Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 12:22:54 -0700
Subject:NV: Separating The Weed From The Chaff Up TOC

Newshawk: chip
Pubdate: Thu, 01 Aug 2002
Source: Las Vegas City Life (NV)
Contact: obrien@lvpress.com
Copyright: 2002  Las Vegas City Life
Website: http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1653
Author: Jimmy Boegle

SEPARATING THE WEED FROM THE CHAFF

Nevada Now Knows What To Call It: Question 9.

Now, all the state needs to do is figure out what to make of it.

"It," of course, is the initiative that would amend the state Constitution
to legalize three ounces or less of marijuana. And here's what we do know:
Since the Secretary of State's Office on July 9 determined the signature
drive to get the initiative on the ballot was successful, an increasing
number of law-enforcement wonks have been coming forward to claim,
essentially, that this initiative is a bad, ugly thing that will result in
all sorts of heathen behavior and wanton crime if passed.

The people behind the pot petition have countered that these law
enforcement officials are full of it and that Nevadans think cops should be
worrying about murderers, not stoners.

And in the middle of the fray are state officials, who are preparing
Question 9's ballot language in as fair of a way as possible while bracing
for the possibility that the question could put them in blatant violation
of federal law, resulting in all sorts of drama.

To top it off, all indications are that the vote is going to be reeeeaaaly
close come November.

Gosh. Putting politics and pot together is kind of interesting, ain't it?

Pot's bad. No it's not.

Predictably, Question 9 has the collective underwear of many law enforcers
and prosecutors in a bunch.

Two days after the initiative's ballot certification by the secretary of
state, Drug Enforcement Administration Director Asa Hutchinson asked a
crowd in Reno: If the ballot question is approved, "what kind of tourism
will Nevada attract?" Hutchinson apparently forgot that Nevada already
attracts tourists who like to gamble and see adult-themed shows and
occasionally sneak into a rural county to legally boff a prostitute.

Then, Office of National Drug Policy Director John Walters showed up in Las
Vegas and claimed, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that Question
9 would make Nevada the "vacation spot for drug traffickers." He also
claimed that the pot of today is stronger than the pot that Baby Boomers
smoked when they were kids. Looking at some of the freaky stuff Boomers
came up with in the 1960s, we're skeptical.

This was followed by a vote by the Nevada District Attorney's Association
to oppose Question 9, with some folks using the age-old argument that
marijuana is a gateway drug to more serious drugs.

Stewart Bell, the Clark County District Attorney who is not running for
re-election but is instead running for a District Court seat this year -
and who, it should be noted, did not participate in the Nevada District
Attorney's Association vote - is more reasonable about things.

"We believe that having possession of a small amount of marijuana as a
misdemeanor protects the community without treating it more harshly than it
deserves," he said, choosing his words carefully since he won't be the D.A.
when and if the initiative goes into effect - although he could be a judge,
and judges are not supposed to take public positions on such issues.

"We support the current law," he said.

Billy Rogers, a representative of the pro-pot group Nevadans for
Responsible Law Enforcement (a name that gives some police officers fits),
which is funded by the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project,
called these claims by prosecutors and law enforcement officials
"disinformation campaigns" and, appropriately, "smoke screens."

"Ultimately, most Nevadans don't think that it's appropriate to waste tax
dollars on going after people who possess a small amount of marijuana,"
said Rogers, who works for the Marijuana Policy Project. "They'd rather the
police use their resources on criminals such as murderers and rapists."
Where Rogers got the idea that Nevada cops are focusing on catching tokers
in favor of catching killers, we aren't sure.

Long story short: Both sides are a little full of it, which is to be
expected, seeing as politics is involved.

Stop the madness

Amidst all the rhetoric sits the state, which is in the unenviable (yet
somewhat amusing) position of trying to present Question 9 fairly and
impartially to the public, even though the whole darned thing is illegal
according to federal law.

"We're kind of in a monitoring phase," said Gina Session, a senior deputy
attorney general.

The attorney general's office is not taking a position on the issue,
although it certainly has some concerns. Tom Sargent, a spokesman for the
office, said he personally had some problems with how some of the
signature-gatherers for Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement
misrepresented the effort as being primarily over medical marijuana. That's
not the case; medical marijuana is already legal in the state. While
Question 9 does have a medical marijuana element (it would make the state
set up a marijuana distribution system for patients), it's only a small
part of it.

But now that the question is on the ballot, that's moot.

"It would be unbecoming for us to sound off too early on whether this is a
good law or a bad law," Sargent said, adding that the office could lobby
the Legislature one way or another if the amendment is passed this year and
in 2004, making it part of the state Constitution. If that happens, the
2005 Legislature would be mandated to make the appropriate changes to state
law.

