TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Medical Marijuana Under Siege, Making Slow Progress
2. Baltimore Study Finds Needle Exchange Effective
3. Interview: Dr. Joel Brown on the Status of Drug Education in the United States
4. Beyond Prohibition: Cato Institute Conference to Feature New Mexico Governor
5. Methamphetamine Bill Contains Anti-Free-Speech Legislation
6. Newsbriefs
7. Job Opportunities
8. Washington Video and Speaker Series Concluding Next Week
9. EDITORIAL: Killing the Bad Guys

or check out The Week Online archives

1. Medical Marijuana Under Siege, Making Slow Progress

Medical marijuana advocates were angered by the trial, conviction and sentencing of B.E. Smith, a Vietnam veteran who used marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD). Smith, who considered his marijuana use and cultivation to be legal under Proposition 215, had informed local police and county officials, and posted a sign in his garden identifying it as a medical marijuana supply. Smith was prosecuted by the federal government in the District Court in Sacramento, California.

US District Judge Garland Burrell forbid the defense from addressing the issue of Smith's medical marijuana need, caregiving (providing marijuana to other documented patients), or Prop. 215. Burrell's disallowing of much of the defense's case led to a sharp exchange between Burrell and actor Woody Harrelson, who almost drew a citation for contempt of court. Harrelson asked Judge Burrell, "I'm just wondering why you're keeping the truth from the jury... How can you sleep at night?"

At sentencing last week, Judge Burrell rejected requests by the defense to sentence Smith to the low end of the federal guideline range, and by the prosecution to use the middle of the guideline range, and instead sentenced Smith to the maximum possible sentence, 27 months, calling Smith "beyond rehabilitation" and saying he had no remorse and would probably grow marijuana again as soon as he got out of prison.

Smith told the court that "[e]very day I spend in prison will be seen by me as another day in the service of my nation," and exhorted members of the public to help pass laws "that will allow people to use an herb provided by nature to alleviate their terrible and cruel suffering, made worse by cruel legislators, prosecutors and judges whose actions add to this suffering by punishing those who would provide such medicine to these patients."

On July 6, police in San Diego arrested Steve McWilliams, founder and organizer of the Shelter from the Storm Cannabis Collective, and another patient and member of the collective, identified only as Tom. McWilliams told Zenger Magazine that the San Diego police and the Narcotics Task Force destroyed all of the Collective's plants, despite them being individually labeled for individual patients. McWilliams, who moved from his native Colorado to take part in the 1996 campaign for Proposition 215, was on probation for a previous conviction. Judge Kenneth So, however, who sentenced McWilliams to probation last spring, also ruled that McWilliams had a right to grow marijuana for his own personal consumption. McWilliams suffers from head, neck and shoulder injuries from automobile accidents in 1986 and 1992.

According to the San Diego Tribune, a dozen collective members addressed a meeting of the City Council late last month. Michael Bartelmo, a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, told the Council that Collective members are "trying our darndest to follow the law... but we can't if police officers, the City Council or others in authority won't tell us what the law is." Councilmember George Stevens called the confiscation of the group's plants "an urgent situation," and asked the city manager and attorney to report back with a clarification from the police on medical marijuana within 30 days.

Meanwhile, the trial of Steve Kubby, recent Libertarian candidate for California governor, and Michele Kubby, has been postponed until February, 2000. Judge Robert G. Vonasek found that Michele Kubby could not stand trial at this time, due to medical complications in her pregnancy.

Steve Kubby told the Sacramento Bee that he welcomes the trial as "an opportunity to educate a largely disbelieving society that considers this (medicinal use of marijuana) to be some kind of hoax," and contends that he uses marijuana to control hypertension associated with malignant pheochromocytoma, a usually fatal cancer.

The trial of medical marijuana activists Todd McCormick and bestselling author Peter McWilliams has also been scheduled, for November 16.

In Naples, Florida, medical marijuana patient Joe Tacl and his 20-year old son Michael are trial for growing five marijuana plants, having more than 40 grams of marijuana in their house, as well as several items of drug paraphernalia such as pipes and grow lights, according to the Naples Daily News, July 28. Tacl uses marijuana to relieve the nausea caused by painkillers such as morphine, codeine and methadone, which he has had to take since being run over by a van six years ago.

Tacl's attorney, Gary Wainwright, is arguing a medical necessity defense. According to the Gainesville Sun, jurors heard testimony from Dr. Scott Lipoff, a Gainesville pain management specialist who has been treating Tacl, and Dr. John P. Morgan, a pharmacology professor from New York who co-authored "Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts" and has conducted research on a wide range of drug issues.

