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(renamed "Drug War Chronicle" effective issue #300, August 2003) Issue #48, 7/2/98
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition" Table of Contents
(visit last week's Week Online)
Enthusiastic response to our end-of-the-quarter appeal has propelled our paid membership beyond our goal of 960. While it's too soon for a final count, we're pretty sure that DRCNet's member database is within 10 or 15 of the 1,000 mark. (Total e-mail subscribership has passed 6,000.) Are there 15 of you out there, willing to help DRCNet break the 1,000 mark in time for the July 4th weekend? Your support leading up to Independence Day symbolizes a future when humanity will live free of our nation's immoral drug laws. Cast a vote and take a stand today against the war! To make a donation online with our encryption-secured web form, visit http://www.drcnet.org/drcreg.html, and make sure to follow the link to the encrypted version (https at the beginning of the URL). You can also use this form to prepare a printed statement with which to send in a check; this will help us process your information more quickly. Or, send your check or money order, $25 for full membership and $10 for "virtual" e-mail only membership to: DRCNet, 2000 P St., NW, Suite 615, Washington, DC 20036. Please note that contributions to DRCNet are not tax-deductible.
2. Point and Click for Drug Policy Reform Since our appeal earlier this week, participation in the eyegive fundraiser has increased dramatically -- 42 new people have signed up, and daily revenues have doubled! As mentioned before, we received the first checks from eyegive, last month, totaling more than $775 -- but the next one can be much bigger than that, with your help. If you haven't signed up yet, you can select DRCNet automatically by visiting http://www.eyegive.com/html/ssi.cfm?CID=1060. Then, the easiest way to keep up with it (or to get back on track if you signed up but stopped visiting) is to set the eyegive home page, http://www.eyegive.com, as the default start-up page in your web browser -- use edit-preferences in Netscape or view-Internet options in Internet Explorer. For those of you who didn't read the bulletin, here is a brief recap: Eyegive is a web site through which people can earn money for their favorite non-profit organization, just by clicking on a page of ads that appears when you visit the site. Clicking up to five times per day earns DRCNet valuable funds, if you have selected us as your recipient non-profit. Your wrist and finger clicks can add up to earn DRCNet thousands of dollars -- money that can pay for part-time help, advertise for new members, any number of things. Please check it out, and those of you who have taken part already, keep up the good work!
3. U.S., U.K. Plan Biological Warfare in Opium-Producing Nations According to the Sunday Times, Britain's largest Sunday newspaper, a joint scientific effort is underway in Uzbekistan which has developed a mutant fungus which attacks opium poppies, signaling the beginning of a campaign of biological warfare next year. The project, which involves both British and American intelligence agencies, is being carried out at Uzbekistan's state genetics institute, which was formerly used to develop and manufacture germ agents for the destruction of food crops of Soviet enemies. The Times reports that some of the 30 researchers who are working on the project are veterans of secret Soviet biological weapons programs. The mutated fungus, a strain of a tomato-eating variety called Fusarium Oxysporum, is said to be advantageous over chemical herbicides because it is self-replicating, and is transferred via airborne spores from dying plants. According to the Sunday Times, the deal with the government of Uzbekistan was brokered by senior staff of the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP), but some U.N. officials are concerned that use of the fungus in a country like Afghanistan (where the majority of British heroin originates) will open the West to charges from Islamic countries of waging biological warfare. Such charges could result in a strengthening of ties between fundamentalist and moderate Islamic states. Fusarium is well-known in the U.S. where farmers in Florida and Georgia have had crops destroyed by a virulent mutation called "Race 3", which has proven resistant to even the strongest fungicides. In other parts of the world, Fusarium fungi have been responsible for the destruction of watermelons, chickpeas, basil, bananas, and numerous other crops. Any of the fungi's variations is capable of lying dormant in soil for years waiting for a host plant.
