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(formerly The Week Online with DRCNet) Issue #443 -- 7/7/06
"Raising Awareness of the Consequences of Drug Prohibition" Phillip S. Smith, Editor
subscribe for FREE now! ---- make a donation ---- search Legalization Video and Books Available for Supporting DRCNet -- offers here and here Table of Contents
1.
Editorial:
Is
Ecstasy
a
Dangerous
Drug?
David Borden, Executive Director, [email protected]
Is ecstasy a dangerous drug? Certainly a lot of people say it is. Are they giving us the "straight dope" on that issue? One way to decide this question is to look at the numbers. When former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman called for new mandatory minimum sentences for the drug in summer 2000, I took a look at the statistics, and was stunned to find that only eight deaths had been attributed to it by the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) during 1998, the latest year for which the statistics were yet available. That was a national statistic, not New Jersey, and it was not clear in every case that ecstasy was the cause as opposed to just being present in the situation. Compared this with the well over a hundred thousand dying each year from alcohol and the hundreds of thousands from nicotine -- well, I'm not sure what to say about it. Any preventable death is a tragedy. But is such a relatively miniscule number enough to justify calling ecstasy is a dangerous drug in the grand scheme of things? A study in the British Medical Journal made a similar finding, 81 deaths related to the drug between 1997 and 2000, 20 per year. Certainly the numbers are larger now, as the drug's popularity has increased. But still we are looking at pretty small numbers. The DAWN mortality report for 2003 said that "clubs drugs were reported infrequently." Ecstasy is just one of the club drugs, so it was even less frequent when looking at ecstasy alone. Even adjusting for the larger number of users of those drugs, it is still night and day. And those numbers could be further reduced by ending prohibition of ecstasy to insure its purity and that users will know its potency, and by pill testing, safety information and other harm reduction programs operating in places like raves as Kanck suggested. Since neither ecstasy nor raves are likely to go away anytime soon, instituting those measures widely would be a good move. DanceSafe's web site is a good place to get information about that topic. I would hesitate to say that any drug is completely safe, and the mortality numbers are greater than zero -- using ecstasy should by no means be done lightly without aforethought -- but the numbers also seem to say that ecstasy's dangers are radically less than many other widely used substances. So I would likewise hesitate to say that ecstasy is truly "dangerous," in the sense that most people think when hearing that word used. Certainly the moves to enact draconian criminal sentences for ecstasy seem kind of bizarre in that light. In that light I would say that politicians are much more dangerous than ecstasy. The good Ms. Kanck and like-minded ones excepted, of course.
2.
Medical
Marijuana:
Five
Arrested,
13
Dispensaries
Raided
by
DEA
in
San
Diego
Just a week after the US House of Representatives voted to continue funding Justice Department raids on medical marijuana patients and providers in states where it is legal, the feds struck again. Five people have been arrested in a series of DEA and local police raids Thursday hitting 13 medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego County. Some people are being charged under state marijuana distribution laws in the cooperative federal-local effort. More arrests are expected, local law enforcement officials said.
The feds also went after four doctors on suspicion of providing medical marijuana recommendations for people the officials claimed did not legitimately need marijuana. State and federal officials have filed complaints with the state Medical Board against the doctors. The San Diego District Attorney's Office announced it was filing marijuana distribution charges against five dispensaries: Ocean Beach Dispensary and Utopia, both on Voltaire Street in Ocean Beach; Native Sun Dispensary on Rosecrans Street, in the Midway District; THC Dispensary, no longer in business, in Pacific Beach; and the California Medical Center, on La Jolla Boulevard in La Jolla. In a statement announcing the busts, the DA's Office said it was not aiming at medical marijuana patients, but at retail pot outlets disguised as dispensaries. "Our office has no intention of stopping those who are chronically ill with AIDS, glaucoma and cancer from obtaining any legally prescribed drug, including medical marijuana, to help them ease their pain," said DA Bonnie Dumanis said. But the state's medical marijuana law is "being severely abused and it has led to the neighborhood pot dealer opening up storefronts from La Jolla to Ocean Beach to North Park," she said. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the medical marijuana defense group, announced in an e-mail Thursday afternoon it was holding an emergency meeting in San Diego that evening to craft a response.
