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(renamed "Drug War Chronicle" effective issue #300, August 2003) Issue #45, 6/5/98
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition" We are getting ready to send out all copies of Marijuana Myths Marijuana, Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts ordered after April 28, as well as any that were reported since last week's bulletin as never sent or lost in the mail. If you ordered before April 28, but haven't received your copy (and didn't write to us last week to let us know you haven't received, please send us a note right now at [email protected] and we will make sure it goes out today or next week. Please accept our apologies for the delay; we are looking forward to getting you your copy of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts! Mike Gray's DRUG CRAZY is finally in the stores -- read last week's alert -- http://www.drcnet.org/wol/44.html#drugcrazy -- and take action to help bring this important book to national prominence. Table of Contents
(visit last week's Week Online)
1. DEA Holds Hearing on Use of Herbicide in Eradication - Marc Brandl for DRCNet In the late seventies and early eighties, contaminated marijuana brought one word to mind: Paraquat. Now, under a DEA plan which is already causing controversy, new herbicides under such names as triclopyr, or glyphosate may soon become synonymous with poisoned marijuana. Last Wednesday (5/27) the DEA held public hearings in Washington, DC on the possible environmental dangers posed by using a herbicide called triclopyr in a program called the "DEA's Domestic Cannabis Eradication Suppression Program" or DCE/SP. The use of a new chemical in "aerial directed spraying" in the U.S. has raised the attention of environmentalists, industrial hemp advocates, and marijuana law reformers. Testifying before the DEA board, which also included EPA officials, NORML Director of Publications Paul Armentano, citing a Vermont State Auditors report said, "over 99% of the 422,716,526 total marijuana plants eliminated (in the DCE/SP program) nationwide by the agency in 1996 were 'ditchweed', non-psychoactive hemp." Most of the ditchweed eradicated by the program is thought to be the leftovers of hemp plants grown for military supplies in World War II. Another concern of people testifying at the hearing was possible public health effects. The long term effects of smoking Triclopyr-laced marijuana have not been studied. "Poisoning marijuana users is an abominable drug war tactic" stated Marijuana Policy Project Director of Communication Chuck Thomas, "But it is not surprising, considering that the national health care policy for medical marijuana users is to arrest them." Currently only three chemicals have been approved for marijuana eradication efforts: glyphosate, 2,4-D, and paraquat. Of those, only glyphosate (aka Round Up) has been used in "aerial directed spraying", in Hawaii, and has been approved for use in Oklahoma later this year. But even a commercially available herbicide like glyphosate has caused problems when used for eradication purposes in other countries. In written testimony submitted to the board, Armentano cites a February '93 issue of Global Pesticide Campaigner which stated, "International health workers in Guatemala report acute poisonings in peasants living in areas near eradication spraying, while farmers in these zones have sustained serious damage to their crops". Whether more hearings will be held or if the DEA plans to move ahead with aerial spraying in other states remains to be seen. But the issue of aerial spraying of herbicides and its implicit dangers is unlikely to go away. The US government is also considering using a controversial new herbicide called Tebuthiuron in its efforts to eliminate marijuana, coca, and poppy plants in troubled Columbia. The editorial board of the Waco Tribune-Herald has already come out against its use, making references to Agent Orange and quoting the spokesperson for the maker of Tebuthiuron, Dow Chemicals, saying, "It is our desire that this product not be used for illicit crop eradication".
2. "Big Six" Accounting Firm Bought Laundered Currency at Discount, US Government Says According to a government affidavit filed in US District Court, executives with the Colombian office of Price Waterhouse, a prestigious US-based accounting firm, knowingly bought more than half a million dollars in discounted currency on the Colombian black market. That market exists as a mechanism of exchange for the billions of dollars in drug profits, primarily in US currency, illegally smuggled back into the country by traffickers and their agents. Reports indicate that US currency can be bought in Colombia at as much as a seventeen per cent discount to normal exchange rates. (See our Special Report on Colombia at http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/3-27.html#colombia.) Investigators seized over $150,000 from the firm, but the AP reports that anonymous law enforcement sources told them that no criminal charges are being contemplated.
3. Man Whose Grandmother's Ashes Were Mistaken for Methamphetamine Suing for Wrongful Imprisonment - Stacy Dimakakos for DRCNet On May 28, Michael Anthony Horne filed suit for false imprisonment against the city of San Antonio, Texas. Horne, who could not raise bail money, sat in jail for over a month after San Antonio Police mistook the earthly remains of his deceased grandmother for methamphetamine. While incarcerated, Horne lost his job, his apartment, and his military reserve status. In July of last year, Horne pulled over to the side of a San Antonio road to take a nap. Officer Michael Katsfey saw Horne asleep in his vehicle and took that as probable cause to conduct what Assistant City Attorney Amy Embanks called a "justified search" of the vehicle. Officer Katsfey arrested Horne upon finding a small bag filled with a grayish powdery substance, despite Horne's pleas that the bag contained only his grandmother's ashes. According to San Antonio police, an initial test of the substance came back positive for methamphetamine. Horne spent the next month in jail waiting for the results of a second test, which, in fact confirmed Horne's original statements as to the bag's contents. Assistant City Attorney Embanks told The Week Online that although the initial test was taken nearly a year ago, it is still "too early in the investigation to know why the first test was so inaccurate." She also said that Horne's month in jail was simply the result of the city "trying to exercise federal law" and that "conducting a second test takes up to 2-3 weeks."
