Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #383
-- 4/22/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
NOW
HOW
DO
YOU
FEEL?
Imagine
you're
to
spend
a
year
in
jail
for
violating
a
drug
law.
How
do
you
feel?
Imagine
it's
20
years.
Now
how
do
you
feel?
- FEATURE:
HOUSE
CONSERVATIVES
PUSHING
BILL
TO
"FIX"
SENTENCING,
INCREASE
MANDATORY
MINIMUMS,
CREATE
NEW
DRUG
CRIMES
House
conservatives
led
by
Judiciary
Committee
chairman
Rep.
James
Sensenbrenner
are
moving
ahead
with
a
draconian
anti-drug
bill
that
would
set
harsh
new
mandatory
minimum
sentences
for
federal
drug
crimes
as
well
as
creating
new
drug
crimes.
- FEATURE:
CANADA
APPROVES
SATIVEX
--
NATURAL
MARIJUANA-BASED
PHARMACEUTICAL
TO
BE
ON
PHARMACY
SHELVES
BY
SUMMER
The
Canadian
government
announced
Tuesday
that
it
has
approved
Sativex,
a
prescription
pharmaceutical
product
derived
from
marijuana
extracts,
as
a
treatment
for
the
relief
of
neuropathic
pain
in
people
with
multiple
sclerosis.
- FEATURE:
BRITAIN
PASSES
"TOUGH"
NEW
DRUG
BILL
--
TOUGHER
SENTENCES,
NEW
CRIMES,
MORE
POLICE
POWER
A
tough
drugs
and
crime
bill
that
some
observers
hoped
was
only
a
campaign
tool
for
the
Labor
Party
has
passed
both
houses
of
parliament
and
is
set
to
become
the
law
of
the
land.
- ANNOUNCEMENT:
DRCNET/PERRY
FUND
EVENT
TO
FEATURE
US
REP.
JIM
MCDERMOTT,
JUNE
1
IN
SEATTLE
Please
join
DRCNet
and
the
Perry
Fund
for
the
first
west
coast
stop
in
our
national
tour
raising
money
for
student
scholarships
and
awareness
of
a
bad
law.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
More
jail
guards
gone
bad,
a
Border
Patrol
agent
pleads
guilty,
a
former
Puerto
Rican
cop
gets
busted
in
a
Florida
heroin
dragnet,
and
New
York
City
police
take
preemptive
steps
to
stop
corruption
before
it
starts.
- SENTENCING:
SOUTH
CAROLINA
BILL
TO
EQUALIZE
CRACK,
POWDER
COCAINE
PENALTIES
MOVING
A
bill
that
would
eliminate
the
disparities
in
sentencing
for
offenses
involving
crack
and
powder
cocaine
is
moving
in
the
South
Carolina
legislature
--
but
the
news
is
not
all
good.
- RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM:
SUPREME
COURT
TO
DECIDE
SACRAMENTAL
AYAHUASCA
USE
CASE
In
a
case
that
pits
the
Religious
Freedom
Restoration
Act
against
the
Controlled
Substances
Act,
the
Supreme
Court
announced
Monday
it
would
hear
the
Justice
Department's
appeal
of
a
series
of
federal
court
rulings
that
it
cannot
bar
the
US
branch
of
a
Brazilian
religion
from
using
the
psychedelic
Amazonian
tea.
- ON
CAMPUS:
UNIVERSITY
OF
COLORADO
STUDENTS
PASS
REFERENDUM
CALLING
FOR
EQUALITY
IN
MARIJUANA
AND
ALCOHOL
PENALTIES
Students
at
the
University
of
Colorado
in
Boulder
have
voted
overwhelmingly
to
signal
their
support
of
equalizing
campus
disciplinary
penalties
for
marijuana
and
alcohol.
- EUROPE:
ENCOD
OFFERS
PEACE
PIPE
TO
EUROPEAN
UNION
--
LITERALLY
In
a
call
to
end
drug
prohibition
and
a
move
to
dramatize
civil
society's
exclusion
from
the
EU's
drug
policy-making
process,
members
of
the
European
Coalition
for
Just
and
Effective
Drug
Policies
presented
a
peace
pipe
to
EU
representatives
at
a
public
hearing
Thursday.
- ASIA:
MALAYSIA
CONSIDERING
DRUG
MAINTENANCE
PROGRAMS?
An
exchange
at
the
Malaysian
Parliament
last
week
suggested
the
Malay
government
may
be
willing
to
consider
providing
drugs
to
dependent
drug
users.
- MEDIA
SCAN:
Debra
Saunders
on
Student
Drug
Testing,
Brown
University
SSDP
Opens
Drug
Resource
Center
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- SSDP
T-SHIRT
AND
FLYER
DESIGN
CONTEST
Students
for
Sensible
Drug
Policy
is
currently
soliciting
designs
for
new
SSDP
t-shirts
and
flyers,
to
be
made
available
on
the
SSDP
web
site
and
used
by
youth
and
students
nationwide.
- ONLINE:
AUDIO
WEB
CHAT
WITH
DR.
ANDREW
WEIL
Log
on
with
DPA
later
this
month
to
chat
online
with
the
bestselling
author.
- 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!
this issue, one-page printer version
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