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(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet) Issue #374 -- 2/11/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition" Phillip S. Smith, Editor
subscribe for FREE now! ---- make a donation ---- search Table of Contents
1.
Editorial:
A
Cautious
First
Step
David Borden, Executive Director, [email protected], 2/11/05
In Vancouver's Downtown East Side, where many of the city's hard drug users congregate, the addicted each day face unnecessary levels of risk from overdose, spread of infectious diseases such as Hepatitis or HIV, marginalization from society and the health system, a wearing and time consuming search for money to pay for expensive street drugs, general destabilization of their lives, and all the obstacles to survival, recovery or prosperity these conditions present. Prescription heroin is not a panacea capable of instantly transforming every addict into a happy, productive, model citizen. But the experience of countries such as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Great Britain, even the early 20th century United States, show that legal access to the drug of choice enables many such people to accomplish that for themselves. The consequences of prohibition are defining and harsh. Counterintuitive though it may seem to some, without prohibition, heroin and even heroin addiction would be markedly less destructive than they are today. One famous advocate of prescription heroin was Danny Sugerman, long-time manager for the music group The Doors and coauthor of the famous Jim Morrison biography, "No One Here Gets Out Alive." Danny, who sadly passed away last month from cancer, also wrote an amazing book, "Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess," telling the story of his descent into serious heroin addiction while living the fast life in West Hollywood. It's the kind of book that you don't want to put down until you've finished it. Wonderland Avenue made crystal clear that Danny held no illusions about heroin. He keenly understood its dangers -- he almost died from them, many close to him did -- but he also comprehended the impact of prohibition on addicted drug users. In an interview four years ago with The Week Online (Drug War Chronicle's former name), Danny told us, "If you prescribed heroin to current addicts, you'd save an entire generation." Those words were spoken from hard experience and deep thought combined. Later this month Drug War Chronicle will publish a tribute to Danny, a friend of reform who died too young. In the context of that idea, saving generations of addicts, the NAOMI trial seems much too little -- a few or several hundred participants, people who have already tried other therapies unsuccessfully, followed by a weaning off with the potential for a return to the street once the study's done, absent changes in drug policy to permit continuation. Canada has tens of thousands of active heroin users. Doubtless it has to start this way; even in Canada -- even in Vancouver -- heroin maintenance is a radical step forward, in political terms. But we know heroin maintenance works, if carried out in a sound fashion, and the record from other places and times, the people from those places, are there to offer insight and aid. So amid my satisfaction at this historic step, yet I cannot forget the uncertainty the future and present alike hold for many, many people who could be saved now. Still, Canada deserves congratulations -- a lot of them -- for this cautious but major first step. With favorable results, unceasing pressure, and maybe a little luck, more and larger steps can follow.
2.
First
North
American
Heroin
Maintenance
Study
Now
Underway
in
Vancouver
Hard-core heroin users began lining up this week in Vancouver to participate in a pioneering study where researchers will provide them with free heroin. The study, known as the North American Opiate Maintenance Project (NAOMI), won final approval Monday from Health Canada. Moving quickly, researchers this week began the process of selecting 158 participants, 88 who will receive free heroin and 70 -- the control group -- who will get methadone.
While similar projects have taken place in Switzerland and the Netherlands, the NAOMI project marks the first attempt to provide heroin maintenance therapy to drug users in North America. Led by Dr. Martin Schechter, head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, study planners have spent years carefully building political support and wending their way through a typically Canadian maze of governmental approvals. The study moves ahead with the support of Vancouver police and elected officials, and now, the full support of the Canadian federal government. The study site is at 404 Abbot Street (at the corner of Hastings) in Vancouver's Downtown East Side, the center of one of the largest hard drug scenes in North America. Already home to a safe injection site and some of the continent's best organized hard drug users, the community is behind the study, said Dr. Schechter. "People in the Downtown Eastside understand the terrible toll -- human, social and fiscal -- of chronic heroin addiction," he noted. "They also understand the need to test new treatments and innovative methods of reducing drug-related harm." "This study has support right across the political spectrum in Canada," said NAOMI spokesman Jim Boothroyd. "In our community consultations, opposition to the study was not so much ideological as NIMBY-oriented," he told DRCNet. "People are afraid of bringing heroin addicts into their neighborhoods, but by working with the Downtown Eastside community, we have addressed those concerns." "The city of Vancouver definitely supports the NAOMI study," said Theresa Beer of the city's drug policy office. "We were involved in gaining neighborhood approval and securing the site," she told DRCNet. "The Vancouver police are also fully aware of and support the study," she said. A very cautious Boothroyd refused for months to speak on the record about the pending project, hoping a low profile would keep opposition from mounting. That approach caused some concern among advocates of the project, said Anne Livingston of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, a group that has fought hard for such programs. "We were beginning to think they were taking the wrong approach, especially as this dragged on over the years," she told DRCNet, "but now, here we are with the final go-ahead. It's about time," she added. With final approval granted by Health Canada, the project is moving fast, she said. "Approval came Monday, posters seeking applicants went up Tuesday, and the selection process began Thursday," she reported. According to a NAOMI background paper, Canada has some 60,000 to 90,000 opiate addicts. While many hard drug users respond to methadone maintenance therapy, "some long-term, higher risk patients do not respond to or benefit from this standard treatment." Participants in the study will come from that group. According to program guidelines, candidates must be over 25, have been a heroin addict for more than five years, and previously have tried methadone maintenance. Persons on probation, facing criminal charges, or with severe mental illness will not be able to participate. During the study, those selected to receive heroin will visit the clinic up to three times a day, seven days a week, where they will receive prescribed doses on heroin under a physician's supervision. Participants will be asked to remain at the clinic for a half hour after each injection. Available at the clinic will be social workers, drug and addiction counselors, and other social support staff, who will work with participants to achieve a more stable life-style and, ultimately, wean them from opiate addiction. At the study's end, participants will have a three-month transition period to wean them off heroin. They will then have the option of going into detox, going into methadone maintenance, or going back to the streets to feed their habits. "Results from the European studies suggest that medically prescribed heroin could greatly help our most troubled heroin addicts -- those for whom we have no effective treatments," said Dr. Schechter. "But we won't know whether the same results hold true in the Canadian setting until we complete this carefully designed scientific study." "Heroin addiction afflicts an estimated 60 to 90,000 Canadians and the costs associated with it -- in terms of human misery, public health, social problems and crime -- are staggering," said Dr. Alan Bernstein, President of Canadian Institute for Health Research. "Canada, and many other countries, therefore, need studies such as NAOMI to investigate new approaches to reducing the harm caused by heroin addiction." And now it begins.