3.
Feature:
Battle
Over
California's
Proposition
36
to
Head
to
Court
Last week, the California legislature voted to approve changes to Proposition 36, the state's "treatment not jail" law, that would alter the law's basic philosophy. This week, Prop. 36 supporters are waiting for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign the bill into law. Then they will immediately file suit to have the new law overturned.
The bill passed last week, SB 1137, toughens Prop. 36 by allowing judges to sentence people who relapse into drug use to periods up to five days of "flash incarceration." Originally drafted by law enforcement and California drug court professionals -- the groups who opposed Prop. 36 from the beginning -- the bill ultimately introduced by Sen. Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego) managed to win bipartisan support at the statehouse in spite of warnings from the legislative counsel's office that it was unconstitutional. "Legislation that would authorize a sentence of incarceration for a first, second, or third drug-related probation violation, if enacted, would constitute an amendment of Proposition 36 that would both not further that initiative statute and be consistent with its purposes," the office wrote last year. "Therefore, the legislation could not take effect without voter approval," the office concluded. While Prop. 36 supporters argue that jailing people who relapse is counterproductive, Ducheny and her law enforcement allies disagree. "Fundamentally, this is not giving them jail time for the drug offense but to say, 'Look, we gave you that opportunity and you decided, for whatever reason, not to take advantage of it... You didn't meet your responsibility to us, so we need some accountability,'" Ducheny said as the bill was being debated. But Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, disagreed. "I have long been opposed to this concept of flash incarceration," he said before voting against the bill. "There's no evidence at all that it works." Another strong legislative friend of Prop. 36, Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) criticized the legislature for backing changes that "fly in the face of the 61.5% of the people who voted for" the initiative. The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), which has fought to see that Prop. 36 is properly implemented and adequately funded and which bitterly fought the Ducheny bill, is prepared to go to court to stop what it sees as the legislature's unconstitutional attack on the ballot measure. "In passing SB 1137, the legislature made changes to Prop. 36 that go against the intent of the initiative as passed by voters, and the legislature cannot do that. Under state law, the only changes the legislature can make to an initiative are changes that further its original intent, and this does the opposite," said Margaret Dooley of the Drug Policy Alliance's Southern California office. "They changed a treatment initiative into an incarceration program where people in treatment can be thrown in jail. That violates the initiative's intent, and we will be asking the courts to decide that constitutional issue," she told DRCNet. SB 1137 also includes another constitutionally questionable provision. In an effort to block court challenges, the new law says that if any part of the legislation is found to be unconstitutional, the entire law will go to the popular ballot. That clause should arouse the ire of supporters of the initiative process, which is widely used in California, said DPA head of legal affairs Dan Abrahamson. "Once the public begins to understand the radical and unprecedented nature of that clause, you're going to see a variety of organizations who've used the initiative process in the past come out of the woodwork and join the challenge of this clause," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's not just DPA, but all sorts of organizations across the political spectrum who have used the initiative process over the last umpteen years coming out of the woodwork to challenge this ridiculous provision," Abrahamson said. "If this provision is allowed to stand, we can kiss the initiative process goodbye," added Dooley. "Any politician who doesn't like an initiative could write a bill to change it, then if it goes to court and is found unconstitutional, he could take it to a public vote. Then another politician could repeat the process," she argued. "It is really disappointing that our legislators would vote for something that is clearly unconstitutional," Dooley said. "We need the courts to decide these matters now and correct this legislative mistake."
4.
Feature:
Wisconsin
Drug
Reform
Activist
and
Senate
Candidate
Ben
Masel
Assaulted,
Arrested
By
Campus
Cops,
Plans
to
Sue
Wisconsin's best known drug policy reformer, Weedstock organizer Ben Masel, was pepper-sprayed and arrested by University of Wisconsin-Madison police as he collected signatures for his senatorial campaign the evening of June 30. He was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting a police officer, trespassing, and remaining after being warned to leave, all misdemeanors.