For now, the state's job is to make sure that the ballot language for
Question 9 is as fair and noncontroversial as possible. Susan Morandi, a
deputy secretary of state for elections, is finishing up a draft of that
language. After her office signs off on the language, she said, the
attorney general's office will take a gander. Any suggestions will be sent
back to the Secretary of State's office, which will finalize the language
and then send it to the county clerks to place on the November ballot. The
language should be finalized by the first week of August, she said.

"It's very important to be able to make the language understandable and
accurate so citizens are fully able to understand what [the initiative] is
going to do," Morandi said.

This is important - and potentially controversial. The language on several
recent initiatives, including the medical marijuana initiative (in 1998 and
2000) and the so-called "Protection of Marriage" initiative (in 2000 and
this year) has been called into question for fairness.

The Secretary of State's Office also went the extra mile to help fairly
educate the public on the issue, recently holding televised public forums
in Las Vegas and Reno (on July 23 and July 22 respectively).

Beyond the question language, the state's role now can be summed up in one
word: wait. Wait and see if Question 9 passes. Wait and see what the
federal law is in 2005, when the Legislature will have to deal with it if
it does pass. (There are some whispers in Congress to make marijuana laws
more of a state issue than a federal issue.)

"Lots of questions are unanswerable until this is passed, if it's passed,"
Morandi said.

It's gonna be close

All indications are that Question 9's fate will come down to the wire. A
recent Las Vegas Review-Journal/Mason-Dixon poll showed that 44 percent of
those queried supported the question, while 46 were opposed. The remainder
was undecided.

That's close, folks.

Rogers, of Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement, thinks those results
were a bit off. He accurately points out that the pollsters only mentioned
that "possession of 3 ounces or less of marijuana by a person aged 21 or
older [would not be] a cause for arrest," and that it did not mention that
it would be illegal in public, to minors, and so on.

"We're doing much better than an even race right now," Rogers said,
predicting that Question 9 would pass. He also promised that his group
would "educate the public" on the issue between now and November. How,
exactly, that "education" will be done will be determined closer to Labor
Day, he said. Bet on an advertising/media campaign.

But there are also some problems that could hinder Question 9. One surfaced
this week, when a group of Clark County prosecutors came forward to say the
initiative could weaken DUI prosecutions, because the proposed amendment
says that "driving dangerously" while under the influence of marijuana
would be illegal. That one word, "dangerously," could let stoned drivers
off the hook if they were pulled over for something non-dangerous, the
prosecutors claim. And make no mistake about it - one or two faulty words
in a law can indeed create crippling loopholes.

Another potential Achilles' heel for Question 9 is the three-ounce
provision. While Rogers has been brilliant at claiming that three ounces is
a "small amount" of marijuana - newspapers and TV, for the most part, have
ignorantly gone along with this - that's debatable. By Rogers' own
admission, that's the equivalent of three to four packs of cigarettes, or
60-80 joints. (Some say that three ounces could make even more joints than
that.) Considering that only the biggest stoners use pot more than once or
twice a day, this is enough for weeks - or even months - for virtually all
potheads.

When asked why the line was drawn at three ounces, Rogers said that's often
the standard used by law enforcement on what is a small amount of pot
(although an informal CityLife poll of stoners disagreed). However, in
Nevada, that line has been set at one ounce.

In any case, the next three months are going to be quite interesting in the
state. Expect a ton of rhetoric from both sides - and expect a nailbiter
come Election Day.
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 15:36:18 -0700
Subject:HI: Councilors View Video Of Pot Arrests Up TOC

Newshawk: The War on Drugs IS Terrorism
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Aug 2002
Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)
Contact: wht@aloha.net
Copyright: 2002 West Hawaii Today
Website: http://westhawaiitoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644
Author: Tiffany Edwards
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Note: For more on medical cannabis and cannabis eradication in Hawaii go to
http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Hawaii

Councilors View Video Of Pot Arrests

HILO - A couple of medical marijuana cardholders who were arrested and had
their plants seized recently were among several people who testified Tuesday
at a council Finance Committee meeting.

A video of last month's arrests of John and Rhonda Robison and Kealoha "Kea"
Wells, and the seizure of 20 marijuana plants, also was played for
councilmembers.

Wells, 30, and John Robison, 36, hold Department of Public Safety-issued
medical marijuana cards as they suffer from acute lymphocytic leukemia.
Rhonda Robison, 31, holds a medical marijuana card for her
Charco-Marie-Tooth muscular dystrophy.

Not only did councilors hear the testimony of the Robisons and Wells, they
heard from several others who hold medical marijuana cards, claim to be
"cannabis sacrament" ministers, or both.

