Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #419
-- 1/20/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FEATURE:
ALASKA
BILL
TO
RECRIMINALIZE
MARIJUANA
FAST-TRACKED,
PASSES
SENATE
Alaska
Republican
Gov.
Frank
Murkowski
and
his
allies
are
pulling
out
all
the
stops
to
pass
a
bill
that
would
recriminalize
marijuana
possession
in
the
state.
- FEATURE:
WITH
CONSERVATIVES
POISED
TO
TAKE
POWER,
CANADIAN
DRUG
REFORM
PONDERS
AN
UNFRIENDLY
FUTURE
With
Canada's
Conservative
Party
expected
to
take
power
in
Monday's
election
and
leader
Steven
Harper
taking
the
tough
on
drugs
and
crime
line,
observers
of
drug
policy
are
wondering
how
bad
things
might
get.
- FEATURE:
SWISS
MARIJUANA
LEGALIZATION
TO
GO
TO
VOTERS...
UNLESS
PARLIAMENT
ACTS
FIRST
A
year
and
a
half
after
conservative
opposition
in
Switzerland's
lower
chamber
blocked
a
measure
that
would
have
legalized
marijuana,
proponents
have
gathered
enough
signatures
to
force
a
nationwide
referendum
on
the
issue.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
While
we
tend
to
focus
on
individual
cases
of
corruption,
this
week
the
rot
has
spread
and
the
stench
takes
on
institutional
form,
with
departments
on
both
coasts
having
big
problems
and
a
big
city
jail
where
it
seems
like
everyone
was
in
on
the
illicit
action.
- SUPREME
COURT
RULING:
ADMINISTRATION
CANNOT
USE
FEDERAL
DRUG
LAWS
TO
BLOCK
OREGON'S
ASSISTED
SUICIDE
LAW
--
ATTEMPTS
INCREASED
PAIN
LEVELS
AMONG
DYING
In
a
decision
handed
down
Tuesday,
the
US
Supreme
Court
upheld
Oregon's
assisted
suicide
law,
ruling
the
feds
can't
use
the
drug
laws
to
punish
doctors
who
prescribed
drugs
to
help
people
kill
themselves
in
states
that
permit
the
practice.
Pain
treatment
took
a
hit
in
Oregon
when
they
tried
eight
years
ago.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
SAN
DIEGO
TERM
LIMITS
INITIATIVE
FILED
IN
RESPONSE
TO
SUPERVISORS'
ATTACKS
ON
STATE
MEDICAL
MARIJUANA
LAW
The
San
Diego
County
Board
of
Supervisors
voted
to
challenge
California's
medical
marijuana
law
in
federal
court,
and
has
resisted
a
state
mandate
to
create
a
medical
marijuana
patient
registry.
Now,
members
may
be
about
to
pay
the
ultimate
political
price
for
ignoring
the
will
of
the
voters.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
NEW
MEXICO
GOVERNOR
PUTS
COMPASSIONATE
USE
ACT
ON
LEGISLATIVE
AGENDA
In
a
surprise
move,
Gov.
Bill
Richardson
has
included
a
pending
medical
marijuana
bill
on
his
agenda
for
the
state's
30-day
legislative
session
begun
this
week.
- MOTHERING:
UTAH
APPEALS
COURT
OVERTURNS
CHILD
ENDANGERMENT
CHARGE
IN
MARIJUANA
BREAST-FEEDING
CASE,
BUT
UPHOLDS
LAW
ITSELF
In
a
pair
of
rulings,
the
Utah
Court
of
Appeals
upheld
a
state
law
making
"exposure
to"
illicit
drugs
evidence
of
child
endangerment,
but
drew
the
line
at
charging
a
mother
under
the
law
for
breast-feeding
her
baby
while
admitting
to
smoking
marijuana
twice
in
a
three-week
period.
- MARIJUANA:
"WEEDS"
ACTRESS
MARY
LOUISE
PARKER
WINS
GOLDEN
GLOBE,
SAYS
"LEGALIZE
IT"
Actress
Mary
Louise
Parker,
who
plays
suburban
pot-dealing
mom
Nancy
Botwin
in
the
Showtime
TV
series
"Weeds,"
beat
out
a
quartet
of
Desperate
Housewives
to
win
best
comedy
actress
at
Monday
night's
nationally-televised
Golden
Globe
awards,
and
she
used
the
occasion
to
call
on
the
US
government
to
legalize
marijuana.
- EUROPE:
BRITAIN
WILL
NOT
RECLASSIFY
CANNABIS
AS
A
MORE
HARMFUL
DRUG
--
ADVISORY
COUNCIL
CALLS
RISK
OF
MENTAL
ILLNESS
"VERY
SMALL"
British
Home
Secretary
Charles
Clarke
announced
Thursday
that
marijuana
will
remain
in
the
less-punished
class
of
illegal
drugs.
- LATIN
AMERICA:
COLOMBIAN
PRESIDENT
FORCED
TO
PROBE
PARAMILITARY
INFLUENCE-BUYING
In
the
wake
of
widely
publicized
allegations
that
drug-running
rightist
paramilitary
groups
are
using
their
cocaine
profits
to
buy
their
way
into
Colombia's
political
system,
President
Alvaro
Uribe
has
ordered
an
investigation
into
the
campaign
finances
of
two
of
his
allies
in
the
Senate.
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- 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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