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DRUGSENSE WEEKLY

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DrugSense Weekly,                Feb. 6, 2009                      #586

Read This Publication On-line at:  http://www.drugsense.org/current.htm

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

* This Just In

    (1) Bush Holdovers at DEA Continue Pot Raids
    (2) Phelps Loses Endorsement Pact, Faces Suspension Over Photos
    (3) In a Mexico State, Openness Is the New Order in the Courts
    (4) Violence Will Escalate: Experts

* Weekly News in Review

Drug Policy-

    (5) Plan Has Billions For Police
    (6) Swimmer To Speak Despite Pot Pictures
    (7) City Alters Prosecution of Certain Marijuana, Drug Offenses
    (8) Sheriff Settles Claim Over Racial Profiling In Campus Raid

Law Enforcement & Prisons-

    (9) X-Rays, Dogs To Sniff Out Drugs In Prison
    (10) Column: Proposed Rachel's Law Has Good Intentions, But Is It Practical
    (11) Mayor Gets Tough, Goes On Trial
    (12) Teacher's Drug Charge Isn't a Simple Issue

Cannabis & Hemp-

    (13) Phelps A Toke-ing Of Pot Legalizers' Affection
    (14) Obama's Brother On Drugs Charge
    (15) Marijuana Could Prevent Alzheimer's
    (16) UMASS Professor Lyle Craker Denied Permission To Grow And Study Marijuana On Campus

International News-

    (17) Obama And The Afghan Narco-State
    (18) General Says Shoot Dealers In Afghanistan
    (19) Police Defend Use Of Sniffer Dogs
    (20) 'Cultivation Of Indian Hemp In S-West Our Major Headache'
    (21) No Evidence To Link Cannabis And Mental Illness
    (22) Rift With EU As U.S. Sticks To Bush Line On 'War On Drugs'

* Hot Off The 'Net

    DrugSense  Honors Russell Barth For Reaching 500 Published Letters
    Aftermath Of A SWAT Team Raid Gone Wrong
    The Letter Michael Phelps Should Have Written
    Jury Nullification In Illinois?
    Arrest Michael Phelps! / By Stanton Peele
    Obama Is Against Pot Raids, The Public Is Against Pot Raids, And Yet ...
    Addicts' Adventures In Wonderland / By Danny Kushlick
    Pot Arrests Dip In Denver Following Ballot Initiative
    Is This The Year New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws Will Be Repealed?
    Drug Truth Network
    Legal Ease With Kirk Tousaw
    MPP  Responds  To  Photo Of Olympic Champ Caught Smoking Marijuana
        
* What You Can Do This Week

    Job Opening At RIPAC
    Please Contact The Obama Administration
    Castigate Kellogg

* Letter Of The Week

    Resolution On Pot Deserves Discussion / Art Gallegos

* Feature Article

VICS  Constitutional  Challenge  of  Health  Canada  Medical  Cannabis
Program Successful! / Philippe Lucas

* Quote of the Week

    Ogden Nash

DrugSense  needs  your  support  to  continue this newsletter and many
other important projects - see how you can help at
http://www.drugsense.org/donate.htm

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THIS JUST IN
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(1) BUSH HOLDOVERS AT DEA CONTINUE POT RAIDS

Pubdate: Thu, 5 Feb 2009
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.
Authors: Stephen Dinan and Ben Conery

Drug  Enforcement  Administration agents this week raided four medical
marijuana  shops  in  California,  contrary  to  President  Obama's
campaign promises to stop the raids.

The  White  House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr.
Obama  nominates  someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by
Bush administration holdovers.

"The  president  believes that federal resources should not be used to
circumvent  state  laws,  and  as  he  continues  to  appoint  senior
leadership  to  fill  out  the  ranks  of  the  federal government, he
expects  them  to  review  their  policies  with  that in mind," White
House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.

Medical  use  of  marijuana is legal under the law in California and a
dozen  other  states, but the federal government under President Bush,
bolstered  by  a  2005  Supreme  Court  ruling,  argued  that  federal
interests trumped state law.

Dogged  by  marijuana  advocates  throughout  the  campaign, Mr. Obama
repeatedly  said  he  was  opposed  to using the federal government to
raid  medical  marijuana  shops,  particularly  because  it  was  an
infringement on states' decisions.

"I'm  not  going  to  be  using Justice Department resources to try to
circumvent  state  laws  on  this  issue,"  Mr.  Obama  told  the Mail
Tribune  newspaper  in  Oregon in March, during the Democratic primary
campaign.

He  told  the  newspaper the "basic concept of using medical marijuana
for  the  same  purposes  and  with  the  same controls as other drugs
prescribed  by  doctors,  I  think  that's  entirely  appropriate."

Mr.  Obama  is  still  filling key law enforcement posts. For now, DEA
is  run  by  acting  Administrator Michele Leonhart, a Bush appointee.

Special  Agent  Sarah  Pullen  of  the  DEA's  Los Angeles office said
agents  raided  four  marijuana  dispensaries  about noon Tuesday. Two
were  in  Venice  and one each was in Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Ray
-- all in the Los Angeles area.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n129/a08.html

===

(2) PHELPS LOSES ENDORSEMENT PACT, FACES SUSPENSION OVER PHOTOS

Pubdate: Fri, 6 Feb 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Author: Suzanne Vranica and Matthew Futterman

Kellogg  Co.  is  severing  its relationship with Michael Phelps after
the Olympian was photographed smoking marijuana.

In  addition,  USA  Swimming,  the  sport's  governing  body, took the
unusual  step  of  suspending Mr. Phelps for three months, not because
he  violated  drug  regulations,  but because "he disappointed so many
people,"  the  federation  said.  He will not be able to compete until
May.  The  world championship competition takes place in Rome in July.

USA  Swimming  suspended  Michael Phelps for three months, not because
he  violated  drug  regulations,  but because "he disappointed so many
people," the federation said.

The  Battle  Creek, Mich., packaged-food company, whose brands include
Frosted  Flakes,  Rice  Krispies  and  Pop-Tarts,  said  Thursday  it
wouldn't  continue  its  endorsement  contract with the gold medalist,
which comes up for renewal at the end of the month.

In  September,  the  company  unveiled  a  special-edition  line  of
packaging  featuring  the  champion  swimmer.  His  image  appeared on
Kellogg's  Frosted  Flakes  cereal, Kellogg's Corn Flakes cereal, Club
Crackers  and  Kellogg's  Rice  Krispies  Treats  Marshmallow Squares.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n137/a04.html

===

(3) IN A MEXICO STATE, OPENNESS IS THE NEW ORDER IN THE COURTS

Pubdate: Fri, 6 Feb 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Author: Ken Ellingwood, Reporting from Chihuahua, Mexico

Mexico Under Siege

Closed-Door,  Written  Trials  Give  Way  to U.S.-Style Proceedings in
Chihuahua.  The  Overhaul  Could  Help  Fight Corruption and Organized
Crime, Analysts Say.