The advocates protested what they consider to be the targeting of
cardholders by police and the council's approval of federal funds to support
Police Department marijuana eradication missions.

The advocates' testimony was in response to councilmembers taking up the
Police Department's report for its June "Green Harvest" mission in which
14,425 plants were seized, primarily in the Puna area.

Councilors also reviewed a packet containing numerous photographs of
helicopters and police officers involved in the Green Harvest on private and
public lands, as well as petitions against the eradication missions and a
copy of the Robisons and Wells' lawsuit listing the arresting officer, Mark
Farias, as the only named defendant. The packet reportedly was prepared by
the Hawaii Medical Marijuana Association.

Actin Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna and Lt. Henry Tavares, who leads the Hilo
Vice section, sat for the two - plus hours that the marijuana advocates
testified Tuesday.

Mahuna told councilors the Police Department is "by no means" targeting
cardholders.

He said the advocates' testimony was "eye-opening" and vowed his department
would abide by councilmembers' rules and regulations, which were drafted as
a condition of accepting nearly $500,000 in state and federal funds
specifically for the Green Harvest missions.

He said the conduct of officers involved in a recent seizure of medical
marijuana is under investigation but he was interrupted by Finance Committee
Chairman Aaron Chung. Chung said because of pending lawsuits, such a
discussion should be conducted in executive session.

Many of the advocates spoke of the "ice epidemic" and the need for the
resource-strapped Police Department to combat that drug.

Roger Christie, with the Hawaii Cannabis Ministry, provided councilmembers a
copy of "Ice and Other Methamphetamine Use: An Exploratory Study," which was
prepared in 1994 by Patricia Morgan and four others with the National
Institute on Drug Abuse. The study correlates the eradication of marijuana
in Hawaii to the increased methamphetamine use.

Asked by Kona Councilman Curtis Tyler if he believes there is an ice
epidemic on this island, Mahuna acknowledged a "dramatic increase" in the
use of that drug but he doesn't believe "epidemic" is an appropriate
description.

Tyler, who noted the Robisons and Wells are his constituents, referred
repeatedly to the Police Department as a "paramilitary force outside
civilian control."

He told Mahuna, "Chief, you have a chance to come in with a clean slate. Get
real with what is going on in this community," and see what has happened to
many families in West Hawaii as a result of ice.

Meanwhile, the video footage shot by Rhonda Robison shows seven officers
getting out of their vehicles July 8 at her home.

As police walk past the camera, a woman's voice can be heard saying, "you're
not going to harvest my plants are you?" and "we are totally legal" as the
camera follows the officers to the backyard where the potted plants are
kept.

An officer, who is reported to be Farias with the Kona Vice section, stands
in the backyard and says into the camera, "Each of the seven plants have to
be definitively separated. You can't have 20 plants all together."

A dog barks during the video and just before the taping stops, an officer,
reported to be Lt. Robert Hickcox who leads the Kona Vice section, shouts,
"I asked you to take care of this dog" and then "you guys are under arrest."

"What happens to people who don't have their video camera turned on?" asked
Wells, as she testified Tuesday. "No one should have to go through this. On
top of not knowing whether I'm going to live or die, I have to worry about
all this 'hoopla' with the Police Department."

The Robisons and Wells spent eight hours at the Kealakehe station before
being "released pending investigation." The county Prosecutor's Office has
not yet revealed whether it will prosecute the case. Police, a week after
the arrests, returned more than one ounce of dried marijuana and the 20
plants.

The Robisons and their two children share the home with Wells and her
9-year-old daughter. Robison said she had been the only one in the household
working but lost her job at a Kona law firm after her arrest.

She said she, her husband and Wells have never been able to "harvest our
medicine" because in the 15 months they have held medical marijuana cards,
police have raided their home three times, all just before harvest time.

Because of the marijuana seizures, the Robisons and Wells have had to look
to other sources for their medicine, Rhonda Robison 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: Doc-Hawk
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 15:41:23 -0700
Subject:NV: High Rollers? Up TOC

Newshawk: Krissy www.mpp.org
Pubdate: Wed, 14 Aug 2002
Source: ABC News (US Web)
Copyright: 2002 ABC News
Contact: http://www.abcnews.go.com/service/help/abccontact.html
Website: http://www.www.abcnews.go.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2105
Author: Dean Schabner
Cited: National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (
www.norml.org )
Cited: Drug Policy Alliance ( www.drugpolice.org )
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project ( www.mpp.org )
Cited: Partnership for a Drug-Free America ( www.drugfreeamerica.org )
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?162 (Nevadans for Responsible Law
Enforcement)

HIGH ROLLERS?

