Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #365
, 12/3/04
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- DRCNET
EVENT:
REP.
BARNEY
FRANK
TO
KEYNOTE
FOR
PERRY
FUND
FORUM/FUNDRAISER,
DECEMBER
9,
2004,
BOSTON
One
of
Congress's
leading
champions
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.
- DEA
RETRACTION
OF
PAIN
FAQ
ANGERS,
SCARES
DOCTORS
AND
PATIENTS
The
DEA
has
released
a
document
attempting
to
justify
its
reasons
for
retracting
a
document
on
pain
management
and
diversion
enforcement.
Their
collaborators
in
medicine
have
released
a
response
tearing
DEA's
claims
to
shreds
and
expressing
grave
concern
for
the
move's
impact
on
pain
management.
- HURWITZ
TRIAL
UPDATE
AND
CALL
FOR
SUPPORT
The
prosecution
has
rested
its
case
against
Dr.
Hurwitz.
Frank
Fisher
provides
an
update
on
a
major
prosecution
failure
and
the
defense's
first
day,
while
the
Pain
Relief
Network
asks
supporters
in
the
DC
area
to
come
out
Monday
when
Hurwitz
takes
the
stand
himself.
- RAICH
CASE
AS
MUCH
ABOUT
FEDERALISM
AS
ABOUT
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
Monday's
oral
arguments
in
Ashcroft
v.
Raich,
where
the
Supreme
Court
took
up
the
case
of
two
California
medical
marijuana
patients,
featured
much
discussion
of
the
merits
of
medical
marijuana.
But
the
court's
decision
has
as
much
or
more
to
do
with
federalism
and
states'
rights
as
marijuana
or
medicine.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
AT
THE
SUPREME
COURT
--
A
TASTE
OF
THE
DAY'S
EVENTS
Medical
marijuana
supporters
began
lining
up
outside
the
US
Supreme
Court
at
4:00am
Monday
morning,
vying
for
a
chance
to
be
present
as
the
justices
heard
oral
arguments
in
a
case
that
could
force
the
federal
government
to
leave
medical
marijuana
patients
alone
in
states
where
it
is
legal.
- TOP
COPS
SAY
DRUG
WAR
A
FLOP
IN
TWO
NEW
SURVEYS
A
survey
conducted
for
the
Police
Foundation
and
Drug
Strategies,
and
another
for
the
National
Association
of
Chiefs
of
Police,
both
find
whopping
majorities
of
police
chiefs
consider
the
drug
war
to
be
a
failure.
- NEWSBRIEF:
GROUP
CAN
DISPLAY
MARIJUANA
REFORM
ADS,
FEDERAL
COURT
RULES
Change
the
Climate
a
Boston-based
organization
that
fights
the
drug
war
with
advertisements
aiming
to
change
the
cultural
surrounding
marijuana,
won
its
First
Amendment
lawsuit
against
the
MBTA
and
can
now
run
its
ads
in
the
subways.
- NEWSBRIEF:
SUPREME
COURT
PUTS
HOLD
ON
RELIGIOUS
AYAHUASCA
USE
Two
weeks
ago,
the
New
Mexico
branch
of
a
Brazilian
church
won
the
right
in
federals
appeals
court
to
use
the
hallucinogen
ayahuasca
in
its
religious
rites.
On
Wednesday,
the
Bush
administration
sought
and
won
a
stay
from
the
Supreme
Court
blocking
the
church
from
using
its
sacrament
until
they
have
heard
the
case.
- NEWSBRIEF:
DELAWARE
LEGISLATURE
TO
TAKE
UP
NEEDLE
EXCHANGE
AGAIN
Delaware
is
the
last
state
to
allow
neither
non-prescription
needle
sales
nor
NEPs
as
harm
reduction
measures
for
the
prevention
of
HIV/AIDS.
But
that
could
change
next
year,
as
Delaware
lawmakers
vow
to
push
once
again
for
passage
of
an
NEP
bill.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BRITAIN'S
BRAVE
NEW
WORLD
OF
DRUG
TESTING
GETS
UNDERWAY
British
Prime
Minister
Tony
Blair
has
moved
forward
with
plans
to
institute
drug
testing
of
arrestees,
who
could
then
be
charged
with
possession
if
traces
of
drugs
are
found
in
their
systems.
The
proposed
measure
is
part
of
a
package
of
"tough
on
crime"
bills
Blair
is
touting
as
part
of
his
campaign
to
be
reelected.
- NEWSBRIEF:
AFGHAN
OPIUM
FARMERS
CLAIM
THEY
ARE
BEING
SPRAYED
WITH
PESTICIDES
The
Afghan
government
of
President
Hamid
Karzai
is
investigating
claims
from
villagers
that
their
fields
have
been
subjected
to
aerial
fumigation
as
part
of
the
effort
to
suppress
opium
production
in
the
country.
- NEWSBRIEF:
DRUG
POLICY
ALLIANCE
REJECTS
GRANT
OVER
ANTI-TERROR
CLAUSE
One
of
the
nation's
premier
drug
reform
groups,
the
Drug
Policy
Alliance,
is
returning
a
$200,000
grant
from
the
Ford
Foundation
because
of
a
new
clause
they
say
undermines
freedom
of
speech.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FEDERAL
SENTENCING
GUIDELINES
FILL
PRISONS
WITH
BLACKS,
HISPANICS,
STUDY
FINDS
A
United
States
Sentencing
Commission
study
released
November
23
found
that
the
number
of
minority
offenders
doing
time
in
federal
has
climbed
dramatically
since
the
introduction
of
federal
sentencing
guidelines
in
1987.
Minorities
now
make
up
a
majority
of
the
federal
prison
population,
the
study
found.
- THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORY
A
trio
of
Memphis,
Tennessee,
cops
are
facing
a
variety
of
charges
ranging
from
drug
possession
to
conspiracy
to
commit
burglary,
and
those
aren't
even
the
most
fun
of
the
counts.
- THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- NEW
HARM
REDUCTION
GRANT
PROGRAM
FOR
ACTIVISM
AND
POLICY
BY
AND
FOR
DRUG
USERS
The
International
Harm
Reduction
Development
Program
(IHRD)
of
the
Open
Society
Institute
has
announced
a
new
grant
competition
in
support
of
activism
and
policy
development
by
and
for
drug
users.
- 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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