Drug War Chronicle
(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet)
Issue #430
-- 4/7/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition"
Phillip S. Smith, Editor
David Borden, Executive Director
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
- EDITORIAL:
STOPPING
BONGS,
NOT
BOMBS
(EVIDENTLY)
Homeland
Security
personnel
just
can't
keep
from
fighting
drugs.
Too
bad
for
America.
- FEATURE:
MEASURE
TO
MAKE
DRUG
CZAR
RESEARCH
"FRANKENSTEIN
FUNGUS"
TO
DESTROY
DRUG
CROPS
HEADS
TO
THE
SENATE
Buried
within
the
Office
of
National
Drug
Control
Policy
Reauthorization
Act
about
to
be
considered
by
the
Senate
is
a
provision
that
would
direct
the
drug
czar's
office
--
against
its
own
best
judgment,
amazingly
--
to
revive
already-shelved
research
into
the
use
of
toxic
fungal
mycoherbicides
to
eradicate
drug
crops
in
places
like
Colombia
and
Afghanistan.
- FEATURE:
PITTSBURGH
NEEDLE
EXCHANGE
UNDER
ATTACK,
BUT
MAY
COME
OUT
AHEAD
For
years,
volunteers
with
Prevention
Point
Pittsburgh
have
been
provided
sterile
syringes
to
injection
drug
users
in
Allegheny
County
to
reduce
the
spread
of
Hepatitis
C
and
HIV.
Now
the
program
has
come
under
attack
from
a
city
councilman.
PPP
hopes
to
turn
the
situation
to
its
advantage.
- FEATURE:
AS
THE
WELL
RUNS
DRY,
TEXAS
DRUG
TASK
FORCES
RIDE
OFF
INTO
THE
SUNSET
Out
of
credibility
and
now
money,
the
18-year
ride
of
the
Texas
drug
task
forces
is
crawling
to
an
end.
- OFFER:
IMPORTANT
NEW
LEGALIZATION
VIDEO
AVAILABLE
Get
your
copy
of
the
Law
Enforcement
Against
Prohibition
video
that
Walter
Cronkite
called
a
"must-see
for
any
journalist
or
public
official
dealing
with
[the
drug]
issue."
- FEEDBACK:
DO
YOU
READ
DRUG
WAR
CHRONICLE?
Do
you
read
Drug
War
Chronicle?
If
so,
we
need
your
feedback
to
evaluate
our
work
and
make
the
case
for
Drug
War
Chronicle
to
funders.
We
need
donations
too.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
THIS
WEEK'S
CORRUPT
COPS
STORIES
We
have
two
stories
out
of
Baltimore
this
week,
as
well
as
a
pair
of
greedy
air
marshals,
an
upstate
New
York
cop
with
a
bad
habit,
a
Florida
deputy
with
sticky
fingers,
and
a
Memphis
cop
who
thought
he
was
protecting
drug
dealers,
but
is
instead
going
to
prison.
- LAW
ENFORCEMENT:
NYPD
SHUTS
DOWN
CHELSEA
CLUBS
OVER
DRUG
VIOLATIONS
The
New
York
City
Police
Department
put
a
big
dent
in
Manhattan's
Chelsea
club
scene
last
Friday
night
as
hundreds
of
officers
swarmed
into
seven
clubs
and
shut
them
down
because
of
alleged
drug
law
violations.
- SEARCH
AND
SEIZURE:
COPS,
SCHOOL
DISTRICT
TO
PAY
STUDENTS
$1.2
MILLION
IN
GOOSE
CREEK
RAID
SETTLEMENT
Goose
Creek,
South
Carolina,
became
instantly
infamous
2
1/2
years
ago
when
14
members
of
the
town's
police
force
got
caught
on
videotape
terrorizing
a
hallway
full
of
predominantly
black
students
at
Stratford
High
School
in
an
unsuccessful
search
for
drugs
conducted
at
the
behest
of
the
school
principal.
Now
taxpayers
are
going
to
pay
through
the
nose
as
a
result.