Nevada to Vote on Pot Legalization, Create State Agency to Regulate Sales

Advocates for the decriminalization of marijuana could be on a real high in
November if Nevada voters take the first step toward legalizing the drug in
the state, but even supporters of the measure don't expect it to go through
without a fight from Washington.

The initiative, which would have to be passed again by the state's voters in
2004, would not only legalize possession and private use of up to three
ounces of marijuana for persons 21 and older, it would authorize the state
to regulate the growth, distribution and sale of the drug, much the way it
regulates tobacco and alcohol.

The initiative, an amendment to the state constitution, could result in pot
being sold in smoke shops, pharmacies or coffee shops, and the state would
be authorized to put a tax on marijuana sales, as it does on alcohol and
tobacco. Public consumption would still be a ticketable offense, just as the
public consumption of alcohol is.

It would still be a criminal offense to sell marijuana without a license, or
for anyone to sell pot to anyone under 21 years of age.

Though Ohio has already decriminalized possession of up to 100 grams o a
little more than three ounces of marijuana o the Nevada initiative
represents a major step forward for advocates of change in the nation's drug
laws, such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,
because of the move to create state regulation.

Even laws legalizing medicinal marijuana passed by a dozen states have
stopped short of creating state-regulated distribution systems, which has
left people for whom pot has been prescribed and groups that have tried to
provide them with marijuana open to confrontation with federal authorities
that oppose the programs.

Confrontation With the Feds?

That is also the aspect of the measure that is likely to put the state at
odds with the U.S. Justice Department, if it passes, just as the
legalization of marijuana for chemotherapy patients and people suffering
from glaucoma, and the authorization of doctors to prescribe it in several
states has run afoul of federal authorities.

"If they were hostile to sick and dying patients getting it, it's not hard
to guess what their position would be regarding healthy people 21 years old
and up getting and using it for for non-medical purposes," NORML Executive
Director Allen St. Pierre said.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which
supports decriminalizing marijuana, said the federal government has been
sending mixed messages about whether it would take action against the state
if Nevada voters approve the measure. He compared the current situation with
marijuana to the early 1930s, when states made alcohol legal before
Washington repealed prohibition.

"I think the biggest question is whether the federal government is going to
prioritize challenging a law that state law enforcement is supporting," DPA
Deputy Director of Legal Affairs Judy Appel said. "If this passes, it means
the people of Nevada have supported it twice. The question has to be about
priorities."

A spokesman for the DEA said there would be no waffling on the agency's
part, and that if the measure passes federal agents would go after
businesses in Nevada that sell marijuana regardless of whether they are in
compliance with state laws, just as they have gone after groups that
distribute medicinal marijuana to patients with prescriptions in California.

"This is the wrong message to send, the wrong program for Nevada," DEA
spokesman Will Glaspy said. "We will respond to this in a way similar to the
approach used for the cannabis buyers clubs. This is still against federal
law."

The Justice Department's efforts to block medicinal marijuana programs and
the assisted suicide law that was passed twice by Oregon voters both landed
in the courts, and that is where any federal challenge of the Nevada
constitutional amendment o if it passes o is likely to wind up.

"If they do challenge it, it's a wide open area of the law," Appel said.
"There are certain protections built into the language of the law, but it
will depend on what the courts decide. It is an area that has traditionally
been left to the courts to decide."

Police Support?

A recent poll found that 48 percent of Nevada's voters supported the
measure, with another 48 percent opposed and 4 percent undecided.

That poll was before a flip-flop by the state's largest law enforcement
organization, the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, which first
announced it had endorsed the measure, then issued a statement saying that
it had not backed the proposal.

"As law enforcement officers, we are duly sworn to uphold the law, even by
arresting people for small amounts of marijuana, knowing that most of these
cases won't be prosecuted. Many of these people are law-abiding citizens
except for the possession charges," then-NCOPS President Andy Anderson, who
was on the Las Vegas police force for 28 years, said in the group's
statement announcing that the board had voted 9-0 to support the initiative,
known as Question 9.

He said that marijuana arrests take officers off the streets, often for as
much as half their shifts, as they fill out paperwork, and "we could better
spend our time responding to more life-threatening and serious incidents."

"Law enforcement officers support Question 9, the marijuana initiative,
because it will put drug dealers in prison, ban smoking marijuana in public
places and strictly prohibit children from using marijuana," Anderson said.
"Passage of Question 9 will ensure that more cops are on the streets to
protect our citizens from violent crime and the threat of terrorism."

Four days later, though, the group announced that Anderson was no longer
president and said that NCOPS did not support the measure.