3.
DRCNet
Interview:
Marijuana
Policy
Project
Director
Rob
Kampia
Rob Kampia and Chuck Thomas
split with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
in 1994 and formed the Marijuana Policy Project
in early 1995. Since then, MPP has grown from a pair of relocated
Pennsylvania activists operating out of a home office to a drug reform
powerhouse operating out of offices on Capitol Hill offices in Washington,
DC. With its fingers in many political pies over the years and some
significant victories under its belt, MPP is definitely a player in marijuana
and related drug reform issues across the country.
Chuck Thomas has since left
MPP to found Unitarians Universalists for
Drug Policy Reform and the Interfaith
Drug Policy Initiative -- he now goes by "Charles" -- but Rob Kampia
has stayed on as the group's executive director. DRCNet spoke Tuesday
with Kampia to look back at where the group and the movement has been and
look forward at what comes next.
4.
DRCNet
Book
Review:
"It's
Just
a
Plant,"
by
Ricardo
Cortes
(2005,
Magic
Propaganda
Mill,
$17.95
HB)
At a time when DARE officers
encourage children to snitch on parents or family members who use drugs
and increasingly shrill professional drug fighters such as former deputy
drug czar Andrea Barthwell advise parents to tell their children that their
own drug use was a "mistake," "It's
Just a Plant" is just the sort of antidote for the not-so-magic propaganda
mill horror stories that pass for "drug education" in the United States.
A beautifully illustrated children's story about marijuana, "It's Just
a Plant" addresses some of the complexities of pot in a sober, thoughtful,
and non-propagandistic manner -- and as important, in a manner that will
make those issues understandable for curious children and approachable
for nervous parents.
And the next morning, off
they go on their bicycles to meet first Farmer Bob, where mom buys the
family vegetables. But Farmer Bob also grows marijuana, and Jackie
gets to see and smell the skunky plant as Bob explains it has been grown
by human for thousands of years and used for numerous purposes, including
getting high. "What do you do with the flowers?" asks young Jackie.
"People eat them and smoke them. Can you believe that?" Bob answers.
"Some people say marijuana makes them feel happy. Others say it's
'dreamy.' Actually, the flower has different effects on different
people who try it: artists, doctors, teachers, writers, scientists, even
presidents," he explains. "Why do you use it, Farmer Bob?" Jackie
asks. "I don't," he said. "It just puts me to sleep."
As young Jackie ponders what
Farmer Bob has told her, it's off to the doctor's office to learn about
marijuana as medicine. "Marijuana," kindly Dr. Eden explains, "is
used for different reasons. Like many plants, it can be a medicine,
and it is sometimes called a drug. It can heal the eyes of some people,
help other people relax, and it calms the stomach and helps people eat
when they need to."
But when Jackie asks if marijuana
would help her, Dr. Eden is quick to explain that it is not for kids.
"Marijuana is for adults who can use it responsibly," she says. "I
do not recommend it for everyone. It can be a very strong medicine
-- too strong for you now." Here Cortes may be open for criticism
that he is conflating recreational and medical use, and for suggesting
that some medicines are not appropriate for children -- would he say that
morphine should not be given to a child in pain because it is "for adults
who can use it responsibly"? -- but perhaps such conundrums are too much
to resolve in a book aimed at children and their parents.
Next, Jackie and her mother
encounter four black men smoking marijuana on the street, only to see the
police arrive and order them against the wall. "Mister, why are you
arresting people?" the perplexed child asks. "Young lady, these men
were smoking what I call grass, and that is against the law," the policeman
explains. "Marijuana is against the law?" the confused child asks
uncertainly.
Officer Friendly explains,
mentioning that marijuana was not always illegal, but "then one day, a
small but powerful group decided to make a law against marijuana."
Despite the protests of doctors, politicians and lawmakers made the plant
illegal and "our government started War around the world to stop people
from growing it."
Cortes deserves special credit
here for introducing the "radical" notion that the law can indeed be an
ass and that "the law is the law" is only the beginning, not the end, of
the debate. He presents a mini-civics lesson as Jackie's mother explains
that "the government can make a mistake," but that "we live in a country
where we have the right to change the law if it doesn't work." The
police office chimes in as well, saying that not all police officers believe
marijuana should be illegal, and "If you think the law is mistake, maybe
you should work to change it." (In case you're wondering about such
reasonable police officers, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is one
of the groups who helped the book see the light of day.)
Here, one wishes to leap
beyond civic-minded platitudes and introduce young Jackie to cultural currents
that sneer at unjust laws. "Unjust laws exist," 19th century American
Transcendentalist proto-hippie Henry David Thoreau once famously noted.
"Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and
obey them until we succeed, or shall we transgress them at once?"
But perhaps that is a lesson that can wait for the junior high years.
Radical nit-picking aside,
"It's Just a Plant" is a refreshing alternative to the stale and frankly
unbelievable propaganda that passes for drug education aimed at children
these days. For parents confronted with curious children, the book
provides a comforting beginning point for dealing with the issues surrounding
drug use in our society and a healthy antidote to the fear-mongering of
the drug warriors. Just make sure your kid gets to read it with you
before she goes to DARE. Gee, maybe she could even share her copy
with the DARE officer.
5.
Drug
War
Chronicle's
Phil
Smith
Featured
in
New
Book
--
"Under
The
Influence"
Available
as
DRCNet
Premium
Dear Drug War Chronicle
devotee:
In case you were not already
aware, I wanted to let you know that Drug War Chronicle's own Phillip S.