The long-time activist was at the UW Memorial Union collecting signatures during a hip-hop concert when two union managers told him he could not solicit signatures on the property and asked him to leave. Masel "politely declined," explaining that he is allowed to collect signatures on public property. The managers again asked him to leave and called campus police when he failed to do so. Campus police officers John McCaughtry and Michael Mansavage accosted Masel, pepper-sprayed him in the eyes, then pepper-sprayed him again while he was on the ground and restrained. Masel -- whose is only accepting contributions of $1 -- said he never struggled with the officers and would have gone along willingly if the police had asked. "If they had said something along the lines of 'Mr. Masel, you're under arrest,' I would have put my hands behind my back and complied," he said. The entire incident was witnessed by -- among others -- Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who told the Wisconsin State Journal Masel wasn't bothering anyone. "I didn't feel Ben was causing any disruptions," Cieslewicz said. "I certainly didn't feel he was disrupting my evening at all. I didn't see a reason to remove him from the terrace." Wisconsin Union assistant facilities director Roger Vogts told the Journal the Memorial Union has a policy forbidding people from handing out literature, collecting signatures, or similar activities. "We don't want people coming in, going table to table, bothering people," Vogts said. But the union has been inconsistent in enforcing its legally questionable policy. In the wake of the incident, the Capital Times contacted several politicians who said they routinely solicited signatures at the spot where Masel was arrested. They were never asked to leave, let alone assaulted and arrested, they said. The UW Memorial Union and its cops picked on the wrong guy, as Masel is notorious for winning lawsuits against state and local officials for violating his rights. He has filed and won lawsuits against Dane County for blocking his leafleting at the Harvest Festival, against then Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) for denying permits for the festival and over the issue of amplification at the festival, against the city of Madison over leafleting the US Conference of Mayors in 2005, and against a community college and the city of Madison for being arrested while leafleting for an anti-drug war district attorney candidate. Masel's biggest win (and payout) came in Sauk County, where the county had to pay him $95,000 after illegally arresting him during the 2000 Weedstock festival. He is also suing police in Kansas City over a 2001 incident on an Amtrak passenger train. Masel was traveling from Albuquerque to Chicago when police boarded the train and asked two young men to consent to a warrantless search of their belongings. Masel stood and informed the young men they had the right to refuse a search, after which police arrested him for obstruction of justice. He is seeking punitive damages for violation of his free speech rights and compensation for repeated trips to Missouri to fight the case against him, which was eventually dropped. Now the university's Memorial Union will be the next to face a Masel lawsuit, he told DRCNet. "First, I'll be defending against the criminal charges, and then I will be bringing a countersuit on behalf of the campaign for violating free speech rights and against the officers for excessive use of force," he said. "There was not even a smidgen of justification for that second spraying when I was on the ground with the guy's knee in my back. The unnecessary force claim will focus on that one that they have no defense for. And I have some great witnesses," Masel laughed. "The mayor was sitting only eight feet away." The incident has aided his signature-gathering effort, Masel said. "It's been a lot easier to collect signatures since I got pepper-sprayed," he said. "And the state Democratic Party chair, who had promised me a speaking slot at the convention, but then didn't have me on the list very quickly, turned around and gave me a slot after my arrest." Masel, whose activism has taken place under varying banners, said he was running as a Democrat because the incumbent, Herb Kohl, did little and because the party claimed it was open to grassroots activism. "There's been a lot of rhetoric from Howard Dean and the state Democratic Party here about how the party is more open now, so I decided to test them. They haven't quite passed with flying colors, but they haven't failed the test, either," he said. While he is known primarily as a drug reformer, Masel is not emphasizing the issue -- because he doesn't have to. "I'm so known statewide on drug policy, I don't actually have to talk about it much. The reporters will always ask me about it." Instead, he is emphasizing concerns about the Patriot Act and related electronic privacy issues and says his first bill as senator would tighten the War Powers Act to make it more difficult for presidents to take the country to war. "I'm trying to break out of the one-trick pony thing on drug policy," he said.
5.