The group released a statement blaming Anderson for the "misunderstanding"
and stating that the board does not endorse the proposal, "nor will it
support any measure for the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana."

Rise in Decriminalization

Just last year, Nevada legislators passed a law that made possession of less
than one ounce a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, joining 11 other states
that have softened their laws regarding marijuana.

Nine states have legalized medicinal marijuana and 12 states have passed
laws that decriminalize the possession and consumption of small amounts of
pot, in most cases turning what was previously an arrestable offense into a
ticketable misdemeanor.

California and Arizona approved medicinal marijuana in 1996; Alaska,
Washington and Oregon followed suit in 1998; Maine in 1999; Colorado and
Nevada in 2000; and Hawaii in 2001.

The 12 states that have passed measures decriminalizing possession of small
amounts of marijuana are California, Arizona, Alaska, Minnesota, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio, Maine, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado and Mississippi.
Vermont and New Hampshire both have bills before the legislature.

Even with the easing of marijuana laws, a record 734,498 people were
arrested on marijuana charges in 2000. According to the Marijuana Policy
Project, 88 percent of all marijuana arrests are for possession, not sales
or production.

In Arizona, a measure to decriminalize possession of up to two ounces of
marijuana will be on the ballot this November. Included in the measure,
Proposition 203, is a proposal to have the state redistribute confiscated
marijuana to people whose doctors recommended that they use medicinal
marijuana.

The proposition would take the burden of prescribing medicinal marijuana off
Arizona doctors, many of whom say they are reluctant to write pot
prescriptions because of the threat of federal prosecution.

Opening the Door for Kids?

The only other state that has considered a measure similar to Nevada's is
Oregon, where voters were presented the Oregon Marijuana Initiative in 1998.
The measure would have created a state marijuana regulating board modeled on
the state's alcohol board, but it was voted down.

Opponents of decriminalization say that if the proposition is approved, it
will only increase marijuana use among teenagers, despite the provision
limiting sale to people over 21 and claims by supporters who cite studies of
high school students saying it is easier now to get pot than it is to get
alcohol or tobacco.

"Would it reduce the social stigma connected with marijuana use [if it were
decriminalized and state-regulated]? Yes. That means the use of the drug is
likely to go up," said Howard Simon, a spokesman with the Partnership for a
Drug-Free America.

He pointed to the high numbers of teenagers who use alcohol and cigarettes,
despite the prohibitions on sales of those products to minors and the
statements of youngsters that it is easier for them to buy pot.

"Do we want a situation where we're more likely to have kids trying
marijuana?" he said. "That's the bottom line."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2002 19:41:09 -0700
Subject:UK: Natural High Helps Banish Bad Times Up TOC

Newshawk: Peter Webster http://www.psychedelic-library.org/
Pubdate: Sat, 03 Aug 2002
Source: New Scientist (UK)
Copyright: New Scientist, RBI Limited 2002
Page: 6
Contact: letters@newscientist.com
Website: http://www.newscientist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/294
Author: Alison Motluk
Referenced: Are People With Schizophrenia Drawn To Smoking Pot?
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n586/a09.html

NATURAL HIGH HELPS BANISH BAD TIMES

OUR brains may do the equivalent of rolling themselves a joint when
they want to forget something awful. The body's own versions of the
active ingredient in cannabis may help extinguish unwanted memories.

Marijuana has been used medicinally for thousands of years, and people
with certain psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia are more
likely to smoke pot than healthy people (New Scientist, 29 May 1999,
p7).

The active chemical in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, binds
to the brain's cannabinoid receptors, which are known to be linked to
pain sensations, emotion and movement. And in the past decade,
researchers have identified chemicals made within the brain that are
similar to THC.

Now Beat Lutz at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich and
his team have found that these cannabinoids play an important role in
getting rid of unwanted memories - at least they do in mice.

The researchers genetically engineered mice so that they lacked a
particular type of cannabinoid receptor called CB1 These are normally
found in the amygdala, a brain region associated with fear. They then
conditioned the mice, as well as their normal litter mates, to
associate a particular musical tone with an electric shock. Both
groups of mice quickly learned the association, freezing with fear
whenever they heard the tone.

A week later, the mice were repeatedly exposed to tones but without
the associated electric shock. The normal mice soon shed their fear
response, but the modified mice still showed fear 11 days later. The
researchers found that the modified mice eventually suppressed the bad
memories, but it took them about six times longer than the normal mice
(Nature, vol 418, p 530 Lutz's group also showed that blocking CB1
receptors in the normal mice meant they were unable to stamp out the
negative association.

