From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Thu May 1 08:27:20 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 08:27:20 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Radio: CBC: The Current: Misha Glenny (McMafia) Message-ID: <09606083-5AC7-4A1C-A863-7787498162CE@connect.carleton.ca> 8:30 am local time on CBC Radio 1 (99.1 Toronto, 690 Vancouver) Listen online: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/ Coming up on Thursday: And we'll talk to the author of McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Underworld and find out why western Canada has the highest per capita number of organized crime syndicates in the world -- and how organized crime has come to make up an estimated 15 per cent of the world's gross domestic product Feedback line: 1 877 287 7366 Mail: The Current P.O. Box 500, Station A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6 Fax: 416-205-6461 E-Mail: aih at cbc.ca From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Thu May 1 13:28:02 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 13:28:02 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CMAP: Radio: CBC: The Current: Misha Glenny (McMafia) In-Reply-To: <09606083-5AC7-4A1C-A863-7787498162CE@connect.carleton.ca> References: <09606083-5AC7-4A1C-A863-7787498162CE@connect.carleton.ca> Message-ID: Audio: http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/currentdonotusethis_20080501_5596.mp3 On 1-May-08, at 8:26 AM, Tim Meehan wrote: > 8:30 am local time on CBC Radio 1 (99.1 Toronto, 690 Vancouver) > > Listen online: http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html > > http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/ > > Coming up on Thursday: > > And we'll talk to the author of McMafia: A Journey Through the > Global Underworld and find out why western Canada has the highest > per capita number of organized crime syndicates in the world -- and > how organized crime has come to make up an estimated 15 per cent of > the world's gross domestic product > > Feedback line: > 1 877 287 7366 > > Mail: > The Current > P.O. Box 500, Station A > Toronto, Ontario > M5W 1E6 > > Fax: > 416-205-6461 > > E-Mail: aih at cbc.ca From digitalcomponents at gmail.com Thu May 1 22:24:02 2008 From: digitalcomponents at gmail.com (Nyc W. Alberts) Date: Thu, 01 May 2008 22:24:02 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection - washingtonpost.com Message-ID: <481A7B42.80706@gmail.com> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729.html?nav=hcmodule From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Fri May 2 08:07:47 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 08:07:47 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: CN AB: Editorial: Fight drugs with education References: <004c01c8abc7$92b7f4b0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <26358C86-7763-46F1-B867-332968FA68CD@connect.carleton.ca> Education is the answer, and that's why it's appropriate to have the police-supported DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program reach out to children when they are about 10 years old, before they are likely to pick up bad habits. > > http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/opinion/Fight_drugs_with_education.html > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 30 Apr 2008 > Source: Red Deer Advocate (CN AB) > Email: editorial at reddeeradvocate.com > Website: http://www.reddeeradvocate.com/ > Feedback: http://reddeeradvocate.com/edit/send.asp > Address: P.O. Bag 5200, 2950 Bremner Avenue, Red Deer, AB T4N 5G3 > Fax: (403)342-4051 > Copyright: 2008 Red Deer Advocate > Author: Lee Giles > > Fight drugs with education > > It's easy for newspaper editorial writers to find fault with public > institutions. > > After all, such decision-making bodies as school boards and law courts > address so many varied issues that they are bound to get something > wrong > from time to time. > > Today, however, it's appropriate to salute both Red Deer Public School > District board and the Supreme Court of Canada for acting with > intelligence > and restraint. > > The subject in question is the use of drug-sniffing dogs in schools. > > The country's top court ruled Friday that police cannot show up with > their > pooches, at such public institutions as schools, and conduct random > searches > for drugs unless they have concrete reasons to suggest narcotics are > present. > > The decision is sure to be welcomed by anyone concerned about the > growing > threat of the state to individuals' privacy. > > It's also a reasonable compromise since it still allows dog searches > when > they are truly warranted. > > Of course, it goes without saying that drugs and children are a bad > mix that > ought to be discouraged. > > However, sending police into schools to find narcotics has never > been the > best way to fight the problem. > > Education is the answer, and that's why it's appropriate to have the > police-supported DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program > reach out to > children when they are about 10 years old, before they are likely to > pick up > bad habits. > > The Red Deer Public School District does not allow random searches by > drug-sniffing dogs because it doesn't want to invade its students' > privacy. > > That's a wise stance, both for ethical and legal reasons. > > The position of the Red Deer Catholic Regional Division appears to > be more > troubled, with superintendent Paulette Hanna telling the Advocate, > "We'll > obviously be getting legal advice to see how this ruling affects our > policies," after Friday's court decision was announced. > > The Catholic division has allowed its principals to call in privately > trained drug-sniffing dogs to spontaneously search middle schools > and high > schools for drugs, but hopefully that will now change. > > While the drug-sniffing dog issue was before the Supreme Court, the > Catholic > board decided to hold off on plans to use an RCMP-trained dog to sniff > around schools. > > One can only hope those plans are abandoned. > > Sending drug-sniffing dogs into schools or around them only > encourages young > people to fear police and view authority figures, such as principals > and > teachers, with suspicion. > > Just for emphasis, and because we're talking about schools, it's > appropriate > to repeat this: education is the answer. > > We must remember that schools are not prisons. > > Finding contraband is not the name of the game: teaching children to > read, > write and generally succeed at life is. > > If drug-sniffing dogs are the answer, what's next, bomb-sniffing > dogs? Metal > detectors at every entrance? > > Central Alberta schools are not perfect, but surely they are not as > crime-ridden as their counterparts in big American cities. Let's > keep things > in perspective. > > Drugs are a problem in schools, just as they are in society. And > society > will have to become more creative in addressing such challenges. > > But the United States has completely lost the War on Drugs by > cracking down > with a heavy hand and throwing countless people in prison. > > A more measured approach, employed in some European countries, has > found > more success. > > Red Deer Public School District board and Canada's Supreme Court have > identified a reasonable middle ground. > > It's time to applaud that sort of stance and realize the problem of > drugs in > schools must be addressed with common sense, and respect for the > guilty and > the innocent. > > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Lee Giles is an Advocate editor. > From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Fri May 2 08:10:57 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 08:10:57 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: Veteran lauds court; School search not lawful References: <002401c8abf7$76420890$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 01 May 2008 > Source: Observer, The (CN ON) > Copyright: 2008, OSPREY Media Group Inc. > Contact: editorial at theobserver.ca > Website: http://www.theobserver.ca > Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1676 > Webpage: http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1009781 > Author: Jack Poirier > > Veteran lauds court; School search not lawful > > A World War Two veteran who endured the Nazi invasion of his > homeland says Canada's Supreme Court got it right when it ruled > random school drug searches violate privacy rights. > > Sarnia resident Corey Degroot said once you give police powers to > conduct random searches in schools, it leads down a slippery slope. > "That's how it started in 1933 Germany," said Degroot. "Then you > have sort of a police state." > > Opinion has been divided since the Supreme Court of Canada ruled > last week on two cases, including whether a Nov. 7, 2002 random > police search at St. Patrick's High School in Sarnia was > unreasonable. > > Students were confined to classrooms for about two hours as police > officers, with the aid of a drug-sniffing dog, searched the school. > One student was charged after marijuana and magic mushrooms were > found in a backpack. > > In a precedent-setting ruling, the high court said police need > reasonable suspicion of a specific crime before conducting such a > search. > > On Wednesday, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the > Conservative government will abide by the ruling, but must also > protect high school students and the general public from drug > pushers. > > He hinted the Harper government would draft legislation to expand > searches, because he is concerned the ruling could lead to > challenges of dog searches at airports. > > Several former St. Pat's students said Wednesday they understand > why the government is frustrated by the decision. > > "I remember being locked in my classroom. I thought it was > necessary to do," said Matt McAuley, 21. > > Friends Jessica Shoults, 20, Kristen Nicolai, 19, and Rachel > Runstedler, 20, said they never had any objection to police > entering the school with drug-sniffing dogs to conduct random > searches. > > "It's making our schools safer. Drugs are illegal," Nicolai said. > > Runstedler said drug use was rampant at high school and action was > needed. "It was ridiculous. At lunch there were 15 to 20 kids > getting high." > > But Degroot said its dangerous to ignore Canadian Charter rights > guaranteeing against unlawful search and protecting personal > privacy."That's what we had in Holland. If you lose those > privileges it turns into a police state," he said. "That's why I > fought in the war. I was there in 1933 and that's how it all > started." > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Attachment: http://mapinc.org/temp/34ISO9qjfmZ6A.html From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Fri May 2 10:25:08 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 10:25:08 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: NOW Magazine's Matt Mernagh arrested for medical marijuana garden Message-ID: <5EE18A49-F247-4193-951E-69855EBD0CDC@connect.carleton.ca> More info: http://forums.cannabisculture.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1409493 > Matt was released under "promise to appear" conditions, he can't be > around any hydro grow equipment. > > The officers left Matt his Medicine, and left him in relative peace. > > He's back in the city soon, we all warmly await his arrival... --- > They apparently initially went to Matt's Apartment to answer a fire > alarm. Once inside Fire officials found the grow but were also aware > of who's residence they were in as Matt is quite well known in St. > Catharines. The Fire officials hoped that the grow was legit and > contacted Health Canada for confirmation but Health Canada then > informed them that it was not registered witch is why police were > then called to take things from there. --- http://nrps.com/news/Week/Male%20Arrested.pdf NIAGARA REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE 68 CHURCH STREET ST. CATHARINES, ONTARIO, CANADA, L2R 3C6 TELEPHONE (905) 688-4111 FAX (905) 685-5081 MEDIA RELEASE FOR RELEASE: 08-05-01 Immediate SHORT DATE TIME DISTRIBUTION PREPARED: 08-05-01 1200 St. Catharines DATE TIME LOCATION PREPARED BY: SPERA D/Cst. 9130 1SCU NAME RANK & FILE NO. UNIT AUTHORIZED BY: MUNRO D/Sgt. 9680 1SCU NAME RANK & FILE NO. UNIT Search Warrant Nets Marihuana Grow On Wednesday April 30th, 2008 Detectives from the St.Catharines Street Crime Unit executed a Controlled Drugs and Substances Act search warrant at 333 St.Paul Street apartment #305,in the City of St.Catharines. Investigators had received information that there was a marihuana grow operation housed within the apartment. As a result of the search warrant Police seized 70 marihuana plants in different stages of growth. The potential street value of the plants seized is approximately $70, 000. Charged with one count of Production of a Controlled Substance contrary to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is 34 year old Matthew Mernagh of St.Catharines. On May 1st, 2008 Mernagh attended #1 District and turned himself in. Mernagh was held in custody and was to appear at a bail hearing on May1st. From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Fri May 2 10:27:25 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 10:27:25 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] US WA: Medical marijuana user dies without transplant References: Message-ID: >> >> Newshawk: MedPot.net Forums >> Forum link: http://medpot.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=64255 >> Source: KOMO Television, WA >> Link: http://www.komotv.com/news/18475224.html >> >> >> Medical marijuana user dies without transplant >> >> >> http://media.komotv.com/images/080428_Tim_Garon.jpg >> Tim Garon lies in his hospital bed as his girlfriend, >> Leisa Bueno, leans over to give him a kiss while >> they wait to hear if he will be put on a transplant >> list on Thursday, April 24, 2008, in Seattle. >> >> Story Published: May 1, 2008 at 9:02 PM PDT >> >> By Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) - A musician who was denied a liver >> transplant because he used marijuana with medical approval under >> Washington state law to ease the symptoms of advanced hepatitis C >> died Thursday. >> >> The death of Timothy Garon, 56, at Bailey-Boushay House, an >> intensive care nursing center was confirmed to The Associated Press >> by his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, and Alisha Mark, a spokeswoman for >> Virginia Mason Medical Center, which operates Bailey-Boushay. >> >> Dr. Brad Roter, the physician who authorized Garon to smoke pot to >> alleviate for nausea and abdominal pain and to stimulate his >> appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon >> were to need a transplant. >> >> The case has highlighted a new ethical consideration for those >> allocating organs for transplant, especially in the dozen states >> that have medical marijuana laws: When dying patients need a >> transplant, should it be held against them if they've used pot with >> a doctor's blessing? >> >> Garon died a week after his doctor told him a University of >> Washington Medical Center committee had again denied him a spot on >> the liver transplant list because of his use of marijuana, although >> it was authorized under Washington state law. >> >> "He said I'm going to die with such conviction," Garon told an AP >> reporter at the time. "I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just >> confused." >> >> Garon believes he contracted hepatitis C by sharing needles >> with "speed freaks" as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has >> been the only drug he's used. In December, he was arrested for >> growing marijuana. >> >> He had been in the hospice for two months and previously was >> rejected for a transplant at Swedish Medical Center for the same >> reason he later got from the university hospital. >> >> Swedish said he would be considered if he avoided pot for six months >> and the university hospital offered to reconsider if he enrolled in >> a 60-day drug treatment program, but doctors said his liver disease >> was too advanced for him to last that long. The university hospital >> committee agreed to reconsider anyway, then denied him again. > From rschimel at verizon.net Fri May 2 10:41:34 2008 From: rschimel at verizon.net (Richard Schimelfenig) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 10:41:34 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] US WA: Medical marijuana user dies without transplant In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <001701c8ac62$9eff67d0$6401a8c0@HOMECOMPUTER> Here in Delaware, we are assisting those who want to be organ DONORS limit the use of their transplants via living wills. We are helping them re-write their organ donor permissions. We are having them write into their LW's that they wish to be organ donors, but that to help those who are being marginalized by transplant review boards due to their cannabis use, that any potential transplants must FIRST consider cannabis consumers who otherwise pass the other criteria for transplants, and that using multiple measures to bypass their desires to give preference to cannabis patients nullifies the donation permission. In addition to helping them distribute copies of their LW's to family or others who may have input into transplants after death or under other circumstances that may be necessary because they have lost the ability to make further decisions, we are acting as a clearing house to register their desires so that we can monitor the situations. We are presently seeking lawyers to help set up a more permanent way to make certain that the desires of the donor are fulfilled. We CAN fight back against these horrible policies. "Marijuana never kicks down your door in the middle of the night. Marijuana never locks up sick and dying people, does not suppress medical research, does not peek in bedroom windows. Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could." - William F. Buckley, Jr. And now, it is clear that marijuana does not let people die just to send a message. -----Original Message----- From: drugwar-bounces at mindvox.com [mailto:drugwar-bounces at mindvox.com] On Behalf Of Tim Meehan Sent: Friday, May 02, 2008 10:27 AM To: The War on Consciousness Subject: [DrugWar] US WA: Medical marijuana user dies without transplant >> >> Newshawk: MedPot.net Forums >> Forum link: http://medpot.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=64255 >> Source: KOMO Television, WA >> Link: http://www.komotv.com/news/18475224.html >> >> >> Medical marijuana user dies without transplant >> >> >> http://media.komotv.com/images/080428_Tim_Garon.jpg >> Tim Garon lies in his hospital bed as his girlfriend, >> Leisa Bueno, leans over to give him a kiss while >> they wait to hear if he will be put on a transplant >> list on Thursday, April 24, 2008, in Seattle. >> >> Story Published: May 1, 2008 at 9:02 PM PDT >> >> By Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) - A musician who was denied a liver >> transplant because he used marijuana with medical approval under >> Washington state law to ease the symptoms of advanced hepatitis C >> died Thursday. >> >> The death of Timothy Garon, 56, at Bailey-Boushay House, an >> intensive care nursing center was confirmed to The Associated Press >> by his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, and Alisha Mark, a spokeswoman for >> Virginia Mason Medical Center, which operates Bailey-Boushay. >> >> Dr. Brad Roter, the physician who authorized Garon to smoke pot to >> alleviate for nausea and abdominal pain and to stimulate his >> appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon >> were to need a transplant. >> >> The case has highlighted a new ethical consideration for those >> allocating organs for transplant, especially in the dozen states >> that have medical marijuana laws: When dying patients need a >> transplant, should it be held against them if they've used pot with >> a doctor's blessing? >> >> Garon died a week after his doctor told him a University of >> Washington Medical Center committee had again denied him a spot on >> the liver transplant list because of his use of marijuana, although >> it was authorized under Washington state law. >> >> "He said I'm going to die with such conviction," Garon told an AP >> reporter at the time. "I'm not angry, I'm not mad, I'm just >> confused." >> >> Garon believes he contracted hepatitis C by sharing needles >> with "speed freaks" as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has >> been the only drug he's used. In December, he was arrested for >> growing marijuana. >> >> He had been in the hospice for two months and previously was >> rejected for a transplant at Swedish Medical Center for the same >> reason he later got from the university hospital. >> >> Swedish said he would be considered if he avoided pot for six months >> and the university hospital offered to reconsider if he enrolled in >> a 60-day drug treatment program, but doctors said his liver disease >> was too advanced for him to last that long. The university hospital >> committee agreed to reconsider anyway, then denied him again. > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Richard Schimelfenig (rschimel at verizon.net).vcf Type: text/x-vcard Size: 421 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080502/ccdc7046/attachment.vcf From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Fri May 2 23:45:21 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Fri, 02 May 2008 22:45:21 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] THE WHIZZINATOR RETURNS Message-ID: <481BDFD1.6050300@comcast.net> http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/05/02/the-whizzinator-returns/ THE WHIZZINATOR RETURNS Posted by Mike Florio on May 2, 2008, 9:18 p.m. Former Vikings running back Onterrio Smith, whose career ended due to a marijuana habit that he concealed with the use of a fake penis, is now in trouble with the law. Smith has been busted in Sacramento for suspicion of DUI , according to media reports. He was ultimately suspended by the NFL for a minimum of one year, and efforts to gain reinstatement were unsuccessfully. He eventually abandoned his efforts to return to the NFL. Smith was released by the Vikings in April 2006. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080502/9cb61e01/attachment-0001.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sun May 4 09:41:48 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 09:41:48 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: LTE: Court soft on drugs References: <001801c8ada0$4e719ba0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <85CCCC90-0098-4741-8FCA-1E68A2509EC4@connect.carleton.ca> > > I was surprised to read so many were in support of this (Have your > say, > April 28). In a war, one has to take sides, and in the war on drugs > it's a > no-brainer. One person interviewed for the Have Your Say feature > even went > so far as to offer his "reasonable and probable" opinion that > "drugs" are no > worse now in schools than when he went to high school. I went to > school in > the 1980s. It's much worse now; as a paramedic I know that to be a > fact. We > pick up all the overdosed kids. It's pretty bad out there, and the > Peterborough area is getting worse by the day. > http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1013185 > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 03 May 2008 > Source: Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) > Website: http://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/ > Feedback: http://drugsense.org/url/4VLGnvUl > Address: 730 The Kingsway, Peterborough. Ontario K9J 8L4 > Fax: (705) 743-4581 > Copyright: 2008 Osprey Media Group Inc. > Author: Mark Cameron > > Court soft on drugs > > Re "Top court sniffs out breach" (April 26) - > > Is it probable to assume that the Supreme Court of Canada is > reasonable? > Well not if you expect them to be on anyone's side in the war on > drugs. The > court has ruled that the use of a police dog is now considered to be > an > illegal search unless the dog's handler has "legal and probable" > grounds to > suspect that a person actually has drugs in their possession. Mind > you if an > officer had this probable grounds then police would not need a dog. > > It seems the court doesn't really want to take a bite out of crime. > It's a > person's right to walk around with as much illegal drugs as they can > carry > concealed, according to the court. A very reasonable judgment, if > the court > was run by a bunch of idiots. They certainly have me wondering. > > This now applies to many situations, like random school searches. As > Peterborough police Chief Terry McLaren states, this is not a big > part of > the Peterborough K9 team's job. But it is a deterrent. > > Are we as a society serious about the war on drugs? Because that's > exactly > what it is, a war and currently the police are losing it through no > fault of > their own. Kids can now bring anything they want to school and store > it in > the school-owned locker. The police would need actual reasonable and > probable grounds to search. > > I was surprised to read so many were in support of this (Have your > say, > April 28). In a war, one has to take sides, and in the war on drugs > it's a > no-brainer. One person interviewed for the Have Your Say feature > even went > so far as to offer his "reasonable and probable" opinion that > "drugs" are no > worse now in schools than when he went to high school. I went to > school in > the 1980s. It's much worse now; as a paramedic I know that to be a > fact. We > pick up all the overdosed kids. It's pretty bad out there, and the > Peterborough area is getting worse by the day. > > It's time we send a message to our MPs. A properly trained dog is > upwards of > 95 per cent accurate at detecting even small amounts of specific > drugs. The > dog, unlike a human, doesn't care what you look like, what colour > you are, > how you talk, nor what social background you come from. It just > plays the > "find the drug" game and usually all it wants is a short play with > its toy > as a reward for a job well done. > > When our paramedic team was coming back from Cambodia last year the > "fruit > sniffing dog" at the Toronto airport caught two of our guys with > oranges in > their backpacks. We never thought to complain to the Supreme Court, > though. > I wish now we had, they might have given us our fruit back. > > MARK CAMERON > RR 11, Peterborough > From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sun May 4 09:43:41 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 09:43:41 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN AB: Marchers push marijuana's medical merits References: Message-ID: <4FE4DF60-CAA9-4D6C-92DE-AD42EE82F2EF@connect.carleton.ca> But Sgt. John Moriarity of the Calgary Police Service stressed many protesters Saturday simply used the event as an excuse to smoke pot in public. "It's mostly recreational users that show up to this kind of event, so the true message might be kind of lost on them." Cheryl Houtekamer of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission has said marijuana is one of the top substances doing harm to young people, alongside tobacco and alcohol. According to a 2005 survey, almost 25 per cent of Alberta youth have used marijuana. > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=784bbe60-ea8d-433b-84bd-c9b4003c01e1 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Sunday, May 4, 2008 > Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) > Contact: letters at theherald.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ > Author: Michelle Butterfield > > Marchers push marijuana's medical merits > > Global protest draws nearly 500 in Calgary > > Michelle Butterfield > Calgary Herald > > Close to 500 protesters took to the streets Saturday in favour of > marijuana's medicinal > use and making it more accessible to those suffering debilitating > pain. > > The fourth annual Worldwide Marijuana March -- along Stephen Avenue > and ending up at > city hall -- was one of over 200 other protests around the world > scheduled to take > place. > > Keith Fagin, organizer of the march and founder of Calgary 420 > Cannabis Community, has > been smoking marijuana for 35 years. He said the purpose of the > march is to put forward > the message of people who have been denied marijuana as a medical > treatment. > > "There are myths about marijuana, and unfortunately people do not > know how much it can > help people who are suffering," he said. > > Nancy Brown, parade marshall and co-founder of the Calgary Medicinal > Marijuana Centre, > has used a wheelchair as a result of multiple sclerosis and > fibromyalgia. > > Although Brown has a government exemption to legally grow and > consume marijuana, she > believes the government "makes it too hard for people to get the > help they deserve." > > She also believes marijuana has received a bad rap, and is not as > dangerous as made out > in the media. > > "There has never been a recorded case in history where someone has > overdosed on > marijuana, but the same cannot be said for other drugs," she said. > > According to Fagin there are currently 2,000 Canadians who are > receiving government > regulated medicinal marijuana -- but he believes thousands more > could benefit. > > He said the government "robbed" people when they took away a $4- > million program designed > to help sick Canadians receive medicinal marijuana treatments. > > Health Canada reported in March that doctors have been increasing > the dosage of > marijuana supplied to patients, acknowledging marijuana grown by the > Canadian government > is not as potent as that being grown by patients or outside suppliers. > > Protesters Saturday were clad in green T-shirts and held green > balloons, waving signs > reading "Recognition is good medicine" and "Legalize, regulate, > educate." > > About a dozen police officers armed with camcorders and cameras > patrolled the crowd, > arresting and charging three people for the possession of marijuana. > But police said the > crowd overall was calm and people well-behaved as they walked > through the downtown core. > > And while the crowd consisted mostly of young people chanting "Smoke > weed, smoke weed," > at the top of their lungs, there were people supporting Fagin's > message. > > Fagin points to a need for better education about the benefits of > marijuana. He believes > by educating young people they will be able to make better decisions > about drug use. > > "I'm not saying we should be giving pot to our kids. We need to tell > kids 'please > abstain,' but we still need to honest with them," he said. > > Fagin said his parents told him people who used cannabis were > hippies and using it made > you a bad person. > > "They really bought into reefer madness." > > But Sgt. John Moriarity of the Calgary Police Service stressed many > protesters Saturday > simply used the event as an excuse to smoke pot in public. > > "It's mostly recreational users that show up to this kind of event, > so the true message > might be kind of lost on them." > > Cheryl Houtekamer of the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission > has said marijuana is > one of the top substances doing harm to young people, alongside > tobacco and alcohol. > According to a 2005 survey, almost 25 per cent of Alberta youth have > used marijuana. > From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sun May 4 09:48:15 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 09:48:15 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Looking for others affected by "grow-op" bylaws in BC (fwd) References: <508CC3295AA54D4FBD26AE7D24A32881@UserPC> Message-ID: Prevost would like to hear from other householders who have been inspected, and can be reached at selinaprevost at hotmail.com. > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=83e55d93-5dd5-4269-a9ed-6df0b94a5645 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Sunday, May 4, 2008 > Source: Province, The (CN BC) > Contact: provletters at png.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/ > Author: Susan Lazaruk > > Couple left 'squatting' in their home > > Say city wants them to pay $5,000 for search for grow-op that wasn't > there > > Susan Lazaruk > The Province > > When Selina Prevost and her husband returned home recently to find a > notice tacked to > their front door advising them Coquitlam city inspectors would > return in 24 hours > looking for a marijuana grow operation, they willingly let them in. > > "I knew they were shutting down grow-ops, and I knew we had nothing > to hide," she said. > > The next day, six inspectors from the Public Safety Inspection Team > accompanied by two > RCMP officers spent two and a half hours in their home. > > After they were finished, they cited problems with the electrical > box and water heater > and slapped up a red Do Not Occupy notice. > > "There's a big scarlet letter on our door," she said. > > The Prevosts were charged $5,000 for the inspection and told they > would be charged > another $5,000 for a reinspection to ensure the repairs were done > before they could move > back in. > > Prevost, who is due to give birth to her first child today, and her > husband were > virtually homeless. > > They were allowed to remain in the home during the day to carry out > the $2,500 in > repairs but technically weren't allowed to sleep there, although > staff told them because > of the circumstances no one would be checking. > > "We are basically squatting in our own home," she said. > > "Our only crime was that we bought our house." > > They had bought the three-bedroom house on Cape Horn Avenue in > August 2006 after a > six-hour inspection. They were told there may have been a grow-op in > an old shed the > couple were going to take down anyway. > > A previous owner, not the one they bought from, had had a spike in > hydro usage, a red > flag for a grow-op. That put the address on a "watch list" for the > new inspection team, > launched a year ago to identify and shut down grow-ops. > > Inspectors were alerted when there was a minor upward surge in usage > in December 2007, > which Prevost guessed had something to do with the cold weather and > Hydro switching from > averaging to reading their meter. > > Officials agreed to waive the first $5,000 inspection fee because > they found no grow-op, > but Prevost said they were told they would have to pay the second > $5,000 fee. > > City spokeswoman Therese Mickelson said there was only one > inspection fee and the second > fee is a few hundred dollars that is standard after any repairs. > > She also said the house was targeted because of the upsurge in > electrical use that > inspectors later determined was due to construction carried out > without a building > permit. > > But Prevost said she had been told repeatedly that staff were doing > their best to waive > the second $5,000 fee and weren't sure it could be done. > > And she said the only work the couple has carried out on the home > was taking out the > floor in the basement, which wasn't done in December 2007, and > haven't constructed > anything. > > She said she wanted her and her husband's story to be told to warn > others so the same > thing doesn't happen to them. > > Mickelson said the fees for the new inspection team are designed to > cover the costs of > the new program, including paying for police officers, without > having any costs paid by > taxpayers. > > From May to December 2007, 128 properties were inspected and 88 were > found to have > grow-ops and another 24 were strongly suspected as grow-ops but > insufficient evidence > was found. > > Since implementing the program, the city also reduced the > notification period to 24 > hours from 48 hours, to prevent grow-op operators from clearing out > the operation before > inspectors could return. > > In nine homes, there was no evidence of a grow-op but the power > surges were linked to a > large aquarium, a computer business operating out of the home and > construction work > without permits. > > Three others were found to have some kind of electrical hazard, and > Mickelson said the > owners were grateful for the information. > > Prevost would like to hear from other householders who have been > inspected, and can be > reached at selinaprevost at hotmail.com. > From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sun May 4 13:28:35 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 13:28:35 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Video: CBC Sunday: Albert Hofmann - Psychedelic Pioneer Message-ID: <842EF4D7-13CC-4774-BAE9-6918596B88E8@connect.carleton.ca> Video: http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/sunday/050408_3.wmv http://www.cbc.ca/sunday/2008/05/050408_3.html Psychedelic Pioneer The Swiss chemist who discovered LSD, Albert Hofmann, died this week at 102. We examine the legacy of the man who became a hero to a rebellious generation, and look back at the history of this controversial drug - now in the midst of a research revival. From digitalcomponents at gmail.com Sun May 4 17:24:04 2008 From: digitalcomponents at gmail.com (Nyc W. Alberts) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 17:24:04 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Silenced Majority Portal: Million Marijuana March NYC 2008 Message-ID: <481E2974.9070003@gmail.com> http://silencedmajority.blogs.com/silenced_majority_portal/2008/05/million-marijua.html More to follow... From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Sun May 4 22:38:46 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Sun, 04 May 2008 21:38:46 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Jimi Hendrix was Waterboarded to Death Message-ID: <481E7336.4090705@comcast.net> http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/05/jimi-hendrix-was-waterboarded-to-death.html Sunday, May 4, 2008 Jimi Hendrix was Waterboarded to Death Waterboarding has been around for ages, and the CIA has long favored this "harsh" but very chic "interrogation technique," as America's "enemies," eg. the late virtuoso Jimi Hendrix , found out the hard way. What? "Choked on his own vomit?" Don't be stupid. "Heroin overdose?" Fabrication for mass consumption - and a VERY smart postmortem psyop. We will not stand for criticism of the Land of Son of Sam and Don Rumsfeld. Revolution will not be televised, or even tolerated. Seig Heil and God save the Reich. - AC http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/01/jimi-hendrix-was-waterboarded-to-death.html Monday, January 14, 2008 Attending Physician: Jimi Hendrix was WATERBOARDED to Death w/Red Wine Let's see - who practices waterboarding? ... Maybe, "skeptical" Good Germans will argue, Hendrix waterboarded HIMSELF ... that is, after giving up their hold on the "heroin overdose" swag passed off by the media in the wake of the virtuoso's demise, and the host of shrugged equivocations I've heard over the years that most proles smugly pass off as truth these days to avoid facing reality ... It's explained to me, a naive nabob, "Hendrix choked on his own vomit." And this is so - it's right there in the testimony of doctors who treated Hendrix in his terminal hour. I ask: "What did he choke on?" A: Red wine. His stomach and lungs were FULL OF RED, RED WINE. His body rejected it. He threw up, choked to death. That's the long and short of it. Hendrix DROWNED and he doesn't live today. - AC ...... Chapter seven from "The Covert War Against Rock" by Alex Constantine "I don't believe for one minute that he killed himself. That was out of the question." --- Chas Chandler, Hendrix Producer "I believe the circumstances surrounding his death are suspicious and I think he was murdered." --- Ed Chalpin, Proprietor of Studio 76 "I feel he was murdered, frankly. Somebody gave him something. Somebody gave him something they shouldn't have." --- John McLaughlin, Guitarist, Mahavishnu Orchestra He didn't die from a drug overdose. He was not an out-of-control dope fiend. Jimi Hendrix was not a junkie. And anyone who would use his death as a warning to stay away from drugs should warn people against the other things that killed Jimi---the stresses of dealing with the music industry, the craziness of being on the road, and especially, the dangers of involving oneself in a radical, or even unpopular, political movements. COINTELPRO was out to do more than prevent a Communist menace from overtaking the United States, or keep the Black Power movement from burning down cities. COINTELPRO was out to obliterate its opposition and ruin the reputations of the people involved in the antiwar movement, the civil rights movement, and the rock revolution. Whenever Jimi Hendrix's death is blamed on drugs, it accomplishes the goals of the FBI's program. It not only slanders Jimi's personal and professional reputation, but the entire rock revolution in the 60's. ---John Holmstrom. "Who Killed Jimi?"(1) As the music of youth and resistance fell under the cross-hairs of the CIA's CHAOS war, it was probable that Jimi Hendrix---the tripping, peacenik "Black Elvis" of the '60s---should find himself a target. Agents of the pathologically nationalistic FBI opened a file on Hendrix in 1969 after his appearance at several benefits for "subversive" causes. His most cutting insult to the state was participation in a concert for Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale and the other defendants of the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial,(2) "Get [the] Black Panthers," he told a reporter for a teen magazine, "not to kill anybody, but to scare [federal officials]....I know it sounds like war, but that's what's gonna have to happen. It has to be a war....You come back to reality and there are some evil folks around and they want you to be passive and weak and peaceful so that they can just overtake you like jelly on bread....You have to fight fire with fire."(3) On tour in Liesburg, Sweden, Hendrix was interviewed by Tommy Rander, a reporter for the Gotesborgs-Tidningen. " In the USA, you have to decide which side you're on," Hendrix explained. "You are either a rebel or like Frank Sinatra."(4) In 1979, college students at the campus newspaper of Santa Barbara University (USB) filed for release of FBI files on Hendrix. Six heavily inked-out pages were released to the student reporters. (The deletions nixed information "currently and properly classified pursuant to Executive Order 11652, in the interest of national defense of foreign policy.") On appeal, seven more pages were reluctantly turned over to the UCSB students. The file revealed that Hendrix had been placed on the federal "Security Index," a list of "subversives" to be rounded up and placed in detainment camps in the event of a national emergency. If the intelligence agencies had their reasons to keep tabs on Hendrix, they couldn't have picked a better man for the job than Hendrix's manager, Mike Jeffrey. Jeffrey, by his own admission an intelligence agent,(5) was born in South London in 1933, the sole child of postal workers. He completed his education in 1949, took a job as a clerk for Mobil Oil, was drafted to the National Service two years later. Jeffrey's scores in science took him to the Educational Corps. He signed on as a professional soldier, joined the Intelligence Corps and at this point his career enters an obscure phase. Hendrix biographers Shapiro & Glebeek report that Jeffrey often boasted of "undercover work against the Russians, of murder, mayhem and torture in foreign cities....His father says Mike rarely spoke about what he did---itself perhaps indicative of the sensitive nature of his work---but confirms that much of Mike's military career was spent in 'civvies,' that he was stationed in Egypt and that he could speak Russian."(6) There was, however, another, equally intriguing side of Mike Jeffrey: He frequently hinted that he had powerful underworld connections. It was common knowledge that he had had an abiding professional relationship with Steve Weiss, the attorney for both the Hendrix Experience and the Mafia-managed Vanilla Fudge, hailing from the law firm of Seingarten, Wedeen & Weiss. On one occasion, when drummer Mitch Mitchell found himself in a fix with police over a boat he'd rented and wrecked, mobsters from the Fudge management office intervened and pried him loose.