Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #373
-- 2/4/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- DRUG
WAR
CHRONICLE'S
PHIL
SMITH
FEATURED
IN
NEW
BOOK
--
"UNDER
THE
INFLUENCE"
AVAILABLE
AS
DRCNET
PREMIUM
Drug
War
Chronicle
needs
your
support
to
do
things
right
in
2005
--
donate
and
get
a
complimentary
copy
of
the
book
"Under
The
Influence,"
including
two
chapters
by
Chronicle
editor
Phil
Smith!
- EDITORIAL:
DEA
HAS
STEPPED
IN
IT
THIS
TIME
A
letter
from
the
National
Association
of
Attorneys
General
to
DEA
chief
Karen
Tandy
took
the
agency
to
task
for
their
withdrawal
of
its
pain
treatment
FAQ.
When
a
majority
of
state
attorneys
general
want
to
meet
with
the
DEA
chief
in
person
to
tell
her
she's
wrong,
DEA
has
clearly
"stepped
in
it."
- "NOT
YOUR
FATHER'S
MARIJUANA"
CANARD
AGAIN
EXPOSED
--
THIS
TIME
BY
DEA
The
refrain
is
familiar:
The
marijuana
of
today
is
worthy
of
increased
concern
because
it
is
so
much
more
potent
than
the
pot
smoked
by
the
hippies
of
yore.
But
this
particular
myth
has
again
been
essentially
debunked
--
this
time
by
the
US
Drug
Enforcement
Administration.
- NEVER
SAY
DIE:
NEVADA
MARIJUANA
REGULATION
INITIATIVE
IS
BACK
AFTER
FAVORABLE
FEDERAL
COURT
RULING
The
turbulent
efforts
to
bring
marijuana
within
the
control
of
law
in
Nevada
have
taken
an
upturn,
with
a
favorable
court
ruling
sending
the
campaign's
language
to
the
legislature
and
voters.
- DRCNET
INTERVIEW:
ROGER
GOODMAN,
KING
COUNTY
BAR
ASSOCIATION
DRUG
POLICY
PROJECT
In
a
groundbreaking
resolution
adopted
January
19,
Washington
state's
King
County
Bar
Association
effectively
declared
war
on
drug
prohibition.
Drug
War
Chronicle
spoke
with
the
head
of
KCBA's
drug
policy
project
this
week.
- BLOGGING:
MOBILE,
ALABAMA
POLICE
CHIEF
STUCK
"INSIDE
THE
BOX"
OVER
CITY'S
RISING
DRUG
TRADE
VIOLENCE,
AND
MORE
This
week
DRCNet's
"Prohibition
in
the
Media"
blog
highlighted
rising
violence
in
a
southern
city
and
a
State
Department
travel
advisory
over
violence
on
the
US-Mexico
border.
- NEWSBRIEF:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
There
must
be
a
bad
moon
rising
out
in
cop
country:
There
has
been
a
serious
outbreak
of
corruption
cases,
drug-smuggling
prison
guards,
and
cops
gone
to
pot
across
the
country.
- NEWSBRIEF:
DEA
PAIN
FAQ
RETRACT
FLAP
FALLOUT
CONTINUES
--
CRITICISM
COMES
FROM
UNEXPECTED
DIRECTION
AS
AGENCY
SEEKS
COMMENTS
Controversy
over
the
Drug
Enforcement
Administration's
(DEA)
mysterious
vanishing
guidance
to
physicians
and
law
enforcers
about
what
constituted
permissible
opioid
prescribing
practices
for
the
treatment
of
pain
--
the
pain
FAQ
--
continues,
this
time
with
criticism
of
the
agency
coming
from
a
most
unexpected
quarter:
the
nation's
state
attorneys
general.
- NEWSBRIEF:
HEA
REPEAL
PICKING
UP
STEAM
--
CONGRESSIONAL
ADVISORY
COMMITTEE,
ARIZONA
LEGISLATORS
URGE
RESCINDING
OF
SOUDER'S
LAW
The
broad-based
effort
to
repeal
the
Higher
Education
Act
drug
provision
has
gained
new
support
in
recent
weeks,
with
a
congressionally-appointed
committee
calling
for
effective
repeal
of
the
provision
and
a
bipartisan
group
of
Arizona
legislators
introducing
a
resolution
to
the
same
effect.