Sad
News:
Drug
Policy
Scholar
Lynn
Zimmer
Dead
at
59
Queens College sociologist Professor Lynn Zimmer died Sunday morning at age 59. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000.
A fierce critic of drug prohibition and the drug war, Zimmer was also known for carefully and critically examining proposals for drug legalization. Zimmer's accomplishments in drug reform were honored by both The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation (now DPA), which awarded her the Lindesmith Award for Achievement in the Field of Scholarship and NORML, which granted her the Lester Grinspoon Award for Achievement in the Field of Marijuana Law Reform from the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in 2000. DPA executive director Ethan Nadelmann has written a personal remembrance of Zimmer and is encouraging others to share their own recollections. Lynn Zimmer died too young and will be missed.
6.
Law
Enforcement:
This
Week's
Corrupt
Cops
Stories
This week, we have a pair of missing Border Patrol agents and a pair of drug-smuggling prison guards. Let's get to it: In San Diego, two US Border Patrol agents under investigation for smuggling people and drugs into the country have vanished, the Border Patrol announced June 30. Brothers Raul and Fidel Villarreal resigned earlier in the week, and federal law enforcement officials said they feared the pair were tipped off and fled to Mexico. The pair are suspected of working for Mexican-based smuggling organizations. The Border Patrol is now investigating who leaked news of the investigation to the brothers. In Baltimore, a prison guard was arrested June 23 on charges he smuggled marijuana into his place of employment for an inmate, the Baltimore Sun reported. Antwan Black, 22, an employee of the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, was arrested at the Metropolitan Transition Center and charged with possession and possession with intent to sell marijuana, and two counts of intent to deliver to an inmate, after he was searched and found to be holding a bag of "a greenish brown leafy material," according to charging documents. Blackwell admitted that he had agreed to deliver the bag of weed for $100. He was charged and released pending further proceedings. In Essex County, New Jersey, a former Essex County prison guard has pleaded guilty to smuggling drugs and other contraband into the county correctional facility last summer. According to the Maplewood and South Orange News-Record, Jay Griggs, 35, copped the plea week before last. He was arrested last summer carrying 30 bags of marijuana, five bindles of heroin, three bottles of cocaine, rolling papers, cigarettes, cigars, a cell phone, and a phone charger into the prison. Jail officials charged Griggs conspired with a jail inmate and his wife to smuggle the contraband into the prison. That couple have since pleaded guilty to drug possession charges. Griggs pleaded to four counts of official misconduct and faces up to three years in prison. He will be sentenced September 15 in Newark.
7.
Vote
Hemp
Alert:
Proposed
North
Dakota
Hemp
Rules
Tell North Dakota's Agriculture Commissioner Roger Johnson that you support his proposal to license farmers to grow industrial hemp. Vote Hemp wants to gather as much positive feedback as possible on the proposed hemp farming rules before the July 20 deadline for written comments. Go to Vote Hemp's North Dakota page to read the proposed rules and submit your comments to Commissioner Johnson. And please remember to forward this e-mail to others in North Dakota by clicking the "forward email to a friend" link. North Dakota's proposed rules are an important step towards getting US farmers involved in the lucrative and growing market for industrial hemp. Note the following:
8.
Australia:
Member
of
South
Australia
Parliament
Says
Raves
Safer
Than
Hotel
Bars,
Urges
Testing
Programs
for
Ecstasy
and
Other
Pills
Sandra Kanck, the sole South Australia Democrat in the state parliament, is at it again. The outspoken Kanck, who in May told the state parliament "ecstasy is not a dangerous drug," attended a rave Saturday night and told ABC Radio she felt safer there than at a hotel bar. Kanck said she attended the rave as part of educating herself during Australia's current debate on drugs and urged other MPs to do the same.