(7) Organized crime has had fingers in the recording industry since the jukebox wars. Mafioso Michael Franzene testified in open court in the late 1980s that "Sonny" Franzene, his stepfather, was a silent investor in Buddah Records. At this industry oddity, the inane, nasal, apolitical '60s "Bubblegum" song was blown from the goo of adolescent mating fantasies. The most popular of Buddah's acts were the 1910 Fruitgum Company and Ohio Express. These bands shared a lead singer, Joey Levine. Some cultural contributions from the Buddha label: "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy," "Simon Says," and "1-2-3 Red Light." In 1971, Buddha Records' Bobby Bloom was killed in a shooting sometimes described as "accidental," sometimes "suicide," at the age of 28. Bloom made a number of solo records, including "Love Don't Let Me Down," and "Count On Me." He formed a partnership with composer Jeff Barry and they wrote songs for the Monkees in their late period. Bloom made the Top 10 with the effervescent "Montego Bay" in 1970. Other Mafia-managed acts of the late 1960s were equally apolitical: Vanilla Fudge ("You Keep Me Hangin' On," "Bang, Bang"),(9) Motown's Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Curtis Mayfield.(10) In the '60s and beyond, organized crime wrenched unto itself control of industry workers via the Teamsters Union. Trucking was Mob controlled. So were stadium concessions. No rock bands toured unless money exchanged hands to see that a band's instruments weren't delivered to the wrong airport.(11) Intelligence agent or representative of the mob? Whether Jeffrey was either or both---and the evidence is clear that a CIA/Mafia combination has exercised considerable influence in the music industry for decades---at a certain point, Hendrix must have seen something that made him desperately want out of his management contract with Jeffrey. Monika Dannemann, Hendrix's fianc? at the time of his death, describes Mike Jeffrey's control tactics, his attempts to isolate and manipulate Hendrix, with observations of his evolving awareness that Jeffrey was a covert operator bent on dominating his life and mind: Jimi felt more and more unsafe in New York, the city where he used to feel so much at home. It had begun to serve as a prison to him, and a place where he had to watch his back all the time. In May 1969 Jimi was arrested at Toronto for possession of drugs. He later told me he believed Jeffrey had used a third person to plant the drugs on him---as a warning, to teach him a lesson. Jeffrey had realized not only that Jimi was looking for ways of breaking out of their contract, but also that Jimi might have calculated that the Toronto arrest would be an easy way to silence Jimi.... Jeffrey did not like Jimi to have friends who would put ideas in his dead and give him strength. He preferred Jimi to be more isolated, or to mix with certain people whom Jeffrey could use to influence and try to manipulate him. So in New York, Jimi felt at times that he was under surveillance, and others around him noticed the same. He tried desperately to get out of his management contract, and asked several people for advice on the best way to do it. Jimi started to understand the people around him could not be trusted, as things he had told them in confidence now filtered through to Jeffrey. Obviously some people informed his manager of Jimi's plans, possibly having been bought or promised advantages by Jeffrey. Jimi had always been a trusting and open person, but now he had reason to become suspicious of people he didn't know well, becoming quite secretive and keeping very much to himself.(12) Five years after the death of the virtuoso, Crawdaddy reported that friends of Hendrix felt "he was very unhappy and confused before his death. Buddy Miles recalled 'numerous times he complained about his managers." His chief roadie, Gerry Stickells, told Welch, "he became frustrated...by a lot of people around him."(13) Hendrix was obsessed with the troubles that Jeffrey and company brought to his life and career. The band's finances were entirely controlled by management and were depleted by a tax haven in the Bahamas founded in 1965 by Michael Jeffrey called Yameta Co., a subsidiary of the Bank of New Providence, with accounts at the Naussau branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Chemical Bank in New York.(14) A substantial share of the band's earnings had been quietly drained by Yameta. The banks where Jeffrey opened accounts have been officially charged with the laundering of drug proceeds, a universal theme of CIA/Mafia activity. (The Chemical Bank was forced to plead guilty to 445 misdemeanors in 1980 when a federal investigation found that bank officials had failed to report transactions they knew to derive from drug trafficking.(15) The Bank of Nova Scotia was a key investor in the Bank of Commerce and Credit International, BCCI, once described by Time magazine as "the most pervasive money-laundering operation and financial supermarket ever create," with ties to the upper echelons of several governments, the CIA, the Pentagon and the Vatican.(16) BCCI maintained warm relationships with international terrorists, and investigators turned up accounts for Libya, Syria and the PLO at BCCI's London branch, recalling Mike Jeffrey's military intelligence interest in the Middle East. And then there were bank records from Panama City relating to General Noriega. These "disappeared'' en route to the District of Columbia under heavy DEA guard. An internal investigation later, DEA officials admitted they were at a loss to explain the theft.(17) Friends of Hendrix, according to Electric Gypsy, confiscated financial documents from his New York office and turned them over to Jimi: "One showed that what was supposed to be a $10,000 gig was in fact grossing $50,000." "Jimi Hendrix was upset that large amounts of his money were missing," reports rock historian R. Gary Patterson. Hendrix had discovered the financial diversions and took legal action to recover them.(18) But there was another factor also involving funds. Some of Hendrix's friends have concluded that "Jeffrey stood to make a greater sum of money from a dead Jimi Hendrix than a living one. There was also mention of a one million dollar insurance policy covering Hendrix's life made out with Jeffrey as the beneficiary." The manager of the Experience constructed "a financial empire based on the posthumous releases of Hendrix's previously unreleased recordings."(19) Crushing musical voices of dissent was proving to be an immensely profitable enterprise because a dead rocker leaves behind a fortune in publishing rights and royalties. Roadies couldn't help but notice that Mike Jeffrey, a seasoned military intelligence officer, was capable of "subtle acts of sabotage against them," reports Shapiro. Jeffrey booked the Experience for a concert tour with the Monkees and Hendrix was forced to cancel when the agony of playing to hordes of 12-year-old children, and fear of a parental backlash, convinced him to bail out. As for the arrest in Toronto, Hendrix confidantes blame Jeffrey for the planted heroin. The charges were dropped after Hendrix argued that the unopened container of dope had been dropped into his travel bag upon departure by a girl who claimed that it was cold medicine.(20) In July, 1970, one month before his death, at precisely the time Hendrix stopped all communications with Jeffrey, he told Chuck Wein, a film director at Andy Warhol's Factory: "The next time I go to Seattle will be in a pine box."(21) And he knew who would drop him in it. Producer Alan Douglas recalls that Hendrix "had a hang-up about the word 'manager.'" The guitarist had pled with Douglas, the proprietor of his own jazz label, to handle the band's business affairs. One of the most popular musicians in the world was desperate. He appealed to a dozen business contacts to handle his bookings and finances, to no avail.(22) Meanwhile, the sabotage continued in every possible form. Douglas: "Regardless of whatever else Jimi wanted to do, Mike would keep pulling him back or pushing him back....And the way the gigs were routed! I mean, one nighters---he would do Ontario one night, Miami the next night, California the next night. He used to waste [Hendrix] on a tour---and never make too much money because the expenses were ridiculous."(23) The obits were a jumbled lot of skewed, contradictory eulogies: "DRUGS KILL JIMI HENDRIX AT 24," "ROCK STAR IS DEAD IN LONDON AT 27," "OVERDOSE." Many of the obituaries dwelt on the "wild man of rock" image, but there were also many personal commentaries from reporters who followed his career closely, and they dismissed as hype reports of chronic drug abuse. Mike Ledgerwood, a writer for Disc and Music Echo, offered a portrait that the closest friends of Jimi Hendrix confirm: "Despite his fame and fortune---plus the inevitable hang-ups and hustles which beset his incredible career---he remained a quiet and almost timid individual. He was naturally helpful and honest." Sounds magazine "found a man of quite remarkable charm, an almost old-world courtesy." Hendrix biographer Tony Brown has, since the mid-'70s, collected all the testimony he could find relating to Hendrix's death, and finds it "tragic" but "predictable": "The official cause of death was asphyxiation caused by inhaling his own vomit, but in the days and weeks leading up to the tragedy anyone with an ounce of common sense could see that Hendrix was heading for a terrible fall. Unfortunately, no one close to him managed to steer him clear of the maelstrom that was closing in. Brown sent a report based on his own investigation to the Attorney General's office in February, 1992, "in the hope that they would reopen the inquest into Jimi's death. The evidence was so strong that they ordered Scotland Yard detectives to conduct their own investigation." Months later, detectives at the Yard responded to Sir Nicholas Lyle at the Attorney General's office, rejecting the proposal to revive the inquest.(24) The pathologist's report left the cause of death "open." Monika Dannemann had long insisted that Hendrix was murdered. At the time of her death, she had brought media attention to the case in a bitter and highly-publicized court battle with former Hendrix girlfriend Kathy Etchningham. On April 5, 1996, her body was discovered in a fume-filled car near her home in Seaford, Sussex, south England. Police dismissed the death as a "suicide" and the corporate press took dictation. But the Eastern Daily Press, a newspaper that circulates in the East Anglian region of the UK, raised another possibility: "Musician Uli Jon Roth, speaking at the thatched cottage where Miss Dannemann lived, said last night: 'The thing looks suspicious. She had a lot of death threats against her over the years....I always felt that she was really being crucified in front of everybody, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.' Mr Roth, formerly with the group The Scorpions, said Miss Danneman 'is not a person to do something to herself.'" Roth threw one more inconsistency on the lot: "She didn't believe in the concept of suicide." Devon Wilson, another Hendrix paramour, in Experience drummer Mitch Mitchell's view, "died under mysterious circumstances herself a few years later."(25) Red, Red Wine Was Hendrix murdered while under the influence? Stanton Steele, an authority on addiction, offers a seemingly plausible explanation: "Extremely intoxicated people while asleep often lose the reflexive tendency to clear one's throat of mucus, or they may strangle in their vomit. This appeared to have happened to Jimi Hendrix, who had taken both alcohol and prescription barbiturates the night of his death."(26) Evidence has recently come to light clarifying the cause of death---extreme alcohol consumption aggravated by the barbiturates in Hendrix's bloodstream---drowning. Hendrix is said to have choked to death after swallowing nine Vesperax sleeping tablets. This is not the lethal dose he'd have taken if suicide was the intent---he surely would have swallowed the remaining 40 or so pills in the packets Dannemann gave him if this was the idea---as Eric Burdon, the Animals' vocalist and a friend of Hendrix, has suggested over the years. Hendrix was not felled by a drug overdose, as many news reports claimed. The pills were a sleeping aid, and not a very effective one at that. The two Vesperax that Dannemann saw him take before she fell asleep at 3 am failed to put him under. He had taken a Durophet 20 amphetamine capsule at a dinner party the evening before. And then Hendrix, a chronic insomniac with an escalated tolerance level for barbiturates, had tried the Vesperax before and they proved ineffective. He apparently believed nine tablets would do him no harm. At 10 am, Dannemann awoke and went out for a pack of cigarettes, according to her inquest testimony. When she returned, he was sick. She phoned Eric Bridges, a friend, and informed him that Hendrix wasn't well. "Half asleep," Bridges reported in his autobiography, "I suggested she give him hot coffee and slap his face. If she needed any more help to call me back." Dannemann called the ambulance at 18 minutes past eleven. The ambulance arrived nine minutes later. Hendrix was not, she claimed, in critical condition. She said the paramedics checked his pulse and breathing, and stated there was "nothing to worry about." But a direct contradiction came in an interview with Reg Jones, one of the attendants, who insisted that Dannemann wasn't at the flat when they arrived, and that Hendrix was already dead. "It was horrific," Jones said. "We arrived at the flat and the door was flung wide open...."I knew he was dead as soon as I walked into the room." Ambulance attendant John Suau confirmed, "we knew it was hopeless. There was no pulse, no respiration."(27) The testimonies of Dannemann and medical personnel at the 1970 inquest are disturbingly contradictory. Hendrix, the medical personnel stated, had been dead for at least seven hours by the time the ambulance arrived. Dr. Rufus Compson at the Department of Forensic Medicine at St. George's Medical School undertook his own investigation. He referred to the original medical examiner's report and discovered that there were rice remains in Hendrix's stomach. It takes three-four hours for the stomach to empty, he reasoned, and the deceased ate Chinese food at a dinner party hosted by Pete Cameron between the hours of 11 pm and midnight, placing the time of death no later than 4 am.(28) This is consistent with the report of Dr. Bannister, the surgical registrar, that "the inside of his mouth and mucous membranes were black because he had been dead for some time." Dr. Bannister told the London Times, "Hendrix had been dead for hours rather than minutes when he was admitted to the hospital."(29) The inquest itself was "unusual," Tony Brown notes, because "none of the other witnesses involved were called to give their evidence, nor was any attempt made to ascertain the exact time of death," as if the subject was to be avoided. The result was that the public record on this basic fact in the case may have been incorrectly cited by scores of reporters and biographers. Tony Brown: "Even [medical examiner] Professor Teare made no attempt to ascertain the exact time of death. The inquest appeared to be conducted merely as a formality and had not been treated by the coroner as a serious investigation."(30) In 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky (1996), Bill Henderson describes the inquest and its aftermath: "Those who followed his death....noticed many inconsistencies in the official inquest. It has been an open and shut affair that managed to hide its racist intent behind the public perceptual hoax of Hendrix as a substance abuser....As a result, millions of people all over the world thought that Hendrix had died that typical rock star's death: drug OD amid fame, opulence, decadence. But it seems that Hendrix could very well have been the victim not of decadence, but of foul play."(31) Forensic tests submitted at the inquest have been supplemented over the years by new evidence that makes a reconstruction of the murder possible. In October, 1991, Steve Roby, publisher of Straight Ahead, a Hendrix fanzine, asked, "What Really Happened?": "Kathy Etchingham, a close friend/lover of Jimi's, and Dee Mitchell, Mitch Mitchell's wife, spent many months tracking down former friends and associates of Hendrix, and are convinced they have solved the mystery of the final hours." Central to reconstructing Hendrix's death is red wine. Dr. Bannister reports that after the esophagus had been cleared, "masses" of red wine were "coming out of his nose and out of his mouth." The wine gushing up in great volume from Hendrix's lungs "is very vivid because you don't often see people who have drowned in their own red wine. He had something around him---whether it was a towel or a jumper---around his neck and that was saturated with red wine. His hair was matted. He was completely cold. I personally think he probably died a long time before....He was cold and he was blue."(32) Henderson writes: The abstract morbidity of Hendrix's body upon discovery may indicate a more complex scenario than has been commonly held. Hendrix was not a red wine guzzler, especially in the amounts found in and around his body. He was known to be moderate in his consumption. If he was 'sleeping normally,' then why was he fully clothed? And how could the ambulance attendants have missed seeing someone who was supposed to be there? The garment, or towel, around his neck is totally mysterious given the scenario so widely distributed. But it is consistent with the doctor's statement that he drowned. Was he drowned by force? In a radio interview broadcast out of Holland in the early '70s, an unnamed girlfriend answered 'yes' to the question, 'Was Hendrix killed by the Mafia?'"(33) Tony Brown, in Hendrix: The Final Days (1997), correlates the consumption of the wine to the approximate time of death: "It's unlikely that he drank the quantity of red wine found by Dr. Bannister.... Therefore, Jimi must have drunk a large quantity of red wine just prior to his death," suggesting that the quantity of alcohol in his lungs was the direct cause.(34) The revised time of death, 3-4 am, contradicts the gap in the official record, and so does the revelation that Jimi Hendrix drowned in red wine. While it is common knowledge that Hendrix choked to death, it has only recently come to light that the wine---not the Verparex---was the primary catalyst of death. Hendrix was, the evidence suggests, forced to drink a quantity of wine. The barbiturates, as Brown notes, "seriously inhibited Jimi's normal cough reflex." Unable to cough the wine back up, "it went straight down into his lungs....It is quite possible that he thrashed about for some time, fighting unsuccessfully to gain his breath."(35) It is doubtful that Hendrix would have continued to swallow the wine in "massive" volumes had it begun to fill his lungs. One explanation that explains the forensic evidence is that Jimi Hendrix was restrained, wine forced down his throat until his thrashings ceased. All of this must have taken place quickly, before the alcohol had time to enter his bloodstream. The post mortem report states that the blood alcohol level was not excessive, about 20mg over the legal drinking limit. He died before his stomach absorbed much of the wine. Jimi Hendrix choked to death. That much of the general understanding of his demise is correct, and little else. The kidnapping, embezzling and numerous shady deceptions would make Jeffrey the leading suspect in any proper police investigation. And his reaction at the news of Hendrix's death did little to dispel any suspicions that associates may have harbored. Jim Marron, a nightclub owner from Manhattan, was vacationing with Jeffrey in Spain when word of the musician's death reached him. "We were supposed to have dinner that night in Majorca," Marron recalls. Jeffrey "called me from his club in Palma saying that we would have to cancel....I've just got word from London. Jimi's dead." The manager of the Hendrix Experience took the news completely in stride. "I always knew that son of a bitch would pull a quickie," Jeffrey told Marron. "Basically, he had lost a major property. You had the feeling that he had just lost a couple of million dollars---and was the first to realize it. My first reaction was, Oh my God, my friend is dead."(36) But Jeffrey reacted coldly, comparing the fatality to a fleeting sexual romp in the afternoon. His odd behavior continued in the days following the death of Hendrix. He appeared to be consumed by guilt, and on one occasion "confessed." On September 20, recording engineer Alan Douglas received a call from Jeffrey, who wanted to see him. Douglas drove to the hotel where Jeffrey was staying. "He was bent over, in misery from a recent back injury. We started talking and he let it all out. It was like a confession." "In my opinion," Douglas observed, "Jeffrey hated Hendrix." Bob Levine, the band's merchandising manager, was perplexed by Jeffrey's response to the tragedy. First, Hendrix's manager dropped completely out of sight. "We tried calling all of Jeffrey's contacts....trying to reach him. We were getting frustrated because Hendrix's body was going to be held up in London for two weeks and we wanted Jeffrey's input on the funeral service. A full week after Hendrix's death, he finally called. Hearing his voice, I immediately asked what his plans were and would he be going to Seattle. 'What plans?' he asked. I said, 'the funeral.' 'What funeral?' he replied. I was exasperated: 'Jimi's!' The phone went quiet for a while and then he hung up. The whole office was staring at me, unable to believe that with all the coverage on radio, print and television, Jeffrey didn't know that Jimi had died." As noted, Jeffrey had been notified and almost grieved, in his fashion. "He called back in five minutes and we talked quietly. He said, 'Bob, I didn't know,' and was asking about what had happened. While I didn't confront him, I knew he was lying."(37) It was reported that Michael Jeffrey "paid his respects" sitting in a limousine parked outside Dunlap Baptist Church in Seattle. He refused to go inside for the eulogy.(38) Hendrix was buried at the family plot at Greenwood Cemetary in Renton. Screenwriter Alan Greenberg was hired to write a screenplay for a film on the life of Jimi Hendrix. He traveled to England and taped an interview with Dannemann shortly before her death in April, 1996. In that interview, Dannemann sketched in more details of Jeffrey's skullduggery, which continued after Hendrix's death and has long been concealed behind a wall of misconceptions. On the Greenberg tapes, Dannemann denied allegations of heroin use, as do others close to Hendrix: "You should put that into the right perspective since all of the youngsters still think he was a drug addict. The problem was, when he died, I was told by the coroner not to talk until after the inquest, so that's why all these wild stories came out that he overdosed from heroin." The coroner found no injection tracks on Hendrix's body. That he snorted the opiate, a charge advanced by biographer Chris Welch in Hendrix, is disputed by Jimi's closest friends. He indulged primarily in marijuana and LSD. The popular misconception that Hendrix was a heroin addict lingers on but should have been buried with him. One of rock's greatest talents was maliciously smeared by the press on this count. At times, he public has been deliberately misled about Hendrix's drug habits. Kathy Etchingham, a former girlfriend, was deceived into giving an article about Jimi to a friend in the corporate media, and it was snatched up by a newspaper, rewritten, and the story that emerged depicted the guitarist as a violent and drug-infested lunatic. The editor later apologized in writing to Kathy for falsifying the record, but failed to retract in print.(39) Media swipes at Hendrix to this day are often unreasonably vicious, as in this transparent attempt to shape public opinion from London's Times on December 14, 1993: Not only did [Hendrix] leave several memorable compositions behind him; he left a good-looking corpse. Kathy Etchnigham, a middle-class mother of two, who used to be one of Hendrix's lovers, still mourns his passing and is seeking to persuade the police that there is something suspicious about the circumstances in which he died. Quite why she should bother is hard to say. Perhaps she is bored. Hendrix, we are advised, "lived an absurdly self-indulgent life and died, in essence, of stupidity." Close friends of Jimi Hendrix suggest that Jeffrey was the front man for a surreptitious sponsor, the FBI, CIA or Mafia. In 1975, Crawdaddy magazine launched its own investigation and concluded that a death squad of some kind had targeted him: "Hendrix is not the only artist to have had his career sabotaged by unscrupulous sharks and leeches." The recent memory of the death of Average White Band drummer Robby McIntosh from strychnine-laced heroin circulating at a party in L.A. "only serves to update this fact of rock-and-roll life. But an industry that accepts these tragedies in cold blood demonstrates its true nature---and the Jimi Hendrix music machine cranks out, unencumbered by the absence of Hendrix himself. One wonders who'll be the next in line?"(40) On March 5, as if in reply, Michael Jeffrey, every musician's nightmare, was blown out of the sky in an airplane collision over France, enroute to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix. Jeffrey was returning from Palma aboard an Iberia DC-9 in the midst of a French civil air traffic control strike. Military controllers were called in as a contingency replacements for the controllers. Hendrix biographer Bill Henderson considers the midair collision fuel for "paranoia." The nature of military airline control "necessitated rigorous planning, limited traffic on each sector and strict compliance with regulations. The DC-9 however was assigned to the same flight over Nantes as a Spantax Coronado, which 'created a source of conflict.' And because of imprecise navigation, lack of complete radar coverage and imperfect radio communications, the two planes collided. The Coronado was damaged but remained airworthy; no one was injured. The DC-9 crashed, killing all 61 passengers and seven crew . . . ." There are [theories] that Jeffrey was merely a tool, a mouthpiece for the real villains lurking in the wings, that he was "the target of assassination."(41) A quarter-century after Hendrix died, his father finally won control of the musical legacy. Under a settlement signed in 1995, the rights to his son's music were granted to 76-year-old Al Hendrix, the sole heir to the estate. The agreement, settled in court, forced Hendrix to drop a fraud suit filed two years earlier against Leo Branton Jr., the L.A. civil rights attorney who represented Angela Davis and Nat King Cole. Hendrix accused his lawyer of selling the rights to the late rock star's publishing catalogue without consent. Hendrix, Sr. filed the suit on April 19, 1993, after learning that MCA Music Entertainment---a company rife with Mafia connections---was readying to snatch up his son's recording and publishing rights from two international companies that claimed to own them. The MCA deal, estimated to be worth $40 million, was put on hold after objections were raised in a letter to the Hollywood firm from Hendrix. By this time, Experience albums generated more than $3-million per a ?nnum in royalties, and $1-million worth of garments, posters and paraphernalia bearing his name and likeness are sold each year. All told, Al Hendrix received $2-million over the next 20 years.(42) NOTES 1. John Holstrom, "Who Killed Jimi?" Lions Gate Media Works, http://lionsgate.com/Music/hendrix/I_ Dont_Live_Today.html. 2. John Raymond and Marv Glass, "The FBI Investigated Jimi Hendrix," Common Ground, University of Santa Barbara, CA student newspaper, vol. iv, no. 9, June 7, 1979, P. 1. 3. "Jimi Hendrix, Black Power and Money," Teenset, January, 1969. 4. Tony Brown, Hendrix: The Final Days, London: Rogan House, 1997, p. 43. 5. On Mike Jeffrey's undefined politics, see: John McDermott with Eddie Kramer, Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight, New York: Warner, 1992, p. 180. 6. Harry Shapiro and Ceasar Glebbeek, Jimi Hendrix, Electric Gypsy, New York: St. Martin's, 1990, p. 120. 7. Bill Henderson, "IT'S LIKE TRYING TO GET OUT OF A ROOM FULL OF MIRRORS," Jimi Hendrix web page, http://www.rockmine. music.co.uk/jimih. html. 8. Fredric Dannen, Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Industry, New York: Times Books, 1990, p. 164-5. 9. Shapiro and Glebbeek, Jimi Hendrix, Electric Gypsy, New York: St. Martin's, 1990, p. 294. The Fudge once booked a tour with Jimi Hendrixs, per arrangement between the band's mobbed-up management and Michael Jeffrey, Hendrix's manager. 10. Dannen, p. 165. 11. Shapiro and Glebbeek, p. 295. 12. Monika Dannemann, The Inner World of Jimi Hendrix, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995, pp. 76-8. 13, John Swenson, "The Last Days of Jimi Hendrix," Crawdaddy, January, 1975, p. 43. 14. Ibid., p. 488 ff. 15. "Banks and Narcotics Money Flow in Suth Florida," U.S. Senate Banking Committee report, 96th Congress, June 5-6, 1980, p. 201. 16. Jonathon Kwitny, The Crimes of Patriots: A True Tale of Dope, Dirty Money, and the CIA, New York: Touchstone, 1987, p. 153. 17. Josh Rodin, "BANK OF CROOKS AND CRIMINALS?" Topic 105, Christic News, Aug 6, 1991. 18. R. Gary Patterson, Hellhounds on Their Trail: Tales from the Rock-n'-Roll Graveyard, Nashville, Tennessee: Dowling Press, 1998, p. 208. 19. Ibid. 20. Shapiro and Glebbeek, p. 473. 21. Shapiro and Glebbeek, p. 477. 22. Swenson. In Crosstown Traffic (1989), Charles Murray reports that Hendrix "began consulting independent lawyers and accountants with a view of sorting out his tangled finances and freeing himself from Mike Jeffrey" (p. 55). 23. Henderson Web site. 24. Brown, p. 7. 25. Mitch Mitchell with John Platt, Jimi Hendrix---Inside the Experience, New York: St. Martin's, 1990, p. 160. 26. Stanton Steele, "The Human Side Of Addiction: What caused John Belushi's death?" U.S. Journal of Drug and Alcohol Dependence, April 1982, p. 7. 27. David Henderson, 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky, New York: Bantam, 1996, pp. 389-90. 28. Brown, p. 164. 29. Henderson, p. 392. 30. Brown, p. 163. 31. Henderson, p. 388. 32. Ibid., p. 392. 33. Henderson, 'Scuse Me While I Kiss the Sky, p. 393. If the Mafia did indeed participate, Hendrix wasn't the first African-American musician to have a contract on his head. In May 1955, jazz saxman Wardell Gray was murdered, probably by Mafia hitmen. Gray had toured with Benny Goodman and Count Basie in 1948. His remarkable recording sessions of the late 1940s, especially with Dexter Gordon, brought him fame. Bill Moody, a jazz drummer and disk jockey, published a novel in 1996, Death of a Tenor Man, based on the life and death of Grey. "It's strange," a publisher's press release comments, "that 1950s Las Vegas, a town in which the Mob and corrupt police worked hand in glove, became the home of the first integrated nightclub in the country. The Moulin Rouge was owned by blacks and had the honor of being the only casino hotel in Vegas that allowed African-Americans to mingle with white customers. On opening night, Nat 'King' Cole and Frank Sinatra sat in with Benny Carter's band. The second night, Wardell Gray, a black sax player in the Carter band with a growing reputation, was beaten to death. The police said he overdosed and 'fell out of bed,' dying later 'of complications.' Some suspected Gray's death was the Mob's way of telling the African-American businessmen who backed the Moulin Rouge that 'this town isn't big enough for the both of us.' Gray's murder has never been investigated. It "hung over the Moulin Rouge like a storm cloud" and remains unsolved. The casino went out of business a few months later. And the 1961 attempt on the life of soul singer Jackie Wilson has never been rationally explained. Wilson was shot in the stomach by a fan supposedly trying to "prevent a fan from killing herself." He recovered from the assault and went on to release "No Pity (In the Naked City)," and "Higher and Higher." The Halloween, 1975 murder of Al Jackson, percussionist for Booker T. and the MGs, at the age of 39, also appeared to be a premeditated hit. Barbara Jackson, his wife, was the sole eyewitness. She told police, according to Rolling Stone, that she "arrived home on the night of the shooting and was met by a gun-wielding burglar who tied her hands behind her back with an ironing cord." Al Jackson, who'd been taking in a closed circuit telecast of the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight, arrived an hour later. Any burglar would have collected valuables in the house and fled by this time, but he waited a full hour for Jackson to return home. Babara Jackson was freed from the ropes and the "burglar" ordered her at gunpoint to open the door for him. "After confronting Jackson and asking him for money, the intruder forced him to lie on the floor. He then shot Jackson five times in the back and left." (Rolling Stone, November 1975) 34. Brown, p. 165. 35. Brown, pp. 165-66. 36. McDermott and Kramer, pp. 286-87. 37. Ibid. 38. Ibid. 39. Shapiro and Glebeek, p. 474. 40. Swenson, p. 45. 41. Henderson Web site. 42. Chuck Philips, "Father to Get Hendrix Song, Image Rights," Los Angeles Times (home edition), July 26, 1995, p. 1. Also named as defendants were producer Alan Douglas and several firms that have profited from the Hendrix catalogue since 1974 under contracts negotiated by Branton: New York-based Bella Godiva Music Inc; Presentaciones Musicales SA (PMSA), a Panamanian corporation; Bureau Voor Muzeikrechten Elber B. V. in the Netherlands; and Interlit, based in the Virgin Islands. Branton negotiated two contracts in early 1974---signed by Al Hendrix---that relinquished all rights to his son's "unmastered" tapes for $50,000 to PMSA and all his stock in Bella Godiva, his son's music publishing company, for $50,000."PMSA and the other overseas companies were later discovered to be part of a tax shelter system created by Harry Margolis," reported the L.A. Times, "a Saratoga attorney whom federal prosecutors charged but never convicted of tax fraud. The tax shelter plan collapsed after Margolis' death in 1987, and also [prompted] complaints from the estates of other entertainment clients, including singer Nat King Cole, screenwriter Larry Hauben as well as from followers of New Age philosopher Werner Erhard, who allegedly stashed revenues from his EST enterprise in the foreign account." -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080504/f65257c1/attachment-0001.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Mon May 5 10:16:10 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 10:16:10 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Afghanistan: Making hay? Not if you grow poppies References: Message-ID: <5A08BA5F-5515-4157-B7A2-22E0F46E326E@connect.carleton.ca> > > Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=492325 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Monday, May 5, 2008 > Source: National Post (Canada) > Contact: letters at nationalpost.com > Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ > Author: Ryan Cormier, Canwest News Service > > Making hay? Not if you grow poppies > > In Afghanistan, compensating for ruined crops is a tricky task; > Canadian Forces > > Ryan Cormier, Canwest News Service > > PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - When paying compensation to Afghans > for collateral > damage from military operations, Canadian Forces have drawn a line > in the sand where the > poppies grow. > > Soldiers in the Mushan region were in a unique bind recently after > their 83-vehicle > convoy rumbled over two crops -- one wheat, one poppy -- to set up > an overnight security > perimeter. > > Land was torn up and both crops ground into the mud. The wheat > farmer would have to be > compensated, but the poppy growers presented a Catch-22. Replacement > Canadian and > Afghanistan soldiers in the region had just arrived that day. > Angering locals by not > paying for poppies was a poor start for soldiers about to forge new > relationships. But > the alternative was to finance the drug trade. > > According to a recent NATO report, 93% of the global opium supply > comes fromAfghanistan > poppies. Poor farmers grow the illegal crop because it is > profitable, but much of the > money lands in Taliban pockets. > > Canadians discussed the security implications, but decided they had > little choice. They > agreed it would look unseemly and send the wrong message. > > "Poppies are not recognized as a legal crop by the government of > Afghanistan," Major > Mark Campbell of the operational mentoring and liaison team later > told the group who met > to negotiate and collect their compensation. "We will not pay for > it. We will only pay > for the land so it can be properly irrigated to grow a proper crop, > like wheat." > > The decision was not popular. Three men who openly admitted to > owning the poppy field > wanted to be compensated for both the crop and land damage, as the > wheat farmer had. > > Half the wheat field was lost, a swath of roughly 15,000 square > metres. The farmer asked > for $1,600 in return. After being fingerprinted and signing his name > on the dotted line, > he counted his money and left satisfied. > > The three poppy farmers grudgingly agreed to share $300, although > they lost nearly as > much crop as the wheat farmer. The vast difference in compensation > wasn't lost on them. > > "It's important to understand that the International Security > Assistance Force didn't > want to destroy these crops," Maj. Campbell explained. "We and the > Afghan National Army > had to take that route to avoid IEDs laid by the Taliban." > > His emphasis reflected the fact that compensation acts as a crucial > goodwill measure. > Many in Kandahar province live in poverty and cannot afford to lose > an income to > military operations. > > "It goes to not creating negative impacts on our operations by > aggravating people," said > Major James Allen of the provincial reconstruction team. "For the > most part, they > appreciate it." > > However, some Afghans have grown impatient waiting for what they > feel they're owed. In > the city of Bazaer-E last week, agitated Panjwaii district elders > complained to Canadian > troops that the money comes too slowly. > From digitalcomponents at gmail.com Mon May 5 13:28:14 2008 From: digitalcomponents at gmail.com (Nyc W. Alberts) Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 13:28:14 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Prohibition News: Million Marijuana March NYC Vids + Pics Up on Flckr/YouTube Message-ID: <481F43AE.5080008@gmail.com> In NYC this past Saturday there were 5 arrests whereas Boulder Springs, Colorado 4/20 Prohibition Observance Rally this past April saw zero arrests. Video, in no particular order, here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalComponents Pics & video, in no particular order, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustindewynde/sets/72157604884441641 Vid clips are at the end of the Flickr set, click on image to play them. Irked I was at a poor angle when Dmitri was speaking in Tompkins Square, if anybody's got a better clip please let me know. Thanks! ~Nyc From mycos at shaw.ca Tue May 6 05:12:55 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 02:12:55 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition Message-ID: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, Sulloway A meta-analysis (88 samples, 12 countries, 22,818 cases) confirms that several psychological variables predict political conservatism: death anxiety (weighted mean r = .50); dogmatism?intolerance of ambiguity(.34);openness to experience (?.32); uncertainty tolerance(?.27); need for order, structure, and closure(.26); integrative complexity(?.20) TeeHeeHee.... ;-); fear of threat and loss (.18); and self-esteem ?.09). The core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and justification of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty and threat. For more than half a century, psychologists have been tracking the hypothesis that different psychological motives and tendencies underlie ideological differences between the political left and the right. The practice of singling out political conservatives for special study began with Adorno, et al's 1950 landmark study of authoritarianism and the fascist potential in personality. An asymmetrical focus on right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) was criticized heavily on theoretical and methodological grounds but it has withstood the relentless tests of time and empirical scrutiny. (e.g., Altemeyer, 1981, 1988, 1996, 1998; Billig, 1984; Brown, 1965; Christie, 1991; Elms, 1969; Sidanius, 1985; W. F. Stone, 1980; W. F. Stone, Lederer, & Christie, 1993; Tetlock, 1984; Wilson, 1973c. ) A voluminous literature, which we review here, facilitates the comparison of cognitive styles and motivational needs of political conservatives with those of moderates, liberals, radicals, and left-wingers. In addition to classic and contemporary approaches to authoritarianism, we cover less obvious sources of theory and research on individual differences associated with dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity, uncertainty avoidance, need for cognitive closure, and social dominance orientation (SDO) insofar as each of these psychological variables contributes to a deeper and more nuanced understanding of political conservatism. cont.... http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/bulletin.pdf From bob at cosy.com Tue May 6 12:11:42 2008 From: bob at cosy.com (Bob Armstrong) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 10:11:42 -0600 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> As a libertarian , this analysis seems screwy to me because the left is , if anything , more authoritarian than the right . Socialism , communism , fascism all are beliefs in the use of force by a political elite to keep the masses in proper alignment . Mycos wrote: > Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition > > Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, Sulloway > > A meta-analysis (88 samples, 12 countries, 22,818 cases) confirms that > several psychological variables predict political conservatism: death > anxiety (weighted mean r = .50); dogmatism?intolerance of > ambiguity(.34);openness to experience (?.32); uncertainty > tolerance(?.27); need for order, structure, and closure(.26); > integrative complexity(?.20) TeeHeeHee.... ;-); fear of threat and loss > (.18); and self-esteem ?.09). > > The core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and > justification of inequality and is motivated by needs that vary > situationally and dispositionally to manage uncertainty and threat. > > For more than half a century, psychologists have been tracking > the hypothesis that different psychological motives and tendencies > underlie ideological differences between the political left and the > right. The practice of singling out political conservatives for special > study began with Adorno, et al's 1950 landmark study of authoritarianism > and the fascist potential in personality. An asymmetrical focus on > right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) was criticized heavily on theoretical > and methodological grounds but it has withstood the relentless > tests of time and empirical scrutiny. (e.g., Altemeyer, 1981, 1988, > 1996, 1998; Billig, 1984; Brown, 1965; Christie, 1991; Elms, > 1969; Sidanius, 1985; W. F. Stone, 1980; W. F. Stone, Lederer, & > Christie, 1993; Tetlock, 1984; Wilson, 1973c. ) > > A voluminous literature, which we review here, facilitates the > comparison of cognitive styles and motivational needs of political > conservatives with those of moderates, liberals, radicals, and > left-wingers. In addition to classic and contemporary approaches to > authoritarianism, we cover less obvious sources of theory and research > on individual differences associated with dogmatism and intolerance > of ambiguity, uncertainty avoidance, need for cognitive closure, > and social dominance orientation (SDO) insofar as each of these > psychological variables contributes to a deeper and more nuanced > understanding of political conservatism. > > cont.... > > http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/bulletin.pdf > -- Bob Armstrong -- www.CoSy.com -- 719-337-2733 Global Warming Scam : www.CoSy.com/views/warm.