Smith was featured in the new book Under The Influence: The Disinformation
Guide to Drugs -- Phil wrote two of the book's nearly 50 fascinating
articles and essays, including an especially provocative one, "Imagining
a Post-Prohibition World."
Thanks to support by readers
like yourself, and a generous grant received late last year from the Educational
Foundation of America, DRCNet Foundation has now raised $36,000 toward
Drug
War Chronicle's expenses in 2005. However, we are expecting the Chronicle's
total costs to reach about $67,000 as they have for each of the past two
years. That means we have $31,000 to go. If you are one of the many who
have helped us with this campaign so far, thank you. If you have yet to
donate or pledge for 2005... please understand that we need your help to
do this right. We need your support or we will have to downscale the newsletter
and cut back our activist programs. Please click
here to make a one-time donation to Drug War Chronicle, or click
here to sign up to donate monthly. Or, send us an e-mail at [email protected]
to let us know how much you are pledging and for when.
When Ecuadoran former
army colonel Lucio Gutierrez gave an interview to Chronicle editor Phil
Smith at an anti-Plan Colombia conference, he didn't expect it to come
back to haunt him when three years later as President of Ecuador he tried
to deny attending that conference and opposing Plan Colombia. But El Universo,
one of Ecuador's largest daily papers, found the interview online. The
article ran on the front page – click
here to read it online (in Spanish). Contributions to DRCNet Foundation
to support Drug War Chronicle are tax-deductible. (If you select
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a donation of stock.
Because of the enthusiasm
of our readers, Drug War Chronicle has completed 7 ½ years
of publishing – 373 issues, nearly 5,000 articles -- and we now move into
2005 and another year of hopeful, distressing, interesting, ridiculous
and dangerous developments in drug policy and its impact on our communities
and world. From mandatory minimum sentencing, to pain doctor prosecutions,
police ignoring state medical marijuana laws, Afghanistan's drug war, major
court rulings, ongoing chronicling of the consequences of prohibition,
the latest hair-brained drug warrior idea, David Borden's editorials, This
Week's Corrupt Cops Stories, coverage of the drug policy reform movement,
to leading drug warriors like drug czar John Walters and congressman Mark
Souder and the usually bad things they say and do, Drug War Chronicle will
be there to provide you with the detailed story behind the story.
Thank you for your support
of Drug War Chronicle. As the book title suggests, the drug war is sustained
in part by a torrent of disinformation. And disinformation can only be
countered by... valid information... hence Drug War Chronicle. Please feel
free to write or call if you have any questions, and stay tuned for a challenging
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P.S. Click
here to read the Drug War Chronicle review of Under The Influence.
P.P.S. Following are a few
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Policymakers:
After we ran a story in June
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following a threat by DEA agents to prosecute club owners under the controversial
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committees as well as present at most of the conferences here. [Drug War
Chronicle] has been a major source of information and has helped shape
our treatment programs as well as influenced many policies and conferences,
where the only other sources have been the official USG and UN policies." 6. Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories
6.
Newsbrief:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
This week we revisit a pair
of stories on which we previously reported, examine a pair of marginally
corrupt cases, one involving a police narc and one involving a prosecutor,
and look at one absolutely hideous example of corrupt and thuggish policing
of the foulest sort.
First, the updates:
Three weeks ago, we reported
on West
Texas District Attorney Rick Roach, who was arrested at the Gray County
courthouse in Pampa on January 11 and charged with possession of methamphetamine,
possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of methamphetamine
with intent to deliver, and possession of weapon by a drug addict.
Roach had two guns in his briefcase and more than 30 other weapons -- semiautomatic
handguns, rifles, and shotguns -- at home. Now the prosecutor has
copped a plea. Roach agreed Tuesday to plead guilty on the illegal
weapons charge in return for the dropping of the drug charges. He
has also resigned his post as prosecutor. He faces up to 10 years
in prison; many years less than the 40 he was looking at if convicted on
all charges.
Although federal prosecutors
had Roach dead to rights on the drug charges, "I felt this was the best
count for him to plead to federally," prosecutor Christy Drake told the
Associated Press. Ah, those soft-hearted federal prosecutors.
Back in September, we noted
the arrest of US
Customs and Border Protection Officer Corey Whitfield as he tried crossing
the US-Canada border with 535 pounds of "BC Bud" headed for the US.
The eight-year Customs veteran attempted to use a diplomatic passport when
challenged at the border, saying "I'm one of us," but when the weed was
found, he at first denied knowing it was there, then changed his story,
saying he had been blackmailed by a man he met at a party on the Canadian
side of the border while moonlighting as a security guard. Whitfield
told agents he was forced into the smuggling scheme when the man showed
him photos of himself in "compromising situations involving illegal drugs
and a sexual encounter with a female at the party" and threatened to send
them to his wife.
Whitfield pled guilty in
November to one count marijuana smuggling. On February 4, a federal
judge sentenced the wayward border guard to five years in prison followed
by five years of probation. Whitfield had an otherwise clean criminal
record.
In new cases, a former Putnam
County, NY, drug investigator got off easy after pleading guilty to falsifying
records in the Putnam County Sheriff's Department's narcotics unit, according
to the Empire Report. The newspaper asked in its subhead: "Are police
officers charged with breaking the law treated differently than citizens
in court?"
The falsifying records charge
came after former Senior Investigator Alfred Villani, 52, came to Sheriff
Donald Smith's attention for "questionable actions occurring within the
unit." Those actions would be altering the records to cover up the
disappearance of a $2,000 night vision scope. Instead of jail time,
Villani got 150 hours of community service. Villani, who retired
while on suspension during the investigation, also gets to keep his sheriff's
department pension.
And in a case that demonstrates
the inherent corruption of a system built upon informants, as well as the
hypocrisy of at least one prosecutor, former Charleston County, South Carolina,
Assistant Solicitor Damon Cook is facing charges of cocaine possession
and conspiracy to distribute. The story unfolded as two of his co-defendants
pled guilty February 4th on similar charges. Charles Edward Deese
and Rebecca McCollum were portrayed by prosecutors as drug buyers and suppliers
who helped build the case against Cook and two local defense attorneys,
the Charleston Post & Courier reported.