If convicted, Tacl and his son could face up to 11 years in prison, though as first-time offenders the sentence would probably be lighter.

In other states, the new medical marijuana laws have begun to have an impact. Nearly 200 patients in Oregon have registered with the state's voluntary registry, and the Oregon Medical Association has dropped its initial opposition and issued guidelines to physicians, according to the Daily Herald (WA), 8/11. In Alaska, the state registry had nine patients enrolled, according to KTUU in Anchorage, on 7/15. Other patients were reluctant to register with a government database. Legislation sponsored by State Senator Loren Leman amended the voter initiative last May to make registration mandatory to receive the initiative's legal protections.

In Great Britain, a 42-year old medical marijuana patient was acquitted in a jury trial on four charges of cultivating and possessing marijuana with intent to supply. According to The Telegraph on July 23, Colin Davies uses marijuana to relieve back pain from spinal injuries, and also set up a Medical Marijuana Cooperative and supplies marijuana to two multiple sclerosis patients. Davies was arrested last November, five days after the government rejected a House of Lords select committee's recommendation to legalize medical use of marijuana. A spokesman for the British Medical Association said that the association supports clinical research into marijuana's medical use, and that "[i]n the meantime we ask the courts to look at cases with understanding and compassion." Davies has pledged to continue operating his cooperative.

In Grand Forks, Canada, Mayor Brian Taylor has proposed setting up an official medical marijuana production facility, hoping to make his town the "medicinal marijuana capital of Canada," according to the Grand Forks Gazette. Taylor's proposal was made last June, on the heels of a report by Health Minister Allan Rock on how his ministry is proceeding on development of medical marijuana clinical trials. Taylor's proposal was reported on BCTV, CTV, CBC Radio and in several major newspapers.

Taylor and a group of community leaders and have formed a cooperative called Brown Bear Medicinals, which has already been accepted as a bidder by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Health Minister Rock has granted special exemptions to Canadian federal drug laws to two patients with AIDS, and his office has received exemption requests from 40-50 people, according to the Calgary Herald.

(A good place to get ongoing information about the medical marijuana battle is http://www.marijuananews.com.)

2. Baltimore Study Finds Needle Exchange Effective

Taylor West, [email protected]

Baltimore this week celebrated the success of its extensive needle exchange program, one of the largest in the country. After five years of operation, the program has saved the city an estimated $30 million in AIDS patient care costs, a hefty sum in comparison to the $1.2 million the city has put into the program.

By providing access to sterile syringes, the program cuts down on needle-sharing among injection drug users, a primary channel of HIV transmission. Among the clients of Baltimore's needle exchange, the HIV incidence level is 70% lower than that of the city's non-participating injection drug users. Dr. Peter Beilenson, Baltimore City Health Commissioner, said that the program has now enrolled over 9,000 participants and helped over 1,000 enter drug treatment. 2.5 million syringes have been exchanged, and Beilenson estimates that around 300 HIV cases have been prevented.

Baltimore's success stands in stark contrast to the situation in nearby Washington, DC, where Congress has forbidden the use of city funds for needle exchange for the second year in a row. Washington, the city with the highest rate of injection-related HIV in the country, is served only by a single, small needle exchange program which is bankrolled entirely by private funds.

Visit DRCNet's Syringe Exchange Resources Online (SERO), the most comprehensive collection of needle exchange information on the web, at http://www.projectsero.org.

3. Interview: Dr. Joel Brown on the Status of Drug Education in the United States

In a new study published this month in the Journal of Consulting and Psychology, researchers from the University of Kentucky have concluded that the world's most popular anti-drug education program is largely ineffective. After following more than 1,000 graduates of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and similar programs over a ten-year period, the study found that "in no case did the DARE group have a more successful outcome than the comparison group."

The Kentucky research is only the latest of several studies over the past ten years to reach the same conclusion. The Week Online spoke with Dr. Joel Brown, PhD, the executive director of the Center for Educational Research and Development, a nonprofit that researches and evaluates drug education programs.

WOL: Your study of the California DATE (Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Education) program in 1995 came to much the same conclusion as the new study from Kentucky. What does that tell you about the state of drug education in this country?

JB: Let me put it this way: if you had a senior citizens program that was found, repeatedly, to be ineffective or even hurting the senior citizens, there would be an uproar like you wouldn't believe. But here we have many studies that show that the kids are being hurt by these programs, and there's not a peep from anyone.