- PARAPHERNALIA:
ICE
RAIDS
SOUTH
FLORIDA
HEAD
SHOPS
You
would
think
the
Department
of
Homeland
Security's
Immigration
and
Customs
Enforcement
division
would
be
busy
fighting
terrorism
and
securing
the
borders,
but
you
would
be
wrong.
According
to
ICE,
at
least
part
of
its
mission
is
to
keep
America
bong-free.
- PAIN
MEDICINE:
OHIO
DOCTOR
FREED
ON
BAIL
DURING
APPEAL
OF
DRUG
TRAFFICKING
CONVICTION
Columbus
physician
William
Nucklos,
convicted
on
multiple
drug
trafficking
counts
for
prescribing
"unneeded"
pain
medications
and
sentenced
to
20
years
in
state
prison,
has
been
granted
bail
and
released
pending
appeal.
- PREGNANCY
I:
COCAINE
USE
IS
NOT
CHILD
ABUSE,
NEW
MEXICO
APPEALS
COURT
SAYS
Illicit
drug
use
while
pregnant
does
not
constitute
child
abuse
under
New
Mexico
state
law,
the
state's
Court
of
Appeals
ruled
Monday.
- PREGNANCY
II:
EXPECTANT
MOTHERS
WHO
EXPOSE
FETUSES
TO
DRUGS
CAN'T
BE
CONVICTED
AS
DRUG
DEALERS
UNDER
FETAL
RIGHTS
LAW,
TEXAS
APPEALS
COURT
RULES
The
Texas
7th
Court
of
Appeals
in
Amarillo
has
overturned
the
drug
dealing
convictions
of
two
Potter
County
women
who
admitted
using
illegal
drugs
late
in
their
pregnancies.
- MEDICAL
MARIJUANA:
REAGAN
AIDE
LYN
NOFZIGER
DEAD
AT
81
--
SUPPORTED
PATIENTS'
RIGHTS
Long-time
conservative
consultant
Lynn
Nofziger
died
at
age
81
in
his
Falls
Church,
Virginia,
home
March
27.
Though
a
part
of
the
Reagan
administration
who
helped
launch
the
heightened
"war
on
drugs"
in
the
1980s,
Nofziger
later
became
an
ardent
advocate
for
the
right
to
use
medical
marijuana.
- EUROPE:
ITALY
SETS
QUANTITY
GUIDELINES
FOR
TOUGH
NEW
DRUG
LAW
The
Italian
government
has
set
quantity
guidelines
for
illicit
drugs
that
will
determine
whether
drug
offenders
are
subject
to
administrative
sanctions
as
user
"victims"
or
sent
to
prison
as
drug
traffickers
under
the
tough
new
drug
law
passed
in
February.
- LATIN
AMERICA:
PRO-COCA
UPSTART
POISED
TO
WIN
FIRST
ROUND
OF
PERUVIAN
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
With
coca-growing
one
of
the
hottest
sectors
of
Peru's
moribund
economy,
an
upstart
former
army
officer
who
calls
for
the
legalization
of
the
coca
crop
is
poised
to
win
the
first
round
of
Peru's
presidential
election,
set
for
Monday.
If
elected,
Ollanta
Humala
would
be
the
second
openly
pro-coca
leader
in
the
Andes,
after
neighboring
Bolivia's
Evo
Morales.
- WEB
SCAN
WOLA
at
House
Andes
Hearings,
Mycoherbicides
Again,
Broken
Windows
Debunked,
CBC
on
Coca
and
Peru's
Election,
Denver
Post,
Meth
Legalization
- WEEKLY:
THIS
WEEK
IN
HISTORY
Events
and
quotes
of
note
from
this
week's
drug
policy
events
of
years
past.
- JOB
OPPORTUNITIES:
SYSTEM
ADMINISTRATOR
AND
GRASSROOTS
ORGANIZER
AT
MPP
The
Marijuana
Policy
Project
is
hiring
a
system
administrator
in
Washington,
DC,
and
a
grassroots
organizer
in
Phoenix,
AZ.
- 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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