August 1, 2002

drugpolicy.org

CONTENTS:

1. National News
A. Opposition Grows To Senate Bill Targeting
Raves: 30,000 Faxes And Counting As Senate
Delays Vote
B. Oops! Marijuana Eradication Effort Leads to
15,000 Acre Fire
C. Marijuana Eradication in Hawaii Boosts Crystal
Methamphetamine Use
D. Needle Exchange: Public Health vs. Politics in
the District of Colombia
E. Land of the Free Still World's Biggest Jailer
F. Wisconsin Community Coalition Pushes for
Treatment, Not Prison
G. South Dakota School Officials Terrorize
Kindergarten with Drug-Sniffing Dogs
H. Anabolic Steroids "Not a High Priority" for
DEA
I. FBI Reaffirms Shift in Priorities
2. International News
A. Cannabinoids Show Promise in Treating Anxiety
B. Canadian Hemp Producer to File NAFTA Lawsuit

N A T I O N A L N E W S

OPPOSITION GROWS TO SENATE BILL TARGETING RAVES: 30,000 FAXES AND COUNTING AS SENATE DELAYS VOTE

What was seen as an easy legislative slam-dunk a few weeks ago is now becoming more of a challenge, as supporters of a Senate bill attacking all-night dance parties and other musical events face growing opposition from civil liberties groups, business groups, and voters. Once on a fast track, the bill is stalled for at least a month as the Senate goes into recess and co-sponsors work with opponents in an attempt to address their concerns.

A campaign by the Drug Policy Alliance has sent 30,000 faxes from angry voters to the Senate in opposition to the bill. Business interests recently delivered petitions with nearly 10,000 signatures to the Senate with the warning that, "this bill is a serious threat to civil liberties, freedom of speech and the right to dance." Health advocates and business owners warn the bill will undermine public health and property rights.

The bill at the center of debate is the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (RAVE Act). If enacted, business owners could face severe fines and long prison sentences if they fail to prevent customers from using or selling drugs on their premises or at their concerts or other events. The proposed law also potentially subjects homeowners to enormous fines and sentences if some of their guests use drugs at their party or barbecue. Introduced in the Senate on June 18th, the RAVE Act has already passed the Senate Judiciary Committee without a hearing or recorded vote and could face a full Senate vote as early as September.

"Using the acronym RAVE was designed to force the Senate to act and disguise the serious threat to property rights, free speech, and even the right to dance," said Bill McColl, Director of National Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Fortunately with the Senate going into recess, lawmakers can now take time to reconsider this dangerous bill."

Health advocates fear that the bill will endanger our nation's youth. If enacted, licensed and law- abiding business owners may stop hosting raves or other events that federal authorities don't like, out of fear of massive fines and prison sentences. Thus, the law would drive raves and other musical events further underground and away from public health and safety regulations. It would also discourage business owners from enacting smart harm- reduction measures to protect their customers. By insinuating that selling bottled water and offering air-conditioned "cool off" rooms is proof that owners and promoters know drug use is occurring at their events, the bill may make business owners too afraid to implement such harm-reduction measures, and the safety of our kids will suffer.

"By scaring business owners with lawsuits and criminal sanctions this bill is endangering the safety of young people," said Daniel Abrahamsom, Director of Legal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Even widely-accepted, common sense safety steps, such as ensuring an adequate supply of water at a dance club or having ambulances available at large concert venues could be used as evidence against innocent businessmen."

OOPS! MARIJUANA ERADICATION EFFORT LEADS TO 15,000 ACRE FIRE

The government's ongoing war against the marijuana plant may have sparked a 15,000 acre fire in San Diego after a National Guard helicopter clipped a power line during a mission to find hidden groves of marijuana plants in the area. Officials said the pilot landed and saw a power line sparking on ground. Almost 2,000 firefighters were struggling on Wednesday to contain the blaze. The fire is the largest in southern California during one of the worst summer fire seasons ever. California Forestry officials said the fire was only 10 percent contained and had destroyed five homes and a handful of vehicles and outbuildings since breaking out on Monday afternoon.