There is still not a single scientifically sound, long-term study that shows that DARE prevents kids from using drugs. But more importantly, this isn't really about DARE. We now have at least nine recent examinations of drug education that show that the programs like DARE, Life Skills Training, Project Alert, etc., do not prevent kids from using drugs. And we have at least three recent examinations which show that they cause a multitude of negative effects -- including, but not limited to, increased drug use, exiling those kids in need of help from the school system, and cognitive dissonance.

WOL: How do drug education programs cause cognitive dissonance?

JB: There is a severe emotional disturbance in kids that's raised by the conflict between the just-say-no messages they receive in school versus a variety of people using a variety of substances with different effects outside of school. We are quite sure now that that emotional conflict results in a reduction in educator credibility. And not just in drug education -- we think that it generalizes into the larger educational community. That is to say, if students don't receive honest, accurate and complete information, they develop a basis for the belief that educators are lying to them.

WOL: Spokespeople for DARE complain that studies showing DARE's ineffectiveness don't take into account the changes made to the curriculum over the years.

JB: The curricula are always changing, but they're building on an original curriculum. Ten versions of what doesn't work in the first place will not suddenly make it effective. But there are deeper issues here. For instance, what is emerging right now is a basic federal policy conflict. The federal government mandates implementation of only effective drug education programs. But the only programs they will allow to be implemented have been found to be universally ineffective.

But ultimately, it's a critical error of judgment to believe that this is about DARE. The political aspects may be about DARE, but this is really about the overall effectiveness of drug education, and whether, under a no-use model, it is possible to prevent kids from using drugs. And the preponderance of evidence at this time is telling us that it is not possible. It's telling us that we need to change from focusing on young people's disabilities to their capabilities.

WOL: That focus on disabilities is known as looking at kids' "risk factors," or the attitudes and beliefs they hold that puts them at risk for using drugs. What does it mean to focus on young people's capabilities?

JB: It's called a resilience approach. What we now know is that if you take kids in the worst possible situations and emphasize their capabilities, they have a much better of chance of developing positive life outcomes than if you emphasize those risk factors. That's been shown in a number of studies.

For example, one key risk factor is a lack of connectedness between young people and adults. But we now know that adult-youth connectedness is one of the most powerful predictors of positive youth outcomes.

So what we need is what's called is a resilience model, that emphasizes relationships over rules, and emphasizes emotional attachments rather than the emotional disconnection between young people and adults. When those emotional attachments are present, then the educator can bring in good and honest and accurate and complete information. Because we also know, although it's never brought into drug education, that if young people are given sufficient information, they are virtually as good as adults at decision making.

WOL: So a zero-tolerance environment is not only ineffective, but makes it more difficult to develop resilience.

JB: Absolutely. I look at it like this: these zero tolerance programs and policies are the equivalent of mandatory minimum sentences for kids. When a first time drug offender is sentenced under mandatory minimums, the judge has no discretion. Similarly, when young people violate a zero-tolerance policy in school, the educational community has made it so that there's no discretion about them getting kicked out of school. The only difference is that we're talking here about children.

Rather than teaching kids a valuable lesson, almost all the evidence points to the conclusion that these zero tolerance policies teach young people unintended lessons about a punishing society, and the limited learning opportunities in a punitive educational system. That's the key lesson. If you listen to the voices of kids in all of our research, that's the key lesson they pick up from these policies.

WOL: Is there a place for the "get tough" approach?

JB: For some kids it does work. However, those are in fact the kids who are least likely to experiment with drugs or develop drug problems in the first place. But we know that by the end of high school, at least eighty percent of kids will have experimented with alcohol, tobacco or other drugs. So why would you make policies for all kids based on the problems of a few?

But the key is that just because we say that just-say-no programs don't work, doesn't mean that we're just-say-yes researchers. There's a long distance between just-say-no and a paradigm shift that focuses on children's well being.

The Center for Educational Research and Development is online at http://www.cerd.org. The key findings of the Kentucky study are online at http://www.apa.org/journals/ccp/ccp674590.html. To learn more about DARE, read our report with the Voluntary Committee of Parents, at http://www.drcnet.org/DARE/.