After State Law Enforcement
Division (SLED) agents received information against McCollum in March 2003,
she agreed to cooperate and led agents to Deese. Deese in turn agreed
to cooperate, arranging the sale of a half-pound of cocaine to popular
local trumpeter Joseph Ambrosia, but Ambrosia fled the state and is now
suspected to be in Europe. Meanwhile, the highly cooperative McCollum
also led police to a defense attorney who shared office space with Solicitor
Cook. She bought 17 grams of cocaine from the defense attorney, Rodney
Strich. When confronted, Strich in turn turned state's evidence,
telling agents that he, Cook, and another local lawyer frequently pooled
their money to buy cocaine for personal use and to sell to others.
Cook in turn agreed to turn state's evidence. Now he is before the
dock.
Last but certainly not least,
the quick action of a drug suspect's wife has lifted the lid on some truly
nasty and brutal police work in Campbell County, Tennessee, just outside
of Knoxville. While the cops in this case were apparently not after
filthy lucre -- it is unclear at this point whether their little adventure
was official or unofficial -- their behavior displays a level of corruption
and viciousness that should make good cops blanch. Five former Campbell
County Sheriff's Department officers are currently on trial in federal
court on charges they violated the civil rights of Eugene Siler by torturing
him for hours -- all because Siler's wife turned on a tape recorder when
they burst in looking for her husband. Otherwise, it would have been
a case of an accused doper's word against that of five law enforcers, and
we all know the cops don't lie, right?
While Siler's ordeal lasted
for more than two hours, the tape ran out after 45 minutes, but that was
more than enough to make clear what was going on as the deputies brutalized
Siler. The five deputies, including the lead narc for the department,
David Webber, and the department's DARE officer (!), Samuel Franklin, handcuffed
Siler to a chair, announced "It's all fucking over, son," and proceeded
to beat him bloody, threaten to kill him, and otherwise torment him unless
he agreed to sign a statement saying he had given them permission to search
his home for drugs. In documents presented in court last week, prosecutors
allege the rampaging narcs not only physically assaulted Siler, but threatened
to electrocute him, drown him, and break his fingers if he didn't cooperate.
But it was the 59-page FBI
transcript of Siler's wife's tape recording that really told the story.
"We're going to take every dime you have today and if we don't walk out
of here with every piece of dope you got and every dime you got, you're
fucking ass is not going to make it to the jail," Webber warned in the
transcript. Webber is on the tape threatening to beat Siler and concocting
a resisting arrest scenario. "Eugene, let me tell you how this is
gonna work, OK?" Webber said. "We got here and guess what you did?
You ran out the back door. We chased you, OK? You fought with
us, OK? We end up fighting with you. You 'bout whupped all
our asses, so we had to fight back, OK?"
The transcripts go on to
portray a time of horror for the accused drug dealer, as Webber and his
companions repeatedly beat Siler, threaten him, and beat him some more.
"You're not fucking listening," Webber said at one point. "You hear
what I told you? I told you not to be talking. This asshole
right here, he loves seeing blood. He loves it. He loves seeing
blood. You're talking too much. He loves fucking seeing blood.
He'll beat your ass and lick it off of you."
There is more,
much more of the transcript available, courtesy of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Interested readers can check it out, but your reporter here is already
seeing red and will feed you no more. As a final word, however, it
is worth noting that Campbell County Sheriff Ron McLellan is an ardent
drug warrior, sending out almost weekly news releases bragging about the
latest exploits of his troops in their war on drugs. By any means
necessary, eh, Sheriff? You might want to rein in your mad dogs.
7.
Newsbrief:
Memphis
Taxpayers
to
Pay
Big
Time
for
Police
Drug
Raid
Killing
The good burghers of Memphis
are about to make a big pay-out for the behavior of their police, the Memphis
Commercial Appeal reported. In a 2002 drug raid gone bad, Memphis
police fatally wounded gravedigger Jeffrey Robinson in his own bedroom,
then planted evidence to suggest he was attacking them, a federal jury
found in awarding $2.85 million in damages to Robinson's family.
Robinson's son Jarvis was not part of that lawsuit, and he is now suing
the city of Memphis for another $1 million.
According to testimony from
the first lawsuit, which named three Memphis police officers, police received
information from an informant that someone named "Carl" or "Snag" was selling
either marijuana or cocaine out of Robinson's quarters at the cemetery
where he worked. Within an hour, Memphis cops kicked down Robinson's
door and shot him. Police testified that Robinson attacked Officer
Mark Lucas with a box cutter and that Lucas fired in self-defense, but
paramedics testified they saw no box cutter near the body. Police
never fingerprinted the box cutter, and Robinson's family claimed police
planted it after the fact, a claim accepted by the jury in the first case.
A trial in the second case
was set for February 18th, but was postponed as the city and Jarvis Robinson
negotiated a settlement figure. The city has an incentive to settle;
a trial would have led to attacks on Memphis police training and procedures,
the Commercial Appeal reported.
Officers Mark Lucas, Albert
Bonner and Jeffrey Simcox were never disciplined in the killing, even though
the federal civil jury found Lucas used excessive force and falsified evidence,
that Simcox falsified evidence, and that Officer Albert Bonner falsified
evidence and falsely arrested Robinson. The trigger-happy trio found
a small amount of marijuana in Robinson's quarters after the raid and charged
him with marijuana possession and aggravated assault. Robinson never
went to trial on the charges; instead, he died a few weeks later after
being paralyzed by Lucas' bullets.
8.
Newsbrief:
Bush
Budget
Slashes
Funds
for
Local
Police,
Increases
DEA
Funding
In a 2006
federal budget proposal marked by hefty increases for the Pentagon
and the State Department and belt-tightening for just about everyone else,
even spending for police is on the chopping block. The Bush administration
has said the federal budget reflects its priorities, and the document makes
clear that those priorities are foreign war and its domestic component,
homeland security. Non-defense spending will be held to less than
next year's expected increase in the inflation rate, meaning most federal
programs will see their spending shrink in real terms.
