--- Begin Message ---
restore Wed, 21 Nov 2001 Volume 1 : Number 138
In this issue:
CA: US Court Hears Suit for Return of Medical MJ
UK: Cannabis Cafe Shut Down
UK: 12 Held Over UK Cannabis Cafe Haul
UK: Police Urge Radical Shift On Drugs
Brazil TV Host's Candor Stirs Marijuana Debate
CA: Response to DEA
San Jose Merc Ed. on Ashcroft the MD
OR: Hearing Set for Ashcroft Ore. Order
KY: Hemp Research Effort Is Off to a Slow Start
Canada: A Match Made of Smoke
SD Gov. full of hate
Fwd: [CogLib] Time To End Criminal Punishment For Drugs
*
[EMAIL PROTECTED] daily digest web version: http://www.crrh.org/hempnews/viewrestore.asp
*
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Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:36:14 -0800
From: Dale Gieringer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of "D. Paul Stanford"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CA: US Court Hears Suit for Return of Medical MJ
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
California NORML News Release 11-19-01 by Dale Gieringer
San Francisco, Nov 19: In a case with precedent-setting potential, US
District Court Judge Marilyn Patel heard arguments about whether the
federal government should return one ounce of medical marijuana to Prop 215
patient Chris Giauque. The ounce had been seized by the DEA pursuant to a
federal initerpleader suit by Humboldt County sheriff Dennis Lewis, who had
asked to be excused from a state court order requiring him to return the
ounce to Giauque on pain of contempt of court. US District Judge Legge
ordered the DEA to seize the ounce from Lewis's custody, thereby relieving
him from the contempt order.
Giauque's attorney, Bryce Kenney, filed a motion for return of property,
arguing that the seizure warrant violated a common law rule against
concurrent in rem jurisdiction by two different courts over the same
property, and that the federal law exceeded the government's authority
under the Interstate Commerce Clause.
The government argued that Giauque had no legal right to the property
since marijuana is contraband under federal law, as determined by the US
Supreme Court in its Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative decision.
Kenney argued that the Supreme Court decision had no bearing on Giauque's
case, since it concerned distribution by dispensaries, not private
possession for medical use.
Patel poked fun at the OCBC decision, saying she was "walking into a
thicket left by a rather oblique statement by the Supreme Court" regarding
the legality of possession of marijuana.
US attorney Scott Nonaka argued that the legality of the federal statute
against marijuana possession had been consistently upheld by the courts,
including the Ninth Circuit, which specifically rejected a challenge based
on the interstate commerce clause in U.S v. Bramble (1997). However,
Kenney noted that Bramble also involved intent to sell and did not involve
medical marijuana that was protected under state law.
Patel joked that there was now a Bramble in the thicket. Judge Patel
mused whether Giauque's marijuana had been destroyed, and, if so, how
damages might be assessed, given the lack of a legal market price. Kenney
suggested that cannabis clubs could testify to the cost of growing medical
marijuana.
Patel wondered whether Giauque's case was really just an in rem civil
proceeding, in which case the federal government might be barred from
claiming concurrent jurisdiction, or whether it might have also been
prosecuted as a criminal case, in which case the government would have a
clearer claim to his pot. Nonaka admitted he didn't know whether a case
like Giauque's would be prosecuted in federal court. "I haven't seen one,"
Patel exclaimed, "You're just trying to oblige the sheriff in Humboldt County,"
Asked what the government's interest was in the case, Nonaka said that it
was a violation of federal law, and the government couldn't turn a blind
eye to it because of the sheriff's interpleader suit.
Judge Patel called the case an "interesting question." A written opinion
is expected shortly and seems destined to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
--
----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:43:44 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UK: Cannabis Cafe Shut Down
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: Manchester Evening News (UK)
Copyright: 2001 Manchester Evening News
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1313
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
CANNABIS CAFE SHUT DOWN
Police raided Stockport's cannabis cafe this afternoon and shut it down.
Officers burst in as owner Colin Davies was being interviewed by BBC TV
about whether the law was turning a blind eye to his venture.