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Tue May 6 14:05:05 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 14:05:05 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: Column: The war over drug policy In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <03FD09A3-96B2-4E21-B9CF-F3310F7ED664@connect.carleton.ca> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080506.COWENT06//TPStory/National Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Email: letters at globeandmail.ca Website: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Forum: http://forums.theglobeandmail.com/ Copyright: 2008, The Globe and Mail Company Pubdate: May 6, 2008 Author: Margaret Wente The war over drug policy MARGARET WENTE mwente at globeandmail.com May 6, 2008 The results on Vancouver's controversial safe-injection site are in, and they're decisive. Insite, which offers clean needles and assistance to hard-drug users, is a remarkable success story. It saves lives, reduces infections and disease, and paves the way to detox. So why won't Ottawa extend the legal exemption under which it operates? The answer, of course, is ideology. Stephen Harper's Conservatives are dead against anything that smacks of being soft on drugs. Some experts are even accusing them of suppressing research and opinions they don't like. That's the official story. The real one is far more complex. In fact, the lofty claims made for Insite are not borne out by the evidence. And its most passionate supporters are at least as rigid as those alleged knuckle-draggers on the other side. Like most of you, I'm a pragmatist when it comes to drugs. I think it's pointless to prosecute drug addicts. I think harm reduction is good. Whatever works. But the war over drug policy is so politicized that "whatever works" depends on who's doing the talking. Insite - a $3-million-a-year operation established as a pilot project in 2003 - is the latest battleground. It pits the harm-reducers - those advocating safe- injection sites, needle exchanges and general decriminalization - against the prevention-and-treatment crowd, who want more emphasis on anti-drug campaigns and a tougher-love approach. Sadly for the public, neutral research is hard to find. Most of the many, many studies of Insite have been conducted by the same small band of true believers. The most fair-minded report I've found comes from an expert advisory committee assembled by the Health Minister, Tony Clement. Their job was to examine all the research on Insite and other nations' safe-injection sites. Their credentials are irreproachable, and they don't seem to have an axe to grind. Although Insite's advocates trumpet the report as a victory for their side, its findings are at best mixed. Among them: The Insite facility accounts for less than 5 per cent of all injections in the Downtown Eastside. Just 18 per cent of the 8,000 people who've used the site account for 86 per cent of the visits. In other words, Insite's impact on the area is quite limited. The overdose deaths Insite has prevented probably amount to one a year - lower than supporters suggest. Insite has indeed increased access to detox and treatment, although by how much and with what results isn't known. It's uncertain to what extent the site has reduced the number of HIV cases or the incidence of needle sharing. As for hepatitis C (which is spread by needle-sharing), the report found that 87 per cent of Insite users are already infected. Insite hasn't increased public disorder, as some people had feared. There's no evidence it has reduced public disorder (e.g., local crime, discarded needles), either. There aren't enough data to draw reliable conclusions about overall cost effectiveness/benefit. Not exactly a ringing endorsement - or a condemnation, either. The committee noted that the general public has positive views of Insite, the community supports it and users rate it as highly satisfactory. Whether there's a better way to spend that $3-million a year is a question they weren't asked to address. What you think of Insite probably says more about your world view than it does about the evidence. Take Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan, who's a quadriplegic and supporter, says: "I need help managing my disability, just like they need help managing their disability." Others don't regard addiction to heroin or crack as a condition to be managed. They regard it as a curse - one that enslaves people, sometimes kills them, and preys on society's worst-off. "Rich people get rehab," says one skeptic. "The poor get safe-injection sites." > From prestonpeet at yahoo.com Tue May 6 17:30:16 2008 From: prestonpeet at yahoo.com (Preston Peet) Date: Tue, 6 May 2008 14:30:16 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [DrugWar] US Marijuana Legalization Bill Picks Up Two Co-Sponsors Message-ID: <730675.48486.qm@web63002.mail.re1.yahoo.com> http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0326.html By Jonathan Springston, Senior Staff Writer, The Atlanta Progressive News (May 03, 2008) (APN) ATLANTA ? US Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced two bills in the US House on April 17, 2008, that address federal penalties for possession of marijuana and the use of medical marijuana, respectively. HR 5843, cosponsored by Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX) and William Lacy Clay (D-MO), would eliminate all federal penalties, including arrest, jail time, and civil fines, prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana. This is the first decriminalization bill introduced in Congress in 24 years. "It is poor law enforcement to keep on the books legislation that establishes as a crime something which in fact society does not seriously wish to prosecute," Congressman Frank said in an April 17, 2008, statement. "Having federal law enforcement agents engaged in the prosecution of people who are personally using marijuana is a waste of scarce resources better used for serious crimes," Rep. Frank said. A Time/CNN poll released in October 2002 found that 72 percent of respondents believe adults who use marijuana recreationally should be fined but not jailed, while 40 percent favored the legalization of a small amount of pot. This is double the number that favored such a measure in 1986. "I don?t think Congress can ignore it much longer," Keith Stroup, legal counsel for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, told Atlanta Progressive News. "I don?t think our opponents can maintain marijuana prohibition much longer." There are currently 12 states that have passed laws decriminalizing marijuana for personal consumption: Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oregon. Statewide legislatures in New Hampshire and Vermont are considering similar measures while Massachusetts voters will decide in November on a statewide decriminalization proposal, according to NORML. Meanwhile, US Rep. Frank?s other marijuana-related bill, HR 5842, cosponsored by Reps. Paul, Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Sam Farr (D-CA), would force federal authorities to respect states? current laws on medicinal cannabis and end DEA raids on facilities distributing medical marijuana legally under state law. snip- ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ From mycos at shaw.ca Tue May 6 17:35:06 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 14:35:06 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> Message-ID: <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> That wasn't the point however. What your describing is authoritarianism, which is an independent variable that has nothing to do with capitalism or socialism. This is an ethnocentric view of socialism that is particularly rampant in the US, no doubt an artifact of decades of anti-communist Cold-War propaganda. Canada is far more socialist than the US, including most of Europe as well, and I don't think you'll find many who support the idea that the US is less authoritarian than Canada...or even France under Sarkozy. Remember, you have millions of people in jail, on parole, probation...a prison-industrial complex growing faster than grade-schools (free grade-school availability being a socialist policy, btw) , a police force (also paid for according to socialist principals ironically) that is far more prone to use of lethal force, etc. etc. The right-wing society is measured on it's "rightness" by the degree of social status and wealth distribution inequity, the left with equality or egality being it's measure of 'leftness'. That's the sole underpinning of the left-right spectrum that somehow gets muddled in with all these other variables that measure a leaders personality or social welfare of the masses....all things that are separate concepts. Authoritarianism is a distinct variable that shows a strong correlation with those who are in power by their demonstration of a preference for the status quo. Which after all, is precisely what one would expect of anyone less pure of heart than the Dalai Lama or a similar intellect. Since it's the status quo that sees these leaders in power, the powerful cling to the status quo, succumbing to an instinct that may well be in clear opposition to the ideology they may have come to power on the back of. Stalin is precisely an example of such. The old debate over whether Stalin "betrayed the revolution" is premised on that very idea. This is also what is meant by the Authoritarian Paradox that was mentioned in the study. Anyhow, here. I stayed up all last night reading different angles and takes on this study, and here's a rather predictable rebuttal from the "cognitively dissonant" right . And the author's reply: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/reply.pdf Regards, Gary~ > As a libertarian , this analysis seems screwy to me because the left is > , if anything , more authoritarian than the right . Socialism , > communism , fascism all are beliefs in the use of force by a political > elite to keep the masses in proper alignment . > >> >> http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/bulletin.pdf >> From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Tue May 6 20:59:18 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 19:59:18 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Little-known Drug Draws New Scientific, Legislative Attention Message-ID: <4820FEE6.5020502@comcast.net> http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/science/jan-june08/salvia_05-06.html Little-known Drug Draws New Scientific, Legislative Attention *Most of what the public knows about the hallucinogenic drug salvia divinorum comes in disturbing snippets from a growing collection of online videos.* Salvia Divinorum Plant: Photo Wikimedia commons The setting is usually an abandoned parking lot, or a quiet park, or the basement of somebody's house. Teens laugh nervously as a friend writhes on the ground in loose-limbed confusion, disoriented and gripped by powerful hallucinations. The source of the delirium is an herb called salvia divinorum, which is legal in most of the United States. It can be bought online or in stores as dried leaves or extract. Salvia is not banned by the federal government, but its growing use has attracted the attention of as many as nine states that have voted to make it illegal, and legislators in several other states are considering restrictions. At the same time, researchers are just beginning to understand how the drug affects the brain, and are finding that its psychoactive ingredient works differently than other hallucinogens, such as LSD. Known as Magic Mint, Sally D, or Diviner's Sage, salvia is a fast-acting natural hallucinogen that causes an intense 15- to 30-minute high. A member of the mint family, salvia's origins trace back to the Mazatec Indians of northern Oaxaca, Mexico. They either chewed the herb or mixed it with water to induce visions for shamanic rituals. "It was similar to how Native Americans use Peyote," said Dr. Jonathan Appel, chair of the department of behavioral and social sciences at Tiffin University professor and a former drug abuse counselor. "Shamans would enter the spiritual world and do diagnoses from the spiritual world." In the many YouTube and Myspace videos documenting teenage salvia use, the herb is often smoked in a pipe or a water bong, which users say triggers a powerful high. In one video, a boy blows out smoke, stumbles across a lawn and then falls over backward, as his friends laugh. In another, a girl announces she can no longer feel her mouth and in another, a teen in a hooded sweatshirt stares at his bong and then screams, again and again, wordlessly. Users report visual distortions, loss of balance and motor control. The high is quicker and more intense than other hallucinogens, causing many users to lose contact with their surroundings. "The phrase often used is you're catapulted out of time and space," Appel said. "You're shot out of a cannon in your mind." Florida State Rep. Mary Brandenburg has authored a bill to make sale or possession of salvia illegal in the state of Florida and punishable by up to five years in prison. The bill passed the Florida legislature and is awaiting signature by the governor, which would make it one of as many as nine states to ban the herb. "I was concerned first of all about the potential for physical harm that the use of salvia has," Brandenburg said. "I'm also concerned about the use of salvia as a gateway drug to get into other hallucinogenic drugs. It's legal, and relatively easy to get." After failing to get a similar bill passed in 2007 in California, Republican Assemblyman Anthony Adams of Hesperia recently introduced a bill to ban the sale of salvia to minors in the state. "You don't have to look any further than the screens of YouTube to see people using this drug as a recreational device," Adams said. "It's absolutely conceivable that someone on salvia could harm themselves or worse, others, while using the drug." But John Mendelson, a senior scientist at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, thinks that designating salvia as a Schedule 1 substance is going too far. "You take a 20-year-old, convict them of a Schedule 1 felony and put them in jail, and you damn well know what their lives are going to be like," Mendelson said. "They're finished. They can't hold a federal job. There's a real consequence to that." Some researchers point to the fact that salvia is fundamentally different then other hallucinogens. Salvinorin A, the psychoactive molecule in salvia divinorum, is structurally distinct from other hallucinogens, such as LSD or mescaline. Research shows that the molecule has no affinity for the serotonin receptor, a key player in other hallucinogenic drugs. Instead, Salvinorin A interacts with the brain's kappa-opioid receptors, cell proteins that bind to specific molecules. When the salvinorin A molecule binds to these receptors, it triggers a cellular response that can be felt throughout the body almost immediately. It is that interaction between the herb's molecules and the brain that Jacob Hooker, a research fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been studying. Using positron emission tomography scans on lab animals, Hooker's team found that within seconds, a high concentration of the drug localizes in the visual cortex and the cerebellum of the brain, areas responsible for vision and motor control, respectively. The drug then clears from the brain just a few minutes later. Previous research has shown that is also highly selective, meaning it quickly targets and grabs onto the kappa-opioid receptors. "It is incredibly interesting not only for its selectivity and affinity for this receptor, but also its rapid onset and short duration," Hooker said of salvinorin A. "It's unusual to find a drug with such high affinity for a given receptor that has incredibly short-lasting acute effects." Beyond the euphoria that many teens are seeking from the drug, researchers are exploring whether salvia and the way it affects the brain could lead to new drug treatments for illnesses like bipolar disorder, Mendelson said. "In some animal studies, kappa agonists have decreased animal behaviors consistent with mania," he said, adding, "I don't think Salvinorin A is going to be a treatment for anyone. It has distorting effects, and it's unpleasant for some people." Drugs that are chemically similar, however, could have potential treatment uses, he said. It is this possible benefit that worries him as more states consider designating salvia as a Schedule 1 agent. Should it be legally lumped in with LSD or other hallucinogens, researchers would be severely limited in the work they could do. In what he hopes will lead to a "smarter, more nuanced" approach, Mendelson has been conducting trials to determine the dose levels that cause hallucination in humans. "We need to know how many people are using this drug, how much is being sold, what doses are psychoactive and what the medical and psychiatric consequences are," he said. "We desperately need that information." *---- By Jenny Marder, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: 0506_salvia.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 19547 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080506/2ca43d1a/attachment-0001.jpg From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Tue May 6 21:10:10 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 21:10:10 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Health Canada doesn't know how much medical marijuana program costs - Auditor General Message-ID: <8ED7BAF8-70E6-4D3A-B20E-1C95405DC88C@connect.carleton.ca> http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5jZxZyTazMtGsH_6HSxTBk1sHc_hA Fraser found problems with some other government fees: -Health Canada doesn't know how much its medical marijuana program costs, although a consultant's report last fall said the costs outstripped the $5-per-gram fee charged to authorized patients. --- http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/aud_ch_oag_200805_01_e_30697.html 1.29 Health Canada. At the time of our audit, Health Canada did not know the full costs of the activities related to the medical marihuana fee. Although the fee was for a good and was to be cost-based, the Department did not have accurate figures on the cost of the fee activities when it set the fee. The Department had projected the cost of producing medical marihuana, but it lacked complete information about the costs of administering the program, of carrying out related regulatory affairs, and of conducting research. Shortly before our audit started, Health Canada hired an independent consultant to determine the full cost of the activities. A report completed in November 2007 stated that the full cost of the activities related to the medical marihuana fee was more than the fee charged. 1.30 Recommendation. Health Canada should improve its systems and practices for establishing costs of the activities related to the medical marihuana fee, to be able to accurately calculate the full cost of those activities on a periodic basis. Health Canada's response. In the 2007-08 fiscal year, the Department developed the Corporate Cost Allocation Model (CCAM) and policies and guidelines to improve Health Canada's costing systems. Health Canada will apply the CCAM to determine the full cost of the Medical Marihuana Program and will also establish a schedule on which the full cost of the program will be recalculated. This will be completed in the 2008-09 fiscal year. Once completed, the Department will be in a position to report the full program cost. From bob at cosy.com Tue May 6 21:40:40 2008 From: bob at cosy.com (Bob Armstrong) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 19:40:40 -0600 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <48210898.5010808@cosy.com> Mycos wrote: > The right-wing society is measured on it's "rightness" by the degree of > social status and wealth distribution inequity, the left with equality > or egality being it's measure of 'leftness'. That's a definition of the "right" I've never heard and doubt any right-winger would agree . The most frequent description I hear is that the right wants to control your personal behavior and the left your economic behavior . Bottom line , neither respects individual sovereignty . I think the US is advancing the worst of both excuses for authoritarian statism . -- Bob Armstrong -- www.CoSy.com -- 719-337-2733 Global Warming Scam : www.CoSy.com/views/warm.htm From bob at cosy.com Tue May 6 21:52:30 2008 From: bob at cosy.com (Bob Armstrong) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 19:52:30 -0600 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <48210B5E.8080104@cosy.com> And glancing at these papers , I think any claim that the right is more rigid and dogmatic than the left is total bull shit . Even seeing the claim makes me discount the authors as smug self-righteous socialist zealots . Mycos wrote: > Anyhow, here. I stayed up all last night reading different angles and > takes on this study, and here's a rather predictable rebuttal from the > "cognitively dissonant" right . > > > And the author's reply: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/reply.pdf > -- Bob Armstrong -- www.CoSy.com -- 719-337-2733 Global Warming Scam : www.CoSy.com/views/warm.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Tue May 6 22:06:38 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 06 May 2008 22:06:38 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] The Drug Prevention Network of Canada - Church of Scientology front? (fwd) Message-ID: <09A6B798-784A-451A-AA0E-530D2A434CE3@connect.carleton.ca> A spokesperson for Narconon testified at a Special Parliamentary SNUD (Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs) committee meeting in 2002, saying that 40% of their graduates become Narconon trainers. Indeed, almost all the staff at Narconon Trois Rivieres claim to be graduates of the program. --- http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=402 Collaborator: Canada MP (former) Randy White Randy White is now the president of The Drug Prevention Network of Canada. The Drug Prevention Network of Canada is a privately funded affiliation of organizations and people who strongly believe in the principles of not using illegal drugs and not abusing legal drugs including alcohol, tobacco and solvents. As well, we promote a healthy lifestyle – free of drugs. We oppose the legalization of drugs. [...] Randy White Source: http://www.dpnoc.ca/viewcategory/7 The DPNC includes Narconon Trois-Rivi?res on their list of drug treatment centres. Two DPNC board members promote Narconon in their bios: JEANNETTE HAY, CCDC (Certified Chemical Dependency Councilor) has been involved in the anti-drug field at both local grass roots and at international levels with successful drug awareness and prevention campaigns including, detoxification, rehabilitation and drug education for more than 22 years. As a previous addict and graduate of the Narconon program and later as an anti-drug advocate she has a unique understanding of both sides of the illegal drug issue. [See also ] DR. PIERRE LABONT? has been a General Practitioner since 1979, and has been involved in drug education, prevention, detoxification or rehabilitation, environmental and human toxicology. Dr. Labont? has always advocated a drug-free approach to rehabilitation and currently acts as the medical advisor for the Narconon program in the Province of Quebec where he has served for the past five years. [See also ] Source: http://www.dpnoc.ca/viewcategory/3 It appears that another board member, Tony Hynes is a Scientologist: TONY HYNES involvement in the drug issue over the last 35 years entails successful drug awareness and prevention campaigns working with celebrities & sports figures, and his own personal experience with drugs in his early years which almost claimed his life. With a purpose to improve Canada’s leadership role in drug prevention and effective rehabilitation on an international level, Tony hopes to see a fully functioning, effective, long term National Drug Strategy. Source: http://www.dpnoc.ca/viewcategory/3 The Narconon treatment program requires training in the Suppressive Person doctrine and includes other dangerous elements of Scientology's brainwashing and hypnotic conversion technology.See, e.g., http://www.drugrehab.net/program.php Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 A spokesperson for Narconon testified at a Special Parliamentary SNUD (Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs) committee meeting in 2002, saying that 40% of their graduates become Narconon trainers. Indeed, almost all the staff at Narconon Trois Rivieres claim to be graduates of the program. Former MP Randy White (ParlInfo ) Vice Chairman: Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs (SNUD); Vice Chariman: Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs (Bill C-38) SNUD Meetings: 37th Parliament 1st Session; 37th Parliament 2nd Session Bill C-38 Meetings: 37th Parliament 2nd Session MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS Meeting No. 49 Thursday, May 30, 2002 The Special Committee on Non-Medical Use of Drugs met in a televised session at 3:36 p.m. this day, in Room 253-D, Centre Block, the Chair, Paddy Torsney, presiding. Members of the Committee present: Carole-Marie Allard, The Hon. Hedy Fry, Derek Lee, R?al M?nard, Kevin Sorenson, Paddy Torsney and Randy White. In attendance: From the Library of Parliament: Marilyn Pilon, research officer. Witnesses: From REAL Women of Canada: Gwendolyn Landolt, National Vice- President; Sophie Joannou, Executive Member; Diane Watts, Researcher. From the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE Canada): Brad Melnychuk, Executive Director. From Narconon: Devinder Luthra. Pursuant to the Order of Reference adopted by the House of Commons on Thursday, May 17, 2001, and of Wednesday, April 17, 2002, referring the subject matter of Bill C-344, An Act to amend the Contraventions Act and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (marihuana) to the Special Committee, the Committee resumed consideration of the factors underlying or relating to the non-medical use of drugs (See Minutes of Proceedings of Thursday, June 7, 2001, Meeting No. 1). Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 Gwendolyn Landolt and Brad Melnychuk made opening statements and, with the other witnesses, answered questions. At 4:59 p.m., the sitting was suspended. At 5:00 p.m., the sitting resumed in camera to discuss its future business. At 5:08 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair. Source: http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/committeepublication.aspx?sourceid=46836 Meeting transcript: http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?COM=258&SourceId=5510&SwitchLanguage=1 MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS Meeting No. 1 Thursday, June 7, 2001 The Special Committee on non-medical use of drugs met at 3:30 p.m. this day, in Room 209, West Block, for the purpose of electing a Chair and two Vice-Chairs, pursuant to Standing Orders 106(1) and (2). Members of the Committee present: Carole-Marie Allard, Andr? Bachand, Bernard Bigras, Libby Davies, Derek Lee, R?al M?nard, Stephen Owen, Jacques Saada, Carol Skelton, Paddy Torsney, Randy White. Acting Members present: Rodger Cuzner for Dominic LeBlanc; Tony Valeri for Mac Harb. In attendance: From the Committees and Parliamentary Association Directorate of the House of Commons: Patrice Martin, Procedural Clerk. Pursuant to Standing Orders 106(1) and (2), the Clerk presided over the election of the Chair. Jacques Saada moved, - That Paddy Torsney be the Chair of the Special Committee on the non-medical use of drugs. Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 Randy White moved, - That Derek Lee be the Chair of the Special Committee on the non-medical use of drugs. The question being put on the motion of Jacques Saada, it was carried by a show of hands: YEAS: 9; NAYS: 2. Accordingly, Paddy Torsney was declared duly elected Chair of the Special Committee and took the Chair. On motion of Tony Valeri, it was agreed, - That Carole-Marie Allard be Vice-Chair of the Special Committee. On motion of Carol Skelton, it was agreed, - That Randy White be Vice- Chair of the Special Committee. On motion of R?al M?nard, it was agreed, - That the Chair be authorized to hold meetings in order to receive evidence when a quorum is not present, providing that at least three (3) members, including both Government and Opposition be present. On motion of Libby Davies, it was agreed, - That the Committee retain the services or one or more research officers from the Library of Parliament, as needed, to assist the committee in its work On motion of Andr? Bachand, it was agreed, - That, as the discretion of the Chair, reasonable travelling expenses, as per the regulations established by the Board of Internal Economy be paid to witnesses invited to appear before the Committee, and that payment of these expenses be limited to two (2) representatives per organization. On motion of Randy White, it was agreed, - That the Committee authorize the Chair, from time to time, as the need arises to take, in conjunction with the Clerk of the Committee, the appropriate measures to provide meals for the Committee, for working purposes, and that the cost of these meals be charged to the appropriate budget of the Committee. On motion of R?al M?nard, it was agreed, - That twenty-four (24) hours notice be provided to the Clerk of the Special Committee of any substantive motions. It was agreed, - That members of the Special Committee provide the Clerk and researcher of the Special Committee with their ideas for a work plan and suggested witnesses over the summer in order to assist in the drafting of a work plan to be presented to the committee members at the first meeting in September. At 3:48 p.m., the Committee adjourned to the call of the Chair. Carol Chafe Clerk of the Committee Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 Source: http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=44984&Lang=1&PARLSES=371&JNT=0&COM=258 MeetingTranscript: http://cmte.parl.gc.ca/cmte/CommitteePublication.aspx?SourceId=55158&Lang=1&PARLSES=371&JNT=0&COM=258 From Aldergrove Star, 05 December 2002: WHITE SAYS CANADA'S DRUG TREATMENT STRATEGY HEADED DOWN WRONG ROAD [...] White said the only answer is to create more treatment facilities, perhaps by following the lead of a program operated by authorities in the Mexican State of Baja California's Ensenada Prison. This "Second Chance" program, launched in 1995, has shaved recividism rates from 83 per cent to less than 10 per cent. When it was first launched, over 90 per cent of the prisoners were still addicted to, and using, heroin or methedrine. Participants, including hired killers, robbers and drug dealers, were first required to complete a week-long detox program that included vitamins and minerals, as well as a sauna and exercise component to "sweat out" metabolites in the user's body. This program, called Narconon, reduces the trauma experienced by hard-core users and has had "excellent results" since 1965. Over the next three months, the rehab program includes education, self-respect and life skills modules. A University of Baja study found that over the first six years of this program at Ensenada, 3,000 prisoners participated and 1,682 had been released for an average of 2.5 years. Only 168 returned to prison during those six years -- less than 10 per cent compared to over 80 per cent in previous years. Baja State has now expanded the program to all of its facilities, including the infamous Tijuana Prison. White saw this program first-hand two weeks ago as a guest of officials in the U.S. and Mexico, and White hopes to take a delegation of Canadians down there to visit and examine the program. He also wants to bring U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency officers to the Fraser Valley in January for a town hall meeting on the international drug problem. Source: Aldergrove Star (CN BC) 05 December 2002 Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 Retrieved from Media Awareness Project http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2227/a05.html Related: 37th Parliament 2nd session Special Committee on the Non-Medical Use of Drugs (SNUD) Reports and Responses 37th Parliament 2nd session Special Committee on the Non-medical Use of Drugs (Bill C-38) Reports and Responses Suppressive Person Defense League http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl Powered by Joomla! Generated: 6 May, 2008, 18:03 From mycos at shaw.ca Wed May 7 09:44:55 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 06:44:55 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <48210B5E.8080104@cosy.com> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> <48210B5E.8080104@cosy.com> Message-ID: <4821B257.6060503@shaw.ca> It's not a "claim" but a well-researched conclusion based on numerous psychological metrics having nothing to do with politics or or ideology. Arguing against it is like arguing against greater or lesser intellectual abilities. That you choose not to read it, but instead continue to believe a worldview, the maintenance of which insists you disregard any proof that conflicts (is cognitively dissonant), believing only that which resonates with preconceptions *despite* mountains of data proving otherwise, is just one more confirmation of what they already know. Your "reactionary" reaction is precisely the kind of response the data predicts. To quote the people who took your position: Jost et al.?s (2003) model proposes that advocacy of political conservatism is in large part a consequence of needs stemming from the desire to reduce uncertainties and fears. This view is akin to the idea that a conservative political orientation is uniquely associated with a cluster of concepts such as dogmatism, authoritarianism, and intolerance. Although the evidentiary base reviewed by Jost does seem to suggest that a small amount of variance in conservatism can be accounted for by these motives, we propose that such motives actually are served just as well by left-wing political orientations as by right-wing ones. http://snipurl.com/27jz6 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Classification of Effect Sizes In our original article we opted not to impose reified, categorical labels onto the effect sizes we quantified. That may have been a mistake, insofar as it could have enabled some readers to underestimate the significance of the results. In this vein, Greenberg and Jonas (2003) contended that our evidence accounts for ?a small amount of variance in conservatism? (p. 376). We have listed in Table 2 the effect sizes we obtained, along with the classifications recommended by Cohen (1988). Three of our nine effect sizes (self-esteem, fear of loss, and integrative complexity) fit the usual criteria for a classification of ?small.? Four of the effect sizes we calculated should be classified as ?moderate,? and at least two more (mortality salience and system instability and threat) justifiably deserve to be classified as ?large? according to Cohen?s criteria. Thus, the research literature we have reviewed demonstrates a preponderance of moderate to large effects rather than small effects, as Greenberg and Jonas claimed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In disputing this conclusion, Greenberg and Jonas underestimated the strength of the available evidence and generated a list of counterexamples that are readily accountable for by our framework. They also offered a number of flattering self-characterizations offered by contemporary conservatives to explain the motivations for their opinions. For example, in elaborating on their thesis that liberals are just as rigid as conservatives, they noted that ?conservative talk show hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage paint liberals as anti-freedom advocates of ?political correctness? and ?big government?.? There are several ironies here. (ROFLMAO!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We now take it for granted in the United States that political conservatives tend to be for law and order but not gun control, against welfare but generous to corporations, protective of cultural traditions but antagonistic toward contemporary art and music, and wary of government but eager to weaken the separation of church and state. They are committed to freedom and individualism but perennially opposed to extending rights and liberties to disadvantaged minorities, especially gay men and lesbians and others who blur traditional boundaries. These opinions acquire coherence by virtue of the fact that they minimize uncertainty and threat while pursuing continuity with the past and rationalizing inequality in society. Basic motivational differences may also explain why extreme right-wing movements are typically obsessed with purity, cleanliness, hygiene, structure, and order ? things that would otherwise have little to do with political positions per se ? and why religious fundamentalism is so attractive to right-wing parties and their followers in just about every nation stretching from North America to the Middle East. http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/reply.pdf Bob Armstrong wrote: > And glancing at these papers , I think any claim that the right is more > rigid and dogmatic than the left is total bull shit . Even seeing the > claim makes me discount the authors as smug self-righteous socialist > zealots . > > Mycos wrote: >> Anyhow, here. I stayed up all last night reading different angles and >> takes on this study, and here's a rather predictable rebuttal from the >> "cognitively dissonant" right . >> >> >> And the author's reply: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/reply.pdf >> From mycos at shaw.ca Wed May 7 18:04:57 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 15:04:57 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition In-Reply-To: <48210B5E.8080104@cosy.com> References: <48202117.90402@shaw.ca> <4820833E.3040808@cosy.com> <4820CF0A.3010603@shaw.ca> <48210B5E.8080104@cosy.com> Message-ID: <48222789.1050504@shaw.ca> Bob Armstrong wrote: > And glancing at these papers , I think any claim that the right is more > rigid and dogmatic than the left is total bull shit . Even seeing the > claim makes me discount the authors as smug self-righteous socialist > zealots . Concerning Kruglanski: As of January 10, 2004 I have been appointed as a co-director of a Center of Excellence for Research on the Behavioral and Social Aspects of Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, established at the University of Maryland, College Park. http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/research.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Department of Homeland Security For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary Contact: 202-282-8010 (Donald Tighe) January 10, 2005 The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today announced the selection of the University of Maryland (UMD) to lead the new Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Behavioral and Social Research on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0585.shtm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > Mycos wrote: >> Anyhow, here. I stayed up all last night reading different angles and >> takes on this study, and here's a rather predictable rebuttal from the >> "cognitively dissonant" right . >> >> >> And the author's reply: http://www.wam.umd.edu/~hannahk/reply.pdf >> From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Wed May 7 20:48:41 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 19:48:41 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Trivia Question: Who produced LSD for the CIA and MK-ULTRA in 1954? Message-ID: <48224DE9.9040403@comcast.net> http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/05/trivia-question-who-produced-lsd-for.html Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Trivia Question: Who produced LSD for the CIA and MK-ULTRA in 1954? SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT BLOG Quiz question - Before I post episide II of the MK-ULTRA story and its relevance for University contracting (See: LSD and the corruption of medicine -Part I), Matt Holford prompted me to find out who produced LSD for the MK-ULTRA sponsored torture studies. In my previous post I implied that Sandoz remained the source. In fact, CIA documents show that a U.S. source for LSD supply was desired. In 1953 the CIA provided Eli Lilly with funding to attempt synthesis of LSD for CIA use without the need for the expensive and scarce reagents required by Sandoz. A year later, Lilly chemists succeeded in their quest, and subsequent supplies were from Lilly[1,2]. Another more potent chemical used by MK-Ultra, BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate), was produced by Hoffman-La Roche. References: CIA documents: Document #24, 16 November, 1953, Subject: ARTICHOKE Conference; Document #268, 23 October, 1953, Subject: Meeting in Director's Office at 1100 hours on 23 October with Mr. Wisner and [deleted]; Document # 316,6 January,1954, Subject: Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25); and Document #338, 26 October 1954, Subject: Potential Large Scale Availability of LSD through newly discovered synthesis by [deleted]; interviews with Sandoz and Lilly former executives; and Sidney Gottlieb's testimony before Kennedy subcommittee, 1977, p. 203. Marks, John (1979). The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: CIA and Mind Control. W W Norton & Co Ltd, 264. ISBN 0393307948 http://scientific-misconduct.blogspot.com/2008/05/quiz-question-who-produced-lsd-for-cia.html -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080507/9f1e17b0/attachment.htm From mycos at shaw.ca Thu May 8 01:14:26 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 22:14:26 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] With the Future Behind Them Message-ID: <48228C32.2050104@shaw.ca> Back in the 60's, when cognitive science was a popular amateur pursuit and experimental protocols often involved multi-coloured buses, light shows and infinitely long guitar solos, Richard Fari?a, the Brother-in-law of Joan Baez, wrote a book called "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me." Although I read the book long ago, I remember very little of it (go figure), but I do recall puzzling over the title. Did it mean: I've been down so long there's nowhere to go but up? Or did it mean that after being down for so long, down itself started looking good? Now, 40 years after the book's publication, some professional researchers have written "With the Future Behind Them," an article in the journal Cognitive Science that sounds from the title as if it might be a sequel to Mr. Fari?a's work. Well, not exactly. The paper is a lengthy discussion of the evidence that speakers of Aymara, an Indian language of the high Andes, think of time differently than just about everyone else in the world. They see the future as behind them and the past ahead of them. This is a truly mind-bending idea. As the experimentalists of the 60's used to say: Far out. But if you make your way through it, the research does suggest that there are sciences other than chemistry that can take you down the rabbit hole. Most of us describe the future as ahead or in front of us, and the past as behind us. Until the view of the Aymara speakers was deconstructed, no significant exceptions to this way of thinking about time had been demonstrated. But the Aymara call the future qhipa pacha/timpu, meaning back or behind time, and the past nayra pacha/timpu, meaning front time. And they gesture ahead of them when remembering things past, and backward when talking about the future. These are not mere mannerisms, the researchers argue; they are windows into the minds of Aymara speakers, who have a conception of future and past that is different from just about everyone else's. cont.... http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/research/files/NYT_ScienceE.pdf From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Fri May 9 17:58:33 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 17:58:33 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Poll Message-ID: <3EDEBA68-8B0C-4561-96FD-054663FDF59D@connect.carleton.ca> Re: It's Just A Plant: http://www.katu.com/news/18770689.html http://www.katu.com/home/poll/18773379.