Not even including new spending
to pay for Bush's foreign wars -- the administration says it will ask for
a supplemental appropriation of around $80 billion to pay for its occupation
of Afghanistan and Iraq -- the Pentagon's already mammoth budget will increase
from $400 billion to $419 billion, contributing to a whopping 41% increase
in war spending since 2001.
One of the biggest losers
in the Bush budget is the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
Initiated by then President Clinton as part of his vow to "make America
safer" by putting 100,000 additional police officers on the street, the
program was funded last year at $499 million dollars, but the Bush 2006
budget slashes COPS by a whopping 95% to only $22 million. Overall,
Bush administration grants to state and local law enforcement will drop
by nearly 50%, from $2.8 billion in 2005 to $1.5 billion in 2006.
Other Justice Department
line items fare better. The FBI budget jumps by 11% to $5.7 billion,
including increases in counterterrorism and counterintelligence ($294 million)
and the agency's intelligence program ($117 million). And the federal
government's lead anti-drug agency, the DEA, will see its budget increase
4% to $1.7 billion, with a charge to disrupt three dozen major drug trafficking
organizations.
With a budget deficit estimated
to hit a record $427 billion this year, Bush's economic policies effectively
carry on the tradition begun by President Reagan, whose combination of
tax cuts and increased military spending made cuts in social programs inevitable.
With money available primarily for the Bush administration's war aims,
more than 150 programs will be killed or radically cut back, including
almost 50 education programs and funding for Medicaid. Included in
those cuts are $440 million in grants under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools
Act.
9.
Newsbrief:
What
Meth
Epidemic?
National
Survey
Shows
Amphetamine
Use
Unchanged
from
Year
Earlier
About 1.2 million people
reported using methamphetamine or prescription stimulants for non-medical
reasons in 2003, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration's (SAMSA) annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health,
the agency reported on February 4th. In a
special report on stimulant use, SAMSHA found that over 20 million
Americans have used either methamphetamine, prescription amphetamine diet
pills, or attention deficit disorder amphetamines such as Dexedrine and
Ritalin for non-medical purposes during their lifetimes.
While the SAMSHA report did
not compare 2003 usage with previous years, earlier
annual reports from the agency show that the number of speed users
that year was virtually unchanged from 2002. A
close reading of the SAMSHA numbers over the past few years appears
to indicate that the increase in stimulant use plateaued early in the millennium
after escalating through the late 1990s.
According to the survey,
formerly known as the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, some 12
million people reported using methamphetamine at least once in their lifetimes,
while an additional 8.7 million reported lifetime use of prescription stimulants
for non-medical reasons. SAMSHA placed the number of people dependent
on abusing stimulants in 2003 at around 378,000.
The SAMSHA data suggests
that some of the rhetoric surrounding the "epidemic" of methamphetamine
use is overblown. An epidemic where the numbers affected do not increase
from year to year is not much of an epidemic. Nor does the much-vaunted
addictiveness of methamphetamine seem to stand up to the numbers.
With 12 million lifetime users and 1.2 million users in the last year,
only about 25% of last year users meet the SAMSHA's criteria for dependency
or abuse and only 2.5% of lifetime users meet that criteria.
10.
Newsbrief:
Death
Squad
Killings
Spike
Upward
in
Davao
As
DRCNet reported two weeks ago, the US military is on a training exercise
with Philippine military and police in the violence-ridden southern city
of Davao. While the US military reports that the training includes
a human rights component, that part of the program apparently has not yet
sunk in for anti-drug and anti-crime death squad killers widely linked
to the city's flamboyant mayor, Rodrigo Duterte.
Davao police officials attempted
to pin the blame for the killings on intramural fighting among drug traffickers,
a tactic also used by Thai authorities last year as they sought a "final
solution" to that nation's drug problem by killing an estimated 2,500 people.
Regional police director Simeon Dizon issued a statement in mid-January
saying the murders were the result of a "drug war" and telling the public
to expect more killings. At least Dizon was correct on the latter
score.
Davao City Mayor Duterte
remains unabashed and barely bothers to deny his involvement in the killings.
At a press conference Monday, Duterte, reacting to accusations that the
killings are government-sponsored, responded "so be it." If he had
to kill 200 criminals to protect the city of 1.4 million from harm, he
would do so, he said. "I don't give a shit on what they would say
about me, I don't give a shit about my image. If I stand alone in
this belief, so be it; if I rise and fall because of this image, it's okay,"
he said.
Duterte blamed public concern
about the vigilante killings on media hype, adding that the Davao Death
Squad "does not exist as far as city hall is concerned." Nor, said
Duterte, did he care that the Integrated Bar of the Philippines had asked
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to intercede in the murderous rampage.
Duterte also suggested that
press critics should investigate the killings, but bar association Davao
City president Carlos Zarate retorted that that was supposed to be the
job of the police. "If the heads of our law enforcement offices cannot
do it [find the killers], then decency demands they resign and let someone
else do the job," he said in a statement last week.
The deputy ombudsman for
Mindanao is adding to the pressure. According to the newspaper Sunstar
Davao, the ombudsman has asked the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation
to look into the murders. That request received a positive response
from NBI chief Reynaldo Wycoco, who agreed to investigate. Now, the
question is whether the NBI will be any more efficient than local police
in finding the executioners.
11.
Newsbrief:
Indian
Government
Blinks
in
Face
of
Threatened
Drug
Shortage
As
DRCNet reported last week, medicinal drug wholesalers and retailers
in India had threatened a total halt to sales of psychoactive drugs --
ranging from Valium to morphine and beyond -- beginning Thursday because
of campaign of harassment and arrests by the country's newly zealous Narcotics
Control Board (NCB). But according to a report Friday in the Hindu
Business Line, anxious patients and drug manufacturers now have a three-week
reprieve after the pharmaceutical industry, trade associations, and retail
pharmacists won an assurance from the NCB that the agency would forward
their concerns to the Finance Ministry and that appropriate changes would
be made in the country's drug laws.
"Top officials of the NCB
have assured us that they would recommend to the Finance Ministry to amend
the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and definite action
on this would be taken in the next 10 days," said JS Shinde of the All-India
Organisation of Chemists and Druggists.
The temporary reprieve came
as shortages of medicines were being reported across the country.