4. Canadian Doctors Call for Opiate Maintenance, but Attorney General Cites "Bad Message" The Health Officers Council of British Columbia, a 20-doctor panel responsible for controlling outbreaks of communicable diseases in the province, called for a trial which would provide heroin to addicts in an effort to stem the spread of AIDS and Hepatitis C. The doctors also called upon the federal government to amend the Canadian Controlled Drug and Substances Act to make the drugs available. Canadian Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh offered a second opinion in opposition to the esteemed physicians' group, saying "the only place where there have been heroin trials has been Switzerland and there have been mixed reviews of that. There is no clinical evidence that this works." Dosanjh also stated that expansion of methadone programs would be better than the doctors' proposal, adding, "it's not OK to take drugs, and we need to send that message." (Dosanjh does not appear to be accurately informed on the issue. Substantial clinical evidence favoring maintenance programs does indeed exist, from the Swiss experiment all the way back to the early maintenance clinics from 1915 in the U.S. Much more information on this topic is available on the Lindesmith Center web site, drug maintenance section, at http://www.lindesmith.org/library/subject.html.)
5. Treatment-Resistant AIDS Spreading, Bolstering Case for Syringe Exchange A report released this week (7/1) at the 12th International AIDS Conference in Geneva said that new strains of the AIDS virus have appeared which are resistant to protease inhibitors as well as to medications such as AZT. "We are seeing the emerging edge of a new aspect of the epidemic," proclaimed Dr. Frederick Hecht of the University of California. Ever since the development of protease inhibitor therapy, researchers have worried that patients who miss even a few doses on their strict medication regimen would face the possibility of the emergence of a mutated virus, resistant to all known treatments. Many believed, however that such viruses might not replicate or be transmitted as easily. The report issued this week indicates that this is likely not the case. Keith Cylar, founder and co-executive director of Housing Works, a New York City AIDS and harm reduction service provider, told The Week Online, "This report underscores the absolute necessity of stopping the spread of this disease through proven strategies like education and syringe exchange. It is just incomprehensible to me that in this day and age, there are cities and states where syringe exchange is still illegal. There are politicians, elected leaders like Governor Whitman in New Jersey, who talk about what message we send by allowing syringe exchange. Well, exactly what message are we sending when we fail to take adequate steps to insure the public health, the lives of citizens? Truly, truly, I don't know how some people live with themselves." Dawn Day, director of the Dogwood Center in Princeton, New Jersey, and author of the "Health Emergency" AIDS Report told The Week Online, "The human tragedy is that the findings of this report will likely be used to justify the withholding of treatment to the addicted and other drug users. There has always been a sense among the AIDS treatment community that they cannot hold to complex regimens of medication. Before this report, the fear of the development and spread of untreatable strains was hypothetical, but now that has been reinforced. This information is another reason why it is imperative to stop the spread of this disease among that population."
6. On Polling Numbers and Syringe Exchange in New Jersey A poll conducted this week by the Gannett News, publisher of five New Jersey daily newspapers, reached interesting, if seemingly contradictory opinions on syringe exchange in the Garden State (where it is still illegal.) When asked if they favored "supplying addicts with clean needles," 53% of the 653 respondents were opposed, while 34% were in favor. But when the same people were asked, in the same poll, if they would support "needle exchange if it would reduce the spread of AIDS," 62% replied that they would. Dawn Day, director of the Dogwood Center in Princeton, New Jersey, told The Week Online, "These numbers replicate what we have seen again and again. When couched in terms of slowing the spread of AIDS -- and there's simply no doubt that syringe exchange does so -- clear majorities, over 60% of nearly every poll, support the implementation of syringe exchange." Diana McCague, Coordinator of the New Jersey Harm reduction Coalition and director of the Chai Project Syringe Exchange told The Week Online, "I'm not the least bit surprised at these results. They clearly reflect the fact that when you give people the facts -- that syringe exchange reduces the spread of AIDS and HIV -- the majority are in favor. This is also reflective of the advocacy that we've been doing in this state for the past several years. It's time for Governor Whitman, along with New Jersey legislators, to pay attention. New Jersey has one of the highest rates of injection-related HIV and AIDS in the country. These people were elected to represent the people of this state, and when it comes to the enormous problem of injection-related AIDS in New Jersey, it's time that they started representing."