Uniformed officers searched scores of customers at the Dutch Experience
cafe in Hooper Street before arresting Mr Davies and a number of others,
who were taken to Stockport police station.
This afternoon's raid happened as media interest in the cafe increased,
with a story in the Manchester Evening News about the tourists flocking there.
BBC reporter Stuart Flinders was filming for a feature about how the cafe
was continuing to remain open when the raid happened.
Mark Bradnell, 20, an unemployed gardener of Buxton Road, Heaviley,
Stockport, said: "I thought it was a joke at first. They came in and said
'Police. Police. Don't move' and then plainclothes officers came in. The
camera crew was filming away. The police pulled Colin Davies out and he
said 'You don't have to handcuff me -- I will come quietly.' I don't agree
with it. He helps people with medical needs. I've seen what alcohol does
and I have never seen anyone rowdy in this cafe. I love it."
Professional boxer Jimmy Louis, 27, of Forbes Road Offerton, Stockport,
said: "I was having a chat with Colin and the BBC and they came in and
grabbed Colin and arrested him. They started searching everybody.
"They carted off about 15 people. There were about 20 police officers here.
It's just a waste of taxpayers' money." Mr Davies, 44, who says he supplies
marijuana to sick people to ease their pain, hit the headlines in April
last year when the Queen unwittingly accepted a marijuana plant from him at
the opening of The Lowry in Salford.
Senior police officers in London today indicated a radical shift on drug
policy by publicly advocating that Ecstasy should be downgraded to a Class
B drug.
They also backed special areas where addicts could legally inject heroin.
The officer in charge of a pilot project in south London in which cannabis
users are being let off with a caution said arresting people for possession
of Ecstasy was a "waste of valuable police resources" and attention should
be directed at more harmful drugs.
Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Andy Hayman told the
Commons Home Affairs Select Committee that chief officers would support
Ecstasy being downgraded from Class A to Class B if medical and scientific
evidence recommended it.
"There seems to be medical and scientific evidence that puts it alongside
other amphetamines," he said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Beth
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:52:05 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UK: 12 Held Over UK Cannabis Cafe Haul
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
12 HELD OVER UK CANNABIS CAFE HAUL
Twelve people have been arrested after officers seized cannabis during a
raid on a Dutch-style coffee house in Greater Manchester.
Police also uncovered cash following the search of The Dutch Experience
Cafe, in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Two of the 12 taken into police custody have been arrested on suspicion of
being involved in the management of a premises contrary to the mis-use of
drugs legislation.
Another was arrested for possessing cannabis with the intent to supply and
the remaining nine for possessing a controlled drug.
Superintendent Richard Crawshaw, of Greater Manchester police, said: "It
would be unwise for anyone to make the assumption that flagrant defiance of
the law has or ever will be tolerated by the police."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: GD
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 21:00:50 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: UK: Police Urge Radical Shift On Drugs
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2001 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
POLICE URGE RADICAL SHIFT ON DRUGS
Senior police officers clashed sharply with the home secretary, David
Blunkett, today when they called for a radical shift on drug policy.
Addressing a Commons home affairs select committee, they publicly advocated
that ecstasy should be downgraded to a class B drug and backed the creation
of "shooting galleries" where addicts could legally inject heroin.
Metropolitan Police commander Brian Paddick, who has overseen the six-month
experiment in Brixton, south London, where cannabis users are being let off
with a caution, said arresting people for possession of ecstasy was a
"waste of valuable police resources" and that attention should be directed
at more harmful drugs.
Mr Blunkett made clear, however, when he announced his intention to
downgrade cannabis to a class C drug, that he was not prepared to shift
ground on ecstasy.
Chief police officers would support ecstasy being downgraded from a class A
drug to class B, if medical and scientific evidence recommended it, the
Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, Andy Hayman, told the
committee.
"There seems to be medical and scientific evidence that puts it alongside
other amphetamines," he said.
Such a move could "make a stronger statement" about the dangers of class A
drugs, Mr Hayman told MPs, who are examining the government's existing drug
laws.