MARIJUANA ERADICATION IN HAWAII BOOSTS CRYSTAL METHAMPHETAMINE USE

The Hawaii Tribune Herald has reported that a National Institute of Drug Abuse study shows that marijuana eradication in Hawaii contributed to an increase in the use of the drug "ice," a smokeable form of methamphetamine. The three year study gathered information from 450 methamphetamine users in Honolulu, San Francisco and San Diego. "It's the first study ever done that interviewed users in the community," said study leader Patricia Morgan. Apparently NIDA never bothered to include key stakeholders in previous efforts, which may explain why the organization is often accused of producing politicized research with predetermined outcomes. California methamphetamine users were reportedly more likely to snort or inject the drug, while 86 percent of the Hawaii users smoked the crystal form. "The use of ice in Honolulu had led to particularly serious physical and psychological problems and significant social disruption in poor working communities where it replaced marijuana, which had become scarce and expensive due to eradication policies," states the report's executive summary.

The summary noted that the "overwhelming majority" of meth users in Honolulu began using the drug after 1984. The methamphetamine report noted several influences on the "tremendous growth" of ice in Hawaii after 1987. "Residents were both pushed away from pakalolo (marijuana), their staple drug of choice, and pulled toward ice by a well organized marketing campaign by Asian distributors," the report said. "Also, the overwhelming smokeable drug of choice, marijuana or pakalolo, which has been grown and used throughout the islands for many years, became the target of a government eradication campaign. This drove up prices, drastically reduced availability and left locals without their customary, and many would say, relatively benign, smoke." The Hawaii Tribune Herald presumably used a hard copy of the NIDA report as a basis for their July 25th article. An electronic version could not be found on the NIDA website.

NEEDLE EXCHANGE: PUBLIC HEALTH VS. POLITICS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLOMBIA

Senate appropriators unanimously approved the District's $5.8 billion fiscal 2003 budget, proposing to end a two-year-old ban on city taxpayer support for drug needle exchange programs. Whether or not science will trump politics remains to be seen. The Senate panel's approval will likely lead to a clash with the House of Representatives, which last year insisted on placing the restriction in the budget bill. District leaders embraced the Senate's vote as an affirmation of home rule. In 1988 Congress prohibited the District from using federal funds on programs that supply clean needles to intravenous drug users to combat the spread of AIDS, hepatitis and other blood-borne diseases. Two years ago, lawmakers extended the ban to include local tax support. The Senate bill would preserve the ban on federal funds but allow the District to spend locally raised tax dollars. The District's AIDS case rate at the end of 2000 was 153 per 100,000 people, 10 times the national rate of 14.4 per 100,000. "Lives are at stake. It's not just a home rule issue," said Paul E. Strauss (D), a D.C. statehood lobbyist and shadow senator.

LAND OF THE FREE STILL WORLD'S BIGGEST JAILER

The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released new prison figures indicating that at the end of 2001, the state prison population had remained relatively stable while the federal prison population continued to rise, up 8% since 2000. An analysis by The Sentencing Project suggests that while states like Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas seem to be reacting to a worsening fiscal crisis and skyrocketing prison populations by seeking alternatives to the costly option of incarceration, the federal government has shown no signs of changing course. The burden of incarceration continues to fall disproportionately upon African- American males, with significant costs to the community, family and individual. At year-end 2001, the United States remained the world leader in its rate of incarceration. To read the Sentencing Project's complete analysis please visit:
http://www.sentencingproject.org/news/bjsreport-july2002.pdf

WISCONSIN COMMUNITY COALITION PUSHES FOR TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

Religious groups in Wisconsin are backing a legislative proposal that would require treatment instead of prison for first-time drug offenders, the Milwaukee Shepherd Express reported June 27. Former inmate Barry Hubbard said that drug offenders are not rehabilitated in prison. "They had an AA meeting about once a month, and that's about it. It's really just a warehouse for people," Howard said of the Wisconsin House of Correction. "You sit around and play cards or dominoes all day or you learn how to be a crook." According to state figures, the inmate population in Wisconsin has risen 14.5 percent since 1998, from 21,530 to 25,177. About 70 percent of the inmates have alcohol or other drug problems. "We've built an awful lot of prisons because of our drug policy," said Kit McNally, executive director of the Benedict Center, which runs programs for ex-offenders.