Stevia is an herb, native to South America, which has been approved for use in the United States as a dietary supplement. In South America, however, Stevia has been used for centuries as a natural sweetener. But the FDA has not approved Stevia as a food additive and, apparently, feels that its jurisdiction extends to controlling information or destroying books which talk about Stevia's sweetening properties. Oscar Rodes owns Stevita Co., an importer and distributor of Stevia since early 1996. In mid-1996, Rodes attempted to import Stevia, both in ground and extract forms under the trade name "Stevia Sweet". The FDA, however, held his first shipment at customs and ordered him to change the labels so as not to suggest that the herb would, in fact sweeten foods or beverages to which it was added. Rodes complied. Then, in October of 1997, the FDA came to Rodes' warehouse to inspect his operation. "They took samples of the product and copied everything off of our web site," Rodes told The Week Online. In addition to the Stevia, the FDA also noticed three books that Rodes had in stock. The books, James Kirkland's "Cooking with Stevia: The Naturally Sweet and Calorie-Free Herb," David Richard's "Stevia Rebaudiana: Nature's Sweet Secret" and Linda Bonvie et al.'s "The Stevia Story: A Tale of Incredible Sweetness and Intrigue," told of Stevia's properties as a natural, calorie-free sweetener. "They took copies of each book as well" said Rodes. In February of 1998, a shipment of Stevia, bound for Rodes' warehouse, was detained by the Dallas, TX office of the FDA at customs. The Dallas office notified him that the shipment was being held up for "investigation", "even though this product, and the labels on the product, had already been approved by Washington," said Rodes. The Dallas office later told Rodes that if they released the product, it would be "contaminated" by the presence of the literature already in circulation. Then on March 6, Rodes received a warning letter from the FDA stating that the presence of the books, and the contents of his web site "rendered the product adulterated." The letter told him that he had five days to reply or to take corrective action. Rodes called his attorney, James Turner, in Washington, DC. Turner sent a letter requesting a fifteen day extension. On March 26, Turner answered the FDA letter, saying that Rodes had agreed to all of their requests, except for the books, which he wanted to continue to offer for sale. On April 27, FDA agents came back to Rodes' place of business and took inventory. They inspected the product labels and looked at his records. On May 12, with over 14,000 units of product being held up, Rodes, through his attorney, sent a letter to the FDA agreeing not to sell the books. "I felt I had no choice" he said. "We had over 250 unfilled back orders. We had already been forced to let employees go, and it was down to just my wife and I. This is my business. We have to eat." On May 19, Rodes received a fax from the FDA which said, in part, "...a current inventory must be taken by an investigator of this office, who will also be available to witness the destruction of the cookbooks, literature and other publications for the purpose of verifying compliance." Upon receipt of the above-mentioned fax, alerting him that FDA agents would be in later in the day, Rodes attempted to contact his attorney, but he was unavailable. When the agents arrived, they did yet another inspection. Rodes alerted the agents that he himself would not destroy the literature, but if they insisted upon doing so, he would videotape their actions for his records. At that point, the agents called their office and, instead of destroying the books, took a marker and signed and dated the title page of each one in stock. The agents returned to Rodes' place of business on both May 12 and May 13. Shortly after this incident, Rodes was contacted by a Dr. Julian Whitaker, who asked if he could purchase the three books. Rodes explained his situation and refused to sell them. Thereafter, Dr. Whitaker contacted Jonathan W. Emord, a Washington, DC first amendment attorney, who then contacted the FDA stating an intention to commence legal action if the books were not released for sale. On June 5, Emord received a faxed letter from Annamarie Kempic of the FDA's enforcement bureau stating that Mr. Rodes was free to sell the books to his client and that "we have contacted Rodes and advised him not to destroy the books at this time." On June 8, Mr. Emord received another fax from Ms. Kempic stating that "The FDA Dallas District informs me that it was Mr. Rodes who chose the option of destroying the books." "That's absurd," Rodes told The Week Online. "I don't want to destroy my own books! How would I ever recover the cost?" At this time, the FDA is withholding two separate shipments of Stevia from Rodes. These shipments contain legal product with labeling approved by the FDA. The only answer that Rodes has gotten is that the presence of the literature in the marketplace somehow "adulterates" the product. "They had told me that I should recall the 4,000 books that I had already sold," Rodes said. "That is impossible." At this time, the FDA is withholding two separate shipments of Stevia from Mr. Rodes. These shipments contain legal product with labeling approved by the FDA. The only answer that Mr. Rodes has gotten is that the presence of the literature in the marketplace somehow "adulterates" the product. "They had told me that I should recall the 4,000 books that I had already sold." Mr. Rodes said. "That is impossible." In the end, the FDA's Stevia crackdown may provide more protection to the artificial sweetener industry than the public. Stevia is highly regarded both in South America and in industrialized nations like Japan as a natural, calorie-free sweetener. It is legally available in the US, intended for human consumption; the only thing that the FDA doesn’t want people to know is that it is sweet. The FDA did not return phone calls seeking comment on this story.