The reclassification would take the dance culture drug out of the same
group as heroin and crack cocaine, placing it instead alongside
barbiturates and amphetamines.
Committee chairman Chris Mullin raised the idea of so-called "shooting
galleries" based on a German system, which offers addicts clean needles and
health advice, and ensures that contaminated needles were not left in the
street.
He defined the facilities as "licensed premises where heroin can be taken
without fear of arrest".
Mr Hayman, also chairman of the Association of Chief Police Officers drugs
committee, confirmed: "If the medical authorities say it is worthwhile and
they can be controlled in a way that people are happy with, then clearly
from ACPO's perspective they would support it, because it would reduce the
tensions in the community and the erosion of the community."
He agreed it would involve police "turning a blind eye" to the use of class
A drugs, but drew a comparison with Amsterdam's safe areas for
prostitution, which seemed to have been a success.
Chief superintendent Kevin Morris, president of the Superintendents'
Association, said he would also support "shooting galleries" if they
operated under "carefully controlled conditions".
He also called for a proper debate on decriminalisation of cannabis.
Danny Kushlick, director of drug reform group Transform, commented: "Today
signals the end of prohibition in the UK.
"The further calls for decriminalisation and legalisation of cannabis from
police representatives show that the will exists for operational change.
"What is glaring now is the lack of political courage in government to
admit that prohibition has failed."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 21:01:23 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Brazil TV Host's Candor Stirs Marijuana Debate
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: MSNBC (US Web)
Copyright: 2001 MSNBC
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://msnbc.com/news/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/938
BRAZIL TV HOST'S CANDOR STIRS MARIJUANA DEBATE
SAO PAULO, Brazil, Nov. 20 =97 A popular Brazilian television host who was
fired for admitting she occasionally smoked marijuana was unrepentant on
Tuesday, saying she was not a criminal as her dismissal reignited national
debate on pot laws.
Sonia Francine, Brazil's top female soccer commentator and a former MTV
presenter, was fired late Monday by publicly funded TV Cultura, which said
it could not allow one of its employees to promote illegal acts. Francine,
popularly known as Soninha, hosted a talk show geared at adolescents.
She and three other Brazilians appeared on the cover of news magazine Epoca
this weekend and billboard advertisements across the country beside the
headline ''I Smoke Marijuana.'' The cover story highlighted the
recreational use of pot among professionals and Brazilians' sometimes
conservative attitudes toward its use.
''I am not a pothead, I am the same person I was before,'' the 34-year-old
mother of three said on Tuesday on a talk show.
''But the fact that a person consumes a substance should not turn that
person into a criminal, even if that substance is bad for them or is bad
for their health,'' said Francine, who says she smokes very little, usually
at parties or friends' homes.
Marijuana use is illegal in Brazil although experts say it is becoming more
common, especially among adolescents.
According to an estimate by the Brazilian government cited in a U.N. report
on world drug use, 7.7 percent of Brazilians use cannabis, compared to 9
percent in the United Kingdom and 8.9 percent in the United States.
Other magazines have also recently run stories on marijuana use, including
one in the weekly Veja entitled ''My dad smokes grass with me,'' and
another in which a Sao Paulo city official called for debate on the
medicinal use of cannabis.
Meanwhile, as Francine's plight became the focus of debate on daytime talk
shows and spot polls, experts said one problem in dealing with marijuana
use was the country's strict 1976 law that adheres to a stricter U.S. model
instead of a more liberal stance like the Netherlands or Portugal, which
have decriminalized personal use.
''Brazil is moving in the opposite direction of the modern approaches,''
said Walter Maierovitch, Brazil's first drug czar who now heads a crime
research center in Sao Paulo. ``What predominates is prohibition and bad
information.''
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart=20
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 12:28:14 -0800
From: "J. Colman-Pinning" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CA: Response to DEA
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[In response to your message below my letter]
Dear Mikki Norris, Restore/CRRH readers, and MAPpers,
As I am sure many of you have, I, too, have given considerable thought
to the behavior of the DEA, the federal Department of [in]Justice and
the puerile gambits of the [non-elected] attorney general, Asscroft.