Local religious groups, under the name Milwaukee Inner City Churches Allied for Hope (MICAH), are pushing for a state law that would help addicted individuals like Hubbard. The proposal would make alcohol and other drug treatment mandatory for first-time, non-violent drug possession offenses. Judges would have the option to order treatment for second-time offenders, too. In addition, the proposal would eliminate any record of the offense if the person successfully completes the treatment program. "We think it's the more just solution than the current solution, a more effective solution. Incarceration does little or nothing to rehabilitate," said MICAH's Conner Williams. John Goldstein, president of the Milwaukee County Labor Council, agreed. "This is one of these things that seems so practical. It just makes total sense that you can treat someone so they do not become recidivists and instead become productive members of society. It's a no-brainer, really." To learn about the recovery movement's national initiative to increase treatment resources please visit:
http://www.jointogether.org/sa/action/dt/

SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL OFFICIALS TERRORIZE KINDERGARTEN WITH DRUG-SNIFFING DOGS

American Civil Liberties Union press release:

SIOUX FALLS, SD--The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal class-action lawsuit on behalf of 17 Native American students - some as young as six years old - who were terrorized when public school officials and law enforcement officers brought in a German Shepherd to conduct a suspicionless drug sweep of all K-12 classrooms. "What this school administration allowed is truly shocking," said Graham Boyd, Director of the ACLU's Drug Policy Litigation Project and lead counsel in the case. "Officials at this school, along with law enforcement officers, seem to be pioneering a practice of treating even the youngest students like hardened criminals." The case, Shenona Banks et al. v. Wagner School Board, is being filed on behalf of 17 Native American students who attend the Wagner Community School in rural Wagner, located near the Yankton Sioux Reservation, two- and-a-half hours west of Sioux Falls.

According to the ACLU complaint, on two separate days in May a number of local and federal law enforcement officers led a large German Shepherd police dog through the classrooms after the principal announced a "lockdown" over the loudspeaker. A school official who accompanied the police instructed the students to put their hands on their desks and avoid petting or looking at the dog or making any sudden movements. In some classrooms, a school official told students that any sudden movement could cause the dog to attack. In at least one instance, the ACLU complaint said, the dog escaped its leash in a kindergarten class and chased students around the room. Some students had been traumatized by previous dog attacks and one young girl still has the scars of a previous attack on her face. Many began crying and trembling and at least one urinated involuntarily. The complaint filed in this case is online at
http://www.aclu.org/court/volk.pdf

ANABOLIC STEROIDS "NOT A HIGH PRIORITY" FOR DEA

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has conducted numerous paramilitary raids on California's voter-approved medical marijuana clubs. Depriving cancer and AIDS patients of palliative medicine is a priority for the DEA - but Anabolic steroids aren't. Selling or using anabolic steroids has been against federal and state law for 11 years. "It is a responsibility of ours, but it is not a high priority for us," said Cynthia Coviella, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. A survey conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that more than 500,000 eighth- and 10th-grade students alone were using steroids. Despite the relative danger of steroids, marijuana is clearly a bigger priority for the DEA. Director Asa Hutchinson recently visited Amsterdam where he urged the Dutch to toughen their drug policy. A review of resulting press reports from previous visits by visiting U.S. officials reveals a disturbing pattern. Coffee shops that sell marijuana can be found throughout the Netherlands, yet Amsterdam's notorious red-light district is invariably the preferred destination of drug war bureaucrats.

SENATE CONFIRMS GREEN BERET AS NEXT SURGEON GENERAL

On Tuesday the Senate confirmed former Green Beret turned surgeon Richard Carmona as the next US Surgeon General, filling a position that can help shape public attitudes on a wide range of health issues, including drug policy. Bush's choice for Surgeon General is a Vietnam veteran and part-time sheriff's deputy in Tucson, AZ. Highlights of his career include shooting and then treating a criminal suspect. Some of his experiences and credentials have led critics to suspect that Bush chose Carmona for reasons other than medical expertise. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who presided over confirmation hearings at the Senate Health, Education, Pension and Labor Committee, said Carmona had "satisfactorily addressed all the tough questions. Dr. Carmona impressed us with his commitment to preventive health, and made particularly clear his intention to aggressively oppose tobacco use by children and youth and to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic."