Silvia  Guadalupe  Perez  burst  into  tears  as  she named the bitter
ingredients  of  her  new  life as a widow: three children emotionally
adrift,  a  mounting  pile  of  bills  and meager factory wages to pay
them.

"I  can't  . . . " Perez, 36, said as she sobbed on the witness stand.
She  took  a  sip  of  water  and dabbed her eyes with a tissue before
turning again to the prosecutor's gentle questioning.

A  few  paces  away, the man convicted of mowing down her husband with
a  big-rig  truck  gnawed  his  lip  and stared a hole into his cowboy
boots. By day's end, a three-judge panel would deliver his
punishment.

Courtroom  dramas  such  as this sentencing are standard fare north of
the  U.S.  border.  But  what's  happening  in  the  northern state of
Chihuahua  amounts  to  a  revolution in Mexican justice. Far-reaching
legal  reforms  have  brought  U.S.-style  trials to the border state,
providing  a  glimpse of the kind of change that experts say is needed
throughout  Mexico  to rescue an opaque and graft-laden justice system
besieged by organized crime.

Chihuahua  has  overturned  centuries-old  legal traditions and opened
courts to public scrutiny as never before.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n137/a05.html

===

(4) VIOLENCE WILL ESCALATE: EXPERTS

Pubdate: Thu, 05 Feb 2009
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: Susan Lazaruk

Crime Fueled By Soaring Price Of Cocaine

The  explosion  of  violence -- fueled by the soaring price of cocaine
--  that  rocked  Metro Vancouver this week will likely escalate, gang
experts predict.

"You  usually  get  a  half-dozen  events  of  this kind," said Robert
Gordon,  director  of  Simon  Fraser  University's criminology centre.

Sgt.  Shinder  Kirk  of  the  Integrated  Gang  Task  Force  said  the
violence tends to erupt in waves.

"We  know  the  violence  occurs  in cycles," said Kirk. "We also know
that this violence can occur at any time."

Three  people  --  all  known  to  police -- were shot dead early this
week  in  Surrey  and Coquitlam. Police said the three shootings -- of
Raphael  Baldini,  21,  and  a  21-year-old  Port  Coquitlam  woman on
Tuesday  and  James  Ward  Erickson,  25, on Monday -- aren't related.

There  have  been  a  further  five  incidents  involving  deaths  and
shootings since last January.

Experts  agree  the  violence  is  pushed  by the drug trade, but they
speculate  it  doesn't  necessarily  involve organized criminals, such
as  biker  and  Asian  gangs. Instead, they say, smaller upstarts with
loose and scattered networks are behind the shootings.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n131/a08.html

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WEEKLY NEWS IN REVIEW
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Domestic News- Policy
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COMMENT: (5-8)

 Anyone  really  expecting  the  Obama administration to change course
 from  the  Bush  administration  in  regard  to the drug war got some
 unpleasant  surprises  this  week.  Indeed, the new economic stimulus
 plan  pushed  by  Obama  contains  new  money  for regional drug task
 forces  -  money  that  had been cut by the Bush administration. (I'm
 not  missing  Bush yet, but he deserves credit for that one.) And, as
 noted  in  the  This  Just  In  section above, Obama officials may be
 speaking  out  against the medical marijuana raids in California, but
 they're not really taking any action.

 Anybody  heard the news about Michael Phelps? Media reaction has been
 so  strong  and  so  widespread,  we  carry several stories about the
 incident  in  this  DrugSense Weekly. While many sportswriters across
 the  world chuckled and clucked at Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Phelps,
 fans  who were consulted didn't seem troubled at all. Also this week:
 The  capitol  of  Illinois is ready to begin writing ticket for minor
 cannabis  possession;  and  a California sheriff's department finally
 acknowledges  racial  bias  in  the  drug war, at least one instance.

===

(5) PLAN HAS BILLIONS FOR POLICE

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2009 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.

Money  Would  Resurrect  Several  Grants  Cut  By  Bush  White  House

WASHINGTON  -  President Barack Obama wants the government back in the
policing business, big time.

Obama's  huge  stimulus  plan  includes  about $4 billion to resurrect
grants  that  put  tens  of  thousands of police on the streets during
the  1990s.  The  programs  were  all  but  eliminated during the Bush
administration  amid  criticism  that their results didn't justify the
hefty price tags.

The  grants  are  popular  with  Democrats,  and  restoring  them  was
central  to  Obama's  campaign  plan  to  combat  rising  violence. By
tacking  the  money  onto  the  stimulus  plan, Obama avoids having to
defend the spending during the normal budget process.

The  proposal  allocates  $3  billion for the Byrne Justice Assistance
Grant,  a  program  that  has  funded  drug  task forces, after-school
programs, prisoner rehabilitation and other programs.

An  additional  $1  billion  in  stimulus  money  is set aside for the
Community  Oriented  Policing  Services  program begun under President
Bill  Clinton.  The  program,  known as COPS grants, paid the salaries
of  many  local  police officers and was a "modest contributor" to the
decline  in  crime  in  the  1990s,  according  to  a  2005 government
oversight report.

President  George  W.  Bush  slashed both grant programs over the past
eight  years,  citing a series of reports questioning their efficiency
and oversight.

But  the  programs remain popular among many lawmakers, who often used
the  grants  to steer money to their home districts. Mayors and police
chiefs love them, particularly during lean economic times.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n127/a06.html

===

(6) SWIMMER TO SPEAK DESPITE POT PICTURES

Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2009
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: Sean Myers

A  Calgary  speaking  engagement  for  record breaking Olympic swimmer
Michael  Phelps  will  go  ahead as planned despite the publication of
photos  that  appear  to  show  the elite American athlete smoking pot
from a bong.

Toronto-based  Power  Within,  the group organizing the March 3 event,
said  a  survey  of  its clients and sponsors showed there is now even
more interest in hearing what Phelps, 23, has to say.

"We're  not  changing  our  position on it," said Power Within founder
Salim Khoja. "His message and his accomplishments speak for
themselves.

"There's  a  lot  of  excitement  about  him  in  Calgary. Parents are
planning to bring their kids."

Khoja  said  the tickets, which are selling for$229, are nearly 70 per
cent sold.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n134/a06.html

===

(7) CITY ALTERS PROSECUTION OF CERTAIN MARIJUANA, DRUG OFFENSES

Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2009
Source: State Journal-Register (IL)
Copyright: 2009 The State Journal-Register
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/425
Author: Deana Poole, The State Journal-Register

Possession  Of  Less  Than  2.5  Grams  Can  Be  Ordinance  Violation

Getting caught with a small amount of marijuana or drug
paraphernalia  in  Springfield  won't  automatically  result  in  a
criminal record anymore.

The  Springfield  City  Council  on  Tuesday  voted  7-3 to allow some
offenses,  including  possession  of marijuana less than 2.5 grams, to
be prosecuted as ordinance violations instead of crimes.