8. Crop Eradication Leaves Lebanon Peasants Hungry In Lebanon, the United States funded illicit drug crop eradication efforts appear to have succeeded (locally). The opium poppies and cannabis plants have been almost totally eliminated after six years of troops burning fields and helicopters spraying contaminants on crops. Clinton's administration has gone so far as to remove Lebanon from its list of major drug-producing nations. While this may seem like great news for the United States' "war on drugs", it has left tens of thousands of peasants in Lebanon impoverished. The United Nations had planned to help them build irrigation systems and to help plant cherries, apricots and potatoes as substitute crops. Farmers in the area say inadequate international aid, economic depression and broken promises have left them with little money to buy food. The $13 million in aid over the past several year covered only a fourth of the funds needed to provide adequate irrigation for the new crops. The drug eradication has been destructive to local economies and without long term alternative development programs farmers have had little choice but to return to the highly profitable farming of cannabis and poppy plants. The situation has become so grave in Central Bekaa in Lebanon that a revolt has risen up under religious leader named Sheik Sobhi Toufeili. The Hunger Revolution, as it is called, has harnessed the resentment among farmers who feel the west has betrayed them. In Beirut, western officials have conceded that international aid programs provided for by the UN have failed to meet their objectives. Phil Coffin, policy analyst for The Lindesmith Center, a drug policy think-tank in New York, told the Boston Globe, "It is part of the misguided global drug war by the U.S. and the U.N., which ignores the economics of the drug trade and the fact there will always be poor farmers who will grow as long as there is demand for drugs." Despite an apparent supply reduction in Lebanon, demand seems to have won the day in the end -- government reports show that global cultivation of opium has more than doubled since 1986.
10. Orlando, Florida: Statewide Medical Marijuana Conference, 7/25 The Coalition Advocating Medical Marijuana (CAMM) is sponsoring a statewide medical marijuana conference, from 10:00am - 5:00pm, at the Downtown Orlando Library, 101 East Central Boulevard on July 25. Speakers include Attorney Norman Kent, speaking on the medical necessity defense, Attorney Dick Wilson, a 1st Amendment specialist, CAMM founder Toni Leeman, Rob Kampia of the Marijuana Policy Project, medical marijuana patients Elvy Musikka and Greg Scott, and others. A benefit concert will be help on the evening of July 24, at The Go Lounge, 25 Wall Street Plaza, Orlando. For further information, contact Toni Leeman at (954) 763-1799, e-mail [email protected] or visit the Floridians for Medical Rights web site at http://www.medicalrights.org.
11. Washington State Medical Marijuana Initiative Submits Signatures Washington Citizens for Medical Rights, a broad coalition of doctors, patients and state citizens, reports submitting more than 230,000 signatures today (July 2) to place Initiative 692, the Washington State Medical Use of Marijuana act, on the November 3 ballot. "These signatures represent thousands of citizens who care about relieving the suffering of patients with terminal or debilitating illnesses such as cancer and AIDS," states Tacoma physician, Dr. Rob Killian, sponsor of the initiative. "We have worked with doctors, patients, law enforcement and legislators to bring Washington voters an initiative that is tightly drafted, narrowly focused, and protects the doctor-patient relationship," said Killian. The initiative allows patients with specific terminal or debilitating illnesses to use limited amounts of medical marijuana, and permits physicians to authorize and recommend such use. Qualifying terminal or debilitating illnesses are limited to cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma and some forms of intractable pain. Patients would be required to have valid documentation authorizing the use from a state-accredited physician. Initiative 692 is modeled after senate bill 6271, which was introduced to the legislature during the 1998 session by State Senators Jeanne Kohl and Pat Thibadeau. That effort received editorial support from the Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer. "I enthusiastically support I-692," stated Senator Kohl. "My dearest friend of 23 years died recently of uterine cancer. I saw the difference just a small amount of medical marijuana made in relieving her suffering, she should not have had to die a criminal."