4. Proposed "Multinational Anti-Narcotics Base" in Panama Now Uncertain In an apparent bow to pressure from Panamanians over his previous acquiescence to the United States' desire to open a "multinational" anti-narcotics base on their soil, President Ernesto Perez Balladares has apparently re-thought his position. The Associated Press reports (5/31) that in a speech to students on May 28, he said that such a base would indeed amount to a continued U.S. military presence in Panama, despite his previous insistence that it would not. The two nations had reached an apparent agreement on the base, which would begin operations out of Howard Air Force Base in 1999, immediately after US troops are scheduled to leave the canal zone, and Panama, under a 1977 agreement to end the US' nearly ninety-year military presence in that country. Coletta Youngers, senior researcher at the Washington Office on Latin America, told The Week Online, "It would appear as if internal Panamanian politics are driving this issue. There will be a referendum on the ballot in August to determine whether President Perez Balladares will be allowed, under their constitution, to run for another term. The deal on the base was supposed to be done by the end of May so that it could appear on that same ballot. But with the dissent that's surfaced over that issue, it seems that there is trepidation as to the impact that it might have on the presidential question."
5. US to Build Anti-Drug Military Training Center in Peru According to CNN (5/29), the United States is in the process of building a military training center in northwestern Peru to be used to train Peruvian police and marine infantry troops to combat drug trafficking on the Amazon waterway. The center is being built under a 1996 agreement between the two countries, under which the US will provide $60 million dollars plus military instructors.
6. Medical Necessity Defense Allowed in McWilliams Case Last November, the NORML Foundation reported that a Michigan judge had disallowed use of the medical necessity defense for author and medical marijuana patient Peter McWilliams (http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1997/11-7-1.html#mcwilliams). Earlier this week, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kym Worthy ruled that McWilliams, a patient for both AIDS and cancer, may indeed use the medical necessity defense in his marijuana possession trial. Judge Worthy ruled that, under current Michigan law, it would be "not just improper but immoral" to deny McWilliams the ability to present to a jury the fact that he uses marijuana to help treat his life-threatening medical condition. McWilliams was arrested for possession of seven "marijuana cigarettes" at Detroit Metro Airport on December 12, 1996. McWilliams was recently featured on the ABC News John Stossel special, Sex, Drugs, and Consenting Adults (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/44.html#quote). McWilliams best-selling book, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do, is online in full text at http://www.consenting.org. For ongoing info on the McWilliams case and other medical marijuana news, visit http://www.marijuanamagazine.com.
- Barrington Daltrey for DRCNet The Global Days Against the Drug War are being taken seriously in California. This weekend, Saturday, June 6, rallies will be held in a number of communities, including Santa Ana (the heart of conservative Orange County) and in San Francisco. Both will be held at 12:00 noon. The Santa Ana rally will be held at the Orange County Federal Building at the intersections of Santa Ana Boulevard and Flower Street. The San Francisco rally is scheduled for the Civic Center Plaza at the corner of Polk and Grove. The San Francisco rally is being organized by the Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War, and speakers are scheduled from 1:00pm through 4:30pm, along with exhibits and activities. Among the anticipated speakers are state senator John Vasconcellos, who was instrumental in organizing the recent medical marijuana summit, Dennis Peron, former director of the S.F. Cannabis Buyer's Club, and Terrence Hallinan, San Francisco District Attorney. Specifics of this and other events around the world can be found at http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/globalcoalition. Participants at the Orange County event include Families to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS). FACTS will have a table and will be contributing stories and pictures to the proposed "Wall of Shame" exhibit. The June 2nd primary elections were encouraging to those in Orange County concerned about three strikes, as the more aggressive "three strikes" proponent and candidate for Orange County district attorney (Wallace Wade) was defeated by the candidate with the more moderate approach (Tony Rackauckas).
