducted by such a group. Cantu Deandar's public surrender may seem craven, but what is he, or any other threatened Mexican journalist, supposed to do? If the police can't or ( because of "impunidad" ) won't protect journalists, and they cannot protect themselves -- Mexican law imposes virtually total gun control, except for those who have bribed their way to "impunidad" -- they have no choice but to go silent. In America, there has been much talk and worry about securing the border from terrorism. In Mexico, shamefully, control of the border appears to have been largely yielded.

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Party Pills Can Help Save Lives

2006-02-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

With party pills under renewed scrutiny, including talk of a ban, Matt Bowden argues that they are providing safer, legal alternatives to addictive and harmful illegal drugs. Over the last five to six years about 20 million legal party pills have been sold in New Zealand. This represents 20 million times that mostly young New Zealanders have chosen a safer, legal alternative to dangerous, illegal drugs like P, methamphetamine. We have all seen the tragic costs of the use of illegal and highly addictive drugs like P - untold high profile murders, maimings, robberies, overdoses and suicides. I first created and introduced BZP- based party pills into New Zealand towards the end of the 1990s following the ecstasy-related death of a member of my own family. I was committed to finding a safer, legal alternative to dangerous drugs that kill people, and party pills have been successful in achieving this. There have been no instances in New Zealand of party pills causing any lasting harm, and there have been reports that police officers have linked a declining demand for the drug ecstasy as a result of the pills' increased availability. Although some people may feel uncomfortable about the recent availability of party pills, I believe party pills have saved lives that would otherwise have been lost through the use of drugs like methamphetamine and ecstasy. Party pills can continue to help minimise drug-related harm in, but I also acknowledge that these products need to be better controlled. Last year most of the party-pill industry joined in convincing the Government to begin regulating the industry. Most importantly, an 18-year age limit was introduced, as well as some labelling and marketing restrictions. This was a good start to properly control party pills but, with some simple legislative amendments, they could be much more effectively controlled and, as a result, safer. A lot of the recent concern that has surrounded party pills is well founded. In Christchurch, in particular, one or two rogue operators are producing party pills with excessive levels of BZP of about 500mg a pill. The vast majority of the party-pill industry belongs to the industry association, the Social Tonics Association ( Stanz ), which has a voluntary code of practice limiting BZP levels to 200mg a pill. We are calling on the Government to finish the job it has started and to introduce a limit on BZP levels per pill of 200mg. This is common-sense policy which would further protect people who choose to use party pills, and remove many of the problems centered on Christchurch. I believe there would be widespread political support for these further regulations and I would like to see the Government take this step urgently.. Although we want more controls, it is important to keep BZP and party pills in context. One form of BZP is used in a heart-surgery medicine, and people have been taking piperazines for years. It has been widely used around the world for decades and there has not been a single case of a BZP death anywhere in the world. By any standards, BZP has proved to be a remarkably safe substance, as evidenced by it being legal in most countries. The Government is to be applauded for committing to an evidence-based approach to policy on party pills. As a community we all need to put aside our prejudices ( and plenty of hypocrisies ) regarding people choosing to take substances that alter the way they feel. Every human culture since the beginning of time has done this, and will inevitably continue to do so. The challenge we all face is to make doing so as safe as we can. Party pills have already demonstrated they can provide a safer alternative to dangerous drugs. Properly controlled through more sensible government policy, party pills can be even safer and can continue to save lives. Matt Bowden represents Stanz, www.stargate.org.nz.

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Kids DARE To Be Great

2006-02-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

Drug Abuse Resistance Education has been taught in Grosse Ile schools since 1993 and has graduated approximately 150 students per year. Although the curriculum has changed, the primary emphasis is for students to recognize and resist the temptations to do drugs. "We focus on a variety of different principals: decision-making, consequences, building strong friendships and confidence, to name a few," said Detective Kenneth Pelland, who runs the program for the Grosse Ile Police Department. "There are 10 lessons in the D.A.R.E. curriculum, however I expand the program by adding a high school role model lesson." Since the program was started on Grosse Ile, the drug surveys in the school have shown a significant drop in usage for those students that participated in D.A.R.E., according to Pelland. "This is evidence that the program works here," he said. "Plus, the D.A.R.E. instructor is able to build bonds with the students and school staff. D.A.R.E. is the most rewarding part of my job." Each student had to write a report about what he or she had learned in the program. During graduation ceremonies at the two elementary schools, a few of the students had the opportunity to read their essays. The following are the essays that were read during the ceremonies at both Meridian and Parke Lane elementary schools. Editor's note: Only one of the essays appeared in the paper. The rest are available at http://www.ilecamera.com/stories/021006/loc_20060210007.shtml My D.A.R.E. Report By Alexandra Santori, Meridian I learned in D.A.R.E. that trying drugs is bad for you and your body. If you try drugs, you will have side effects like feeling dizzy and out of control. You can also get hurt by trying tobacco, especially if you are under age, because your body is just developing. If somebody asks you to try drugs, they are not your friend, and you should just say no. D.A.R.E. taught me that inhalants, alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco all affect your body in different ways. All of these drugs can affect your brain, mouth, throat, lungs, heart and liver. The addiction you can develop will cause problems for not just you, but your friends and family too. I saw how smoking hurt my papa and the cancer he got from it. First they took out his voice box and he couldn't talk to me without covering the permanent hole left in his throat. Then the cancer spread to his lungs and they had to cut part of his lungs out. The cancer then spread through his body and he was in a lot of pain until he died just after Christmas. People that are addicted to drugs often spend all their money on drugs. You can't support yourself or family when you are addicted to these drugs. Often drugs lead to violence. People on drugs harm others because they are not thinking straight and also commit crimes to get more drug money to support their addiction. Jails are filled with people who were once good people that just messed up on drugs. They can spend a long time, if not their whole life, in prison because of their bad choice. I commit not to ever smoke or do drugs. My answer would be NO to anyone who asked me if I wanted a cigarette that costs too much money or a puff of a marijuana cigarette. I love myself and my family too much to give either up to drugs. I would like to have as healthy a life as possible. I chose not to have a habit of smoking, smell bad/have yellow teeth, or worse, die a painful death.