The team later studied the mice I s amygdalae, and confirmed that
animals who were now unlearning the unpleasant association had
significantly higher levels of two major cannabinoids - anandamide and
2-arachidonoylglycerol - than those who'd never been trained. It
suggests that these chemicals help wipe out bad memories by binding to
CB1 receptors.

The finding may lead to new treatments for people who have related
mental conditions. "We could understand the problem of phobia or
post-traumatic stress disorder by investigation of this cannabinoid
system," says Lutz. He points out that marijuana itself is too blunt
an instrument to be a potential treatment, because it activates all
the brain's cannabinoid receptors at once.

"It's an important paper," says neuroscientist Daniele Piomelli at the
University of California, Irvine. "It's going to have a big impact in
the field."
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Richard Lake
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:05:36 -0700
Subject: MA: Marijuana Questions On Ballot Up TOC

Newshawk: Plylar - State Congress - http://www.plylar.org
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Aug 2002
Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
Copyright: 2002 Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Contact: letters@telegram.com
Website: http://www.telegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/509
Author: Mark Melady
Note: only publishes letters from state residents.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

MARIJUANA QUESTIONS ON BALLOT

WORCESTER-- Two nonbinding marijuana questions will be on the November
ballot in the 14th Worcester District, the result of a successful signature
drive by local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the
Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition.

Voters can express their preference on the issue of legalizing marijuana
cultivation for medicinal purposes and decriminalizing possession of less
than an ounce of the drug.

Ronal C. Madnick, executive director of the Worcester County Chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said marijuana has proven
effective in treating the symptoms of diseases such as cancer and leukemia
and should be allowed with a doctor's approval.

Criminal marijuana laws, said Mr. Madnick, "often impose arbitrary, harsh
and cruel penalties for private conduct for which no criminal penalty is
appropriate."

State Rep. James B. Leary, D-Worcester, who represents the 14th district,
was unavailable to comment last night. The district includes West Boylston
and Ward 1, Precinct 5; Ward 2; Ward 3, Precincts 1, 3, and 5 in Worcester.

Mayor Timothy R. Murray said he would be surprised if the ballot questions
passed, but even if they did, he questioned the validity of a vote in one
district.

"Until they can get a statewide question, it's not going to mean much," Mr.
Murray said.

William Breault, president and founder of the Main South Alliance and an
ardent opponent of medicinal marijuana and decriminalization, said
medicinal supporters failed to gather the 56,000 signatures needed to get
on a the statewide ballot a few years ago.

"They came up woefully short statewide, so now they're resorting to small,
feel-good ballot questions," Mr. Breault said. "I guess they can do that,
but I don't know what it proves."

He noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against medicinal marijuana
and that the state Department of Public Health, once investigating
medicinal uses, has been quiet on the subject.

"The DPH looked into it five or six years ago, and that went nowhere," he
said. "It should be a dead issue, but they keep trying to back-door it.
People around here will not go for legalization. They know marijuana is not
neighborhood friendly."

The question on medical marijuana reads: "Shall the state representative
from this district be instructed to vote for legislation that would allow
patients with certain diseases who have a written doctor's recommendation,
to possess and grow small amounts of cannabis (marijuana) for their
personal use until such time as the federal government puts into effect a
distribution system for these patients?"

The possession question reads: "Shall the state representative from this
district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would make the
possession of less than one ounce of marijuana a civil violation subject to
a maximum fine of $100 and not subject to any criminal penalties?"
__________________________________________________________________________
Distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Tom
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:06:41 -0700
Subject: Toronto compassion centre raided by police Up TOC

Toronto compassion centre raided by Police...

Bail hearings Wednesday August 14, 2002, at 9am at old City Hall Court=20
House, Queen St., E., Toronto.

Breaking news:

Toronto compassion centre has been raided by Toronto Police. They were=20
called to help out when the centre and it's (mostly sick, some Female)=20
staff were viciously attacked, beaten and robbed just before Xmas 2001.

While "helping," they found and confiscated a large quantity Of medicine.=20
Not knowing what they should do regarding charges, they Left the centre=20
alone until now. Too bad they made the wrong (but Perhaps understandably=20
necessary - "they're just doing their jobs" and "it's the laws that suck,=20
not the cops") decision.

All staff have been detained and will be having bail hearings tomorrow=20
Morning (Wednesday Aug 14 - meet at 9am in front of old City Hall to Show=20
your support!).

This is a direct attack by an antiquated Canadian law on the over 1200=20
Verifiably very ill members of the t.c.c. and perhaps millions of other=20
Suffering Canadians.

Toronto cops have forced the issue and determined that it's time for War:

Canada's sick versus Canada=E2=80=99s sick laws.
Guess who will win!