Beginning two weeks ago, pharmacists and drug retailers began moving to
shut down sales of psychoactive medicines in an effort to pressure the
Indian government to get the narcs to back off. Wholesalers had begun
refusing to purchase the drugs from pharmaceutical companies in protest
of NCB harassment, and existing stocks were running low. But pharmacists
and drug retailers have set February 25th for a new drug strike if the
Indian government fails to move on their complaints. Stay tuned.
12.
Newsbrief:
Marijuana
Reform
Under
Attack
in
Western
Australia
The Western Australia Labor
government of Premier Geoff Gallop is under broad attack for its liberalization
of the marijuana laws in the state. The state opposition coalition,
the state medical association, various advocacy groups, and the federal
government are all aiming arrows at the law and the state Labor Party as
elections loom.
In March 2004, the huge but
sparsely populated state became the
second in Australia to decriminalize marijuana. Under the law
adopted then, people caught in possession of less than 30 grams of marijuana
are ticketed and fined -- not charged with a criminal offense, but instead
cited for a "Cannabis Infringement Notice." Fines range up to $100
Australian for quantities under 15 grams and $150 Australian for quantities
over 15 grams but less than 30 grams. People ticketed can avoid paying
the fines by instead attending a "Cannabis Education Session," where they
will be warned of the dangers of the weed. Possession of drug paraphernalia
is also downgraded from a "simple offense" (the equivalent of a misdemeanor)
to a ticketable offense.
The law also makes growing
of up to two plants a ticketable offense, but lowers the threshold for
the "serious offense" (felony) of marijuana cultivation from 25 plants
to 10 plants. And in a reflection of the uniquely Australian obsession
with hydroponic marijuana cultivation, any number of hydroponically grown
marijuana plants remains a criminal offense. The new law also created
the new offense of selling hydroponic equipment for the purpose of growing
marijuana.
But in the run-up to elections,
the state opposition is calling for the law to be throw out and the return
of zero tolerance. "Not only is the possession of cannabis no longer
a criminal offence, Dr. Gallop has actually allowed people to grow cannabis
in their backyard," said opposition leader Colin Barnett. The state
government has been too soft on marijuana, ignoring its alleged links to
mental health problems, organized crime, and hard drug use, he added.
"There is increasing evidence that cannabis is often associated with mental
health problems," he said. "There's evidence of cannabis associated
with road trauma. It is a mind-altering substance and Dr Gallop has
put the youth of Western Australia at risk by his approach of decriminalizing
cannabis, allowing the cultivation of cannabis in suburban backyards."
The opposition has unveiled
a plan to repeal decriminalization, but provide that people caught with
less than 10 grams would be punished only by a warning. Even that
retrenchment is not enough for the Western Australia branch of the Australian
Medical Association. Association state president Paul Skerritt told
the Western Australian newspaper last week that even first-time users should
be sentenced to drug treatment. "We want a sentencing policy which
corrects the problem, and that's not necessarily jail time but could be
through strict court-imposed treatment regimes," Skerritt said. "Now,
you get a little bit of a slap on the hand, an on-the-spot fine and therefore
the Government is endorsing the totally incorrect idea that these drugs
are soft," he said.
The Western Australia AMA
is in conflict with the national association. AMA federal president
Bill Glasson told the newspaper he supported decriminalization for personal
use and did not think criminal sanctions were the correct approach.
Ironically, Western Australia
cabinet ministers have attacked the opposition plan as "too soft."
Letting people off with a warning is unacceptable, charged Health Minister
Jim McGinty. "That's not good enough. We need to bring home
to people the consequences of their cannabis use," he said. "If the
Liberals are going to go back to the regime they had in place when they
were in government, it is softer," he said.
Meanwhile, the conservative
federal government has jumped into the fray, with Justice Minister Chris
Ellison accusing the Western Australia government of fostering organized
crime. "One plant harvested four times a year can produce up to eight
kilograms of cannabis a year," he said. "That has a street value
of around about $84,000. You can see that the potential for the development
of organized crime is extremely dangerous."
13.
Newsbrief:
Bob
Marley
Birthday
Bash
in
Addis
Ababa
Comes
Off
Without
a
Hitch
Hundreds of thousands of
people streamed into the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa Sunday to commemorate
the anniversary of the birth of reggae superstar and iconic pot-smoker
Bob Marley. The dreadlocked singer who popularized both reggae and
Rastafarianism, the religion based on the belief that former Ethiopian
Emperor Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) is God and marijuana is a holy sacrament,
would have turned 60 on February 6, but he died of cancer in 1981 at the
age of 36.
Despite
warnings last week from the US State Department that Ethiopia has strict
drug laws and would be practicing heavy security, Sunday's concert featuring
Rita Marley, Ziggy Marley, and African performers Youssou D'Nour and Baaba
Maal, among others, went off without a hitch, although some Ethiopians
pronounced themselves bemused both by Rastafarianism and its use of Jah
herb as a sacrament.
While the city's Meskel Square
was packed with humanity and the Rasta colors -- green, yellow, and red
-- were prominent, as were posters of Marley and Selassie, the sweet scent
of the weed provoked no police response. "No problem has been witnessed
and reported so far in the city. We are doing our best for the security
of this big gathering," a police officer at the square told All Africa
News. Addis Ababa residents were more inclined to take a mellow attitude
toward the visitors and their strange customs than the State Department
was. "I don't have much affection for them, but I am not against
them," said Zenbe Biru, a 22-year-old student at Addis Ababa University.
"I have a problem understanding their philosophy," he told the Khaleej
Times.
"I have my own reservations
about the Rastafarians," added 18-year-old high school pupil Alem Desta.
"I hate the way they dress and mostly I hate what they smoke. I have
never dreamed of considering them as one of us. They have their own
home, we have our own," he said. "But I like their music."
The Ethiopian government
was also disinclined to chastise the Rastas, thousands of whom have resettled
in Ethiopia, which they consider the promised land. "The government
is not interested in contesting religious claims," said Information Minister
Simon Bedekat, responding to complaints from Christian conservatives that
the celebrations were blasphemous. "This is a secular government
that acknowledges the right to believe in what you believe," he said.