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The Three Witches

2006-02-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

This is a tale of three different men. Bruce Montague is a labourer, a Christian and a family man who has strong and simple moral principles, lives in deep rural Ontario and hates blue cheese. Marc Emery is a political activist, pushy salesman, boulevardier-to-be, and former grey-market entrepreneur who lives in Vancouver. Conrad Black is a millionaire establishment figure, businessman, author and peer of England, who lives in plush houses and who, perhaps, eats ( or used to eat ) Roquefort every day. The current plight of these three men is also very different. Montague is a civil resister with the Canadian Unregistered Firearm Owners Association whose criminal trial is planned for this year. A seller of marijuana seeds, Emery has been arrested at the request of the U.S. government, which is seeking his extradition. Black has been criminally indicted by the U.S. government for "wire fraud," "mail fraud," "racketeering" and such derived "crimes," plus obstruction of such justice. Montague and Emery admit civil disobedience, while Black adamantly denies that he broke any law. Yet there are crucial similarities. The three men are attacked for crimes that did not exist a few decades or even a few years ago, before the state defined them as crimes. All three defended some aspects of our traditional liberties: Bruce Montague has fought the wicked gun controls directed against peaceful citizens; Marc Emery has campaigned for the right of adults to consume what they want; and Conrad Black, despite his association with liberticidal establishment figures, has given a voice to libertarians in the newspapers he bought or created. The state is going after these men with its full force and enormous resources. They are all liable to spend several years in jail-decades in jail for the two who are prosecuted by the U.S. government. Their travel is restricted by court order; two of the men ( Montague and Emery ) even had to hand in their passports. Black and Montague have had property seized or frozen before judgment. Black and Montague have been explicitly forbidden to have guns ( as was Emery, but under a previous minor conviction ), probably because guns are the ultimate symbol of the free man. Associates or friends of Black and Emery, and Montague's wife, have also been prosecuted. This is the state in all its glory. Disclosure: I know personally two of the three persecuted men, and consider them friends. I met Conrad at George Jonas's birthday party in Toronto last summer, and again just the day before his indictment, at the Freedom Club, a Montreal salon hosted by Bob Bexon and me. I met Bruce at a conference I chaired in Montreal last summer. Marc Emery, I have been in direct contact with only for the purpose of this column. There was a time in this fair land when Leviathan did not run loose. Victimless acts were not crimes or, at least, were not viciously hunted. Pot was legal until the 1920s, and then its criminalization was not really enforced until the 1960s. Anybody could buy, keep and, in many cases, carry all sorts of guns until the last two thirds of the 20th century. And a straight businessman could rest assured that state minions would not try to destroy him. Following the Americans, Canadians have entered the epoch of witch hunts. Who would have thought that racketeering and money laundering laws would be used against individuals like Bruce Montague and Conrad Black? Who would have thought that the criminalization of marijuana would allow the U.S. government to hunt a Canadian on Canadian soil? Answer: anybody who has observed, during the 20th century, the growth of the soft tyranny forecasted by Alexis de Tocqueville. Who will be the next victims? A free society is based on a coalition of people who accept that others do peaceful things they don't like, provided that, in return, the others let them do what they like. If everybody insists on doing what he likes and prohibiting what he doesn't, we are headed towards civil war at best, hard tyranny at the worst. The three men, and what's left of our liberties, may well stand or fall together.

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Natives Try 'Banishment' To Fight Crime

2006-02-12T12:55:00.000-08:00

Faced With Modern Ills Of Gangs And Drugs, Bands Turn To The Past For An Antidote EDMONTON, CALGARY -- Fed up with the drug running and gang violence plaguing Samson Cree Nation, the Alberta band is turning to an ancient practice to deal with modern day ills: banishment. "It's not the Indian way for them to be doing the things they are doing now, and it is the Indian way for us to ban them from the community or from the collective," explained Mel Buffalo, a Samson band director. Samson is an oil-blessed reserve south of Edmonton with 6,340 members who, once they turn 18, can cash in energy-related trust funds worth tens of thousands of dollars. Most Samson members are under 30 and live on the reserve, where the unemployment rate is almost 83 per cent, substance-abuse problems are common and the crime rate is soaring. "The existing system doesn't seem to work," Mr. Buffalo said in an interview. "It seems like we keep on sending people away [to jail] and they keep on coming back and reoffending." Samson isn't the only native band turning to its past to find solutions for present-day scourges. Despite the legal questions surrounding the use of banishment -- the federal Indian Act, which has been in effect since 1867, does not allow it as a penalty -- bands are increasingly readopting it, whether for temporary banishment or permanent exile. Before Europeans arrived in North America, the severe sanction often meant that a troublemaker was forced to fend for himself in the wilderness for a period of time or sent to live with another, unrelated group. Modern forms of banishment vary, depending on the band involved. The sanction has never been intended to strip a person of his legal status as an Indian. But exiled band members are barred from accessing government housing and education supplied on their home reserve. "The current judicial system doesn't seem to correct our problems," said Chief Daryl Watson, who leads the Mistawasis First Nation, about 90 kilometres west of Prince Albert, Sask. His band adopted banishment early this year after consulting with elders; so far, one member and one non-member have been exiled from the reserve. "Banishment is a punishment, but there are no cells, no bars. A person is sent away to think about what they've done and whether they can change their ways," Mr. Watson said. Sakej Henderson, director of the Saskatoon-based Native Law Centre of Canada, said the rebirth of banishment is a sign and statement that frustrated bands "are taking control of their own problems, instead of letting external people do it." "It's a new self-assertion. . . . One of the first expressions of self-determination is to take on the tough issues," he said. He said the re-emergence of this form of community pressure is intriguing because the bands are pushing ahead despite the potential legal quagmire the issue raises. Banishment originally arose as a sanction because aboriginal legal thought revolves around the concept of consent, he explained. When a person's behaviour is destructive or disruptive, the band member is no longer consenting to being part of the greater community and its accepted values and must leave until he is ready to respect them, Mr. Henderson added. He said banishment is considered a "positive step" because the member is given the opportunity to fix his problems, usually with the promise that he will be welcomed back with open arms if he does. Indian Affairs spokesman Trevor Sutter said that in most bands the use of banishment is passed as a resolution rather than a bylaw, and, as such, the government can't legally step in to stop it. However, he said, a disgruntled banished member could approach police and the courts for help. The Samson proposal ( which is still being tinkered with to figure out how it would interact with the Canadian court system ) would use a "sentencing circle" of social workers, elders and councillors to determine terms of banishment. But Mr. Buffalo conceded that the band is already getting complaints about its plan and advice about potential legal roadblocks. "The communities surrounding our area are saying, 'Well, you're just farming off the problem onto us.' I'm saying, 'Yeah, well so what? That's your problem,' " he said. Mr. Buffalo said that if the courts or federal government were to rule definitively that banishment is illegal, his band could use the Criminal Code charge of being unlawfully in a place to deal with miscreants. "We hopefully won't have to go that route," he added. The band hopes its banishment plan could be enacted by spring, Mr. Buffalo said. "If it works, I think other people in other communities across Canada will be wanting to do the same thing." But determining its success is no easy feat, warned Doug Ballantyne, a band administrator with the Grand Rapids First Nation. His reserve, located near The Pas in northwestern Manitoba, has been using banishment for several years, exiling six people during that time. "Most of these just sneak back onto the reserve. It's hard to enforce," he said. "I think it's lost some of its usefulness in this day and age," he added. "When they leave now, they are often surrounded by the things that got them into trouble in the first place." But for others, such as Frank Brown, being exiled was a positive, life-altering event. When he was 14, the member of the Heiltsuk First Nation was sent to a remote island off the central coast of British Columbia. There he had eight months alone to think about his involvement in an armed robbery and other youthful indiscretions, which had landed him at a youth detention centre. His family had urged the court to employ traditional, restorative justice rather than a punitive approach. The judge supported the unorthodox approach. Mr. Brown, now 41, said that the experience changed his life, but that it won't work for everybody. "There's no question in my mind that if I didn't go through that experience, I would be dead or in jail," he said in a telephone interview from Bella Bella, B.C. "It's not going to work for everybody. I think that the person has to really want to change. It's not an excuse. It's not an easy way out. The person has to be ready to change." Ten years after his temporary banishment, he participated in a public washing ceremony, or quxua, to recount what happened and thank those who helped him, and later made a documentary about his experience.