8. California Primaries Report - Dale Geiringer, California NORML Although drug reform candidates failed to score dramatic upsets in the California primary, the results of major races were encouraging. ON THE PLUS SIDE:
- Kris Lotlikar for DRCNet For the first time in 60 years, Canadian farmers are planting legal hemp in Chatham-Kent. Kenex Ltd. is a new company established to regulate the crop's production, and has issued federal permits to about 50 local farmers. Over 2000 acres of hemp will be grown for Kenex Ltd. in 1998. The Controlled Substance and Abuse Act of 1996 has opened up Canada for commercial cultivation of hemp. Bob Lecuyer, general manager of Kenex Ltd., told The Record, "There is a great demand for hemp products from the automobile industry. If the market takes off like we think it will, hemp production will boom in the coming years." Hemp is being used as feed for blue catfish at the Univ. of Kentucky. Carl Webster and Laura Tiu have been giving about 150 catfish hemp meal along with vitamins, minerals and oil and fatty acids, the bare minimums needed to survive. "They seem to like it. I think they're on par with normal growth for blue catfish. If you can feed them something straight like this, you've got a pretty good ingredient," Webster told the Lexington Herald-Leader. With hemp production still illegal in the United States, using hemp meal will not be cost effective. Soy meal makes up about 60 percent of the fish food market and costs $170 a ton. Being imported from China, hemp meal costs several times more, roughly $1,200 a ton. "We could get rid of two-thirds of the cost simply by growing it in Kentucky," said Don Wirtshafter, owner of the Ohio Hempery, to the Herald-Leader. Wirthshafter is now contracting to buy seeds from the new Canadian farmers. In Willisburg, Kentucky, Donnie Colter says that feeding his animals hemp meal gives them more energy and shinier coats. Recently he sold some of his heifers and received $13 morfor the calves who had been fed the hemp mix. At the University of Kentucky, researchers are planning to study what difference, if any, the hemp meal made. Colter originally grew hemp on his farm in the 1940's, before it became illegal. Colter commented to New York Times reporters, "We've fed it to everything from guppies on up. I've never fed it to nothing that won't eat it." In Colter's home state of Kentucky, a federal lawsuit is pending seeking to overturn the DEA ban on the crop (see http://www.drcnet.org/rapid/1998/5-15.html#kentucky).
10. Nominations Being Accepted for DPF Awards The Drug Policy Foundation is now accepting nominations for their drug policy achievement awards. No awards will be presented this year. They will be presented May 15, 1999. Those who would like to make a nomination can send a letter which includes the name and (if appropriate) affiliation of the individual nominated along with a short description of why you wish to nominate the individual to: Drug Policy Foundation, 4455 Connecticut Avenue, NW Suite B-500, Washington, DC 20008. The categories are:
11. EDITORIAL: The UN, Making the World Safe for War This week in New York, representatives of 130 nations -- along with 30 heads of state -- will come together at the United Nations to discuss the Drug War. It would be reasonable to expect that a gathering of this magnitude, after more than 80 years of steadily worsening war without any sign that victory is or ever will be at hand, would be one of negotiation and reconciliation, of rethinking old strategies and reexamining outdated ideas. It would be reasonable to expect that this esteemed group would be coming together to hold discussions about peace and how best to achieve it. It would be reasonable. But it would be wrong. Because when the representatives of the people of the world come together in New York this week to discuss the War, the only topic on their agenda will be escalation. The first ever United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Narcotics was originally proposed nearly three years ago by Mexico, one of the nations most adversely affected by the Drug War and by the black market that it has created. The purpose that the Mexicans had in mind was a critical examination of the effectiveness and impact of the war. But such reflection is not in the interests of those who are committed to its prosecution -- particularly the United States. In fact, in the planning stage leading up to the Special Session, it was determined that the ONLY items on the agenda will be discussion about how the powers that be plan to move ahead with the war and how to entice greater international cooperation in that effort. Even the request by several UN-affiliated NGO's to hold a short seminar in a side room detailing alternatives to the war has been denied. It should come as no surprise that dissent, in any form, has been eliminated from the program. Because in their hearts, the drug warriors know that their war, and the Prohibition it claims to enforce, cannot stand up to even the slightest scrutiny. And so, inside the UN at least, they will have none of it. But out in the real world, where the freedom of speech and the vigorous examination of the status quo is a natural right of human beings, dissent will ring out from every corner of the globe. From Amsterdam to Talinn, from Moscow to San Francisco, there will be demonstrations and vigils and forums and marches in protest of the atrocity that the gathering in New York is designed to further. And although these events will be attended not by heads of state but by the citizens of states, it is these gatherings which will ultimately prove to have held the greater power. Because the message they bring is that of truth, and justice, and peace. And because they are willing and able to test their beliefs and their evidence against any defense of the current system. And because they are willing and able to hold their truth up to scrutiny under the harsh disinfectant of sunlight. This week the representatives of 130 nations, along with thirty heads of state will come together in the name of the Drug War. Their plan is not to end the war but to silence its critics in the fervent hope that they can continue to fight in perpetuity. But the world is growing tired of their war. And even as they meet amidst their manufactured silence to plan their next campaign, out in the streets, in cities across the globe, good people who have had enough will be making themselves heard. Adam J. Smith If you like what you see here and want to get these bulletins by e-mail, please fill out our quick signup form at https://stopthedrugwar.org/WOLSignup.shtml. PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you. Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
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