Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #367
-- 12/17/04
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
HE
WOULD
NOT
TORTURE
This
week
a
heroic
doctor
was
convicted
in
a
court,
by
a
jury
that
wasn't
afforded
information
they
should
have
had,
of
charges
that
should
never
have
been
brought,
under
laws
that
shouldn't
exist.
Soon
he
will
be
given
a
prison
sentence
that
any
right-thinking
person
should
regard
as
obscene.
His
crime
was
that
he
would
not
torture
his
patients
by
denying
them
pain
medication.
- DR.
HURWITZ
CONVICTED
ON
50
COUNTS,
FACES
LIFE
IN
PRISON
Prominent
Northern
Virginia
pain
management
specialist
Dr.
William
Hurwitz
was
seen
as
a
savior
by
his
patients,
but
a
federal
jury
in
Alexandria,
Virginia,
yesterday
found
him
guilty
of
being
a
drug
dealer.
- DEA
BLOCKS
PRIVATE
MARIJUANA
RESEARCH
GROW,
PATH
TO
FDA
APPROVAL
The
Drug
Enforcement
Administration
has
at
long
last
acted
on
a
nearly
four-year-old
request
by
an
academic
researcher
to
grow
marijuana
to
test
it
for
medical
uses
--
but
only
to
deny
it.
- DRCNET
INTERVIEW:
MEMBER
OF
THE
BRITISH
PARLIAMENT
PAUL
FLYNN
Vice-chair
of
the
British
House
of
Commons'
all-parties
drugs
group,
Labor
MP
Paul
Flynn
has
been
a
tireless
campaigner
for
real
drug
law
reform
in
Great
Britain.
- INVESTIGATIVE
JOURNALIST,
"DARK
ALLIANCE"
AUTHOR
GARY
WEBB
DEAD
AT
AGE
49
Gary
Webb,
the
prize-winning
former
San
Jose
Mercury
News
investigative
reporter
whose
series
on
the
"dark
alliance"
between
the
CIA
and
Nicaraguan
Contras
to
import
cocaine
into
the
US
in
the
early
1980s
ignited
a
firestorm
of
controversy,
died
December
10
an
apparent
suicide.
- DRCNET
JOINS
THE
BLOGOSPHERE
WITH
NEW
"PROHIBITION
AND
THE
MEDIA"
CRITIQUE
DRCNet
has
officially
joined
the
"Prohibition
and
the
Media"
will
critique
mainstream
news
articles
that
report
on
the
consequences
of
prohibition
but
which
(for
the
most
part)
offer
no
mention
of
prohibition
to
their
readers.
- NEWSBRIEF:
AYAHUASCA
CHURCH
WINS
TEMPORARY
VICTORY
IN
SUPREME
COURT
Members
of
a
New
Mexico
congregation
will
have
a
psychedelic
Christmas
for
the
first
time
in
six
years
thanks
to
a
December
8
US
Supreme
Court
ruling.
- NEWSBRIEF:
NEW
JERSEY
LAWMAKERS
TO
ASK
COURT
TO
STOP
NEEDLE
EXCHANGE
PROGRAMS
After
a
decade
of
struggle
to
legalize
needle
exchange
in
New
Jersey,
outgoing
Gov.
James
McGreevey
bypassed
a
recalcitrant
legislature
and
okayed
the
practice
by
executive
order
last
month.
Late
last
week,
three
legislators
vowed
to
go
to
court
to
block
McGreevey's
order.
- NEWSBRIEF:
REEFER
MADNESS
THREATENS
HAWKEYE
STATE,
IOWA
DRUG
CZAR
WARNS
Meth
may
get
all
the
publicity
in
the
Midwest,
but
marijuana
is
a
dangerous
and
escalating
threat,
Iowa's
top
drug-fighter
warned
December
10.
"It's
not
your
father's
marijuana"
was
the
refrain.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FAMILY
FILES
$100
MILLION
LAWSUIT
IN
KENNETH
WALKER
KILLING
Last
week
it
was
reported
that
the
police
killers
of
the
unarmed
Kenneth
Walker
a
year
ago
would
escape
state
criminal
prosecution.
Now,
Walker's
family
has
filed
a
$100
million
wrongful
death
suit
naming
Muscogee
County,
County
Sheriff
Ralph
Johnson,
and
Deputy
Glisson
as
respondents.
- NEWSBRIEF:
ALASKA
DISTRICT
ATTORNEY
TO
CHALLENGE
1975
COURT
DECISION
PROTECTING
MARIJUANA
POSSESSION
BY
ADULTS
The
district
attorney
for
the
city
of
Anchorage,
at
the
behest
of
Gov.
Frank
Murkowski,
is
requesting
a
judge
to
reexamine
a
1975
Alaska
Supreme
Court
ruling
that
made
possession
of
marijuana
by
adults
inside
the
home
legal,
NORML
reports.
- NEWSBRIEF:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Last
week,
for
the
first
time
in
ages,
we
had
trouble
finding
a
worthy
corrupt
cop
story.
Not
to
worry
--
the
drought
has
broken.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BRITISH
GOVERNMENT
TRIPPING
ON
MAGIC
MUSHROOM
POLICY
The
legal
status
of
psychedelic
such
in
Great
Britain
is
muddied
after
a
recent
wave
of
arrests
of
mushroom
sellers,
the
Guardian
reported
this
week.
- NEWSBRIEF:
WORLD'S
FIRST
RANDOM
DRUG
TEST
OF
DRIVERS
RESULTS
IN
WORLD'S
FIRST
RANDOM
DRUGGED
DRIVER
BUST
AND
THREAT
OF
WORLD'S
FIRST
LAWSUIT
AGAINST
THE
PRACTICE
The
world's
first
program
to
randomly
drug
test
drivers
got
underway
in
the
Australian
state
of
Victoria
Monday,
and
it
scored
its
first
victim
within
15
minutes,
according
to
Australian
press
reports.
- NEWSBRIEF:
EFFORTS
TO
SUPPRESS
SWAZILAND
MARIJUANA
CROP
FOUNDER
ON
POVERTY,
MEDICAL
NEED,
UN
SAYS
Smallholder
farmers
in
the
southern
African
nation
of
Swaziland
are
ignoring
efforts
to
suppress
the
marijuana
crop
because
it
provides
cash
income
and
medicine,
according
to
a
report
from
the
United
Nations'
Integrated
Regional
Information
Networks
Monday.
- NEWSBRIEF:
ISLAMIC
MILITANTS
KILL
RUSSIAN
DRUG
COPS,
CLAIM
THEY
WERE
DEALERS
Islamic
militants
attacked
an
office
of
the
Russian
anti-drug
police
Tuesday
in
the
volatile
Caucasus
region,
killing
four
of
them
and
seizing
more
than
170
pistols
and
submachine
guns,
Reuters
reported.
According
to
the
attackers,
the
anti-drug
cops
were
actually
a
"criminal
organization"
that
was
peddling
dope
and
getting
the
locals
strung
out.
- WEB
SCAN:
AFGHAN
POPPIES,
EUROPEAN
HEP
C
One
opinion
piece
and
a
drug
think
tank's
new
study.
- 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.
- INTERNSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES
AT
MPP
The
Marijuana
Policy
Project
(MPP)
has
three
paid
internship
openings.
- 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.
- THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
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