Stettler Drug Use Reflects Provincial Stats

2006-02-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

On The Whole, Alcohol And Marijuana Are The Drugs Of Choice For Those Stettlerites Who Use Substance abuse in east central Alberta closely follows provincial trends, the area manager of Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission said. "It doesn't matter where you are, there's a core base population of 12 to 20 per cent who will abuse drugs or alcohol," said Lance Penny, area supervisor of the Stettler AADAC office. Stettler's office is the regional centre for everything east of Hwy. 21, and spanning from Big Valley north to Hwy. 53. The office offers one-on-one counselling services for individuals and families dealing with substance abuse, tobbaco use and gambling addictions. In addition, counsellors hold group sessions, and offer referral services to in-patient facilities in the province. Because of the office's geographic turf, counsellors also supplement in-person sessions with telephone sessions. "People often think that because we have a better lifestyle than in urban centres, that it's safe to raise children out here, and you leave all the drug problems behind in the city," Penny said. "That's not the case. We're a very mobile society, and it's easy to just go to the city, pick up what you want, and bring it into our community." He also said that being rural is often a problem because of production, as well. "You can be on an acreage or in a small town, growing or producing what you want, and people aren't going to be as suspicious," he said. As far as drugs of choice, marijuana leads the pack nation-wide. In a recent study released by AADAC, 51.3 per cent of Albertans reported that they never tried the drug. 33.2 per cent said they were former users, and 15.5 per cent reported they're active users. The numbers are vastly different for non-cannabis drug use, with 3.5 per cent of Albertans reporting they used other illicit drugs, 16.1 per cent reporting they are former users, and 80.3 per cent reporting they've never tried other drugs. "Certainly that's what we see in our area as well," Penny said. "Marijuana is as insidious as alcohol." Alcohol remains the substance of choice for Albertans. The same study had 79.5 per cent of Albertans reporting they had drank alcohol in the past year, with 6.4 per cent reporting themselves as lifetime abstainers. Of the drinkers, 19.4 per cent reported themselves as heavy drinkers, split almost evenly between heavy frequent and heavy infrequent drinkers. "Alcohol is probably the easiest substance to abuse, because the potential is there. It's legal, and it's available," Penny said. He said marijuana's popularity could partially stem from a lax attitude held over from a time when the drug wasn't as powerful. "The stuff they're smoking today is far more powerful than when I was running around being a hippie," Penny said. "It has gone from one or two per cent THC to 22 to 25 per cent THC." THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the chemical in marijuana that induces a high. The only blip on the drug radar in the Stettler area is crystal methamphetamine, Penny said. "It really started to become a problem near Edson about 10 years ago," Penny explained. The use of the extremely addictive drug, which is known to have devastating physical and psychological effects on users, began to spread to other communities in Alberta. The police, AADAC and other substance abuse groups began to focus on the drug and its production, and the level of abuse seen in other communities never reached Stettler. "That's one area where we differ from the rest of Alberta," Penny said. "It didn't become the huge problem here that it did in other communities."

Chronic-Pain Sufferer Fights Drug Sentence

2006-02-10T12:53:00.000-08:00

The Imprisoned Accident Victim Says He Needed Narcotics To Ease His Suffering TAMPA -- Supporters say Richard Paey was a wheelchair-bound man in constant, brutal pain who needed large amounts of prescription narcotics just to live a normal life. Prosecutors say he sought way too many of those often-abused painkillers, and that makes him a criminal. On Tuesday, as Paey's attorney tried to persuade the 2nd District Court of Appeal to throw out his 2004 drug-trafficking convictions and mandatory 25-year sentence, advocates for chronic-pain sufferers said the case illustrates flaws in the law and how people dependent on strong pain medication can get tangled up in the government's overzealous war on drugs. "I don't think anybody ever thought the war on drugs was going to mean a war on pain patients and their doctors, but that is in fact what it has meant," said Siobhan Reynolds of the Pain Relief Network, an advocacy group that is helping with Paey's appeal. Paey is a 47-year-old former attorney and father of three who suffered a back injury in a 1985 car accident and since has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. He was left in a wheelchair and constant agony. Nothing blunted the pain -- he has described it as feeling like his legs were on fire -- except strong narcotics such as Percocet and Vicodin, which he bought from pharmacies in numbers that got the attention of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. Prosecutors said he was forging prescriptions and getting so many pills that he had to be selling them, even though investigators' two-month surveillance turned up nothing. Paey said that because doctors in Florida were reluctant to prescribe medication in the amounts he required, he got his former doctor in New Jersey to send him undated prescriptions he could fill here. The doctor testified at trial that he had never authorized the number of the pills Paey bought, even though other evidence contradicted him. A jury convicted Paey, and the judge imposed the minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years. Paey's wife, Linda, said her husband was offered plea deals that would have kept him out of prison. But he rejected them because he didn't think he had done anything wrong. On Tuesday, his attorney, John P. Flannery, told the three-judge appellate panel that the 25-year mandatory sentence was cruel and unusual punishment. Further, Flannery said, the doctor lied on the witness stand, and the prosecutor knew it. The appeals court did not indicate when it would rule.

