Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #402
-- 9/9/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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Chronicle editor Phil Smith is on site
this week representing DRCNet at, and reporting on, a major Latin American
drug policy gathering -- see our lead story for a preliminary report.
Our full slate of multiple feature stories will return next week -- this
week is mostly newsbriefs, but a lot of them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FEATURE:
REGIONAL
ANTI-PROHIBITIONIST
CONFERENCE
GETS
UNDER
WAY
IN
BUENOS
AIRES
Dozens
of
drug
reform
activists
from
throughout
Latin
America
and
Europe
joined
with
legislators,
judges,
lawyers,
researchers
and
local
activists
in
Buenos
Aires
Wednesday
evening
to
kickoff
the
Latin
American
Meeting
for
Drug
Policy
Reform
and
the
1st
Regional
Syposium
of
Legislators
and
Judges
on
Drug
Policy.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Another
mass
bust
of
cops
and
soldiers
in
Arizona,
a
pair
of
DC
cops
having
to
explain
why
they
had
90
pounds
of
coke
in
their
luggage
coming
into
Miami
from
South
America,
and
a
Honolulu
cop
busted
for
selling
speed
all
make
the
Corrupt
Cops
feature
this
week.
- EUROPE:
CONTENDER
FOR
BRITISH
TORY
LEADERSHIP
SAYS
LEGALIZE
DRUGS
In
remarks
that
will
shock
many
Tories,
a
leading
contender
for
the
leadership
of
Britain's
Conservative
Party
said
Wednesday
the
United
Nations
should
consider
legalizing
drugs.
- ASIA:
AFGHAN
OPIUM
PRODUCTION
ESSENTIALLY
STABLE
THIS
YEAR
DESPITE
CRACKDOWN
Afghanistan's
opium
crop,
which
supplies
an
estimate
87
percent
of
the
global
market,
declined
only
slightly
less
opium
this
year
despite
a
government
crackdown
on
peasant
poppy
farmers
and
rapidly
increasing
international
efforts
led
by
Britain
and
the
United
States.
- PRESS
RELEASE:
LAWRENCE,
KANSAS,
MOVING
TO
SHIFT
MARIJUANA
PROSECUTIONS
TO
MUNICIPAL
COURT
TO
AVOID
HEA
DRUG
PROVISION
A
move
afoot
in
the
college
town
of
Lawrence
would
save
would-be
students
from
losing
college
aid
under
a
law
punishing
drug
offenders
convicted
in
state
or
federal
court.
- SENTENCING:
NEW
YORK
GOVERNOR
SIGNS
ANOTHER
PARTIAL
ROCKY
REFORM
BILL
--
WILL
FREE
AT
MOST
500
PRISONERS
At
the
last
minute,
New
York's
governor
has
signed
into
law
a
bill
that
will
allow
some
500
people
imprisoned
under
the
Rockefeller
drug
laws
to
appeal
their
sentences
and
perhaps
get
out
of
prison
early.
But
the
cases
are
complicated
and
the
process
is
slow.
- MARIJUANA:
SURGE
IN
ARRESTS
HAS
LITTLE
EFFECT
ON
USE
RATES,
STUDY
FINDS
Despite
hundreds
of
thousands
of
marijuana
arrests
each
year,
law
enforcement
has
proven
ineffective
in
curbing
usage,
the
Justice
Policy
Institute
reported
in
a
study
released
late
last
month.
- CANADA:
VANCOUVER
DRUG
USERS'
GROUP
ASSISTS
USERS
WITH
INJECTING
IN
ORDER
TO
REDUCE
HIV
TRANSMISSION
In
the
wake
of
a
Vancouver
study
finding
users
who
have
difficulty
shooting
up
are
more
likely
to
contract
HIV,
a
Vancouver
drug
users'
group
has
begun
a
program
to
assist
them
--
potentially
risking
drug
trafficking
charges
for
doing
so.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
VIRGINIA
NURSES
ASSOCIATION
REITERATES
ITS
SUPPORT
The
Virginia
Nurses
Association,
the
first
in
the
country
to
come
out
in
favor
of
medical
marijuana,
has
reconfirmed
its
support
for
therapeutic
cannabis
and
called
for
immediate
legislation
to
legalize
its
medicinal
use.
- CROOKED
SNITCHES:
OREGON
DROPS
MORE
THAN
40
CASES
TIED
TO
BAD
INFORMANT
Marc
Craven
of
Portland
was
a
pro
at
bringing
in
information
needed
to
bust
alleged
drug
users
and
dealers.
Unfortunately,
also
has
a
long
history
of
entrapment
and
a
felony
criminal
record.
Now
the
state
has
dropped
more
than
40
of
his
cases.
- EUROPE:
CRACKDOWN
IN
GEORGIA
Authorities
in
the
former
Soviet
Republic
of
Georgia
have
embarked
on
an
unprecedented
effort
to
crack
down
on
drug
use
and
drug
trafficking,
and
are
employing
tactics
likely
to
promote
vigilantism,
according
to
drug
reform
activists.
- QUOTE:
WILLIAM
REHNQUIST
ON
MANDATORY
MINIMUM
SENTENCING
Proof
that
there
is
no
conservative
consensus
in
favor
of
harsh
mandatory
drug
sentencing
are
remarks
delivered
by
the
late
chief
justice
during
a
widely
cited
speech
delivered
in
the
1990s.
- MEDIA
SCAN
HEA
in
Boston
Globe,
Medical
Marijuana
in
New
England
Journal
of
Medicine,
Medscape,
More
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITIES:
MARIJUANA
POLICY
PROJECT
The
Marijuana
Policy
Project
has
full-
and
part-time
job
openings
for
campaigns
in
states
around
the
country.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITY:
HARM
REDUCTION
POSITION
IN
NEW
MEXICO
The
Santa
Fe
Mountain
Center
is
hiring
a
Street
Outreach
Worker
to
provide
harm
reduction
outreach
services
to
injection
drug
users
in
northern
New
Mexico.
- 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!
this issue, one-page printer version
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