Springfield  will  join  other  cities,  including  Joliet,  Aurora,
Bloomington,  Champaign  and  Urbana,  that  give  police officers the
discretion to decide how certain offenses are handled.

Ward  2  Ald.  Gail  Simpson,  who  sponsored  the ordinance, said her
proposal  originally  began  as  a way to generate money for the city,
which faces a $12.5 million budget shortfall.

"I  feel  certain  it's  going to generate additional revenues that we
need,"  Simpson  said  after  the  meeting. "It's going to be good for
those  individuals  who  do  silly  things  and  get  in  trouble, but
they're not going to be stigmatized."

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n125/a06.html

===

(8) SHERIFF SETTLES CLAIM OVER RACIAL PROFILING IN CAMPUS RAID

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Los Angeles Times
Author: Richard Winton

Department  agrees  to  revise  training  and notify community college
trustees after incident at L.A. Trade-Tech.

The  Los  Angeles  County  Sheriff's Department, settling a claim over
detentions  of  minority  students  during  a  narcotics search at Los
Angeles  Trade-Technical  College,  has agreed to revise its anti-bias
training  and  ensure  that  its supervisors prevent racial profiling.

The  Sheriff's  Department,  which  patrols  Los  Angeles  Community
College  District  campuses,  reached the settlement with the American
Civil  Liberties  Union  of  Southern  California  to  resolve a claim
alleging  the  department  stopped  and  searched  dozens  of  African
American  students  based on their race. The incident occurred Oct. 17
on the campus south of downtown Los Angeles.

Attorneys  for  the ACLU said that under the settlement, the Sheriff's
Department  will  implement  changes,  including  examining  current
anti-racial  bias  procedures  and  revising  its policy to state that
department  officials  within  their power "guarantee racial profiling
and bias-policing are not practiced."

"Our  Constitution  and  laws  protect  the  community  against  law
enforcement  harassment  based  on  skin color, and this settlement is
one  step  toward  ensuring that the Sheriff's Department never allows
that  to  happen  again,"  said  Catherine  Lhamon,  racial  justice
director at the local ACLU chapter.

The  suit  stems  from  an  incident  in which 14 deputies went to the
campus  allegedly  looking  for  drug  dealers  and  detained 33 black
students.  A  Latino  student  who  attempted  to take pictures of the
raid was also detained. Two people were arrested.

An  investigation  by  the  college district, which oversees the trade
school,  concluded  that  the  student  roundup  constituted  racial
profiling:  using  racial  or  ethnic  characteristics  to  determine
whether a person is likely to have committed a crime.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n126/a03.html

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Law Enforcement & Prisons
-------------------------

COMMENT: (9-12)

 Canada  is  spending  a  ton  of  money to get serious about removing
 illegal  drugs from prisons, and presumably, putting those drugs back
 on  the  street  where  they  belong.  In  Florida, a proposed law to
 protect  police  informants  from the fate of the late Rachel Hoffman
 is  getting  criticized by police - as usual, protecting the drug war
 appears  to  be  a  bigger priority than protecting people. A similar
 theme  is  at  play  in Texas where a star teacher is facing criminal
 charges  after  sniffer dogs (which are rarely trained to find Xanax)
 allegedly  found  unauthorized Xanax in her car at the school parking
 lot.  And,  straight from Jackson, Mississippi, the mayor's notoriety
 has made the Wall Street Journal.

===

(9) X-RAYS, DOGS TO SNIFF OUT DRUGS IN PRISON

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2009
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2009 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Author: Gary Dimmock

Organized  crime  may  be  about  to  lose its grip on one of its most
profitable  markets  as  the  Harper government moves to put an end to
drug smuggling into penitentiaries.

In this war on drugs -- including marijuana -- the federal
government  will  spend  $120 million over the next four years to hire
80  teams  of  drug-sniffing  dogs  and  165  security  intelligence
officers.

The  government  has  replaced  or  installed  30  X-ray  machines and
scanners  in  federal  prisons, and plans to put extra staff on towers
to  stop  drugs  from being thrown over fences and walls into Canada's
prisons, said Public Safety spokeswoman Jacinthe Perras.

The  illicit  drug  trade in Canada's prisons is rarely heard about on
the  outside,  but  an internal security report provides a window into
its workings.

Some  inmates  use their court appearances as occasions to act as drug
mules.  On  the  day  of  their  sentencing,  some convicted criminals
place  the  drugs  inside  their  bodies,  pre-measured  and placed in
specific  coloured  balloons  or  condoms.  Inside  the  prison,  the
dealers  retrieve,  check  and  weigh  the drug packages. If a mule is
thought  to  have  tampered with a drug package, the punishment can be
deadly, the report notes.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n118/a08.html

===

(10) COLUMN: PROPOSED RACHEL'S LAW HAS GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT IS IT
PRACTICAL

Pubdate: Wed, 28 Jan 2009
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2009 St. Petersburg Times
Author: Sue Carlton

No  one  wants  what happened to an inexperienced undercover informant
named Rachel Hoffman to ever happen again.

Not  police,  who say using such informants is critical to making drug
cases.  Not  prosecutors.  And  obviously not well-meaning legislators
pushing  for  a  "Rachel's  Law" to set state standards for informants
in criminal investigations.

But  does  this  best-of-intentions  bill  in  her  name  go  too far?

Hoffman,  a  23-year-old  Florida  State  graduate,  was murdered last
year  while  working  with Tallahassee police. She was in a supervised
drug  court  program  when  officers  found marijuana and pills in her
apartment,  and  agreed  to go undercover for consideration in her own
case.

But  Hoffman  was  inexperienced,  untrained  and  unprepared  for the
dangerous  path  they  set  her  on.  A  grand  jury  later called her
immature  and  "way  over  her head." She was supposed to buy ecstasy,
cocaine  and  a  gun  from  two  convicted  felons.  She  went  alone,
carrying $13,000.

The  sting  could  not have gone more wrong. Police lost contact. They
didn't find her body for two days.

Now  we  have  the  pending Rachel's Law sponsored by Sen. Mike Fasano
of  New  Port  Richey  and fellow Republican Rep. Peter Nehr of Tarpon
Springs.  No  question,  the  bill  contains sensible requirements for
using informants: among them, police training, mandatory
consideration  of  an  informant's  age,  stability  and experience, a
specific  written  agreement  and  a chance to consult a lawyer first.

But  the  law  would  also  require  the local state attorney ( and in
some cases, judge ) to approve all deals ahead of time, a
potentially  bad  blurring  of the lines between the distinct roles of
police  and  prosecutors.  (  Contrary  to  your  average  Law & Order
episode,  the  two  have  separate jobs and routinely disagree on, for
example, the proper charges someone should face. )

Veteran  police  I  talked  with  said  in drug cases, things can move
fast,  catch  a  guy  with  drugs,  flip him and get the dealer before
everyone disappears.