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DARE Returns To Lipan, Tolar

2006-02-09T12:52:00.000-08:00

Drug Abuse Resistance Education is back at county elementary schools, and teachers and students showed their joy at the Tolar Elementary School D.A.R.E. graduation party Friday. Red and black balloons festooned the gym while a speaker blared a D.A.R.E. theme song, and students filed onto the makeshift stage. A fancy table with cake, cookies and Kool-Aid awaited them. Forty adults observed from the audience. "It's been three years since we had D.A.R.E.," fifth-grade teacher Jo Ann Vaughan said. "Thanks to sheriff ( J.E. ) Mayo, who returned the program to the county schools when he came to Hood County. And thanks to officer Anna Edwards, the kids just love it." Forty-three fifth graders celebrated completing the 10-week health- and law-conscious program Friday at Tolar. Lipan fifth graders graduated Jan. 26. The kids get workbooks and T-shirts and were granted diplomas. Third-grade students enjoying the D.A.R.E. graduation festivities are Kelsey Stone, Whitney Dunson and Rebecca Floyd When the new sheriff came to town a year ago he was surprised the D.A.R.E. program had been cut from the county budget. "It is a good program, and it's good for students to have positive interaction with law enforcement," Mayo said. "This is the only place I'd seen where schools didn't have D.A.R.E." Mambrino School held its D.A.R.E. graduation Monday. Oak Woods Intermediate plans its celebration for Wednesday; Brawner Intermediate for Thursday; and Crossland Intermediate this Friday. Because they are funded by the city, these programs continued uninterrupted. The program teaches students about illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol and ways to resist peer pressure while building and maintaining self-esteem. The kids had field trips to City Hall and the county courthouse, and wrote essays about what they learned from the program; the Tolar winners being Madison Eichholtz, Morgan Jackson, Gideon Sanders and Hayley Butler. Officer Anna Edwards, three years with the Granbury Police Department, had never taught kids -- or anyone -- before this year. She said she really enjoys it. "I get hugs from everybody," Edwards beamed, while students lined up to do just that in a farewell gesture to their teacher. Officer Christine Willsey also works in the program. Both work regular patrol shifts when not teaching D.A.R.E.

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CA: County Joins Medical Marijuana Lawsuit

2006-02-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

COUNTY JOINS MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAWSUIT San Diego County Files Suit Against State Over Legality of Drug Program SAN BERNARDINO -- The County of San Bernardino has joined a lawsuit against the state to clarify the legality of medical marijuana. The lawsuit was filed in federal court by the County of San Diego in an effort to address the confusion between state and federal laws regarding the drug. San Bernardino County Counsel Ron Reitz said under federal law, it is illegal to be in possession of marijuana, regardless of whether it is designated as "medical" or not. For nearly 10 years Californians have had the right to use medical marijuana if recommended by their doctor. In 2003, California Legislature enacted a requirement that counties must issue identification cards to patients authorized to use medical marijuana or the patient's caregiver. "The federal and state governments put us in a conflicting situation," Third District Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said. "We need to get a single answer so the state can get in accordance with federal law. Let's make it consistent." Board Chairman Bill Postmus said the county is in opposition to state's medical marijuana laws because of the problems faced by law enforcement officers. "There needs to be clear resolution because its difficult for the sheriff and deputies to do their job," Postmus said. "I for one am against it ( medical marijuana ). By joining in the lawsuit, we looking for a resolution to this." Reitz said Sheriff Gary Penrod will also be adding his name to the lawsuit. "I refuse to have law enforcement encounter more crime in implementing this ( state ) ordinance," Fifth District Supervisor Josie Gonzales said. "I don't want law enforcement to be trapped between a rock and a hard place." Gonzales said she was also concerned about the identification card requirement and the possibility of fraud. Reitz said so far San Diego and San Bernardino are the only two counties filling a lawsuit against the state in the medical marijuana matter.

Aid Eligibility Changes

2006-02-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Congress gave in after seven years of voting against financial aid eligibility for college students who have had drug convictions Congress gave in after seven years of voting against financial aid eligibility for college students who have had drug convictions. The Higher Education Act originally stated any students applying for aid with a drug conviction would not be considered for eligibility. The law has affected more than 175,000 students. Representatives from the Students for Sensible Drug Policy agree that although this is a step in the right direction, it's a bittersweet victory. "If the student is in college and gets convicted, they're financial aid gets ripped away," Tom Angell, the campaigns director for SSDP, said. Angell said although SSDP is happy to get the law repealed to an extent, their hope is to get the law repealed in full. "While we are happy that some students are going to get their aid back, tens of thousands will be left behind without the money they need to go to school," he said. Angell and the SSDP plan to continue to fight, work in Congress and with the ACLU to try and fight for students who have been denied financial aid. Julie Mallette, the associate vice provost and director of scholarships and financial aid, doesn't know of any students that will be affected at N.C. State. "We have never had that many rejections for financial aid at NCSU, so I guess we have a lot of clean kids," she said. Mallette said the administration and officers in financial aid have never particularly liked the denial of financial aid to students with drug convictions. According to Mallette, there is no logic in rejecting someone's financial aid who has a drug conviction and not someone who has any other conviction. "If convictions for other illegal acts are not a problem, then why drug convictions?" Mallette said. Mallette also commented on the relevance of financial aid and convictions. "Other students [who] can pay out of pocket can come, but if a student is poor and needs financial aid, they cannot come." Laura De Castro, a sophomore in Spanish and political science, agrees with administration in financial aid and SSDP. "I feel if you deny someone from getting financial aid for higher education, more negative actions are being supported," De Castro said. De Castro said an individual who's already been admitted into a university and gets a drug conviction should not be eligible for financial aid, especially if the individual has previous drug convictions. "If someone has gotten into an institute of higher education, I would expect their level of intelligence to be high enough for them to make proper decisions," she said. According to De Castro, if an individual has a history with drug convictions and repeated offenses, his or her aid should be denied. "If the occurrence is a once in a lifetime mistake, it's not fair to deny financial aid, and in essence, higher education," De Castro said. De Castro sees a viable solution as setting a limit on how many convictions an individual can obtain before being denied financial aid. "It's just not fair to someone who gets caught with drugs once and learns [his or her] lesson," she said.