But Kanck said the rave, the Winter Enchanted rave at the Night Train theatre in Adelaide's Light Square, was "a far better environment" than a hotel bar. "These people using ecstasy and whatever they're using, they are not aggressive, they're not shouting, they're not fighting, you don't get people puking all over the place, it's a far, far better environment," Kanck said. "If I had a choice between being at a rave party and a hotel bar, I'd go to the rave party every time." Kanck said Tuesday that the government should introduce a pill-testing program to alert users to impure tablets, but again insisted she felt safer at a rave than at an event where alcohol was being guzzled. "If I were in a venue where there were 3,000 people drinking alcohol and in a venue where there were 3,000 people taking ecstasy, I believe I would be safer in the venue where people were taking ecstasy," she said. "I believe they [raves] would be safe for the majority of people." Kanck's views on raves and ecstasy aren't winning her many friends among the political class. The leader of the state Democrats, Richard Pascoe, with whom Kanck already has a strained relationship, told the Adelaide Advertiser he was "lost for words." A spokesman for state Premier Mike Rann added that he would not be attending a rave "any time soon," while Health Minister John Hill suggested MPs visit hospital emergency rooms and mental wards if they wanted to educate themselves about drugs.
9.
Europe:
Russian
Official
Calls
for
Ban
on
Magazines
Over
Drug,
Sex
Content
One of Russia's highest legal officials is calling for three popular teen magazines to be shut down because they promote an unhealthy interest in sex and drugs, the BBC reported. The three magazines -- Molotok, Cool, and Cool Girl -- insist they promote a responsible attitude toward both sex and drug use among teenagers, but have been attacked before by social conservatives for their alleged promotion of immorality. Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Sergei Fridinskiy joined the attack last week, when he complained that the magazines exploit teens' interest in sex by publishing explicit pictures and stories. He also charged the magazines carried erotic mobile phone advertisements that encouraged teens to have sex early. And he said the magazines promoted a drug-using lifestyle. Fridinskiy called on the Russian state media regulator to shut down all three. This is but the latest heavy-handed effort by Russian drug war officials to stamp out the country's burgeoning drug culture. Russian officials have also banned books, blocked marijuana legalization protests, and stopped the sale of products containing cannabis images. Now they're going after the teen mags.
10.
Harm
Reduction:
Delaware
Needle
Exchange
Bill
Passes
House,
Awaits
Governor's
Signature
The Delaware House approved a needle exchange bill on a 23-15 vote June 29. With the bill having already passed the Senate last year, it now goes to Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D). Minner is expected to sign the bill, which would leave New Jersey as the only state in the nation without a law authorizing needle exchange programs. The bill establishes a five-year pilot program in Wilmington, where addicts can exchange used needles for new ones provided by the Department of Public Health. The project would be mobile, with a van sent into areas of high injection drug use. Needle exchange participants would also be offered HIV testing, counseling, and referrals to drug treatment programs. Participants would be issued ID cards and the state-provided needles would carry labels exempting them from the state's drug paraphernalia law. Supporters of the bill say the program will reduce the number of HIV, Hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases caused by injection drug use. Delaware's HIV infection rate is among the highest in the nation, and shared drug injection equipment is a primary mode of transmission for the virus in the state. Republican opponents of the bill said it sends the wrong message. "Delaware has a serious heroin problem," said Attorney General Carl Danberg in a statement read on the House floor. "I cannot support anything which has the appearance of condoning intravenous heroin use." Fortunately, the legislature was more interested in the reality of reducing HIV and Hep C infections than the appearance of being "soft on drugs."
11.