This is going to be huge. We need a massive presence at all court dates,=20
and an even more massive presence at rallies at Toronto police=20
Headquarters, old City Hall, and Queens Park - dates to be announced.

We're also coordinating a massive telephone/email/fax/mail campaign to=20
Bitch at the police, the courts and the government (representatives and
Such branches as health Canada) about this unbelievably ridiculous=
 situation.


Please, anyone who can lend a hand and help make a stand, the time is Now.

Please check here (and=20
www.torontocompassioncentre.org )=
=20
for updates and more information.


All the best,
Dom

Dominic S. Cramer,
mailto:dom@torontohemp.com,
and/or postmaster@torontocompassioncentre.org
and/or postmaster@sacredseed.com

Toronto Hemp Company (THC)
667 Young Street Second Floor
Toronto Ontario M4Y 1Z9
416-923-3556
416-923-3669 fax
www.torontohemp.com

Toronto Compassion Centre
416-654-6120
www.torontocompassioncentre.org
dom@torontohemp.com



CRRH is working to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults like=20
alcohol, allow doctors to recommend cannabis through pharmacies and restore=
=20
the unregulated production of industrial hemp.

*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*
mail:     CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286 USA
email:   crrh@crrh.org
phone:  (503) 235-4606
fax:       (503) 235-0120
web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:16:14 -0700
Subject: Canada: Another highway pot bust Up TOC

Newshawk: CMAP (http://www.mapinc.org/cmap)
Pubdate: Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Website: http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/
Address: 1964 Park Street, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4P 3G4
Contact: letters@leaderpost.com.
Author: David Lilley
Webpage: http://www.mapinc.org/cancom/C1BC693B-DD38-4AD9-A171-B10029255B27

Another highway pot bust

David Lilley
The Leader-Post (Regina)

MAPLE CREEK -- RCMP Wednesday made another spectacular drug seizure on the
Trans Canada Highway near Maple Creek -- the second seizure in the past two
days -- and netted marijuana with an estimated street value of $230,000.

Maple Creek Highway Patrol officers stopped an Ontario-registered 2000
Oldsmobile Silhouette for a minor traffic offence. The attending officer
recalled Monday's incident and conducted a cursory examination of the
vehicle's underside, which revealed the presence of containers affixed to
the underside of the vehicle.

Two Toronto men, aged 42 and 20, were arrested and charged with trafficking
when a subsequent search of their eastbound vehicle revealed 26 kilos of
cannabis in three containers under the vehicle.

"The containers are of a much stronger construction and appear to have been
manufactured by someone who knew something about sheet metal," police said.

The containers were of a much more robust construction and appeared to have
been formed and folded using precision machinery and had drainage holes in
the floors.

The drugs were individually double vacuum-sealed in plastic bags and then
placed into the containers for their journey.

"The similarities between this seizure and Monday's are uncanny," police
said.

In the last two days more than 59 kilos of high-quality marijuana has been
seized by Maple Creek Highway Patrol with a total value of more than
$500,000.

The coincidences attributed to these seizures are the use of a specific type
of vehicle and the utilization of external bolt-on panniers, which can hold
large quantities of drugs.

Both men have been remanded in custody and transferred from Maple Creek to
Swift Current where they will face court.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:19:00 -0700
Subject: CA: More on Osburns' arrest: Lockwood Valley couple arrested for growing pot Up TOC

