Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #361, 11/5/04
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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EDITORIAL:
IRONIC HYPOCRISY
Mitch Daniels, a Republican who ousted a Democratic incumbent Tuesday to become
governor-elect of Indiana, has a drug conviction from his college days
at Princeton. Under a law written by another Indiana Republican, he could
have lost his financial aid and been forced to drop out if it had happened
today.
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BIG
WIN IN BIG SKY COUNTRY: MONTANA APPROVES MEDICAL MARIJUANA
Montana Tuesday became the tenth state to legalize marijuana for medicinal
purposes.
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ALASKA
MARIJUANA INITIATIVE DEFEATED
With Alaska courts having ruled possession of up to four ounces of
marijuana is legal in one's home, the state already has the most progressive
pot laws in the country. But voters there Tuesday turned down an opportunity
to advance even further.
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OREGON
MEASURE TO EXPAND MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACCESS DEFEATED
Oregon voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1998, but
balked Tuesday at a second measure aimed at improving it.
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MORE
THAN A THOUSAND DRUG OFFENDERS CONTINUE LIFE SENTENCES FOLLOWING DEFEAT
OF CALIFORNIA THREE-STRIKES REFORM INITIATIVE
An initiative that would have amended California's notorious three-strikes
law to apply only to offenders whose third strike was a violent crime was
derailed by a last-minute scare campaign led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
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LOCAL
MARIJUANA INITIATIVES AND QUESTIONS WIN IN ANN ARBOR, COLUMBIA, OAKLAND
AND MASSACHUSETTS
Tuesday was a good day for local marijuana initiatives and questions,
with victories in Ann Arbor, Columbia, Missouri, Oakland, California, and
a number of communities in Massachusetts.
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NEWSBRIEF:
VICTORY FOR ROCKEFELLER LAW FOE IN ALBANY DA RACE
Running on a platform calling for repeal of the New York's draconian
Rockefeller drug law, Democratic insurgent David Soares overcame Republican
and conservative Democratic opposition to win the race for District Attorney
in Albany, New York, on Tuesday.
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NEWSBRIEF:
ANOTHER TULIA IN EAST TEXAS?
A mid-October drug bust that netted 72 alleged crack dealers -- all
black -- in the East Texas town of Palestine is raising eyebrows at at
least one widely-respected Texas publication.
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NEWSBRIEF:
SOUTH CAROLINA JURY REFUSES TO SEND OPIUM SMOKER TO PRISON FOR DECADES,
ACQUITS HIM OF TRAFFICKING INSTEAD
A South Carolina prosecutor was ready to send a Laotian opium smoker
to prison for 25 years as a drug trafficker, but that was too much for
jurors to swallow.
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NEWSBRIEF:
DR. HURWITZ TRIAL UNDERWAY, KEY PAIN DOCTOR PROSECUTION
Northern Virginia pain management specialist Dr. William Hurwitz went
on trial in Alexandria Thursday in a prosecution that could be a landmark
in the DEA's war on pain doctors and patients.
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NEWSBRIEF:
GROUP HANDS OUT FREE CRACK PIPES IN VANCOUVER HARM REDUCTION ACTION
A group representing Vancouver's hard drug users has opened a new front
in the effort to reduce drug-related harms.
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NEWSBRIEF:
THIS WEEK'S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
Drug war-related law enforcement corruption is by no means limited
to the United States, and this week we break with tradition to include
a particularly egregious case from Great Britain -- along with some of
the usual from home.
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THIS
WEEK IN HISTORY
Events and quotes of note from this week's drug policy events of years
past.
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THE
DARE GENERATION RETURNS TO DC: STUDENTS FOR SENSIBLE DRUG POLICY 2004 NATIONAL
CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH
Students and activists from across the country will convene at the
Students for Sensible Drug Policy Sixth Annual National Conference in College
Park, Maryland, outside Washington, DC, next month.
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APPLY
NOW TO INTERN AT DRCNET!
Make a difference next semester! DRCNet and the Coalition for Higher
Education Act Reform are seeking motivated and hardworking interns for
the Spring 2005 Semester.
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DRUGWARMARKET.COM
SEEKING INFORMATION, AFFILIATIONS, LINK EXCHANGES
DrugWarMarket.com, a web site that follows the economy of the drug
war, is seeking affiliations, link exchanges, information.
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THE
REFORMER'S CALENDAR
Showing up at an event can be the best way to get involved! Check out
this week's calendar for events from today through next year, across the
US and around the world!
this issue, one-page printer version
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