Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #385
-- 5/6/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
BAY
STATE
AGONY
A
committee
of
the
Massachusetts
legislature
is
considering
a
proposal
to
ban
the
widely-used
painkiller
Oxycontin
outright.
They
should
think
about
the
people
of
the
Bay
State
living
in
pain
before
taking
such
a
reckless
action.
- FEATURE:
WAR
ON
DRUGS
SHIFTS
TO
WAR
ON
MARIJUANA
A
study
of
FBI
arrest
and
conviction
data
by
a
Washington
think-tank
has
underscored
a
dramatic
shift
--
and
escalation
--
in
the
US
war
on
drugs
during
the
1990s.
- FEATURE:
STUDENTS
AT
SUNY
NEW
PALTZ
RALLY
TO
DEMAND
END
OF
MARIJUANA
EXPULSIONS
Two
marijuana-related
offenses
can
get
you
expelled
from
school
at
SUNY
New
Paltz
--
as
Kate
Cozik
found
out
the
hard
way.
Now,
with
the
support
of
local
politicos,
students
are
rallying
for
change.
- FEATURE:
"MARIJUANA
IS
SAFER"
--
REFORMERS
TAKE
UP
A
NEW
REFRAIN
Last
month,
students
at
two
Colorado
universities
voted
overwhelmingly
in
support
of
referenda
urging
their
schools
to
equalize
school
penalties
for
marijuana
and
alcohol
infractions.
Reformers,
typically
cautious
of
rhetoric
that
could
be
portrayed
by
opponents
as
encouraging
drug
use,
are
now
pondering
the
political
wisdom
of
the
"marijuana
is
safer"
message.
- 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.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
FEDERAL
BILL
RE-LAUNCHED
AND
AMENDMENT
PLANS
ANNOUNCED
AT
DC
PRESS
CONFERENCE
Congressmen,
celebrities,
medical
marijuana
patients
and
activists
gathered
for
a
press
conference
in
Washington
Wednesday
to
mark
the
reintroduction
of
two
bills
designed
to
ease
the
federal
government's
war
on
medical
marijuana
users
and
providers.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
It's
another
full
plate
this
week,
with
cops
ripping
off
drug
buyers,
getting
kinky
on
stolen
cocaine,
and
trying
to
frame
citizens.
- ASSET
FORFEITURE:
ALBUQUERQUE
POLICE
BROKE
LAW
WITH
SEIZED
FUNDS
A
City
of
Albuquerque
audit
of
the
city
police
department's
use
of
federal
drug
forfeiture
money
has
found
the
department
violated
state
law
and
federal
guidelines
in
its
use
of
seized
drug
money.
- METHAMPHETAMINE:
OREGON
DOCTORS
REJECT
PROPOSAL
TO
TURN
IN
METH
USERS
TO
HEALTH
OFFICIALS
The
Oregon
Medical
Association
last
weekend
rejected
a
resolution
proposing
a
state
law
that
would
require
doctors
to
report
methamphetamine-using
patients
to
public
health
authorities.
- METHAMPHETAMINE:
METH-COOKING
DEMO
AT
SCHOOL
PERTURBS
PARENTS
Parents
in
Grays
Harbor
County,
Washington,
have
gone
"through
the
roof"
over
a
deputy
sheriff's
demo
for
a
high
school
class
of
how
to
cook
methamphetamine.
- OXYCONTIN:
MASSACHUSETTS
LAWMAKERS
WEIGH
BAN
ON
POPULAR
PAIN
RELIEVER
Legislators
in
Massachusetts
are
considering
an
outright
ban
on
the
popular
narcotic
pain
reliever
Oxycontin.
- PRISONS:
SOME
ARCHITECTS
CALL
FOR
PROFESSION
TO
REJECT
PRISON,
JAIL
DESIGN
JOBS
A
new
movement
has
emerged
among
architects
to
boycott
bids
to
design
new
jails
and
prisons.
- NEEDLE
EXCHANGE:
NEW
JERSEY
CITIES
EXPECT
NEP
APPROVAL
TODAY
Thanks
to
an
executive
order
by
former
Gov.
Jim
McGreevey,
two
new
cities
are
now
set
to
open
legal
needle
exchange
programs.
Legal
challenges
to
the
order
remain
undecided.
- NEEDLE
EXCHANGE:
MASSACHUSETTS
MELTDOWN
Like
the
frightened,
angry
peasants
who
marched
on
Frankenstein's
castle
waving
pitchforks
and
torches,
the
good
citizens
of
Westport,
Massachusetts,
fended
off
the
menace
of
a
city-approved
needle
exchange
program
last
week.
- REEFER
MADNESS:
FEDS
WARN
THAT
MARIJUANA
MAKES
KIDS
CRAZY
As
part
of
national
media
campaign
to
educate
youth
about
the
"serious
consequences"
of
marijuana
use,
drug
czar
John
Walters
and
the
Substance
Abuse
and
Mental
Health
Services
Administration
co-hosted
a
Tuesday
press
conference
to
warn
that
kids
who
smoke
marijuana
are
more
likely
to
develop
mental
health
problems.
But
the
research
doesn't
seem
to
add
up
to
that
conclusion.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
LISTING:
OUTREACH
COORDINATOR,
COALITION
FOR
HIGHER
EDUCATION
ACT
REFORM
(DRCNET)
Work
is
available
from
July
onward
in
the
campaign
to
repeal
the
drug
provision
of
the
Higher
Education
Act.
- 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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