4. Beyond Prohibition: Cato Institute Conference to Feature New Mexico Governor

The Cato Institute will host a one-day conference, "Beyond Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century," October 5 in Washington, DC. "Beyond Prohibition" will feature New Mexico governor Gary Johnson, who has recently begun a discussion of decriminalization and legalization, as well as Ethan Nadelmann of the Lindesmith Center, Joseph McNamara, former police chief of San Jose and fellow at the Hoover Institution, professor Steven Duke of Yale Law School, a debate between former California attorney general Daniel Lungren and George Mason University law professor Daniel Polsby, former DEA agent Mike Levine and others. Visit http://www.cato.org/events/drugwar/ for information or to register, or contact Addison Wiggin, Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 789-5248.

5. Methamphetamine Bill Contains Anti-Free-Speech Legislation

Language in the anti-methamphetamine bill in the Senate, led by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) with Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), would forbid linking to Internet sites that include information on the manufacture or use of illicit substances or on how to acquire drug paraphernalia, if the reader might use the information to get high, according to an article in Wired News. Please read the Wired article online at http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/21152.html to learn more about this dangerous piece of legislation.

Though DRCNet is a policy organization and does not provide information on drug production or paraphernalia, we are concerned that this bill could nevertheless interfere with our ability to educate the public on important drug policy issues.

For example, we have just launched a major new web site devoted to the syringe exchange issue, Syringe Exchange Resources Online (http://www.projectsero.org). Would a link from our site to a needle exchange program's web site, that happens to include the program's schedule or contact information, subject us to prosecution under the bill's paraphernalia provision -- even though needle exchange is legal in many states and officially tolerated, even government-funded, in many others?

Would a link to a site like High Times draw a penalty, even though High Times includes serious journalism in addition to drug culture information and advertisements? Violations of the paraphernalia provision could be punishable by a fine and prison term of up to three years. Violation of the prohibition on providing information on manufacture or use could draw a ten year prison term.

If your Senator is one of the bill's eleven sponsors, please inform them that they are in "Contempt of Constitution":

Orrin Hatch (R-UT), http://www.senate.gov/~hatch
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), http://www.senate.gov/~feinstein
Mike DeWine (R-OH), http://www.senate.gov/~dewine
Joe Biden (D-DE), http://www.senate.gov/~biden
Strom Thurmond (R-SC), http://www.senate.gov/~thurmond
Christopher Bond (R-MO), http://www.senate.gov/~bond
Gordon Smith (R-OR), http://www.senate.gov/~gsmith
Jesse Helms (R-NC), http://www.senate.gov/~helms
Harry Reid (D-NV), http://www.senate.gov/~reid
Richard Bryan (D-NV), http://www.senate.gov/~bryan
Herb Kohl (D-WI), http://www.senate.gov/~kohl

6. Newsbriefs

UN Says Coca Production Has Not Increased in Colombian Rebel Territory

Last month, US "drug czar" General Barry McCaffrey said that an additional $1 billion in US military aid to Colombia was necessary to fight the drug war in that country, because the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, had doubled the production of coca in the more than 40% of the country under their control.

But last week, a UN official working with the FARC on a crop substitution plan said that not only were the FARC cooperating with the UN project, but that coca production had not changed in the year since Colombian government troops pulled out of FARC territory. According to Klaus Nyholm, director of the UN drug control office in Colombia, "drug cultivation has not increased or decreased since the FARC took control."

Hugh Downs Tells Corrections Conference the Drug War Should End

Veteran TV anchor Hugh Downs gave the keynote speech last weekend (8/8) at the Congress of Corrections, a conference for prison professionals sponsored by the American Correctional Association. In his speech, Downs spoke out against the war on drugs, saying that it had "turned a medical problem into a crime problem." Downs also compared drug prohibition to the US' failed attempt at alcohol prohibition in the 1920's. "I'd like to see an end to the war on drugs," he told the group. Downs hosted the "Today" show for 9 years and has anchored "20/20" since 1988.

7. Job Opportunities

Prevention Point Philadelphia
Executive Director Position Announcement

Prevention Point Philadelphia, one of the ten largest syringe exchange programs in the United States, seeks an Executive Director. PPP is a growing and dynamic organization with a strong staff and Board of Directors, and which sees thousands of people for syringe exchange every year. PPP also provides a variety of ancillary services such as HIV testing/counseling, medical clinics and support groups. Qualified candidates will be exceptional managers with an understanding of harm reduction philosophy. The Director is responsible for staff supervision, fiscal and physical plant management, program development, grant writing, acting as public spokesperson, and collaborating effectively with a range of stakeholders (i.e. participants, evaluators, politicians, Department of Health officials, community leaders, volunteers and staff). The Executive Director will be expected to have a thorough understanding of harm reduction, knowledge about disease prevention among drug users, and a strong commitment to promoting the health and civil rights of drug users. Competitive salary and benefits. Equal opportunity employer. Prevention Point's Board of Directors will begin accepting applications and interviewing for this position immediately. Please mail resume to: Annet Davis-Vogel, Vice-Chair, Prevention Point Board of Directors, 333 West Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19123.