from Dale Gieringer

Lockwood Valley couple arrested for growing pot
DEA seizes 32 marijuana plants
By Andrea Cavanaugh, acavanaugh@insidevc.com
August 15, 2002
A Lockwood Valley couple who used to supply a Los Angeles medical marijuana
cooperative have been arrested for a second time on suspicion of cultivating
the drug.
Lynn and Judy Osburn were arrested during an early morning raid at their home
Tuesday as Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized 32 marijuana plants,
said Jose Martinez, a DEA spokesman.
Both appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon on charges of
manufacturing a controlled substance and maintaining a drug establishment,
said Tom Mrozek, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
Judy Osburn's bond was set at $120,000, and Lynn Osburn's bond hearing was
delayed until Monday, Mrozek said. Both are in federal custody. A preliminary
hearing is set for Aug. 28.
The seizure Tuesday was the third time the couples' property has been raided
and pot plants seized by police since California voters six years ago passed
Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana use.
During a raid in August 2000, agents confiscated 342 marijuana plants. The
couple was arrested but never prosecuted, Mrozek said.
A raid in September 2001 netted 273 plants and 76 pounds of pot. Neither Lynn
nor Judy Osburn was arrested or prosecuted in connection with that seizure,
Mrozek said.
Lynn Osburn was convicted of marijuana cultivation in 1988, court documents
show.
The marijuana plants seized Tuesday were solely for the Osburns' own medical
use, said Morgan Lee, admissions and intake director for the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Cooperative.
The Osburns supplied marijuana to the organization for three years until the
co-op stopped distributing pot to hundreds of AIDS and cancer patients
because it was also raided by federal agents in October, Lee said.
"Most of us have had to go back to our old ways of growing it ourselves or
buying it on the black market," Lee said. "What they've done is sent 1,000
patients out to grow their own. What they've got now is 1,000 gardens."
Federal agencies have refused to recognize Proposition 215 and voter-backed
laws in other states, saying the initiatives violate federal statutes.
"Under federal law, marijuana is a controlled substance," Martinez said.
"Until (the American Medical Association and the Food and Drug
Administration) determine there is a medical use for marijuana, we will
continue to enforce the laws of this country."
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has encouraged local governments to
set standards for medical marijuana use because he "supports the will of the
people," but can do nothing about federal intervention, spokeswoman Hallye
Jordan said.
"They're enforcing federal law, we're enforcing state law, and there's a
conflict," she said. "Until it gets resolved, we've got a problem."
- -- 
- ----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858  // canorml@igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114

------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 10:22:23 -0700
Subject: SD: Pine Ridge Hemp Seized Again Up TOC

Background:  Pine Ridge is the site of the incident
which keeps Leonard Peltier in prison.  Alex White
Plume is also the guy in the movie "Dances With
Wolves" who steals Kevin Kostner's hat.. the movie was
filmed on Pine Ridge.


U.S. moves to stop Oglala Lakota hemp farm .

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15, 2002

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered an Oglala Lakota
family to stop planting and harvesting hemp on their
South Dakota ranch after tests showed traces of
marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Richard Battey granted a temporary
restraining order against Alex White Plume and his
family. The White Plumes have come to national
prominence for asserting a sovereign right to grow
hemp on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Law enforcement authorities don't see it that way.
During a pre-dawn raid in August 2000, about 25 armed
agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S.
Marshals Service and the Northern Plains Safe Trails
Drug Task Force stormed the reservation and seized
more than 5,000 plants. No criminal charges were ever
filed and the White Plumes, who have made no secret of
their hemp farm, began planting again. Crops were
destroyed in 2001 but the family wasn't deterred. A

After a planting this past spring, the U.S. Attorney's
office in South Dakota charged the family and others
last week with manufacturing and distributing
marijuana. The suit came after Special Agent J.C.
Salley of the DEA collected at least 400 grams of
plants from the White Plume farm in July. The sample
was sent to a DEA testing facility in Chicago, where
traces of marijuana were detected, according to a
court records.

The dispute here is one of scientific and legal
debate. Hemp and its illicit cousin marijuana both
contain an active ingredient called
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In marijuana, a certain
amount of THC gives users a characteristic "high."
Hemp doesn't do that.

Recognizing the difference, the Oglala Lakota Tribe in
1998 passed a law that legalizes hemp, which can be
used for a number of purposes. The most significant
use on the cash-strapped and equity-poor reservation
is for homes.

"The people used to have the buffalo for our food,
clothing and shelter," said former President Joe
American Horse at the planting of hemp seeds in April
2000, on the 132nd anniversary of the Sioux Nation
Treaty of 1868. "Now, hemp can do that for us."
Federal law doesn't differentiate, however, and the
U.S. considers hemp to be in the same category as
marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act.

"The provisions of the Act are general federal laws
concerning the manufacture, possession and
distribution of controlled substances which apply on
the Pine Ridge Reservation with the same force as the
laws apply elsewhere," the U.S. Attorney's office
wrote in an August 9 court document. A

Attorneys for the White Plumes did not file court
documents in response to the federal action. After a
hearing on Tuesday, Judge Battey immediately granted
the temporary restraining order pending a full hearing
scheduled for October 1 and October 2. The judge was
acting quickly based on a sale of hemp the White Plume
negotiated with a Kentucky company. The Madison Hemp
and Flax Company was to pick up the supply yesterday.
The U.S. Attorney wants a permanent injunction against
the White Plumes.



CRRH is working to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults like 
alcohol, allow doctors to recommend cannabis through pharmacies and restore 
the unregulated production of industrial hemp.

*Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*
mail:     CRRH ; P.O. Box 86741 ; Portland, OR 97286 USA
email:   crrh@crrh.org
phone:  (503) 235-4606
fax:       (503) 235-0120
web:     http://www.crrh.org/

------------------------------
End of Restore-Digest V2002 #167
********************************