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... 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From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Fri May 9 21:33:02 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 20:33:02 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Tommy Chong Doubts Official 9/11 Story Message-ID: <4824FB4E.5040601@comcast.net> *Tommy Chong Doubts Official 9/11 Story* Cheech & Chong star speaks out as FBI confiscates 10,000 copies of actor's political DVDs /Paul Joseph Watson & Kurt Nimmo /Prison Planet Friday, May 9, 2008 Speaking with the Alex Jones Show, actor Tommy Chong, whose offices were subject of a raid this week by the FBI who seized 10,000 political DVD's, said he "absolutely" doubted the official story of 9/11 and compared it to the JFK assassination in that the truth will take many years to finally come out. *http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/may2008/050908_tommy_chong.htm* ---------------------------------------------- Get your exclusive Prison Planet.tv membership today and enjoy a plethora of multimedia content as well as access to live video streaming of The Alex Jones Show - *click here to subscribe *. __._,_.___ Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080509/1e17dcf8/attachment-0001.htm -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 66268 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080509/1e17dcf8/attachment-0002.jpeg -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: image/jpeg Size: 84985 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080509/1e17dcf8/attachment-0003.jpeg From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Fri May 9 23:22:40 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Fri, 09 May 2008 22:22:40 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] URL, VID: "Don't talk to the Police, Dr. James Swane Message-ID: <48251500.9060306@comcast.net> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Lis-LEAF] URL, VID: "Don't talk to the Police, Dr. James Swane Date: Fri, 9 May 2008 20:16:36 -0700 From: K Lamoreaux To: boclonka at gmail.com http://www.regent.edu/admin/media/schlaw/LawPreview/ VERY interesting presentation. kFL ------------------------------------ FREEDOMLAW.COM WILL MERGE WITH FIJA.ORG IN APRIL, 2008 WE HAVE ARRIVED AT "the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force." [Ayn Rand, The Nature of Government] Liberty's Educational Advocacy Forum http://freedomlaw.com promotes "action that raises the cost of State violence for its perpetrators ... lay(ing) the basis for institutional change." [Noam Chomsky] Freedom Law.com Self Help Clinic and Sovereign Law Library http://freedomlaw.com/selfhelp.htm Not a high-tech law firm brochure, "because a lawyer is only as smart as you make him " [Max Katz] and "the Law . . . should be accessible to every man and at all times." [Franz Kafka] Attorney-Written Instant On-Line Tutorials Simplify Lawsuit Procedure http://www.jurisdictionary.com/index.asp?refercode=TR001Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lis-LEAF/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lis-LEAF/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:Lis-LEAF-digest at yahoogroups.com mailto:Lis-LEAF-fullfeatured at yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Lis-LEAF-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080509/28b7307f/attachment.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sat May 10 01:49:36 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 01:49:36 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN BC: Editorial: City going too far References: <001401c8b090$c4ab50c0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: It is legal for medical use... --- And before the legalize-marijuana lobby starts writing letters about how the problem could be avoided if pot were legal, we agree. Pot, however, is not legal. And illegal grow-ops pose a huge fire hazard. That means the inspection approach to shutting down grow-ops is a good thing -- when one key ingredient is factored in: common sense. > > http://www.canada.com/coquitlamnow/news/opinion/story.html?id=43bcf545-78cf-4383-832b-ef769f24f29d > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 07 May 2008 > Source: Coquitlam Now, The (CN BC) > Email: editorial at thenownews.com > Website: http://www.thenownews.com/ > Address: #1-2700 Barnet Highway,Coquitlam, B.C. V3B 1B8 > Copyright: 2008Lower Mainland Publishing Group, Inc. > > City going too far > > Witch hunt. Police state. Overzealous. Heavy handed. All of these > terms -- > and probably a lot more we couldn't print -- are being used to > describe the > City of Coquitlam's approach to rooting out marijuana grow operations. > > The city's public safety inspection team has certainly been busy. > During the > last six months of 2007, members inspected 128 homes that had been > flagged > because of high energy consumption -- finding 88 grow-ops, 24 > suspected > grow-ops and 14 cases where a grow-op was not suspected. > > In the first half of 2008, there have also been cases where > inspections have > yielded no evidence of a grow-op. The problem is that some of these > homeowners are being asked to pay a $5,000 inspection fee because > the city > found wiring or other faults. > > It must be stressful enough to have a team of bylaw inspectors, > firefighters > and police officers show up at your home, search it and then plaster a > bright red "do not occupy" notice on the front door -- as neighbours > wonder > what you've been up to. > > But if a grow-op is not found, the matter should end there. > > If the city is worried about lawsuits in case a wiring or other > deficiency -- one that's not related to a grow-op -- causes a fire, > bylaw > officials could give homeowners a choice. > > Either they sign a waiver absolving the city of responsibility or > they have > the problem fixed and pay an inspection fee. We're thinking > something less > than $5,000, which seems absurd. The whole point of these > inspections should > be to shut down grow-ops, not go on a fishing expedition for poorly > wired > homes. > > And before the legalize-marijuana lobby starts writing letters about > how the > problem could be avoided if pot were legal, we agree. > > Pot, however, is not legal. And illegal grow-ops pose a huge fire > hazard. > That means the inspection approach to shutting down grow-ops is a good > thing -- when one key ingredient is factored in: common sense. > From papajohn at wildblue.net Sat May 10 09:17:42 2008 From: papajohn at wildblue.net (Papa John) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 06:17:42 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] NYC's Arrest Rte for Pot In-Reply-To: <48251500.9060306@comcast.net> References: <48251500.9060306@comcast.net> Message-ID: <4154E1220A2645A1B943C6D63B85B43B@PapaJohnPC> NYC's Staggering Arrest Rate for Pot Achieved By Police Deception and Scams By Steven Wishnia, AlterNet. Posted May 9, 2008. New study says New York's cannabis crackdown is both racist and fraudulent -- and that more have been arrested under Bloomberg than Giuliani. New York City has been the pot-bust capital of the world for a decade, since Rudolph Giuliani's decision to make public toking a top police priority. A new study sponsored by the New York Civil Liberties Union says the city's cannabis crackdown is both racist and fraudulent. New York police have arrested almost 400,000 people for misdemeanor marijuana possession in the last decade. Last year, there were 39,700 such arrests. The vast majority of those seized have been black and Latino men, most under 25. And according to the NYCLU study, released last week, thousands of them are the victims of police scams, falsely charged with possession of marijuana "burning or open to public view." "We are confident in estimating that about two-thirds to three-quarters of the people arrested were not smoking marijuana," the study says. "Usually they were doing their utmost to keep their marijuana concealed, generally deep inside their clothing." The authors, sociologist Harry Levine of Queens College and activist Deborah Peterson-Small of the organization Break The Chains, say that conclusion is "based on the experience of legal aid and public-defender attorneys who have handled thousands of these cases, along with that of the police officers and arrestees we interviewed." New York State decriminalized marijuana in 1977. That reduced possession of less than 25 grams is a violation, carrying a $100 fine and no criminal record. But smoking or possession in public is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to three months in jail. So in order to get around the constitutional restrictions on searches and find a valid reason to make an arrest, police have to use deception. A typical ruse is for police to stop someone near a suspected marijuana-sales site and tell them something along the lines of "We saw you coming out of the weed spot. If you have anything on you that you're not supposed to have, give it to me and all I'll give you is a ticket." If the suspect falls for the ruse and hands over his marijuana, he is then arrested for displaying it in public view. Though most people charged with misdemeanor pot possession do not receive jail sentences, they often have to spend up to 24 hours in jail before arraignment, and they acquire a permanent arrest record. Police and defenders of the crackdown say that making large numbers of arrests for minor offenses has reduced major crimes. Other benefits include that it's an easy way for police supervisors to show their precincts' productivity, it's an easy way for individual officers to get overtime-rookie New York cops get paid only $25,000 a year, so "collars for dollars" augment that -- and it keeps a reserve of officers occupied. Peterson-Small states bluntly that the crackdown is "racist," a legacy of the Giuliani principles that "we will tame New York by bringing the black and brown people under control" and "no offense is too petty." Of the people arrested for misdemeanor pot possession from 1997 through 2006, five out of six were black or Latino, in a city that is almost half white and Asian. Nine out of ten were male, and most were aged 16 to 25. And over the years, the focus has shifted from Midtown Manhattan and Greenwich Village to outlying black and Latino areas. The police precincts in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights, the west Bronx, Jamaica and St. Albans in southeastern Queens, and the "Black Brooklyn" neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and East New York regularly turn in more than 1,000 petty pot busts a year each. Though there is no evidence that black New Yorkers smoke more pot than white ones -- nationally, the rate of use among young adults is slightly higher for whites, at least according to government surveys -- the city's marijuana-arrest rate for blacks is more than five times what it is for whites. Another worry is that the arrests tag thousands of young black and Latino men as criminals. The study terms the crackdown "Head Start for prison and unemployment." The Head Start preschool program, it notes, intends to "familiarize and socialize young children in the routines and expectations of school systems"; the marijuana-arrest program works to "familiarize, socialize, and prepare disadvantaged black and Latino teenagers and young adults from poor neighborhoods for the routines and expectations of the police, court, jail, and prison system." The study also calls the policy a waste of money -- at an estimated $1,500 to $2,500 per arrest, it cost the city $60 to $100 million last year, at a time when Mayor Michael Bloomberg is slashing the city budget and closing libraries on weekends. Peterson-Small adds that it violates the spirit of the state's decriminalization law. The ban on public smoking, she says, was originally intended to apply only to people creating a public nuisance, not to someone lighting up discreetly "in the alley behind a jazz club." Though the city's cannabis crackdown is Rudolph Giuliani's legacy, Bloomberg has continued it. Bloomberg has a reputation as a moderate, as less racist and draconian than Giuliani, and he famously declared "You bet I did -- and I enjoyed it" when asked if he had ever smoked pot. But in his first six years in office, more people have been arrested for misdemeanor possession than in Giuliani's entire eight-year regime. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080510/6cb4a975/attachment.htm From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sat May 10 11:43:01 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 11:43:01 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN NF: Dealing with drugs References: <00f201c8b220$a92a2bf0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <132EED6A-2039-4B62-9103-823991325744@connect.carleton.ca> Mr. Newman is a master trainer from Focus on the Family Canada. > > http://www.thenorwester.ca/index.cfm?sid=132940&sc=354 > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 07 May 2008 > Source: Nor'wester, The (CN NF) > Email: editor at thenorwester.ca > Website: http://www.thenorwester.ca/ > Address: Box 28, Springdale, NL A0J 1T0 > Fax: (709) 673- 4171 > Copyright: 2008, Transcontinental Media > Author: William Clarke > > Dealing with drugs > > Program offers parent plan to drugproof kids > > If you met Glen Newman two years ago, he wouldn't have been able to > tell you > much about the drug culture. These days his level of information is > pretty > scary, especially in rural Newfoundland. > > "I asked yesterday, what's available?" he said in an April 25 > interview. > "According to what was said around the table, there are drugs readily > available, here, everything from cocaine and ecstacy to marijuana." > > Mr. Newman is a master trainer from Focus on the Family Canada. He > was in > Springdale to teach a group of community leaders to present a > program called > How to Drugproof Your Kids. The program began in Australia and has > been in > Canada since 2002. > > He provided the sessions at the Springdale Pentecostal Church the > week after > the church hosted over 250 kids for a weekend celebration of God's > love. > > Mr. Newman said the program is important for parents because it > teaches them > some warning signs of drug use, but is more aimed at preventing its > start. > > "This course trains these nine people to do a 12-hour, two-day or > six-week, > one-night a week parent program," he said. "They're basically > getting the > training to do a parent program, which is the actual program to help > parents > to drugproof their kids." > > The group included representatives from the Springdale area, Botwood > and > Bishop's Falls. Mr. Newman expects the program will begin > advertising this > summer for fall sessions. > > "As a parent the most important thing you can do with your kids is > have a > relationship with them," he said. "This program is a parent program > wrapped > around the drug issue. These people will walk away with their heads > full of > information. They won't be experts in the drug trade, but they will > walk > away with a lot of knowledge about the drug scene and the drug issue." > > To emphasize how easy it is for kids to get drugs, He recalled a > recent news > story where a journalist asked teens how quickly they could get a > range of > drugs. It took about five minutes of phone calls for the students to > connect > with everything on the journalist's list. > > "My cry has been to parents in grades four to six, 'Please, come and > take > this program,'" said Mr. Newman. "We have not had success getting > them, > sadly, because most of the parents are not dealing with it at that > stage. > When they wake up in grade seven to nine, this is the biggest age > group that > we draw from, but at that stage you've got kids who have already > started. > They're already into the scene." > > He said the program tries to awaken parents to the reality of what's > going > on. It's education, but more importantly than that it's bringing > them back > to parenting. > > "We have to remember we're not dealing with adults, little Johnny > doesn't > know what discipline is," he said. "When he lifts a bottle up to his > lips, > he's not socializing, he's getting drunk. We're not communicating > adult to > adult, we're communicating adult to child." > > As far as kids experimenting for the sake of experimenting, Mr. > Newman said > knowledge of what drugs do prevents a lot of that. He said some kids > will > experiment, they will dabble, but they won't go on to become users. > > However, he warns that today's drug culture isn't what it was in the > 1960s. > Marijuana is now between six and nine times more potent, and is no > longer > "the gateway drug." > > "I've met 17-year-olds who started popping ecstacy when they were 12 > - and > never smoked pot until they were 15," he said. "That didn't happen > in our > day. You smoked pot. That's how you started, but the sad reality is > kids are > going from E to coke, not marijuana to LSD." > > Although there are a lot of dangers waiting to ensnare children, Mr. > Newman's message of awareness is also a message of hope, and parental > responsibility. > > "When you become a parent, you accept the responsibility of being a > parent," > he said. "I encourage parents to take it. I guarntee they will not > be sorry. > It does take commitment, but it's worth the committment." > From tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca Sat May 10 12:03:46 2008 From: tmeehan at connect.carleton.ca (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 12:03:46 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: OPED: Banning random drug searches at schools doesn't make sense References: <02a001c8b266$493ea630$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: Baaaaaa.... > > http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1021451 > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 09 May 2008 > Source: Daily Press, The (CN ON) > Email: editorial at thedailypress.ca > Website: http://www.timminspress.com/ > Address: 187 Cedar Street South, Timmins, Ontario, Canada P4N 7G1 > Fax: (705) 268-7373 > Copyright: 2008 Daily Press (CN ON) > Author: Kaileigh Russell > > Banning random drug searches at schools doesn't make sense > > I think by far that my favourite class right now is law. Some of the > debates > and the things that you hear about in that class are completely > shocking. > It's also where I came up with the idea for this week's column. > > During class we were talking about how it is now illegal for police > to just > do a random drug search in schools with the drug dogs. Personally, I > think > that is the stupidest thing that you could ever do. > > First of all, schools are private property and if you're caught with > drugs, > you can be charged. > > Second, if you warn people the week before a drug test, how many > people do > you think will actually get caught? > > Now of course I can see why you wouldn't see the point in doing a > random > drug search without probable cause, but if you stop people from > bringing it > to school then isn't it worth it? > > What you do in your spare time is completely your choice, but > bringing drugs > to school is completely stupid. > > First of all you're not allowed to have it, and second of all in the > middle > of a public school is not the best place to carry an illegal > substance. > > Then when people get caught, they whine and they cry and they say > that it's > a breach of their rights. > > Well, duh. > > I'm sorry if you are bringing stuff like that in a public place, > where there > are so many places to get caught then it's completely your fault if > you do > get busted. > > Another thing that I really don't get is people going off at lunch > to get > high. I mean of course it's a personal choice and all that, but > saying that > it actually makes you understand math better is not actually the > best way to > explain it. > > Of course you understand things better, you think that you can count > backwards to 57 from purple. The world makes sense with that kind of > logic. > > Now of course it's a personal choice, not one that I can actually > say that I > would condone, but a personal choice nonetheless. But to stop random > drug > checks at schools because it "violates rights" or the dogs scare > people is > stupid. If you're willing to bring those things in a place where you > know > you are liable to be caught, then they should be allowed to search > randomly. > > When enough people finally realize that maybe they shouldn't > actually bring > things in because they can and would be charged maybe there won't be > such a > problem. > > ------------------------------------------------------- > > Kaileigh Russell is a Grade 11 student at O'Gorman High School. > From mycos at shaw.ca Sat May 10 18:37:56 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 15:37:56 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] CN NF: Dealing with drugs In-Reply-To: <132EED6A-2039-4B62-9103-823991325744@connect.carleton.ca> References: <00f201c8b220$a92a2bf0$6500a8c0@Herb> <132EED6A-2039-4B62-9103-823991325744@connect.carleton.ca> Message-ID: <482623C4.6050601@shaw.ca> "Master Trainer"? My first thought was that this was somehow an off-shoot of Narconon (again! That thing with Randy White was a bit of a shocker, although not out of character once considered.), but I see it's another encroachment by the US religious far-right. Anyhow, I can't find anything describing a Master Trainer's job. Who's he supposed to be training and what kind of "training" would a Christian outfit be doing that merits such a title? It sounds much more like something a cult or martial arts organization might use. G~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tim Meehan wrote: > Mr. Newman is a master trainer from Focus on the Family Canada. > >> http://www.thenorwester.ca/index.cfm?sid=132940&sc=354 >> >> Newshawk: Herb >> Pubdate: 07 May 2008 >> Source: Nor'wester, The (CN NF) >> Email: editor at thenorwester.ca >> Website: http://www.thenorwester.ca/ >> Address: Box 28, Springdale, NL A0J 1T0 >> Fax: (709) 673- 4171 >> Copyright: 2008, Transcontinental Media >> Author: William Clarke >> >> Dealing with drugs >> >> Program offers parent plan to drugproof kids > From mycos at shaw.ca Sat May 10 18:51:58 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 15:51:58 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] CN BC: Editorial: City going too far In-Reply-To: References: <001401c8b090$c4ab50c0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <4826270E.9050805@shaw.ca> I notice the number of "suspected" grow-ops combined with the the few that were deemed not to be one, when added together come to just under half of the number they say were grow-ops. I'd be very curious to know on what basis they decided these were "suspected" since the numbers of every second one being wrong doesn't look very good from a "man's home is his castle" perspective. I strongly suspect manipulation of the numbers to justify continuation of a program that invades ever second home on bad information, which is how it would read if the "suspected" numbers were actually categorized as what they were... "Nothing here, boss!". G~ Tim Meehan wrote: > It is legal for medical use... > > > --- > > And before the legalize-marijuana lobby starts writing letters about > how the > problem could be avoided if pot were legal, we agree. > > Pot, however, is not legal. And illegal grow-ops pose a huge fire > hazard. > That means the inspection approach to shutting down grow-ops is a good > thing -- when one key ingredient is factored in: common sense. > > >> http://www.canada.com/coquitlamnow/news/opinion/story.html?id=43bcf545-78cf-4383-832b-ef769f24f29d >> >> Newshawk: Herb >> Pubdate: 07 May 2008 >> Source: Coquitlam Now, The (CN BC) >> Email: editorial at thenownews.com >> Website: http://www.thenownews.com/ >> Address: #1-2700 Barnet Highway,Coquitlam, B.C. V3B 1B8 >> Copyright: 2008Lower Mainland Publishing Group, Inc. >> >> City going too far >> >> Witch hunt. Police state. Overzealous. Heavy handed. All of these >> terms -- >> and probably a lot more we couldn't print -- are being used to >> describe the >> City of Coquitlam's approach to rooting out marijuana grow operations. >> >> The city's public safety inspection team has certainly been busy. >> During the >> last six months of 2007, members inspected 128 homes that had been >> flagged >> because of high energy consumption -- finding 88 grow-ops, 24 >> suspected >> grow-ops and 14 cases where a grow-op was not suspected. From mycos at shaw.ca Sat May 10 19:00:15 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Sat, 10 May 2008 16:00:15 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: OPED: Banning random drug searches at schools doesn't make sense In-Reply-To: References: <02a001c8b266$493ea630$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <482628FF.4040700@shaw.ca> Another person who missed a chance to "get things done" working at Abu Ghraib or Gitmo. G~ Tim Meehan wrote: > Baaaaaa.... > > >> http://www.timminspress.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1021451 >> >> Newshawk: Herb >> Pubdate: 09 May 2008 >> Source: Daily Press, The (CN ON) >> Email: editorial at thedailypress.ca >> Website: http://www.timminspress.com/ >> Address: 187 Cedar Street South, Timmins, Ontario, Canada P4N 7G1 >> Fax: (705) 268-7373 >> Copyright: 2008 Daily Press (CN ON) >> Author: Kaileigh Russell >> >> Banning random drug searches at schools doesn't make sense >> > From tim at paidoc.org Sun May 11 11:04:00 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Sun, 11 May 2008 11:04:00 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN AB: City police raid massive pot grow-op References: <3E948326716C4CE7B8E4589941EF16E7@UserPC> Message-ID: <73333F32-5C11-4F83-A9C2-C77129142862@paidoc.org> > > http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/05/11/5532826-sun.html > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Sunday, May 11, 2008 > Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) > Contact: callet at calgarysun.com > Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/ > Author: Dave Dormer > > City police raid massive pot grow-op > > By DAVE DORMER > > Cops figure they've put a dent in the local pot supply after members > of the Southern > Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team (SAMIT) took down the city's > largest ever > residential grow operation. > > Following up on a tip from the public, cops raided a large house at > 55 Patterson Cres. > S.W. Friday afternoon. > > They found more than 2,445 plants in various stages of growth, with > a street value > estimated between $3 million and $4 million. > > "This was quite significant," said Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the > Calgary police drug > unit. > > "I believe there were five or six rooms that were used for what was > a three-stage grow." > > No one was living in the house and police are now trying to track > down the owner. > > Cave said the bust was also significant in the fact some of the > plants were being grown > to supply other houses. > > "They call them mommy plants as a slang term, where they actually > cut pieces of the > stock off and use them to start other grow operations," he said. > > "We're thinking because of these mommy plants, there were other grow > operations in other > areas of the city that could be affected. > > "We've undermined what was probably a bigger operation." > > The level of sophistication used by the growers also has police > concerned. > > "There was remote cameras on scene so somebody from a different > location could actually > see activity within the house and see activity outside the house," > said Cave. > > While the bust will affect the local marijuana supply somewhat for a > short time, Cave > said police know it won't be long before someone else moves in to > fill the void. > > "We know there's lots," he said. "We're not that naive to think > there's not lots of > grows out there, but this was a bigger one." > Webpage: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=21cadde3-d095-41af-91b3-e7fbe686ba01 Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Pubdate: Sunday, May 11, 2008 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Contact: letters at theherald.canwest.com Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Author: Jason van Rassel and Richard Cuthbertson $4M grow op busted on S.W. crescent Patterson home hid city's largest marijuana den Jason van Rassel and Richard Cuthbertson Calgary Herald Police have feretted out Calgary's largest grow op, camouflaged in a $1.2-million home in a quiet southwest neighbourhood. Police found 2,445 plants worth up to $4 million spread throughout the interior of a large home on Patterson Crescent S.W. on Friday night. Neighbours said until police arrived, they'd seen nobody at the house for a while. "I'm really stunned," said Lauraine Pysh, who is the neighbourhood Block Watch captain. "They must have been coming at night, because I walk in this area every day and I've never noticed anything." Marijuana clippings used to clone the most potent plants and surveillance cameras are signs the grow op was part of a larger criminal operation with drugs being grown at other locations, investigators said. "It was quite sophisticated," said Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the Calgary police drug unit. "We have some information that might be related to other addresses in the city." No arrests have been made and investigators are trying to determine who owns or rents the 4,684-square-foot house. The Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team -- a combined unit of city police and RCMP -- was summoned to the house late Friday after a service worker visiting the property called police. Friday's bust is the biggest the unit has encountered since its formation in late 2003 -- and is the latest in a series of record-setting seizures from large suburban homes. In what was thought to be the city's biggest residential marijuana bust before Friday's, police found 2,319 plants at an Arbour Lake home in 2005. That seizure eclipsed a 2003 find in Scenic Acres, when investigators seized 2,100 plants inside a house on Schiller Crescent N.W. In 2006, police seized $63 million worth of marijuana from grow ops in Calgary. In 2004, the total topped $100 million. The home on Patterson Crescent, which city assessment records value at $1.2 million, bore many of the characteristics investigators encounter at larger operations: the plants were in three different stages of growth, which yields a new crop every few months. Neighbours said the home was owned by an elderly couple who sold a few years ago. A group of young people then moved in. One neighbour said police were called a couple times to quell loud parties. He said they moved out last fall. Since then he's seen nobody but spotted a pickup truck on a couple of occasions. When he walked by Friday, the man, who didn't want to be identified, said he could smell the marijuana. "The fact that they're growing a couple million dollars worth of marijuana in the place -- yeah that's a surprise," he said. Andrea Propp was about to leave for Banff when she saw police pull up. "I said, 'That's really strange. Did you see all those cars going up there? I bet that was a drug bust or something. Something fishy's going on,' " Propp said. Another neighbour said it was suspicious she never saw anyone at the home. "When we think back, we think, well, when it snowed we really never saw tire tracks or anything," said the woman, who didn't want to be identified. The woman said she suspects there are similar operations in every Calgary neighbourhood. The growers bypassed the home's electrical meter to steal large amounts of power needed for grow lights and ran wiring throughout the house. "The drywall has been punched out in several places," Cave said. Large-scale grow ops reveal a need for tougher laws and increased police resources against organized crime, said Shawn Howard of the Canadian Justice Foundation. "This just shows how seriously we have to take the issue. The general public doesn't realize how dangerous the groups who are behind this are," Howard said Legislation before Parliament proposes mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking and production. If Bill C-26 becomes law, grow ops larger than 500 plants could net a minimum two-year sentence for anyone convicted of marijuana production. The current maximum for production of marijuana is seven years. -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Mon May 12 10:58:45 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 10:58:45 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Video: A/K/A Tommy Chong Message-ID: <8F094703-5D51-4D80-8D12-E77BCE4CE7F0@paidoc.org> Re: Actor Tommy Chong Claims Link To FBI Raids http://www.local12.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=06471fa4-66f2-4ffe-8ddf-8c7630326bad "But Chong says agents seized 10,000 DVDs of his documentary. Federal prosecutors may be targeting Chong for trying to profit off his prosecution. "I'm not profiting off the story of my first amendment violation at all," said Chong." Bittorrent link: http://www.mininova.org/tor/1398815 To download, I recommend Azureus: http://azureus.sourceforge.net/ -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From mycos at shaw.ca Mon May 12 16:22:42 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 13:22:42 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] CN AB: City police raid massive pot grow-op In-Reply-To: <73333F32-5C11-4F83-A9C2-C77129142862@paidoc.org> References: <3E948326716C4CE7B8E4589941EF16E7@UserPC> <73333F32-5C11-4F83-A9C2-C77129142862@paidoc.org> Message-ID: <4828A712.3060708@shaw.ca> Question: How do you get an LEO to say " We're concerned" and "Mommy" (repeatedly!)in the same conversation? G~ Tim Meehan wrote: >> http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Alberta/2008/05/11/5532826-sun.html >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Sunday, May 11, 2008 >> Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB) >> Contact: callet at calgarysun.com >> Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/ >> Author: Dave Dormer >> >> City police raid massive pot grow-op >> >> By DAVE DORMER >> >> Cops figure they've put a dent in the local pot supply after members >> of the Southern >> Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team (SAMIT) took down the city's >> largest ever >> residential grow operation. >> >> Following up on a tip from the public, cops raided a large house at >> 55 Patterson Cres. >> S.W. Friday afternoon. >> >> They found more than 2,445 plants in various stages of growth, with >> a street value >> estimated between $3 million and $4 million. >> >> "This was quite significant," said Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the >> Calgary police drug >> unit. >> >> "I believe there were five or six rooms that were used for what was >> a three-stage grow." >> >> No one was living in the house and police are now trying to track >> down the owner. >> >> Cave said the bust was also significant in the fact some of the >> plants were being grown >> to supply other houses. >> >> "They call them mommy plants as a slang term, where they actually >> cut pieces of the >> stock off and use them to start other grow operations," he said. >> >> "We're thinking because of these mommy plants, there were other grow >> operations in other >> areas of the city that could be affected. >> >> "We've undermined what was probably a bigger operation." >> >> The level of sophistication used by the growers also has police >> concerned. >> >> "There was remote cameras on scene so somebody from a different >> location could actually >> see activity within the house and see activity outside the house," >> said Cave. >> >> While the bust will affect the local marijuana supply somewhat for a >> short time, Cave >> said police know it won't be long before someone else moves in to >> fill the void. >> >> "We know there's lots," he said. "We're not that naive to think >> there's not lots of >> grows out there, but this was a bigger one." >> > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=21cadde3-d095-41af-91b3-e7fbe686ba01 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Sunday, May 11, 2008 > Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) > Contact: letters at theherald.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ > Author: Jason van Rassel and Richard Cuthbertson > > $4M grow op busted on S.W. crescent > > Patterson home hid city's largest marijuana den > > Jason van Rassel and Richard Cuthbertson > Calgary Herald > > Police have feretted out Calgary's largest grow op, camouflaged in a > $1.2-million home > in a quiet southwest neighbourhood. > > Police found 2,445 plants worth up to $4 million spread throughout the > interior of a > large home on Patterson Crescent S.W. on Friday night. > > Neighbours said until police arrived, they'd seen nobody at the house > for a while. > > "I'm really stunned," said Lauraine Pysh, who is the neighbourhood > Block Watch captain. > "They must have been coming at night, because I walk in this area > every day and I've > never noticed anything." > > Marijuana clippings used to clone the most potent plants and > surveillance cameras are > signs the grow op was part of a larger criminal operation with drugs > being grown at > other locations, investigators said. > > "It was quite sophisticated," said Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the > Calgary police drug > unit. > > "We have some information that might be related to other addresses in > the city." > > No arrests have been made and investigators are trying to determine > who owns or rents > the 4,684-square-foot house. > > The Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team -- a combined unit > of city police and > RCMP -- was summoned to the house late Friday after a service worker > visiting the > property called police. > > Friday's bust is the biggest the unit has encountered since its > formation in late > 2003 -- and is the latest in a series of record-setting seizures from > large suburban > homes. > > In what was thought to be the city's biggest residential marijuana > bust before Friday's, > police found 2,319 plants at an Arbour Lake home in 2005. That seizure > eclipsed a 2003 > find in Scenic Acres, when investigators seized 2,100 plants inside a > house on Schiller > Crescent N.W. In 2006, police seized $63 million worth of marijuana > from grow ops in > Calgary. In 2004, the total topped $100 million. > > The home on Patterson Crescent, which city assessment records value at > $1.2 million, > bore many of the characteristics investigators encounter at larger > operations: the > plants were in three different stages of growth, which yields a new > crop every few > months. > > Neighbours said the home was owned by an elderly couple who sold a few > years ago. > > A group of young people then moved in. One neighbour said police were > called a couple > times to quell loud parties. He said they moved out last fall. Since > then he's seen > nobody but spotted a pickup truck on a couple of occasions. > > When he walked by Friday, the man, who didn't want to be identified, > said he could smell > the marijuana. > > "The fact that they're growing a couple million dollars worth of > marijuana in the > place -- yeah that's a surprise," he said. > > Andrea Propp was about to leave for Banff when she saw police pull up. > > "I said, 'That's really strange. Did you see all those cars going up > there? I bet that > was a drug bust or something. Something fishy's going on,' " Propp said. > > Another neighbour said it was suspicious she never saw anyone at the > home. > > "When we think back, we think, well, when it snowed we really never > saw tire tracks or > anything," said the woman, who didn't want to be identified. > > The woman said she suspects there are similar operations in every > Calgary neighbourhood. > > The growers bypassed the home's electrical meter to steal large > amounts of power needed > for grow lights and ran wiring throughout the house. > > "The drywall has been punched out in several places," Cave said. > > Large-scale grow ops reveal a need for tougher laws and increased > police resources > against organized crime, said Shawn Howard of the Canadian Justice > Foundation. > > "This just shows how seriously we have to take the issue. The general > public doesn't > realize how dangerous the groups who are behind this are," Howard said > > Legislation before Parliament proposes mandatory minimum sentences for > drug trafficking > and production. If Bill C-26 becomes law, grow ops larger than 500 > plants could net a > minimum two-year sentence for anyone convicted of marijuana production. > > The current maximum for production of marijuana is seven years. > > -- > Tim Meehan > Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis > tim at paidoc.org > > > > > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > From tim at paidoc.org Mon May 12 23:35:11 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 23:35:11 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Attention cannabis patients: June 30th deadline for Ontario Human Rights Commission complaints Message-ID: PLEASE DISTRIBUTE Attention cannabis patients: The way Ontario handles Human Rights issues changes on June 30th, and contrary to the hype, it will be much harder to register a complaint regarding discrimination when using cannabis. If you feel that any Ontario municipal or provincial regulated body (schools, libraries, bars, restaurants, etc.) has discriminated against you because of cannabis, the time to speak up is NOW. Contact Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis if you have an issue. Remember, the deadline is June 30th! Join our Facebook group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4937469009 -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org http://www.paidoc.org +1 613 322 2572 --- From the Ontario Human Rights Commission website: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/commission/mission When the Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2006 comes into effect on June 30, 2008, there will be a number of significant changes in the mandate of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. We will, however, no longer process human rights complaints under the Ontario Human Rights Code. Dealing with such complaints will be the job of the HRTO. A new body, the Human Rights Legal Support Centre, will offer independent human rights-related legal and support services to individuals, ranging from advice and support to legal representation. From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Tue May 13 00:46:36 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 23:46:36 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Covert War Against Dimebag Darrell? Message-ID: <48291D2C.4020509@comcast.net> http://www.amazon.com/Covert-War-Against-Rock-Hutchence/dp/092291561X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210653948&sr=1-1 *The Covert War Against Rock: What You Don't Know About the Deaths of Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Michael Hutchence, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Ochs, ... Tosh, John Lennon, and The Notorious B.I.G. (Paperback)* by Alex Constantine http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/05/covert-war-against-dimebag-darrell.html Sunday, May 11, 2008 Covert War Against Dimebag Darrell? *By Alex Constantine* http://bp0.blogger.com/_mg7D3kYysfw/SCfZJtRVusI/AAAAAAAAGgg/8J6ViHFbteM/s1600-h/Dimebag-Darrell-Article.gif A schizophrenic Marine with rabid obsessions and command hallucinations