"Some  of  (  the bill ) makes all the sense in the world," says Tampa
police  Chief  Steve Hogue. "But some of it is a little problematic in
that  the  bill  wasn't  written  with  real police work, particularly
narcotics work, in mind."

Prosecutors  have  their  own  reservations.  Pinellas-Pasco  State
Attorney  Bernie  McCabe says the law as is could reduce the number of
confidential informants substantially.

"You're  going  to seriously curtail enforcement of our drug laws with
this  legislation,"  says Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober. "This
is not a viable solution to this terrible event."

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n118/a07.html

===

(11) MAYOR GETS TOUGH, GOES ON TRIAL

Pubdate: Mon, 02 Feb 2009
Source: Wall Street Journal (US)
Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Author: Paulo Prada

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mayor Frank Melton got elected by wooing
working-class  blacks  and  upper-class  whites  with  a  promise  to
personally  evict  the  "thugs"  and  drug  dealers  who  plagued  his
crime-bedeviled  city's  streets.  "Get  ready,"  he  told  residents.
"Because this is going to be different."

On  Monday,  Mr.  Melton  is scheduled to go on trial -- for the third
time  since  taking  office  --  on  felony  charges  related  to  his
hard-line,  gun-toting  tactics.  Mr.  Melton is battling three counts
in  the  U.S.  District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
on  civil-rights  and  related weapons charges after he and two police
bodyguards, and a group of young acquaintances wielding
sledgehammers,  allegedly  destroyed  a  home  where  the  mayor  has
claimed  occupants  used  and  sold  crack  cocaine. Mississippi has a
long  history  of  tough-talking  local  candidates.  But the rise and
potential  fall  of  Mr.  Melton,  an African-American, have exposed a
big  rift  among  blacks,  who  make  up  more  than  70% of Jackson's
population.  Some  African-Americans  here  say  the mayor has "talked
down"  to  the  black  community and used the same kind of harsh words
and  tactics  once  used by club-wielding whites. In his zeal to fight
crime,  many  add,  he  has  ignored  other city needs and led Jackson
government astray.

While  some  residents  still  approve  of his efforts to combat crime
himself,  others  complain  that  his efforts haven't actually lowered
the  crime  rate. "He means well and has a huge heart, but he's not an
effective  mayor,"  said  Brad  "Kamikaze"  Franklin,  a  35-year-old
rapper and Jackson developer who once supported Mr. Melton.

In  an  interview  Friday,  Mr.  Melton  said his 2005 landslide, with
over  80%  of  the vote, was "a mandate to get this place cleaned up."
He  declined  to  discuss  the  pending  charges,  but  reaffirmed his
innocence  and  said  he plans to run for re-election, despite what he
calls his "frustration" with bureaucracy.

"I'm  from  the private sector and used to ... having things done," he
said,  lamenting  his  inability,  because  of  his legal problems, to
conduct  police  activity  himself  since the incident in which a home
was  destroyed.  Crime  hasn't fallen, he argued, because "I'm not out
there."

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n119/a02.html

===

(12) TEACHER'S DRUG CHARGE ISN'T A SIMPLE ISSUE

Pubdate: Fri, 30 Jan 2009
Source: Houston Chronicle (TX)
Copyright: 2009 Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst
Newspaper
Author: Lisa Gray

Students  at  Roberts  Elementary  School  learned a harsh lesson Jan.
13.  That  was  the  day  the  Houston  Independent  School  District
dispatched  its  drug-sniffing  dog  to  check  the  school's  teacher
parking lot.

The  search  at  Roberts  was part of a larger HISD crackdown. A month
before,  after  a  string  of  teachers were arrested on drug charges,
Superintendent  Abelardo  Saavedra announced plans to have a dog sniff
every  teacher  parking  lot  in  the  district  -- never mind whether
anyone thought the school had a drug problem.

And  no  one  thought Roberts Elementary had a drug problem -- or, for
that  matter,  any  real  problem  at  all.  Roberts,  near  the Texas
Medical  Center,  is  a  sweet,  safe-feeling place, full of kids' art
and parent volunteers.

Roberts  is  on Texas Monthly's list of the best public schools in the
state  and  in  2008  won  six  Gold Performance Awards from the Texas
Education  Agency.  An  International Baccalaureate school, it teaches
its  kids  to  think  in  complex  ways.  It's  a  school  that works.

But  on  that Tuesday morning, just before lunch, Roberts suddenly had
a  problem.  After  two  false alarms, the dog pointed to the last car
anyone  at  Roberts  would have expected: the car belonging to beloved
art teacher Mindy Herrick.

Teacher Of The Year

Herrick,  59,  has  taught  at  Roberts for 17 years. Parents describe
her as "inspirational," "talented" and "loving."

She  comes  to work early so kids can finish projects they didn't have
time to complete in class. So many kids wanted to join her
after-school  art  club that it had to be restricted to fifth-graders.
More  than  one  parent  tells  how  she dropped by a student's house,
bearing art books that she thought might be of interest.

She's  a  ferocious  doubles  tennis  player,  nationally  ranked,  so
fanatical  about  her  game  that  she  hesitated a year before taking
cholesterol meds that her doctor prescribed.

In  1995  and  1999,  Herrick  was  Roberts'  teacher of the year. For
2005-06,  she  was  teacher  of  the  year  for  HISD's entire Central
District. And in 2009, she was busted.

In  the  middle  of  a  class, police escorted her from her classroom.
After  she  unlocked  her  car,  police  found a baggie with two Xanax
pills.

Herrick  said  she  has  no idea how the pills got into her car, which
other people in her family drive.

But  no  matter.  She was hauled away from the school she loves in the
back  of  a  squad  car  and  charged  with possession of a controlled
substance  within  1,000  feet  of  a  school.  If  convicted  of that
third-degree  felony,  she  could  serve  two  to  10 years in prison.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n123/a09.html

=======================================================================

Cannabis & Hemp-
---------------------------

COMMENT: (13-16)

 We've  been having a debate here at the Media Awareness Project as to
 whether  we  should  enhance  our services with low brow celebrity or
 high brow science. This week illustrates our dilemma.

 Unless  you  live  in  a  cloud  of  haze,  you have heard of Michael
 Phelps.  You  know,  the guy supposedly taking a bong hit whose photo
 was  plastered  all  over the Internet. The hoopla almost matched the
 other  fuss  the  media made over him - a record eight gold medals in
 the  2008  Summer  Olympics.  Not surprising, bloggers and columnists
 jumped  all  over  the story, growing our archive and providing great
 fodder for LTEs.

 Another  celebrity  pot  smoker  by  the name of Obama made news this
 past  week.  No, not our 44th President as inevitable comparisons are
 drawn  to  highly  competitive  and  accomplished people like him and
 Michael  Phelps.  This  new  found  celebrity  is the half brother of
 President Obama, who was arrested near his "ramshackle
 accommodations"  in  a  Nairobi,  Kenya, slum for possessing a single
 joint  of  "bhang." It is unclear as to why this arrest occurred, but
 the word "bribe" did end the article.