Harm
Reduction:
Massachusetts
Governor
Vetoes
Needle
Sales
Bill
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) vetoed a bill last Friday that would have allowed the sale of syringes without a prescription, saying it could lead to increased heroin use. The bill had easily passed in the Democratic legislature, where supporters argued it would reduce the risk of infection from HIV and other blood-borne diseases. The measure passed both chambers by large enough margins that the legislature should be able to override the veto. Romney said the bill, while well-intentioned, would do more harm than good. "We believe that upon further review of the bill, some of the unintended consequences could be more severe than the benefits of signing the bill," said Romney, who held a press conference to issue a statement announcing the veto. With Romney considering a run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who is running to replace Romney, joining him at the press conference, the odor of election year politics hung over the veto. Romney and Healey argued that with a decline in the number of new HIV and AIDS cases caused by sharing dirty needles and the rise in heroin overdose deaths, the law was not needed. Needle sharing accounted for 15.7% of new cases in 2004, down from 32.8% in 1997, while heroin overdose deaths in the same period have jumped from 178 to 574. "We cannot in good conscience say we should make more needles available to heroin addicts," said Healey, who raised the specter of a child "standing next to a drug addict in the checkout line at CVS who is there to buy more needles to feed his or her addiction." Democratic gubernatorial contenders immediately lashed out at Romney and Healey. Deval Patrick told the Boston Herald Romney and Healey "put misguided ideology before leadership in public health," while Chris Gabrieli said the two are "less interested in science and reason, and more interested in rigid partisan ideology." They were joined in their criticism by Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, who said Healey's argument is flawed. "All scientific evidence indicates that the availability of clean needles does not lead to increased drug use. There is study after study after study which we have given to the administration to that effect," said Rebecca Haag, executive director of the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts. Now it's up to the legislature to override the veto.
12.
Canadian
Senator
and
Former
Mayor
Roasts
UN
Anti-Drug
Chief
in
E-Mail
over
"World
Drug
Report"
We wanted to send this out last week, but got the permission just too late. So here it is now: In an e-mail sent to Vancouver drug reformer and harm reductionist Mark Haden, responding to a post titled "UNODC World Drug Report 2006 full of scientific insults," Vancouver's former mayor, Larry Campbell, now a Canadian senator, wrote the following: "UNODC Executive Director, Antonio Maria Costa claims that the world is experiencing a devastating 'cannabis pandemic.' This gentleman is the same person who said we were putting 'cannabis oil' on pasta. It was pointed out that is hemp oil which is not a sativa product. He didn't know the difference and appeared not to care. Simply another high paid UN stooge. Isn't it amazing that the US only supports the UN when they toe the US 'drug war' line."Visit https://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/311/campbell.shtml to read DRCNet's November 2003 interview with Campbell.
13.
Web
Scan:
Politicians
Who
Have
Used
Marijuana
Radio
Ad,
Tony
Papa
on
Dwight
Gooden,
VICS
Cannabinoid
Chronicles
MPP radio ad about politicians who have used marijuana (audio) Anthony Papa on "No Walk in the Park for Dwight Gooden," Counterpunch July issue of Cannabinoid Chronicles
14.
Weekly:
This
Week
in
History
July 7, 2004: The US House of Representatives votes on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment (H.R. 4754) that, if passed, would protect patients and who use marijuana medically and their providers acting in compliance with state law from interference by the US Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration. The amendment is defeated 148-269: 19 Republicans vote "aye" and 202 vote "no," six not voting; 128 Democrats vote "aye" and 66 vote "no," 11 not voting. July 8, 1999: Mexican PAN and PRI legislators in the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City exchange heated accusations about each others' party's associations with drug trafficking organizations. July 9, 1997: Thirty-seven leading physicians announce the formation of Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy. July 10, 1992: Manuel Noriega is convicted on eight counts of drug trafficking, money laundering and racketeering, and sentenced to 40 years in federal prison. July 10, 1997: Researchers at the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Zurich release the final report on Switzerland's three-year heroin prescription trial. The study concludes that the carefully supervised provision of heroin to long-term addicts with a history of failure in other treatment modalities results in a significant decrease in crime, mortality, disease transmission, treatment failure, and unemployment, at a substantial savings over other, less successful treatment methods. July 11, 1979: A deadly shootout between Colombian traffickers in broad daylight at Miami's Dadeland Mall brings the savagery of the Colombian cocaine lords to the attention of US law enforcement. July 12, 2002: The Wall Street Journal reports that former president Bill Clinton acknowledged, "I was wrong" to not lift the ban on federal funding of needle-exchange programs. July 13, 1931: The International Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs is convened in Geneva. July 13: 1995: The New York Times reports the FDA has concluded for the first time that nicotine is an addictive drug that should be regulated. July 13, 1998: The Associated Press reports that US drug czar Barry McCaffrey has created a controversy in The Netherlands over his erroneous claim that "The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States," which he explained by saying "that's drugs." In actuality the Dutch homicide rate is less than one fourth the US rate. The Dutch ambassador response, "I must say that I find the timing of your remarks -- six days before your planned visit to the Netherlands with a view to gaining first-hand knowledge about Dutch drugs policy and its results, rather astonishing."