killed heavy metal guitarist Dimebag Darrell in 2004. The "reasonable" explanations of the killer's motive melted away, though, and all that remains between the lines is suggestive of CIA mind control reminiscient of Mark David Chapman's buried hard drive. An essay found at the Roadrunner Records site rails against Americans for not standing up to autocrtatic rule - the author seems to suspect that Dimebag's murder in 2004 was political. He jumps off from the killing of Dimebag to rant on the fascist state of political affairs in the failed Republic - implying a connection. And there may be one, though it remains to be shown. I'm posing the question - was Gale's murderous rampage provoked by mental illness or mind control?: From: GOD FORBID Guitarist: DIMEBAG's Murder 'Would've Never Happened Anywhere Else In The World' - Apr. 24, 2008 " ... John Lennon was killed by a crazed fan just like Dimebag on the same day of the year. John Lennon was British. I'm not shitting on America, I'm shitting on the people in America who act like they can't change things. I'm shitting on the people who make decisions out of fear; the people who want the same taste of the week every week; the people who take up space and don't give anything back except complaints and bad attitudes. ... " http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=95594 Dimebag's Wiki Entry Dimebag Darrell (born Darrell Lance Abbott on August 20, 1966, Arlington, Texas -- died on December 8, 2004, Columbus, Ohio), also known as Diamond Darrell until mid 1992, was an American lead guitarist. Best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan, he was also active in country music, notably the project Rebel Meets Rebel. Remembered for his amiable nature and rapport with fans, critic Greg Prato [1] describes Abbott as "one of the most influential stylists in modern metal." Abbott was shot to death while performing with Damageplan on December 8, 2004. ... On December 8, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Abbott was shot and killed onstage by former U.S. Marine Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot 3 times in the head, the third time at point blank range, killing him instantly. He was 38 years old. Three others were killed in the shooting: concert-goer Nathan Bray, age 23 of Columbus; Alrosa Villa roadie Erin Halk, age 29 of northwest Columbus; and Damageplan security chief Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, age 40 of Texas. Damageplan's drum technician, John "Kat" Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were injured in the rampage. According to police, Gale fired a total of fifteen shots, taking the time to reload once, remaining silent throughout the shooting. When security staff tried to stop him, Gale fired at them, wounding Paluska, and killing Halk, who had attempted to stop the gunman with a beer bottle as a weapon. Thompson fought with Gale for a short time, stopping him from killing Vinnie Paul Abbott and John Graham, as well as knocking off Gale's glasses (preventing him from seeing Officer Niggemeyer just minutes later), before being fatally wounded by Gale. Audience member Nathan Bray, who jumped onstage to try to give CPR to Dimebag and Thompson, stood up and took a single step towards Gale before being shot once in the chest. Brooks was scuffling with Gale onstage but was overpowered and taken hostage in a headlock position. Brooks was shot several times (once in the right hand, his right leg, and his right side) while attempting to get the gun away from Gale. Five officers came in the front entrance led by officer Rick Crum, and moved toward the stage. Officer James D. Niggemeyer came in through the back door, behind the stage. Gale only saw the officers in front of the stage; he never saw officer Niggemeyer. When the hostage moved his head, Officer Niggemeyer shot Gale in the face with a police-issued Remington 870 shotgun. Gale was found to have 35 rounds of ammunition remaining. Officer Niggemeyer's shot was as accurate as he could have hoped for, hitting Gale with 8 out of 9 pellets from the shotgun shell. During the rampage, nurse and audience member Mindy Reece, 28, went to the aid of Abbott. She and another fan administered CPR until paramedics arrived, but were unable to save him. Following the shooting, Darrell Abbott was buried in a KISS Kasket at the Moore Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Arlington, Texas. In May 2005, Officer Niggemeyer testified before the Franklin County grand jury, which is routine procedure in Franklin County after a police shooting. The grand jury did not indict Niggemeyer, finding that his actions were justified. Niggemeyer received a commendation from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission for his outstanding police work in time of crisis as well as The National Rifle Association award as 2005 Law Enforcement Officer of the Year. The five other officers that were first on the scene received Ohio distinguished law enforcement medals for their brave work. In 2006 James Niggemeyer penned the foreword to A Vulgar Display Of Power: Courage and Carnage at the Alrosa Villa. Dimebag's burial stone Early theories of motive suggested that Gale may have turned to violence in response to the breakup of Pantera, or the public dispute between Abbott and Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, but these were later ruled out by investigators. Another theory was that Gale believed Abbott had stolen a song Gale wrote. In the A Vulgar Display Of Power book, several of Gale's personal writings, given to the author by Gale's mother, show that the motive of Pantera's breakup or the idea of stolen songs is false, and that due to his condition, paranoid schizophrenia, he believed that the band could read his mind, were stealing his thoughts, and laughing at him. . Was Gale a Mind Control Subject? Mom Of Concert Killer: He Was Sick Discharged From Marines After Paranoid Schizophrenic Diagnosis The mother of the man who gunned down former Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott and three others during a concert said her son was discharged from the military because he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Mary Clark told Columbus television station WCMH on Wednesday that her son, Nathan Gale, was released from the Marines in 2003 after the military diagnosed the disorder. ... Gale came home from the Marines with medication for his illness, Clark said, but she did not know whether he took the pills. Maj. Jason Johnston, a Marine Corps spokesman at the Pentagon, said legal reasons prohibit him from for discussing why Gale was discharged. ... http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/09/national/main659983.shtml . Was Gale in a hypnotic state?: "Police: Killer Didn't Say Anything To DIMEBAG Before Shooting Him" Jan. 13, 2005 http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=31495 . Gale had no discernible motive: "Dimebag" Darrell Killer's Motive May Never be Known" Shortnews.com 2/12/2004 Regarding the murder of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott by Nathan Gale, Columbus police Sgt. Brent Mull said "We don't see any motive. We may never know a motive unless (Gale) left a note." Over 250 people who were in the club interviewed by police. http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=45042 . It was an election year, and voting irregularities in Ohio were reported widely: "The assassination of Dimebag happened December 8th, 2004. The is exactly 24 years to the day from John Lenon's assassination. Nathan Gale, 25, just happened to be a former marine. A cop that just happened to be near, entered the club, and killed Gale. Seems a lot like the Oswald case, doesn't it? This happened in Columbus, Ohio, were all the election irregularities were focused. Where the fake homeland security problem happened. ... " http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread104857/pg1 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080512/fe5dae5c/attachment.htm From mycos at shaw.ca Tue May 13 01:15:52 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Mon, 12 May 2008 22:15:52 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Opposition Not About 'Ideology Message-ID: <48292408.10607@shaw.ca> Regarding that guy from Langley, Colin Mangham, who took offence to the notion that the RCMP should be characterized as pro-prohibition (yeah....right. One of "them"). CN BC: OPED: Opposition Not About 'Ideology' URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n484/a07.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n484/a07.html?999 In any case, I figure he's an easy target for anyone willing to do a bit more digging on his connections around the the US and elsewhere in the world regarding his Walters/DEA-like pathology regarding drug use, harm -reduction programs and Insite in particular. The very first page a brought up on him made these connections: INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE ON STRATEGIC DRUG POLICY MEMBERS LIST (full list at bottom. Sorry for the length) Mel and Betty Sembler, who ran what has been characterized as the Abu Ghraib of Rehabs, a kid-rehab that killed...for cash. http://www.thestraights.com/ ~~~~~~~~ Andrew Peyton Thomas, Prosecuting attorney of Maricopa Country and Sheriff Arpaio's right-hand man. He's already been caught withholding evidence that would have put a guy in jail for 80 years for porn that a virus had used to hijack his PC as a server....and Thomas KNEW IT! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_P._Thomas http://snipurl.com/28ldf ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Eric Voth, whose name in a web-search shows up everywhere there's someone saying that there's absolutely no medical use for pot, that it's a scam by the left to cash in the drug use explosion that will surely follow. Insanity.... An example: Classic Reefer Madness from Drug Watch International: "MARIJUANA USED BY JONESBORO KILLERS"! Eric A. Voth, M.D., FACP Chairman MARIJUANA USED BY JONESBORO KILLERS Marijuana has long been underestimated in its link to violent crime. As reported in the New York Times (3/29/98), the adolescents involved in the Jonesboro killings were reputed to be marijuana smokers. The association to murder and other violence is not isolated. (Examples attached). Dr. Eric Voth, chairman of the International Drug Strategy Institute commented: "Marijuana creates an atmosphere of reduced inhibition. This is seen with many behaviors suc (sic) as unsafe sex, and the association with violent crime is clear". http://www.marijuananews.com/marijuananews/cowan/classic_reefer_madness_from_drug.htm http://snipurl.com/28lem ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Randy White: Needs no introduction, although that link to Scientology should be kept in mind. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Christy McCambell: The US Government's next Drug Czar if I'm not mistaken. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RCMP Staff Sargeant Chuck Doucette: OTTAWA -- The RCMP, which has publicly taken a neutral position on Vancouver's Supervised Injection Site for drug addicts, has produced an internal report harshly critical of the pilot project. The three-page analysis, obtained by The Vancouver Sun, suggests that the "harm reduction" approach -- helping addicts avoid overdosing or contracting HIV-AIDS -- actually encourages drug use. ''The RCMP has concerns regarding any initiative that lowers the perceived risks associated with drug use," states Staff-Sgt. C.D. (Chuck) Doucette, Pacific Region co-ordinator of the RCMP's Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness program. http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=bab634f5-0046-4a77-9666-ee43d2f7749b&k=14638 http://snipurl.com/28lg1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And these were just the names I recognized from a list far longer than the few I have here. Many are international, so if they are anything like Sembler and Arpaio but living in Columbia and many other places where the far-right can do what they do best...torture and kill, then there's got to be connections to other flaming idealogues like him that can be used to either shut his hole up or coax him into making some kind of public threat. Tomorrow I'll send a letter to Al Giordano asking him whether he's had any experience with other names on that list, since a lot of them are from S. America. Here it is btw. Sonita Morin Abrahams Executive Director Addiction Alert Organization Kingston, Jamaica Ernst Aeschbach, M.D. Vice President Swiss Physicians Against Drugs Zufikon, Switzerland Franklin Alcaraz Executive Director Celin Bolivia La Paz, Bolivia Omar Aleman Aleman & Associates Ft. Lauderdale, FL United States Al Arsenault Police Officer Odd Squad Productions Port Moody, British Columbia Canada Laura Baldivieso Executive Director CESE La Paz, Bolivia Andrea Barthwell EM Global, LLC Chicago, IL United States Salomao Bernstein Medical Direcion Tecnica Instituto Girasol de Brasil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil Malcolm Beyer, Jr. Community Anti-Drug Advocate Jupiter, FL United States Richard Bucher, Ph. D. Consultant Fort Washington, MD United States Jose Carranza, M.D. Director of Psychiatry Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center Houston, TX United States Javier M. Cordova Senior Policy Analyst Office of National Drug Control Policy Washington, DC United States Miguel A. Dahbar, M.D. Physician Cordoba Academy of Medicine Cordoba, Argentina Maria Florencia Di Masi de Alconada Educator Fundacion Convivir Buenos Aires, Argentina Chuck Doucette Royal Canadian Mounted Police Vancouver, British Columbia Canada Robert L. DuPont, M.D. President Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. Rockville, MD United States Drew Edwards Counselor / Anti-Drug Advocate Jacksonville, FL United States David Evans, Esq. Drug Free Schools Coalition Flemington, NJ United States Calvina L. Fay Executive Director Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL United States Guillermo Fernandez, M.D. Universidad del Salvador Buenos Aires, Argentina Gilberto Gerra Centre for Studies on Drug Addiction Parma, Italy Jack Gilligan President Emeritus Fayette Companies Groveland, IL United States Mark Gold, M.D. Professor University of Florida, College of Medicine Gainesville, FL United States Eliseo Miguel Gonzalez Regadas Psychologist Castalia Montevideo, Uruguay David Gross, M.D. Psychiatrist Palm Beach Evaluation and Treatment Center Delray Beach, FL United States Tomas Hallberg, M.D. Director European Cities Against Drugs Stockholm, Sweden Stephanie Haynes President Drug Prevention Network of the Americas Alpine, TX United States Brian Heywood CEO Charnwood Independent Youth Action Loughborough United Kingdom Rosa Icarte Munoz CORFAL Arica, Chile Edward Jacobs, M.D. Pediatrician The Everett Clinic Everett, WA United States William S. Jacobs, M.D. Physician University of Florida Jacksonville, FL United States Ben Jenkins CEO Jenkins Group Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada Kerstin Kall, M.D., Ph. D. Clinic for Dependency Disorders University of Linkoping Linkoping, Sweden Frans Koopmans Director of Communications De Hoop Foundation Dordrecht, Netherlands Hans Koeppel, M.D. Physician Board Member, Swiss Physicians Against Drugs Board Member, Youth Without Drugs Scientific and Advisory Board of EURAD Baden, Switzerland Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky Senior Fellow, International Policy Center University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Ann Arbor, MI United States Roberto Maldonado Attorney Buenos Aires, Argentina Colin Mangham, Ph. D. Population Health Promotion Associates Langley, British Columbia Canada Christy McCampbell Counternarcotics Liaison U.S. Department of Homeland Security Washington, DC United States Jeanne A. McCarthy, M.D. West Coast Neonatology St. Petersburg, FL United States Neil McKeganey, Ph. D. University of Glasgow Centre for Drug Misuse Research Glasgow, Scotland Gabriel Mejia Clergy Medellin, Colombia Paquita Moncayo Professor Ministerio de Educacio Quita, Ecuador Ashraf Mozayani, Pharm. D., Ph. D., D-ABFT Laboratory Director / Chief Toxicologist Harris County Medical Examiner's Office Houston, TX United States Ian Oliver, Ph. D. Consultant UNODC Haddington, Scotland Bruce Payette Professor University of New Mexico Gallup, NM United States Jill Pearman Drug Watch Australia Prevention Resource Center New South Wales Sydney, Australia Bob Peterson V.P. International Pride Youth Programs Little Meadows, PA United States Torgny Peterson Hassela Nordic Network Sweden Anita Petzold, Ph. D. Tampa, FL United States Eduardo Pinzon Educational Coordinator Centro Juvenil Vicentino Panama City, Panama Roger Pisani Drug Prevention Education Consultant Old Greenwich, CT United States Harold Rahm Sacerdote, Jesuit Catholic Priest Associacao Promocional Oracao e Trabahlo Campina, Brazil David Raynes Customs, Organized Crime & Anti-Corruption Consultant United Kingdom Jose Luis Rojas Clinical Psychologist CHIPRED Santiago, Chile Kevin Sabet, Ph. D. Project Coordinator Project:SUNDIAL New York, NY United States Margarita Maria Sanchez SURGIR Medellin, Colombia Ricardo Sanchez Huesca Centros de Integracion Juvenil A.C. Mexico City, Mexico Herbert Schaepe Consultant Loebendorf, Austria Mina Seinfeld de Carakushansky President BRAHA Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Betty S. Sembler Founder and Chair Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL United States Wev Shea Attorney Anchorage, AK United States Harold Shinitzky National Consultant Clearwater, FL United States Prefetto Pietro Soggiu Commissario Straordinario del Governo Rome, Italy Violet Smythe Stevenson National Council on Drug Abuse Kingston, Jamaica Ann Stoker Special Adviser National Drug Prevention Alliance Slough, Berkshire United Kingdom Peter Stoker Director National Drug Prevention Alliance Slough, Berkshire United Kingdom Grant Suhm Drug Prevention Network of the Americas College Station, TX United States Marcos Susskind Director FEBRAE President JACS-Brasil Amor-Exigente Sao Paulo, Brazil Andrew P. Thomas County Attorney Maricopa County Phoenix, Arizona United States Monica Vaczy Liceo Elbio Fernandez Psychologist Montevideo, Uruguay Ivan Van Damme, M.D. General Physician Oostakker, Belgium Maria Jose Vargas Fundacion Vida y Sociedad San Jose, Costa Rica Alejandro Vassilaqui CEDRO Lima, Peru Luis Viale RIPRED Cordoba, Argentina Juvenal Villasmil Psychiatrist Hospital Perez de Leon Baruta, Venezuela Eric Voth, M.D., FACP Chairman Kansas Family Partnership Topeka, KS United States Michele Voth Executive Director Kansas Family Partnership Topeka, KS United States Randy White President Drug Prevention Neetwork of Canada Ottawa, Ontario Canada Juan Alberto Yaria Psychologist Universidad del Salvador Buenos Aires, Argentina http://www.itfsdp.org/members.php http://snipurl.com/28lb6 From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 13 14:11:09 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 14:11:09 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Video: A/K/A Tommy Chong References: <0A9439E2-384D-4017-A3AB-F37CB0328EC9@connect.carleton.ca> Message-ID: > > Now streaming: > > Part 1: > > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2104027629849508534&hl=en > > Part 2: > > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6501456119345484023&hl=en > > And if you want to contact the woman behing the seizure of the entire > stock of DVDs: > > United States Attorney's Office > Western District of Pennsylvania > Mary Beth Buchanan, United States Attorney > Email:marybeth.buchanan at usdoj.gov > Phone: 412-644-4631 From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Tue May 13 15:10:50 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 14:10:50 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] cops kill uncooperative teenage girl.... Message-ID: <4829E7BA.6050606@comcast.net> arrested and tortured TO DEATH for allegedly "playing music too loudly." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY-GHtyUJkc -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080513/cc6e96bb/attachment.htm From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Tue May 13 16:57:32 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Tue, 13 May 2008 15:57:32 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Private Prison Corps Lobby for Stricter Laws! Message-ID: <482A00BC.6020701@comcast.net> http://media.www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2003/09/23/Opinion/Beware.Of.Private.Prisons-472723.shtml The pressure to fill the Laredo superjail is great. As facilities pop up around the state - new 500-bed facilities are in the works for Sierra Blanca and Encinal - stakeholders in both the private and public realm will be looking to the federal government to provide them with prisoners. This economic pressure generates political backing for stricter immigration laws. Steve Logan, CEO of Cornell Corrections, has shamelessly commented that Sept. 11 brought many benefits for the industry because of the "heightened focus on detention" of immigrants and suspected terrorists. In the '80s and '90s, drug offenders provided the fodder for the rapacious boom in incarceration. Now that the U.S. prison population has topped 2 million, the industry is looking to immigrants to sustain growth. http://www.prisonlegalnews.org/(S(bkoc5r55eln1rv55a0fhgj45))/displayNews.aspx?newsid=44&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1 In their presentation, Haley and Mason argued that CCA's lobbying for stricter sentences, mandatory minimums and "three strikes" is immoral because the company stands to profit from more prisoners serving longer terms. But several ACIR members asked the presenters whether legislators, who voted to support the laws, are actually responsible for their consequences. http://www.progressivestates.org/content/239/05042006-stateside-dispatch-the-lying-and-the-buying-of-the-right Private Prisons Steer Money to Influence Sentencing Laws http://www.alternet.org/rights/45647/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080513/364fcd47/attachment.htm From tim at paidoc.org Wed May 14 10:47:24 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 10:47:24 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Quebec: Jury hard to find in marijuana growing trial In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: >> >> Webpage: >> http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=82ba0bfe-bbe1-4eea-b72c-157ad9ee492a >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 >> Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU) >> Contact: letters at thegazette.canwest.com >> Contact: http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/letters.html >> Website: http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/ >> Author: Sue Montgomery >> >> Bilingual anglos hard to find in Granby >> >> Search for jurors delays drug trial >> >> SUE MONTGOMERY >> The Gazette >> >> Wanted: Three bilingual anglophones from the Granby area to serve >> on a drug trial jury. >> Will cover transportation costs. >> >> Seems like such a simple request, especially in a province like >> Quebec, but it's proving >> to be a Herculean task that has delayed a trial for months and >> frustrated defence >> lawyers. >> >> "It's wild, it's insane," said Daniel Lighter, one of eight defence >> lawyers on the case. >> "It's not like you can fly them in." >> >> Hundreds of potential jurors, chosen at random from the electoral >> list, have shown up at >> the Granby courthouse since March, only to be rejected for not >> having a good enough >> grasp of both French and English. Quebec Superior Court Justice >> Yves Tardif has ordered >> that the trial - of a group of 14 people charged with trafficking, >> growing and exporting >> marijuana - be bilingual. >> >> That means six of the 12 jurors must have French as their mother >> tongue and six must >> have English. The requirement applies to two reserve jurors, as well. >> >> "We've gone through hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of panels," >> Lighter said in an >> interview yesterday. >> >> "We've managed to get francophones, because the pool in Granby is >> so much bigger." >> >> As for anglophones: "It's getting to the bottom of the barrel." >> >> Robert Rouleau, the crown prosecutor in the case, could not be >> reached for comment. >> >> The court will take another shot at finding the elusive jurors >> today, to fill the three >> remaining anglophone spots on the jury. >> >> Lighter said he argued that the trial, based on a recent judgment >> by Superior Court >> Justice James Brunton, should be held in the language of the >> accused. That way, two >> trials could be held. (The accused - initially a group of about 40 >> - have already been >> divided into two groups, based on the crimes with which they are >> charged. >> >> But Tardif disagreed, and "now has to find 12 bilingual people in a >> jurisdiction that is >> primarily francophone," Lighter said. >> >> In most trials, it takes a week at most to choose a jury. Lighter >> said some of the >> accused, who were charged two years ago, have opted to plead guilty. >> >> "Some are from Ontario and are tired of going back and forth," he >> said, adding they are >> now down to about 10 accused. >> >> Lawyers and the judge will sift through another 300 or so potential >> jurors today. >> >> Lighter said other factors, such as commitments at work or school, >> can also be a reason >> for exemption. >> >> And since the trial is expected to last three months, farmers, who >> make up a large >> proportion of the area's population, say they cannot leave their >> fields and animals for >> that long. >> >> Then there are always the potential jurors who claim to know the >> accused from the town >> of Bedford. >> >> "You shop in my town, you're my butcher, I see you in the post >> office all the time," >> Lighter said, adding that the butcher and a post office employee >> are among the accused. >> >> "It's a small town, so a lot of them know each other." >> From mycos at shaw.ca Wed May 14 17:12:17 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 14:12:17 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston Message-ID: <482B55B1.5090408@shaw.ca> Hi, Hey, I was yakking it up in a drug newsgroup and the conversation got around to best drug-related literature. I mentioned you had that "Something In the Way" available thru Lulu press, only to have a guy come back and say that it was no longer available, and if I wanted to sell my copy, he was buying. Is that true? It's not available anywhere? And because my copy has font size probably around 2 - LOL - (I'm serious!) does this make mine rare AND collectible?....or just what's going on? :-) Was the font the reason for withdrawing the publication? In any case, if you have an extra copy, I have /at least/ one customer for you . Gary~ From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Wed May 14 20:38:19 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 19:38:19 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] How to Talk to the Police Message-ID: <482B85FB.8060502@comcast.net> http://conspiracycentral.net:6969/stats.html?info_hash=c1800b7a744fd9b3608e5428f4350f81c852a3b1 |How to Talk to the Police VMANN: havent seen it yet, but it looks interesting. for private research purposes only. vigilius haufniensis | -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080514/f3ff8e50/attachment.htm From digitalcomponents at gmail.com Wed May 14 22:18:33 2008 From: digitalcomponents at gmail.com (Nyc Alberts) Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 22:18:33 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] How to Talk to the Police In-Reply-To: <482B85FB.8060502@comcast.net> References: <482B85FB.8060502@comcast.net> Message-ID: <7237bf9f0805141918kc4fc4d0t70051f30c8171da@mail.gmail.com> Marshall Brain also covered this in the last couple of days, with the added added bonus of him, as square L7 as he is, including the obligatory Chris Rock clip to go with: http://brainstuff.howstuffworks.com/2008/05/13/public-service-message-there-are-right-and-wrong-ways-to-act-around-police/ Check out some of the rest of his stuff on the site, he's a good person to have in the decrim corner. ~Nyc On Wed, May 14, 2008 at 8:38 PM, Vigilius Haufniensis < thehatefulnerd at comcast.net> wrote: > > http://conspiracycentral.net:6969/stats.html?info_hash=c1800b7a744fd9b3608e5428f4350f81c852a3b1 > > How to Talk to the Police > > VMANN: havent seen it yet, but it looks interesting. > for private research purposes only. > vigilius haufniensis > > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > > -- "Now, 75 years later in an abundant society where people have laptops, cell phones, iPods, and minds like empty rooms, I still plod along with books." Harper Lee 2006 "There aren't a lot of thing in this world that one can be sure of, but I do know this; anytime you go by a church that's filled to the rafters with people you can be sure that the vast majority of them haven't read The Bible, because if they had, that church would be nearly empty." Nyc Alberts 2006 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080514/159d2a36/attachment.htm From vcleary at nyc.rr.com Thu May 15 02:17:24 2008 From: vcleary at nyc.rr.com (Vanessa Cleary) Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 01:17:24 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston References: <482B55B1.5090408@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <000901c8b653$57ed00f0$6601a8c0@Prestonsoffice> hi here is a link that should get you to be able to pick up a copy of "something in the way" https://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=428724 ..and the copy with the super small print is , yes, collectable cuz he reissued it with a few changes thanks, Ness ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mycos" To: "'The War on Consciousness'" Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:12 PM Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston > Hi, > Hey, I was yakking it up in a drug newsgroup and the > conversation got around to best drug-related literature. I mentioned you > had that "Something In the Way" available thru Lulu press, only to have > a guy come back and say that it was no longer available, and if I wanted > to sell my copy, he was buying. Is that true? It's not available > anywhere? And because my copy has font size probably around 2 - LOL - > (I'm serious!) does this make mine rare AND collectible?....or just > what's going on? :-) Was the font the reason for withdrawing the > publication? > In any case, if you have an extra copy, I have /at least/ one customer > for you . > > Gary~ > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- From prestonpeet at yahoo.com Thu May 15 13:29:40 2008 From: prestonpeet at yahoo.com (Preston Peet) Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 10:29:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston Message-ID: <335582.38492.qm@web63001.mail.re1.yahoo.com> LOL, yes Gary, the version with your font size of "2" IS indeed a rare collecxtab le worth oddles of cash. Now though, thanks for my friend V, the new, updated, expanded, and further bettered version is available. If you go to my Myspace.com/prestonpeet homepage, you'll see a message from V there, with a "buy" button beneath the pic of the book's front cover. Thanks for promoting it. Always nice to hear that someone or other is discussing my work, even better in a positive fashion. (There's a reader review of my book Underground at Amazon, in which the "reviewer" claims it's a terrible book, in part because "the editor is a drug addict." Egad.) LOL! It does beg the question that if this is true, how was it possible for me to even?get the contract to do said book, much less garner the many contributors, get them to turn in their work, edit it all, write my own contributions and, well, I guess that's enough said, yes? Hmmmm. ;-)) So please direct the person who told you it's unavailable now to that "buy" button. Thanks kindly. Or, you could sell him your copy at a vastly inflated price and make yourself ooodles of cash. Peace, love and as always Lotsof respect. Preston ----- Original Message ---- From: Mycos To: The War on Consciousness Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 5:12:17 PM Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston Hi, Hey, I was yakking it up in a drug newsgroup and the conversation got around to best drug-related literature. I mentioned you had that "Something In the Way" available thru Lulu press, only to have a guy come back and say that it was no longer available, and if I wanted to sell my copy, he was buying. Is that true? It's not available anywhere? And because my copy has font size probably around 2 - LOL - (I'm serious!) does this make mine rare AND collectible?....or just what's going on? :-) Was the font the reason for withdrawing the publication? In any case, if you have an extra copy, I have /at least/ one customer for you . Gary~ ? -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- (][%]? ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar :::? [%][) ? -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- From tim at paidoc.org Thu May 15 23:19:48 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 23:19:48 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] weapons of mass destruction References: Message-ID: <664B51DB-6817-4CE8-BD4C-26925DFAE6B7@paidoc.org> > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=2f5152f5-48f2-459c-ab15-55a61bcece49 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Thursday, May 15, 2008 > Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) > Contact: letters at tc.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ > Author: Rob Shaw > > 'Bomb' at rugby club was pipe filled with pot > > RCMP explosives experts check it out > > Rob Shaw > Times Colonist > > A suspicious-looking pipe that led police to evacuate a rugby > clubhouse in Saanich on > Tuesday night was filled with pot, police said yesterday. > > The six-inch black PVC piping was capped and duct-taped on both ends > with marijuana > inside, spokesman Sgt. John Price said. One end had a thin, white, > hollow tube that > looked like a wick. > > The device looked similar enough to a pipe bomb that police > evacuated the Velox > Valhallians Rugby Football clubhouse on Gordon Head Road, near the > University of > Victoria, around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. > > A Saanich constable who used to be a member of the military's fleet > dive unit examined > the pipe and suggested the RCMP Explosives Demolition Unit in > Vancouver be called to the > scene, Price said. > > Two RCMP officers travelled to the Island via hovercraft and arrived > after midnight > yesterday, Price said. They X-rayed the pipe and determined it was > not explosive. Police > are not sure what it was designed for other than to hold marijuana, > but it appeared to > have been left in the clubhouse after a party earlier in the month, > he added. > > Police re-opened the scene around 1:45 a.m. > > The RCMP bomb-disposal service is provided to municipal police > departments at no cost > through the province's Provincial Emergency Program, Price said. > There are six to 14 > similar bomb-threat calls in the capital region each year, but most > turn out to be > unfounded, he said. > From tim at paidoc.org Thu May 15 23:20:16 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 23:20:16 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Police employee tied to grow op References: <8932EB763438439E8B665D9A0F6227B8@UserPC> Message-ID: <9522DF9F-3D9A-4A02-9EA6-7E70DB6D3224@paidoc.org> > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=f46693d5-8fbe-498b-af91-48883010720a > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Thursday, May 15, 2008 > Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) > Contact: letters at theherald.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ > Author: Sherri Zickefoose > > Police employee tied to grow op > > Civilian worker charged after raids seize $1.4 million worth of drugs > > Sherri Zickefoose > Calgary Herald > > The Calgary Police Service has laid drug trafficking charges against > one of its own > after raiding marijuana grow op houses in Chestermere that led them > to a civilian > employee. > > Lan Nguyen Dang, 30, has been working for police as an administrator > in the section that > oversees access to department buildings for the past two years. > > She is suspended from the service without pay. > > "It comes as a surprise; it's very unusual. We pride ourselves in > having very capable, > professional people, both civilian and sworn, so it's > disappointing," said Supt. Ken > Marchant of the specialized investigations division. > > Police searched two homes early Tuesday -- one in the 100 block of > Springmere Road and > the other in the 100 block of Springmere Close. > > Inside were sophisticated dirt marijuana growing operations with > more than 400 plants, > as well as 31.8 kilograms of packaged marijuana. > > Later that day, a third search warrant was executed in Calgary, in > the 400 block of > Queen Charlotte Road S.E. > > A large hydroponic marijuana growing operation was discovered inside. > > Approximately 430 plants, with an estimated street value of > $535,000, were located > throughout the home. > > In total, officers seized 832 plants from the houses along with the > packaged marijuana, > worth an estimated $1.4 million on the street. > > Police say the woman had limited access to internal files and > information. > > "She would have had no access outside her duties," said Marchant. > > The woman is charged with trafficking and production of marijuana > and theft of > utilities. > > Marchant said both police and civilian staff go through a high level > of security checks > and clearance. > > "I think that speaks to this being very unusual," Marchant said. > > Police will likely review their security levels and screening > process, he added. > > "They are very well done. In my time with the Calgary Police > Service, which is quite a > few years now, this is the first I've ever seen." > > An internal memo about the woman was sent to officers and staff today. > > "It does have an impact, we're getting to be a fairly large > organization and we are > still fairly close," said Marchant. > > The Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigative Team members believe > two of the marijuana > growing operations are connected, and continue to investigate. > > Van Thanh Pham, 36, and Lan Nguyen Dang, 30, both of Chestermere, > are charged with > trafficking and production of marijuana and theft of utilities. > > Dang and Pham are scheduled to appear in Strathmore provincial court > on June 17. > From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 16 16:40:54 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 16:40:54 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: 18 grow-ops raided during police operation References: <004701c8b790$7bc41200$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <6C495B4F-8FD5-4BD5-A7CF-2C3C809AC4D5@paidoc.org> > > "For many years, there has been a debate in this country about > legalizing or > decriminalizing marijuana. I'm here to say marijuana is illegal > because it > is dangerous, it's not dangerous because it is illegal," Chief La > Barge > said. > > http://www.georginaadvocate.com/News/Regional%20News/article/74985 > > Newshawk: An Injury to One is an Injury to All > Pubdate: 16 May 2008 > Source: Georgina Advocate (CN ON) > Email: editor at georginaadvocate.com > Website: http://www.yorkregion.com/yr/yr4/YR_News/Newscentre/Advocate/ > Feedback: http://www.yrmg.com/forms/lettertotheeditor.html > Address: 461 The Queensway S., Keswick, ON L4P 2C3 > Fax: (905)476-5785 > Copyright: 2008 Georgina Advocate > Author: Joe Fantauzzi > > 18 grow-ops raided during police operation > > You are contributing to organized crime if > you buy illegal drugs, Chief Armand La Barge said today. > > York Region's top cop made the comment during a news conference in > East > Gwillimbury where police provided more details about raided on 18 > marijuana > grow operations. > > Marijuana, jugs of plant food, garden hoses, fans and other gear - > including > two vehicles - seized in connection with the investigation, was > displayed by > police. > > "For many years, there has been a debate in this country about > legalizing or > decriminalizing marijuana. I'm here to say marijuana is illegal > because it > is dangerous, it's not dangerous because it is illegal," Chief La > Barge > said. > > "Drugs have had a significant impact on crime in the past and they > continue > to play a significant role in today's society." > > In 2006, an anonymous tipster told police about several pot grows > operating > across the GTA and gave officers the name of a business that sold the > equipment and materials required to run an indoor grow-op, police > said. > > A probe into Tropical Distribution, in the Hwy. 400 and Steeles > Avenue area, > led police to pot growers they say were being facilitated by the > business. > > Tropical Distribution originally operated in Concord, Chief La Barge > said. > > Between May 2006 and April 2008, police linked the business to 18 > grow-ops. > > Employees of Tropical Distribution supplied the operators of indoor > pot > grows with equipment, knowledge and chemicals required to set up and > maintain indoor grow-ops throughout the GTA, > Insp. Tom Carrique said, adding they also tried "to work as brokers" > of > cloned plants. > > Two vans would be loaded with equipment, taken to a parking lot in > some > cases and left. They would then be picked up by the operators of the > indoor > grow operations, taken to their locations and the equipment would be > unloaded. The vans would then be reloaded with chemicals, soil and > wasted > plant trimmings. > > "Those would then be deposited back at Tropical Distribution and > make their > way to landfill sites around the Greater Toronto Area," Insp. > Carrique said. > > On April 17, Tropical Distribution and a Newmarket home were raided > and a > 41-year-old Newmarket man and a 29-year-old Newmarket woman were > charged > with 18 counts of production of a controlled substance, 18 counts of > possession for the purpose of trafficking, 17 counts of theft of > electricity > and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. > A 28-year-old Mississauga man was also charged with three counts > each of > production of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of > trafficking, theft of electricity and conspiracy to commit an > indictable > offence. > > Seven of the homes raided in the investigation were in York, > including: > > . Thornhill Woods Drive, Vaughan; > > . Keffer Circle, Newmarket; > > . Pieta Place, Vaughan; > > . Benjamin Hood Crescent, Vaughan; > > . McClellan Way, Aurora; > > . Dunlop Street, Richmond Hill; and > > . Newbury Drive, Newmarket. > > Wednesday, a 31-year-old Newmarket man was charged with fraud over > $5,000 > and two counts of uttering forged documents after investigators > determined > the mortgage on the Keffer Circle home was found to have been obtained > fraudulently, police said. > > In total, 31 people have been arrested and charged with more than > 200 drug > and criminal offences in the case, Chief La Barge said. > > An estimated $12.5-million worth of marijuana and about $250,000 > worth of > offence-related property were seized during the probe. > > Three sentences have been handed out thus far: a six-month jail > sentence, a > three-month jail sentence and a $5,000 fine, Insp. Carrique said. > While 700 > plants were seized during one raid, those charged with growing them > were > acquitted. > > Marijuana grow operations and drug labs generate millions of dollars > every > year in York, Chief La Barge said. > > "They do invite an element of criminality to our community that is > simply > not welcome here - criminality in the form of murders and robberies, > home > invasions and assaults, to name but a few, " he said. > > While an indoor gardening supplier played a key role in the > operation, the > owner of another such business says its unfortunate the industry has > been > stigmatized by such stories. > > "It's very unfortunate we have to deal with that in our industry," > said Noel > Metcalf, who owns Newmarket's Yield of Dreams Indoor Gardens. "I'm > more > interested in the Canadian gardner who is interested in the plants > in this > room." > > Shortly after the news conference, while standing in a room filled > with > plants with wide waxy leaves, orchids and a pineapple he says was > grown > indoors, Mr. Metcalf said some of his clients are simply people > concerned > about nutrition. They may grow vegetables inside because they don't > want > their food cultivated with pesticides. > > "My children, they grew up in this room," he said. > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Sat May 17 15:22:03 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 15:22:03 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN BC: OPED: Quit talking about the 'war on drugs' In-Reply-To: References: <6AA97728C77A42269AA7F233D9C72726@UserPC> Message-ID: <19EDC6F4-5423-4CC6-9BB5-2B0E8D76CCB6@paidoc.org> >> >> >> The phrase 'war on drugs' was coined years ago by an American >> administration determined >> to tackle growing illegal drug use through stepped-up law >> enforcement. While there's no >> denying Canada's longstanding prohibition of the same substances >> banned in the U.S., >> comparing the American 'war on drugs' to drug enforcement in Canada >> is laughable. > > > > >> http://www.canada.com/burnabynow/news/community/story.html?id=b1eb31d0-edbd-46ec-b840-860f770beb4c >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Saturday, May 17, 2008 >> Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC) >> Contact: editorial at burnabynow.com >> Website: http://www.burnabynow.com/ >> Author: Kirk Brown >> Note: Kirk Brown is a Burnaby resident. >> >> Quit talking about the 'war on drugs' >> >> Kirk Brown >> Burnaby Now >> >> Keith Baldrey's column, "Take ideology out of decisions" (In My >> Opinion, Burnaby NOW, >> May 7), is fairly representative of the anti-abolitionist viewpoint >> concerning illicit >> drugs. >> >> I don't pretend to have the answer(s) to Metro Vancouver's rampant >> drug problem, but I >> am tiring of the facile anti-abolitionist slogan, 'The war on drugs >> isn't working.' >> >> The phrase 'war on drugs' was coined years ago by an American >> administration determined >> to tackle growing illegal drug use through stepped-up law >> enforcement. While there's no >> denying Canada's longstanding prohibition of the same substances >> banned in the U.S., >> comparing the American 'war on drugs' to drug enforcement in Canada >> is laughable. >> >> Just a couple of weeks ago, as many as a thousand potheads gathered >> on the front lawn of >> the Vancouver Art Gallery for their annual, communal toke-up. And >> as has been the case >> for many years, police didn't give them so much as a dirty look (a >> sensible policy, in >> my opinion). >> >> In Canada, those caught with small amounts of marijuana on them for >> what is obviously >> personal use are rarely, if ever, charged and prosecuted. In >> addition, I'm not aware of >> anything like Canada's medicinal marijuana program south of the >> border. >> >> B.C. courts have meted out such harsh sentences to the criminal >> gangs growing the potent >> bud (primarily for export) that their grow operations are now >> estimated to number some >> 20,000. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the value of this >> multibillion-dollar >> crop ends up back in B.C. in the form of cocaine and handguns. In >> less-enlightened >> Washington State, where the legal consequences of a serious drug >> conviction are much >> more severe than they are here, the number of grow-ops is >> considerably smaller. Gee, I >> wonder why. >> >> As for harder drugs, police in B.C. often don't bother charging >> addicts with simple >> possession because our revolving-door justice system doesn't even >> keep them in custody >> long enough for detox, making the exercise a futile waste of money >> and resources. >> >> Some war. >> >> Incidentally, could anyone who has followed SFU criminologist and >> media darling Neil >> Boyd's career have doubted what his conclusions about the downtown >> supervised injection >> facility (Insite) would be? >> >> I can't help but wonder whether the significant sum being expended >> on Insite wouldn't be >> better spent on additional drug rehabilitation spaces so more >> addicts can get off drugs >> altogether. Wouldn't that be the best 'harm reduction' measure of >> all? >> >> Kirk Brown is a Burnaby resident. >> From tim at paidoc.org Sat May 17 21:50:32 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 17 May 2008 21:50:32 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN NS: Turning point References: <006601c8b888$9eae3860$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: Panicked, Jeff decides to pull the car over, but not before he gets rid of the evidence. Fifteen candy coloured pills could put the 18-year-old in jail for a long time. As he steers the car to the shoulder of the road, he fishes the ecstasy pills from the bottle and swallows them one by one. --- Blame Prohibition. > > http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?sid=135628&sc=49 > > Newshawk: An Injury to One is an Injury to All > Pubdate: 17 May 2008 > Source: Evening News, The (CN NS) > Website: http://www.newglasgownews.com/ > Feedback: http://www.ngnews.ca/index.cfm?pid=586 > Address: PO Box 159, New Glasgow, NS B2H 5E2 > Copyright: The Evening News > > Turning point > > Westville - Out of the corner of his eye Jeff can see red and blue > lights > flashing in his rear view mirror. A Westville police officer has his > sirens > blaring and is chasing the stolen vehicle at high speed. > > Panicked, Jeff decides to pull the car over, but not before he gets > rid of > the evidence. Fifteen candy coloured pills could put the 18-year-old > in jail > for a long time. As he steers the car to the shoulder of the road, > he fishes > the ecstasy pills from the bottle and swallows them one by one. > > "I don't know what I was thinking at that moment; I wasn't > thinking," says > Jeff, almost three years after the arrest he says changed his life. "I > figured I had taken five ecstasy pills at once before, a few more > won't be > that much different." > > But the high was different. Jeff was taken to the Aberdeen Hospital > and > treated for an overdose of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). > After three > years of being heavily addicted to the street drug ecstasy, Jeff had > hit his > rock bottom. > > Today, Jeff is a different person. He has a daughter, a fianc?e and is > starting his life at 20. This former drug dealer and user has a > message to > parents who have teens living in Pictou County - ecstasy is out > there and > it's on the rise. > > Seven per cent of students in grade 7 to 12 have used ecstasy at > least once > in their life, according to results from the 2007 Nova Scotia > Student Drug > Use Survey. That number has increased since 2002 when 4.5 per cent > reported > using the drug. > > Jeff believes those numbers are actually higher. He considers > himself to be > among the lucky ones; many of his friends are still using and some > are in > jail. > > "What parents should know is not only are the drugs bad, but so are > the > people dealing them. Most keep rifles and some have hand guns. If > you cross > them or aren't able to pay them I guarantee they will not think > twice about > busting down your door and shooting you in the head. I've been there." > > It all started when he was 16 years old. As a child growing up in > Westville, > Jeff says he was always good at school. When he got to high school > he no > longer felt challenged. He began to get bored and started to skip > class. > Then he began hanging out with a new group of friends, that's when > he was > introduced to weed. Next came ecstasy. > > "I remember the very first time I took E. It feels like you're on > top of the > world. They call it the love drug because you do tend to get more > affectionate with people. Most ecstasy users listen to bass music, > that's > why it's mostly used in bars. The music just goes right through you." > > It wasn't long before Jeff starting dealing to pay for his habit. He > was > taking, on average, five to six ecstasy pills a day, at a cost of > $10 per > pill. He lost nearly 50 per cent of his body weight, dropping from > 180 to 95 > pounds in a few short months. > > "You have to understand that when you're on E you don't think about > eating > or sleeping, all you think about is feeling good and when you stop > feeling > good you think about how you're going to get more." > Jeff dropped out of school and wasn't able to hold down a job. He > needed > money to pay for his addiction. At one of his lowest points he was > "car > shopping" almost every night. > > He would break into dozens of cars in the span of a few hours, > stealing CDs, > car stereos, loose change, and sometimes the entire car. > > "I remember this one night I broke into a vehicle down the street > from where > I lived. There was a digital camera with photos of a newborn baby. I > saw the > faces of the family I was stealing from and knew I couldn't destroy > the > first photo they took of their child. I threw the memory card on the > floor > and stole the camera." > > The turning point came on the night of Jeff's arrest. The officer > who pulled > him over told him he wouldn't have to go to jail if he entered a detox > program. Jeff admitted himself to the detox centre in Pictou, but only > stayed for two days. The centre's strict no smoking policy was more > than he > could handle at the time. > > Jeff decided to try recovery on his own. He isolated himself for > weeks until > the drugs were out of his system. When friends called his house he > lied and > said he was on house arrest and couldn't see them. He avoided > temptation and > kept busy. It took him about a year, but he says he has his life on > track. > > His body has still not fully recovered from years of drug use and > there's a > possibility it never will. He has bouts of paranoia, which makes it > difficult for him to meet new people. He is also dealing with rage > issues. > > But for the first time in his life, Jeff is making plans for the > future. He > went from stealing cars to fixing them. He is enrolled in college > and hopes > to one day work as an automotive mechanic. > > Jeff says he owes everything good in his life to the Westville police > officer that pulled him over that night three years ago. That > officer is now > an undercover cop with the Pictou County Integrated Street Crime > Unit. His > job is dedicated to getting drugs off the streets. > > "I knew it must have been hard for him to see me like that," says > Jeff. "He > was an officer in Westville for a long time and watched me grow up > into a > drug dealer. He cared about me when I didn't care about myself. That > meant > more to me than he will ever know." > > * The name in this story has been changed to protect the identity of > that > person. From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Mon May 19 18:50:32 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 17:50:32 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] Re The Shooting of a "CIA Operative" by Houston Police Message-ID: <000b01c8ba02$beb8eb70$0702a8c0@newb1mq7gkhz8x> Cops are deeply involved. They tend to off witnesses and whistle-blowers. What else? http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2008/05/re-shooting-of-cia-operative-by-houston.html Monday, May 19, 2008 Re The Shooting of a "CIA Operative" by Houston Police By Alex Constantine (Updated) Video of the Carnaby shooting " ... The black Jeep Commander Carnaby was driving is registered to the National Security Command Center. ... Federal credentials were also found inside the SUV but investigators are still trying to determine if the identification is real. ... Relatives said they have plenty of proof that Carnaby was CIA, including an autographed book from, they say, his very close friend, former CIA Director George Tenet. ... " http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=6439193&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 I'm not sure that there is a federal agency known specifically as the NSCG. But there IS a quasi-military NATIONAL SECURITY COMMAND CENTER in Fort Meade, Virginia - home of the National Security Agency. It is highly secretive, an NSA appendage. No address or contact information is given for this division, but it is a "Major Unit." The site provides it for other related military installations. See: http://benefits.military.com/misc/installations/Base_Content.jsp?id=3130 Richard Clarke mentions an agency with this particular name in an interview, "Richard Clarke's New Team" posted at interesting-people.org, and it would fall under NSA jurisdiction: "We are talking about creating the Cyber Warning Information Network (CWIN). Its first iteration would be a voice communications system that would link major network operation centers and ISACs. It is something we have today in the national security command center and has a different name -- NOIWAN, National Operations and Intelligence Watch Offices Network. We are talking about creating the Cyber Warning Information Network (CWIN). Its first iteration would be a voice communications system that would link major network operation centers and ISACs. It is something we have today in the national security command center and has a different name ... " at http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200112/msg00003.html Also possible, the Houston Police Department has a homeland security division, and has a close working relationship with the local Port Authority (Carnaby had connections there: see below), and becomes a command center in time of emergency: " ... Purchases of sonar devices and additional surveillance cameras along the channel also are expected with the first round of DHS Port Security Grant funding. The operation and maintenance of the equipment is provided by the Ship Channel Security District. According to Capt. John Anderson of the Houston Police Department's Homeland Security Division, the spending of any grant dollars is carefully coordinated with Mayor Bill White's office to most effectively meet the city's needs. ... " http://www.officer.com/print/Law-Enforcement-Technology/HOMELAND-SECURITY--All-day--every-day/1$37885 Bullet-drilled Roland Vincent Carnaby, self-described CIA agent, with a black helicopter. See: "Houston: Mystery Surrounding 'CIA Operative' Deepens as Details Emerge" Alex, Interesting that the Roland Carnaby case was followed up on by Houston media. They hit it pretty hard first few days, and the word was the CIA would come and validate the identification. Of course, the story went black here. ... I guess it is strange that he ran. I guess he had something more important going on. I know you are busy man. I will ask yes or no question. Was it a hit? Is that why he ran? - B. B: Not too hard to work out, really. There aren't many options - either he'd been caught in the act of doing something highly illegal - and there is no indication of that - or he was in a state of fear for his life. He flashed a CIA ID and the officers didn't buy it. The CIA disavows any connection. Let's assume that he had some interesting connections, however, that CAN be established. Who did he actually know? If he was a smuggler of some kind, experience (see The Bluegrass Conspiracy, by Sally Denton, for the pattern I'm about to describe) tells me that he would have a link to the local import regulatory body - say, the Port Authority: Houston Chronicle, May 1: " ... The couple had private dinners with the head of the Houston Port Authority... " There it is. This answers an important question: where did the contraband enter the state? At the port. So, if I was an investigator looking into it, I'd do a newspaper search for smuggling arrests at the Port for a possible connection. The commissioner of the Houston Port Authority is Mr. James T. Edmonds. Here's his bio: " ... current Director and Member of Executive Committee at Greater Houston Partnership. Edmonds serves as chairman of the Partnership's World Trade Supervisory Board and has served as chairman of the Port of Houston Authority since June 2000. His own firm assists clients with legislative and regulatory matters at the local and state levels of government. ... " This is something to know more about. Also, politicians and corporations involved: " ... In the 1960s, Edmonds served as executive assistant to former Mayor Louie Welch. He also served as administrative assistant to the late John B. Connally, then governor of Texas." John B. Connally's pit of evil. Bingo. (In his prime, John Connally's legal clients included oil billionaire Sid Richardson, said to have been a key financier of the John Kennedy assassination, and his nephew-partner, Perry Bass.) " ... In the private sector, Edmonds was a founding partner of the investment banking firm of Masterson, Moreland, Sauer & Whisman, Inc. He was also a consulting principal with KPMG-Peat Marwick. ... " KPMG. Bingo. (And while we're at it, take a look at the corporate connections of the Port Authority Board of Directors: http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/private/relationship.asp?personId=13355899) " ... [Edmonds] serves on the board of visitors of the Texas A&M University at Galveston and the board of Space Center Houston. Edmonds received his bachelor's degree from Abilene Christian University. ... " http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=13355899&privcapId=13060970&previousCapId=26977&previousTitle=Continental%20Airlines,%20Inc. Mister Christian Establishment from John Connally's office. Nail down Edmond's connections, tweak out the CIA and known fascist connections, and you will have more answers. But to smuggle contraband and stay out of prison, the organized criminal with intelligence connections is bound to know cops, too: " ... Carnaby also was close friends with former Harris County Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen, who she said was best man at their wedding in 1986. Klevenhagen died in 1999. ... " John Joseph "Johnny" Klevenhagen, Jr was Houston old school - racist ... See: http://archives.lists.indymedia.org/imc-houston/2003-January/005255.html You might have expected Klevenhagen to be a Republican, but he was a Democrat. And he didn't put up with nonsense: New York Times, November 8, 1988: " ... Sheriff Johnny Klevenhagen defended his department's policy that allows deputies to shoot to stop an escape. ... " Texas lawmen don't mess around. They will shoot you in the back ... His department employed a stereotypical psychotic-killer-with-a-badge or two: http://search.houstonpress.com/1995-01-12/news/killer-behind-the-badge/5 "Roland Carnaby, left, is shown in this undated photo with Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt taken at a HPD Policeman's Ball" (KHOU caption) For an ideal smuggling ring, you need the Port and the sheriff, a few other key positions of authority (coroner, too). Who else? Houston Chronicle May 1: During the high-speed chase, "... Carnaby called an acquaintance in Houston Police Department's internal affairs division, trying to get someone to vouch for him to the patrolman." Connections at Internal Affairs are a hedge against investigations of the police role in the illicit operation. "Later, as he raced away from pursuing officers at speeds up to 120 mph, the man who had for years projected the persona of a federal intelligence officer apparently called a contact he knew in the FBI." Carnaby at the FBI Academy This is how The Company did it in Lexington, Kentucky. They cover key positions: governor, airport director, FBI, travel regulatory bodies, police. Cops are deeply involved. They tend to off witnesses and whistle-blowers. What else? Contraband likes UPS because the shipping service is private and has no postal inspectors: "Even the staff at the UPS location where Carnaby had two different mailboxes thought he was a covert lawman. Mysteriously, that's all they would say at UPS, because Carnaby's widow and lawyer asked them not to say anything more. Longtime friend Alan Helfman helped Carnaby start the local chapter of the Association for Intelligence Officers. He, too, is convinced his buddy was an operative. ... " (Source: Khou.com/May 6, 2008) What else? Roland Vincent Carnaby would have a secret life ... Carnaby "had become a shadowy figure, one who apparently concealed from his wife his true whereabouts and from his friends many of the pertinent details of his private life." He "'never really wanted to talk about his personal life,' said one friend who asked not to be named." So now you can resolve the contradictions this way: Roland Carnaby's CIA mementos His "bona fides were too solid and his recognition by former intelligence personnel too genuine for him to be a fake." He was real. This is why everyone is scratching their heads and calling it a "mystery." He was real ... but "the CIA disputes this." Of course. "While we do not as a rule publicly deny or confirm employment, I will tell you in this case that Mr. Carnaby was not an employee of the Central Intelligence Agency," CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said. "He was never a CIA officer." Of course. No mystery here. The CIA is not about to acknowledge that this dead smuggler worked for them. And he may not have been on the payroll, but he operated like one of them. The same can be said for the cocaine smugglers in the Bluegrass Conspiracy example - they weren't official employees of the Agency. The CIA would not admit, "Adnan Khashoggi works for us." Noriega "didn't work for" the CIA. Smugglers "don't work for" the CIA. They're silenced when it goes awry - especially in an election year. That takes it to another plane - keep sifting through his connections, and a political tie will turn up. And that will be the hottest lead in this case. That Port Authority needs a good combing over, too, and the dead sheriff, and that's where the answers lie in wait to be found. I haven't gone there yet - but that's how you piece it together. Posted by Alex Constantine at 1:14 PM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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Name: not available Type: image/gif Size: 162 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080519/ea2bd2c1/attachment-0001.gif From mycos at shaw.ca Tue May 20 05:54:38 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 02:54:38 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston In-Reply-To: <335582.38492.qm@web63001.mail.re1.yahoo.com> References: <335582.38492.qm@web63001.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <48329FDE.1070703@shaw.ca> Preston Peet wrote: > LOL, yes Gary, the version with your font size of "2" IS indeed a > rare collecxtab le worth oddles of cash. Oh Goodie!! lol... Now though, thanks for my > friend V, the new, updated, expanded, and further bettered Ha! >version is > available. If you go to my Myspace.com/prestonpeet homepage, you'll > see a message from V there, with a "buy" button beneath the pic of > the book's front cover. Thanks for promoting it. Always nice to hear > that someone or other is discussing my work, even better in a > positive fashion. (There's a reader review of my book Underground at > Amazon, in which the "reviewer" claims it's a terrible book, in part > because "the editor is a drug addict." Egad.) LOL! It does beg the > question that if this is true, how was it possible for me to even get > the contract to do said book, much less garner the many contributors, > get them to turn in their work, edit it all, write my own > contributions and, well, I guess that's enough said, yes? Hmmmm. ;-) Egad? More like WTF kind of drugs is this guy on?!! Unbelievable! Hey. Maybe he's a fan of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club where lies by self-serving profiteers put forward as truth assures one of top billing on her list. Should I send her an email telling her I know the guy, that he's actually a milk-sucking conservative just trying to take advantage of other's naivety? Y'know....the American Dream? C'mon! We'll make millions!! Hehehe.... ;-) > So please direct the person who told you it's unavailable now to > that "buy" button. Done. I should mention that I'm a little worried about my standing with the regs around ADH of late however. I used to hang in there daily when I first started to explore the internet, and at that time I was what we would tongue-in-cheek refer to ourselves as "A-Listers". When I dropped back in after all this time it was initially "Hey Mycos! Long time no see. Remember when we...." kind of thing. But I noticed that the proportion of liberal-minded people had dropped from 99.9% to more like 50%. So, me being the type never to shrink from a Liberal Vs Right-Wing Smack-Down Cage Match , I took it upon myself to chase them out of there using the one thing they can't handle. Facts. Like garlic to a vampire I tell ya. Bloody Pandemonium ensued . Anyhow, the point being that virtual silence ensued, with only me and this hired gun that was brought in to try and contradict me. He's now complaining of migraines (I'm serious ), so once he's disposed of, we'll see if I have any standing left around there to put in a good word on the book. Thanks kindly. Or, you could sell him your copy at > a vastly inflated price and make yourself ooodles of cash. Inflated? Hey, if the Oprah Winfrey deal goes through, that's our meal ticket for life! LOLOL... Peace, > love and as always Lots of respect. Preston Likewise bud. To the end, however that may go. Gary~ PS. Oh! And thanks for the quick response Vanessa. I included both the links Preston gave and the more direct one you left. Thanks again. > > > ----- Original Message ---- From: Mycos To: The War > on Consciousness Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 > 5:12:17 PM Subject: [DrugWar] Ping Preston > > Hi, Hey, I was yakking it up in a drug newsgroup and > the conversation got around to best drug-related literature. I > mentioned you had that "Something In the Way" available thru Lulu > press, only to have a guy come back and say that it was no longer > available, and if I wanted to sell my copy, he was buying. Is that > true? It's not available anywhere? And because my copy has font size > probably around 2 - LOL - (I'm serious!) does this make mine rare AND > collectible?....or just what's going on? :-) Was the font the reason > for withdrawing the publication? In any case, if you have an extra > copy, I have /at least/ one customer for you . > > Gary~ > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- (][%] > ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) -=[) ::::: > Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > > > From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 20 13:53:06 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 13:53:06 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Editorial: Feds have to fix medical marijuana fiasco References: <005e01c8ba9f$72bd8ad0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <2BDFABE7-2853-439F-B21F-6D0E49D7188E@paidoc.org> > http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/opinion/story.html?id=52ef5582-5897-405d-b151-537195278a8d > > Newshawk: http://medpot.net/forums/ > Pubdate: 20 May 2008 > Source: Nanaimo Daily News (CN BC) > Email: letters at nanaimodailynews.com > Website: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/ > Address: 2575 McCullough Rd., Nanaimo, BC V9S 5W5 > Copyright: 2008 Nanaimo Daily News > > Feds have to fix medical marijuana fiasco > > Regardless of the science, there seems little doubt from the anecdotal > experience of many who suffer from chronic health conditions that > marijuana > can offer them relief of a sort not available from the multibillion- > dollar > pharmaceutical industry. > > The evidence is compelling enough that the same government that has > made pot > illegal has also offered exemptions for those who need to use > marijuana for > medical purposes. > > It is debatable whether Nanaimo needs a so-called "Compassion > Society" to > make sure those who need medical marijuana can get it. The > phenomenon of the > compassion clubs is where the line between genuine medical need and > the > recreational user gets murky. > > Some clubs only need evidence of illness, others need what amounts > to a > prescription from a doctor. Either way, the risk of those exploiting > the > availability of medical marijuana for recreational use is high. > Before going further, the issue of legalizing or decriminalizing > marijuana > has to be considered. Either way, the result will be the drug becoming > readily available, and we already have a highly destructive drug > easily with > reach -- alcohol. > > Our widespread abuse of alcohol indicates that this society is not > ready to > make marijuana easily available. That said, it has to be admitted > that pot > is almost as easy to get as booze, and is one of the top cash- > producing > crops in B.C. > > The very real concern is that the compassion clubs, despite their best > intentions, become fronts for organized crime. And it is organized > crime > that is raking in the billions of dollars annually from the worldwide > marijuana crops, from indoor growing operations in Nanaimo to large > plantations in Latin America. > > Police agencies have been saying it, and there is no doubt that > marijuana > profits serve as the base for other criminal operations of organized > crime. > They use it to finance the cocaine and heroin trades, to buy guns > that get > to the streets of our cities and to foster corruption among those > with money > and power who can benefit their cause. > > That's a long way from the streets of Nanaimo and a couple of guys > who want > to provide good quality pot for those who need to use it for medical > purposes. What needs to be remembered here is that as long as > marijuana is > illegal, then there is at least a link of criminality. As with > anything > else, if the law against pot is a bad law, then it has be changed > through > the democratic process, not by just breaking that law. > > Unfortunately that's just what someone in Nanaimo is planning to do; > to > illegally possess and distribute marijuana. > > One thing this situation demonstrates is just how badly the federal > government has botched up the medical marijuana program. People can > get > exemptions to use and grow pot, but there are some serious problems > arising > from how this has been administered. > > People who get the exemptions are forced to buy it illegally because > the > government has not found a way to produce and distribute it. As for > growing > it, that sounds much simpler. But growing is not easy for many, and > even for > those with time, space and knowledge to do so, they find themselves > at risk > of either being broken into for their plants, or raided by > overzealous and > under informed police. > > There is no doubt that marijuana is less harmful socially than > alcohol. It > may even be less harmful to the health, but that's a debate for > another > forum. > > Marijuana remains illegal, though tolerated for its medicinal > property under > inept government policy. Citizens are responding with their own > initiatives > that may have more to do with using pot recreationally, and > organized crime > continues to make profits from it that are obscene by any standard. > > As long as pot remains illegal, the government has a responsibility > to fix > this mess or enforce the laws. To be stuck in between like this only > seems > to benefit organized crime. > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Thu May 22 05:52:19 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 05:52:19 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Reefer Madness in the National Post References: <701471A309274EA5B53D0D1453DAC613@UserPC> Message-ID: > > Webpage: > http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=d751ed05-8bba-402b-9add-13989204bc37 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Thursday, May 22, 2008 > Source: National Post (Canada) > Contact: letters at nationalpost.com > Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ > Author: Barbara Kay > > Not your mother's reefer > > Barbara Kay, National Post > > The 18th-century poet Alexander Pope was a keen student of human > nature, and often > delivered bits of timeless wisdom in memory-friendly rhyming couplets. > > One that opinion writers in particular should take to heart from his > Essay on Criticism > is: "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste > not the Pierian > spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking > largely sobers us > again." > > The words "intoxicate the brain" bring to mind the Post's 2007 > editorial on marijuana, > enunciated in response to evidence that Canada's marijuana > consumption was the highest > in the industrialized world: "What is really remarkable about > Canada's status as a > cannabis capital is that if you were to set out looking for reasons > to worry about it ? > you would have an awfully hard time finding them. Legalizing pot > makes sense." > > What was the editorial board smoking when these words were written? > In fact, one would > not "have an awfully hard time" finding reasons to worry if one were > actually open to > finding them. In fact, it would be quite easy. Legalizing pot "makes > sense" only to > those who have a "little learning" on the changed nature of cannabis > over the last 25 > years. > > In 1997, the liberal U. K. newspaper The Independent launched a > campaign to > decriminalize marijuana. Encouraged, 16,000 pro-cannabis activists > marched to London's > Hyde Park, a show of strength credited with the government's > subsequent downgrading of > cannabis' status as a legally restricted substance. > > Since then, "skunk," as Britons call the hybrid form of cannabis in > current usage, has > offered users a 25-fold increase in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), > cannabis' psychoactive > ingredient. The mental and physical effects of this chemical change > have been dramatic. > > In March 2007, The Lancet, Britain's leading medical journal, > declared cannabis to be > > more dangerous and addictive than LSD and Ecstasy. About the same > time, Professor Colin > Blakemore, chief of the Medical Research Council (and in 1997, the > moral authority > behind The Independent's liberalization campaign) unequivocally > reversed his > cannabis-friendliness: "The link between cannabis and psychosis is > quite clear now; it > wasn't 10 years ago." > > As a result, The Independent last year offered its readership a > fulsome apology: "If > only we had known then what we can reveal today ?" > > Psychiatry professor Robin Murray of London's Institute of > Psychiatry estimates that > cannabis usage is causally linked to a full 10% of the U. K.'s > 250,000 bipolar patients: > "The number of people taking cannabis may not be rising, but what > people are > > taking is much more powerful ? we may see more people getting ill as > a consequence." > > Indeed, just this past February, the European Respiratory Journal > reported on a New > Zealand study indicating that long term cannabis use increases the > annual risk of lung > cancer in young adults by 8% for every year of use. > > In order to better understand this sea change in experts' opinions > and how it applies to > Canada, I spoke with Ontariobased addiction counsellor and treatment/ > prevention > specialist Don Smyth. As in Britain, Smyth explained, kids here are > smoking a hybrid > Middle-Eastern/ Asian variety of cannabis that is far more intense > and addictive than > past varieties. > > Here, skunk is known as "bud," because, as one young adolescent in > Smyth's practice told > his 70s-minded mother: "Mom, we don't smoke the leaves. We throw the > leaves out. We just > smoke the buds." > > In 1970, pot contained 1% THC. Bud contains 20% THC. Imagine a glass > of wine or beer > with a similarly proportioned alcohol content and consider the > "rush" it would provide. > > Thus, Smyth and others well-informed on the subject claim it is > misleading to identify > this super-strength cannabis as a "soft" drug. "Pot or weed > essentially no longer > exists," Smyth says, grimly concluding, "I am absolutely haunted by > the irreparable > harms this so-called innocuous drug has brought to the lives of > [young users]." > > British politicians have "drunk large" of the evidence, and reversed > their position of > moral indulgence. Two weeks ago, the Home Office in the U. K. > announced: "Cannabis will > be reclassified as a Class B drug, sending a strong message that the > drug is harmful." > > The verdict on the new marijuana is in, and it's "guilty." I would > therefore > respectfully ask the Post to reconsider its editorial stance on the > legalization of > "pot," clearly a superannuated description of cannabis today, and in > future commentary > on this issue, so critical to our youth's health, exercise a little > more intellectual-- > ahem-- sobriety. > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Thu May 22 20:28:56 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 19:28:56 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] DRUG WAR SPECIAL: Infowars, with Alex Jones Message-ID: <48360FC8.7030308@comcast.net> http://tracker.conspiracyresearch.org/torrents-details.php?id=1957 1st HR. - News and OpenLines. 2nd HR. - News and OpenLines. Alex welcomes comedian, actor and musician Tommy Chong back to the show. 3rd HR. - News and OpenLines. Alex also talks with Jeffery Jentzen of the National Medical Examiners Association about Taser related deaths. 4th HR. - News and OpenLines. In addition, award-winning film and video producer Kevin Booth, who produced American Drug War, will make an appearance. 