Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #387
-- 5/20/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
WEAK
CLAIMS
OF
SUCCESS
The
drug
czar's
claims
of
successes
are
weak
and
should
not
be
allowed
to
obfuscate
the
harms
the
drug
war
has
wrought.
- FEATURE:
BUSH
ADMINISTRATION
CLAIMS
SUCCESS
IN
COLOMBIA
DRUG
WAR,
SEEKS
MORE
MONEY
As
the
annual
congressional
appropriations
battle
over
funding
for
the
US
war
on
drugs
in
Colombia
begins
anew,
critics
are
pointing
to
all
sorts
of
problems
and
organizing
for
a
new
approach.
- FEATURE:
AS
CALIFORNIA
GRAPPLES
WITH
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA,
SOME
COMMUNITIES
MOVE
TO
REGULATE
OR
BAN
DISPENSARIES
Nearly
a
decade
after
the
passage
of
California's
groundbreaking
Proposition
215,
which
made
medicinal
marijuana
use
legal,
some
communities
are
attempting
to
circumvent
the
law
with
local
moratoria
and
bans.
- NIGHTMARE
IN
BALI:
YOUNG
AUSTRALIAN
WOMAN
FACES
POSSIBLE
DEATH
SENTENCE
FOR
MARIJUANA
SMUGGLING
IN
CASE
STIRRING
PASSIONS
The
case
of
Schapelle
Corby,
a
27-year-old
beautician
from
Australia
facing
a
possible
death
sentence
in
Indonesia
for
marijuana
found
in
her
luggage,
is
gaining
global
attention
and
threatening
to
damage
relations
between
the
two
neighbors.
- ANNOUNCEMENT:
DRCNET/PERRY
FUND
EVENT
TO
FEATURE
US
REP.
JIM
MCDERMOTT,
JUNE
1
IN
SEATTLE
Please
join
DRCNet
and
the
Perry
Fund
for
the
first
west
coast
stop
in
our
national
tour
raising
money
for
student
scholarships
and
awareness
of
a
bad
law.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
The
temptations
of
prohibition
are
writ
large
this
week
with
a
massive
bust
of
cops
and
soldiers
in
Arizona,
while
on
the
East
Coast,
one
cop
is
going
to
prison
in
Buffalo
and
two
more
appear
headed
that
way
in
Baltimore.
And
out
in
the
Rockies,
having
sex
with
a
snitch
is
proving
troublesome
for
one
wayward
law
enforcement
Lothario.
- FREE
SPEECH:
NJ
WEEDMAN
ARRESTED
AT
STATEHOUSE
OVER
POT
LEAF
T-SHIRT
Veteran
wild
man
marijuana
activist
Ed
Forchion,
better
known
as
the
New
Jersey
Weedman,
was
arrested
May
11
by
New
Jersey
State
Troopers
as
he
attempted
to
enter
the
state
capitol
building
in
Trenton
to
deliver
a
press
release
to
reporters.
- SPORTS:
DRUG
CZAR'S
TEAM
RUNS
FROM
DRUG
REFORM
"ONE-HITTERS"
A
softball
team
fielded
by
staff
of
The
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy,
home
of
drug
czar
John
Walters,
has
backed
away
from
a
confrontation
with
home
town
drug
reformers.
- AUSTRALIA:
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
ANNOUNCES
TOUGH
NEW
DRUG
LAWS
In
a
move
that
has
prompted
accusations
of
political
grandstanding
by
opponents,
South
Australia
Premier
Mike
Rann
announced
Monday
that
the
state
will
crack
down
on
some
drug
offenses
with
tougher
penalties
to
go
into
effect
later
this
year.
- ASIA:
US
"DRUG
EXPERT"
SAYS
NO
WAY
TO
AFGHAN
OPIUM-INTO-MEDICINE
PROPOSAL
Even
as
violence
once
again
flared
in
the
US-backed
campaign
to
eradicate
Afghanistan's
opium
crop,
a
recently
resigned
former
top
State
Department
drug
fighter
rejected
a
proposal
to
solve
the
Afghan
opium
dilemma
by
diverting
the
crop
to
the
legitimate
global
medicinal
market.
- CANADA:
FORMER
VANCOUVER
TOP
DRUG
COP'S
STUDY
FINDS
DRUG
BUSTS
BOOST
DRUG
SALES
In
a
prohibition
paradox,
crackdowns
on
retail
drug
dealers
result
in
lower
prices
and
increased
drug
sales,
says
Vancouver
Police
Inspector
Kash
Heed,
a
former
head
of
the
department's
drug
squad.
- EUROPE:
GERMAN
DRUG
DEATHS
AT
15-YEAR
LOW,
GOVERNMENT
CREDITS
HARM
REDUCTION
An
annual
report
from
the
German
Health
Ministry
has
found
that
the
number
of
people
who
died
from
illegal
drug
use
in
Germany
is
at
its
lowest
level
since
1989,
and
the
German
government
is
crediting
harm
reduction
measures
for
the
decline.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
LISTING:
OUTREACH
COORDINATOR,
COALITION
FOR
HIGHER
EDUCATION
ACT
REFORM
(DRCNET)
Work
is
available
from
July
onward
in
the
campaign
to
repeal
the
drug
provision
of
the
Higher
Education
Act.
- MORE
JOB
LISTINGS:
DRUG
POLICY
ALLIANCE,
MARIJUANA
POLICY
PROJECT,
COMMUNITY
HIV/AIDS
MOBILIZATION
PROJECT
Work
is
available
at
a
variety
of
organizations
in
drug
policy
reform
and
AIDS/harm
reduction.
- WEEKLY:
THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
listings
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
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