 Taking  the high road is Ohio State University where leading research
 has  shown that cannabinoids slow the progression of brain cell death
 in  elderly rats, potentially translating into a cure for Alzheimer's
 disease.  Another notable accomplishment for all cannabis aficionados
 was  reported  in  the  school's  Lantern  newspaper,  "The  American
 Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  has recently elected
 [lead  researcher,  Dr.  Gary] Wenk as a fellow for his contributions
 to Alzheimer's research. "

 At  another  esteemed  institution another researcher is looking into
 the  medicinal  properties  of cannabis, but without as much success.
 Dr.  Lyle  Craker, a horticulturist in the Department of Plant, Soil,
 and  Insect  Sciences  at  the  University of Massachusetts, has once
 again  been  denied  a  license  to grow in his laboratory what grows
 wild  worldwide.  As  reported  in  the  UMass  Daily  Collegian, "If
 approved,  findings  from  clinical  studies,  which  would  use  the
 product  [medicinal  grade cannabis] created by Craker, could then be
 presented  to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has the power
 to  recommend  medical  marijuana  as  a  legal  drug." - perhaps for
 Alzheimer's?

 So,  which  do  our  readers  prefer? Low brow celebrity or high brow
 science  -  or both? You can e-mail your thoughts to Mary Jane Borden
 at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

===

(13) PHELPS A TOKE-ING OF POT LEGALIZERS' AFFECTION

Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2009
Source: Philadelphia Daily News (PA)
Copyright: 2009 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
Author: Jill Porter, Philadelphia Daily News

Bo(  i  )ng! The photo that might change not just our image of Michael
Phelps, but drug laws, too.

THE  PHOTOGRAPH  of  Michael  Phelps  smoking pot through a bong might
indeed change attitudes.

Not  toward  Phelps - who'll survive this controversy swimmingly - but
toward marijuana.

Instead  of  forcing  him  from his pedestal, Phelps' recreational use
of  marijuana  will  no doubt push the pendulum further along the road
to liberalization of pot laws.

As well it should.

The  very  fact  that  the  Olympian athlete hasn't been deep-sixed by
some  of  his  sponsors  shows  how tolerant our society has become of
the recreational use of weed.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n126/a07.html

===

(14) OBAMA'S BROTHER ON DRUGS CHARGE

Pubdate: Sun, 1 Feb 2009
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Author: Xan Rice, in Nairobi, The Observer

President's Relative Denies Police Charge After Arrest for
Possession of a Single Marijuana Joint

Tomorrow  morning,  President  Barack Obama will sit down in the White
House  to  receive  his  daily  intelligence  briefing  from  security
officials.  Thousands  of  miles  away in Kenya, his half-brother will
be  facing  a  rather  different  audience  in  a  Nairobi  courtroom.

George Obama, 26, was arrested yesterday for possession of
marijuana,  after  allegedly  being  caught  with  a  single  joint of
"bhang"  near  his  home  in  a  Nairobi slum. There was no suggestion
that  Obama  was  trying  to deal in the drug but, according to Joshua
Omokulongolo,  the  area  police  chief, rules are rules. "He is not a
drug  peddler,"  said  Omokulongolo,  "But it's illegal, it's a banned
substance."

According  to  CNN,  George  Obama  disputed  the  charge.  "They [the
police]  took  me  from  my home," he said. "I don't know why they are
charging me."

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n115/a09.html

===

(15) MARIJUANA COULD PREVENT ALZHEIMER'S

Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jan 2009
Source: Lantern, The (OH Edu)
Copyright: 2009 The Lantern
Author: Stephanie Webber

A  puff  a  day  might  keep  Alzheimer's away, according to marijuana
research  by  professor  Gary  Wenk  and  associate  professor  Yannic
Marchalant of the Ohio State Department of Psychology.

Wenk's  studies  show  that  a  low dosage in the morning of a certain
canavanoid,  a  component  in marijuana, reversed memory loss in older
rats'  brains.  In  his  study,  an  experimental  group  of  old rats
received  a  dosage, and a control group of rats did not. The old rats
that  received  the  drugs  performed  better on memory tests, and the
drug  slowed  and  prevented  brain cell death. However, marijuana had
the  reverse  effect  on young rats' brains, actually impairing mental
ability.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n113/a02.html

===

(16) UMASS PROFESSOR LYLE CRAKER DENIED PERMISSION TO GROW AND STUDY
MARIJUANA ON CAMPUS

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2009
Source: Massachusetts Daily Collegian (U of MA, Edu)
Copyright: 2009 Daily Collegian
Author: Jessica Sacco

Unknown  to  most  students,  some  of  their  professors  have  been
advocating the growing of marijuana on campus since 2001.

This movement took a blow earlier this month when the Drug
Enforcement  Administration  rejected  University  of  Massachusetts
Professor  Lyle  Craker's  request  to become a marijuana manufacturer
on Jan. 12.

Craker,  a  horticulturist in the Department of Plant, Soil and Insect
sciences  submitted  his  application  in 2001 to receive a license to
grow  large  amounts  of  marijuana  in  a  controlled  environment to
further study its effects for medical use.

At  the  time,  he  stated  that the marijuana currently available for
such  research  was  inadequate,  and  that  more  uniform  and better
quality material would be needed.

If  approved,  findings  from  clinical  studies,  which would use the
product  created  by  Craker,  could then be presented to the Food and
Drug  Administration.  The  FDA  has  the  power  to recommend medical
marijuana as a legal drug.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n121/a04.html

=======================================================================

International News
---------------------------

COMMENT: (17-22)

 Sure,  Richard  Holbrooke (Council on Foreign Relations board member,
 twice  U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and currently, special envoy
 to  Afghanistan  for the Obama administration) says Bush's $1 billion
 per  year  counter-narcotics  budget  burn,  "may  be the single most
 ineffective  policy  in  the history of American foreign policy". And
 true,  "Karzai  was playing us like a fiddle," admits Thomas Schweich
 --  indicating  the  new  party  line  may  be  to shift blame to the
 Bush-propped  Karzai.  Some  argue  the  cheapest  way to stop Afghan
 opium  would be to simply buy it up, or allow formers to legally sell
 opium  for  medicines.  More  likely,  though,  will be the preferred
 method  of  naked  force. A leaked letter last week from U.S. General
 Craddock  which  suggests extra-legal killing of Afghan drug suspects
 was  under  investigation  (for  the  leak)  by  the  NATO  secretary
 general, who insisted, "no illegal orders were given."

 In  Australia, police defended use of sniffer dogs in the wake of the
 overdose  death  of  17-year-old Gemma Thoms who swallowed MDMA pills
 "in  a  panicked  attempt  to  avoid police detection." Youth Affairs
 Council  of  Western Australia chief executive Lisa Laschon denounced
 use  of police dogs designed to make festival-goers feel "threatened,
 intimidated  and  fearful, in the hope that young people would decide
 not  to consume illicit substances at the event or at future events".