Board Eyes Drug Tests

2006-02-06T12:34:00.000-08:00

Students at Monroe Township High School who participate in sports, co-curricular activities, or have parking permits could be randomly drug-tested in September. MONROE -- The school board is considering rules that would require random drug testing among certain groups of students at Monroe Township High School beginning in September. Superintendent Ralph Ferrie said Jan. 25 that about 10 percent of athletes, students involved in co-curricular activities and students with parking permits could be tested. Students would be suspended from the team or activity if they tested positive for drugs, he said, but they would not be suspended from school. "It's to identify and assist, not to punish," he said. The proposal comes after former Gov. Richard Codey signed legislation on Dec. 20 that would require all sports teams that participate in a state championship game to undergo random drug testing starting in September. Former Gov. Codey also expressed a desire to expand testing to all students within two to three years. The high school distributes 300 parking passes each year through a lottery, Assistant High School Principal James Griffin said. Only seniors are eligible to receive passes. The drug tests could benefit more than just sports teams, student representatives to the school board said at last week's meeting. Just the threat of a parent finding out about drug use could deter some students from risky behavior, representative Darren Goldberg said. "Without this, there would be virtually a minimal way to find out if ( a student ) is a user," said Darren, a senior. The high school already conducts drug tests on students who are suspected users. This year, Dr. Ferrie said, 19 out of about 32 students who were identified as suspected users came back with positive drug tests. Those students were suspended from school and required to meet with a student assistance counselor, Dr. Ferrie said. "When you have a student body approaching 1,400, I would say these numbers are very favorable," he said. "( But ) we would like to see no problem." Student representative Brian Hackett asked why the policy couldn't be aimed at the entire student body. "It's logical, Dr. Ferrie said, "but unconstitutional." Although testing all students for drugs is considered unconstitutional, programs such as one at the Hunterdon Central School District have survived legal challenges, Dr. Ferrie said. The American Civil Liberties Union sued Hunterdon Central in 2000 on behalf of three families arguing that the policy was forbidden under the state constitution. The state Supreme Court upheld Hunterdon Central's policy two years later, citing the school's need to protect its students, but said any other school drug testing policies must be considered separately. At Hunterdon Central, first-time offenders are required to undergo a medical examination at their parents' expense, participate in a prevention program and undergo five sessions with a student assistance counselor. Students also are removed from their team or club until a follow-up drug test comes back negative. Second-time offenders at Hunterdon Central are suspended from the activity for 60 days, Dr. Ferrie said. New Jersey's new law is the first of its kind in the country. Any policy Monroe enacts would have to be reviewed annually, Dr. Ferrie said. Board members expressed enthusiasm about random drug testing. Board member Harold Pollack said it could help identify students who need help but have slipped under the radar. "Parents and grandparents sometimes know very little about what their children are doing, particularly in a drug situation," Mr. Pollack said. "We unfortunately sometimes ignore signs that should be picked up." Board member John Leary suggested that the district also test students for steroids. "That's been an increased area of concern," he said. "( Steroids ) can have serious health implications." While drug testing for state championship participants would be paid for by the state, Monroe would foot the bill for any additional tests. For the program to start in September, Dr. Ferrie said, funding would have to be provided in this year's school budget. The cost of the program is unknown. Resident Thomas Nothstein, who spoke at the meeting, applauded the plan and suggested that funding for the DARE program could be used to pay for the testing. "Based on statistics I read, the DARE program isn't as effective as it should be," he said. "The money might be better spent going toward a random drug test."

We Are Winning the War on Drugs

2006-02-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

There's a wonderful scene in the movie Traffic in which a captured drug kingpin, played by Miguel Ferrer, is being interrogated by two federal agents. Ferrer says to them disdainfully: "You people are like those Japanese soldiers left behind on deserted islands who think that World War II is still going on. Let me be the first to tell you, your government surrendered this war a long time ago." It's a brilliant bit of filmmaking; it's also bunk. Over the last five years, while no one was paying attention, America has been winning its war on drugs. The cosmopolitan view has long been that the fight against drugs is a losing battle; that the supply of drugs pouring into America is never-ending; that drug lords are unrelenting zombie-supermen - kill one, and five more spring up. The American drug problem grew to epidemic proportions throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1979, agencies of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health performed a national household survey of illicit drug use; substances included marijuana, cocaine, heroin, banned hallucinogens and inhalants, and unauthorized use of sedatives, stimulants and analgesics. As of 1979, the numbers were horrifying: 31.8 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 had used drugs; 16.3 percent of them had used in the last month. Among those ages 18 to 25 it was worse: 69 percent had used at some point; 38 percent in the last month. But throughout the '80s, those numbers shrank. Sophisticates derided "Just Say No," but by 1993, only 16.4 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds had used, and only 5.7 percent had used in the last month. In the 18-to-25 age bracket, 50.2 percent had tried drugs, but only 15 percent had used in the last 30 days. It was a remarkable success. From 1993 to 2001, the numbers become less rosy: Among ages 12 to 17, the percentage of youths who had tried drugs increased almost twofold. In the 18-to-25 crowd, the increase was less marked, but still noticeable. There's a reason we pay so much attention to these two age groups. As Tom Riley, the director of public affairs at the Office of National Drug Control Policy ( ONDCP ), explains: "If people don't start using drugs as teenagers - the mechanism of addiction clicks much more quickly in the developing brain - then they are unlikely to ever go on to serious drug abuse. If we can reduce the number of teens who use drugs, we change the shape of the problem for generations to come." After 2001, the tide turned again. Since then, teen drug use is off nearly 19 percent. Which means that 700,000 fewer teens are using drugs today than just a few years ago. What happened? For one thing: funding. Since 1998, the ONDCP's real budget has increased, from $8.2 billion to $12.4 billion. That extra money has mostly gone to law enforcement and drug treatment, attacking both the supply and the demand sides of the problem. Measures for demand are fuzzy, but the supply side of the equation - the "war" part of the war on drugs - has solid metrics. Each substance is its own front and has its own dynamics. Drug supply is shockingly local. Take coca, the substance from which cocaine and crack are derived. From 1998 to 2001, world coca production increased from 586,100 metric tons to 655,800 metric tons, with the lion's share grown in Columbia. Since then, the ONDCP orchestrated a campaign to spray 140,000 hectares of Colombian coca fields with glyphosate ( you know it as Roundup ). The result: world coca production is down 20 percent. With other substances, the news is even better. On Nov. 6, 2000, the Drug Enforcement Agency raided an abandoned missile silo in Wamego, Kan., which housed the world's leading LSD operation. By 2004, LSD availability in America was down 95 percent. The market still hasn't recovered. The supply of all the major drugs is down, but at the same time, drug interdiction is up. In 1989, 533,533 kilograms of the four major drugs were seized by U.S. authorities. By 2005, the total had risen to 1.3 million kilograms. Next week, the ONDCP will release a report outlining their order of battle for 2006. Director John Walters is not the type to go running for the nearest TV camera. Yet the quiet success he has overseen is a powerful reminder that the bad guys are not 10 feet tall; that failure is not inevitable; that the war on drugs is a war worth fighting; and that we're fighting it well.

