Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #380
-- 3/25/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
RISE
OR
FALL
Every
now
and
then
a
candid
comment
by
a
public
official
reveals
the
sheer
incoherence
of
the
government's
anti-drug
strategy.
The
latest
such
remark
came
from
UN
Secretary
General
Kofi
Annan,
on
the
topic
of
opium
in
Afghanistan.
- REEFER
REVERSAL?
BRITISH
GOVERNMENT
TO
RECONSIDER
CANNABIS
RECLASSIFICATION
In
the
midst
of
a
parliamentary
election
campaign
where
drugs
have
become
a
key
issue,
the
Labor
government
of
British
Prime
Minister
Tony
Blair
moved
last
weekend
to
reconsider
its
reclassification
of
cannabis.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
BILLS
FAIL
IN
ILLINOIS,
NEW
MEXICO
Drug
reformers
and
patient
advocates
started
2005
with
high
hopes
of
seeing
more
states
jump
on
the
medical
marijuana
bandwagon.
They
will
now
have
to
look
somewhere
beside
Illinois
and
New
Mexico
to
gain
a
legislative
victory
this
year.
- SPECIAL
TO
DRCNET:
STEROIDS,
SLUGGERS,
AND
THE
WAR
ON
DRUGS
University
of
Texas
drugs
and
sports
expert
John
Hoberman
comments
on
last
week's
US
congressional
hearings
on
steroids
in
baseball.
- DRCNET
BOOK
REVIEW:
SPORTS,
SEX,
ETERNAL
YOUTH:
A
CULTURAL
HISTORY
OF
TESTOSTERONE
From
the
bedroom
to
the
boardroom,
from
Olympic
stadiums
to
the
neighborhood
YMCA,
and
in
countless
unseen
pockets
of
everyday
life,
it
is
all
about
performance.
John
Hoberman's
"Testosterone
Dreams:
Rejuvenation,
Aphrodisia,
Doping"
is
a
powerful
rumination
on
the
history
and
meaning
of
the
quest
for
athletic
excellence
and
eternal
youth.
- DRCNET
LETTER
TO
JUDGE
WEXLER
ON
UPCOMING
HURWITZ
SENTENCING
HEARING
David
Borden
urges
the
Hurwitz
case
judge
to
release
Dr.
Hurwitz
because
of
jurors'
fundamental
misconceptions
about
the
case
as
revealed
in
quotes
given
by
their
foreman
to
the
Washington
Post.
- PLEASE
HELP
STUDENTS
LOSING
FINANCIAL
AID
FOR
COLLEGE
BECAUSE
OF
DRUG
CONVICTIONS
GET
THEIR
AID
BACK
Participate
in
DRCNet
online
action
alerts
asking
Congress
and
two
state
Legislatures
to
undo
Rep.
Mark
Souder's
much-criticized
law
stripping
college
aid
from
students
with
drug
convictions.
- THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Another
mixed
bag
this
week,
with
a
crooked
911
dispatcher,
another
former
prosecutor
gone
downhill,
and
a
group
of
notorious
Oakland
police
facing
justice
--
again.
- CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
ON
THE
AIR
DRCNet's
"This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories"
series
is
now
on
the
air,
thanks
to
the
Cultural
Baggage
Drug
Truth
Network.
- EVENTS
AND
CONFERENCES
COMING
UP
FOR
DRUG
REFORMERS
--
COME
OUT
AND
BE
A
PART
OF
IT
Events
and
conferences
are
coming
up
around
the
country
--
come
out
and
get
to
know
the
people
in
the
movement!
- NEWSBRIEF:
DC
JUDGE
CLEARED
IN
JAIL
DEATH
OF
PARALYZED
MARIJUANA
USER
A
ten-day
sentence
for
marijuana
possession
turned
into
a
death
sentence
for
Jonathan
Magbie
when
the
DC
Jail
and
a
hospital
failed
to
provide
the
quadriplegic
with
proper
medical
care.
The
judge
who
sent
him
to
his
death
has
now
been
cleared
of
misconduct
by
a
judicial
commission.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MICHIGAN
NIGHTCLUB
RAVE
RAID
NETS
118,
MANY
CHARGED
ONLY
WITH
FREQUENTING
A
"DRUG
HOUSE"
Dozens
of
Michigan
police
raided
a
Flint
nightspot
late
Saturday
night,
arresting
118
club
goers,
mostly
for
"frequenting
a
drug
house."
The
mass
arrests
of
apparently
innocent
people
parallels
a
similar
2003
bust
in
Wisconsin.
- NEWSBRIEF:
FROM
EXILE,
KUBBY
CHALLENGES
SEARCH
WARRANT
IN
CASE
THAT
CAUSED
HIM
TO
FLEE
UNITED
STATES
Activist
Steve
Kubby
fled
California
in
2001
to
avoid
a
virtual
death
sentence
through
denial
of
access
to
medical
marijuana.
Now
Kubby
is
alleging
fraud
by
Placer
County
officials
in
a
bid
to
overturn
his
conviction.
- NEWSBRIEF:
BRITAIN'S
TOP
TV
COP
SAYS
LEGALIZE
HEROIN
While
British
politicians
are
busy
wringing
their
hands
over
marijuana
as
parliamentary
elections
loom,
actor
Alex
Norton
of
police
drama
"Taggart"
fame
has
other
drugs
on
his
mind.
- NEWSBRIEF:
MARIJUANA
CROPS
DEFENDED
IN
FIJI
SENATE
HEARING
A
Fijian
senate
ad-hoc
committee
on
drugs
and
vice
holding
a
public
hearing
on
marijuana
growing
in
the
Navosa
region
got
an
earful
from
local
residents.
- NEWSBRIEF:
AFGHAN
ANTI-OPIUM
DRIVE
CAUSES
PRICES
TO
RISE,
MAKES
NEW
PLANTING
MORE
ATTRACTIVE,
UN
HEAD
ANNAN
SAYS
The
effort
to
eradicate
opium
production
in
Afghanistan,
strongly
backed
by
the
United
States
and
the
United
Nations,
is
threatened
by
its
own
success,
UN
Secretary-General
Kofi
Annan
said
Tuesday.
- NEWSBRIEF:
AT
US
BEHEST,
PAKISTAN
CLERICS
VOW
JIHAD
AGAINST
DRUGS
Last
month
DEA
administrator
Karen
Tandy
urged
Pakistani
Muslim
religious
scholars
to
issue
a
religious
decree,
or
jihad,
against
drugs.
At
a
meeting
last
weekend,
some
of
them
took
her
up
on
it.
- MEDIA
SCAN
Media
Scan:
Becker-Posner
Blog,
Neal
Peirce,
URI
on
HEA,
Tulia,
Loretta
Nall,
Baker
Institute
on
Needle
Exchange,
New
Jersey
Network
on
Medical
Marijuana,
Whosarat.com
- 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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