While I support demonstrations, I believe the most effective long term
strategy to force (force is what the feds understand) the DEA et al to
stop fucking over peaceful US citizens who choose to use cannabis for
whatever reasons will be the following:
* Coordinate the "MediCan" (I cannot bring myself to use the
prohibitionists' term 'marijuana') groups in all states that have
passed (or legislated, as is the case with Hawaii) medical cannibis
laws.
* Well before the next congressional/senatorial elections in the
states with MediCan laws, initiate a big publicity push to demand
the incumbent elected representatives in those states respond to
and represent the expressed will of their constituents regarding
MediCan. Make it very clear that a majority of those who voted in
their states approved MediCan, and unless these congresspersons and
senators act now to change the [bogus] Controlled Substances Act to
reflect the will of the voters in their states, as well as current
scientific/medical evidence, then the same majority of voters will
vote them out of office. That is the only force slippery political
types understand.
* Make it abundantly clear to all persons competing for national
office (in the states with MediCan laws) that they must demonstrate
their unequivocal support for (at least) MediCan if they entertain
any hope of being elected.
If the same majority of voters who passed the MediCan initiatives are
able to remove incumbents from office or are able to prevent aspirants
from being elected based on their unwillingness to represent the will of
their constituents, then you may be sure the federal law will change as
if by magic. Even the politicians in states that do not yet have
MediCan laws will be able to decipher the hieroglyphics. I see no other
way to end 'our' (what a sick joke) government's intransigence on this
rather simple issue.
Finally, Medican groups need to coordinate with 'legalization' groups
and third (fourth, fifth, sixth, etc.) party groups to educate voters
that the only way to break the corporate 'Republicrat' stranglehold over
these United States is to vote for non-Republicrat people who have not
been bought by big money. How else can we end the "faux democracy"
that is our reality today?
Yours in peace, working toward actual democracy and freedom,
J. Colman-Pinning
NB: Mikki, wish I could be in my old home town of Santa Cruz to help
you organize. Will do what I am able here in Oregon.
______________________________________________________
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 19:52:34 -0800
From: Mikki Norris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of "D. Paul
Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: CA: Response to DEA
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Last week I put out the following message to the group which got a
favorable
response:
>Anyone up for a pre-emptive demonstration at DEA's offices?
>We need to tell them, "DEA out of California." We should get the
patients and
>supporters out there with lots of American flags and signs that say,
"We are
>not the enemy! We are good Americans who believe in equal rights for
all and
>the true American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Leave
>the patients and their providers alone. Don't waste taxpayers' monies
going
>after the sick and dying."
>Time to organize!
Well, yesterday I met with a group of people in Santa Cruz to brainstorm
about the concept of an appropriate response to the DEA raids.
We decided to put the question regarding an appropriate demonstration to
the
Medical Marijuana Consortium (a group of Bay Area cooperatives) that
will
meet on Dec. 15.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:37:41 -0800
From: Dale Gieringer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (by way of "D. Paul Stanford"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: San Jose Merc Ed. on Ashcroft the MD
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
EDITORIAL
The opinion of the San Jose Mercury News
Suddenly Ashcroft thinks he's a doctor
Power play to try to stop assisted suicide in Oregon tramples on states' rights
ATTORNEY General John Ashcroft fervently defends the principle of states'
rights, until it no longer suits his purpose.
Last week, Ashcroft ran roughshod over it. He told federal drug officials
to prosecute Oregon's doctors who prescribe drugs in accordance with that
state's physician-assisted suicide law.
In doing so, he dismissed the will of Oregon voters, who twice passed
referendums establishing assisted suicide. He disregarded the intent of the
U.S. Supreme Court, which said that states can decide the issue for
themselves. And he took it upon himself to try what Congress twice has
refused to do: ban assisted suicide nationwide.
Ashcroft can't do anything for now. Oregon's attorney general is fighting
Ashcroft's order, and a federal judge has granted a restraining order,
pending a hearing this week . But many Oregonians are angry at Ashcroft's
power play.
