Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #363
, 11/19/04
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
GOING
THE
WRONG
WAY
IN
AFGHANISTAN
US
officials
are
preparing
to
ramp
up
anti-opium
measures
in
Afghanistan.
If
they
care
about
security
--
and
Afghanistan
--
they'll
think
again.
- DRCNET
EVENT:
REP.
BARNEY
FRANK
TO
KEYNOTE
FOR
PERRY
FUND
FORUM/FUNDRAISER,
DECEMBER
9,
2004,
BOSTON
One
of
Congress's
leading
champion
of
drug
law
reform
will
address
a
forum/fundraiser
benefiting
the
John
W.
Perry
Fund,
providing
scholarships
to
students
who
have
lost
their
college
aid
because
of
drug
convictions.
- BUSH
ADMINISTRATION
TO
GO
AFTER
AFGHAN
OPIUM
TRADE
In
the
three
years
since
the
US
overthrew
Afghanistan's
Taliban
regime
in
the
wake
of
the
2001
attacks
on
New
York
and
Washington,
Afghanistan
has
reemerged
as
the
world's
leading
opium
producer.
The
Washington
Post
reported
this
week
that
after
a
summer-long
review
of
the
Afghan
situation,
the
Bush
administration
had
decided
to
try
to
break
the
back
of
the
Afghan
opium
trade.
Analysts
are
concerned
at
the
possible
consequences.
- IRV
ROSENFELD
CELEBRATES
22
YEARS
OF
GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
USE
There
are
not
many
people
who
can
say
they
have
the
federal
government's
permission
to
smoke
marijuana,
but
Florida
stockbroker
Irv
Rosenfeld
is
one
of
them.
This
weekend
he
marks
22
years
of
federally
supplied
medical
marijuana.
- GENE
DOPING:
SPORTS
AT
THE
CELLULAR
LEVEL
While
the
sports
world
has
been
riveted
by
news
of
steroid
users
and
innuendo
about
those
who
might
be,
the
next
wave
of
performance
enhancement
has
been
forming.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MASSACHUSETTS
JUDGE
RIPS
"DRUG
FREE
ZONE"
MANDATORY
MINIMUMS
One
of
Massachusetts'
leading
jurists
spoke
out
Monday
against
the
state's
"drug
free
zone"
law,
saying
that
the
mandatory
minimum
sentence
for
drug
possession
is
discriminatory
and
corrodes
faith
in
the
fairness
of
the
criminal
justice
system.
- NEWSBRIEF:
JUDGE
SENTENCES
MARIJUANA
SELLER
TO
55
YEARS,
THEN
ATTACKS
MANDATORY
MINIMUMS
A
federal
judge
in
Salt
Lake
City
Tuesday
sentenced
budding
rap
music
entrepreneur
Weldon
Angelos,
25,
to
55
years
in
prison
for
minor
marijuana
sales
to
a
police
informant
while
armed
--
then
complained
that
mandatory
minimum
sentencing
laws
made
him
do
it.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BILL
TO
PROTECT
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
PATIENTS
INTRODUCED
IN
SENATE
For
the
first
time,
the
US
Senate
will
consider
a
bill
designed
to
protect
medical
marijuana
patients.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MISSOURI
SUPREME
COURT
JUST
SAYS
NO
TO
SUSPICIONLESS
DRUG
DOG
TRAFFIC
SEARCHES
The
Missouri
Supreme
Court
has
ruled
that
detaining
motorists
stopped
for
traffic
violations
until
a
drug
dog
can
arrive
violates
the
Fourth
Amendment's
protections
against
warrantless
searches.
- NEWSBRIEF:
"IRRATIONAL"
SENTENCES
DRIVE
KENTUCKY
PRISON
CRISIS,
REPORT
SAYS
A
study
authored
by
one
of
Kentucky's
most
respected
and
influential
law
professors
calls
for
repeal
of
"irrational
penalties"
that
have
caused
the
state's
prison
population
to
explode.
Drug
sentences
and
a
tough
habitual
offender
law
are
the
primary
culprits.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FEDERAL
APPEALS
COURT
AGAIN
UPHOLDS
RELIGIOUS
AYAHUASCA
USE
A
New
Mexico-based
branch
of
a
Brazilian
church
that
uses
an
Amazonian
psychedelic
in
its
ceremonies
has
for
the
third
time
fended
off
the
federal
government's
attempt
to
ban
the
practice
in
the
United
States.
Actual
ceremonies
using
the
plant
may
begin
again
soon.
- NEWSBRIEF:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
We
missed
a
week
last
week,
but
that
doesn't
mean
all
the
prohibition-related
corruption
suddenly
vanished.
The
beat
goes
on,
and
this
week
we
feature
one
especially
sordid,
if
small-time
case,
as
well
as
one
more
typical
corruption
case.
- THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- APPLY
NOW
TO
INTERN
AT
DRCNET!
Make
a
difference
next
semester!
DRCNet
and
the
Coalition
for
Higher
Education
Act
Reform
are
seeking
motivated
and
hardworking
interns
for
the
Spring
2005
Semester.
- DRUGWARMARKET.COM
SEEKING
INFORMATION,
AFFILIATIONS,
LINK
EXCHANGES
DrugWarMarket.com,
a
web
site
that
follows
the
economy
of
the
drug
war,
is
seeking
affiliations,
link
exchanges,
information.
- THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
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