- NEWSBRIEF:
DEA
MUST
PAY
HEMP
INDUSTRY
PLAINTIFF'S
LEGAL
BILLS,
COURT
RULES
A
court
has
found
that
the
US
Drug
Enforcement
Administration's
position
attempting
to
ban
foods
containing
non-psychoactive
hemp
was
not
"substantially
justified."
That
means
that
DEA
must
reimburse
Dr.
Bronner's
Magic
Soaps
more
than
$20,000
in
legal
bills
the
company
accrued
as
it
financed
the
Hemp
Industry
Association's
defense
of
their
industry.
- NEWSBRIEF:
INDIANA
OFFICIAL
CALLS
FOR
NATIONAL
AGENCY
TO
PROVIDE
DRUGS
TO
ADDICTS
The
president
of
Indiana's
Lake
County
Board
of
Commissioners
has
called
for
a
form
of
drug
maintenance
therapy
for
hard-core
addicts
in
an
open
letter
to
his
local
newspaper
and
state
and
federal
officials.
- NEWSBRIEF:
IN
SWAN
SONG,
ASHCROFT
CALLS
FOR
HARSHER
SENTENCES,
CHASTIZES
FOES
During
his
term
as
the
nation's
top
law
man,
US
Attorney
General
John
Ashcroft
was
a
relentless
advocate
of
"tough
on
crime"
policies.
In
a
Tuesday
speech
that
may
well
be
his
swan
song,
Ashcroft
was
still
talking
that
old
time
religion.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MAN
BITES
DOG!
ARKANSAS
BILL
TO
LOWER
METH
SENTENCES
MOVES
FORWARD
Across
the
land,
lawmakers
are
scurrying
to
pass
laws
to
fight
the
"scourge"
of
methamphetamine.
But
in
Arkansas
this
week,
legislators
headed
in
a
different
direction.
- NEWSBRIEF:
LONDON
TOP
COP
WARNS
HE
WILL
TARGET
CASUAL
COCAINE
USERS
London's
new
top
police
official,
Sir
Ian
Blair,
took
over
as
Metropolitan
Police
Commissioner
Tuesday
and
wasted
no
time
in
announcing
a
war
on
casual
cocaine
users
in
the
city.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BELGIAN
CANNABIS
CLARIFICATION
NOW
IN
EFFECT
Belgium
passed
a
law
decriminalizing
the
personal
possession
of
marijuana
under
most
circumstances
in
January
2003,
but
parts
of
that
law
have
been
in
limbo
since
October.
This
week
the
Ministry
of
Justice
and
the
Public
Prosecutor's
Office
moved
to
clarify
the
situation.
- NEWSBRIEF:
SPANISH
PHARMACIES
TO
BEGIN
SELLING
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
Some
60
pharmacies
in
Spain's
Catalonia
region
are
set
to
begin
dispensing
medical
marijuana,
under
a
pilot
program
set
to
get
underway
before
the
end
of
April
- NEWSBRIEF:
SAFE
INJECTION
SITE
OPENS
IN
OSLO
Even
in
staunchly
prohibitionist
Scandinavia,
harm
reduction
measures
are
hard
to
resist:
After
years
of
indecision
by
Norwegian
and
city
of
Oslo
authorities,
a
safe
injection
site
in
Norway's
capital
city
is
now
open.
- NEWSBRIEF:
RASTAS,
WATCH
OUT
AT
ETHIOPIAN
MARLEY
FEST,
STATE
DEPARTMENT
WARNS
Two
weeks
of
festivities
in
Ethiopia
will
mark
the
60th
anniversary
of
reggae
superstar
Bob
Marley's
birth.
The
US
State
Department
is
giving
a
heads
up
to
travelers
who
may
be
thinking
about
emulating
his
spliff-puffing
ways
while
they
are
there.
- NEWSBRIEF:
INDIA
NARCS
SET
OFF
PRESCRIPTION
DRUG
PANIC
Raids
on
pharmaceutical
wholesalers
and
retailers
by
India's
Narcotics
Control
Bureau
have
prompted
the
industry
to
stop
accepting
shipments
of
a
wide
variety
of
prescription
drugs
regulated
under
the
nation's
Narcotic
Drugs
and
Psychotropic
Substances
Act.
Will
the
Indian
government
blink?
- THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- THE
REFORMER'S
CALENDAR
Showing
up
at
an
event
can
be
the
best
way
to
get
involved!
Check
out
this
week's
listings
for
events
from
today
through
next
year,
across
the
US
and
around
the
world!
this issue, one-page printer version
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