"Basically the Rastafarians have the right to believe in what they believe
and the evangelicals also have that right."
Still, Bedekat expressed
dismay at the Rastas' marijuana use. "We're worried about it," he
said. "We believe that an emerging society must guard itself from
any scourge, be it drugs or other types of negative influences."
But not too much, especially on Bob Marley's birthday.
14.
Newsbrief:
London
Police
Chief
Ramps
Up
Rhetorical
War
on
Middle-Class
Cocaine
Use
Last week, incoming London
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair took office vowing
to go after upscale cocaine use in Britain's capital. He was
back at it again this week, suggesting in an interview with the Sunday
London Times that he may order "reverse stings" against recreational cocaine
users. It could be buyer beware, indeed, if Sir Blair sends out undercover
police officers posing as cocaine dealers.
When it comes to cocaine,
it is almost as if it were the 1980s in London. The drug is widely
used, with an estimated 250,000 people snorting recreationally each weekend,
and is part of the city's thriving nightlife. But unlike the US in
the 1980s, the stuff is cheap. According to government figures, cocaine
has flooded into Britain, with a four-fold increase in seizures in the
last two years. But the seizures have failed to keep prices high,
with the cost of a gram of cocaine falling from 60 pounds ($112) a decade
ago to as little as 40 pounds ($75) now. As the British tabloids
are fond of noting, a line of cocaine now costs less than a cappuccino.
In his interview with the
Sunday Times, Blair said he wanted dinner-party cocaine users to fear arrest.
"We are not going to burst through doors to raid Islington dinner parties,
but I do want to make people concerned that they might be buying their
drugs from a police officer: that would be an interesting idea, wouldn't
it?"
Blind to the role of drug
prohibition in generating violence related to the cocaine trade, Blair
chastised British consumers for abetting that violence. "People seem
to think the price of a wrap of cocaine is 50 quid, but the cost is misery
on estates here and a trail of blood back to Colombia," he said.
"Someone has died to bring it to a dinner party. People who wouldn't
dream of having a non-organic vegetable don't seem to notice the blood
on their fingers."
Peeved by middle- and upper-class
attitudes of impunity, Blair last week threatened to make "a few examples
of some people" to reinforce the point that no one is above the law, a
theme to which he returned Sunday. "There is a sense that people
think that in certain fashionable clubs, restaurants and dinner parties
it is okay to do drugs," he said. "All I can say is that people may
find out that it is not."
According to a senior Scotland
Yard official consulted by the Times, police narcs would pose as local
cocaine dealers in an effort to entrap upscale users. They would
operate in areas such as Chelsea, Kensington, and Islington. The
official also warned that nightclubs and pubs in the city's West End, where
customers snort lines in the bathrooms, could expect to be raided in coming
months.
Better for drug users to
switch to marijuana under the Blair regime, the London top cop suggested.
He told the Times he is "relaxed" about pot and does not consider arresting
cannabis users to be the best use of police resources.
15.
Web
Scan:
Debra
Saunders,
Drug
War
Carol,
DPA
Web
Chat,
Drug
Truth
Radio
"Drug War Follies," column by Debra Saunders in the San Francisco Chronicle about the drug provision of the Higher Education Act -- Students for Sensible Drug Policy and DRCNet Foundation's John W. Perry Fund cited! "A Drug War Carol" comic now available in Spanish and French -- visit http://www.adrugwarcarol.com to check them out! Web chat with Sasha and Ann Shulgin, hosted by Ethan Nadelmann and Drug Policy Alliance. Tuesday, February 22nd, 6:00pm EST, visit http://www.drugpolicy.org/events/shulginchat/ to participate. Drug Truth radio program
interview with Kevin Zeese of Common Sense for Drug Policy:
16.
This
Week
in
History
February 11, 1982:
Attorney General William French Smith grants an exemption sparing the CIA
from a legal requirement to report on drug smuggling by agency assets.
This occurs only two months after President Reagan authorizes covert CIA
support for the Nicaraguan contra army and some eight months before the
first known documentary evidence reveals that the contras had started collaborating
with drug traffickers.
February 11, 1988:
An international heroin seizure record is set, still in effect today, 2,816
pounds in Bangkok, Thailand.
February 11, 1999:
Researchers in Boston, Massachusetts find no link between marijuana use
by pregnant mothers and miscarriages.
February 11, 2001:
President Jorge Battle of Uruguay becomes the first head of state in Latin
America to call for legalization of drugs.
February 12, 2002:
DEA agents raid the Harm Reduction Center, a medical marijuana club in
San Francisco. President George W. Bush issues his National Drug
Control Strategy on the same day.
February 14, 1929:
Mobsters commit the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which becomes a symbol
of the mob violence engendered by Alcohol Prohibition.
February 14, 1995:
The US House of Representatives approves several drug-related bills, including
one which replaces the police, prevention and drug court provisions of
the 1994 Crime Act with a $10 billion block grant program.
February 14, 1996:
Fairfax police chief Jim Anderson speaks out in favor of California's medical
marijuana initiative.
February 16, 1982:
During a speech in Miami, Florida, vice president George Herbert Walker
Bush promises to use sophisticated military aircraft to track the airplanes
used by drug smugglers. Several days later, Bush orders the US Navy
to send in its E2C surveillance aircraft for this purpose. In October
the General Accounting Office issues an opinion finding that "it is doubtful
whether the [south Florida] task force can have any substantial long-term
impact on drug availability."
February 17, 1997:
Legislation to repeal an 18 year-old state law permitting physicians to
prescribe marijuana for patients suffering from cancer or glaucoma is voted
down by a Virginia Senate committee in a 9-6 vote.
February 18, 1999:
Dr. Frank Fisher, a pain doctor from Northern California, is arrested and
charged with five counts of murder. Over the following six years,
all charges and legal proceedings against Fisher fizzle.
17.
Errata:
Meth
Bill
Sponsor
Two weeks ago, DRCNet incorrectly attributed an "anti-rave" provision appearing in an anti-methamphetamine bill last session of Congress to Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE). The provision, which was not included in this year's version of the bill, was actually the work of Rep. Doug Ose (R-CA), who is no longer a member of Congress.