5th HR. - News and OpenLines. In addition, award-winning film and video producer Kevin Booth, who produced American Drug War, will make an appearance. From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 23 11:00:14 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 11:00:14 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: $12M in drugs seized References: <005101c8bc92$d3fe3ac0$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: "What disturbs me is when our guys go in with the breathing apparatus, completely covered from head to toe, and there's an infant lying in the crib," La Barge said. "If you buy a $50 bag of marijuana, ask yourself, what role did you have to play in that whole chain of events?" > > http://www.vaughantoday.ca/story.php?id=716 > > Newshawk: Herb > Pubdate: 23 May 2008 > Source: Vaughan Today (CN ON) > Contact: http://www.vaughantoday.ca/contactform.html?choice=5 > Website: http://www.vaughantoday.ca/ > Address: 101 Wingold Ave., Toronto, ON M6B 1P8 > Fax: 416 488-3671 > Copyright: 2008 Multimedia Nova Corporation > Author: Corey Lewis > > $12M in drugs seized > > Massive bust of grow-ops in York Region > > York Regional Police Chief Armand La Barge has a warning for those > caught up > in the drug game: Watch out. We're watching you. > > The notice comes after police announced the outcome of a two-year > anti-drug > investigation, Project Tropical Storm. The Drug and Vice Enforcement > Bureau > operation shuttered 18 grow-operations around the GTA and York > Region, and > former Concord business Tropical Distribution. > > Police confiscated over $12 million worth of illegal narcotics and > laid > numerous criminal charges against the three company owners. > > Three grow-ops were within Vaughan's borders: homes on Thornhill > Woods Dr., > Benjamin Hood Ave. and Pieta Pl. Over 1,100 plants were seized in > the city > alone. > > "If you are existing in this capacity to support the illegal > marijuana grow > operations and other drug enterprises . we'll be investigating you," > La > Barge said at a news conference Friday. > > An anonymous tip in 2006 about the profusion of grow-ops in the GTA > touched > off the investigation, police said. > > An alleged link was established between the illicit enterprises and > Tropical > Distribution, which relocated to Toronto. The company served as a > one-stop > shop for the equipment, material and advice necessary for indoor > production > of marijuana, police said. > > While he declined to give a number, the police chief stated York > Region is > home to other similarly modeled businesses. > > "Here in York Region we fight a war on drugs and it's a war fought > on many > fronts," La Barge said. > > Millions of dollars of electricity were stolen due to this type of > activity, > he added. > > How the homes were attained is still under investigation, said > Inspector > Thomas Carrique. > > A Vaughan woman has been charged with fraud over $5,000 in > connection with > the property acquisitions. > > Most of the homes were owned outright, representing a shift away from > leasing houses for these sorts of activities, Carrique said. In the > past, he > noted, drug traffickers and suppliers avoided the equity risk > involved in > purchasing a house. > > Though no children were involved in the grow-ops, La Barge took the > opportunity to rail against parents who conduct this illicit and > chemically > hazardous activity in their household. > > The police chief called for harsher penalties when children are in > danger. > > "What disturbs me is when our guys go in with the breathing apparatus, > completely covered from head to toe, and there's an infant lying in > the > crib," La Barge said. "If you buy a $50 bag of marijuana, ask > yourself, what > role did you have to play in that whole chain of events?" > > Newmarket residents Van Duong Le, 41 and Tu Cam Lam 28, were charged > with 18 > counts of production of a controlled substance, 18 counts of > possession for > the purpose of trafficking and numerous counts for theft of > electricity. > > Dai Tho Le, 28, of Mississauga, was charged with conspiracy to > commit an > indictable offense, three counts of production of a controlled > substance, > three counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking, and three > counts > of theft of electricity. -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 23 12:01:04 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:01:04 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday In-Reply-To: References: <2AFDAE5AA8B5414484204D11F4E2D15E@UserPC> Message-ID: > >> >> Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=533274 >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Friday, May 23, 2008 >> Source: National Post (Canada) >> Contact: letters at nationalpost.com >> Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ >> >> Barbara Kay vs. Mary Jane >> >> National Post >> In yesterday's National Post, our columnist Barbara Kay >> unexpectedly revived an >> editorial that appeared in our pages in July of last year, when the >> UN Office of Drugs >> and Crime declared Canadians the world's leading consumers of >> marijuana. We noted at the >> time that having a proportion of pot smokers four times the world >> average doesn't seem >> to be doing us much quantifiable harm, as it obviously would if we >> had a similarly >> strong propensity for alcohol or tobacco. >> >> Ms. Kay has assembled a file of evidence -- of varying quality -- >> on some dangers that >> cannabis may legitimately pose. Having presented it, she thus >> "respectfully ask[s] the >> Post to reconsider its editorial stance on the legalization of >> pot." Our stance was, and >> is, that as terrible as you can possibly make marijuana sound by >> the use of anecdote and >> by cherry-picking the scientific literature, you cannot make a >> credible argument that >> its public health and other social effects are as bad as those of >> alcohol and tobacco. >> >> So why treat them differently? And if we're not going to treat them >> differently, are we >> going to prohibit them all? As libertarian-minded editors, we hope >> not. >> >> We tried prohibiting alcohol: This policy had the effect of >> enriching organized crime, >> encouraging the sale of harder beverages that could be smuggled >> more easily, increasing >> addiction, and creating a constant danger from adulteration. If the >> underground >> marijuana market of today suffers from some of these ills, isn't it >> remotely possible >> that legalization would actually be beneficial? >> >> "In March 2007, The Lancet, Britain's leading medical journal, >> declared cannabis to be >> more dangerous and addictive than LSD and Ecstasy," Ms. Kay writes. >> She is, of course, >> quite correct, and her point will seem overwhelming to readers who >> don't stop to >> consider that LSD and ecstasy (MDMA) are ridiculous examples of >> toxic or addictive >> drugs. MDMA is difficult to overdose on, and LSD nearly impossible; >> both were rated >> relatively safe by doctors in David Nutt's aforementioned 2007 >> study. Ecstasy, in fact, >> was considered the safest of all drugs of abuse. In other words, >> Mrs. Kay is exploiting >> societal misconceptions about other drugs to impeach marijuana. >> >> And where did pot actually end up on the Lancet scale? In the >> middle, well behind -- you >> guessed it -- tobacco and alcohol. >> >> Challenging our "intellectual sobriety," our columnist puts forth >> two other main >> arguments: that the marijuana of today is stronger than that of the >> past, and that the >> drug has now been "linked" to mental illness by scholars. Both are >> true, though both are >> vastly overstated in her column. Samples of government-seized >> marijuana collected by the >> Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi contain >> about twice as much >> THC nowadays, on average, as they did when the project began >> keeping records in 1983. >> Since this means a user has to inhale less tar to get a buzz, this >> could be, on net, >> good health news. Either way, it is certainly not fair to denounce >> legalization while >> fretting over the effects of criminalization, which forces >> contraband shippers to favour >> a lower-volume product. >> >> Under alcohol Prohibition, people routinely drank 150-proof >> moonshine. Give them a >> choice, and it turns out they generally favour wine and beer for >> their other pleasant >> qualities. The same is almost certainly true of marijuana, as any >> coffeehouse pot vendor >> in the Netherlands can attest. (And, sorry, we don't assign any >> credibility to an >> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >> day's users are >> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >> That would be exactly >> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >> twenties in your wallet.) >> >> As for the "link" between marijuana and mental illness, it is still >> being debated, and >> the consensus is that marijuana may play a role in precipitating it >> amongst those who >> are predisposed to it. Few scientists consider the drug itself a >> cause of psychotic >> behaviour, but adolescents and those with a family history or early >> signs of >> schizophrenia are increasing their risk by consuming it. Heavy long- >> term abuse may play >> some role in depression, though it is difficult to factor out the >> other lifestyle >> variables that might make a hardcore pot smoker miserable. >> >> None of these effects, obviously, have been strong enough to skew >> public health >> statistics very much in pot-friendly Canada; compared with the >> accepted impact of >> tobacco and alcohol, they are puerile trivialities. So may we >> expect Ms. Kay to don her >> bonnet, pick up her hatchet and take up the battle against the >> legal poisons that openly >> kill thousands of Canadians every year -- as opposed to an illicit >> one that millions >> enjoy, and that rarely, if ever, takes a life? >> > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 23 12:01:25 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:01:25 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: Not-so-crack journalism In-Reply-To: References: <6214C1D07D974176942659714ACFCFCC@UserPC> Message-ID: <79F88901-7438-4951-B309-82D15877941B@paidoc.org> > >> >> Webpage: >> http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/editorials/story.html?id=190ca742-8784-4e50-a1c9-e9d75cc05871 >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Friday, May 23, 2008 >> Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) >> Contact: letters at thecitizen.canwest.com >> Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html >> Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/index.html >> Author: David Reevely >> >> Not-so-crack journalism >> >> David Reevely >> The Ottawa Citizen >> >> Sun Media's marquee Queen's Park columnist does another drive-by on >> Ottawa's drug >> problem. >> >> She does conclude, based on a tour with Chief Vern White, that >> things are getting >> better, but still somehow manages to consult only people who are on >> the ... let's say >> the "populist" side of the political spectrum. >> >> Christina Blizzard's column a year ago saying "Canada's capital >> city is a national >> disgrace" was a key moment in the public discussion of drugs in >> town. Another was Erin >> Anderssen's piece in the Globe and Mail on "Canada's cracked-out >> capital," and yet a >> third was W5's documentary on "Canada's capital shame." >> >> All of them were the views of outsiders who came to get a story >> about Ottawa having a >> drug problem and, lo and behold, they found it. Hanging out in the >> most troubled >> neighbourhoods you can, talking only to police and shelter workers >> (who have different >> but similar vested interests in talking up the problem and >> decidedly blinkered >> perspectives), and finding a couple of addicts to illustrate your >> implicit arguments >> tends to make finding what you're looking for easy. >> >> We've devoted a lot of space to the drug problem, and I'm not at >> all denying that one >> exists, but seriously -- "Canada's cracked-out capital"? >> >> Why is that the definitive description of the city we can see with >> our own eyes, one >> that doesn't match the outsider's words? >> >> ottawacitizen.com/blogs >> > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 23 12:54:21 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 12:54:21 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Response to "no Health Canada grow-op regulations" letter References: Message-ID: <9A428AF1-FF31-4B27-856D-6B18FA17FB6F@paidoc.org> > > Newshawk: MedPot.net Forums > Forum link: http://www.tinyurl.com.au/x.php?rlh > Source: The Coquitlam Now > Link: http://www.tinyurl.com.au/x.php?rli > Letters to the Editor: editorial at thenownews.com > > > Who benefits from law? > > > > Coquitlam NOW > Published: Friday, May 23, 2008 > > > Re: "Who benefits from law?" letters to the editor, Friday, May 16: > > Tim Meehan says "thousands of legal grow-ops are in every community > in this country and there is no epidemic of fires." > > I have reviewed the regulations and spoken to the people that run > the program in Ottawa -- you can get their information off their > website. What Mr. Meehan doesn't tell you is that although Health > Canada regulations allow inspections of these grow-ops, they haven't > completed a single inspection since they allowed the changes to the > law several years ago. > > Furthermore, they don't have anyone trained to do this. > > How can Mr. Meehan say they are safe? Who knows what the electrical > wiring looks like or if the setup is correct? > > Health Canada doesn't know and, furthermore, they don't even advise > the municipality that the grow-ops are in existence? Health Canada > doesn't know if there has been any fires associated with > their "regulated grow-ops" because there is no inspection or follow- > up to see if anything has occurred. > > I think people have forgotten the point that these things are in > residential neighbourhoods. Generally, legitimate farmers use these > type of setups to grow tomatoes and cucumbers in large industrial > greenhouses away from family residences. Municipalities wouldn't > zone a property to allow this in a residential neighbourhood. > > It may appear that only the municipality has a process to deal with > the hazards associated with grow-ops. Certainly Ottawa is not > looking out for our best interests, otherwise they would inspect > their own process and not allow them in family homes. > > So I guess Mr. Meehan is correct that if you tell a lie often enough > it will stick in the public consciousness. Our community will > benefit from this bylaw because we will be safer. > > K. Chad > > Coquitlam -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From tim at paidoc.org Fri May 23 13:23:04 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 13:23:04 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] UK: Why we posted epilepsy film to YouTube In-Reply-To: <7320C4E7-C900-4871-B22B-8D3DD90CE001@connect.carleton.ca> References: <7320C4E7-C900-4871-B22B-8D3DD90CE001@connect.carleton.ca> Message-ID: <66238121-7AF5-4BA4-972A-F1D6CCB80B00@paidoc.org> >> >> Another large point of controversy is that our video also relates >> how cannabis, and not >> pharmaceuticals or surgery, helped Christine reduce the frequency >> and ferocity of >> seizures like this by about 90%. Like 2,600 other Canadians, my >> wife and I both have >> federal licenses to possess marijuana for medical purposes. This >> has thrown us into the >> public eye on numerous occasions over the past 6 years. > > --- > > >> >> http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/23/epilepsy.youtube >> >> Why we posted epilepsy film to YouTube >> Epilepsy charities condemned Russell Barth and Christine Lowe's >> YouTube seizure video as >> a "freak show". Not so, say the couple: the movie has saved lives >> >> a.. Russell Barth and Christine Lowe >> a.. Society Guardian, >> a.. Friday May 23 2008 >> a.. Article history >> >> Epileptic seizure footage on YouTube >> >> The fact that a so-called expert on epilepsy could raise the >> spectre of "Victorian freak >> shows" speaks volumes about the need for clear education about this >> disorder. >> >> The footage that has "had over 250,000 views" is titled "Graphic >> Epileptic Seizure >> Footage". It belongs to my wife and I, and it can be found at >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV40H_g-NJo and www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRZY2a2jnuw >> . >> >> This footage is, by all accounts, the most compelling piece of >> epileptic seizure footage >> available online. Possibly anywhere. >> >> Although most of the seizure footage on YouTube is complete >> nonsense, to even suggest >> that our video is in any way exploitive is deeply insulting to us. >> >> That piece of footage was shot with the assistance of our friend >> David, in January 2003, >> at the repeated insistence of my wife Christine. She wanted to know >> what happened to her >> body while she was seizing, and we were under standing orders to >> catch any footage >> possible. >> >> She'd had a seizure early that morning, and we happened to have a >> camera handy when the >> second one came hours later, so we shot the footage. The original >> footage goes on for >> another 30 minutes, in which Christine is gradually becoming more >> coherent and stable. >> Upon viewing this footage a few days later, she was shocked and >> astonished, as one could >> well imagine. >> >> People have commented on the site, saying that "the man in the >> video seems so calm" and >> so on, which always surprises me, because inside I am howling like >> a stuck dog. Living >> with someone who has these life-threatening seizures can only be >> described in one word: >> horror. >> >> In January 2007, we perused YouTube and other video-sharing sites >> to find epilepsy >> footage, and we were annoyed to find only grainy hospital footage, >> flickering cartoons >> that can cause seizures, and children faking seizures for comedic >> reasons. We countered >> this by posting the real thing. >> >> Another large point of controversy is that our video also relates >> how cannabis, and not >> pharmaceuticals or surgery, helped Christine reduce the frequency >> and ferocity of >> seizures like this by about 90%. Like 2,600 other Canadians, my >> wife and I both have >> federal licenses to possess marijuana for medical purposes. This >> has thrown us into the >> public eye on numerous occasions over the past 6 years. >> >> Since posting this footage, we have had over 254,000 views (23 >> times more hits than the >> next-most-viewed clip), and have received dozens of emails from >> people asking for advice >> in reducing seizures, and hundreds of positive comments about our >> bravery and >> compassion. >> >> This footage has been used in medical schools and presentations >> around the world, and a >> prison in New Mexico has even used it to help new guards recognize >> real seizures. >> Another man in Fort Worth, Texas emailed us to say that our video >> helped him save >> another person who had a seizure while at his place of work. Our >> video has saved lives. >> >> Admittedly, we have received the occasional rude and often hateful >> comment, but these >> are just the dog-droppings of internet mongrels with nothing better >> to do. They mean >> nothing when weighed against the obvious benefits offered by our >> video. >> > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org From thehatefulnerd at comcast.net Fri May 23 17:24:45 2008 From: thehatefulnerd at comcast.net (Vigilius Haufniensis) Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 16:24:45 -0500 Subject: [DrugWar] SALAAM SLAMS BENSON, SAYS ALL PLAYERS SMOKE WEED Message-ID: <4837361D.7090203@comcast.net> http://www.profootballtalk.com/2008/05/23/salaam-slams-benson-says-all-players-smoke-weed/ *SALAAM SLAMS BENSON, SAYS ALL PLAYERS SMOKE WEED * Posted by Mike Florio on May 23, 2008, 11:33 a.m. EDT In the ultimate case of Pot v. Kettle, former Bears first-round running back bust Rashaan Salaam is calling out current Bears first-round running back bust Cedric Benson. "He was the wrong person to give money to ," Salaam told the /Chicago Sun-Times/. "The Bears gave him cash, and he lost his mind. "He stopped working. He's not the same person he was coming out of college. They gave it to him, and he didn't give a damn anymore." (Some would argue that Benson /is /the same person he was in college, and that because of it the Bears never should have picked him.) Pointing the finger at himself as well Salaam (who is only 33) says that he was too young to play pro football . 'I was just very young and immature," he said. "I was only 20 years old, and 20-year-olds are not supposed to be playing professional football . I wasn't ready mentally. It didn't have to do with the team, the coaching, any of that. I was just young. I put myself around the wrong people." Salaam also made this candid but not surprising statement about the prevalance of pot-smoking in the NFL . "You know how many football players are smoking weed?" he said. "Everybody smokes weed out there." Salaam admits that he did as well, but that it didn't contribute to his failure. "That had nothing to do with it. I was just young and immature." Hey, maybe we'll next hear from Curtis Enis. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.mindvox.com/pipermail/drugwar/attachments/20080523/847b2ef6/attachment.htm From tim at paidoc.org Sat May 24 02:54:40 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 02:54:40 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: Deaths: Eileen May Emery (mother of Marc Emery) Message-ID: <3BC9D83B-6197-4E2F-9F7A-699A9C929FA2@paidoc.org> http://ads.lfpress.com//classifieds/images/announcements/5m011c6o.pdf EMERY EMERY At London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital on Wednesday May 21, 2008 Mrs. Eileen May (James) Emery of London passed away peacefully in her 80th year. Wonderful mother to Stephen Emery and his wife Cindy of Waterford, Marc Emery and his wife Jody of Vancouver, Matthew Emery and his wife Kelly of London and Jacqueline Emery and her husband Rob Ireland of Richmond Hill. Dearly loved grandmother of Benjamin, Scott, Bryan and Lauren Emery and Bryce and Alexandra Ireland, and great grandmother of Estella and William Emery. Predeceased by her dear companion Kenneth Light. A sweet, elegant and gentle soul, she will be missed by many friends and the staff at Waverley Mansion. Friends will be received by the family from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 24, 2008 at the Christ Church (Anglican), 138 Wellington Street, London (at Hill Street). A memorial service will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. with Reverend Greg W. Smith officiating. As expressions of sympathy, donations to the Alzheimer Society of London, 555 Southdale Road East, Suite 100, London Ontario N6E 1A2 would be appreciated. On line condolences at www.amgfh.com (Arrangements entrusted to the A. Millard George Funeral Home 519-433-5184). From prestonpeet at yahoo.com Sat May 24 12:21:28 2008 From: prestonpeet at yahoo.com (Preston Peet) Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 09:21:28 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday Message-ID: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> >(And, sorry, we don't assign any? >> credibility to an >> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >> day's users are >> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud:? >> That would be exactly >> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some? >> twenties in your wallet.) >> < Weeelllll, sorry, as much as I actually agree with the position taken by the editors at the National Post here, I know plenty, PLENTY of smokers who do exactly this- throw away the leaves and smoke only the buds. As a matter of fact, many?I know, MOST I know are buying it that way in the first place, soooo.... Peace, Preston? ----- Original Message ---- From: Tim Meehan To: The War on Consciousness Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 11:01:04 AM Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday > >> >> Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=533274 >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Friday, May 23, 2008 >> Source: National Post (Canada) >> Contact: letters at nationalpost.com >> Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ >> >> Barbara Kay vs. Mary Jane >> >> National Post >> In yesterday's National Post, our columnist Barbara Kay? >> unexpectedly revived an >> editorial that appeared in our pages in July of last year, when the? >> UN Office of Drugs >> and Crime declared Canadians the world's leading consumers of? >> marijuana. We noted at the >> time that having a proportion of pot smokers four times the world? >> average doesn't seem >> to be doing us much quantifiable harm, as it obviously would if we? >> had a similarly >> strong propensity for alcohol or tobacco. >> >> Ms. Kay has assembled a file of evidence -- of varying quality --? >> on some dangers that >> cannabis may legitimately pose. Having presented it, she thus? >> "respectfully ask[s] the >> Post to reconsider its editorial stance on the legalization of? >> pot." Our stance was, and >> is, that as terrible as you can possibly make marijuana sound by? >> the use of anecdote and >> by cherry-picking the scientific literature, you cannot make a? >> credible argument that >> its public health and other social effects are as bad as those of? >> alcohol and tobacco. >> >> So why treat them differently? And if we're not going to treat them? >> differently, are we >> going to prohibit them all? As libertarian-minded editors, we hope? >> not. >> >> We tried prohibiting alcohol: This policy had the effect of? >> enriching organized crime, >> encouraging the sale of harder beverages that could be smuggled? >> more easily, increasing >> addiction, and creating a constant danger from adulteration. If the? >> underground >> marijuana market of today suffers from some of these ills, isn't it? >> remotely possible >> that legalization would actually be beneficial? >> >> "In March 2007, The Lancet, Britain's leading medical journal,? >> declared cannabis to be >> more dangerous and addictive than LSD and Ecstasy," Ms. Kay writes.? >> She is, of course, >> quite correct, and her point will seem overwhelming to readers who? >> don't stop to >> consider that LSD and ecstasy (MDMA) are ridiculous examples of? >> toxic or addictive >> drugs. MDMA is difficult to overdose on, and LSD nearly impossible;? >> both were rated >> relatively safe by doctors in David Nutt's aforementioned 2007? >> study. Ecstasy, in fact, >> was considered the safest of all drugs of abuse. In other words,? >> Mrs. Kay is exploiting >> societal misconceptions about other drugs to impeach marijuana. >> >> And where did pot actually end up on the Lancet scale? In the? >> middle, well behind -- you >> guessed it -- tobacco and alcohol. >> >> Challenging our "intellectual sobriety," our columnist puts forth? >> two other main >> arguments: that the marijuana of today is stronger than that of the? >> past, and that the >> drug has now been "linked" to mental illness by scholars. Both are? >> true, though both are >> vastly overstated in her column. Samples of government-seized? >> marijuana collected by the >> Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi contain? >> about twice as much >> THC nowadays, on average, as they did when the project began? >> keeping records in 1983. >> Since this means a user has to inhale less tar to get a buzz, this? >> could be, on net, >> good health news. Either way, it is certainly not fair to denounce? >> legalization while >> fretting over the effects of criminalization, which forces? >> contraband shippers to favour >> a lower-volume product. >> >> Under alcohol Prohibition, people routinely drank 150-proof? >> moonshine. Give them a >> choice, and it turns out they generally favour wine and beer for? >> their other pleasant >> qualities. The same is almost certainly true of marijuana, as any? >> coffeehouse pot vendor >> in the Netherlands can attest. (And, sorry, we don't assign any? >> credibility to an >> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >> day's users are >> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud:? >> That would be exactly >> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some? >> twenties in your wallet.) >> >> As for the "link" between marijuana and mental illness, it is still? >> being debated, and >> the consensus is that marijuana may play a role in precipitating it? >> amongst those who >> are predisposed to it. Few scientists consider the drug itself a? >> cause of psychotic >> behaviour, but adolescents and those with a family history or early? >> signs of >> schizophrenia are increasing their risk by consuming it. Heavy long- >> term abuse may play >> some role in depression, though it is difficult to factor out the? >> other lifestyle >> variables that might make a hardcore pot smoker miserable. >> >> None of these effects, obviously, have been strong enough to skew? >> public health >> statistics very much in pot-friendly Canada; compared with the? >> accepted impact of >> tobacco and alcohol, they are puerile trivialities. So may we? >> expect Ms. Kay to don her >> bonnet, pick up her hatchet and take up the battle against the? >> legal poisons that openly >> kill thousands of Canadians every year -- as opposed to an illicit? >> one that millions >> enjoy, and that rarely, if ever, takes a life? >> > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis tim at paidoc.org ? -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- (][%]? ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar :::? [%][) ? -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- From bicuitboy714 at gmail.com Sat May 24 16:12:58 2008 From: bicuitboy714 at gmail.com (Randy Faulconer) Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 16:12:58 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday In-Reply-To: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> References: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <29d165a30805241312y2e0fa881i2949c7b3a57b53e0@mail.gmail.com> Tell ya what, send me the leaves and I'll make some slammin' oil. Yeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaa BiscuitBoy Blues On 5/24/08, Preston Peet wrote: >>(And, sorry, we don't assign any >>> credibility to an >>> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >>> day's users are >>> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >>> That would be exactly >>> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >>> twenties in your wallet.) >>> > < > Weeelllll, sorry, as much as I actually agree with the position taken by the > editors at the National Post here, I know plenty, PLENTY of smokers who do > exactly this- throw away the leaves and smoke only the buds. As a matter of > fact, many I know, MOST I know are buying it that way in the first place, > soooo.... > Peace, > Preston > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Tim Meehan > To: The War on Consciousness > Sent: Friday, May 23, 2008 11:01:04 AM > Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness > from yesterday > >> >>> >>> Webpage: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=533274 >>> >>> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >>> Pubdate: Friday, May 23, 2008 >>> Source: National Post (Canada) >>> Contact: letters at nationalpost.com >>> Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ >>> >>> Barbara Kay vs. Mary Jane >>> >>> National Post >>> In yesterday's National Post, our columnist Barbara Kay >>> unexpectedly revived an >>> editorial that appeared in our pages in July of last year, when the >>> UN Office of Drugs >>> and Crime declared Canadians the world's leading consumers of >>> marijuana. We noted at the >>> time that having a proportion of pot smokers four times the world >>> average doesn't seem >>> to be doing us much quantifiable harm, as it obviously would if we >>> had a similarly >>> strong propensity for alcohol or tobacco. >>> >>> Ms. Kay has assembled a file of evidence -- of varying quality -- >>> on some dangers that >>> cannabis may legitimately pose. Having presented it, she thus >>> "respectfully ask[s] the >>> Post to reconsider its editorial stance on the legalization of >>> pot." Our stance was, and >>> is, that as terrible as you can possibly make marijuana sound by >>> the use of anecdote and >>> by cherry-picking the scientific literature, you cannot make a >>> credible argument that >>> its public health and other social effects are as bad as those of >>> alcohol and tobacco. >>> >>> So why treat them differently? And if we're not going to treat them >>> differently, are we >>> going to prohibit them all? As libertarian-minded editors, we hope >>> not. >>> >>> We tried prohibiting alcohol: This policy had the effect of >>> enriching organized crime, >>> encouraging the sale of harder beverages that could be smuggled >>> more easily, increasing >>> addiction, and creating a constant danger from adulteration. If the >>> underground >>> marijuana market of today suffers from some of these ills, isn't it >>> remotely possible >>> that legalization would actually be beneficial? >>> >>> "In March 2007, The Lancet, Britain's leading medical journal, >>> declared cannabis to be >>> more dangerous and addictive than LSD and Ecstasy," Ms. Kay writes. >>> She is, of course, >>> quite correct, and her point will seem overwhelming to readers who >>> don't stop to >>> consider that LSD and ecstasy (MDMA) are ridiculous examples of >>> toxic or addictive >>> drugs. MDMA is difficult to overdose on, and LSD nearly impossible; >>> both were rated >>> relatively safe by doctors in David Nutt's aforementioned 2007 >>> study. Ecstasy, in fact, >>> was considered the safest of all drugs of abuse. In other words, >>> Mrs. Kay is exploiting >>> societal misconceptions about other drugs to impeach marijuana. >>> >>> And where did pot actually end up on the Lancet scale? In the >>> middle, well behind -- you >>> guessed it -- tobacco and alcohol. >>> >>> Challenging our "intellectual sobriety," our columnist puts forth >>> two other main >>> arguments: that the marijuana of today is stronger than that of the >>> past, and that the >>> drug has now been "linked" to mental illness by scholars. Both are >>> true, though both are >>> vastly overstated in her column. Samples of government-seized >>> marijuana collected by the >>> Potency Monitoring Project at the University of Mississippi contain >>> about twice as much >>> THC nowadays, on average, as they did when the project began >>> keeping records in 1983. >>> Since this means a user has to inhale less tar to get a buzz, this >>> could be, on net, >>> good health news. Either way, it is certainly not fair to denounce >>> legalization while >>> fretting over the effects of criminalization, which forces >>> contraband shippers to favour >>> a lower-volume product. >>> >>> Under alcohol Prohibition, people routinely drank 150-proof >>> moonshine. Give them a >>> choice, and it turns out they generally favour wine and beer for >>> their other pleasant >>> qualities. The same is almost certainly true of marijuana, as any >>> coffeehouse pot vendor >>> in the Netherlands can attest. (And, sorry, we don't assign any >>> credibility to an >>> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >>> day's users are >>> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >>> That would be exactly >>> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >>> twenties in your wallet.) >>> >>> As for the "link" between marijuana and mental illness, it is still >>> being debated, and >>> the consensus is that marijuana may play a role in precipitating it >>> amongst those who >>> are predisposed to it. Few scientists consider the drug itself a >>> cause of psychotic >>> behaviour, but adolescents and those with a family history or early >>> signs of >>> schizophrenia are increasing their risk by consuming it. Heavy long- >>> term abuse may play >>> some role in depression, though it is difficult to factor out the >>> other lifestyle >>> variables that might make a hardcore pot smoker miserable. >>> >>> None of these effects, obviously, have been strong enough to skew >>> public health >>> statistics very much in pot-friendly Canada; compared with the >>> accepted impact of >>> tobacco and alcohol, they are puerile trivialities. So may we >>> expect Ms. Kay to don her >>> bonnet, pick up her hatchet and take up the battle against the >>> legal poisons that openly >>> kill thousands of Canadians every year -- as opposed to an illicit >>> one that millions >>> enjoy, and that rarely, if ever, takes a life? >>> >> > > -- > Tim Meehan > Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis > tim at paidoc.org > > > > > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > > > > > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > From mycos at shaw.ca Sat May 24 16:05:57 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 13:05:57 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday In-Reply-To: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> References: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <48387525.3020207@shaw.ca> This reminds me of something I saw a short while ago regarding a pipe-bomb that turned out to be full of pot rather than gunpowder. What they undoubtedly found was the dregs of a honey oil/weed oil "bong-bomb", which is done by dripping a highly volatile solvent through a container of "bunk" (pot leaves). The first few grams to come through are quite clear, being composed of the tiny, now-dissolved THC crystals that form pretty much all over the plant, but in much greater abundance on the buds of course. This clear, super-potent first stuff gets labelled "honey oil", with the remainder becoming greener and greener, hence the "weed-oil" epithet (as in "Ewwww! Weed Oil!"). So what you say regarding throwing it out is essentially correct, especially for larger grow-ops where less trails back to the source is the wiser course of action. But otoh, budding scientists (no pun intended) have been known to say "No. Don't throw it out. I have a better idea!". Anyhow. Has Lulu been banging down the door demanding that you to pay for the next roll of paper for the printing-presses since your the one responsible for the sudden rush on their inventory? No? That might have something to do with me being outnumbered all the sudden by an influx of posters who are agreeing with the far-right "All Muslims are Islamofascists" line that is being propagated by everyone but me and a Dutch guy who has difficulty with English. Uhhh...That would be alt-drugs.hard btw (hint, hint!!) Gary~ Preston Peet wrote: >> (And, sorry, we don't assign any >>> credibility to an >>> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >>> day's users are >>> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >>> That would be exactly >>> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >>> twenties in your wallet.) >>> > < > Weeelllll, sorry, as much as I actually agree with the position taken by the editors at the National Post here, I know plenty, PLENTY of smokers who do exactly this- throw away the leaves and smoke only the buds. As a matter of fact, many I know, MOST I know are buying it that way in the first place, soooo.... > Peace, > Preston > From tim at paidoc.org Mon May 26 18:51:41 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 18:51:41 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] PR: Ottawa: Medical Marijuana-Related Human Rights Complaint Launced Against Ontario's Alcohol Regulator / Russell Barth / 613-248-9190 Message-ID: <328EAF69-C57A-4443-8730-E14760D255D8@paidoc.org> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 27, 2008 MEDICAL MARIJUANA-RELATED HUMAN RIGHTS COMPLAINT LAUNCHED AGAINST ONTARIO'S ALCOHOL REGULATOR BAR OWNERS AND MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS ARE EQUAL VICTIMS OF ?LEGAL CONUNDRUM?: LICENCED PATIENT Contact: Russell Barth, 613-248-9190, russell at rata.ca OTTAWA ? A new complaint (file no. 15052008JART-7ENJBJ, excerpts online at http://www.rata.ca/complaint.pdf) before the Ontario Human Rights Commission set out why bar and restaurant owners ? as well as legal medical marijuana patients ? are quickly becoming collateral damage in Ontario's War on Drugs. On May 7, 2008, Ottawa resident Russell Barth, who has a federal licence to use cannabis as medicine, was told that liquor licence rules prevent him from using his medication outdoors at a local AGCO- licenced comedy club where Barth had performed that evening. He has filed notice that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario violates the human rights of the disabled by banning all marijuana ? even medicinal ? from the premises. "There was another recent human rights case regarding a medical marijuana patient and a bar in Burlington, Ontario. This one is quite different," says Barth. "After reading about the Burlington case, I took a look at the actual law Ontario bar owners have to follow. That is when I realized that it was not the club owner who was violating our rights, it was the system itself, violating the club owner's rights, and ours!" Regulation 719, section 45, subsection 2 of the Liquor Licence Act is in place presumably to crack down on drug dealing and use in and around Ontario bars and restaurants. However, this regulation makes no allowance for patrons, staff, or performers who are federally licenced medicinal cannabis patients. "Our dispute is not with the comedy club whatsoever," concludes Barth. "They have been very supportive to us, and along with every other licenced establishment in Ontario, should be considered victims. As it stands, they are forced by provincial legislation to choose between violating their liquor licence, or violating people's medical rights. It is impossible to do both. The two levels of government have placed us all in a legal conundrum." Further reading: Excerpts from the Ontario Human Rights Complaint: http://www.rata.ca/complaint.pdf Ontario Liquor Licence Act Regulations: http://www.canlii.org/on/laws/regu/1990r.719/20060614/whole.htm -30 - From tim at paidoc.org Mon May 26 20:17:16 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 20:17:16 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday In-Reply-To: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> References: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <225ABAA9-D88F-4B46-B24C-38DED4F1BC18@paidoc.org> On 24-May-08, at 12:21 PM, Preston Peet wrote: >> (And, sorry, we don't assign any >>> credibility to an >>> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >>> day's users are >>> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >>> That would be exactly >>> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >>> twenties in your wallet.) >>> > < > Weeelllll, sorry, as much as I actually agree with the position > taken by the editors at the National Post here, I know plenty, > PLENTY of smokers who do exactly this- throw away the leaves and > smoke only the buds. As a matter of fact, many I know, MOST I know > are buying it that way in the first place, soooo.... http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=540100 Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap Pubdate: Monday, May 26, 2008 Source: National Post (Canada) Contact: letters at nationalpost.com Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Author: Harry Fisher This bud's for you Re: Barbara Kay vs. Mary Jane, editorial, May 23. I wholly agree with your ideas on cannabis. However, I feel I must correct an error in your editorial. Cannabis smokers do prefer to use only the plant's bud. Cultivators who have relatively large volumes at hand may boil down the leaves and concentrate the active ingredients for use in cooking. But for smoking? Only pure bud will do. Curiously, in Morocco they refer to the fine leaves that surround the flower as "the hashish," which is considered useless. The flower itself is called "keefee," meaning fun or relaxation. Where there's an abundance, only the best will do for smoking, cooking, tinctures or whatever. Buds, definitely. Harry Fisher, Woodland Hills, Calif. From bicuitboy714 at gmail.com Tue May 27 09:25:16 2008 From: bicuitboy714 at gmail.com (Randy Faulconer) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 09:25:16 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Canada: National Post editorial debunks reefer madness from yesterday In-Reply-To: <48387525.3020207@shaw.ca> References: <401018.57021.qm@web63015.mail.re1.yahoo.com> <48387525.3020207@shaw.ca> Message-ID: <29d165a30805270625l30d3a745u4f8ed488472d0270@mail.gmail.com> With the pipe thing, you can use butane fuel. Matter of fact I read an article that explained how to do it with butane and a pipe like what you are talking about. You are correct in that what comes out is called honey oil and it is very potent. Peace Love and one hits Randy BiscuitBoy Blues On 5/24/08, Mycos wrote: > This reminds me of something I saw a short while ago regarding a > pipe-bomb that turned out to be full of pot rather than gunpowder. What > they undoubtedly found was the dregs of a honey oil/weed oil > "bong-bomb", which is done by dripping a highly volatile solvent through > a container of "bunk" (pot leaves). The first few grams to come through > are quite clear, being composed of the tiny, now-dissolved THC crystals > that form pretty much all over the plant, but in much greater abundance > on the buds of course. This clear, super-potent first stuff gets > labelled "honey oil", with the remainder becoming greener and greener, > hence the "weed-oil" epithet (as in "Ewwww! Weed Oil!"). > > So what you say regarding throwing it out is essentially correct, > especially for larger grow-ops where less trails back to the source is > the wiser course of action. But otoh, budding scientists (no pun > intended) have been known to say "No. Don't throw it out. I have a > better idea!". > > Anyhow. Has Lulu been banging down the door demanding that you to pay > for the next roll of paper for the printing-presses since your the one > responsible for the sudden rush on their inventory? No? That might have > something to do with me being outnumbered all the sudden by an influx of > posters who are agreeing with the far-right "All Muslims are > Islamofascists" line that is being propagated by everyone but me and a > Dutch guy who has difficulty with English. Uhhh...That would be > alt-drugs.hard btw (hint, hint!!) > > Gary~ > > Preston Peet wrote: >>> (And, sorry, we don't assign any >>>> credibility to an >>>> addiction counsellor's anecdotal claim, cited by Ms. Kay, that to- >>>> day's users are >>>> throwing out marijuana leaves and smoking only pure cannabis bud: >>>> That would be exactly >>>> like discarding $5 bills just because you happen to have some >>>> twenties in your wallet.) >>>> >> < >> Weeelllll, sorry, as much as I actually agree with the position taken by >> the editors at the National Post here, I know plenty, PLENTY of smokers >> who do exactly this- throw away the leaves and smoke only the buds. As a >> matter of fact, many I know, MOST I know are buying it that way in the >> first place, soooo.... >> Peace, >> Preston >> > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 27 10:17:02 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 10:17:02 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: Canada: LTE: Decades after Woodstock, the pot debate still rages 2/4 References: Message-ID: > My observation was that for those who didn't, regular marijuana use > often resulted in a > deep disconnect from society, their families and even themselves. > Frequent users sought > the company of those who shared their habit, while non-users become > less desirable as > friends because they were straight. Paranoia was rampant. The > negative effects of pot > may not appear as quickly as an alcohol-fuelled auto accident, but I > have no doubt that > it takes a dangerous toll over the years. Those who smoke for long > periods are usually > not aware of their diminished personality, limited thinking process > and boring insights. Nice "evidence"... > http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=542017 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 > Source: National Post (Canada) > Contact: letters at nationalpost.com > Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/ > Author: Barry Lubotta > > Decades after Woodstock, the pot debate still rages > > Re: Barbara Kay vs. Mary Jane, editorial, May 23. > > My late teenage years were spent at a U. S. college, playing in a > rock band, sleeping in > the mud at Woodstock and frequently participating in the newly > discovered recreational > activity of smoking dope. It took a couple of years, but I > eventually came to the > realization that my personality was undergoing change for the worse, > my confidence was > sagging and my thinking process becoming less cohesive. Thus, for > the most part, I gave > up pot in 1969. > > My observation was that for those who didn't, regular marijuana use > often resulted in a > deep disconnect from society, their families and even themselves. > Frequent users sought > the company of those who shared their habit, while non-users become > less desirable as > friends because they were straight. Paranoia was rampant. The > negative effects of pot > may not appear as quickly as an alcohol-fuelled auto accident, but I > have no doubt that > it takes a dangerous toll over the years. Those who smoke for long > periods are usually > not aware of their diminished personality, limited thinking process > and boring insights. > > The idea of legalization marijuana is an agenda being moved forward > by a minority of > vocal citizens and self-interest groups. Adding legal pot to > cigarettes and alcohol is a > recipe for disaster that, if allowed, would put future generations > at an ever greater > risk for self-destruction. > > Barry Lubotta, Toronto. > -- Tim Meehan Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis 1910-1401 Prince of Wales Drive Ottawa, ON K2C 3J8 tim at paidoc.org 613-322-2572 From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 27 11:44:20 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 11:44:20 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: CN ON: Column: Afghan children get opium as cure-all References: <001b01c8c00e$f9fd2090$6500a8c0@Herb> Message-ID: <10FA8516-94D2-41CE-8C33-38A7873FEF5B@paidoc.org> > > http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/431302 > > Newshawk: An Injury to One is an Injury to All > Pubdate: 27 May 2008 > Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) > Email: lettertoed at