15.
Weekly:
The
Reformer's
Calendar
Please submit listings of events concerning drug policy and related topics to [email protected]. July 14, 5:30-8:00pm, Chicago, IL, cocktail reception with Judge James P. Gray, author of "Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs." Sponsored by the Heartland Institute, at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel, 163 East Walton Place, admission free, contact Nikki Comerford at (312) 377-4000 or [email protected] for further information. July 15-20, Chicago, IL, "Freedom, Tolerance, and Civil Society," free summer seminar for college students, sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies. At Loyola University, visit http://www.i-liberty.org by April 10 for information or to apply -- apply before March 31 and receive a free book. July 20-23, Vancouver, BC, Canada, "Fourth Biennial International Meaning Conference on Addiction," contact Dr. Paul T.P. Wong at [email protected] or visit http://www.meaning.ca for information. July 21, 7:00pm, Washington, DC, "Race to Incarcerate," book talk with The Sentencing Project's Marc Mauer. At Politics & Prose bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave., NW, visit http://www.politics-prose.com for further information. July 22, 1:00-4:20pm, Laguna Beach, CA, Rally Against the Failing War on Drugs, sponsored by The November Coalition and Orange County NORML. At Main Beach, Pacific Coast Highway and Broadway, call (714) 210-6446, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or visit http://www.ocnorml.org for further info. July 24, 7:30pm, Asheville, NC, fundraiser and art opening benefiting the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies 20th Anniversary Celebration at Burning Man 2006. Space limited, tickets $45 minimum donation for first ten, $50 minimum for second ten, $50 for next fifteen. At the Flood Gallery, Phil Mechanic Building, 109 Roberts St., contact Logan MacSporren at (772) 708-6810 or [email protected] to RSVP or for further information. August 19-20, Seattle, WA, Seattle Hempfest, visit http://www.hempfest.org for further information. August 26, 1:00-4:20pm, Huntington Beach, CA, Rally Against the Failing War on Drugs, sponsored by The November Coalition and Orange County NORML. At Huntington Beach Pier, 315 Pacific Coast Highway, call (714) 210-6446, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or visit http://www.ocnorml.org for further info. September 16, noon-6:00pm, Boston, MA, 17th Annual Boston Freedom Rally. On Boston Common, sponsored by MASS CANN/NORML, featuring bands, speakers and vendors. Visit http://www.MassCann.org for further information. September 23, 1:00-4:20pm, San Clemente, CA, Rally Against the Failing War on Drugs, sponsored by The November Coalition and Orange County NORML. At San Clemente Pier, Avenida Del Mar, call (714) 210-6446, e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or visit http://www.ocnorml.org for further info. October 7-8, Madison, WI, 36th Annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival, sponsored by Madison NORML. At the Library Mall, downtown, visit http://www.madisonnorml.org for further information. November 9-12, Oakland, CA, "Drug User Health: The Politics and the Personal," 6th National Harm Reduction Conference. Sponsored by the Harm Reduction Coalition, for further information visit http://www.harmreduction.org/6national/ or contact Paula Santiago at [email protected]. November 17-19, Washington, DC, Students for Sensible Drug Policy International Conference and Training Workshop. At the Georgetown University School of Law, including speakers, training sessions, a lobby day and more. Further information will be posted soon at http://www.ssdp.org online. February 1-3, 2007, Salt Lake City, UT, "Science & Response: 2007, The Second National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV, and Hepatitis," sponsored by the Harm Reduction Project. At the Hilton City Center, visit http://www.methconference.org for info. If you like what you see here and want to get these bulletins by e-mail, please fill out our quick signup form at https://stopthedrugwar.org/WOLSignup.shtml. PERMISSION to reprint or redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle is hereby granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and, where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we request notification for our records, including physical copies where material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network, P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202) 293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank you. Articles of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
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