Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #382
-- 4/15/2005
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
A
MORAL
FOG
The
sentencing
of
a
pain
doctor
for
opiate
prescriptions
illustrates
the
corroded
ethics
of
the
system
imprisoning
him.
- FEATURE:
CHILL
OVER
PAIN
MANAGEMENT
DEEPENS
AS
LEADING
SPECIALIST
IS
SENTENCED
TO
25
YEARS
IN
PRISON
The
most
closely
watched
in
a
growing
procession
of
prosecutions
of
doctors
involved
in
aggressive
pain
management
with
opioids
ended
Thursday
in
a
suburban
Washington,
DC,
federal
courthouse.
- FEATURE:
NEW
REFORM
GROUP
TARGETS
COLORADO
CAMPUSES
WITH
REFERENDUMS
TO
EQUALIZE
MARIJUANA
AND
ALCOHOL
VIOLATION
PENALTIES
Colorado
college
campuses
have
garnered
much
unwelcome
publicity
in
recent
months
because
of
alcohol-related
incidents.
A
new
organization
is
now
seeking
equalize
campus
penalties
for
alcohol
and
marijuana
infractions
so
students
don't
choose
the
more
dangerous
substance
to
avoid
being
punished
more
severely.
- FEATURE:
PRISON
RAPE:
THE
STORIES
NEED
TO
BE
TOLD
Many
corrections
officials
maintain
that
prisoner
rape
is
a
rare
occurrence,
but
research
shows
otherwise.
Drug
offenders
are
among
the
most
vulnerable
prey
for
sexual
violence
behind
bars.
- DRCNET
BOOK
REVIEW:
ORGIES
OF
THE
HEMP
EATERS
There
is
very
little
of
the
standard
drug
policy
reform
rhetoric
in
this
compilation
of
cannabis
culture
--
but
a
reminder
that
there
is
indeed
a
world
out
there
in
which
drug
czar
John
Walters
and
the
rest
of
his
prohibitionist
posse
are
basically
irrelevant.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
Police
officers
in
Pennsylvania
and
Texas
are
headed
to
prison
for
their
misdeeds,
while
in
other
incidents
this
week
cops,
deputies,
and
even
a
fire
department
official
are
in
trouble
with
the
law.
- HARM
REDUCTION:
SAN
FRANCISCO
ORDINANCE
ALLOWING
SYRINGE
SALES
WITHOUT
PRESCRIPTION
NOW
IN
EFFECT
Legislation
approved
last
year
allowing
California
cities
and
counties
to
pass
ordinances
okaying
the
sale
of
syringes
without
a
prescription
is
beginning
to
bear
fruit.
- METH
MADNESS:
ILLINOIS
BILL
TO
HEIGHTEN
METHAMPHETAMINE
PENALTIES
MOVING
Democrats
in
the
midwestern
state
have
crafted
legislation
to
ramp
up
penalties
for
methamphetamine
offenses
and
create
new
meth-related
offenses.
It's
on
its
way
to
becoming
law.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
SOUTH
DAKOTA
INITIATIVE
GETTING
UNDER
WAY
A
newly
formed
group
headed
by
a
veteran
South
Dakota
activist
has
taken
the
first
official
steps
toward
getting
a
medical
marijuana
initiative
on
the
November
2006
ballot.
- AFRICA:
UGANDAN
FARMERS
CALL
FOR
MARIJUANA
LEGALIZATION
Farmers
in
Uganda's
Busia
district
have
responded
to
police
raids
on
their
marijuana
crops
by
calling
for
legalization
of
the
crop.
- ASIA:
THAILAND
DRUG
WAR,
PART
III
After
murdering
some
2,500
people
during
the
prior
phases
of
its
bloody
drug
war,
the
government
of
Prime
Minister
Thaksin
Shinawatra
Monday
announced
plans
to
initiate
a
third
phase.
- ASIA:
POLICE
IN
HO
CHI
MINH
CITY
DETAIN
650
IN
NIGHTCLUB
DRUG
SWEEP
Following
the
lead
of
its
neighbors
in
what
has
become
the
world's
most
repressive
region
in
the
war
on
drugs,
Vietnamese
police
over
the
weekend
rounded
up
more
than
650
people
in
Saigon
nightspots
and
forced
them
to
undergo
on-the-spot
urine
tests.
- ASIA:
SOUTH
KOREA
TO
INSTITUTE
TREATMENT
FOR
DRUG
OFFENDERS
The
South
Korean
Ministry
of
Health
and
Welfare
and
the
ruling
Uri
Party
have
agreed
to
allow
courts
to
impose
drug
treatment
when
handing
down
suspended
sentences
for
drug
offenders.
- ASIA:
AFGHAN
OPIUM
ERADICATION
CAMPAIGN
OFF
TO
VIOLENT
START
What
was
supposed
to
have
been
a
model
for
the
Afghan
government's
new
opium
eradication
program
ended
in
violent
confrontation
Monday.
- CONGRESS:
HOW
DID
YOUR
US
REPRESENTATIVE
VOTE
ON
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
LAST
YEAR?
By
the
time
you
read
this,
the
Supreme
Court
may
have
already
spoken
on
the
constitutionality
of
medical
marijuana
prohibition.
This
would
be
a
good
time
to
look
up
whether
or
how
your
Representative
in
Congress
voted
on
the
issue
last
time.
- ALERT:
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.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- ONLINE:
AUDIO
WEB
CHAT
WITH
DR.
ANDREW
WEIL
Log
on
with
DPA
later
this
month
to
chat
online
with
the
bestselling
author.
- JOB
LISTING:
DEPUTY
DIRECTOR
OF
NATIONAL
AFFAIRS,
DRUG
POLICY
ALLIANCE
Experienced
individuals
check
out
this
DC
job
opportunity
in
the
movement!
- WEEKLY:
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!
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