thestar.ca > Website: http://www.thestar.com/ > Address: One Yonge St., Toronto ON, M5E 1E6 > Fax: (416) 869-4322 > Copyright: 2008 The Toronto Star > Author: Rosie DiManno > > Afghan children get opium as cure-all > > Country is becoming internally subsumed by drugs > > MAZAR-I-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN-Saliha is a recovering opium addict. > > He's 4 years old. > > His 10-year-old sister is an addict. His mother is an addict. > > Scratch Saliha's tummy and the wide-eyed child giggles. Press just a > little harder and he bursts into tears. "It hurts," he wails. > > This is the soreness that occurs with opium addiction, along with > the nausea, the cramping, the diarrhea, the listlessness. > > Somehow, the youngster has retained his baby fat, not yet taken on > the skeletal appearance of a chronic opium user. But his growth has > been stunted and Saliha looks more like a child half his age, lying > on his mother's bed in the drug-recovery section of a local hospital. > > In Afghanistan, rehab - for the very lucky, the very few - can start > as young as this. > > One patient on the ward, now gone back to his village, was a 6-month- > old infant. They are only children. They never made a choice to use > opium. > > It was put in their mouths - usually by their mothers - to still > them, keep them quiet and docile. > > This is what parents had been instructed to do, by their families, > by tribal elders, by well-intentioned but uneducated quacks who > believed opium to be the benign cure-all, or at least helpful > therapeutic intervention, for everything that ails a person, and so > very handy. > > They just didn't know any better. > > Opium for colic. Opium for labour pains. Opium for women's troubles. > And, routinely, opium as pacifier to soothe a baby fussing, as > babies do. > > "They use it as a medicine for all kinds of illnesses," explains Dr. > Mobien Sultani, 31, who runs the Counter-Narcotics Drug Recovery > program at this 20-bed unit in northern Balkh province, one of only > two such specialized hospital wards in the country. > > "The mothers of these children work very hard. Most of them are > Turkmen carpet-weavers. In order to work, in their homes, they need > the children to be relaxed, to sleep for a long time. So they put > opium on their tongues." > > The problem, Sultani continues, is particularly rampant in northern > Turkmen villages, where casual opium use has been common for > decades. It was simply part of their culture. In one particular > rural town, social workers from this hospital documented 3,500 opium > addicts - nearly the entire population. It was their normal. > > "They were addicted. They just didn't know they were addicted," > Sultani sighs. "We're seeing now more and more teenagers turning to > heroin. They do this for the same reason that young people use drugs > everywhere in the world - for the pleasant sensation it gives them, > at first; because they're idle, they don't go to school, they can't > find jobs. But this is killing our communities. With few people > working, because everyone is sitting around smoking opium or heroin, > the bottom falls out of the local economy. Families either hide > their addicts in the home - especially the females - or sometimes > throw them out on the street. Then these people become garbage. Men, > teenage boys, have to steal, they will even kill, to support their > addiction." > > Once a nation that merely produced and exported narcotics - cranking > out some 93 per cent of the world's heroin last year - Afghanistan > is now becoming internally subsumed by drugs: 920,000 users, > according to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, > out of which 120,000 are women. According to a 2005 study, Balkh > alone has 110,000 opium addicts - and this is a province that > cultivated zero poppies last year, as concluded by a UN survey. > > In fact, says Sultani, cannabis use - hashish, primarily - is the > top addiction in Balkh, followed by opium, alcohol (despite the fact > Afghanistan is a formally dry Muslim country) and heroin, the > chemically refined version of opium. > > "The communities tend to accept hashish use," says Sultani. "But > heroin makes young people depressed, as well as useless. Heroin > addiction is a big stigma for Afghans." > > Saliha's mother, Malika, 35, says she began taking opium following > the birth of her first child 14 years ago. "This is the medicine > that was given to me. I didn't know there would be side-effects for > me and for my children." > > She entered the hospital with her two youngest kids a few weeks ago > and, together, they have coped with the dreadful withdrawal > symptoms. For most female addicts, however, there is tremendous > shame attached to admitting addiction. So they hide in their homes, > growing increasingly detached and isolated. There are only six > female beds in this facility. > > Sultani has pleaded with the Ministry of Public Health to establish > more such hospitals and increase his bed capacity to at least 50. > > In another bed by the window, Khurma tells the familiar story - > addiction born from delivery of her five children. The youngest, 12- > year-old Khudi Bardi, is also a patient. They share this narrow cot. > > "I was spending ($2) a day on opium," recalls Khurma, 45. That would > buy about two grams of opium every 24 hours. Doesn't seem like much, > in the way of cost, but the average yearly income in Afghanistan is > only about $400. "My family could not afford it any more. I had to > stop." > > Her son makes a ball with his fist, to express the agony of opium > stomach pains. By age 10, he was stealing rice from the village to > purchase the drug and also trafficking in narcotics - selling mostly > to local women. > > "I can remember when opium made me feel happy. I liked that feeling. > But then it made me feel sicker and sicker. I was sick when I took > it; I was sick when I stopped. > > "But I'll never start again." > > The in-patient detox program lasts for up to 40 days. Before > qualifying for the treatment, applicants must attend three times a > week, on an out-patient basis, while tapering off their drugs. > Follow-up supervision - the hospital employs five social workers - > extends for a year. Sultani admits there is a 40 per cent relapse > among those who complete the program. > > The Ministry of Counter-Narcotics operates 11 drug-education clinics > in the province but this is the only facility with patient beds and > detox capacity. Since it opened in December 2006, 376 patients have > gone through the program. > > "It's not much but we do the best we can," says Sultani. "The most > important thing, though, is education, getting into the communities > and making people understand about the dangers of opium, about harm > reduction. We go into the schools, talk to the elders, at the shuras > and in the mosques. > > "It is a very big job, a major challenge. But on our side, we also > have Islam, which forbids the use of narcotics. Our faith is our > strongest weapon." From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 27 18:27:33 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 18:27:33 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Vancouver Safe Injection Site Victory!! (fwd) References: <004f01c8c042$c7f02dc0$166510ac@CONIBM1> Message-ID: <06AB0DB3-D42F-47E1-BD64-53F50B79934D@paidoc.org> > From: John Conroy > I am pleased to be able to announce that we just received a favorable > decision in the SIF battle brought by Vandu and PHS. > > Mr.Justice Pitfield of the BCSC declared s.4 (possession) and > 5(trafficking) > of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to be unconstitutional as > violating s.7 of the Charter as arbitrary, overbroad and grossly > disproportionate in its effects. The declaration of invalidity is > suspended > until June 9th, 2009 to enable the federal government to try and > make the > law constitutional. In the interim the SIF and users and staff on > site enjoy > a constitutional exemption. > > > > John W. Conroy QC From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 27 19:13:38 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 19:13:38 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN BC: Insite can remain open: judge Message-ID: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=a8f52a12-21da-4b6c-9010-440d97e818e6 Insite can remain open: judge B.C. Supreme Court rules Vancouver's safe injection site can operate indefinitely Frances Bula, Vancouver SunPublished: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 VANCOUVER - Supreme Court Judge Ian Pitfield has ruled that Vancouver's supervised-injection site can operate indefinitely and that it is not bound by Canada's narcotics laws. Pitfield said that drug addicts deserve health-care treatment, in spite of their addiction, the same way that people use use tobacco and alcohol do. He said Insite is part of their health care and that to apply the narcotics laws to addicted people was arbitrary and worked against the idea of harm prevention that narcotics laws are intended to promote. "Simply stated, I cannot agree with the Canada's [sic] submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to treatment is the alternative," wrote Pitfield in the 59-page ruling. From tim at paidoc.org Tue May 27 19:43:03 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Tue, 27 May 2008 19:43:03 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] More InSite news Message-ID: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080527.winsite0527/BNStory/Front/home/ Court gives B.C. safe-injection site one-year reprieve ROD MICKLEBURGH Globe and Mail Update May 27, 2008 at 7:12 PM EDT VANCOUVER ? The controversial safe-injection site here that allows addicts to shoot up illegal drugs in a safe environment won a major court victory Tuesday, shielding the facility from a threat of being closed by the federal Conservative government for at least another year.. The ruling by B.C. Supreme Court judge Ian Pitfield ruled that the safe injection facility, known as Insite, is a place where health care takes place, and drug addiction is a health care issue, making it immune from federal drug prosecution. The centre faced closure on June 30 when its exemption from the purview of federal drug laws runs out. Now, Judge Pitfield has cleared Insite to operate until June of 2009. --- http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gg1GS78gMST8yY8EB4IAymd4VnJg BC court rules it would be unconstitutional for Ottawa to shut safe injection site 24 minutes ago VANCOUVER ? The B.C. Supreme Court says it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to shut down Vancouver's controversial safe- injection site. In a 60-page ruling, Justice Ian Pitfield granted the site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood an exemption from federal drug laws until June 30, 2009. Pitfield's ruling says that certain sections of the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act are inconsistent with Section 7 of the Charter and are of no force and effect. The site has operated with an exemption from the federal government to Canada's drug laws. Ottawa had until June 30th to decide whether to extend the exemption and allow Insite to remain open but a group of addicts and the Portland Hotel Society, which runs the site, asked the court to intervene. They argued that the site should be the responsibility of the provincial government because it is a health-care facility. --- http://www.news1130.com/news/topstory/article.jsp?content=20080527_185702_6844 Supreme Court judge says Insite can operate indefinitely Tuesday, May 27 - 04:15:00 PMNews1130 Staff VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Vancouver Coastal Health is now reviewing a B.C. Supreme Court decision that says Vancouver's supervised injection site (Insite) can operate indefinitely, and is not bound by Canada's narcotics laws. In a 60-page ruling, Justice Ian Pitfield says it would be unconstitutional for the federal government to shut down Insite. He also granted the site, located in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood, an exemption from federal drug laws until June 30, 2009. Pitfield ruled drug addicts deserve health-care treatment, in spite of their addiction, in the same way that people addicted to tobacco and alcohol do. Pitfield says Insite is part of their health care. The judge says applying narcotics laws to addicted people is arbitrary and works against the idea of harm prevention that narcotics laws are intended to promote. The Federal government had until June 30th to decide whether to extend the exemption and allow Insite to remain open. The Portland Hotel Society, which runs the site, asked the court to intervene, as they argued Insite should be the responsibility of the provincial government because it is a health-care facility. From tim at paidoc.org Wed May 28 00:50:46 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 00:50:46 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Video: Why you should never talk to the police References: Message-ID: > > For those who haven't see it yet, this video is a very interesting > discussion of why you should NEVER talk to the police about > anything. It is > almost a half-hour long, but worth it. Lots of interesting stuff in > there > about completely innocent people who got screwed because they talked > to the > police. > > http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865&hl=en > From tim at paidoc.org Wed May 28 03:40:46 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 03:40:46 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN BC: Column: 'Courageous' B.C. high court says federal drug law unconstitutional Message-ID: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=544275 Courageous' B.C. high court says federal drug law unconstitutional Ian Mulgrew, Canwest News Service Published: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 VANCOUVER -- The B.C. Supreme Court has thrown the country's drug law into limbo with a ruling that says it conflicts with health concerns that constitutionally are a provincial responsibility and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In a stunning and surprising ruling Tuesday, the court supported Vancouver's experimental supervised injection clinic and halted federal attempts to close the facility. Justice Ian Pitfield declared a key section of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act of no force and effect and gave Ottawa until June 30, 2009 to rectify the law because it appears to interfere with medical treatment. In the interim, he said the experimental Insite clinic has a constitutional exemption from the drug law to continue its work with street addicts. Mr. Pitfield said the current law governing illicit substances puts "unfettered discretion in the hands of the Minister" and violates the constitution. He dismissed the government's claim that Parliament is empowered to prohibit the possession of controlled substances because of their dangerous nature and the state's compelling interest in controlling their use, an interest shared by the world and formalized in international treaties. It was a courageous ruling. "In my opinion," Mr. Pitfield said, "section 4(1) of the CDSA, which applies to possession for every purpose without discrimination or differentiation in its effect, is arbitrary. In particular it prohibits the management of addiction and its associated risks at Insite. It treats all consumption of controlled substances, whether addictive or not, and whether by an addict or not, in the same manner. Instead of being rationally connected to a reasonable apprehension of harm, the blanket prohibition contributes to the very harm it seeks to prevent. It is inconsistent with the state's interest in fostering individual and community health, and preventing death and disease." The government had argued that even if the drug law were unconstitutional, its constraints were justifiable and reasonable in a free and democratic society. Mr. Pitfield said the principles of fundamental justice are too important to be trampled so easily. In a lengthy 59-page decision that reviewed more than a decade's worth of social work on the Downtown Eastside, he said drug addicts deserved the same kind of health care as those in the thrall of alcohol or tobacco. The Vancouver Safe Injection Site (aka Insite) was established in Sept. 2003 as a pilot project to reduce disease, reduce overdose deaths and foster better health care for addicts. More than one million injections have occurred. Staff have managed in excess of 1,000 overdoses without any resulting fatalities to date. But the exemption granted by the federal government for the clinic to operate expired and the facility has been operating on temporary permits since under the guillotine. Although operated by the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, the federal criminal law trumps provincial considerations and staff were at risk if they continued to operate the clinic without Ottawa's approval when the current exemption-extension expires this summer. That's why the court ruling was sought. The Portland Hotel Society, which operates Insite for the health authority, supported by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, complained that the drug law imposes an absolute and unqualified prohibition on the possession of controlled substances and prevented access to Insite. As a result, they argued, Ottawa was migrating from the criminal sphere -- a federal responsibility -- into the provincial realm of health care. Mr. Pitfield concluded the national law blocked addicts from a health care facility that could reduce or eliminate their risk of death from an overdose or from contracting an infectious disease, thereby violating their right to life and security. "While users do not use Insite to directly treat their addiction, they receive services and assistance at Insite which reduce the risk of overdose that is a feature of their illness, they avoid the risk of being infected or of infecting others by injection, and they gain access to counselling and consultation that may lead to abstinence and rehabilitation," he said. "All of this is health care." Mr. Pitfield went on to say the federal law "forces the user who is ill from addiction to resort to unhealthy and unsafe injection in an environment where there is a significant and measurable risk of morbidity or death." That should not be allowed. "Section 4(1) of the CDSA threatens security of the person," Mr. Pitfield said. "It denies the addict access to a health care facility where the risk of morbidity associated with infectious disease is diminished, if not eliminated. While it is popular to say that addiction is the result of choice and the pursuit of a liberty interest that should not be afforded Charter protection, an understanding of the nature and circumstances which result in addiction . . . must lead to the opposite conclusion." Mr. Pitfield said there was no justification for denying addicts health care services that will ameliorate the effects of their condition. "Society does that for other substances such as alcohol and tobacco," he emphasized. While those are not prohibited substances, society neither condemns the individual who chose to drink or smoke to excess, nor deprives that individual of a range of health care services. Management of the harm in those cases is accepted as a community responsibility. I cannot see any rational or logical reason why the approach should be different when dealing with the addiction to narcotics. . . . Simply stated, I cannot agree with . . . Canada's submission that an addict must feed his addiction in an unsafe environment when a safe environment that may lead to rehabilitation is the alternative." Common sense perhaps, but common sense that needed to be said. Good on Pitfield for cutting through the cant. From bicuitboy714 at gmail.com Wed May 28 13:26:39 2008 From: bicuitboy714 at gmail.com (Randy Faulconer) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 13:26:39 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: CN ON: Column: Afghan children get opium as cure-all In-Reply-To: <10FA8516-94D2-41CE-8C33-38A7873FEF5B@paidoc.org> References: <001b01c8c00e$f9fd2090$6500a8c0@Herb> <10FA8516-94D2-41CE-8C33-38A7873FEF5B@paidoc.org> Message-ID: <29d165a30805281026x6a4ff0fdg13ebff708794e0e5@mail.gmail.com> I think it is interesting to see that even though this may be one of the poorer countries, they have a better system of detox then we do. Now if they can figure out that detox needs to be 40 days not the 5 or 6 that is used here, it makes the system we have look pretty stupid. WTF?? BiscuitBoy On 5/27/08, Tim Meehan wrote: > >> >> http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/431302 >> >> Newshawk: An Injury to One is an Injury to All >> Pubdate: 27 May 2008 >> Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) >> Email: lettertoed at thestar.ca >> Website: http://www.thestar.com/ >> Address: One Yonge St., Toronto ON, M5E 1E6 >> Fax: (416) 869-4322 >> Copyright: 2008 The Toronto Star >> Author: Rosie DiManno >> >> Afghan children get opium as cure-all >> >> Country is becoming internally subsumed by drugs >> >> MAZAR-I-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN-Saliha is a recovering opium addict. >> >> He's 4 years old. >> >> His 10-year-old sister is an addict. His mother is an addict. >> >> Scratch Saliha's tummy and the wide-eyed child giggles. Press just a >> little harder and he bursts into tears. "It hurts," he wails. >> >> This is the soreness that occurs with opium addiction, along with >> the nausea, the cramping, the diarrhea, the listlessness. >> >> Somehow, the youngster has retained his baby fat, not yet taken on >> the skeletal appearance of a chronic opium user. But his growth has >> been stunted and Saliha looks more like a child half his age, lying >> on his mother's bed in the drug-recovery section of a local hospital. >> >> In Afghanistan, rehab - for the very lucky, the very few - can start >> as young as this. >> >> One patient on the ward, now gone back to his village, was a 6-month- >> old infant. They are only children. They never made a choice to use >> opium. >> >> It was put in their mouths - usually by their mothers - to still >> them, keep them quiet and docile. >> >> This is what parents had been instructed to do, by their families, >> by tribal elders, by well-intentioned but uneducated quacks who >> believed opium to be the benign cure-all, or at least helpful >> therapeutic intervention, for everything that ails a person, and so >> very handy. >> >> They just didn't know any better. >> >> Opium for colic. Opium for labour pains. Opium for women's troubles. >> And, routinely, opium as pacifier to soothe a baby fussing, as >> babies do. >> >> "They use it as a medicine for all kinds of illnesses," explains Dr. >> Mobien Sultani, 31, who runs the Counter-Narcotics Drug Recovery >> program at this 20-bed unit in northern Balkh province, one of only >> two such specialized hospital wards in the country. >> >> "The mothers of these children work very hard. Most of them are >> Turkmen carpet-weavers. In order to work, in their homes, they need >> the children to be relaxed, to sleep for a long time. So they put >> opium on their tongues." >> >> The problem, Sultani continues, is particularly rampant in northern >> Turkmen villages, where casual opium use has been common for >> decades. It was simply part of their culture. In one particular >> rural town, social workers from this hospital documented 3,500 opium >> addicts - nearly the entire population. It was their normal. >> >> "They were addicted. They just didn't know they were addicted," >> Sultani sighs. "We're seeing now more and more teenagers turning to >> heroin. They do this for the same reason that young people use drugs >> everywhere in the world - for the pleasant sensation it gives them, >> at first; because they're idle, they don't go to school, they can't >> find jobs. But this is killing our communities. With few people >> working, because everyone is sitting around smoking opium or heroin, >> the bottom falls out of the local economy. Families either hide >> their addicts in the home - especially the females - or sometimes >> throw them out on the street. Then these people become garbage. Men, >> teenage boys, have to steal, they will even kill, to support their >> addiction." >> >> Once a nation that merely produced and exported narcotics - cranking >> out some 93 per cent of the world's heroin last year - Afghanistan >> is now becoming internally subsumed by drugs: 920,000 users, >> according to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, >> out of which 120,000 are women. According to a 2005 study, Balkh >> alone has 110,000 opium addicts - and this is a province that >> cultivated zero poppies last year, as concluded by a UN survey. >> >> In fact, says Sultani, cannabis use - hashish, primarily - is the >> top addiction in Balkh, followed by opium, alcohol (despite the fact >> Afghanistan is a formally dry Muslim country) and heroin, the >> chemically refined version of opium. >> >> "The communities tend to accept hashish use," says Sultani. "But >> heroin makes young people depressed, as well as useless. Heroin >> addiction is a big stigma for Afghans." >> >> Saliha's mother, Malika, 35, says she began taking opium following >> the birth of her first child 14 years ago. "This is the medicine >> that was given to me. I didn't know there would be side-effects for >> me and for my children." >> >> She entered the hospital with her two youngest kids a few weeks ago >> and, together, they have coped with the dreadful withdrawal >> symptoms. For most female addicts, however, there is tremendous >> shame attached to admitting addiction. So they hide in their homes, >> growing increasingly detached and isolated. There are only six >> female beds in this facility. >> >> Sultani has pleaded with the Ministry of Public Health to establish >> more such hospitals and increase his bed capacity to at least 50. >> >> In another bed by the window, Khurma tells the familiar story - >> addiction born from delivery of her five children. The youngest, 12- >> year-old Khudi Bardi, is also a patient. They share this narrow cot. >> >> "I was spending ($2) a day on opium," recalls Khurma, 45. That would >> buy about two grams of opium every 24 hours. Doesn't seem like much, >> in the way of cost, but the average yearly income in Afghanistan is >> only about $400. "My family could not afford it any more. I had to >> stop." >> >> Her son makes a ball with his fist, to express the agony of opium >> stomach pains. By age 10, he was stealing rice from the village to >> purchase the drug and also trafficking in narcotics - selling mostly >> to local women. >> >> "I can remember when opium made me feel happy. I liked that feeling. >> But then it made me feel sicker and sicker. I was sick when I took >> it; I was sick when I stopped. >> >> "But I'll never start again." >> >> The in-patient detox program lasts for up to 40 days. Before >> qualifying for the treatment, applicants must attend three times a >> week, on an out-patient basis, while tapering off their drugs. >> Follow-up supervision - the hospital employs five social workers - >> extends for a year. Sultani admits there is a 40 per cent relapse >> among those who complete the program. >> >> The Ministry of Counter-Narcotics operates 11 drug-education clinics >> in the province but this is the only facility with patient beds and >> detox capacity. Since it opened in December 2006, 376 patients have >> gone through the program. >> >> "It's not much but we do the best we can," says Sultani. "The most >> important thing, though, is education, getting into the communities >> and making people understand about the dangers of opium, about harm >> reduction. We go into the schools, talk to the elders, at the shuras >> and in the mosques. >> >> "It is a very big job, a major challenge. But on our side, we also >> have Islam, which forbids the use of narcotics. Our faith is our >> strongest weapon." > > > -=[) :::::::: MindVox | DrugWar | List Commands :::::::: (]=- > (][%] ::: http://mindvox.com/mailman/listinfo/drugwar ::: [%][) > -=[) ::::: Change Account Settings : [Un]Subscribe ::::: (]=- > From bob at cosy.com Wed May 28 14:53:08 2008 From: bob at cosy.com (Bob Armstrong) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 12:53:08 -0600 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: CN ON: Column: Afghan children get opium as cure-all In-Reply-To: <29d165a30805281026x6a4ff0fdg13ebff708794e0e5@mail.gmail.com> References: <001b01c8c00e$f9fd2090$6500a8c0@Herb> <10FA8516-94D2-41CE-8C33-38A7873FEF5B@paidoc.org> <29d165a30805281026x6a4ff0fdg13ebff708794e0e5@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: <483DAA14.5020805@cosy.com> I think it interesting in that it shows that opium is a cheap useful medicine . Of course it may be abused , but my bet is that most of the usage is proportional to the need . The article seems written from the perspective of a do-gooder anti-drug missionary . -- Bob Armstrong -- www.CoSy.com -- 719-337-2733 Global Warming Scam : www.CoSy.com/views/warm.htm From tim at paidoc.org Wed May 28 17:37:17 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 17:37:17 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] Fwd: CMAP: CN ON: Column: Afghan children get opium as cure-all In-Reply-To: <483DAA14.5020805@cosy.com> References: <001b01c8c00e$f9fd2090$6500a8c0@Herb> <10FA8516-94D2-41CE-8C33-38A7873FEF5B@paidoc.org> <29d165a30805281026x6a4ff0fdg13ebff708794e0e5@mail.gmail.com> <483DAA14.5020805@cosy.com> Message-ID: On 28-May-08, at 2:53 PM, Bob Armstrong wrote: > The article seems written from the > perspective of a do-gooder anti-drug missionary . You got it. Rosie DiManno is legendary at the Toronto Star for her pro-police, pro- authorian reporting. From tim at paidoc.org Thu May 29 08:21:31 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 08:21:31 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: 'I just want the same access as tobacco users' / Patio pot ban draws rights complaint Message-ID: <161463CF-69CD-4582-920B-4D19F0E0CDBB@paidoc.org> http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=ae6145b8-59d2-4fd1-a0bd-d131a4918c5d Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Feedback: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Address: P.O. Box 5020, 1101 Baxter Rd., Ottawa, ON K2C 3M4 Fax: (613) 596-8522 Copyright: 2008 The Ottawa Citizen Author: Andrew Thompson Pubdate: May 29, 2008 Referenced: Russell Barth's standup comedy act: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sReCdngiY2g 'I just want the same access as tobacco users' Medical marijuana user wants right to smoke outside of comedy club Andrew Thomson, The Ottawa Citizen Published: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Russell Barth's opening stand-up bit is a self-deprecating mixture of his medical condition and appearance. "You wouldn't know it to look at me, but I use marijuana every day," the long-haired Ottawa man tells his laughing audience. The 39-year-old suffers from fibromyalgia and arthritis, and has a federal licence for medicinal marijuana. So does his wife Christine Lowe, who has epilepsy and asthma. And now Mr. Barth has become the latest marijuana user to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, after being prevented from smoking outside an Ottawa comedy club after a May 7 performance. Absolute Comedy management told the couple that liquor licence rules prevented them from lighting up on the front patio near cigarette smokers. They left "embarrassed and humiliated," according to Mr. Barth's complaint, which claims the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is violating the provincial Human Rights Code -- specifically, his ability to use marijuana in designated smoking areas. Marijuana helps his appetite, prevents anxiety attacks and allows him to walk without "jangled nerves," Mr. Barth said. Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access regulations allow for Mr. Barth and his wife to use marijuana. But the provincial Liquor Licence Act prohibits the possession or consumption of controlled substances on an establishment's premises. He doesn't blame the Preston Street club's management, saying they are stuck between two conflicting laws. Absolute Comedy recently received a warning after a provincial inspector claimed to have smelled marijuana on customers. Signs were posted inside and outside, said Jeff Tanguay, one of the club's managers. Mr. Barth thinks a short amendment to the Liquor Licence Act would provide for medical marijuana users "That's the legal conundrum," he said. "If we possess marijuana when we walk in, we're in violation of the act. If they don't let us in, it's a violation of our human rights." Mr. Barth performed stand-up comedy in the mid-1990s, but his health forced a hiatus from the stage until last summer. Now he worries that he won't be able to continue. If an inspector witnessed Mr. Barth on- stage and "red-eyed" after using marijuana, the club could face disciplinary action. Mr. Barth is not seeking financial damages. He simply wants the federal and provincial governments to calibrate their policies and has already written to Premier Dalton McGuinty, opposition leaders and Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Jim Watson and MP John Baird. "I just want the same access as tobacco users," he said. Inspectors and registrars are simply enforcing existing laws and regulations, said spokeswoman Lisa Murray, adding that amendments are the provincial cabinet and legislature's responsibility. However, Ms. Murray noted that discretion often plays a role in any sanctions or suspensions the commission levies against violations by liquor-licence holders. --- Source: Metro (Ottawa, CN ON) Email: ottawaletters at metronews.ca Website: http://www.metronews.ca/home.aspx?city=ottawa Address: 402 -116 Albert Street, Suite 402 Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5G3 Fax: (866) 253-2024 Copyright: 2008 Metro Author: Tracey Tong Pubdate: May 29, 2008 http://www.metronews.ca/ottawa/local/article/60531 Patio pot ban draws rights complaint Legal marijuana user sends issue to OHR commission TRACEY TONG/METRO NEWS May 29, 2008 12:32 Banning medicinal marijuana users from smoking on outdoor patios violates human rights, says a city man who has lodged a complaint against the province. Russell Barth?s complaint this week to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) alleges that Ontario Liquor Licence Act regulations, which prohibit consumption of controlled substances in licensed areas, infringe on people federally licensed to smoke marijuana to ease ailments. The complaint comes after Barth, who suffers from fibromyalgia and other disorders, was prevented from smoking outside a city comedy club on May 7. ?Provincially, there is no provision for people who use medicinal marijuana,? said the 39-year-old amateur comedian, who has held a medicinal marijuana licence since 2002. ?So this puts every club owner and the staff in a conundrum. If they allow me to use it, they?re in violation of the ... act and if they don?t, they?re violating my human rights to use medicine. ?We?re not asking for special rights. We?re just asking for the right to use cannabis where other people use tobacco.? Barth doesn?t blame the bar owners, but he wants amendments to legislation because federal regulations allow holders to use medicinal marijuana wherever tobacco can be used. OHRC spokeswoman Afroze Edwards said she could not speak directly about the complaint, but said generally, ?People who do take marijuana for medicinal purposes have a legal right to do it. ?They have the right to take their medicine, if it requires smoking marijuana in the same place where other people smoke cigarettes.? Barth said the provincial restrictions makes him and his wife, Christine Lowe, who has epilepsy and also uses medicinal marijuana, feel like ?second-class? citizens. ?It?s hard enough being disabled and poor and weak without being treated like this,? he said. From tim at paidoc.org Sat May 31 09:15:28 2008 From: tim at paidoc.org (Tim Meehan) Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 09:15:28 -0400 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: Column: What we know about marijuana References: <627C7E9189394389BAD801AC61764FAB@UserPC> Message-ID: <89AD73AB-E782-43DF-AD54-8E87D32795EA@paidoc.org> You know that Caltrate commercial, with a group of women at a 50th birthday lunch? I picture Kopala, Barbara Kay and Margaret Wente sitting around talking simiarly about how "evil" pot is. > > Webpage: > http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=25896fae-8af2-42c1-8489-a69d5d3e8733 > > Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap > Pubdate: Saturday, May 31, 2008 > Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) > Contact: letters at thecitizen.canwest.com > Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html > Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/index.html > Author: Margret Kopala > > What we know about marijuana > > Margret Kopala > The Ottawa Citizen > > Leading the recent National Post debate on cannabis, columnist > Barbara Kay can't have > anticipated Vancouver's safe injection site, rather than legalized > cannabis, would be > the Trojan Horse for the legalization of all addictive drugs. > > This week, the right of addicts to continue use of illicit drugs was > upheld by the B.C. > Supreme Court even though no treatment of which I am aware uses the > substance that > caused the problem to cure it. Smokers use nicotine gum, not more > cigarettes, to kick > the habit, don't steal to feed their habit and if heroine and > cocaine are so helpful, > why aren't doctors prescribing them in pill form? > > At least we know something about cannabis. In fact we know a lot. > And now a paper > published in Nature places the medicinal, the harmful and the > recreational aspects of > cannabis in a perspective that has implications for how we treat all > addictive > substances. > > According to The Independent, research in the United Kingdom of an > estimated 500,000 > cannabis addicts shows some 26,000 sought treatment in 2006. > Findings from Europe's > largest psychiatric research facility, London University's Institute > of Psychiatry, > establish a clear connection between cannabis use and psychosis. > Though no user is > immune, vulnerable adolescents are at particular risk for developing > schizophrenia, a > progressively disabling form of psychosis producing hallucinations, > delusions and > bizarre behaviour, in young adulthood. > > Research from the institute using MRI scans has demonstrated how two > active ingredients > in cannabis affect the brain. The first, called cannabidiol (CBD), > relaxes it while the > other creates temporary hallucinations and feelings of paranoia. > Tetrahydrocannabinol > (THC), we now know, switches off a regulator in the inferior frontal > cortex by > disrupting neuronal signalling. > > "Cannabis, the mind and society: the hash realities" synthesizes > these and other > findings. Lead author and the Institute's authority on marijuana and > psychosis, Robin M. > Murray, confirmed to me by e-mail that it remains the most current > on the subject. > > It is also the most important. Not only does it provide much-needed > perspective, it also > demonstrates how, irrespective of the number of individual peer > reviewed studies, each > with inherent limitations, no full understanding of a subject is > possible without the > contextualization that meta-analyses and overviews provide. Health > Canada's advisory > committee on Insite, for instance, showed how such limitations > produced a lukewarm > endorsement. > > If brain function is affected by CBD and THC, "Hash Realities" > considers how causality > is further suggested by the fact psychotic symptoms worsen with > continued use and how > while family history is a factor, so are the associated genes, and a > quarter of the > population has them. And while cannabis is addictive and its use > commonly precedes the > use of hard drugs, the "gateway" theory, formerly discredited, is > now being > scientifically verified. > > The paper also references the past and exposes the confusions of the > present. "The > classical Greek term pharmakon indicates that a substance can be a > remedy as well as a > poison," it says. Cannabis based medicines have a future but, in a > "rational world," > these would not be influenced by attitudes toward recreational use > where real problems > do exist. Most problematic? Four per cent of the global population > uses cannabis; world > production has doubled since the early 1990s and THC concentrations > have escalated. The > number of children using the drug is rising. By 2010, one study > predicts, "a substantial > increase in the incidence of schizophrenia should be apparent." > Legalized cannabis > presented few problems in the Netherlands where it is being > reconsidered, but highly > restrictive Sweden presented fewer problems still. > > In Canada, this picture is complicated by the fact marijuana use is > the highest in the > industrial world. The trade, worth $6 billion in British Columbia > alone, finances the > import of guns and hard drugs, whose victims land in Canada's urban > centres where health > communities then seek desperate solutions. > > "Hash Realities" concludes that public education is more effective > than legislation but > given the evidence, the British government recently made cannabis > possession punishable > by up to five years in prison. > > Now where are the comparable perspectives on heroine and cocaine use? > > Margret Kopala's column on western perspectives appears every second > week. > From mycos at shaw.ca Sat May 31 18:47:25 2008 From: mycos at shaw.ca (Mycos) Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 15:47:25 -0700 Subject: [DrugWar] CN ON: Column: What we know about marijuana In-Reply-To: <89AD73AB-E782-43DF-AD54-8E87D32795EA@paidoc.org> References: <627C7E9189394389BAD801AC61764FAB@UserPC> <89AD73AB-E782-43DF-AD54-8E87D32795EA@paidoc.org> Message-ID: <4841D57D.3040907@shaw.ca> Tim Meehan wrote: > You know that Caltrate commercial, with a group of women at a 50th > birthday lunch? I picture Kopala, Barbara Kay and Margaret Wente > sitting around talking simiarly about how "evil" pot is. > LOL...perfect. I was just looking at another article by Kopala. Quite loose with her statistical information. The quote below that lumps a 7 year old in with an 11 yr old being a good example. "..Derek Ogden, head of the RCMP?s Drugs and Organized Crime Centre, where we learned 3% of Canada?s 7-11 year olds are now using marijuana on a daily basis." And I see that the pot industry has grown (no pun intended) by almost a billion dollars in 1 month. "...the marijuana grow-and-export trade to the United States. Now worth over $5 billion in British Columbia alone(Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2008)" From your article below: "The trade, worth $6 billion in British Columbia alone (May 31, 2008)," This is from an article pushing for Rick Hillier to take command of the RCMP. Really....I'm not kidding. Gary~ >> Webpage: >> http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=25896fae-8af2-42c1-8489-a69d5d3e8733 >> >> Newshawk: CMAP http://www.mapinc.org/cmap >> Pubdate: Saturday, May 31, 2008 >> Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) >> Contact: letters at thecitizen.canwest.com >> Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html >> Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/index.html >> Author: Margret Kopala >> >> What we know about marijuana >> >> Margret Kopala >> The Ottawa Citizen >> >> Leading the recent National Post debate on cannabis, columnist >> Barbara Kay can't have >> anticipated Vancouver's safe injection site, rather than legalized >> cannabis, would be >> the Trojan Horse for the legalization of all addictive drugs. >> snipped >> >> In Canada, this picture is complicated by the fact marijuana use is >> the highest in the >> industrial world. The trade, worth $6 billion in British Columbia >> alone, finances the >> import of guns and hard drugs, whose victims land in Canada's urban >> centres where health >> communities then seek desperate solutions.