To date the Bush administration has ignored the recommendations of its own AIDS czar with respect to the glaring need for needle exchanges as a means of reducing the spread of HIV. Carmona's stance on harm reduction interventions is not clear at present. Such topics are best handled with "don't ask, don't tell" approaches during confirmation hearings. Once in office former Clinton Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders received severe criticism for daring to suggest that an honest debate on drug policy was needed. Politicians on both sides of the aisle did not take kindly to Elders' call for honesty. The drug policy debate has moved forward substantially since then, but promising statements regarding alternatives to incarceration made by Bush during his inaugural address have since been eclipsed by the appointment of a series of unqualified culture warriors to key drug policy positions that impact public health. Lacking relevant medical credentials, drug czar John Walters' previous claim to fame was helping coin the term "superpredators" to describe young black males. To learn more about the need for needle exchanges please visit:
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/idu.htm

FBI REAFFIRMS SHIFT IN PRIORITIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation director Robert Mueller reiterated that that the war on terrorism demands that the FBI pull agents away from the war on some drugs. Reasonable people agree that international terrorism poses a far greater societal threat than non-traditional consensual vices. Attorney General John Ashcroft responded with his own reaffirmation. "I reject the notion that a nation founded on the ideals of freedom can willfully abandon the goal of defeating drugs," Ashcroft said. "We will defeat drugs." Freedom in Ashcroft's mind involves big government monitoring what citizens ingest and the continuation of punitive drug policies that have given the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. Seemingly incapable of applying basic free market principles to drug policy, a confused Ashcroft confirmed that drug prohibition funds terrorism and vowed to maintain the status quo.

I N T E R N A T I O N A L N E W S

CANNABINOIDS SHOW PROMISE IN TREATING ANXIETY

German scientists recently found that naturally occurring cannabinoids, similar to the active ingredient in cannabis, can wipe out bad memories. The finding could lead to new treatments for anxiety disorders and phobias. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have shown that natural chemicals in the brain similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana which produces the high, dampen nerve cell action and wipe out unpleasant memories. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, and similar molecules in the brain known as cannabinoids bind to the brain's chemical receptors, and can create a feeling of euphoria. Marijuana and hashish have been used for centuries for medicinal and recreational purposes. Lutz believes the chemicals help wipe out the fear or memory of the unpleasant response by binding to the cannabinoid receptors . Smoking cannabis would not produce the same effect in humans, Lutz said, because it overflows the brain and is not specific enough to extinguish the unpleasant memory. Lutz and his team think drugs that target specific enzymes to boost cannabinoids could help people suffering from panic attacks and fear-related memories.

CANADIAN HEMP PRODUCER TO FILE NAFTA LAWSUIT

Industrial hemp-growing company Kenex Ltd., will take on the U.S. State Department tomorrow when it files a lawsuit under the North American Free Trade Agreement. The company, based in Chatham, Canada is seeking at least $20 million US compensation because it says the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's attempt to ban hemp seed foods is financially devastating. "Kenex's business was going to be built around and focused on its access to the U.S. market," says the company's lawyer, Todd Weiler. "They were ready to go to town and they have this come down on them... It's not just that they were exporting into the U.S., they had plans to do a heck of a lot more, and that got stymied." The company, which employs about 10 people, has grown and processed hemp oil, seed and fibre products since 1998 -- when the Canadian government lifted a ban on hemp farming dating back to 1938.

While marijuana has long been considered a controlled substance, industrial hemp products, such as fibres and textiles, are exempt from control under U.S. legislation. In 1999 a Kenex shipment of sterilized hemp seed was confiscated at the border. After a four-month legal battle, Customs allowed the shipment to cross, but by that time the seed had spoiled and the company had lost major customers. Kenex argued the DEA's actions violated the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which exempts sterilized hemp seed and oil from control. Six months after the seizure, the U.S. Department of Justice said the DEA lacked the authority to confiscate the goods. In October 2001, the DEA issued a ban on food products made with hemp seed and oil, giving manufacturers and retailers until February 2002 to pull products from the shelves. That would have dealt a blow to the $5-million hemp food industry, but a counter-attack launched by the Hemp Industry Association blocked the move in a ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, where a decision is still pending. Kenex is a co-plaintiff in that case.