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Facts About Addiction And Treatment

2006-02-04T09:35:00.000-08:00

What have years of research discovered about alcoholism, substance abuse and addiction? Here are some findings compiled by the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Corporations of Massachusetts. Outpatient substance abuse treatment services reduced clients' arrest rate by 46 percent. Of the 10,000 clients who participated in Driver Alcohol Education due to a drunk driving charge, 90 percent had no subsequent re-arrests for drunk-driving. Residential rehabilitation services increased clients' rate of employment by 36 percent, reduced the use of alcohol or illegal substances by 42 percent, reduced additional arrests by 24 percent, and reduced the utilization of emergency rooms by 12 percent. Clients in treatment for opiate addition experience a 78 percent decrease in arrests, 48 percent decrease in utilization of detoxification services, and a 24 percent decrease in utilization of emergency services. Treatment of addiction is as successful as treatment of other chronic diseases. Drug treatment reduces drug use by 40 to 60 percent. Every $1 spent on treatment yields a return of up to $7 in a reduction of drug-related crime and criminal justice costs. When adding savings related to health care, the savings exceed costs by a ratio of 12:1. Drug-related deaths have almost doubled since 1990; one in four deaths each year is attributable to addictions. More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking. More than nine million children live with a parent dependent on alcohol and/or illicit drugs. Children of alcoholics are four times more likely than children of non-alcoholics to develop alcoholism. The rate of health care costs for children of alcoholics is 32 percent greater than children from non-alcoholic families. Substance abuse is one of the top two problems exhibited by families in 81 percent of reported cases to state protective services.

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Convicted Man Caught With Drugs In Jail Cell

2006-02-03T09:24:00.000-08:00

Hours after a man was sentenced to 2 years in prison for a drug charge, it was discovered that he carried 30 bags of heroin and marijuana into the jail, Suffolk sheriff's officials said yesterday. Bruce Maldonado, 33, of 201 Powell Ave., Central Islip, was taken to the jail in Riverhead on Monday, where he was to remain before being transported to a prison upstate, said Steven Wilutis, the Miller Place attorney who represented him when he pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. About 10 p.m., correction officers struggled briefly with Maldonado in his cell after the sheriff's office received a tip from outside the jail that Maldonado had carried contraband into the jail in his rectum, Chief of Staff Alan Otto said. Maldonado was about to flush the drugs down the toilet when the officers recovered the bags, Otto said. Maldonado, who Otto said has a criminal record involving drugs dating to 1989, was charged with second-degree promoting prison contraband and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Wilutis said he hadn't yet heard of the new charges and doesn't know whether he'll be hired to represent him again. "This is horrible news for him," Wilutis said. "He's been drug-dependent for many years." It was not known how the drugs entered Maldonado's body, but if a bag had ruptured it could have killed him, Otto said. "He has a history of selling drugs," Otto said. "In jail, it's very valuable." Otto said the estimated street value of the drugs is less than $1,000. It was unclear whether Maldonado intended to use the drugs himself or sell them, Otto said.

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You Be Judge Of Capeless' Strategy

2006-02-02T09:23:00.001-08:00

The next case on the criminal trial list for Superior Court is a first-time offender, Mitchell Lawrence, who is accused of selling one gram of marijuana to undercover officer Felix Aguirre. The alleged sale occurred in the a downtown Great Barrington parking lot at the beginning of a long sting operation by the Berkshire County Drug Task Force. Because the district attorney has evoked the school-zone law in this case, Lawrence faces a two-year mandatory minimum jail term if convicted. In 2005, Capeless failed, not once but twice, to gain a conviction against Kyle Sawin who was charged with three counts of selling small quantities of marijuana to Aguirre on different occasions. The first trial ended with a hung jury, the second in an acquittal. The district attorney expressed dismay at what he perceived to be the jury's failure to convict. He had, in fact, put nearly every available resource into winning both trials. But in the end the jurors did not convict because establishing that Sawin sold pot is not the same as proving that he is a drug dealer who should be sent to jail for no less than two years. Capeless has described his extraordinary stance in these cases as an equal application of justice. Ironically, he kicked off 2006 by cutting several discretionary deals with career criminals. During the first couple weeks of January he reached sentencing agreements and dropped firearms charges in several cases involving cocaine and heroin. Four people facing charges from a 2004 drug raid pleaded guilty as part of agreements with the district attorney. One defendant pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and being present where heroin is kept. Another pleaded guilty to possession of heroin with the intent to distribute, being present where heroin is kept and possession of marijuana. They both got probation. Another pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin, distribution of cocaine and being present where heroin is kept. As part of the plea deal the district attorney dropped single counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, possession of a firearm without a firearm identification card, possession of cocaine and marijuana. He got concurrent one-year sentences in the Berkshire House of Correction. And another defendant pleaded guilty to distribution of heroin, distribution of cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and being present where heroin is kept. He's serving five months of a two-year sentence in the Berkshire House of Correction, with the balance suspended for a year of probation. There is no argument for equal application of justice in the case of Mitchell Lawrence. Neither Capeless nor his more able predecessor ever evoked mandatory sentencing in a case involving a single, controlled sale. In the case of Mitchell Lawrence, the district attorney, exercising his sole discretion, is zeroing in on a small, otherwise manageable case, more effectively handled in pretrial conferences, by court magistrate or in district court. He says he is just following the law and hides behind the pretense that he is tough on crime. You be the judge.