12. Independence Day for KY Farmers: University of Kentucky to Release Hemp Research The following is a press release from the Kentucky Hemp Museum and Library: [LEXINGTON, KY] - A study of the economic impact of industrial hemp for Kentucky will be released on July 3, 1998 at 3:00pm at Ashland, the estate of the "Great Compromiser" and noted hemp farmer, Henry Clay. The University of Kentucky's Carol Martin Gatton College of Business and Economics conducted the study for the Kentucky Hemp Museum & Library. The University of Kentucky study concludes that industrial hemp production in Kentucky will have a positive impact on Kentucky's economy. To meet current demands, industrial hemp production would be more profitable to Kentucky farmers per acre than all other current agronomic crops, except tobacco. The study also indicates that developing an industrial hemp industry in Kentucky would generate employment and economic prosperity for rural communities. Andy Graves, President of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative says, "This study should go a long way to dispelling law enforcement's contention that industrial hemp is not economically viable and brings us one step closer to 'Independence Day for Kentucky Farmers'." (The study will be posted at http://www.hempgrowers.com.)
Over the past several weeks, recriminations by the principals of the Drug War against virtually anybody who advocates changes in drug policy have gotten ugly. Drug War officials have used words like "devious", "cabal" and "fraud", when referring to reformers and their ideas. Interestingly, in their quest to frighten the public into ignoring their opposition, the drug warriors have opened themselves even further to substantiated charges that it is they who are being less than honest. In testimony on Capitol Hill last week, Barry McCaffrey characterized the ultimate goals of reformers as leading to "heroin being sold at the corner store to children with false identifications, the driver of an eighteen-wheeler high on methamphetamines traveling alongside the family mini-van, (and) skyrocketing numbers of addicts draining society of its productivity." Scare tactics such as these, mischaracterizing the aims of his ideological opposition, are so blatantly disingenuous that they threaten to destroy whatever little credibility McCaffrey has left. And little credibility it is. This week, the University of Kentucky will release a study flatly refuting McCaffrey's repeated claim that there is no economic benefit to legalizing hemp as an industrial crop. In fact, the study concludes, the current demand is such that hemp would immediately become the second most valuable legal crop in the state, behind only tobacco. This will likely make it more difficult for McCaffrey to snidely deride "the opinions of noted agronomists like (actor) Woody Harrelson" and those who would "create a false issue for the purpose of legalizing marijuana." But McCaffrey's short history as Drug Czar indicates that he will try, despite the mounting evidence against him. Syringe exchange, medical marijuana, on one issue after another, drug warriors on both sides of the aisle have been shown to be willing to lie, and lie repeatedly, in defense of their war. So what is the answer? How will reform efforts, efforts to cut the overwhelming number of young black males in the criminal justice system (one in three, nationally), efforts to slow the spread of AIDS through meaningful intervention with the addicted, efforts to secure access to adequate medication for people suffering with chronic pain, efforts to stop blatantly out-of-control seizures of property, efforts to provide access to marijuana for cancer, glaucoma and other patients who find it effective, efforts to demilitarize domestic law enforcement, efforts to restrain growing government surveillance of private citizens, efforts to rein in wholesale corruption, efforts to stop the spraying of poisons on the rain forest and its peoples, efforts to curb the astounding enrichment of organized crime organizations across the globe, efforts to take control of the drug trade and to put it into the hands of responsible, well-regulated professionals and out of the reach of children, how will these efforts succeed in the face of all of these lies? By telling the truth, and telling it repeatedly. Americans are only now beginning to take notice of drug policy. That is why the drug warriors are expanding so rapidly their strategy of deceit. It is important, even imperative to the future of the Republic, and to the future of our children, that their lies are met by a constant and growing chorus of truth from those who oppose their dirty war. Talk to your friends, to your neighbors, to your parents and your colleagues. Talking about drug policy doesn't make you "pro-drug", or a hippie, or a liberal, or a libertarian, or even a rebel or a nut. What it makes you is an American, concerned for the values of your nation. And those values, far from being quaint, are as important now as they have ever been. It is no longer enough to believe that Prohibition is bad policy. The time to act is upon us. There can be no more excuses. No embarrassed silence. You must seek out whoever will listen, and especially those who you fear will never understand, and you must tell them the truth. And show them. Because Prohibition IS bad policy. Disastrous policy. And no amount of lying by those who would continue to profit from evil can change that fact. 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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