 More  reefer madness from Nigeria this week as NDLEA Director-General
 Chief  Lanre  Ipinmisho  held  forth  on  the  "scourge"  of cannabis
 ("popularly known as Indian hemp or ganja"). "The colossal seizures
 of  cannabis  in  this  region  are  beyond imagination," illustrated
 Ipinmisho.  Police  "made  the  single  largest seizure ever of 80.53
 metric  tons  of cannabis," claimed the chief. "The deadly weeds were
 concealed  in  two  clandestine  warehouses  in a residential area of
 Ibadan."  Reefer  Madness,  1936:  "It was concealed in an apparently
 harmless  shipment  of  thirty-five  barrels of olive oil. The deadly
 drug  was  burned  in  the incinerator of the Bureau of Engraving and
 Printing." Ipinmisho seems to know the part by heart.

 And  from  Europe  this  week,  not all drug policy professionals are
 happy  with the British government's re-classification of cannabis to
 a  more  serious level - besides the advisors who advised against the
 recent  reclassification,  that  is.  They  continue  to  point  out
 stubborn  facts  like "There has been no rise in recorded figures for
 psychotic  symptoms,  or  specifically,  schizophrenia,"  as cannabis
 users  grew more numerous and cannabis more plentiful and potent. And
 the  Obama  administration seems to be having trouble reigning in all
 the  Bush  policy  holdovers,  case  in  point, at the UN as the U.S.
 delegation  charges  full  steam  ahead  with prohibition and zealous
 drug  wars,  "in  contrast  to  the  EU position which supports 'harm
 reduction' measures such as needle exchanges."

===

(17) OBAMA AND THE AFGHAN NARCO-STATE

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Source: Kuwait Times (Kuwait)
Copyright: 2009 Kuwait Times Newspaper
Author: Bernd Debusmann

 [snip]

Holbrooke,  who  was  not  in  government  service  at  the time, took
particular  issue  with  the  counter-narcotics  strategy  the  Bush
administration  pursued  in Afghanistan. "The ... program, which costs
around  $1  billion  a year, may be the single most ineffective policy
in  the  history  of American foreign policy," he wrote in an op-ed in
the  Washington  Post.  "It's  not  just a waste of money. It actually
strengthens  the  Taleban  and  Al-Qaeda, as well as criminal elements
within Afghanistan.

 [snip]

"Karzai  was  playing us like a fiddle," Thomas Schweich, a former top
anti-narcotics  official  in  Afghanistan, wrote in the New York Times
last summer. "The U.S. would spend billions of dollars on
infrastructure  improvement;  the  U.S. and its allies would fight the
Taliban;  Karzai's  friends  would  get  rich  off  the drug trade; he
could  blame  the  West  for  his  problems;  and  in 2009 he would be
elected to a new term.

In  other  words, Karzai is not part of the solution, he's part of the
problem.  As  to  solutions:  One  novel  idea on opium-and-corruption
comes  from  James  Nathan,  a  political  science professor at Auburn
University  in  Alabama  and  former  State  Department  official.  He
argues  in  a  forthcoming paper that the most efficient way to tackle
the  problem  would  be  for  the  United States or NATO to buy up the
entire Afghan opium crop.

Purchasing  the  whole  crop  would  take it away from the traffickers
without  cutting  more  than  half the economy of Afghanistan," Nathan
said  in  an  interview.  "Such  a  purchase  would  directly confront
Afghanistan's  most  corrosive  corruption. It would end the Taliban's
money stream."

 [snip]

On a more modest scale than Nathan's buy-it-all idea, a European think
tank, the International Council on Security and Development (ICOS), is
lobbying  for an alternative to traditional counter-narcotics policies
dubbed  Poppy  for  Medicine.  That  involves  granting  international
licenses  to poppy farmers in Afghan villages, where the crop would be
turned  into  opiate-based  medicines such as morphine or codeine, and
then shipped out to the legal market.

It  would  place Afghanistan alongside Turkey (where the United States
helped to introduce a similar program in 1974), India and Australia as
legal  producers of opium. Could it work? When ICOS, formerly known as
the  Senlis Council, first came up with the idea, the State Department
cold-shouldered  it. But that was before Obama, who promised to listen
to  new  approaches.  Both  the  buy-it-all and the licensing concepts
deserve a hearing.

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n122.a09.html

===

(18) GENERAL SAYS SHOOT DEALERS IN AFGHANISTAN

Pubdate: Sat, 31 Jan 2009
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2009 The New York Times Company
Author: Judy Dempsey

BERLIN  --  NATO's  senior  military  commander  has proposed that the
alliance's  soldiers  in  Afghanistan  shoot  drug traffickers without
waiting  for  proof  of their involvement with the Taliban insurgency,
according  to  a report in the online edition of Der Spiegel magazine.

The  commander,  Gen.  John Craddock of the United States, floated the
idea  in  a confidential letter on Jan. 5 to Gen. Egon Ramms, a German
officer who heads the NATO command center responsible for
Afghanistan, Spiegel Online reported Thursday.

 [snip]

NATO  officials  declined  to  comment  specifically  on  Friday about
General  Craddock's  proposal  or  General  Ramms's response. "We will
not comment on the substance," said a NATO spokesman, James
Appathurai.  "What  I  will  say is that General Craddock never issued
final orders," he added.

Jaap  de  Hoop  Scheffer,  NATO's  secretary  general,  has ordered an
investigation  into  how  the general's letter was obtained by Spiegel
Online.  He  also  said  in  a  statement announcing the investigation
that "no illegal orders were given."

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n115.a08.html

===

(19) POLICE DEFEND USE OF DRUG SNIFFER DOGS

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Source: West Australian (Australia)
Copyright: 2009 West Australian Newspapers Limited
Author: Gabrielle Knowles and Amanda Banks

Police  have  defended  their  use  of  drug  sniffer  dogs  at  music
festivals  after  the  suspected  fatal  overdose  of  teenager  Gemma
Thoms.

The  17-year-old  apprentice  hairdresser collapsed at the Big Day Out
on  Sunday  after  apparently  swallowing  several  ecstasy pills in a
panicked attempt to avoid police detection.

 [snip]

YACWA  chief  executive  Lisa Laschon said the police operation was to
make  patrons  feel  "threatened, intimidated and fearful, in the hope
that  young  people  would decide not to consume illicit substances at
the event or at future events".