Oregon is the only state to permit assisted suicide. Since the law took
effect four years ago, 70 terminally ill people -- fewer than 20 per year
-- have ended their lives with narcotics prescribed by physicians. Only
individuals with less than six months to live, judged mentally competent by
two doctors, are eligible for assisted suicide under the law.
Ashcroft directed the Drug Enforcement Agency to revoke licenses of doctors
who prescribe lethal doses of federally regulated drugs. He cited the
recent Supreme Court ruling that the federal government can override state
laws permitting the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
But that decision, dealing with illegal drugs, provides a thin rationale
for tramping on states' right to regulate the practice of medicine -- a
power Congress has traditionally ceded to states. It's also a selective
reading of the Supreme Court. While rejecting a constitutional right to
assisted suicide, a majority of judges said in a 1997 ruling that states
should have latitude to permit assisted suicide. Justice Sandra Day
O'Connor cited the benefit of having states serve as a ``laboratory'' on
difficult issues.
Ashcroft instructed the drug agency to pursue only those doctors who
prescribed drugs to intentionally cause death, not those who may have
hastened death in an effort to relieve pain. But Oregon's doctors have
cause for worry if drug agents start looking over their shoulders, deciding
how and if they can practice medicine.
Given current events, Ashcroft should be directing all his energy on
fighting terror, not terrifying doctors in Oregon who are complying with
the public's will and their patients' wishes.
--
----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // [EMAIL PROTECTED]
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:42:03 -0800
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (by way of "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: OR: Hearing Set for Ashcroft Ore. Order
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hearing Set for Ashcroft Ore. Order
By WILLIAM McCALL
.c The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - When Oregon voters endorsed the nation's only
assisted-suicide law for the second time, the U.S. Justice Department said it
didn't interfere with federal regulations.
Three years later, a new attorney general disagrees, prompting a showdown
between Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers and U.S. Attorney General John
Ashcroft that was set to return to the courtroom Tuesday.
Ashcroft has argued Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law, which permits
doctors to prescribe lethal doses of medicine to terminally ill patients,
interferes with federal law on prescription drugs.
He issued a directive this month stating that Oregon doctors who use the
assisted-suicide law would lose their licenses to prescribe federally
controlled drugs.
The day before the directive was published, the state of Oregon sued
Ashcroft, seeking to block it from taking effect. U.S. District Judge Robert
Jones granted a temporary restraining order until Tuesday, when he has
scheduled another hearing.
Oregon voters first approved the assisted-suicide law in 1994 by a narrow
margin, then reapproved it by an overwhelming margin in 1997 after the law
withstood several legal challenges.
Gov. John Kitzhaber officially signed it in 1999, allowing at least 70 people
- most of them cancer patients - to ask for a prescription for a lethal
overdose.
The law expressly states the patient must administer the fatal dosage himself
or herself, and only after an evaluation by two doctors who agree beyond all
doubt the patient has less than six months to live.
The U.S. Supreme Court since has unanimously ruled there is no constitutional
right to assisted suicide, but it is up to the states to decide for
themselves whether to allow it.
Ashcroft said a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in May on medical marijuana
forced him to reconsider whether the Oregon assisted-suicide law conflicts
with the federal Controlled Substances Act.
He overturned a previous interpretation by former Attorney General Janet
Reno, who decided in 1998 that the law does not interfere with federal
regulations.
An Oregon doctor and a pharmacist, and several terminally ill patients have
joined the Oregon lawsuit against Ashcroft. Their lawyers were scheduled to
address the court.
Jones has indicated he may rule from the bench, but he also may take the
issue under consideration and rule later. Attorneys and observers say they
expect a swift appeal.
AP-NY-11-20-01 0701EST
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attachment: http://www.drugsense.org/temp/part553.html
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:44:19 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: KY: Hemp Research Effort Is Off to a Slow Start
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: AgFuture
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: Lexington Herald-Leader (KY)
Copyright: 2001 Lexington Herald-Leader
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.kentuckyconnect.com/heraldleader/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/240
Author: Mark R. Chellgren
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hemp.htm (Hemp)
HEMP RESEARCH EFFORT IS OFF TO A SLOW START
FRANKFORT -- The latest efforts to study the viability of industrial hemp
are off to another slow start, stymied by bureaucratic delays and running
headlong into a into a federal prohibition.
The Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission met yesterday, well after the July
1 2001, deadline set by the legislation passed earlier this year that
created it.
Although the University of Kentucky has applied to conduct research on the
agronomy of growing hemp, the Department of Agriculture has not even
created the regulations needed to grant a license for the research. Even
then the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) must be asked for a permit
to conduct the research, which it does not have to grant.
David Sparrow of the agriculture department of UK, said it might be overly
optimistic to think the first test plots might be planted in the spring.
"That's a hard question to answer," Sparrow said.
The delays are frustrating but can be overcome, said Andrew Graves,
chairman of the Kentucky Hemp Growers Cooperative Association and a member
of the commission.
Kentucky has a long history of growing hemp, including as recently as World
War II, when cultivation was encouraged as a source of fiber. Supporters
insist the plant is a renewable source of fuel, fiber and oil.
Skeptics argue there are other cheaper, available sources for the same
products, and there is no demonstrated market except as novelty items.
Critics also question whether production would mask the growing of marijuana.
The two plants are virtually identical, except industrial hemp is supposed
to contain only a minuscule amount of the drug that gives marijuana its effect.
Kentucky State Police Col. John Lile said law enforcement concerns involve
differentiating hemp from marijuana. Although supporters say the mature
hemp plants can be recognized as different from a marijuana plant, the
differences are subtle.
Drug enforcement officials have said their position is clear. Federal law
outlaws all forms of the hemp plant. The DEA has thus far issued only one
research permit, to a university in Hawaii. (END)
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Jackl
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:45:14 -0800
From: "D. Paul Stanford" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Canada: A Match Made of Smoke
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Newshawk: puff_tuff
Pubdate: Tue, 20 Nov 2001
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2001 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Angela Hall, Regina Leader Post
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
A MATCH MADE OF SMOKE
Call it an unusual online matchmaking service.
A new Regina Web site wants to match people qualified to smoke marijuana
for medical reasons with people that can legally grow it for them.
Launched by the Saskatchewan chapter of the National Organization for the
Reform of Marijuana Laws, the Grower-Patient Connection site wants to guide
people through the process of applying to have marijuana legally, said
24-year-old Regina resident Daniel Johnson.
"We're seeing if there's other people who can do this better than we can,
but since nobody else is doing it yet we might as well jump in with both
feet and at least start something," Johnson said.
Under government regulations, the terminally ill or those with chronic
diseases such as MS or AIDS are among those who could qualify for medicinal
marijuana. Johnson hopes the drug will eventually be legalized.
But for now, the Grower-Patient Connection could help people legally
allowed to have it find safer and easier ways to get it.
"In order for me to find it, I would have to associate with people I
honestly feel are scum," Johnson said.
Arranging a good way to legally access drugs is just one part of the
challenge, though. First, patients need the proper approval, with a form
completed by a physician. One part requires a doctor to agree the benefits
outweigh any risks associated with marijuana use.
The Canadian Medical Protective Association, a body representing 95 per
cent of physicians in Canada, has advised its members not to fill out the
forms if they don't have this detailed knowledge. The Canadian Medical
Association has expressed similar feelings.
"I don't think it's fair to put the physician at some medical legal risk of
lawsuit or complaint to the college down the road if ... the patient
suffers adverse and unanticipated effects," said CMPA secretary-treasurer
Dr. John Gray.
Since the regulations on marijuana for medicinal use took effect at the end
of July, 38 people across Canada have been authourized to use the drug.
Health Canada won't break the numbers down by province, but the
Saskatchewan Medical Association reports physicians have begun receiving
requests.
The big problem, say some doctors, is that there just isn't enough medical
research on marijuana.
