Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #368
-- 12/24/04
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
DISCREDITED
CONVICTIONS
AND
THE
RULE
OF
LAW
Comments
to
the
Washington
Post
by
the
Hurwitz
jury
foreman
this
week
may
complete
the
swift
discrediting
of
the
trial.
Ultimately,
though,
the
government
is
still
to
blame.
- CONFLICT
OVER
PAIN
MANAGEMENT
HEATS
UP
AS
MAINSTREAM
MEDICAL
GROUPS
WAKE
UP
The
long-simmering
battle
between
federal
drug
law
enforcers
and
pain
management
doctors,
patients,
and
academics
over
the
proper
use
of
opioid
pain
medications
such
as
Oxycontin
is
finally
turning
white
hot.
- IN
RUN-UP
TO
NEW
EUROPEAN
UNION
DRUG
STRATEGY,
EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT
ADOPTS
REPORT
CRITICAL
OF
CONTINUED
DRUG
WAR
Meeting
in
Strasbourg
on
December
15,
a
plenary
session
of
the
European
Parliament
approved
a
report
on
the
new
European
Union
(EU)
drug
strategy
that
bluntly
calls
existing
EU
policy
"a
failure"
and
proposes
fundamental
changes
in
European
drug
policy.
- YOUNG
REFORMERS
GIVE
DRUG
CZAR
HARD
TIME
AT
MONITORING
THE
FUTURE
PRESS
CONFERENCE
The
room
temperature
rose
at
the
National
Press
Club
Tuesday
when
young
members
of
drug
reform
groups
posing
as
reporters
asked
questions
of
drug
czar
John
Walters
and
his
clique
of
co-conspirators.
- DRCNET
BOOK
REVIEW:
UNDER
THE
INFLUENCE:
THE
DISINFORMATION
GUIDE
TO
DRUGS
Under
the
Influence
is
a
sampler
kit
of
drug
war
essays
that
brings
light
to
dark
corners
with
energy
and
commitment.
Editor
Preston
Peet
has
organized
49
essays
into
seven
categories
that
take
readers
on
a
high-speed
tour
of
drug
war
zones
near
and
far.
- LEGALIZATION
TALK
Starting
this
issue,
Drug
War
Chronicle
will
each
week
reprint
one
or
two
entries
from
our
Prohibition
and
the
Media
blog,
as
well
as
let
you
know
about
other
interesting
developments
or
resources
of
relevance
to
the
prohibition/legalization
debate.
- NEWSBRIEF:
SENIOR
CITIZENS
SUPPORT
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA,
AARP
POLL
FINDS
Nearly
three
out
of
four
older
Americans
support
legalizing
the
medicinal
use
of
marijuana,
a
poll
conducted
for
the
American
Association
of
Retired
Persons
has
found.
- NEWSBRIEF:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
There
is
no
rock
'n'
roll,
but
plenty
of
sex
and
drugs
in
this
week's
peak
at
corruption
in
the
drug
war.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FROM
FEDERAL
PRISON,
MARTHA
STEWART
CALLS
FOR
SENTENCING
REFORM
In
an
open
letter
to
supporters
from
the
federal
prison
where
she
is
serving
a
five-month
sentence,
home
decorating
diva
Martha
Stewart
has
called
for
sentencing
reform
--
especially
for
nonviolent
and
drug
offenders.
- NEWSBRIEF:
ANACHRONISTIC
LAW
COULD
HAMPER
HEMP
IN
SOUTH
AFRICA
A
nascent
industrial
hemp
industry
in
South
Africa
appears
poised
for
takeoff
except
for
one
small
problem:
It's
illegal.
- NEWSBRIEF:
DUTCH
OPEN
FIRST
RETIREMENT
HOME
FOR
JUNKIES
The
country
that
brought
the
world
coffee
shop
weed
sales
and
sensible
harm
reduction
policies
is
at
again
--
according
to
the
UK
newspaper
The
Scotsman,
the
world's
first
retirement
home
for
drug
addicts
has
opened
in
Rotterdam,
with
plans
for
more
on
the
way.
- NEWSBRIEF:
HUNGARIAN
HIGH
COURT
OVERTURNS
DRUG
REFORMS
In
a
December
13
ruling,
Hungary's
Constitutional
Court
restricted
the
use
of
diversion
to
drug
treatment
for
some
drug
offenders,
narrowing
the
scope
of
reform
legislation
enacted
in
2003.
- NEWSBRIEF:
INTELLIGENCE
BILL
YIELDS
NEW
FEDERAL
DRUG
FIGHTER
POSITION
The
3,000-page
Intelligence
Reform
Act,
passed
earlier
this
month
by
Congress
and
quickly
signed
into
law
by
President
Bush,
will
add
a
new
layer
to
the
federal
anti-drug
bureaucracy.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FIRST
CANNABIS-BASED
PRESCRIPTION
DRUG
WINS
PRELIMINARY
APPROVAL
IN
CANADA
The
Canadian
government
announced
Tuesday
that
a
natural
marijuana
extract,
which
will
be
sold
under
the
brand
name
Sativex,
has
won
preliminary
approval
to
be
prescribed
as
a
medicine
in
Canada.
- NEWSBRIEF:
CANADIAN
STUDY
TO
EXAMINE
SAFETY
OF
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
Even
as
Canada
moves
toward
becoming
the
first
country
to
approve
the
cannabis-based
prescription
medicine
Sativex,
Canadian
researchers
announced
Tuesday
they
are
commencing
a
study
of
the
safety
of
smoked
marijuana
as
medicine.
- NEWSBRIEF:
ILLINOIS
NURSES
JOIN
GROWING
LIST
OF
NURSING
GROUPS
SUPPORTING
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
The
Illinois
Nurses
Association
has
joined
at
least
a
dozen
state
nursing
associations
and
the
American
Nursing
Association
in
endorsing
the
use
of
marijuana
as
a
medicine.
- MEDIA
SCAN
Reason
magazine
on
the
pain
wars,
Alexander
Cockburn
on
Gary
Webb,
Faith
Under
Fire
discusses
legalization,
Grits
for
Breakfast
on
the
possible
abolition
of
drug
task
forces
in
Texas,
new
Bureau
of
Justice
Statistics
report.
- THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- APPLY
NOW
TO
INTERN
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Make
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Coalition
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are
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hardworking
interns
for
the
Spring
2005
Semester.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITY
AT
MAPS
The
Multidisciplinary
Association
for
Psychedelic
Studies
is
hiring
a
Membership
Services
and
Communication/Development
person
for
their
office
in
Sarasota,
Florida.
- 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
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week's
for
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next
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