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News & Opinion 1. What Really Happened To Diane Linkletter? 2. San Francisco Says Meth Use Is At 'High Plateau' (Despite Data Suggesting That Methamphetamine Use Is Falling) 3. Cologne And Antiseptic: Russia's Killer Drinks 4. Speeding HIV's Deadly Spread (Multiple, Concurrent Partners Drive Disease in Southern Africa) 5. [US] Air Force Charges Victim in Her Own Rape 6. The Political Junkets of Bush's Drug Czar A. To Our Contributors B. Upcoming Conferences C. Listings Of Blogs & Sites We've Been Visiting Lately D. Quotes E. Know Someone Who Might Enjoy Receiving This Newsletter? How To Help ~ About HRP ~Subscription Information -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. What Really Happened To Diane Linkletter? Written by Doug DeLong Published July 27, 2007 The beautiful young woman who jumped out of her sixth-floor apartment window at 9 am on October 4, 1969 had no way of knowing that her death was destined to become a focal point of the anti-drug movement in America. Diane Linkletter was the 20-year-old daughter of Art Linkletter, the prominent radio and TV personality. Before an autopsy had even been performed, her famous father claimed to the media that she had taken LSD the night before her death. (Linkletter had not talked to his daughter before her death, but maintains that she had told her brother Robert that she had taken the acid.) He was quoted as saying, "It isn't suicide because she wasn't herself. She was murdered. She was murdered by the people who manufacture and sell LSD." When the autopsy showed no signs of drugs in her system, he changed his story to claim that she was suffering an LSD flashback from months earlier and that had caused her to jump out the window. The media, of course, ran with the story, and used Art Linkletter's claims to create the narrative, without doing much investigating of their own. By the time the dust had settled, the story had been transformed in most people's minds to reflect an old urban legend about a girl, high on LSD, who jumped out her window because she thought she could fly. A much more accurate picture of what happened can be gleaned by examining the testimony of Diane's boyfriend, Edward Durston, who was present when she died. Diane had summoned him to her apartment at 3 am and had spent the final six hours of her life with him. He told investigators that she was a desperately unhappy and despondent young woman who was determined to end her life. He had no reason to believe, and she had not indicated, that drugs were a factor in her death. Art Linkletter, understandably devastated, became one of the most vocal critics of the counterculture, speaking out against drugs at every opportunity, while telling the tale of his daughter's LSD death. Dr. Timothy Leary, the LSD guru who had urged young people to "turn on, tune in, drop out," became his archenemy. In this fascinating video from 1980, Leary is surprised on an interview show with a call from Linkletter. Listening to him scream at Leary that he "wishes he had died, or been hung" was a little disconcerting coming from someone whose public persona was that of the kindly father. [Please click link the following link to view video] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT31oB2vspw Did Art Linkletter truly believe that his daughter's death was caused by LSD or was it easier for him to view it through that prism? Did it make his burden easier to bear, believing that an outside force of some kind was responsible, and not any negligence on his part? One thing is for certain. The story lodged itself in the public's consciousness and helped to fuel the anti-drug sentiments that led Richard Nixon to declare a War on Drugs in 1971, a seemingly unending battle that has strained our prison system and drained the nation of valuable resources.

Drug Truth Network Update: Cultural Baggage + Century of Lies + 4:20 Drug War NEWS + Willie Nelson Joins LEAP! Half Hour Programs, Live Fridays... at 90.1 FM in Houston & on the web at www.kpft.org. Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org and at www.radio4all.net. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates in the US and Canada., Cultural Baggage for 08/10/07 Thomas Schweich, State Dept Counter-Narcotics official's "plan" for Afghanistan + Poppygate MP3 MP3 LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/FDBCB_081007.mp3 Century of Lies for 08/10/07 Nurse Mary Lynn Mathre re Medical Marijuana Safety + Drug War Facts MP3 MP3 Link: http://www.drugtruth.net/007DTNaudio/COL_081007.mp3 4:20 Drug War NEWS 08/13/07 to 08/19/07 now online (3:00 ea.): Monday 08/13/07 Doug McVay with Drug War Facts Tuesday 08/14/07 Poppygate + "Legalize", per Financial Times Wednesday 08/15/07 Thomas Schweich, State Dept Counter Narcotics re Afghanistan Opium I Thursday 08/16/07 Thomas Schweich, State Dept Counter Narcotics re Afghanistan Opium II Friday 08/17/07 Willie Nelson re marijuana laws Saturday 08/18/07 Willie Nelson Joins Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Sunday 08/19/07 Thomas Schweich, State Dept Counter Narcotics re Afghanistan Opium III NEXT Friday: ) - Cultural Baggage 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT. Nora Callahan on snitches, Phil Smith on informants - Century of Lies 2 PM ET, 1 PM CT, Noon MT & 11 AM PT. TBD Check out our latest videos on You Tube via www.drugtruth.net/dtnvideo.htm Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Once we remove these charlatans from positions of power, other social changes will become much easier." - Reverend Dean Becker, Drug Truth Network Producer Dean Becker 713-849-6869 www.drugtruth.net

Dispensary Progress in LA Despite DEA Raids City Council Starts Regulatory Process; Calls on DEA to Cease and Desist For two years, ASA organizers have been working with city officials in Los Angeles to ensure safe access to medical marijuana, educating them on the needs of patients and the benefits of a sound regulatory approach. The efforts of ASA and other patient advocates has resulted in significant progress in LA, so much so that the DEA has made it a target. On the same day that the Los Angeles City Council was preparing to take an important step toward regulating the operation of medical cannabis dispensing cooperatives, federal agents staged another set of coordinated paramilitary raids designed to intimidate local officials and patients. The raids on ten dispensaries came within weeks of the DEA sending over a hundred threatening letters to landlords of LA dispensaries, telling them the dispensaries are operating illegally under federal law and that the landlords could lose their buildings to federal asset forfeiture. These attacks on patient access were similar to the dozen simultaneous raids conducted in January. Like then, ASA activists sprang into immediate action, organizing protestors at dispensaries while raids were still going on and alerting the local media, which turned out in force. Within two hours of the raids starting, over 200 patients and advocates had gathered at one Hollywood dispensary, blockading the entrances and preventing DEA agents from leaving until they released the employees being detained. That same day, the Los Angeles City Council - under the leadership of Councilmember Dennis Zine, a former LA police officer with whom ASA has worked closely - voted overwhelmingly to establish the groundwork for a regulatory process for medical cannabis dispensaries that ASA has been advocating for two years. The council then all signed a letter to the DEA and then unanimously approved a motion endorsing the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would prevent future DEA attacks on state medical marijuana programs. Councilmember Zine also joined ASA before the hearing in a press conference calling on the DEA to abandon its attacks on medical cannabis dispensaries and allow LA to move forward without further federal interference. ASA's communication efforts helped ensure that LA media covered the raids and City Council actions from the patients' perspective - not the DEA's. And the story was picked up by the major networks and carried by hundreds of television and radio stations as well as newspapers across the country.