18.
The
Reformer's
Calendar
Please submit listings of events concerning drug policy and related topics to [email protected]. February 8, 8:00-9:30pm, Philadelphia, PA, NPR's "Justice Talking" debate show covers medical marijuana, recording live with studio audience from the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication, 3502 Watt Way room 204. Visit http://www.justicetalking.org/joinaudience.asp or call Laura Sider at (215) 573-8919 to reserve seats or for further information. February 10, 6:00pm, New York, NY, book talk Anthony Papa, author of "15 To Life: How I Painted My Way To Freedom," guests including Andrew Cuomo and others. At Hue-Man Bookstore and Cafe, 2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd., between 124th and 125th Sts. Call (212) 665 7400 or visit http://www.huemanbookstore.com for info. February 10, 8:00pm, West Hollywood, CA, "Medical Marijuana Extravaganja," benefit performance organized by Howard Dover and Green Therapy. Admission $20 or $10 for patients, at The Comedy Store, 8433 Sunset Blvd., visit http://www.greentherapy.com or contact [email protected] for further information. February 12, 1:30-4:20pm, Laguna, Rally Against the Drug War, organized by OC NORML, SO Cal NORML, and the November Coalition. At Main Beach, for further information visit http://www.ocnorml.org or contact (714) 210-6446 or [email protected]. February 12-19, San Francisco area, CA, Medical Marijuana Week, numerous events. Visit http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1747 for information. February 15-17, New England, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker Judge James P. Gray speaks at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts on Feb. 16, Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut on Feb. 17 during the day, and Brown University on Feb. 17 in the evening. For further information, visit http://www.leap.cc or contact Mike Smithson at [email protected] or (315) 243-5844. February 16, 7:00pm, San Francisco, CA, screening of "BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters," during the Alternative Views Film Series. At The Kitchen, 225 Potrero Ave. at 15th St., sponsored by the War Resisters League, $5 donation requested, no one turned away. E-mail [email protected] for further information. February 16, 7:00pm, Benzonia, MI, screening of "BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." Sponsored by Benzie County NORML, at Benzie Central High School's Business Office (building in front of high school), 9222 Homestead Rd. E-mail [email protected] for further information. February 17, Omaha, NE, "Dynamics of American Drug Culture," lecture by Sheldon Norberg at the University of Nebraska. Visit http://www.adopedealer.com or call (402) 554-2623 for further information. February 18-20, Champaign, IL, "Forgiveness Weekend: Double Jeopardy or a New Beginning," sponsored by CU Citizens for Peace and Justice and Salem Baptist Church. At 500 E. Park Ave., contact Danielle Schumacher at (815) 375-0790 for information, brochures or to reserve a space. February 19, Norwich, United Kingdom, Legalise Cannabis Conference 2005. Visit http://www.lca-uk.org for information. February 19, 10:00am-5:00pm, Oakland, CA, "Measure Z and Beyond: The Agenda for Marijuana Reform in California," California Activists' Conference sponsored by California NORML, Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance, Drug Policy Alliance and Marijuana Policy Project. At the Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St. (near City Center BART), $20 registration, includes box lunch and evening reception. Contact [email protected] for further information. February 23, 6:30pm, Washington, DC "The Chilling Effect: Pain Patients in the War on Drugs," film featuring Richard and Linda Paey, by Siobhan Reynolds of the Pain Relief Network. On Capitol Hill, Longworth House Office Building, Room 1539, pizza and beer at 6:00pm. Call (212) 873-5848 or e-mail [email protected] for further information. February 23, 7:00pm, Flagstaff, AZ, screening of "BUSTED: The Citizen's Guide to Surviving Police Encounters." Sponsored by Northern Arizona University SSDP, at NAU's Cline Library Auditorium. E-mail [email protected] for further information. March 5, Los Angeles, CA, beginning of cross country ride by Law Enforcement Against Prohibition member Howard Wooldridge and his horse. Visit http://www.leap.cc/howard/ for further information. March 12-17, New York, NY, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition speaker Judge James P. Gray addresses civic groups and audiences at Columbia University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. For further information, visit http://www.leap.cc or contact Mike Smithson at [email protected] or (315) 243-5844. March 17-18, New York, NY, "Caught in the Net: The Impact of Drug Policies on Women and Families," conference sponsored by the ACLU, Break the Chains and the Brennan Center for Justice. At New York University School of Law, e-mail [email protected] for info. March 20-24, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 16th International Conference on the Reduction of Drug Related Harm. Sponsored by the International Harm Reduction Association, visit http://www.ihrcbelfast.com or contact Dawn Orchard at +44 (0) 28 9756 1993 or [email protected] for further information. March 31-April 2, San Francisco, CA, 2005 National NORML Conference. At Cathedral Hill Hotel, visit http://www.norml.org for further information. April 21-23, Tacoma, WA, 15th North American Syringe Exchange Convention. Sponsored by the North American Syringe Exchange Network, visit http://www.nasen.org for further information or contact NASEN at (253) 272-4857 or [email protected]. April 30 (date tentative), 11:00am-3:00pm, Washington, DC, "America's in Pain!" 2nd Annual National Pain Rally. At the US Capitol Reflecting Pool, visit http://www.AmericanPainInstitute.org for further information. August 19-20, Salt Lake City, UT, "Science and Response in 2005," First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV and Hepatitis C. Sponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition and the Harm Reduction Project, visit http://www.harmredux.org/conference2005.htm after January 15 or contact Amanda Whipple at (801) 355-0234 ext. 3 for further information. September 17, Boston, MA, "Sixteenth Annual Fall Freedom Rally," sponsored by MASSCANN. On Boston Common, visit http://www.masscann.org for updates, or contact (781) 944-2266 or [email protected]. April 5-8, 2006, Santa Barbara, CA, Fourth National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics. Sponsored by Patients Out of Time, details to be announced, visit http://www.medicalcannabis.com for updates. If you like what you see here and want to get these bulletins by e-mail, please fill out our quick signup form at https://stopthedrugwar.org/WOLSignup.shtml. PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you. Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
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