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Spencers Hit With Paraphernalia Charges

2006-02-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- The manager of the Spencer's Gift store at the Oxford Valley Mall and the CEO of Spencer's Gift, LLC had drug paraphernalia charges lodged against them after police seized water "bongs" and other marijuana-related items, police said yesterday. Spencer's CEO and President Steven Silverstein, 46, of Summit and store manager Wayne Oles, 53, of Philadelphia, were charged with delivery of or possession with the intent to deliver drug paraphernalia and criminal conspiracy. The misdemeanor charges come after a raid on Sept. 21, 2005 when Middletown police Detective Dan Baranowski went to the store and bought a $39.99 bong, or "hookah" and a number of posters depicting marijuana and one that said "Johnny likes thin girls, but he never turns down a fattie." A "fattie" is street slang for a large marijuana cigarette or blunt, Baranowski said in the affidavit of probable cause with the criminal complaint. He also purchased a poster that had a picture of a jar filled with a green substance that appeared to be marijuana. When Baranowski visited the retail store on Sept. 14 he also saw key chains, T-shirts,, hats, leis of imitation marijuana leafs, stationary, incense, headbands, boxer shorts, candles, ice cube trays, coasters, dishes, glasses, phone books, chess sets, cookie cutters and more depicting marijuana themes or pictures some of which were subsequently seized, according to the affidavit. "When you combine the various above items depicting marijuana usage with the hookahs or water bongs, it is apparent that the company is creating the appearance that the hookahs are for marijuana use. "The message on all these items being sold is certainly pro-drug use. From what the store offered for sale, there is no difference between Spencer's Gifts and any other 'head shop' that sells drug paraphernalia," Baranowski said. "This is certainly irresponsible marketing for a store to sell such items at a public mall where families and children shop. With such a flagrant attitude of acceptance towards drugs and promotions of drug use, as displayed by companies like Spencer's, it is no wonder why so many kids make the wrong decision to start using drugs," Baranowski said. "What are kids supposed to think when this stuff is sold at their local mall? I would hope that Spencer's Gifts, or any other company, would not sell any similar drug-related items in the future just out of social responsibility, if not the law," he said. The water pipes did say on a sticker on the package that "This item is intended to be used for smoking legal products only." But when the store clerk was asked by Baranowski why put the sticker on the box when the only thing they're used for is to smoke pot, the clerk responded "That's the only thing I know that they're used for," according to the affidavit. Based on what Middletown police found in the Oxford Valley Mall, the Bensalem police went to the Spencer's in the Neshaminy Mall and also seized bongs or hookahs, Baranowski said. During last September's raidMiddletown police reported they also seized"pot pops", or pops made with hemp oil that carry the slogan "Tastes Like the Real Deal" along with other marijuana -- related items. At that time Spencer's officials maintained the merchandise they're selling is perfectly legal. "Spencer's is a lifestyle retail brand and we sell accessories that support our guests' lifestyles. Our store is about expression. There are forms of expression in the stores such as humor, room decor, and personal accessories. We don't sell anything illegal," Heather Golin, director of corporate communications, said last September. "Our pot leaf merchandise is just merchandise with a pot leaf on it. It's a symbol only and a form of expression. "The hookah is a cultural phenomenon that's been around for thousands of years. There's hookah bars and lounges all over the United States and in Philadelphia where people smoke tobacco," Golin said. Spencer's Gifts has been in business since 1946 and has been in the mall arena since 1964. The company's targeted customers are between the ages of 18 to 24, Golin said, essentially kids in an age of rebellion. According to the affidavit, "when Baranowski spoke to Silverstein, the CEO said they are a private company that does not sell stock and that his store 'is part of a cultural phenomena.'" "It is ultimately my decision what gets sold in our stores, but we listen to customers," Silverstein said, which was included in the criminal complaint. He described the stores as an "irreverent retailer who challenges authority." "We cater to what people want -- if this is what they want, we'll sell it to them," Silverstein said adding that he still plans to sell all of the merchandise, except the bongs in Bucks County only. If found guilty on all charges the two men face a maximum fine of $5,000 and two years in prison. Oles was not in the store yesterday and could not be reached for comment, and Silverstein did not return calls.

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Ed Dept Is Sued Over Data On Student-Loan Applicants

2006-02-02T09:22:00.001-08:00

An organization that advocates an end to the nation's "war on drugs" sued the Department of Education last week for charging $4,100 for data on the answers given by federal college-loan applicants to a question about convictions for drug-related crimes. The Higher Education Act bars loans to applicants with a drug conviction, although a provision in a spending bill awaiting final passage in Congress would limit that restriction to applicants convicted of drug offenses while they attended college on a federal loan. In 2004, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a nonprofit group in Washington, asked for the data going back to 2000 and broken down by state, under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The group claimed an exemption from the processing fee under a provision of FOIA covering the disclosure of information that contributes significantly to public understanding of government operations and that is not primarily in the requestor's commercial interest. In a Sept. 20 letter to SSDP, Michell C. Clark, the Education Department's chief information officer, said the group had not shown that there was a public interest in the information, and that he couldn't rule out that SSDP's campaign "could directly benefit those who would profit from the deregulation or legalization of drugs." An Education Department spokeswoman said last week that it had not yet been served with the suit, filed Jan. 26 in U.S. District Court in Washington, and could not comment on it.

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Hemp To Turn King Cotton?