"I think family doctors are generally a conservative group, and I think
what we would probably like to see, as with any new medication, is make
sure it's been out there and we know what it does and doesn't do before we
prescribe it," said Dr. Gill White, a family doctor at Regina's General
Hospital and head of the University of Saskatchewan's department of family
medicine.
A "synthetic cousin" of marijuana is now on the market as a prescribed drug
and is sometimes used in the Pasqua Hospital's palliative unit for nausea
and vomiting, said White, but that drug has undergone extensive research
that naturally grown marijuana hasn't.
"We've kind of done things backwards here," said Dr. Peter Barrett, a
Saskatoon doctor and past-president of the Canadian Medical Association.
Barrett said doctors need to be able to give patients information such as
what drugs marijuana may have reactions with or what kind of dosages to take.
"One of the problems in Saskatchewan would be even if you wanted to do
this, where would you tell them to go and get it?" he said. "Most of us
don't move in those circles."
Health Canada spokesperson Andrew Swift said the application process for
medicinal use of marijuana is "really a compassionate framework".
He said the department shares the CMA's concerns about the safety of the
drug. As for access, people can grow it themselves, designate someone to
grow it for them when they apply, or, as of 2002, get it through Praire
Plant Systems, a company growing marijuana for Health Canada in an
underground mine in Flin Flon, Man.
In the meantime, some Saskatchewan doctors plan to take a wait-and-see
approach. Dr. Bev Karras, president of the Saskatchewan Medical
Association, said doctors are comfortable dealing with different drugs, and
have empathy for their patients. But most doctors don't feel they know
enough about marijuana and its effects, she said.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
---
MAP posted-by: Jackl
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 16:41:40 -0700
From: Bob Newland <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: SD Gov. full of hate
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*** The following editorial appeared in the Aberdeen American News, a
daily newspaper in Aberdeen SD. The publication date was Tuesday, Nov.
20, 2001 ***
Our Voice: Governor's remarks were irresponsible
Overheard about a week ago in an auto repair shop in south central South
Dakota: =93I'd quit this job before I'd work on a Muslim's car.=94
At about the same time, The Associated Press quoted South Dakota Gov.
Bill Janklow suggesting that the United States adopt a new approach to
dealing with terrorists and their associates. =93We shouldn't arrest
them,=94 he announced at the Republican Governors Association annual
conference, =93we should shoot at them. You don't appoint lawyers for the=
m.
=93. . . If someone kills one in my state, I'm going to pardon them.=94
This is the same William Janklow, who on Oct. 12, told The Associated
Press, =93The fact that terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks
were Muslims should not be held against anyone else just because they
follow the religion of Islam.=94
Which of those statements do you suppose the auto mechanic will remember?
And which do you suppose the governor means? Because if he declares the
legal and judicial systems null and void when it comes to suspected
terrorism, then people like the auto mechanic cannot only refuse to work
on a Muslim's car, they have license to carry that refusal to any extreme.
It appears that the governor, once attorney general for South Dakota and
a lawyer in private practice, now advocates vigilante justice - for
some.=20
The governor's Oct. 12 comments can be characterized as leadership. What
he said at the governors conference was an irresponsible invitation to an=
archy.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 13:29:50 -0800 (PST)
From: DdC <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: MUTANEX **FutureWorks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Paul Standford **Restore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
"Hemp Talk" *3 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Village Voice *press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, RCNV *RCNV <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: Dana **Beal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
LTE's **MoJones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
**MollyIvins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Connection <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Fwd: [CogLib] Time To End Criminal Punishment For Drugs
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Alchemind Society <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Alchemind Society <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [CogLib] Time To End Criminal Punishment For Drugs
Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 19:50:24 +0000
Reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
*********************************
UK Drug Body Says Punishment Does Not Stop Drug Use
*********************************
LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - People should not face criminal charges for
possessing small amounts of any illegal drug, a leading UK drugs
research organisation said on Tuesday. "The evidence shows that
criminal sanctions do not stop people using drugs," DrugScope Chief
Executive Roger Howard said in a statement.
Read More at: http://www.alchemind.org/topclnews.htm
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