Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #388
-- 5/27/05
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
REASONABLE
STANDARDS
Routine
perjury
by
police
officers
in
drug
cases
should
make
the
standard
of
reasonable
doubt
impossible
to
attain
in
the
absence
of
evidence
corroborating
an
officer's
testimony.
New
Congressional
legislation
inspired
by
the
Tulia
scandal
and
sponsored
by
Rep.
Sheila
Jackson
Lee
has
recognized
the
depth
of
this
problem.
- FEATURE:
FEDERAL
BILL
TO
REIN
IN
ANTI-DRUG
TASK
FORCES
INTRODUCED
IN
RESPONSE
TO
TULIA
SCANDAL
Five
years
after
15
percent
of
the
black
population
of
small-town
Tulia
was
rolled-up
in
a
cocaine
bust
conducted
by
a
rogue
lawman,
the
reverberations
from
those
arrests
have
arrived
on
Capitol
Hill.
- FEATURE:
"DRUG
TOURISTS"
PROVOKE
COMPETING
CRIES
FOR
REGULATION,
REPRESSION
IN
HOLLAND
For
nearly
three
decades,
the
Dutch
approach
to
marijuana
has
made
The
Netherlands
a
beacon
for
drug
reformers
and
pot
connoisseurs
alike.
Now
the
government
is
at
odds
with
itself
in
the
debate
over
foreign
"drug
tourists."
- FEATURE:
CHANCES
OF
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
PASSAGE
IN
STATEHOUSES
NOW
FOCUSED
ON
NORTHEAST
The
best
prospects
for
successful
passage
of
medical
marijuana
legislation
this
year
are
narrowing
down
to
three
states
in
the
Northeast.
Progress
has
been
made,
but
hurdles
remain.
- 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
Missing
evidence,
missing
money,
a
DA
failing
to
act,
a
jury
failing
to
convict,
and
a
cop
failing
to
keep
his
bad
habits
under
control
all
make
their
way
into
this
week's
rogue's
gallery.
- MARIJUANA:
MAINE
GOVERNOR
WANTS
TO
INCREASE
FINES
TO
PAY
FOR
NARCS
Maine's
governor
wants
marijuana
users
to
pay
more
for
their
own
persecution.
- CONGRESS:
HOUSE
BILL
WOULD
LET
"VICTIMS"
SUE
DRUG
DEALERS,
BUT
ONLY
IF
THEY
SNITCH
A
bill
introduced
in
Congress
would
allow
people
harmed
by
illegal
drug
use
to
sue
those
who
made
or
sold
the
drugs
--
but
only
if
they
snitch.
- SOUTHWEST
ASIA:
AZERBAIJAN,
US
SIGN
ANTI-DRUG
AGREEMENT
DESPITE
HUMAN
RIGHTS
ABUSES
Despite
US
State
Dept.
documentation
of
extensive
human
rights
abuses
in
Azerbaijan's
criminal
justice
system,
US
taxpayers
will
transfer
millions
of
dollars
to
the
Azeri
government
as
part
of
an
anti-drug
agreement.
- EUROPE:
SWISS
PANEL
SAYS
NEW
DRUG
POLICY
SHOULD
INCLUDE
ALCOHOL,
TOBACCO,
OPT
FOR
PRAGMATISM
A
federal
commission
has
recommended
that
Switzerland
adopt
a
drug
policy
that
deals
consistently
and
pragmatically
with
all
drugs
--
including
alcohol
and
tobacco.
- ASIA:
THAI
DRUG
WAR
NOW
TARGETS
COCAINE
Thailand's
prime
minister
has
expanded
his
murderous
war
on
drugs
to
include
cocaine,
mainly
used
by
tourists
and
the
wealthy.
But
he
has
scaled
back
his
promise
to
make
the
nation
"drug
free."
- UPDATE:
SCHAPELLE
CORBY
SENTENCED
TO
20
YEARS
As
legal
observers
predicted,
Australian
cause
celèbre
Schapelle
Corby
was
spared
the
death
penalty
but
given
a
heavy
prison
term
for
a
marijuana
conviction
by
an
Indonesian
court.
- 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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