2006-02-02T09:22:00.000-08:00

EUREKA -- A new bill to legalize industrial hemp passed the state Assembly this week, and some believe it could provide Humboldt County with significant economic benefit. Assembly Bill 1147 would make legal the growing of hemp, a material that can be used to make everything from fabric and rope to soap and jewelry. It still has to get by the state Senate and gain the signature of the governor, but even then farmers can't just start growing the marijuana cousin. Because it contains trace amounts of THC -- the psychoactive chemical in marijuana -- it still falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. But some people here -- conservatives and liberals alike -- think the legalization of the plant could help Humboldt County's economy. North Coast Assemblywoman Patty Berg, D-Eureka, co-athored the bill. "People should be able to farm it," she said. "It's useful for so many products. It's not a marijuana issue, it's a manufacturing issue." "It's definitely a good thing," said Arcata Councilman Dave Meserve. "Hemp has so many different uses industrially and to me it's a totally separate issue from marijuana." Meserve said hemp has almost no psychoactive properties. "I think this provides a new opportunity for farmers to grow an industrial crop here, since we do know that the related species grows very well in this climate," Meserve said. He refers to Humboldt County's reputation for producing high-quality marijuana. Republican stalwart Mike Harvey said he too believes that the potential legalization of hemp could be a good thing for Humboldt County. "I personally don't have a problem with industrial hemp as a commodity on the market," he said. "It's a viable economic option, as long as it doesn't go down that slippery slope to the legalization of marijuana." District Attorney Paul Gallegos said he hadn't yet seen the bill, but also said that the issues of hemp and marijuana are separate. "I do not see how legalizing industrial hemp has anything to do with drugs," he said. "It's industrial hemp." In a press release issued this week, the bill's author, Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, said it would be an economic positive for the state's farmers. "California farmers are missing out on a multimillion-dollar market that already exists in California," he said. "Hundreds of hemp products are made right here in California, but manufacturers are forced to import hemp seed, oil and fiber from other countries. This measure will put California at the top of a $270 million industry that's growing by $26 million each year." But some critics complained that allowing hemp to be grown puts the state on a slippery slope. "You pass industrial hemp today and then something else and then something else," said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy, R-Monrovia. "And then at some point you will get legalized marijuana."

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League Clamps Down On Cannabis

2006-02-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

ELITE rugby league players caught using cannabis will be banned for up to two years in the code's first clampdown on recreational drugs. The NRL, which previously adopted a controversially soft approach to drugs not considered performance-enhancing, will name players who test positive to cannabis on a world anti-drugs Internet "shame file". NRL officials last night confirmed marijuana users in senior grades now faced a 12-month suspension for a first offence, while repeat offenders would be thrown out of the game for two years. Until this year, NRL players testing positive to cannabis were ordered to attend club-sponsored counselling sessions but were not suspended. The new hardline approach was forced on the NRL when it adopted the World Anti-Doping Authority drug policy under the threat of losing Federal Government funding. "It is one of changes we have made in compliance with the WADA policy," NRL communications director John Brady said. "Anything that reminds players about the importance of avoiding drugs is a positive." Former and current players were divided over the decision. "Marijuana is a performance-reducing drug. I don't know why they are testing for it," former Manly, New South Wales and Australia player Geoff Toovey said. Former Australia captain Laurie Daley said: "I'm an advocate for zero tolerance when it comes to drugs. It is something we have to be vigilant on."

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Model Success

2006-02-02T09:19:00.000-08:00

Re: Jail terms don't deter crime, Jan. 31. If long prison terms or tough drug laws prevented crime, the United States would have a very low crime rate. We do not. In the Czech Republic, citizens can legally grow and possess small quantities of cannabis. Czech citizens use cannabis at higher rates than perhaps any other people on the planet. Therefore, according to the logic of our drug-war cheerleaders, the Czech Republic must have a very high crime rate. When I did a Google search for "crime in Czech Republic," I found that they have a homicide rate of two per 100,000 population. Their rate of robbery and violent theft was also at two per 100,000 population. Drug offences are listed at one per 100,000 population per year. I suggest that readers compare the U.S. and Czech crime rates, then decide which country has the best drug policies. My suggestion is that we model success, not failure. Kirk Muse, Mesa, Arizona

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Stock Show Boots Petitioner

2006-02-02T09:16:00.000-08:00

RAPID CITY - Well-known Libertarian political activist Bob Newland of Hermosa found a generally receptive crowd at the Black Hills Stock Show this week for his campaign to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. He also found himself under arrest for violating restrictions on gathering petition signatures inside Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Newland was arrested Tuesday by Rapid City police officers and booked for failure to vacate. He is scheduled to appear in 7th Circuit Court at 8 a.m. Wednesday. "I'll plead not guilty and ask for a trial as quickly as possible," Newland said Tuesday evening after being released on bond. "My view is that this is just wrong. Anybody can go into those public hallways and talk about anything at anytime. It's owned by the public." Civic center manager Brian Maliske said Wednesday that Newland was asked to leave several times before he was arrested. Maliske said the civic center allows those who rent the facility to determine what activities are allowed during the rental period. "As a building, that's our policy, unless otherwise designated," Maliske said. "To me, it's like renting a motel room." The Central States Fair rents the civic center for the stock show, and it leases booth space for a variety of vendors, including petition drives, Maliske said. "We have several folks who leased out space this year and are doing petition drives inside," he said. "Bob was just walking the halls, and the Central States Fair folks were getting a number of complaints. They asked him to leave, and he refused." Newland had been gathering petition signatures outside the building. But when it got windy and cold Tuesday, he decided to move inside. He knew it was against regulations. "Over a period of several years, I've been aware that the civic center had this policy. I never needed to test it," he said. "We had a nice, receptive crowd there, and my fingers were getting cold." Newland said the crowd at the stock show was more receptive than any other he had experienced in his drive to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. "It was a very receptive crowd, the best crowd I've worked since I started this," he said. "Half the people I approached signed my petition. By the end of the week, we'll have 3,000 to 4,000 signatures." Newland, who has been an unsuccessful candidate for public office on the Libertarian ticket, is petition circulation coordinator for South Dakotans for Safe Access. He said he was surprised at how willing the largely rural crowd was to sign his petition to make medicinal marijuana legal. "I suspect it's because cowboys, especially old cowboys, know a lot about pain," he said. Newland said he would continue to seek petition signatures outside the building.

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