"What  worries  me  the  most  is whether or not this death could have
been  avoided  if  the  relationship  young people had with police was
not one of fear and dread," she said.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n125.a08.html

===

(20) 'CULTIVATION OF INDIAN HEMP IN S-WEST OUR MAJOR HEADACHE'

Pubdate: Sun, 01 Feb 2009
Source: Punch (Nigeria)
Copyright: 2009 The Punch
Author: Ademola Oni

The  scourge  of  Indian hemp cultivation in the South-West of Nigeria
is  a  major  problem  for  the  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency,
writes ADEMOLA ONI

 [snip]

At  its  third  zonal  awareness  campaign  on  the  prevention of the
cultivation  of  illicit  drugs,  trafficking  and  abuse, in Abeokuta
last  week,  the Director-General of the NDLEA, Chief Lanre Ipinmisho,
expressed  concern  on  the  notoriety which the South-West had gained
in  the  cultivation  of  cannabis,  popularly known as Indian hemp or
ganja in local parlance.

 [snip]

"The  colossal  seizures  of  cannabis  in  this  region  are  beyond
imagination.

This  is  unthinkable.  The  Ekiti State Command uncovered 53.7 metric
tons  of  cannabis  in a story building at Ise-Ekiti in February 2008.
The  Oyo  State  Command  on  May  29,  2008,  made the single largest
seizure  ever  of 80.53 metric tons of cannabis. The deadly weeds were
concealed  in  two  clandestine  warehouses  in  a residential area of
Ibadan."

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n126.a04.html

===

(21) NO EVIDENCE TO LINK CANNABIS AND MENTAL ILLNESS

Pubdate: Wed, 04 Feb 2009
Source: Huddersfield Daily Examiner, The (UK)
Copyright: Trinity Mirror Plc 2009

 [snip]

Frequent use often precipitates psychosis,
schizophrenia, they say.

It  is  marked  by  a  steady  deterioration of social skills, memory,
concentration,  and  can  lead  to  depression,  paranoia and suicide.

But  Mike  Linnell,  of  Lifeline  Kirklees,  a voluntary organisation
that  deals  with  the  effects  of drug dependence, says the evidence
for all these horrors is minimal.

He described reclassification as 'awful'.

"We  believe  the  Drugs  Advisory  Council's  advice  was wrong for a
whole number of reasons," he said.

 [snip]

"There  has  been  no rise in recorded figures for psychotic symptoms,
or specifically, schizophrenia."

 [snip]

"There is no evidence that cannabis kills anyone.

 [snip]

"In  terms  of  all  the  drugs available to young people, cannabis is
the  least  dangerous.  I'm  not  lobbying  for  the  legalisation  of
cannabis. But I do want us to keep the drug's dangers in
perspective."

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n127.a02.html

===

(22) RIFT WITH EU AS U.S. STICKS TO BUSH LINE ON 'WAR ON DRUGS'

Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2009
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited
Author: Duncan Campbell and Afua Hirsch

A rift between the EU and U.S. over how to deal with global
trafficking  in  illicit drugs is undermining international efforts to
agree  a  new  UN  strategy.  The  confrontation  has  been heightened
because  of  suggestions  that  the U.S. negotiating team is pushing a
hardline,  Bush  administration  "war on drugs", in contrast to the EU
position  which  supports  "harm  reduction"  measures  such as needle
exchanges.

 [snip]

At  the  heart  of  the  dispute  is  whether  a  commitment  to "harm
reduction"  should  be included in the UN declaration of intent, which
is published every 10 years. In 1998 the declaration was "a
drug-free world - we can do it".

EU  countries,  backed  by  Brazil and other Latin American countries,
Australia  and  New  Zealand, say even with the best of intentions the
world  will  not  be  drug-free  in  10  years  and some commitment to
tackling  HIV  and  addiction  through  needle exchange programmes and
methadone and other drugs should be included.

The  U.S.  position,  as maintained throughout the Bush years, is that
such  inclusion  sends  the  wrong  message  and  must  be  resisted.
President  Obama  has  already  lifted  the ban on federal funding for
needle  exchanges  and is known to have a more liberal approach to the
issue,  but  the  U.S.  negotiating  team  is  opposed  to varying the
"drug-free" strategies of the past.

 [snip]

Continues: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09.n122.a06.html

***********************************************************************

HOT OFF THE 'NET
-------------------------------

DRUGSENSE  HONORS  RUSSELL  BARTH  FOR  REACHING 500 PUBLISHED LETTERS

http://www.mapinc.org/lte_awards/lte_gold.htm

===

AFTERMATH OF A SWAT TEAM RAID GONE WRONG

An  online  conversation  with  author  April  Witt and Berwyn Heights
Mayor Cheye Calvo at WashingtonPost.com

http://drugsense.org/url/lg3Bo8dT

===

THE LETTER MICHAEL PHELPS SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN

By Radley Balko at www.theagitator.com

http://www.theagitator.com/2009/02/01/a-letter-id-like-to-see-but-wont/

===

JURY NULLIFCATION IN ILLINOIS?

By Pete Guither at www.drugwarrant.com

http://blogs.salon.com/0002762/2009/02/01.html#a3271

===

ARREST MICHAEL PHELPS!

By Stanton Peele

The  sheriff's  office  in  Richland  County, S.C., is investigating a
report  --  prompted  by  a  photo of the event published in a British
tabloid  --  that  Olympic hero Michael Phelps smoked marijuana there.
It's  possible  Mr. Phelps will be prosecuted. That's right: For those
of you who don't know, marijuana is illegal.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123379760459250341.html

===

OBAMA IS AGAINST POT RAIDS, THE PUBLIC IS AGAINST POT RAIDS, AND YET ...

The Drug Cops' Raids Continue

By Paul Armentano, NORML

What  gives?  Let's  see  Obama be the one who personally rains on the
DEA's  eight-year  parade  that  has  crushed  the lives of thousands.

http://drugsense.org/url/6TDSPORX

===

ADDICTS' ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

The  following  editorial  by  Danny  Kushlick  was  published  in The
Journal;  Addiction  Research  And  Theory  (15(2):  123-126) in April
2007,  and  is reproduced here as much of it seems relevant to current
debates, both on this blog and in the wider drugs field.

http://drugsense.org/url/hDTAXY7u

===

POT ARRESTS DIP IN DENVER FOLLOWING BALLOT INITIATIVE

By Jacob Sullum

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/131563.html

===

IS  THIS  THE  YEAR NEW YORK'S ROCKEFELLER DRUG LAWS WILL BE REPEALED?

Drug War Chronicle, Issue #571, 2/6/09

For more than 35 years, New York state has had the dubious distinction
of  having some of the country's worst drug laws, the Rockefeller drug
laws passed in 1973.

http://drugsense.org/url/iZgbvvp0

===

DRUG TRUTH NETWORK

Century of Lies - 02/03/09 - Cliff Schaffer

Cliff  Schaffer  of  DrugLibrary.org re financial impact on waging the
drug  war  &  Radley Balko on Michael Phelps, Doug McVay with Drug War
Facts,  Phil  Smith  on cartel support of banks & Winston Francis with
the Official Government Truth.