Harm Reduction Coalition
Director of Training

The Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) is seeking a dynamic and energetic Director for its regional California Harm Reduction Training Institute. HRC is a national organization dedicated to reducing drug-related harms that affect individuals and communities through community organizing, training, conferences, publications and policy. The Director will be responsible for oversight of all aspects of training activities including: planning, budgeting, contracting, daily operations, staff supervision, identification of funding opportunities, and collaborations with other institutes and agencies in California and the West Coast. Experience with harm reduction is essential, a background in non-profit development, training and community organizing is a plus. Personal or work history with drug use and/or recovery and HIV/AIDS a plus. A minimum of two years program management experience required. Salary mid to high 40's, DOE, plus full benefits after three month probationary period. Equal Opportunity Employer. HRC is committed to a diverse workforce. Mail cover letter and resume to: Search Committee, HRC, 3223 Lake Shore Avenue, Oakland, CA 94610, or fax to (510) 444-6977. For a longer job description, please e-mail [email protected].

Drug Policy Foundation
Executive Director

Seeking Executive Director: Preeminent Washington, DC drug policy reform nonprofit organization seeks an experienced executive to develop new initiatives, administer existing programs and oversee a $2.7 million budget. The successful candidate will have a proven ability to deal with the media, manage staff, expand programs and raise funds. The Drug Policy Foundation promotes alternatives to current drug policies, focusing on public health, education, and civil liberties. The organization offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits. Send letter, salary history and resume to: ED Search, Drug Policy Foundation, 4455 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite B-500, Washington, DC 20008-2328.

8. Washington Video and Speaker Series Concluding Next Week

The Institute for Policy Studies' Drug Policy Brown Bag summer lunch series will conclude this coming week with the "The Legacy," a PBS documentary, and Vincent Schiraldi of the Justice Policy Institute speaking on "Three Strikes and Other Legislative Hysteria," Thursday, 8/19, noon to 2:00pm, 733 15th St., NW, Suite 1020, drinks and dessert provided. For further information, call (202) 234-9382, ext. 220.

9. EDITORIAL: Killing the Bad Guys

Adam J. Smith, Associate Director, [email protected]

A study released last week by researchers at the University of Kentucky indicates that teens who went through the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program were no less likely, in the long run, to use drugs and alcohol than kids who had gotten their drug information in health class. The study is the latest in a long line of research raising questions about the efficacy of America's number one "drug education" program.

More than 70% of American schools use DARE, making it perhaps the single most pervasive curriculum in the nation. Given that rate of application, one would imagine that there was some evidence that it works. In fact, there isn't.

DARE, in which police officers come into classrooms for an hour per week for seventeen weeks to teach kids about drugs, self-esteem and resisting peer pressure, has been criticized since its inception on several grounds. Among the criticisms is DARE's zero-tolerance approach, which fails to make distinctions between different substances. Researchers have argued that treating marijuana the same as heroin, for instance, reduces the credibility of DARE's message. Others criticize DARE's law enforcement focus, which tends, they say, to demonize rather than to educate.

A DARE "graduation" ceremony held in Miami last May illustrates this point.

The ceremony was held at the Orange Bowl, with thousands of elementary school-aged DARE "graduates" in attendance to receive their certificates. The children watched Florida Governor Jeb Bush, on hand for the occasion, sign a new mandatory minimum sentencing law. But the real fun came at the end.

At the close of the ceremony, the children were treated to a special performance by the Florida Highway Patrol Special Tactics Team. The Team rolled out across the stadium's field in an armored personnel carrier. Disembarking from their tank-like vehicle, officers engaged in a "shootout" with a group of "drug dealers." The vignette ended with the officers "shooting" and "killing" the bad guys, to the obvious delight of the cheering children.

And so, having witnessed this clearly successful outcome, in which the police shot and killed -- presumably without a trial -- several drug suspects, these thousands of children became the latest class of DARE graduates.

Such a display would seem to be directly in line with the ethos of DARE's founder, former Los Angeles police chief Daryll Gates, who once remarked that casual drug users "should be taken out and shot." So perhaps we ought not to judge DARE's success by how many of its graduates remain drug free, but rather by the number who, as adults, are content to stand and cheer while the state shoots down their less obedient former classmates.

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