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2283

Cultural Baggage Radio Show - 02/04/09 - Richard Mack

Former  Sheriff  Richard  Mack  now  with  Law  Enforcement  Against
Prohibition  &  Philippe  Lucas of Vancouver Island Compassion Society
reports Canadians supreme court has once again declared marijuana laws
unconstitutional.

http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/?q=node/2284

===

LEGAL EASE WITH KIRK TOUSAW

Kirk  is  joined  by  Mathew  Beren who was given a complete discharge
after  having  a  900  plant  medicinal and research grow and discuss
the decision made by the judge.

http://pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-4772.html

===

MPP  RESPONDS  TO  PHOTO  OF  OLYMPIC  CHAMP  CAUGHT SMOKING MARIJUANA

By Dan Bernath

MPP's  Bruce  Mirken  appeared on CNN Sunday night to discuss the news
that a 23-year-old American male had been photographed using marijuana
at a college party.

http://blog.mpp.org/?p=292

***********************************************************************

WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS WEEK
--------------------------------------------------

JOB OPENING AT RIPAC

Executive  Director,  Rhode  Island Patient Advocacy Coalition (RIPAC)

http://ripatients.org/jobs/

===

PLEASE CONTACT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

Tell  the  new  attorney  general  to  end  the DEA's raids on medical
marijuana providers

http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert/?alertid=12591396

Please keep the pressure up - a DrugSense FOCUS Alert

http://www.mapinc.org/alert/0393.html

===

CASTIGATE KELLOGG

If Kellogg's Dumps Phelps, We Dump Kellogg's

By Ethan Nadelmann

http://drugsense.org/url/w9fLcdUU

Please  take  time today to contact the Kellogg Corporation. Tell them
that you oppose their decision to drop Michael Phelps.

http://blog.norml.org/2009/02/06/

***********************************************************************

LETTER OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------

RESOLUTION ON POT DESERVES DISCUSSION

By Art Gallegos

Although  I  don't  smoke pot, I do feel that decriminalization should
be an item to be discussed.

Views  by  Mr.  Robert  Almonte  and the name-calling by Mayor Cook on
Channel  7-KVIA  (  cable  Channel  6) are nothing short of old wives'
tales.

American  farmers  would benefit not only growing pot for smoking, but
for  the  fiber  of the stem, which is stronger than present-day nylon
cords  for  parachutes  and  countless other uses, including clothing,
shoes,  paper,  medicinal  uses  yet  to  be  discovered  --  and it's
biodegradable.

If  there's  no  demand  from  Mexico for marijuana, the cartels would
cease to exist and the massacres would stop.

Besides, I'm against our tax money going over to a corrupt
government.  I  want  my  tax  dollars  spent  in  America  on health,
veterans benefits, Social Security, homeless shelters and
prescription drugs for the elderly.

Also,  release  the 70 percent of the incarcerated individuals who are
in  our  prisons  for  consuming/possession  of  small amounts of pot.
It's costing us a fortune to house them.

Lou  Dobbs  was out of place calling our council member a local yokel.

And  threats  of  federal  and  state  funding loss for El Paso by our
lawmakers are childish at best.

Art Gallegos
Canutillo

Pubdate: Tue, 27 Jan 2009
Source: El Paso Times (TX)

***********************************************************************

FEATURE ARTICLE
-------------------------------

VICS  Constitutional  Challenge  of  Health  Canada  Medical  Cannabis
Program Successful!

By Philippe Lucas

Dear friends and supporters,

It  is  with  great pleasure that I announce the successful outcome of
the  Vancouver  Island  Compassion  Society  (VICS)  Constitutional
challenge  of  Health  Canada's medical cannabis program and practice.
On  Monday,  February  2nd  2009  Justice  Koenigsberg  ruled that the
federal  regulations  limiting  the  number  of  people who could grow
cannabis  in  one  location,  and  the  rules  limiting  the number of
patients  that  a  producer  could  grow for were arbitrary, served no
public  interest,  and were therefore unconstitutional. She stayed her
decision  for  one  year  in  order to allow the federal government to
amend  their  medical  cannabis  regulations  to  reflect  her ruling.

Although  Justice  Koenigsberg  went on to find the defendant, Mr. Mat
Beren  -  who  was  in  charge  of  the  Vancouver  Island  Compassion
Society's  production  and  research  facility  -  guilty  of cannabis
possession  and  cultivation  for the purpose of trafficking, she then
immediately granted him an absolute discharge, essentially
exonerating  him  of all charges. In granting Mr. Beren the discharge,
the  judge  stated  that  "In  my view, it would be contrary to public
interest  for  Mr.  Beren to have criminal record. If ever there was a
case  where  an absolute discharge is appropriate, it's this one." She
also  urged  Health Canada to establish regulations that would legally
authorize  organizations  like the Vancouver Island Compassion Society
that  are  legitimately  helping  medical  cannabis  patients  through
research  and  distribution  to  continue  their good work without the
ongoing threat of arrest and prosecution.

This  important  legal  decision came about as result of a nearly five
year  Charter  challenge  which stemmed from a 2004 police raid on the
Vancouver  Island  Therapeutic Cannabis Research Institute (VITCRI), a
cannabis  production,  research  and  breeding  facility  owned  and
operated  by  the  Vancouver  Island Compassion Society. The judge has
yet  to  issue  a  written  decision, and we will make it available as
soon  as  it  becomes  available.  This marks the fifth time that this
program  has  been  found unconstitutional since 2001, and although it
is  a  major  victory for Canadian medical cannabis patients and those
working  to  help them, the decision didn't address and remedy ongoing
access  problems.  Judge Koenigsberg noted that Health Canada has only
granted  legal  access  to  medical  cannabis  to about 2600 people so
far,  despite  there  being  between  400,000  and  1  million medical
cannabis patients in Canada, but failed to find the access
regulations  unconstitutional.  However,  as  a  result  of her ruling
patients  will  be  able  to  benefit  from  the economies of scale in
regards  to  the  production  of  their  medicine,  and  experienced
cultivators will have more freedom and motivation to assist
authorized patients.

The  VICS  and  its  850 members would like to thank our amazing legal
team  for  this  historic victory. Lawyers Kirk Tousaw and John Conroy
QC  both  worked tirelessly on this challenge at greatly reduced legal
rates,  and  they  deserve  much of the credit for this win. We'd also
like  to  thank  our  lay  and  expert  witnesses, who gave so much of
themselves  and  whose  testimony  formed  the  foundation for Justice
Koenigsberg's  historic  decision.  Lastly,  a  huge  thanks  to  our
supporters  in  both  Canada  and the U.S., particularly the Marijuana
Policy  Project,  Robert  Field, and the Drug Policy Alliance, without
whose  financial  support this challenge would not have been possible.

Philippe  Lucas  is  Founder/Executive  Director  of  Vancouver Island
Compassion  Society;  Director  of  Communications of DrugSense; and a
member of the Victoria City Council.

***********************************************************************

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
------------------------------------

"One  man's  remorse  is  another  man's  reminiscence."  - Ogden Nash

***********************************************************************

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